Royal Meets Rogue
Chapter 5: Found A Friend

Athena

Come on you stupid eyes. Open!

‘Athena!’ Artemis yelled worriedly. ‘You need to wake up! I-I don’t know where we are.’

Hearing Artemis’ scared voice gave me enough strength to finally come back to reality and wake up.

My eyes popped open once I felt another presence and something touching my arm.

I let out a warning growl but instantly regretted it as soon as pain racked its way through my body.

I heard a light feminine chuckle and a light touch on my shoulder.

“Careful dear.” The soft voice said as they carefully dragged what felt like a cool cloth across my shoulder. “You’re pretty badly beaten up.”

I looked over and saw a beautiful woman with extremely dark brown hair and soft brown eyes. She had to be at least in her late thirties.

“That was a very unfair fight. I don’t mean this in a bad way and please forgive me if I offend you, but I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did. But you fought well.” She smiled as she dabbed the cloth onto my forehead. “I’m just glad that you are okay dear. I was worried.”

“W-Who are you?” I asked with a hoarse voice.

She gave me a soft smile as she reached for a cup and held it to my lips. “It’s water. You need fluids in you.”

I stared at the cup for a moment before drinking the water eagerly. It felt so nice as it ran down my parched throat.

“I’m Hecate.” She smiled.

I looked at her shocked. I have never heard of the name before.

“It’s Greek. It stands for ‘goddess of magic’.” Hecate laughed. She must have sensed my confusion. “Your name is Greek too. Did you know that?”

I shook my head no. “I didn’t.”

“Athena stands for ‘goddess of wisdom, war, and the useful arts’.”

“H-How did you know my name?” I asked quietly before having a coughing attack.

Hecate looked worried as she got up and ran to get me more water. She came back a minute later and put the cup back up to my mouth.

“I heard your alpha say it.” She replied before she sighed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. By the time I got there, it was too late. You three were already fighting and I had no way of stopping it.”

“Wolfsbane?” I asked.

She nodded, looking slightly guilty. “That was all I had. I feel terrible for using it. I tried to throw it closer to them but with the way the wind was going, you got most of the smoke.”

“How did you know?” I asked confused as she tried to help me sit up. “And how do you know so much about Greek Gods?”

“I’ve been around a long time, my dear. Traveled the world and learned many things.” She winked. “And I know a werewolf when I see one.”

“Why do I feel like that holds a double meaning?” I joked.

For some reason, she gives off a calming effect. She seems very trustworthy and even Artemis doesn’t feel threatened. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let my guard down just yet. After what just happened, she’s got to earn that.

‘Well I mean she did just save your life.’ Artemis argued. ‘Besides, I like her. She has this motherly nature going on and I like it.’

I focused back to Hecate and watched as she rewet the cloth.

“That is a story for another time.” She laughed as she continued to wipe away the dried blood. “But right now, you need to rest. You are now a rogue and werewolves don’t take too kindly to rogues, so you need to save up your energy.”

I sighed and nodded. “Thank you, Hecate. I really appreciate all your help.”

She waved me off. “No need to thank me. I enjoy helping me, it gives me peace and it shows them that there are still some good people in this world.”

I laughed. “Yeah. The world needs more of that.”

“That is does my dear.” She agreed. “But if you don’t mind me asking, what happened back there?”

I gulped and looked down as my thumbs twirled. “I may or may not have knocked out my ex-alpha.”

Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open slightly. “Y-You what?”

“I had no choice!” I argued quickly. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. I really didn’t.”

She pulled me into a hug as I started to cry. “Hey, hey. It’s going to be okay. Tell me what happened and I’ll see if I can help in any way.”

I nodded and pulled back, resting against the pillows. “He was my mate. My whole life I’ve been a punching bag for my pack. It was my birthday and that’s when I smelled him.”

“Your mate.” She finished sadly.

“Yes.” I mumbled. “He rejected me and I ran up to my room. I had to get out of there. He followed me and talked awful towards me. Saying that we could do…stuff.”

She grew angry and she gasped. “Are you serious? What kind of person does that?”

“I told him I would never and growled at him. That’s when he grabbed me by my neck and I almost passed out from not having any air. He dropped me and I grabbed my lamp before knocking it over on his head.” I gulped. “That’s when he dropped. I panicked. I quickly got out of there and ran.”

“You did what you did out of self-defense. It’s his fault!”

I shook my head. “He wants my head for treason.”

“I can make some calls!” She shouted as she jumped up and ran for the phone. “I have a very good friend who owes me a favor. He can fix this!”

“No!” I yelled as I put my hand out. “Don’t, please.”

She stopped and turned around to face me. “Are you sure? He can make all of this go away.”

I gave her a humorless chuckle. “I highly doubt that.”

She smirked at me. “Oh no. Trust me.”

I thought about it for a second. Is she for real? What person could make an alpha stop from killing someone who committed treason?

“No.” I said after a moment of silence. “I just want to hide out until I can replace a safe place and move to another state. Maybe a different country.”

“As you wish dear. But he really could help.” She sighed. “Anyway, you could always stay here.”

“You mean that?” I asked shocked.

She nodded with a warm smile. “Of course. This is a safe haven. You can stay here for as long as you like. It would be nice to have a little company too.”

“Thank you so much.” I smiled as I felt my eyes tearing up. “I-I’ve never felt this much kindness.”

Hecate looked shocked. “Really? Not even from your parents?”

I felt my shoulders slump as sadness washed over me. “I’ve never met them. I was told that my pack found me when I was a baby.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Hecate whispered as she gave me a hug.

I sighed in defeat as I laid my head on her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” She mumbled as she rubbed my back. “Everyone deserves to have a family and to feel love.”

I sniffed as tears flooded my eyes.

This is nice. Just from a hug, I can already tell how caring and kind this woman is. This is something that I’ve never experienced, but I’ve always wanted too.

“I want to show you something.” She smiled as she pulled back.

I gave her a confused look as she helped me stand up. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” She laughed as we made our way outside.

As we got outside, I took in our surroundings.

“Wow.” I whispered mesmerized as I looked around.

The flowers that were blooming were absolutely breathtaking. So much color and the trees were a bright green.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” She asked as she noticed my awestruck expression.

I nodded. “It’s amazing.”

“I live in the perfect spot of this forest. The perfect amount of sun and rain hits here, so it gives all the flowers and the trees life.” She explained. “The perfect place to build a cottage. And I also live in a forgotten part of the forest so there’s no one really. It’s for the best because all of this life doesn’t get disturbed and the animals are free to roam without any fear of being hunted. There’s a small pond that has a cute little waterfall over here.”

I smiled as I saw what she was talking about and watched the tadpoles swim around. “It’s gorgeous.”

She nodded. “It’s perfect.”

We kept walking until we came to a shed.

“Is there where you kill me?” I asked laughing.

“Damn. You found out my plan.” She joked as she helped me walk over to it. “No dear. This is my greenhouse.”

“You have a greenhouse?” I asked as she grabbed a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

She nodded as she opened the door and helped me in first.

“Whoa.” I said shocked as I took in all the flowers. “What kind of flower is that?”

There was a bright orange and yellow flower that I have never seen before. The petals were fire orange with a yellow line going through the middle and it also had black specks all over the petals. It had a bright neon green stem with oval-shaped leaves.

“This is called the witch flower. Very rare.” She smiled proudly.

“How did you get it if it’s so rare?” I asked confused.

“It was-” She paused for a second, trying to come up with something. “A gift.”

I stared at her and laughed at her silly lie. “Does this flower have to do with the story that you might tell me later.”

She nodded with a smile. “Yes, it does. But for right now, you need to rest.”

I watched curiously as she went over to the counter and grabbed a ladle. She then grabbed a glass and dipped the ladle into a bowl. Orange liquid slipped out of the ladle and poured in the glass.

“What is that?” I asked skeptically as she handed me the glass of orange liquid.

“Athena, you are a rogue and we are on the outskirts of another packs territory. You have to be careful and we need to hide your scent.” She explained as I grabbed the glass.

“And this will hide my scent?” I asked. “I don’t know.”

“I know that we just met but I promise you, you need to hide your scent if you want to be safe.” She said. “Here, I will take a sip to show you that it’s not poison.”

I watched as she took a sip of the liquid and I waited for something to happen.

But I was amazed as her scent slowly disappeared before I couldn’t smell her at all.

“Y-You…what?” I asked with wide eyes.

She laughed. “I told you. This will hide your scent. But it will only last for five hours so after those hours are up, you need to drink more. You don’t have to drink a lot though.”

Is it safe?

‘Well I mean she didn’t drop dead. So I guess so.’ Artemis joked.

‘Sometimes I really hate your sass.’ I growled at her.

‘Yeah, yeah. Just drink the liquid.’

I gently took the glass from her and drank the rest of the orange liquid.

The drink went down smoothly, but I didn’t feel any different.

“I think it worked?” I mumbled unsurely.

She nodded. “Trust me, it worked. Now let’s get you back inside so you can rest.”

“Wait.” I said as I looked at her.

“Is everything okay?” She asked confused.

I looked around at the flowers and I turned to the bowl with the orange liquid. I then thought back to how she had obtained the flower and how she knew so much about the Greek Gods and when she explained that she traveled a lot. She also knows about werewolves and wolfsbane. I then thought about the flowers name.

“You’re not human, are you?” I asked.

Hecate looked conflicted for a moment before sighing in defeat. “No dear.”

“You’re a witch.” I stated without question.

“I am.” She nodded. “You’re very observant.”

“Everything started to make sense.”

“You’re smart.” She stated with a small smile. “Keep that trait. You’re going to need it in life.”

“I plan too.” I smiled as she helped me inside.

Maybe living here won’t be so bad?