Page 11 of Fated to the Rogue

The man’s cold gaze fell on me. “Zephyr Wyndham shall keep his title as Wind Howlers’ Alpha, just as the Goddess intended.”

The shadow of a smile crossed my father’s stern face as he glanced at me. I should be happy, too. But for some reason, the Elder’s words only made me more anxious.

How was I supposed to rule a pack with a female wolf?

5 | Peculiar

Aheavy sigh escaped my lips as I sat on the hood of my car, staring out at the view beyond the cliff. Wind Howlers didn’t have the largest territory in the state, but I was convinced ours was the most beautiful. Whenever I was stressed, I would listen to the calming sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, but today, not even that could wash away my troubles.

After our meeting with the Elder, my father took me to his office, where we joined my mother to have breakfast in private. Although we had barely gotten any clarification on the problem, he was satisfied with the fact I could still lead. Mom was ecstatic when he told her, too. Sadly, as they discussed the next steps for my takeover, I couldn’t share their joy.

There were two ways to rule over wolves - through respect or through fear. Either of them could only be achieved upon proving one’s strength. As creatures who value power, they would only listen to the strongest among them, which is why Alphas passed their titles on to their sons before their old age started to weaken them. It was also the reason why males were usually the ones to become pack leaders; they’re naturally bigger and stronger than females.

Despite the Elder giving me permission to claim my birthright, I knew it wouldn’t matter once challengers started to appear.

“Let them come,” Dawn roared confidently, clearly listening to my thoughts. “I will gladly defeat them for you if you’re too busy whining with your tail between your legs.”

Her brave words only made me scoff. “As if I would ever let you out to battle anyone.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” I had no intention of replying, but she continued before I could anyway, “Oh, nevermind. I know why. You’re afraid of realizing that a female is stronger than you, huh? Classic Alpha male crap.”

Damn, she knew how to get on my nerves. She would have gotten a rise out of me had a loud bark not interrupted our bickering. As I turned in the direction of the sound, I encountered a 6’ 5’’ wolf standing close to my car. It had light blonde coat with white and gray markings. I recognized him by his unique eyes; they were a blue-ish shade of green, resembling mint.

“Goddess, this is so embarrassing!” Zach complained. I didn’t even notice my friend riding the creature until he climbed down from its back. “Why couldn’t we take the damn limousine instead?”

The next second, the wolf shifted back into his human form, revealing my Beta. “Because Mint could get us here faster,” he replied, quickly putting on the shorts he had been carrying. Meanwhile, Zach tried and failed to get rid of the fur on his clothes. Once Malin was dressed, he turned to me. “You said it was urgent. Does this have to do with your talk with the Elder?”

“Yeah.”

“How did it go?” There was a hint of interest in my Gamma’s different-colored eyes.

“Not as well as I’d hoped,” I confessed, massaging my temples. “Anyway, the reason why I called you here is because my father wants the Power Transfer Ceremony to happen tonight.”

“Does that mean you get to keep your title?” Malin smiled. “Bro, that’s awesome!”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.” I looked away, heaving a sigh.

“And yet you look less thrilled than I did when my father forced me to go back to training yesterday,” Zach observed.

“Hey man, don’t you think you might be getting a little bit ahead of yourself here?” My best friend’s tone was quite positive, contrasting with my negativity. He seemed to easily understand what I was thinking. “Wolves have to prove their strength to earn respect. Why don’t you let Dawn show you what she’s worth before you jump to conclusions? You might be surprised.”

“Listen to your Beta. He seems to be a lot smarter than you,” my she-wolf chuckled cockily.

“I have a feeling I’ll just get disappointed, and I definitely don’t need any more of that right now.”

Just as I finished my sentence, my ears caught the sound of a different voice. My eyes then landed on two young men a good distance away from us. Although I couldn’t really understand what they were whispering about, the way they were staring at me made it obvious. Hudson and Alex were working to keep the rumors from spreading, but I should probably avoid feeding them as well. With that in mind, I jumped from the hood of the car and opened the door to the driver’s seat.

“Get in.” I pointed at my Ferrari with my head. “Let’s continue our talk in my father’s office, where there won’t be any eyes on us.”

“If you didn’t wanna draw attention, maybe you shouldn’t have driven your shiny gold car,” Zach mumbled as he hopped onto the backseat, leaving my Beta to ride shotgun.

???

After the three of us returned to the pack house, I explained the whole conversation with the Elder and its consequences in more detail. I was sure they knew the procedures for a Power Transfer Ceremony very well, but with so much going wrong recently, I wanted to leave no room for error.

The ceremony would take place tonight, in front of the Elder Shrine at the main square. During the event, a magic ritual is performed in which the former Elite members pass their powers on to us, the new generation. That would legitimize our authority by granting us some benefits exclusive to the highest-ranking wolves. In my case, I would inherit my father’s Alpha tone - a special ability that allowed a leader to command other wolves of their pack by force - while Warrick would share some of his strength with Malin, making him as powerful as a born Beta.

The rest of my day was spent inside of my room, both because I wanted to avoid questions I didn’t know the answer to, and because I needed some time alone to organize my thoughts. Well, not really alone, since I now had a mutt who could read my mind all the time. She at least restrained herself to scoffing or silently rolling her eyes at my concerns, which was annoying, yet certainly not as stressful as our pointless bickering.

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