Chapter 10: Boys

The moon was high in the sky and it shone down on her face as she stared back at it, wondering. She didn't know whether God existed or not but to create something so... beautiful, it can't just be a coincidence. She walked to her window and swung her legs off the side.

Her room resided on the top floor so she easily got the best view. She saw the view from the back of their circle of hotels. It was just the sea, nothing else was covering it or bordering it, it was just miles and miles of sea with the moonlight illuminating a path of white milky reflection in the middle of it. It was a cold night, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. She could smell the earth, the trees, the salty sea and the fresh air but... it didn't feel like home.

She had a gut-wrenching pit in her stomach suddenly feeling incredibly homesick. She missed Liza and she missed her parents, even Phoenix, her sister's mate. She brought her legs closer to herself and buried her head in it. She didn't know how long she'd last in the competition, if she lost it meant that she would return home and see her family, but it also meant she'd be a failure. If she won, that meant she'd get to see Alpha and ask for a position among his fighters, but it would mean another 11 months here. She didn't know if she'd be willing to pay the price to win this game but she would try. She'd promised Liza that she'd try before she left and Artemis wasn't one to break her promises.

She wondered about Liza, had she and Phoenix gotten any closer? Probably not. If Phoenix wasn't as hard-headed as he is about their age difference, they could really build something. Artemis sighed and swung her legs out the window once again and dangled it against the wind. She sighed and watched the water in the distance dance around in waves and crash against itself before breaking off and foaming near the shores. Not long ago she had been diving deep into it to find her token.

Artemis squinted at the shore, if her eyes weren't mistaken, she could definitely see people on the shoreline with a campfire.

How had I not noticed that before?

She tried to see clearly but the distance wasn't helping. They were gathered around the fire and most probably talking, she didn't understand why they would be out at night, especially at this temperature. She took a last deep breath of the fresh air and swung her legs inside and gazed at a very suspicious looking Shy.

"Hey... Shy..."

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?" she feigned innocence looking anywhere but at her roommate.

"We both know,"

Artemis sighed getting up.

"Listen, I just found two, one from my clue and one as I was getting to my clue, I thought just in case one of you didn't manage to get one, I'd bring it back," she lied smoothly.

"Really?" Shy's cold eyes melted at her words as she stepped forward, engulfing a very surprised Artemis in a hug. She was much shorter than Artemis and her arms only came around her waist, although her age-matched Liza's, her height was nowhere close. Liza was much taller than Shy and almost close to Artemis' own 5'8 but she was still 2 inches too short. Shy, however, only borderline grazed 5'2.

The pit of Artemis' stomach churned as the feeling of guilt coursed through her, she patted Shy's back awkwardly until she let go. The girl bounded out of their room in happiness. Artemis wondered how she slept so soundly on the couch as she tucked herself into her bed. Nights like these, where Artemis just needed to talk honestly to someone she'd go and sleep in Liza's bed but even that cut short when Phoenix came into the picture. Since they shared a bed, Artemis no longer felt as if she could have those times with him around. Of course, when he wasn't home, they slept in the same bed almost every night. She desperately missed her sister.

Artemis' loneliness and sadness turned into moisture that soaked into her pillowcase from her tear ducts. She sobbed quietly into her pillow, muffling the sounds of the girls by shoving her face into the pillow. Liza's calming presence was something that always made Artemis feel a little less like an alien and more like she belonged. Artemis wiped away her tears pathetically. She wasn't the type of person to cry, it was so unlike her. Tossing and turning to find a comfortable position proved more difficult because her mind was still buzzing with one unanswered question.

Was that man... really her mate? Why had he fled so suddenly without warning? Artemis turned to lie on her back and stared at the ceiling. Had he fled or had he simply vanished somewhere he could have watched her in the distance.

'What a creep.' she thought to herself. 'Boys suck,'

Even with that self reminder, she couldn't forget his voice or his laugh. He seemed to know of her intentions even before she did, it made her frown. She was used to being a lone wolf, literally. But now, being surrounded by girls... and him watching over her. It brought a different type of emotion from her; one that she wasn't sure she liked.

He knew of her token situation as well as about wolfs-Bane. How is it that he was getting to know all these things? Were there cameras inside their living room? Or... could it have been one of the girls?