Bio Rogue

Chapter 2

Ailia pov

Kiera and Olette must be talking, their eye color keeps shifting between red and blue. Finally it settles on red and a more gruff sounding voice came from Olette saying “Momma witch, Ailia, thank you both for saving us”. She paused “and for saving me. I- I know you didn’t have to and given our kind’s history with your kind, I never expected you to. Please know, I will be forever indebted to you both for your kindness in saving my life and helping us heal.” She bowed her head in respect. Mum patted Kiera’s arm and smiled “Nonsense. You both are family. We take care of our own dear. You need to gain your strength back. I’ll he here for a few days and my protections will keep you both safe while you’re here but I must insist that you two stay within the property lines so no other creature can sense, smell or be able to detect you both. It’s too dangerous. In a month’s time it will be even worse for you both between male wolves being attracted to you being in heat and being adults and being marked as rogue.” Kiera’s eyes narrowed “I know. It’s not fair. We shouldn’t have to endure being cast out as rogue. It’s not her fault”. Mum nods and pats her arm “I know dear and I agree. We need to find you a pack, it won’t be easy I’m afraid.” Kiera replied “Because I’m a mutt”.

I chimed in “You remember everything?” Kiera nodded and looked at me. “Yes. Whatever they injected us with only affected her memories as the one at the front of our mind at the time. I am aware of everything and I’ll try helping Olette regain her memories.” Mum replied “You know what needs to be done then”. Kiera nodded “Yes momma witch. I will make sure it gets done”. I looked between them both, they seem to have an understanding. I’m glad Kiera’s back at least. My familiar will be at ease finally. “I should go let the familiars know that you’re alright and get back to my studies”. I stood up and headed towards the kitchen door.

Once outside, I looked around the backyard. Oh they’re good at hiding. “Amethyst! Finn!” I called out for them. Still nothing. “Finley!! Amethyst!” Two birds suddenly landed on the ground by me and turned into two cats. I sat on the ground next to them and picked up Finn. “Alright you two, Kiera’s back. She’ll be fine after a wee bit more rest. Finn ran inside the house, changing into a wolf as he passed through the doorway. Amethyst followed and changed as well. Finn jumped up on Kiera and Amethyst sat down beside Kiera. Kiera smiled “Thank you. I’m alright. Sorry I worried you so much.” She hugged Finn tightly. Finn looked so relieved. “Dearies, give Kiera room to breathe. Oh goodness they do love you so. Ailia please be a dear and get the box from the living room. Kiera, we need to apply more salve and potions. You’re not fully healed yet and another dose is needed”. Kiera groaned. I retrieved the box and handed it to mum before sitting down at the table. “This won’t hurt as much as earlier, you’ve done a good job of healing so far. Hold still and I’ll be as fast as possible”.

Kiera pov

These potions always taste like herb vomit. Ugh. I don’t mind the salves, I don’t have to taste those. Those icky witch potions are gross though. Is this why wolves don’t like witches? It probably tastes so bad because of my heightened senses. “All finished my dear, please go lie down and have a rest. Allow yourselves to heal and gain your strength back”. I stood up from the chair I was seated in “Yes ma’am.” I walked over to the couch and laid down since this is where Olette would feel most comfortable right now. Finn and Amethyst transformed into tiny kittens and fell asleep on top of me as I drifted off to sleep.

“Olette, did you get any rest?” I can hear Olette shift around. “Not really. It’s hard to rest with everything that’s happening. It’s a lot to take in”. I sighed. “I understand. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you when they attacked. We will get to the bottom of this and they will pay for harming you and trying to kill me. This much I can promise you. I’ll shred them to pieces. We need to train as hard as we can, and some of that will have to mean that you take your witch studies seriously too. When we can fight together as one, I promise I will protect you with everything I have but for now I need you to learn as much witch stuff as you can and train your physical body so you can protect us both.” Olette hesitantly replied “Kiera? I don’t know the first thing about training. There’s a lot of unknowns and it’s scary that someone wants to abduct me, kill you and remove all of my memories”. “Again”. I could feel her annoyance at my reminder that this wasn’t the first time. “Yeah, thanks for that. What do they even want with me? I don’t have any clue who I am or anything about my past. What if I’m a terrible person and these abductions are because I’ve done something wrong and they’re trying to collect me to chuck me in a wolf pack jail?” I instinctively started growling and coldly said “No.” Olette stood up. “Are you sure about that? How do you even know? Don’t we share the same mind?” Olette punched the wall that separates us. She’s scared. I need to calm down and reassure her. She needs to have the confidence to face her attackers and not feel she deserved it.

I sighed and replied “Oli, I know you. I’m part of you. You’re not evil. You could be more assertive but that doesn’t make you bad. I have a lot of your memories because I’m part of you. I’m separate from you but also a part of you. I’m sorry it sounds confusing. They couldn’t take your memories from me, because I wasn’t the one at the front of our mind at the time of the attack, just like last time. Trust me doll, we are not bad and definitely have not done anything to deserve to be punished by any wolf pack. Would two witches have bothered with us or love us if we were troublemaking trash? Momma witch doesn’t care for wolves, but she LOVES us. She and Ailia wouldn’t care so much about us if we were trouble, that much I know for certain.”

Olette silently pondered everything for a moment “Alright. I’ll try my best. How do I train my physical body?” A grin started forming at the edges of my mouth. “Think of me as your own personal trainer.” Olette sighed “Greeeeeat. Someone else to boss me around”. I couldn’t help but laugh. “I mean maybe a little but only because I want you to get stronger, I promise”. When this wall comes down, I won’t ever let anyone harm us again. I know I have to tell her the truth about who she is, where she comes from and worst of all, the painful truths that I’m glad she’s forgotten. I’ll wait until she asks. I don’t want to trauma dump on her. I learned from that mistake last time. I do not need her sobbing for so long or the anger and hopelessness of last time. Finally, we both settled in for a rest.

Mum pov

It’s 5am, time to get these old bones out of bed, showered and moving to make breakfast. I walk out of the guest bedroom and into the bathroom, take my shower and get dressed. Afterwards, I walk out of the bathroom happily humming. I deposit my pajamas in the guest bedroom and make my bed. Then walk into the kitchen. I start cooking breakfast and my mind wanders to Olette and Kiera. I guess the prophecy is right about them. After all, fate did bring Ailia and I here and into their paths. I need Ailia to get on with her studies a little faster. Time is almost up and I don’t know what may be in store for her.

Suddenly, while deep in thought, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement outside. I walk over to the window and look outside, hoping to not be noticed by whatever may be out there. Just then Olette running by has me startled “bloody hell! Oh it’s just Olette. What in Merlin’s name is she doing out there so early?!” I stood watching for another minute or two and it started to make sense. Her wolf was training her to be physically stronger. She’s pretty fast for a mix. I return

to making breakfast. A few minutes later it was ready. I walked over to the door and call out to them. “That was quite impressive. Come in my dear, breakfast is ready.” Olette freezes in place, nods and walks in the house and straight over to the bathroom to wash up. While she’s washing up, I go to Ailia’s room and take the alcohol bottle out of her hand. She’s back to drinking I see. She only drinks when something serious happens with Olette. She can’t cope and this is how she deals with it. I wish she would have dug herself into her studies instead, but hopefully with Olette healed, maybe we can coax her back out of it. “Come on wee one, time for breakfast”. Ailia groans “Muuuum. It’s 6 in the bloody morning”. I sighed. “Ailia we really don’t have time for this. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I’ll let you decide”. Ailia rolled over and went back to sleep. “Hard way it is”. I muttered a spell under my breath, and instantly Ailia was pulled out of bed. Olette walked out of the bathroom to see Ailia’s sleeping body floating past her and into the tub. Suddenly the shower water rang on and Ailia sprang to life cursing and slipping in the tub as she tried to get up. She closed the door and showered. I went back into the kitchen and grabbed a plate of food. I sat down across from Olette and she asked “Ailia wouldn’t get up?” I shook my head. “Sometimes you will find in life that there are things that others may not like, but it may be a necessity to ensure their well being. You can’t please everyone all of the time. All you can do is focus on doing what is best for those you care about”.

Olette pov

As momma witch and I eat our breakfasts, a very disgruntled Ailia with drenched hair walks in, takes a plate of food and sits at the table to my left. She glares at momma witch “That wasn’t necessary”. Momma witch looked back at her calmly and plainly said “I gave you a choice. You could have cooperated and got up on your own or chose the hard way. It’s not my fault that yer alcohol has been stronger than yer will to survive”. Momma witch returned to her food while Ailia glared at her and began eating. The rest of breakfast was very awkward silence. After putting my dish in the sink, I walked over to fold up my blankets on the couch.”That breakfast was a dumpster fire on top of a train wreck, yeesh. You could have cut the unspoken tension with a knife. Now that we’ve warmed up outside, are you ready for witch studies?” I sighed “I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Kiera laughed “Not unless you’d like an ice shower too. Momma witch seems to be handing them out today”. I finished folding up the blankets and Kiera directed me to the study. Once I was in the study, she picked out a few books and I began reading. “While you’re reading all of that, I’m going to take a backseat and hopefully fall asleep. Call me if you have any questions I might be able to answer”.

Ailia pov

That old hag has really done it this time. I love my mum but she has taken it too far this time. This is my house and I’m not even allowed to do as I wish in it. How dare she float me to an ice bath. After finishing breakfast, I walk outside and sit in the chairs on the deck. Amethyst and Finn come up to me. Finn transforms into a chameleon and glares at me from the table while Amethyst transforms into a kitten and sits on my lap to comfort me. “Finn, don’t look at me like that. I know. Just because she woke me up doesn’t mean I’m forced to give up my sleep and my day to her”. Finn gets even closer and glares harder at me. “Finn, stop. It’s my house. She can’t come here and dictate how I live my life in my own house”. Finn shakes his head and jumps off the table. He transforms into a cat and hisses at me before walking off. Amethyst looks up at me with sad eyes “I understand Amethyst, go calm him down”. I sat trying to clear my head. I know why Finn’s mad. He almost lost Kiera and feels I’m not doing enough to get better at protecting her. If she dies in the next attack, it will be all my fault for not trying to get stronger, all out of spite for being woken up early by mum. Finn’s right, it’s petty. I’ll find another way to get back at mum. I summon a book outside to read. I’ll do my studies where I choose to and she can’t change that. Hmph.

A few hours later I walk in the house to find mum cleaning and I walk past her on my way to the study. I walk in, close the door and can see Olette and Kiera are in a discussion while holding a book. Their eyes flash from red to blue, then suddenly settle on red “Hey Ailia. We didn’t see you there. Sorry about that”. I smile, “No need for apologies, I just came in to get another book”. Kiera puts the book down and walks up to me “What would happen if I, as a wolf, tried to do these witchy type things?” I put the book on the shelf and grabbed another “I don’t know. You two haven’t joined as one during your first shift yet. Even though you’re in the body of a witch, you’re still a wolf. Hmm. I’ve never had an encounter like this. Have you asked mum?” Kiera shakes her head “Not yet, I wanted to see what you knew first”. I started walking towards the doorway “Sorry I don’t know the answer to this. I’m going to go read up some more”.

I walked back outside sat down again in the chair on the deck. I attempted to do the same spell mum did on me this morning. I picked up a flower pot from the deck, it wobbled left and right, cripes this is harder than it seems. I tried putting it on the wide railing and as it was raising higher and higher, the door opened. *Smash* The flower pot crashed down to the deck and broke. Mum saw the whole thing and remarked “The key to that spell is never breaking concentration. The world could be exploding around you but your focus can’t waver”. She walked over with a plate. “Here are some cookies dear. I wanted to apologize for how upset my actions made you this morning. I know you’re angry with me and I won’t apologize for waking you up early but I do feel bad about how angry you are with me. Dear, I saw the alcohol bottles in your room. None of that will help them. If you want to help Olette and Kiera, you need to become a stronger witch”. Mum was right, not that I’d ever admit this to her. I glared at her. She continued “You need to be waking up early and doing your best to learn more. Kiera can’t protect them yet and Olette’s mind erase has taken away everything she knew. That leaves her unprotected if they try again, and believe me, they will. She’s vulnerable and at her weakest”. I shift uncomfortably in my chair “She’s not wholly unprotected. She has her silver knife”. Mum raised her eyebrows at me “Right, that she does. How much did it help her last time?” It didn’t, it took my knock out potions for me to get to her. It was almost too late. “I know. I’m—“ we both paused hearing Olette running towards us.

“Look!” Olette holds a flame in her hand and shoots the fireball at the grass, then lights up another flame, concentrates and turns it blue, before letting it dissipate. Mum happily compliments her “My word! You are doing so well, I didn’t expect you to get this far in one day”. Olette smiles and says “Thank you. Kiera helped me re-learn a lot and how to do some spells without needing to vocalize it. See?” Olette floats a cookie off my plate and grabs it once it floats in front of her. “Kiera said start small because heavier things can be hard to control at first”. “Mum smiled “Kiera really has been paying attention to you from the start. Girls, while you’re both here, I wanted to discuss something. A week before your 18th birthday Olette there will be a ball over in King Monaco’s castle. Normally a witch would never be invited, but seeing as you are a minor wolf under my care, the three of us have been invited via email. If we haven’t found a pack for you to join by then, this may be just the occasion to help you.” Mum smiled as Olette and I were frozen in shock. Mum continued “I ordered gowns for all of us as well as jewelry and shoes to match. I’ve rsvp’d accepting the invitation for the three of us. We have a lot to do before then. We have less than 3 weeks to prepare. I have some things to get back to in the house, but please do keep up with your studies. Lunch will be ready soon” and with that mum scurried back into the house leaving us standing there in shock. I watched as Olette’s eyes flicker momentarily between red and blue before fixating on me while blue. “Ailia, do you think we could practice dueling and physical combat?” I contemplated what she asked and replied “I don’t really want to hurt or weaken you, but I guess we could do some trainings together, sure. We’ll do that in the mornings after breakfast.” If mum sees us fighting she’ll have a wee stroke and will lecture me that we should be keeping her safe, not attacking her. Olette turned and walked back inside the house.

Olette pov

A ball?? I don’t know anything about myself or how to act around people in a formal setting. I can feel Kiera’s worry, this will be a lot of other wolves together in a room and we can’t shift if I’m attacked on the way there or home. “Don’t panic. It’s just a wolf ball. Lycans will be there and they are way scarier.” I scowled “That’s not helping”. Kiera laughed “oh come on, lighten up. It’s a formal event, I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to try something near the palace. The king’s guards would rip their heads off without even blinking. Besides, you have bigger things to worry about. You’re walking in there with 2 full witches and being a half witch. If anything, all eyes will already be on you and it’ll feel tense. Witches and wolves don’t normally get along. In fact, we have a history of violently not getting along.” I sighed “Awesome. Why are we doing this again?” Kiera replied “Because momma witch saved our lives and we’ll do anything she asks of us, no matter how momentarily uncomfortable it is. If it will make her happy and put her heart at ease, we’re doing it. We owe her our lives, the least we can do is cooperate. You’re half witch, even a shred of witch blood and these wolves would be distrustful of us. Don’t bring the knife, you’ll get us killed”. I wasn’t planning on bringing it, it’s not like the girly gown has pockets. If it did, I would have considered my mortality for a few seconds before coming to my senses about how bad of an idea that would be.

Kiera pov

The next morning I woke up at 4am, ready for our training session. Since Olette was still asleep, I gently slid to the front of our mind and ran a few laps. I can’t wait to finally be able to run in my own form. I feel so restricted as her. I guess I hadn’t realized how long I had been running for. Olette woke up when we were called for breakfast at 7am. This girl was definitely hand picked for me, boy can she eat! I love it. “Kiera? Why are we sweaty and outside?” I walk us in the house and over to the bathroom to clean up. “You were asleep, I wanted to let you rest while still getting our workout in. So I may have ran a few laps”. She groaned. “Kiera, I am sore all over. Did you just run for 3 hours??” I grinned “Impressive, right? I’m sorry you’re sore. I wanted to give you time to rest so you could focus on your studies. This is important for you. I can handle the physical trainings for now.”

After cleaning up, we sat down at the table. I stepped back to give control back to Olette. As we ate she asked “I had an idea I wanted to bring up to you before I mention it to momma witch. What if we made our own pack. It can’t be all that hard, right? We make a code of conduct and an oath to swear by and boom, a pack we’ll be.” If I could face palm myself right now I would. “Girl. You don’t know who you are, who is after you or how to protect yourself properly, nevermind an entire pack. Build yourself up first and after we visit a few packs we can revisit this conversation. It’s not as simple as you think it is. The alpha and luna of a pack have to look out for their pack, attend to the needs of the pack and be able to protect the pack. Oli we can’t shift yet. I’m happy to see some outside the box thinking but lets work on ourselves first.” This girl thinks after a day or two of training that we can care for a pack of our own? She sure has some spirit.

“Kiera, I can see you two having a conversation, but can I speak with you for a moment dear?” I move to the front of our mind as Olette makes her way to the back of our mind for me. “Yes ma’am.” Momma witch smiled “Thank you dear, have you two had time to catch up on some lost memories?” Wow, she put that so delicately. I replied “We’ve been super focused on studies and training, we haven’t had much time for it” and I’ve been avoiding it since she did not take it well last time and I really don’t need to deal with that again. Momma witch looks at me as though she can see through me “I see. Please make sure you two make time for it. It’s unpleasant and going to hurt but you do need to make time for her to process it, heal from it and be able to learn from it—again.” I groaned “Yes ma’am”. She smiled at me “Alright then, off you go. I have a few more packs to talk with the alpha of and then we will need to get ready for some visits”. I nodded and walked away but both Olette and I both felt the pang of anxiety when she mentioned going to visit packs.

The next week was uneventful as we continued to get stronger and learn more together. We now have 2 weeks remaining until the ball and we are neither graceful not skilled in formal mannerisms.

Olette pov

While I’m glad Ailia has stopped drinking so much, she hasn’t said much to me. I dismissed it as her being weird about her mom being her and bossing her around in her own house at first but now I’m not so sure what’s going on. She hasn’t left the study much except for our practice duels, which surprisingly her mom is cool with as long as we’re careful. We have been careful, most of our shots have been hitting plants. There was one incident where I floated Ailia a little too high and lost control, but she was fine. I shouldn’t have taken her that high. Luckily she grabbed onto a tree branch and jumped down from there. She didn’t get hurt much but I definitely need to get better control over my spells. I know the spells but I hold back. It doesn’t help my wobbliness to hold back like that but I really don’t want to hurt Ailia. She’s been so kind to me.

“Oli there’s something we need to discuss and it’s going to suck”. Well that sounds optimistic. Kiera continued “I’ve been putting it off and avoiding discussing it because the last time your memory was erased, you didn’t exactly take this well and honestly I do hate seeing you so upset over it. I did promise momma witch that I’d talk with you about it because you do deserve to know, even if you can’t remember any of it. May I have control of our human body momentarily please?” I nodded and slid to the back of our mind, wondering what Kiera was up to. She walked us to the bathroom and got a box of tissues, then walked to the kitchen, got a cold drink with some ice in it and then walked into the living room and sat us down on the couch. “Alright, I’m finished making preparations, please brace yourself and do whatever it is that you need to do to prepare yourself for what’s coming”. I paused briefly “Prepare myself for what’s coming in the discussion or just in general?” Kiera groaned “Well both but I meant for the discussion. It’s a lot to take in and can be overwhelming”. Cryptic but it makes sense I suppose. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, I guess”. Kiera sighed “Alright then. If you’re sure you’re ready, then lets begin. I am sorry Oli, I know this will hurt you and upset you. That is not my intention. I hope you understand this and believe me when I say that I would truly never harm you and would look out for us with my entire existence”. I sat back on the couch and made myself as comfortable as I could manage, considering the circumstances.

I wonder why she’s choosing to do this now. Could it be so I know who I am when we go to meet with these packs? Maybe she has an idea of who might be behind the attacks on us, or maybe she holds something that could be a clue even if she doesn’t know that it could be a clue. Maybe there’s more to this than what I’m seeing on the surface. Just as I’m pondering what this could be, Finn and Amethyst come into the living room and shift into kittens before climbing onto my lap and falling asleep. Did Kiera call them here? How else would they know I’d need comforting? They’re really adorable, especially when they’re being so sweet. They must know what’s ahead for our discussion. Their kitten form is one of my favorites, I’m pretty sure they know that though.