He could sense that both Artemis and Solomon were asleep in the guest room that he had allowed them to stay in for the night. Their breaths were even and their heart beats had slowed down to a steady rhythm. Other than that, there was no other noise coming from them.

He was sure that they were asleep.

Not that he blamed them. Today must have been an awfully tiring day for them both, Artemis especially.

Elder Jackson had taken a liking to Artemis. She was a strong-willed, smart woman who wasn't afraid to speak her mind when appropriate, ready to challenge anyone who posed as a threat. And according to Solomon, she was also strong and was able to hold her own in a fight.

He liked her for Sol. The woman was good for him and elder Jackson was glad that the boy had found someone to spend the rest of his life with.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that there wasn't much good in Sol's life. And having known him since he was a young pup, he knew that Sol blamed himself for the demise of both his parents and his pack even though the very notion of the idea was absolutely absurd, but guilt was not something that made sense nor deserved half the time.

The boy had gotten it into his mind that it was all his fault and had condemned him to a life as an ordinary human man, sanctioning his wolf almost as if the other side of him didn't exist. It was evidently clear that Solomon was unhappy living a regular life without a pack to lead and call his own, but he was determined to live a life of solitude and great desolation, essentially punishing himself for something that was completely out of control.

But according to Clark, he had been getting better over the past couple of months and they both had no doubt that it was all down to a certain red-haired female whom had come into his life very suddenly.

He dreaded to think what Sol was like before Artemis came into his life.

But elder Jackson didn't have much time to dwell on the past in the current moment.

Picking up his phone from his bedside table, he hit a few buttons before holding the phone to his ear. It only rang a few times before the other man picked it up.

The first sound he was met with was a long, tortured groan that seemed to end with the hint of a frustrated growl. "Why are you calling me this late?" The elder's voice was croaky from what he assumed was sleep.

"It's not even eleven yet." He pointed out.

"Well, some of us don't sleep in till ten every day." Elder Henley bit back sassily despite having just been woken up from a peaceful slumber that was far too short.

"I don't have time for this right now," he informed his friend. His words were serious but his tone was light. "I've recently come in to some information that I think you'll be interested in."

"And you couldn't wait to tell me this in the morning?"

"I think we need all the time we can get?"

"It's that serious?" He asked, his voice still groggy from just waking up.

"I'm afraid it's more."

If he didn't have elder Henley's attention before, he certainly had it now. "Don't waste time. You've got me all antsy now. Just tell me."

Elder Jackson smirked evilly, not that the elder could see it. "Let me patch in elder Oscar so I don't have to repeat myself."

Yet another frustrated groan sounded from the other end of the line, but elder Jackson didn't care. He just chuckled before placing his friend on hold and searching his contacts for his other friend, mentally preparing himself for a late night which was spent discussing the current disaster at hand.

-

Sol was the first one to wake up. He squinted his eyes and groaned before burrowing his face further into Artemis' neck in hopes that he could escape the beam of light which had managed to escape from the closed blinds and very rudely woken him up.

And then there was the faint sound of chatter from downstairs which didn't seem to be easing up any time soon.

Groaning for the second time that morning in the span of two minutes, he tightened his arms which was wrapped around Artemis' petite body before pulling her closer to him in attempt to eliminate the non-existent space that remained between them.

"What's got you so cranky this morning?" Artemis asked, her voice sleepy as she nuzzled her into the pillow.

Artemis chuckled into her neck, pressing his lips against the back of her neck. His lips lingered there as she hummed in content at the feeling of his lips against her skin. "I'm not ready to wake up." He whined as he snuggled deeper into her as if that was even possible at this point.

Sol was never a snuggle and cuddle kind of man until he met Artemis. All of that flew out the window as soon as he met the woman whom was currently entrapped in his arms with very little room or possibility to escape.

Artemis groaned for herself as she rubbed her hand down her face before turning over in his arms so that she was now facing him. Tucking her head under his chin, she closed her eyes and wrapped one arm around his waist while she looped her other arm around his neck, lazily playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. "I doubt elder Jackson would mind if we slept in a little." She mumbled groggily, humming as he tightened his hold on her, rubbing his hand down her spine in a soothing manner.

He hummed his answer, closing his eyes before allowing himself to drift off to sleep. But he wasn't able to hold onto that hope for long nor was he able to slip back into dreamland as the laughter from downstairs rang through his ears.

He groaned in despair and buried his face in her hair not caring that it was tickling his cheeks. She smelled too good to care about little things like that.

"Just ignore them."

"They're so loud." He complained like a child, but that didn't stop him from closing his eyes again.

"It seems like elder Jackson has guests over."

"It's probably the elders that he mentioned yesterday."

"They probably know that we're awake." She mumbled into his chest, drawing non-descript shapes and swirls with her fingers. Sighing, she pushed away from him slightly as she stretched. "We should probably get up." She mumbled under her breath as she unhooked his arms from around her and tried to get over him and out of the bed.

The keyword being tried.

Artemis failed miserably as Sol wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back in bed, pulling the covers over both of them as she now lay on top of him.

She giggled at his antics and pushed him on his chest, using her forearms to prop herself up so she could see his face. "It'll be rude of us to stay in bed, especially since they're probably waiting for us to wake up."

"I don't care." He replied childishly as he grinned cheekily at her.

"But they probably know that we're awake." She attempted to reason with him with no luck.

"Again, I don't care."

Failing to keep the frown on her face, she pulled herself up as she placed her lips against his jaw, her breath hot as it fanned across his skin. "We need to get up." She mumbled between each kiss against his skin, her final destination being his ear. She bit down on his earlobe before releasing it and placing a kiss behind his ear. Just when he was about to roll them both over so he would be on top, Artemis pushed away from when he was vulnerable and jumped out of the bed, already making her way to their bags so she could pick out some clothes to wear.

Artemis grinned as Sol groaned in bed, watching in despair as she walked out of the room and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower.

After he had been left alone in bed, it didn't take Sol to get up and get dressed himself, though he skipped having a shower. Once they were both dressed, they made their way downstairs.

Before Artemis even managed to get to the bottom of the stairs, three sets of unfamiliar eyes were on her, giving her their utmost attention. It was safe to assume that they had been speaking about her just as they had walked in.

Sol recognised one of them, elder Henley but did not know the third man; elder Oscar.

Breakfast was quiet and slightly awkward for the pair as they sat across from the three elders and watched them converse and joke around like they were all young wolves; not that aging was much of an issue for werewolves.

It was the aftermath of breakfast when the atmosphere in the house got serious.

Having gotten the introductions over with earlier that morning, Artemis smiled at elder Henley whom nodded his thanks when she moved over slightly to make room for him on the sofa she was sat on. Sol probably should have moved over too because that was how things usually worked when making room for someone, but he stayed where he was and was rewarded from the welcomed heat of Artemis' side pressed up against his.

The plan was to just pretend that there was no space for him to move.

Luckily there wasn't time for Artemis to question the situation for elder Jackson cut straight to the chase, bringing up the topic everyone's minds seemed to be lingering on though no one daring to mention, and also the sole reason as to why there was a small elder reunion.

Elder Jackson clapped Oscar – the elders were pretty eager on them being called by their names – on the back as he sat down next to him and across from the other three. "Us, elders have been speaking about what Artemis was telling me yesterday." He began, looking all around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention. "It seems to fit in with a situation that was happening around the same time that Artemis went missing."

Nobody spoke as the elder paused so Artemis believed it was appropriate that she ask the question she was pondering over. "And you think the two situations were connected?" She asked.

The elder nodded. "They seem to really fit in well together." He noted aloud. "I've filled in these two," he gestured towards the other elders as he spoke. "On pretty much everything that I know, but I'm sure that we can go over the small details again if you feel up to it." He nodded towards Artemis and she offered him a small smile in return.

"Around the time that your pack, the Valour pack was attacked and you went missing along with the other two pups, pups from other packs were also going missing from other packs. Now, most of these pups did turn up dead a short time after they went missing but there were a few that were never found. Now, like your parents," he gestured towards her with a nod of his head. "The packs had assumed that the pups were all dead, even the ones that they never found the bodies of. That is a pretty reasonable assumption."

Sol furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you trying to say that those remaining missing pups were never actually killed?"

Elder Jackson nodded but it was the elder next to him that spoke up. "I think it's safe to say that they only kept alive the pups that they saw fit." Elder Oscar noted aloud. "Most probably the ones that fit into their categories."

Artemis frowned, feeling slightly uncomfortable with what she was hearing. It was all very disgusting but it was also a part of her past that it was about time she addressed if she wanted to help all the other werewolves that were still suffering the same fate she was a victim of.

"It wasn't very obvious at the time." Elder Henley piped up. "There were only a few pups being taken and they were all from random packs from all over the country so it didn't really raise any eyebrows at the time. There wasn't much of a pattern." He shrugged his shoulders. "Whoever is behind this scheme was very smart as to not grab too much attention towards what they were doing. The rogue attacks were probably a guise to cover up their real motive; to snatch pups."

"The ones that took us weren't werewolves."

Four sets of eyebrows rose in surprise at her sudden proclamation but it was the elder next to her that voiced his concern. "If they weren't werewolves then what were they?" He asked, speaking on behalf of all the men in the room including himself.

"Humans," she found herself saying. She paused as she thought about it. "They were definitely humans." She repeated, this time her voice stronger and firmer than before.

This seemed to a bit of a game changer as Artemis leaned further into Sol and they both watched in silence as the elders shared knowing looks, almost as if they were conversing silently.

"This changes a lot." Elder Jackson noted aloud as he continued to keep up the silent conversation with both of his buddies. "This means that these humans seem to be working with a group of werewolves."

"It would also make sense if it was the same set of werewolves, or even rogues that attacked all those packs all those years ago."

Artemis was just glad that their conversation had now turned vocal and they could listen to what they were thinking. But for now, the pair of them were more than eager to just sit and listen to the elders throw around their thoughts as they discussed various different theories.

When she finally felt like she had heard enough, Artemis sat up and placed her hands on her laps, pursing her lips as she attempted to get the words out. "I think they were experimenting on us."

That seemed to get their attention as silence filled the room and all their heads snapped up to face them. "We're going to need you to elaborate on that."

She attempted to smile at elder Jackson's sassy talk, but she was sure it came off as more of a disfigured grimace. "It makes sense, I think." She frowned as she attempted to recollect as much as possible. "I mean, they used to keep us in cages, they would only bring us out to fight against each other as a type of training, I guess." Her voice trailed off towards the end but no one interrupted her as it was clear that she was lost in her thoughts. "That was our life. We would spend all day in cages, only eat what was served to us and we were only let out of our cages to either fight each other, or to have them examine us under bright lights."

Sol spoke up, his eyes glazed over as he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "Could it be possible that they were trying to create some sort of army?" He asked, looking all around the room with wide eyes.

"A supernatural werewolf army." One of the elders piped up, seeming to agree with him.

Artemis nodded with hesitation. She hesitated slightly not because she didn't agree with him, but because she felt uncomfortable picturing what she had been a part of. "We weren't normal werewolves. As I'm sure Sol had explained earlier, I was far more skilled than I should have been, especially for a wolf that was not born into any sort of rank." It made sense since her parents were only warriors.

"How were they experimenting on you?"

"I don't know," she shrugged and huffed in frustration. There were still a lot of missing puzzle pieces regarding the memories of her past and it was beyond infuriating. "They used to do a lot of blood tests on me." She admitted.

"The same thing happened to all the other werewolves?"

"I don't really know. We weren't allowed to talk to one another but the ones in the same room as me used to have the tests done on them too."

Elder Henley had now completely turned his body so he was now completely facing her, engrossed in what he was hearing. "Were you on any medication?" He asked though it seemed that he felt like he already knew the answer to the question.

"No," she shook her head. "I don't think so. Not that I recall anyway." She shook her head.

"They could have been putting something in your food," one of the elders suggested and as much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn't just brush the idea off the table. It was definitely a possibility despite how much the very idea of it revolted her. Artemis had no idea who she was in the past but she was adamant that no one deserved to be locked away in cages and have their food drugged without their consent amongst many other techniques.

She sighed and buried her face in her hands, groaning quietly into them. "I think you're right." She shook her head and groaned in despair again. Artemis was sure that she was receiving sympathetic looks from all of the elders in the room, but the comfort came from Sol whom rubbed a hand down her back in a reassuring manner in hopes of making her feel better despite the dire situation they seemed to be in. "What did I do to deserve this?" She asked rhetorically, not looking for an answer.

After she had finished with her mini meltdown, she looked up and sighed, her eyes locked on elder Jackson's. "So, you think they were using us to build an army?"

He nodded. "Yes, I think so. It's the most plausible and frankly, the best theory we have."

"Okay," she nodded, trying to keep herself together. "Why would they need an army?"

"That's the million-dollar question." Sol sounded from next to her. "And also, how you managed to escape."

"I don't remember anything about escaping." She shook her head dejectedly. "And I don't recall anything about why they wanted us there."

"You say your memories are slowly starting to come to you?"

Artemis nodded. "Ever since yesterday."

The elder nodded in understanding. "I think it's safe to assume then that hopefully, you'll be able to remember an answer to those questions very soon."

"So, what do we do now then?"

All three elders looked at each, once again silently conversing. "I think it's best if you go home, in case your house is under watch. I doubt it is, but just to be on the safe side. Act like nothing happened and if you remember anything, call me. Even if it's something small and seems irrelevant, take a note of it and tell me when you get the time."

Both Artemis and Sol nodded in understanding. "And what are we going to do about these human scientists that seem to think it's okay to kidnap our pups to create a werewolf army?" Sol asked, his voice rough. He tried to control his anger for Artemis' sake, but he failed miserably.

Having to sit and listen to everything that had happened to her, to watch her struggle to force herself to remember all the inhumane things that those humans had put her though, was absolutely disgusting. He couldn't even begin to think about what she was going through.

"We're going to make some calls, maybe even travel to some of the packs under the disguise of protocol checks to see if we can get anymore information. It'll also probably be a good idea to rope in some more of the elders." Elder Jackson informed them and cut Sol off with a smile before he could even get the words out. "Don't worry," he reassured them. "Only the ones we know for sure that we can trust."

Sol nodded and wrapped his arm around Artemis' shoulder, pulling her into him. She groaned and complied, burying her face into his chest. She frowned and closed her eyes, needing a quick nap before lunch even though she had jumped out a bed a few hours prior.

The elders stood up to get started on lunch while Sol sat on the sofa and comforted Artemis, whispering sweet nothings into her ears of how everything was going to be fine and that he would be there for her every step of the way, promising her a carefree future where she didn't have to worry about the demons of her past coming back to haunt her when she least expected it.

-

You can wait for the next chapter which will be uploaded on 14/02/2020

OR

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Layla Knight 

18.09.18