04

‘And you think that I do ?’ I groaned as I ran to my door and locked it. ‘We need to leave !’ I yelled at her as I grabbed my small bag.

I began to pack as many clothes as I could fit into the small bag and grabbed my water bottle.

As I descended the stairs, I made sure to look if anyone was around. Thankfully no one was there and I made my way to the front door.

After carefully closing the door and trying not to make a sound, I was outside.

« Where are you going ? » I heard a high pitched voice behind me.

I jumped and turned around to see Megan.

« Um, A-Alpha Rick gave me a grocery list. » I lied smoothly.

She rolled her eyes. « Whatever. Just hurry up. »

I nodded quickly. « I will. »

« Wait ! » She yelled as she walked up to me.

I gulped and turned around to face her. « Y-yes ? »

« Where did he go ? » She asked confused.

« I-I don’t know Luna. After he gave me the list he walked down the hall. But I didn’t see which way he went. »

« Damn, you are so clueless. » She sneered.

I made sure she went inside and closed the door before I ran to the car garage.

« Fuck. » I sighed as I realized all the keys were inside.

‘It’s too late now.’ Artemis reminded me. ‘We need to go now. Megan is going to be looking for him and I’m pretty sure he is going to wake up any second now.’

She was right.

Screw this.

I ran out of the garage and ran towards the forest.

‘Athena !’ Alpha Rick growled ferociously through the pack link.

‘Shift now and just run !’ Artemis yelled. ‘Let me take over fully. It’ll give us a lead, at least for a little bit.’

I complied with her and felt her shift.

After feeling the normal cracks and pops, Artemis shook out her fur and picked up the bag with her teeth before sprinting through the trees.

All I heard before blacking out was Alpha Rick’s voice through the link.

‘Bring Athena to me !’

~*~

Artemis

Safety. I need safety.

That was the only thing running through my mind as all the trees zoomed past me. I needed to get Athena to safety and that’s all I cared about.

She was so unbelievably brave. That girl is one of the strongest people I know and I couldn’t be more proud. Even though there is now a bounty on our heads. But let’s just try not to think about that right now.

I slowed down for a second so I could catch my breath. We have been running for over an hour and I needed a drink.

I found a small creek and tiptoed over so I wouldn’t make a sound.

Athena and I are done with that pack. We are done forever and there is no going back. That pack has been hell for my poor Athena and I’ll be damned if I let her go back to that abuse. No one deserves to go through that, no matter how much of a terrible person you are.

After getting a good drink of water, I picked my pace back up and booked it out of there. They are going to be able to find my scent so I need to get as much space between us as possible.

Athena and I are officially rouges.

Athena

Artemis and I have been running for who knows how long. I know for a fact it’s been at least several hours.

We have relied on hunting to get our food when we got hungry, mostly squirrel and small birds. I also found a raspberry bush not far from the trail that I was on. It was an elderly lady’s garden. I was walking by and she stopped me to chat. But of course, with my pack close on my trail, I told her that I couldn’t stay because I needed to get back home. A small lie that I felt bad for telling, but I didn’t want her to get caught in the middle of this. Luckily though she understood and she offered to give me a container of some freshly picked raspberries.

‘Some actual food would be nice.’ I thought to myself as I plucked the feathers off the small pigeon.

‘This is actual food, you dork.’ Artemis laughed.

I rolled my eyes at her but cracked a small smile. ‘I’m talking about some steak and mashed potatoes.’

‘I see your point. But if you look around right now, you would see that we aren’t in a fancy five-star restaurant.’

‘No need for that sass.’ I laughed as the fire crackled. ‘I’m just saying. It would be nice to eat like for once.’

‘Okay, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll stop.’

‘Thank you.’ I sighed in relief.

‘For now.’ Artemis added sweetly.

I knew it was too good to be true.

‘But come on girl. It’s getting late, we should head in for the night.’ Artemis mentioned as I looked up at the sky.

The sky was starting to turn dark as the sun set over the horizon. The breeze was a little on the chilly side, so I scooted closer to the fire.

Is it just me or is spending the night deep in the forest by yourself kind of creepy.

« Okay Athena, just breathe. You are a werewolf. A very ferocious creature of the night. You can do this, I believe in you. » I whispered to myself as I looked around my surroundings.

All of the sudden there was a rustle in the bush next to me and I let out an ear piercing scream as whatever was inside of it jumped out.

A little squirrel just stood there and stared back at me before running off.

‘Yeah. Ferocious creature of the night my ass.’ Artemis scoffed.

‘I hate you.’ I growled. ‘I really do.’

‘Quit lying to yourself.’

‘Just go to bed you very ferocious creature of the night.’