ALPHA SIN

ARTEMISIA

I didn’t know what happened and the reason I began crying.

But I believed it was because of the past pain I kept inside of me.

The hurt I had bottled inside of me and I hadn’t let go of it until now.

“Artemisia?”

I nodded as he asked. He took two steps toward me and I did the same.

I wrapped my arms around him and inhaled his fresh scent.

Just like the Sin I know. Although he was a bit thinner and kind of unkempt with his overgrown hair and beards.

He still smells like Sin. I inhaled and exhaled slowly.

“I am sorry,” I mumbled. Even though he didn’t hug me back, I only wanted to feel his warmth. I didn’t care about him hugging me back.

I missed him so much and I doubt words were enough to say how much I felt at the moment.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated. Then I raised my head and brushed my lips against his cheeks.

“Artemisia.” Sin said again.

“It is me. I came back to you. I want this to work again.”

“You are not dead?”

I refrained from the embrace and stared at him.

The uncertainty on his face as he stared down at me.

I didn’t know how he was feeling, and he still assumed I was dead.

I rolled my eyes at him and I pointed to my neck. “Does the mate mark glow when someone dies? If I was dead, would you feel my arms around you and my warmth? Would you feel…”

The word died in my throat as Sin’s mouth closed on mine.

I scrunched up the shirt he donned and lifted myself with the ball of my feet and kissed him back.

“Goodness, Artemisia…” He groaned, removing his lips, but I urged him back.

“Just kiss me, Sin. I want to feel you and your arms around me. I want you to make love to me and do-”

He shut me up again with his mouth. I needed that. My rambling was too much and talking whilst kissing wasn’t what I wanted.

SIN POV

My nose wrinkled, and I sniffed the air as a strong fragrance wafted into my nostrils.

I tilted my head in the air and gazed at the toddler I had been playing with a while ago.

“Uncle! Up!” She lifted her hands in the air and giggled.

She was Gemma. A distant cousin of mine, Aiden Crooks, daughter. And I was seeing her for the first time today since she had been born.

I had taken an instant liking to her once I saw her. She was a smart girl for two years old and she knew if something was bothering someone.

She had been keeping my company until the fragrance wafted into my nostrils.

I knew whose it was, and it wasn’t the first time I’d perceived such.

It had been happening for a while now whenever I stepped into the garden, but today seemed stronger.

Artemisia was dead. I had seen her clothes covered with some wolf blood after the second thorough search.

I had f**king seen it and I was heartbroken by it.

She was my only true mate, and I hadn’t protected her until her demise.

I was moving on slowly. I still think of her sometimes, but then, it wasn’t as easy as I thought to move on.

“I’ll, Gem,” I said, lifting her.

She giggled and tossed her hands in the air. “Hee-haw!”

I turned as I heard a small laugh.

“She adores you.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” I chuckled whilst gazing into the stormyto grey eyes of Elena.

She was really beautiful. If I hadn’t seen Artemisia, I would have said Elena was the most beautiful creature I had seen.

But I believed witches were meant to be beautiful, as I hadn’t seen one that looked hideous before.

“Anyone Gemma loves, she stays with.” Her grey eyes twinkled as she waddled toward me. “I’ll have her. I believe you need to get some things done.”

“I don’t think I need to get anything done,” I argued. “Don’t you agree, Gems?”

“Gems, agree.” She said, slapping her hand away as she moved to take her.

I laughed as Elena turned her stern face on. For a few seconds, I imagined she was Artemisia, pregnant with our child.

But the opportunity had been missed, I presumed.

We lost the child, and Artemisia was dead.

“Uncle Sinclair needs to go,” Elena said firmly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“No!” Gemma shrieked, struggling to let me go.

“It’s fine, Gems. I’ll be back.” I promised, doing a pinky promise with her.

I extended her to Elena and gazed at her with concern as she settled the toddler on her hips.

“Don’t you think it’s too much weight for you?”

Elena was pregnant, and I believed in her last trimester. Her carrying Gemma made my heart beat faster.

If she got hurt, I’d be blamed, and the last thing I wanted was to have a scuffle with my cousin, Aiden.

“Oh, I am fine,” she dismissed with a warm smile. “She’s light and I feel nothing.”

I nodded and watched as she walked back into the hall.

I didn’t understand what she meant by I need to go, but then, I had a feeling something was about to happen.

I didn’t know if it was a pleasant feeling or not.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

As I stepped towards the Artemisia room that I reserved for the usual ritual I often did, I heard some shuffling and sniffling.

I halted as the fragrance wafted into my nostrils again.

It was weird, but I kept getting the same weird vibes over again and my inside tingles with warmth.

“Artemisia…”

I didn’t know if I heard the name correctly or the familiar voice that followed it, but I was certain Julie was in Artemisia’s room and someone else.

Her scent grew stronger as I neared her room and I stopped in the doorway as my eyes collided with a familiar redhead.

“I heard Artemisia,” I said.

The only redhead I know was Artemisia. Perhaps not the only redhead, but the only one who could be in the room right now was she.

I rubbed my eyes and wondered if I was seeing a ghost.

Artemisia was dead. I said over again. I believed not being able to accept the fact that she was gone made me hallucinate.

“Julie, what is going on here?” I asked as I stepped further into the room.

“I’ll leave you both to talk. I think you need some time to yourself,” Julie said as she noticed me. She stood to her feet and left the room.

“Sin.”

I stepped toward her, not believing what I was seeing.

“Artemisia,” I mumbled.

She burst into tears immediately.

My brows furrowed, taking me by surprise as I watched her cry.

After a while, the tears subsided, and she wrapped her arms around me.

“Artemisia?” I asked again. The only response I got was her hugging me tighter.

She nodded and sighed. “I’m sorry.”

She repeated those words.

“You are not dead?”

She refrained from the embrace to stare at me.

Artemisia rolled her eyes and pointed to her neck. “Does the mate mark glow when someone dies? If I was dead, would you feel my arms around you and my warmth? Would you feel…”

I didn’t know what took over me, but that instant. I wanted to kiss her so badly after seeing the mate mark glowing brightly.

My lips covered hers, and she didn’t move away.

Instead, she pulled me closer.

“Goodness, Artemisia,” I groaned, removing my lips from her.

“Just kiss me, Sin. I want to feel you and your arms around me. I want you to make love to me and do-”

And I did just that.

I carried her up and strode towards the bed. The bed we hadn’t used in a while and the bed I thought I wouldn’t ever use again.

I kissed her lips, down to her neck and then to the tip of her nose.

The cloth she donned, I removed each slowly and gazed at her when she was completely naked.

She was even more exquisite.

She blushed as my eyes lingered on her and attempted to close her body from me.

She was truly Artemisia.

No matter the amount of time we had seen each other naked, she was still shy around me and it even turned me on more.

I looked at the dent in my pant and grimaced.

“We can talk later.” She suggested as she saw me hesitate.

“Right now, I want you inside of me, Sin. You don’t know how much I missed you because if you do, you wouldn’t stall or wait to devour me.”

I believe that was what I needed as I swooped down on her, claiming her mouth over again.

Artemisia, she was mine and would be forever. She was home and making her feel at home was the least I could do.