Royal Meets Rogue
Chapter 14: New Car

Athena

It’s been a little over a week and I finally got my license!

Well, I still need to go pick it up. Plus I do need to get a license plate.

So now I’m just patiently waiting for her to come back. She had a friend come pick her up because she wanted to surprise me with the jeep. She told me that she saw it on the dealership’s website and knew it would be perfect for me.

I’ve been trying to replace out which jeep she was talking about. I may or may not have stuck on the website and flipped through all the jeeps.

I know, pretty bad of me. But I was dying to know!

I laid my phone down and jumped out of my seat as I heard a car door shut.

I was already by the door when Hecate walked in.

“Oh!” She screamed as she jumped. “You scared me, dear.”

“So.” I drawled out with a smile.

Hecate laughed as she gave me a knowing look. “Would you like to see it?”

“Yes!” I shouted as I jumped up and down.

“Come on.” She smiled as she placed her arm around me and we walked outside. “Close your eyes.”

I quickly threw my hands over my eyes and we continued our walk. We turned around the corner of the house and we stopped walking.

“Open!” She said excitedly.

My eyes flung open and so did my mouth.

It was basically everything I dreamed about owning. It was a nice tiffany blue jeep with tinted windows. It was raised a little bit, but not too high and it was a four door jeep. The world ‘Wrangler’ was written in white, bold letters along the side of the hood and it had a step bar underneath the driver’s and passenger’s side doors.

Good. I’m probably going to be using that every time I get into the jeep. I’m a little on the short side.

I remember a while back I saw someone who had a blue jeep and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Hecate must have been paying really close attention.

“Hecate.” I said in a hushed tone. “I-I love it.”

“Do you?” She asked nervously.

“Yes!” I yelled as I threw my arms around her to give her a hug. “It’s beautiful! And it’s my favorite color.”

“I’m glad you liked it.” She laughed squeezing me. “Go check it out.”

She let go of me and I ran over to my new jeep.

I was starstruck as I looked closer. It really was beautiful.

“Is that a light on the top?” I asked confused.

“Yes. It’s a light bar. Very bright so be careful.” She explained.

Oh boy. I am going to have so much fun with that.

“I can’t wait to drive it!” I smiled as I marveled over the inside of the jeep.

“Which you can later today.” Hecate said. “Let’s go pick up your license. I have to drive there though.”

“Aw man.” I pouted.

Hecate laughed as she ushered me over to the passenger’s side. “You can drive it when you get your license.”

“Fine.” I sulked as I buckled up.

But damn this jeep is nice.

The entire ride was spent of me looking around the jeep.

Hecate was explaining a lot of the buttons inside. Cruise control, lights, and also how to work the light bar.

“So how does the license plate thing work?” I asked as I closed my door.

“What do you mean?” Hecate asked.

“I mean do they just give me one?”

“Pretty much.” She nodded. “They have them at the DMV already and they just kind of give you a random one.”

“Cool.” I laughed.

We walked into the lobby and went over to the desk.

“Hi there.” The lady smiled. “How can I help you today?”

“I need to get a license plate.” I smiled back.

“Okay. One second.” She said as she typed away on her computer. “What is the car?”

“2017 Jeep Wrangler.”

“Okay.” She said as she clicked a button.

I watched as she typed one more thing and stood up. She walked around her chair and went to a filing cabinet. She opened it up and she pulled out two metal plates.

“Here are your license plates and also your license.” She said handing them to me.

I smiled and a thank you and took them from her.

Hecate paid the lady for the license plates and we left.

“Would it be okay stop by the library again?” I asked as we walked out to the jeep. “I wanted to use the computer and also get a library card.”

“Of course.” Hecate said. “I would love to see how Lilly has been.”

“Sweet.” I said.

“Athena.” Hecate said as she walked up to me. “Here you go.”

I looked at her confused until she dropped the keys into my hand.

I broke out into a huge smile and flung myself over to her.

“Thank you!” I said.

“You’re welcome.” She laughed as she caught me. “It’s your car now.”

I let her go and opened the driver’s side door. I stepped on the bar and hopped in closing the door.

After buckling up my seatbelt, I put the keys in the ignition and started the jeep up.

“Oh, I love that sound.” I laughed.

Hecate smiled. “To the library we go.”

The drive to the library wasn’t that far. It was only about ten minutes.

I love my new jeep. It drove smoothly without any complications. I couldn’t have asked for a better vehicle.

“Lilly.” Hecate smiled as she shut the door.

“No way.” Lilly smiled as she fixed her glasses. “Long time no see.”

“Athena was wondering if she could get her library card.”

“Oh of course.” Lilly smiled widely as she handed me a form from her desk. “Just fill this out.”

I quickly filled out the form and handed it back to her. It wasn’t a lot. Just asked me what my address was, my name, and all that jazz.

“While you guys catch up, I’m going to go to the computers.” I said as I pointed over to them.

“Sounds good dear.” Hecate said before turning back to Lilly.

‘I need a friend.’ Artemis said suddenly as I walked away.

‘What am I? Chop liver?’ I scoffed.

‘Pretty much.’ Artemis laughed.

I rolled my eyes and opened Google Chrome.

‘Now what did you say this guy’s name was?’

‘Ares, I think.’

I typed in Ares and groaned.

Greek Gods. Great.

‘Try going back to the wolf article from before. That’s where I kept on seeing it.’ Artemis suggested.

I typed in the search bar and skimmed through the articles again.

After a couple of minutes, I still haven’t found anything.

‘Are you sure you saw that name?’ I asked. ‘We’ve been at this for ages and I haven’t come across it.’

‘I’m sure of it. Just keep looking.’ Artemis demanded.

‘Fine, fine.’ I mumbled as I continued to scroll.

‘Wait!’ Artemis stopped me. ‘Go back up a couple.’

I rolled back up and carefully looked at the articles’ names.

‘I found it.’ I smiled to myself as I clicked on the link.

‘I knew I wasn’t crazy.’ Artemis said proudly.

‘I wouldn’t go that far.’ I teased.

‘Hey!’

‘What? You called me chop liver.’ I retorted.

‘Touché.’

I skimmed through the article.

‘Mr. Galician stands in front of his newly refurbished castle that has been handed down generation to generation. He is seen standing here with his two best friends, Mr. Remis (left) and Mr. Stamos (right).’

‘Oh my gosh.’ I mumbled as I clicked on the picture. ‘That’s Apollo and Janus!’

‘So is Mr. Galician, Ares?’ Artemis asked.

‘I think so.’ I nodded as I zoomed in. ‘Because that’s Apollo on his left and Janus on his right. So Ares must be the guy in the middle.’

‘Do you know what this means?’ Artemis asked nervously.

‘What?’ I asked. ‘Why are you so nervous?’

‘Athena. Apollo is the royal beta and Janus is the royal third.’

I gulped. ‘So does that mean…’

‘That Ares is the Alpha King.’ Artemis finished my sentence. ‘I-I think so.’

‘Oh no.’ I said. ‘No, no, no.’

‘Athena.’ Artemis spoke carefully. ‘You need to calm down.’

‘Calm down?’ I hissed. ‘Artemis. We are on royal land! Do you know what they will do to us when they replace us?’

‘They won’t replace us!’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘Hecate will keep us safe. She promised us.’

‘What can she do against a whole royal army? Huh?’ I spat. ‘Nothing. I get that she is a witch. But she is no match for the Alpha King.’

Artemis sighed. ‘I should have known this.’

‘Well, I didn’t know either. Don’t beat yourself up. I was kept in the dark about these things too. I was never taught who the Alpha King was either.’

‘They are going to kill us.’

‘You think?’ I asked annoyed. ‘I can’t believe I thought I was safe.’

‘We can’t leave Hecate!’

‘I’m not!’ I said quickly. ‘I’m just saying that we need to be careful. Extremely careful. We need to have that potion on us at all times.’

I grabbed my phone and quickly typed in their names for further research.

‘What are you doing?’ Artemis asked.

‘I’m writing down their names. I’m going to try and found out some information on them.’ I told her.

Once I finished typing, I closed out of the notepad app on my phone and focused back on the computer.

My phone buzzed and I saw a text form Hecate.

Hecate: Are you ready? It’s getting dark out. But don’t rush!

I looked up and saw her staring at me. I smiled and nodded before turning back to the computer and closing all the tabs.

‘We’ll continue this another day.’ I told Artemis as I got up and scooted my chair back in.

“Your card will be ready soon. I can give Hecate a call.” Lilly said politely.

“That would be wonderful.” I agreed.

Hecate and I said our goodbyes and headed out the doors.

“I really like Lilly. She’s sweet.” I complimented as I hopped into the passenger seat.

Hecate nodded. “She is. She was my very first friend that I met when I moved here.”

“Where did you guys meet?” I asked.

“We actually ran into each other at Hobby Lobby. I do literally mean, we ran into each other.” Hecate laughed. “And ever since then, we just became great friends.”

“Good. I’m glad.” I smiled.

“Me too.” She said. “Now let’s get back home. I’m beat.”

I laughed and pulled out of the parking lot. “You and me both.”