Page 112 of Fated to the Rogue

“I have a few things in mind…” I teased before looking at her again. “But is there something you’d like to do?”

“Hm…” Amaya pursed her lips as she studied my question. I loved the face she made when she was trying to think of an idea. “Oh, I know! Let’s make some ice cream!” she suggested. I cocked my head to the side in confusion. “It’s something my brother and I used to do when we were younger. I know it sounds a bit random, but I promise it’s a lot of fun!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at how cute she looked when she was excited. “Alright. I’m down,” I replied, leaning in to kiss her lips once more.

After we were done with our meal, we headed to the kitchen to follow my mate’s request. Thankfully, there was no one there, which meant that we had the place to ourselves. Since lunch hadalready been served, and the Alpha had cut the workday in half for all essential workers, I suspected no one would interrupt us.

Amaya’s family recipe for ice cream was pretty standard, consisting of just milk, ice and fruit. We had two blenders to use, so we decided on two flavors: raspberries and vanilla. I couldn’t understand what was so funny about this until my mate took a spoon full of her mixture. Instead of tasting it, she tossed it on me in a swift movement, and it landed straight on my face. Not even my werewolf reflexes were enough to help me dodge.

“Hey! What was that for?” I asked her, faking irritation. When she let her guard down, I took a spoon full of my own blend and tossed it on her, hitting her exposed shoulder. I guess we were having an ice cream fight.

“That’s the fun part!” she revealed, laughing.

Amaya jumped in my direction and, without warning, licked the frozen dessert off my face. I followed her lead and did the same to the ice cream that landed on her shoulder, sucking lightly on the spot after I was done.

“Hmm…tastes amazing” I murmured, brushing my cold lips against hers. “The ice cream too,” I joked, and she instantly chuckled.

We played a bit more, hoping no one would walk in on the Beta and his mate acting like little pups. When most of our skin was sticky from the sugary treat, we had already laughed so much we needed to stop to catch some air. We finished eating our homemade dessert the boring way, with a bowl and a spoon. After we were done, Amaya found her way into my arms and looked straight into my green eyes, whilst gently stroking my hair.

“Let me come with you,” she whispered.

At first, I couldn’t understand what she meant. “Where?”

“To the fight.” My face fell.

“You know I can’t let you.” It broke my heart to refuse her request. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be in her place, watching her mate risk his life without being able to do anything. Unfortunately, I couldn’t jeopardize her safety like that. “The Fallen aren’t a normal pack. These rogues...they’re bigger, stronger. It’s almost like an army of Alphas,” I tried to explain, but I had the feeling that nothing I said would convince her.

“So what? Valentina will be fighting!” she argued, pulling away from me to cross her arms and give me the stink eye.

“Valentina’s wolf is an Alpha male,” I countered. “Besides, she and Zephyr are the Switched Pair. They have to be together for their abilities to work. They have to be together to defeat the original Fallen.”

“What about Alex? I’m a born Gamma, which means I’m one rank above her!” I had to admit, that was a pretty good argument. But not enough to change my mind.

“Your bloodline might make your wolf naturally stronger than hers…” I acknowledged before continuing, “However, you were never meant to take the position of Gamma. You’ve never had to fight in wolf form. Alex has trained her entire life.”

“That’s not fair!” I caught a glimpse of the mist in her eyes before she turned away from me. It killed me. “You’re my mate. I should have the right to fight beside you,” she whispered.

“I know you’re upset…” I hugged her from behind, hoping she wasn’t too pissed to not want me close to her. When she didn’t move, I rested my chin on her shoulder, right on the spot I had marked her. “Believe me when I say, I want to have you with me at all times. But I can’t. The pack needs me. If you get hurt...I don’t know if I’ll be able to fight on.”

“What ifyouget hurt and I’m not there to help?” She turned around to face me with nothing but sadness.

“I promise I’ll come back to you in one piece,” I reassured her. When the day started, I had convinced myself not to thinkabout this, but talking to her, I ended up making up my mind. She wouldalwayscome first. A smile lit up my face, and I watched as her tension faded away. “Come on, let’s just enjoy the rest of our day together.”

Reluctantly, Amaya nodded. “Okay.”

I kissed away each of her tears before we got out of the kitchen. I would try my best to make her smile again during the short time we still had.

???

Zachari

When Zephyr announced that we wouldn’t have to work on Monday, the only thing I knew was that I wanted to spend the day with Nisha. Well, I also knew that I didn’t wanna leave the room. Since no one was allowed to leave pack territory, I was sure every single place we could possibly go would be crowded. So, when my little magpie suggested we stayed in to have a romantic dinner and play games, I eagerly agreed. She was becoming more of a gamer with each passing day, and I couldn’t deny that I also enjoyed trying some of the things she liked.

Ever since Nisha and I had sex for the first time, I’ve started to loosen up. I still wasn’t too keen on talking to other people about our private life, but I had learned that I didn’t need to be ashamed of my feral side - or Talon, to name names. My mate loved it when I talked dirty to her, and I always made sure to discover new things she liked in bed. I never imagined myself doing those things - hell, I never thought I’d ever share my lifewith someone else - but that’s just what mates do. They help you change and grow.

As much as I would have loved to spend the entire day alone with Nisha in my room, my parents - especially my mom - insisted we had lunch together at one of the picnic tables in the town square. I was a little frustrated, but I felt bad for constantly avoiding them. My mate also seemed excited to go, and I couldn’t bring myself to say no to her. I almost regretted my decision when I noticed how busy the place was.

Thankfully, lunch wasn’t too bad and Nisha seemed to have had a great time, which was enough for me. I’d never had the best relationship with my father, since he had always been too strict with me growing up. He was closer to my older sisters; I, on the other hand, connected a lot more with my mother.

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