Chapter 4

"Artemis sweetie it's time for breakfast" Grandma Shuu called to her as she lay comfortably in her nest. Artemis smelled eggs and pork and bread with honey, her favorite breakfast food, and she jumped right up. She looked around for Kasper and Apollo and found them nowhere inside. "Your brother and uncle went out to buy you more clothes from the market and hunt for food, ''Grandma Shuu told her after noticing her looking around. Artemis nodded and then went to wash her face off with fresh water in the tub then she sat down and waited for breakfast. "How did you sleep sweetheart?" Grandma Shuu asked Artemis, she simply shrugged her shoulders, not really sure how to answer. Once Kasper and Apollo came back she perked up a little more and ate all of her breakfast that satisfied Grandma Shuu so she said nothing more.

This routine went on for weeks as they all worked around inside and out of the cottage to make it come back to life. Artemis happily worked on putting together a farm with Apollo, she figured they could still start growing a few things now and harvest by the first snowfall. One day working on the farm Artemis seemed more agitated than normal. She didn't eat much of her breakfast and even didn't do as much farm work as usual. She was sitting down fanning herself and then all of the sudden she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and in her back. Artemis fell over and cried out not sure what was happening. Both Kasper and Apollo rushed over to see what was going on and found her lying on the ground in a fetal position. They both immediately freaked out but Kasper reacted first. He picked Artemis up in his arms and rushed into the cottage to lay her on her bed.

"Mother something is wrong with Artemis, she's in pain!" Kasper shouted even though she was only across the room. Grandma Shuu quickly came over to assess the situation but the first thing she noticed was the potent blood on Kaspers arm. It was Artemis' menstrual blood meaning she was in heat. "Kasper, go wash off and take Apollo with you. And don't come back inside until I tell you so" Grandma Shuu demanded "what happened to Artemis why is she bleeding" Apollo demanded not moving. Suddenly the scent hit Apollo and Kasper both at the same time. "She's in heat" Kasper said in almost a whisper " we need to go" Kasper said firmly, grabbing Apollo and pulling him out the door.

Once those two were gone Artemis looked up at Grandma Shuu with tears rolling down her face. "It has never hurt this bad before. I don't think I can take it nana" Artemis cried to Grandma Shuu. "It will be ok dear. Nana will make it all better, you just relax ok" Grandma Shuu instructed her. Grandma Shuu helped Artemis wash up and change, then she made a nice warming soup and some medicinal tea to help ease Artemis' pain. "I promise this won't last long. Not like before when you were fully human. It's what comes afterwards that has me worried. You can start having litters now" Grandma Shuu said. "What?" Artemis exclaimed "don't i have to mate first to make that happen though" Artemis asked. "Yes. Yes you do. For now. You have to resist every temptation not to mate, okay" Grandma Shuu said. "Ok then" Artemis said feeling reassured.

That night when Grandma Shuu put Artemis to sleep she stepped outside to speak to Kapser and Apollo who had spent the whole day pacing the front yard back and forth worried about little Artemis. "Don't worry. I'm sure the worst of her pain is gone now and she should feel better in the morning. But you do know what this means now?" Grandma Shuu asked, neither one of the men wanted to answer. "That means that we need to be vigilant about keeping her enclosed here so that males don't come looking for her trying to force their mark on her," Grandma Shu said. Kasper and Apollo immediately became alert "No one will get through here without going past me first" Kapser declared "Good Good" Grandma Shuu agreed. "Now get some rest. I'll bring out blankets in case it gets cold" Grandma Shuu said before turning and going inside.

When Artemis was finally free of pain she still could not leave the house until Grandma Shuu said so. Artemis had to settle for sewing clothes and blankets for her uncle and brother then she settled for pottery. She would just have to have either her uncle or brother go to the lake to get the clay for her. Days went by and she had made plenty of new pots and cooking pans and cups and bowls and plates. She had made her uncle and brother plenty of clothes and even ventured into making bags and shoes for them too. They were pleased with everything she had personally made.

During the last week of Artemis' heat everybody was very on edge. With just seven more days left to keep her in solitude she was very eager to get out and run around and play and do some farm work too.

The unexpected happened and it was Artemis shapeshifting into her wolf for the very first time. The wolf was huge and uncontrollable. Artemis bumped into everything everyway she turned. Artemis became frustrated with the small cottage and literally broke through the door and out into the front yard and she shook all of her white fur loose and let out a nice deep breath. "So this is what it's like to be in wolf form" Artemis said to herself. Artemis couldn't help herself. She let out a nice loud howl into the sky making Kapser and Apollo follow suit. "Oh dear. Will she be able to get herself back out of that form" Grandma Shuu asked herself.

"Artemis you should try to shift back now and go back inside" Kasper warned "ok i'll try '' Artemis nodded. She stood in place and concentrated hard and managed to shrink herself down in size and then eventually back into her original self, equipped with her tail and wolf ears sticking out through her hair. "Well then" Grandma Shuu said, handing her a fur dress. "That felt amazing didn't it" Apollo asked her as she slipped into the dress. Suddenly a huge whooshing sound can be heard from above. Everyone looked up and saw a bunch of huge brown eagles circling above them. "Artemis go inside right now," Kasper demanded. Artemis started to make her way to the door only for one of the eagles to swoop down and snatched her up. Artemis screamed and Grandma Shuu can be heard screaming as well. Artemis kicked as hard as she could but the eagle would not loosen its grip. They were getting further and further away from the cabin and Artemis was not happy. Artemis shrieked and started shifting into her wolf again. Once she was fully transformed she used one hand to dig her claws into the eagle's talon then she bit down on it. The eagle shrieked and released Artemis, sending her dropping into the trees below and as she was falling she saw another eagle ram into the one who snatched her and they began fighting in the sky.

Artemis had to break her fall going through the trees by grabbing hold of a couple of branches. When she finally landed on her feet the two eagles were still fighting, Artemis stole the time to sharpen one end of one of the branches she still was holding. She would use it as a spear to protect herself. Artemis wanted to ignore the fighting and get back to Grandma Shuu as soon as possible. She started running back in the direction of the little cottage following the scent of freshly cooked pork. Artemis was running as fast as she could almost half way back home when Suddenly the dead body of an eagle dropped right in front of her. She stopped and screamed and she looked on in horror. Its talons and wings were ripped off. Artemis didn't even have time to recover before a bloodied man dropped down next to the dead bird naked everywhere but holding a fur out to her. "Wolf female. I have killed the eagle who dared kidnap you. I am Bowen and I request to be your mate!" Bowen said, kneeling to Artemis. Artemis wasn't moved one bit. "Out of my way eagle i dont not wish to mate with you!" Artemis demanded as she proceeded to walk forward anyways not wishing to conversate with him while they both were naked.

"Wolf female, are you cold!! Here take my fur" Bowen said wrapping his fur around her "Go away!" Artemis yelled "Be gone. Princess Artemis does not need your dirty clothing!" Kasper yelled running up to his niece and her potential suitor. "Princess!! I saved a Princess!" Bowen beamed. "I already told you I do not wish to mate" Artemis said while putting on the fur dress Apollo handed her. "Now let me go back home and never see you again. Your persistence is making me angry" Artemis said to Bowen before turning to lead the way back to the little cottage This time Bowen did not follow them.

Artemis was silent for most of the walk but then she couldn't stay quiet anymore. "Nana was right. I should have stayed inside the cottage" Artemis fumed. "Don't worry Artemis. Everything is all ok now. We're almost back to the cottage very soon" Apollo said, trying to cheer Artemis up. "Yeah. And you stood up for yourself very well against an eagle. None of these males will be able to bully you" Kasper beamed. "You two are just trying to cheer me up and I know it all too well" Artemis accused. "Well still. All that matters is we got you back" Apollo said.

(Back in the Eagle Village)

Bowen returned to his tree nest feeling very gloomy and rejected. He doesn't get what went wrong with the Princess. He saved her from being taken and forced by that other crazed Eagle beastman and he politely asked to mate with her himself and she still turned him down. "Bowen I heard you were the one who killed David" James the Eagle King said stepping foot into Bowens nest. Bowen immediately got down on one knee and lowered his head. "My King. I was saddened to have to resort to such measures but David had gone crazy and tried Kidnapping the Wolf Princess and I could not stand for it" Bowen said quickly. "There is no Wolf Princess Bowen, don't spit out lies. What business is it of yours if David tries to find him a mate. You should have come to a guard first before taking measures into your own hands" James said accusingly "My king I wouldn't dare lie about a Princess. He snatched her right out of her home and took her into the air. Her guardians came to fetch her when I tried to communicate with her and declared themselves that she is a Wolf Kingdom Princess" Bowen said. The Eagle King seems to think this information through for a minute then he turns to Bowen and looks him over. "How did you fail to mate with the female if you rescued her from this attack?" James asked accusingly "I don't know my King. She was very scared and angry and almost attacked me herself if her guardians hadn't shown up" Bowen informed. "Fine Bowen. I will forgive this crime due to the circumstances. Since you were the first and only Eagle Beastman that the female has come in contact with, you must pursue this female and become mates or else you will lose your life for putting your beak somewhere it doesn't belong. You know very well the female should have been broughten back so that the eagle beastmen can compete for a chance to be her mate. You took that chance from the whole kingdom when you failed to bring her back home" James said to Bowen. "My king, I am deeply sorry that I failed the Eagle Kingdom. I am disappointed in myself as well" Bowen said, trying not to falter and display his emotions in front of the King.'' You get one more chance. Don't screw it up Bowen" James warned. Bowen stayed in his tree house for about an hour pacing back and forth. Finally he threw his hands up in the air and grabbed a bag and a handful of his furs. "I will make her an offer she can't refuse, " he said before leaving his tree house to complete his mission. As soon as he stepped through his doorway Bowen felt a sharp burning pain in his arm. Bowen doubled over in pain, ultimately falling out of the tree yelling in pain. The pain was actually temporary. In a split second the pain was finally completely gone. Bowen let out a deep breath and took his hand off of the spot on his arm that was previously hurting. When his hand moved he was looking down at a big black mark encircling his bicep. "No way! I got my first stripe defending the Princess from that crazy eagle beastman!!!" Bowen said excitedly to himself. "She is definitely my mate," Bowen convinced himself.