Artemis gave him a smile but didn’t receive anything in return. He recalled the information that he had received from Caroline. Colton’s middle name was kept in the name of her maternal grandfather, while his other brother’s middle name was kept in the name of her paternal grandfather.
Artemis guided him to the living room. Colton settled on the couch and looked around his surrounding. Caroline left to get black coffee for her brother and some snacks. “How was your journey?”
“Good.” He replied before asking, “Why is there no maid here? Did you bring my sister here just to make her your personal maid?”
“What? No way.” Artemis quickly shook his head. “Maids are on leave today. On the top, your sister stays here like a queen. I have never asked her to do anything. She does whatever she wants.” he clarified to clear Colton’s doubt but little did he know that it was Colton’s way to know how close they were, and the fact that maids were on leave TODAY already gave him an idea of what they were doing privately.
“So, I have already heard your love story from Caroline’s mouth in those fifteen days in Spain. I want you to repeat the same. If… if your story won’t match with the story that Sarah told me, then there is a big NO from me.”
Artemis was taken aback for a while, but without throwing any tantrum, he started speaking. Colton was barely listening to what he was saying; he was observing Artemis’s expression when he was talking about Caroline. There was a different kind of happiness in his eyes while he was talking about her and the moment he spent with her.
He already knew that his sister loved Artemis, but he could now see that Artemis did share the same feeling for his sister.
“... I know it’s hard to believe, but I really love Sarah a lot. I knew I shouldn’t have claimed her without taking your family’s approval, but I just didn’t want to stay in a long-distance relationship. So, I didn’t waste time making her mine the moment I realized that I was in love with her.” Artemis finished.
“I was planning to meet her family and talk about us, but I didn’t know whether Sarah told you or not, but I didn’t know about her family background until a few hours ago. I know I claimed as per werewolf's way, but I’m also planning to marry her in a grand way in a human world.”
“So you’re telling me that you didn’t know anything about us and patiently waited for Sarah to tell you everything?”
“Yes!!”
“And you didn’t doubt her intension?”
“I won’t say that I didn’t doubt her even for a second because I did, but at the same, I knew that love and doubt couldn’t walk together. Loving her was a risk, but I still took that risk, and I’m glad that I did."
"Okay! I might fall sick by listening to your lovey-dovey words." Colton mumbled, making a face. Artemis didn't get offended by his remark, knowing how unromantic he was. Well, it wasn't exactly his fault; he didn't find anyone who wanted him just for HIM except for his family members and close relatives. "Coming straight to the point, why do you think my family will accept someone like you? Who is neither the president of the company even at the age of thirty nor the Alpha of the pack."
"Because we love her and we can keep her happy, which..."
"Just answer me directly instead of giving me theory on LOVE," Colton said, cutting him between. By that time, Caroline, too, joined them with coffee and snacks.
"Are you taking my interview?"
"Kind of," Colton said, taking a sip of his coffee while Caroline sat beside Artemis and placed her hand on his with an encouraging smile.
"How important is Caroline in your life?"
"My topmost priority, even before my parents."
"Planning to ditch your parents already for a woman you just met?" Colton asked, arching his eyebrow.
"I'm not ditching them; neither will I ever ditch my responsibility toward them. It's just that with every new relationship, the priorities changes. Why should a woman be blamed for that? Didn't she leave her family behind and her old life to her partner? I don't see anything wrong with this because I believe there is nothing for a woman who held my hand with a lot of trusts. And at the same time, my parents will expect the same from me to treat a princess like a queen, my queen." Artemis said and kissed Caroline's hand.
Colton hissed at his cheesy words. 'Didn't I mention that answer me directly?' he thought. But at the same time, he couldn't deny that Artemis's words were true. Priorities do change along with time. Calvin, Caroline, and he were the priorities of their parents before Lee and Tee, their younger sisters, entered everyone's life. All matter was love, concern, and responsibility of all the children were the same for Brandon and Sophia.
"Do you know cooking?"
"Yes, I do. I'm not great at it, but yes, I can cook a couple of food in case of any emergency or surprise my mate." Artemis again threw his cheesy lines. Colton couldn't help but groan.
"You..."
"Colton, stop it, please!!" Caroline admitted. "And I know that deep down, you know he is the best for me; otherwise, you would never have allowed me to date him. It was a green flag from your end. On the top, you already did a background check on him and found nothing wrong."
"He did; what?" Artemis asked in surprise.
.
#TBC