French Rose

Artemis POV

“Luna, Luna, Luuuuuuuna. It’s time to get up.”

Ugh now I can’t even sleep in peace.

I guess today most people would be excited to start on a journey they’ve been prepping for their entire lives. But guess what? I’m not just anyone. Today I’m officially 24 and my crusaders have finally come to pass judgement…Nah, just kidding. Today is the day everyone finally gets to confirm that I’m real and not just a rumor, and they’ve all come to introduce themselves and present their respects. But also, to set their eyes on the priced jewel of the underworld A.K.A me. YAY!!! So now you can see why waking up this morning isn’t particularly appealing to me.

“Lunaaaaa” she screams as she pounds on my door.

“I’m up Judith, I’m up. For fuck’s sakes!”

Kicking the covers, I realize I really need to get up before she brings down my door and knocks me off the bed. So, I grabbed my silk robe off the chaise and go to open my door, to be greeted by a very angry looking Judith.

“Took you long enough, Eli has been calling you for the past 30 minutes,” she complained.

Judith is one of the house girls, or one of my house workers, but I don’t like to call them that instead they’re the girls, who alongside Eli my nanny has taken care of me my whole life.

“Wahhh, I don’t want to.”

“We know, and believe me, if we had a say in any of this, we would push this whole charade back a few more years. If not forever! But we can’t, and you’re ready. So here is your tea, remember that today is your day, make sure you start it the right way,” she continues while hugging me from behind.

“You’re right… This time.”

She walked away laughing.

I walked over to my nightstand and pressed the buttons on my remote to rise the shades and open my balcony doors. As I step out and the sun kisses my skin and I breathe in the salty ocean air, I swear my mood completely changes and a smile creep up my face. This is a common feeling for me, it’s sort of my morning routine. I am extremely grateful for the beauty of this island and all the people that surround me.

After finishing my tea, I throw on some shorts and a tank, and get ready for my run. I take the back stairs that lead towards the kitchen since Eli has been calling me that way I can stop by and see what she needs.

“Morningggg!” I yell, scaring everyone.

“Ahhh! Muchacha loca.” (Crazy girl).

I snort laughing.

“That’s not very luna like,” she reprimands.

“I’m sorry my Eli (my Eli),” I reply continuing to laugh.

“Today is a very important day, what would you like for breakfast?”

“My usual sounds good. I’m going for a run; I’ll see you back in an hour.” I say as I kiss her cheek and head out the back door. I stretch, pop on my powerbeats and set off on my run.

How can I explain this? So, by now you know that I live on an island, what you don’t know is that this is MY private island. Obscured by magic to the outsiders, and with a 70% female population we are almost like the Amazonia’s. Powerful warrior women, full of knowledge and expertise. The other 30% is 10% children, and 20% male population. Don’t get me wrong we do get visitors, every 10-15 years a new batch of trainees arrive, all pre-teens, all with the dream of becoming scroll keepers. They are the most knowledgeable of our kind, for they study our history from the beginning of time. The Citadel, otherwise known as La Torre degl’ Illuminati (The Tower of The Enlightened), sits in the northern part of the island, along with all our training grounds. They all come here to train in the tower, to become the best, to go back to their packs and support their alphas.

6 years ago, I lost one of my best friends due to this stupid cycle, Sawyer came here at the age of 8 to start his training to be the scroll keeper of his pack, 10 years later he left, and I haven’t seen him since. Not that he would remember me. See that’s the other thing to keep my existence a secret a spell was cast on the island, other than my family, the elders, and those that reside on the island, anyone who sets foot on the island forgets the location and all about me the second they leave.

Cool right…NOT!

Isle Radha sits in the north Atlantic Ocean near the Tropic of Cancer. Radha in Hindi means queen love of Gods, and rightfully so since this island was created to hide the Goddess of the moon Selene’s precious daughter, whom the other gods helped her create… A.K.A me. So, you see that’s why no one is allowed to remember me once they leave the island, the gods must protect their precious little treasure.

Anyways, I can’t complain, I live on an island filled with the exotic beauty of mother nature, white sand, and turquois water beaches all around. Perfect weather, and the love and respect of all of those around. So, you must be wondering, why is she bitching and complaining? Well let me tell you today marks the day that my life becomes a SHIT show at least for the next 12 months… Just fucking great.

CHAPTER 2 (Happy Birthday)

Artemis POV

As I make my way back to the Mansion after my run, the wonderful smell of bacon overpowers my senses making my stomach growl. As I plot in my head how to steal a few pieces while Eli is distracted, I catch my friends devouring my bacon.

“Heyyy, leave some for me,” I shout.

Kane smirks while shoving 3 pieces of MY bacon into his mouth.

“Yours are in the over baby girl,” says Ethan.

“What would I do without you Ethan? Oh wait, I know, I would probably starve to death thanks to these vouchers,” I say while pointing at the others.

They all started laughing.

“Ale, please protect my bacon while I shower,” I tell my best friend, as I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and head up the stairs.

“I’ll do my best.”

So, most werewolves live in packs with a hierarchy to rule them, but this island is something else. We don’t live like a normal pack; we are more like a family. Everyone has a role and a job that keeps the island running smoothly, and I’m sure you already guessed it by now, but if you haven’t yet well, I’m the alpha better known as the Luna.

My team is made up of my best friends, my family really, and we all reside in a mansion on the island, or the packhouse. Ethan and Alessia or Ale, are my betas, they’re my right and left hand. Ethan oversees the day to day of the island, while Ale helps me with the minimalist – my interior design studio. Oh yeah, by the way did I mention I have my own company? Yeah, but we’ll come back to that later. Bellatrix and Kane are my gamma’s, they’re like my spies and IT team. They run all the information systems for the island and my design studio. Liam and Karleen are my Delta’s, my strongest warriors, and oversee the training. But you see how I’ve coupled them up, it just so happens that they’re also mates. These 4 lucky bastards were able to wake up on their 18^th birthday and not look too far for their mate was safe and sound just down the hall. Yeah, like I said…LUCKY! But like I said we are not like a normal pack, we have epsilons, and that’s where Roger and Cassandra or Cass my numbers team come in. They are like literal calculators, and the best planners out there, they help me see things before they happen. We’ve all grown up together, the island is our territory and its inhabitants our people, and we are all a big family, and a force to be reckoned with.

As I step out of my steamy hot shower, I wrap myself in my plush towel and swipe my hands on my bathroom mirror. Uh! Nothing’s changed… still me.

‘What did you expect?’ says Selena, my wolf. ‘You didn’t change on your 18^th or 21^st birthday either.’

‘I guess I don’t know since today marks the start, since today I’m supposed to get my powers, I thought we would see something different, some sort of a change.’

‘What’s there to change? These alphas better gear up because they don’t know what’s coming their way,’ she says proudly. ‘What’s our moto?’

‘I am Artemis, strong, intelligent, healthy, wealthy, rich, I’m a queen, I am me,’ I say smirking.

‘And we are one Art! I will always be with you, I will always have your back, and if any of these alphas step out of line, I will kick their ass.’

I could not hold it in anymore and started laughing, ‘god I love you, Selena.’

‘I love you too,’ she says before retracting back to the back of my head.

Suddenly I heard pounding on my bathroom door.

“Ugh, now what?”

“Hey, get out of there, let’s go to the beach we have to celebrate. It’s your birthday bitch! Andddd we planned a little beach brunch party before tonight’s festivities,” screams Ale.

“So, pop on one of your racy bikinis and let’s go party,” says Bellatrix as she pops her head in through the bathroom door.

“Ok, ok, ok, let’s do this.”

I grabbed my new white bikini I had ordered and pop on my favorite gold body chain, my Dior slides, a white oversized boyfriend shirt cover up, my Celine aviators, I sprayed some of my Baccarat perfume on, grabbed my Dior carry all tote with all my beach essentials, and head downstairs to meet with everyone.

The girls are all beach ready looking like golden goddesses as we all excitedly start to head for the door when Eli calls, “excuse me, where are you going? You haven’t had your breakfast yet.”

I drop my bag by the door and run past her to the kitchen, grab the bacon off the plate, and pop it into my mouth, and chug the orange juice. I stride back the way I came and stopping by Eli and giving her a kiss while she swats me away.

“Cada dia mas loca, (she gets crazier by the day).”

“I love you Eli, can you send me some frozen fruit to the beach, please and thank you.” I say before closing the door.

Chatting and laughing we made our way down to the beach where the guys had organized everything with a white theme. And I, love it! White lounge chairs and beds, white star shaped balloons attached to all the posts. A large buffet table filled with finger foods and fruits. A white and gold bar with my favorite themed drink, and Aperol Spritz. There is also a white DJ booth on the left side playing top hits.

After surveying all the décor, I turn to my friends who are all staring expecting a reaction. When I start jumping up and down like a schoolgirl smiling. I can almost see the cold sweat dripping from their foreheads. HAHAHA, poor things! But I love it, I think they did a great job.

“Guys this is amazing,” I gasp.

“Our baby girl deserves the best,” Kane boasts.

“Uh? What do you want?” Kane and ass kissing equals to I need a favor.

“Not now,” he replies with a Cheshire cat grin.

“I’m scared!”

“You should be,” he says laughing.

As we all settle into our lounges and daybeds, I realize how good life is and hate the idea that everything is about to change.

“So, are you ready?” asks Cas while spraying spf on Roger’s back.

“As ready as I’ll ever be I guess,” I reply while spraying spf on myself.

“Oh, come on! it’s your birthday cheer up,” says Kathleen.

“I’m sorry if I’m not too keen on the idea of having the elders parade me around tonight like a prime piece of steak to the alphas and their people.”

“Hey, forget about all of that you have us, and we are going to make sure you party your ass off tonight,” says Liam while coming to sit by me.

“Besides,” says Ethan while handing me a drink. “We have plenty of ways to make the elders life a nightmare while they’re here.”

I broke into a fit of giggles, “you know you guys are right is my birthday, and in a few days, we hit the road, so let’s enjoy life as it is right now. We will worry about that tomorrow. So, raise your glasses, and happy fucking birthday to me.”

We all clink our glasses and start the party.