84

SIN

I was hurting.

I was sure Artemisia felt the same way but there was nothing I could do to make her feel better.

And berating myself wouldn't help as well since I had tried everything I could to not do so.

Heck, I didn't want to feel the guilt of letting her down but I could not help it.

"Is there anything else we need to do?"

My eyes flickered around the large meeting hall and my attention stayed on Mila.

It was rare for the witches to be in the meeting hall. But again, they were part of the pack and needed to be in. Seeing as what was happening today was urgent.

My eyes flickered to Artemisia as she stood to her feet.

She sighed and gazed around. Her eyes met mine momentarily, my fingers twitched to smoothen the lines that appeared on her temple and I wanted to tuck a lock of her hair beneath her ears.

But I couldn't. She was a few centimetres away from me and even if I had the opportunity I doubted she'd be thrilled.

"I'd like for you to go with me, Mila, I don't think I can do this alone."

"I'll go with you," I mumbled.

Artemisia scowled and wrinkled her nose, "Not y…"

"Mila can go with the other werewolves and I believe dividing the witches into groups with the werewolves would do us a lot of good. Each of the werewolf's teams should have at least two witches."

The witches weren't much like the werewolves and I believed arranging it that way was better.

At least, all the witches in the pack were trained. They were stronger now and I wasn't scared of what would happen.

For Artemisia, I didn't want her out of my sight. Aside from her going with Mila who might be needed in another group, I want to be by her side and protect her.

I hadn't done much protecting when it came to her, I believe it was the moment to redeem myself.

"That seems better," Mila said. She smiled briefly and counted the witches in the group, then she began distributing each.

Artemisia and I were the only ones left and she tilted her brows, "I guess you need to stick together?"

Artemisia began to shake her head and before she could object, I gripped her hand and yanked her out of the room.

"I don't want to go anywhere with you!" She shrieked as soon as we got behind the closed door.

I ran a hand through my hair and glared at her. Then my eyes softened as I saw a hint of a tear in her eyes.

"Artemisia…"

She turned her back to me and folded her arms. Her shoulder trembled and I didn't need to be told she was crying.

"Artemisia," I called again. But no response and I stepped closer to her.

My hand moved to grip her shoulder and I sighed when she didn't pull away.

I turned her to face me and groaned at the tears that were pouring down her cheeks.

"If it's about what happened earlier, I am really sorry. I don't mean to hurt you and everything happened not by my free will."

She shrugged my hands off, "Even you not protecting me and the baby? I trusted you."

"I promise I didn't know about that and I want to redeem myself if you give me the chance."

"This is the worst that can ever happen and giving you a chance seemed like giving you the free ticket to kill me." She said.

"Please, don't think that way."

"How do you expect me to think? Tell me, Sin. I feel as though I am the only one affected by what happened. You moved on easily. What do you want from me exactly?!"

"The baby is mine as well and currently, I still feel the pain. I am sorry I wasn't vigilant enough." I begged.

Apologies would not undo it but it was better. I stepped towards her and wrapped my arms around her.

"I hate you," Artemisia said. She scrunched up my shirt in her hands and laid her head on my chest. "I do hate you."

Her sobbing intensified and I caressed her back.

"You can yell at me and do all the things in this world, please do not hate me. I don't think I'd be able to live with that." I said.

After a while, she stopped and I took her to the bed, setting her gently on it.

"I'll just leave you to rest here because we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

Artemisia nodded and rested her head on the pillow. Her eyes went to the ceiling and then to me before they wandered again.

I didn't know what she was thinking about but I believe it was an improvement.

She didn't try to push me away as she often does since the fight started and I believe she was more willing to listen to me now.

Her eyes closed and I stood slowly from the bed, I guess giving her the rest she needed was necessary.

I stared at her more than I should and proceeded to the door.

"Wait."

I halted and turned. Artemisia was sitting on the bed. I had thought she was asleep. But, I guess I was wrong.

"Stay." She mumbled as I got to the bedside.

"I assumed you wanted some free time alone."

"No." She shook her head. "I want you to stay with me. This room gets scary when I am alone."

My brows creased as her hand shot out to grip mine. I know it wasn't because she couldn't stay in the room alone.

It was because of the recurring nightmare she seldom had.

"I know it's a nightmare and I can get past it if I wanted to…" She mumbled. She twisted her fingers and her shoulder drooped.

"I don't know how to get past it. I just think of our baby each time and I g…"

"It's fine," I said, cutting her off. "I'll stay with you and be here until you come awake."

"Thank you," Artemisia sighed and laid on the bed again with her arms wrapped around me.

I shook my head whilst watching her shut her eyes. A small smile played on her lips and I gazed at her lovely face.

This was the most decent conversation I had with her in weeks and even the best intimacy. I wonder if we would come back together or if it was a spur of the moment.

Nonetheless, I was glad.