Prophecy Series: Artemis' Prophecy Part 2

When I finally stirred awake, I felt dizzy, as if my head were spinning around and around in circles and refused to stop.

My entire body ached—my mind, my heart, even my muscles.

I squinted as a ray of light hit my pupils, and I closed my eyes again.

The fading scent that remained in the room overwhelmed all my senses, making me lift my nose high to inhale the intoxicating, perplexing smell.

I forced my eyes open and eventually took in my surroundings with wide, curious eyes.

I was in a bedroom, but it wasn’t the bedroom I was accustomed to staying in.

The king-size bed was lined with velvet red sheets, a blanket, and even pillowcases, along with red velvet curtains.

The color was almost cherry-like—deep and vividly red.

My eyes tracked farther across the room, admiring the carvings of sacred depictions along the wooden crown molding.

Along the wooden corners were beautifully carved decorations depicting wolves—two wolves facing a moon—and lines of trees.

The room was exquisite and looked as if it belonged to a king himself.

The longer my eyes scanned across the room, the more I believed that the room actually might belong to a king—Artemis.

A smell lingered inside the room; it was Artemis’s scent—pine and rain-damp forest—but thicker, more concentrated than I’d ever smelled on him before.

It was a combination of every scent I loved—fresh pine, spring wildflowers, and the scent of the forest after it rains.

Artemis didn’t have this scent—I hadn’t recognized it on him before, so this couldn’t be Artemis’s room; it had to be someone else’s.

Maybe his brother’s?

Or maybe I was out of the palace already and somewhere else?

I pressed myself up almost immediately into a seated position and pushed my back into the wooden headboard.

I must’ve moved a little too quickly because my head accidentally hit the top of the headboard and made a loud knocking sound.

“Ow,” I muttered, rubbing my head until I felt a small bump on it.

Footsteps sounded from behind the door, and I found myself fixing my posture almost immediately, without even a reason to do so.

The door cracked open, and in walked Artemis, the undersides of his eyes darker than they usually were, as a thin, strained smile lined his lips and his curly brown hair draped over his forehead.

My face turned in confusion as I realized I was, in fact, sitting in Artemis’s bed and inside his room after all.

“Good morning,” he replied, his strained smile widening as his eyes tracked over my face, taking in my wide eyes along with my thin, pressed lips.

“Good morning,” I stuttered, eventually clearing my throat and softening my gaze.

“What am I doing here?” I asked almost immediately.

A frown turned on his lips as his gaze traced mine.

“You passed out. You’ve been out for about eight hours. I was hoping you’d wake soon.”

“What happened?” I asked, but as I did, the memories flashed through my mind.

A voice sounded through my mind, an unfamiliar one that I somehow recognized. It was a female voice—soft yet commanding.

The Moon Goddess was speaking to me somehow.

I remembered.

My eyes met his, and I felt every inch of my body ignite with a surge of energy as our eyes locked and the truth was accepted.

“But it can’t be,” I argued, unable to accept the truth even though I felt it in my bones, even though I heard the Moon Goddess speak to me, even though my skin begged to touch his. Still, I wanted to argue and rationalize.

“It is,” he replied, causing me to clamp my mouth shut.

It took me a few seconds to even think of a valid argument.

“But Artemis…it can’t be…the bond would’ve shown immediately. We’re both of age, we’ve been with each other for weeks, I never…felt the bond…until now,” I stammered, confused and scared.

“But it is, Selene. We are bonded. You are my fated, and I am yours. I’m not sure how, but it’s true.” Artemis shook his head, almost as if he didn’t believe it himself.

My mouth went dry. I stared at him, trying to make sense of something that made no sense at all.

And yet, here we were—weeks into knowing each other, and only now did the bond choose to awaken within my mind and body?

“I don’t understand,” I whispered, more to myself than to him.

But he heard it, anyway.

Artemis stepped closer, his movements slow and hesitant.

His eyes shimmered with something I hadn’t seen before—not the usual confidence or calm command.

No, this was uncertainty. Vulnerability.

Maybe even fear. Fear that I would run away and disappear as soon as I could.

Fear that he would lose his mate before he even had the chance to truly have one.

“I felt it the second you collapsed,” he said. “Like something innate snapped into place. Like I’d been blind this whole time, and suddenly…I could feel it.”

His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

My heartbeat thundered in my chest, causing my breathing rate to accelerate.

“Selene,” he said, kneeling beside the bed, his fingers brushing the edge of the red velvet blanket.

“I can’t tell you why the bond was dormant for as long as it was, but I do know that this is real—that what we’re feeling right now is real. You heard the Moon Goddess too, didn’t you?”

I nodded slowly, my fingers curling around the blanket as I pressed my eyes closed. “The Moon Goddess.”

His breath hitched, and for a moment, silence existed between us, filled only by the sound of our shared breaths.

“But it can’t be, after all I’ve done to you,” I whispered before I could stop myself.

Guilt weighed heavy on me, as if it were a part of my being.

His expression faltered—barely—but I saw it. The flinch behind his eyes.

He looked away. “I know, but I forgive you.”

Yet still, he was offering it to me, as if it were something I could easily accept.

I shook my head, trying to blink away the tears that had started to form at the corners of my eyes.

“You shouldn’t,” I said, my voice cracking. “You shouldn’t forgive me so easily. You don’t even know everything I’ve done…everything I’ve kept from you. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Artemis.”

His eyes snapped to mine then, the softness in his gaze turning—not out of anger, but firm conviction.

“Selene,” he repeated, my name falling from his lips like it was a sacred vow. “The Moon Goddess pairs wolves for a reason. The bond is infinite.”

His hand reached for mine, but he didn’t touch me.

“It’s a big decision, one you will need time to think about, I’m sure. But I won’t let you carry guilt that isn’t yours alone. Victor’s son, not much unlike him, is a corrupter. He twists your thoughts and uses your trust and relationship against you in order to manipulate you and solidify his plan. Whatever happened before—whatever it is you think I can’t handle—I can. I am stronger than I look, Selene.”

A lump formed in the pit of my throat.

I looked at our hands hovering close to each other’s—his hand was steady and waiting; mine was trembling with the weight of emotions I couldn’t describe.

And then, slowly, I let my fingers brush against his.

The bond pulsed like an accelerated heartbeat between us. I felt the surge of electricity jolt from our connection.

My breath caught, and I lost the ability to think for a moment.

There it was. The invisible bond, connecting us and binding us together.

Our bond has always been meant to be—but for some reason the Moon Goddess waited to ignite the bond and set our courses forward.

“I’m scared,” I admitted.

“I know,” he whispered back. “So am I. Even a king can be scared.”

We sat there in silence, in the red velvet dim glow of the room, as the sunlight beamed through the curtains, like an invisible companion to our bond.

For a second, I forgot about my guilt. I forgot about my betrayal.

And so did Artemis.

And maybe…that was enough for now.