Page 108 of Fated to the Rogue

“We did it,” my Luna whispered, proud as I was. “We actually did it!”

“We did, sunrise.” I touched my nose to hers, closing my eyes to enjoy the moment as I smiled against her lips. I didn’t care that we were both naked and covered in the blood of our enemies.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but…” Zach’s voice disturbed our moment, bringing me back to reality and forcing me to open my eyes again. “Maybe we shouldn’t celebrate just yet.”

I furrowed my brows, unable to understand what he meant at first. Then, I took another good look around, stiffening when I noticed something I hadn’t before.

“They’re not nearly as many Fallen as we estimated there to be in their army,” I concluded, clenching my fists in frustration.

“Some of them were caught in our traps,” Tina recalled, unwilling to believe my Gamma’s insinuation.

“True. But something’s still off. I don’t think they came at us at full force,” my friend insisted. As much as I hated it, I found myself agreeing with him. It was too easy.

I didn’t even have time to feel happy about our victory. Just when I thought my problems were over, they kept coming. Valentina sensed my worry and wrapped her arms tighter around my body, trying to calm me down. Unfortunately, the only thing that could bring me peace was figuring out what was going on.

“There’s heavy dark magic emanating from their bodies.” This time, I was surprised to hear Cass’ voice. I noticed she had disappeared from Dawn’s back as soon as we made it to Wind Howlers, but I had no idea where she had teleported to. Now, she was crouching next to one of the dead Fallen.

“I thought they all did?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“It’s stronger on these ones than it was on the ones I studied before,” she revealed, feeding my anxiety. I watched as she forced one of the rogue’s eyes open, and her expression was immediately filled with dread. “A spell was cast on this rogue. On all of them, most likely.” She stood up abruptly, turning to face me. “These weren’t sent to slay your pack, Zephyr. These were spies. Their eyes were enchanted to work as cameras. They came here to show something to someone.”

“Showwhattowho?” Blinded by exasperation, I struggled to make sense of the situation.

“Their leader,” Tina concluded. Her neutral expression didn’t change in the slightest, but I could feel her worry through our bond. “They came here to show their leader who the Switched Pair is.”

I held my breath. If she was right, and this hadn’t been their final attack, we were now more screwed than ever.

36 | Father

My mate’s words played on repeat inside my head as I glanced at the bodies surrounding us. A minute ago, I thought that this hell would be over for once and for all. Now, I’ve just learned that it’s barely begun. It was too much to take, even for an Alpha.

“That’s impossible. They couldn’t have figured out who we are.” I shook my head, completely in denial. “They didn’t see us shift, nor could they possibly tell that we were using our abilities. Nothing about us physically changes when we see through each other’s eyes.”

“It’s possible though, Zephyr!” Tina’s tone became slightly more high-pitched as she started to lose her cool. “They saw us dodge attacks that we couldn’t possibly know were coming otherwise. Then, there’s…there’s the thing that Dusk did! No ordinary wolf can do that!” she insisted, making me tense up. “Rhys told us that his leader knew about our existence. It makes sense for him to send spies to learn our true identities.”

“Well, anyway, it doesn’t matter. We killed them all, didn’t we? No one will be returning to deliver the message, right?”

“Wrong.” I was learning to dread Cassiopeia’s voice. She was always the bearer of bad news. “The spell that was cast on these rogues works as a livestream. It transmits everything they’re seeing to the caster in real time.”

“So he’s also working with a witch?” Could our situation get any worse?

“Looks like it.” Cass shrugged. “I don’t think we should worry too much about it though. To cast such a powerful spell, and on so many individuals, the leader of the Fallen must’ve given everything he had in exchange for this. We already know he sold his soul, so this probably cost him any other resources he had.”

“That sounds like a desperate move,” Malin observed.

“It’s pure strategy, actually,” my Gamma chimed in. Goddess! Always the damn voice of reason. “If he knew about the prophecy, he knew the only ones who can stop him are the Switched Pair. From the rumors, he must have figured out that you were members of Wind Howlers, which means his attack against us could be his last. By sending spies, he not only found out about the two of you,” - he pointed at my Luna and I - “but he also learned what our defenses are. He wanted to maximize his chances of winning.” He made a brief pause before delivering the bottom line, “Either way, it proves that these minions were expendable to him.”

“Which means that the leader of the Fallen expects to defeat us with the strength his army possesses,” I concluded, finally swallowing the bitter pill. “He must be ready to come for us now.”

As hard as it was to acknowledge it, it seemed that we had hit rock bottom. My team and I had worked so hard. Endless days and nights had been spent carefully planning every little detail to ensure we would have an advantage when the time came for us to face the Fallen. Has it all gone to waste? I failed to see how we would manage to pull a rabbit out of a hat now.

“Zephyr…” My mate’s quiet voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I instinctively took a look around, realizing that a lot of pack members were now staring at us. There was no doubt they had heard everything. Their expressions were filled with horror as they waited to know more, to be given any hope of surviving. That’s when I realized what a terrible mistake I had made; I should’ve never started such a discussion in public. It only added to their stress. I sighed, mentally scolding myself.

“Okay everyone, this is not the time, nor the place,” I told my team. “Find your mates, go to your rooms, take a nice shower, and meet me in my office in 30 minutes. We’ll figure out where to go from there.”

They all nodded their heads at me, taking robes that an Omega had brought for us before heading towards the main square to do as I said. I heaved a sigh as I flashed Tina one last tired glance. Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, I pulled her closer to kiss her temple, and we too walked to the pack house.

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