Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

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Star

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I was still sitting on the couch, contemplating my future when Artem came back. With the talisman gone I could both smell and hear things better than I could before. I knew it meant that I was becoming one with my wolf. I could feel that happening inside of me. It wasn\'t just Artem I could smell though. I could smell the food.

I wanted to test myself, to see if I could name the food before he got into the room. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I could smell bacon and sausage above all the other scents, they were just so strong.

Underneath the scent of those meats I thought I could smell eggs and maybe pancakes, but it was really hard to tell with the meat overpowering everything else. I didn\'t have time to keep trying though, Artem was already close to the door so I got up and opened it for him.

"Hey." He grinned at me. I could tell that he had showered and dressed before he went to make breakfast. I guess that makes sense, he had spent the night sleeping in the chair in my room.

"Hi." I blushed when I looked at him, I couldn\'t help it. The kiss flashed through my mind and it was made even worse when I remembered that I was the one who had kissed him.

Oh my god, what did I do? I had kissed him while I stood naked in front of him. I had kissed him, naked, while he ran his hands over my naked body, and I hadn\'t wanted to stop kissing him. If it hadn\'t been for my body telling us that I needed to stop I don\'t know what I would have done.

I know it\'s still too soon to do \'that\' again. I didn\'t think I should sleep with him for a while. I want us to move forward as a couple first. I wanted to build that relationship that I knew we were capable of. Plus, I wanted to learn to be an independent person and get out into the world.

If I didn\'t have to worry about my family trying to hurt me anymore then I wouldn\'t be afraid to leave the house ever again. I could be a normal person. I could go to college, I could learn how to be a real woman.

While I had that little mini episode of the Star show flash through my head Artem had walked to the table and set down a tray that was covered with our food and drinks.

"Are you coming?" He was grinning at me like he thought I had lost my mind. If he only knew the truth.

"Uh, yeah, sorry I was just lost in thought."

"Glad you found your way back." He chuckled like it was a funny joke so I just smiled and sat at the table next to him.

"Thank you for breakfast." I said as I looked at the table.

I had been mostly right about it all. There was bacon and sausage, along with eggs and pancakes, but there was also sweet rice which was good, not my favorite but still good. We started to eat and talk about whatever popped into our heads.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked me after biting a piece of bacon in two.

"The future."

"Well, that\'s a very ambiguous answer." He was smiling but he was also looking at me with a curious expression.

"Well, I was thinking that I don\'t need to be afraid anymore, not now that my family has been thoroughly dealt with."

"So someone told you we killed all the male cousins and uncles?" He tilted his head in response to my wording.

"No, this is the first I am hearing of that." I felt the blood drain from my face at the thought of all the deaths that had occured because of me. "I-I was meaning that I d-don\'t have to b-be afraid anymore b-because Uncle Howard is d-dead." I was stuttering and shaking slightly at the thought of all the dead people.

I shuddered once then thought about it all calmly. The only people that were killed were those that had worked closely with Uncle Howard. They were people who would have hurt me if they hadn\'t been stopped. The ones who had died were the ones who had been present at my wedding.

"Ugh." I threw my head down, grabbing it in my hands as I narrowly missed banging it on the table.

"What\'s the matter?" He looked at me like he thought there was something seriously wrong with me, his arms were outstretched like he thought he had to catch me or carry me or something.

"I just remembered something horrible."

"What?" It looked like Artem couldn\'t stand the suspense anymore and needed my answers five minutes ago rather than in the future.

"I married Uncle Howard."

I felt my whole body convulse with disgust as a wave of nausea hit me. I gagged at the memory of what all happened to me.

"That wasn\'t a real wedding, you don\'t have to worry."

"Still, he made me vow to be obedient to him forever and then he kissed me." I convulsed at the memory of it. "He shoved his tongue in my mouth and flopped it around like a slimy fish." I grabbed my head and shook it several times while crying out. "Make the memories go away."

"I will eventually drown all memories of him from your mind and your body." Those words sounded so natural, so sincere, and so heated that I could do nothing but look at Artem with shock. His eyes were filled with heated fire that seemed to scorch my skin from just him looking at me.

W-well...that...it\'s not...I think-." I was floundering. I didn\'t know how to respond. What was I supposed to say in response to that? How was I supposed to keep looking at him while he stared at me like that? How could I ever look away?

The heat in Artem\'s eyes began to diminish. After a few moments it was more like a warm, comforting look than a burning heat. What was going on with him? The look in his eyes had made me think of how he had been the other night, and it had made me feel things I was not used to feeling.

"Don\'t worry Star, I won\'t rush or pressure you. Just know that when you want me I will be here waiting for you." He was always so understanding when it came to me. 

"Artem." I felt the blush at the same time my cheeks lifted with the gentle smile. "I know Artem, and that\'s why I love you so much. You\'re so sweet and understanding."

"Only when it comes to you." He looked away then, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. "And I love you too, Star."

"Give me some time to figure myself out, OK. Just let me get to know who it is I really am and what it is I am really meant to do." I felt like I was begging him, but I didn\'t know how else to put it.

"I will give you all the time that you need. And if you need my help during this time I will be here for that as well."

"Thank you, Artem. I will likely need your help and Chay\'s." It was then that I realized I had been completely and utterly selfish.

I HADN\'T ASKED ONE THING ABOUT CHAY SINCE I HAD WOKEN UP!

What kind of horrible person was I? How could I forget to ask how she was doing? I need to rectify this situation right now.

"Artem, speaking of Chay, how is she? I know she was hurt really bad the other day."

"She is doing better, she will be fully healed by tonight. Or that\'s my guess anyway."

"Oh thank god." I felt like I had just had a weight lifted from my shoulders that I hadn\'t even known was there.

"That\'s one thing you should correct." He grinned at me.

"What?" 

"We wolves would say \'oh my Goddess\'."

"Huh? Really?" I looked at him with curiosity. "Why?"

"We pay tribute to and worship the moon goddess."

"I never knew that." I was laughing now. "I guess learning our culture would be a good start huh?" He joined in with my laughter and both just ended up grinning at each other.

It was fun talking with Artem and all, and I had enjoyed breakfast, but now that I knew that Chay was awake I wanted to go see her. I needed to see with my own eyes that she was OK, that she was not seriously hurt.

"Can I go see Chay?" I asked Artem when we had finished the meal. He didn\'t even hesitate, he just stood up and held his hand out for me.

"Come on, she wants to see you too." That was a relief. I thought for sure she would be mad at me because the accident was in a sense my fault. Or maybe she wanted to see me so she could yell and scream and blame me.

\'No! Stop it Star!\' I reprimanded myself as I started to get into my slump again. This was not who I was going to let myself become. \'Chay would never act like that.\' With those thoughts in my head I took Artem\'s hand and let him pull me to my feet. Following that he led me down the hall and to Chay\'s room. To say that I was nervous would be an understatement, I was trembling when he took me into the room.