Page 113 of Fated to the Rogue

Despite that, my old man seemed proud of my accomplishments in my first months as Gamma, and happy for me having met my mate. Of course, he didn’t miss the chance to bring up the way I ran away from Nisha the first time I saw her, but I was starting to get used to it. I had come to terms with the fact that people wouldn’t drop this for a long time.

In the end, it wasn’t too bad to spend some time with my parents, but I was happy when we headed back to our room. I sat down in one of the blue bean bags in front of my gigantic TV, while Nisha took her place beside me. She picked Super Smash Sissies for us to play. It had easily become her favorite game, even if she rarely beat me. I tried to let her win sometimes, but if she noticed I was going easy on her, she’d complain about it. But on our seventh round of the day, I was surprised to watch her destroy me.

“Ha! I finally did it!” she cheered, lifting her controller in the air.

“How?” I whispered in awe. A moment later, I shook my head. “I mean, uh…congratulations. That was amazing,little magpie.”

She rolled her eyes at me, but eventually answered my first question. “I was talking to Zephyr the other day, and he mentioned that he used to play this game with you when you were pups. He told me what character to pick to counter your favorite one.” I immediately turned to her with a look of betrayal. “I also practiced pretty much the entire day yesterday while you were out checking the traps.” A guilty smile accompanied her confession. “But hey, I beat you. Doesn’t matter how!”

Nisha went back to shoving it in my face, but I only smiled at her happiness. I had always been pretty competitive, and I hated losing. Right now, however, I still felt like a winner. I might have been defeated in a stupid game, but I got the ultimate prize - my little magpie’s joy. Not too long after though, her celebration was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Must be our food,” I guessed, getting up to check.

My suspicions were confirmed when I opened the door, noticing Mrs. Robinson behind a 3-tier food transport trolley. I gestured for her to come in, and she helped me set the table.

“Thank you, Mrs. Robinson,” I told her as she was about to leave.

“Why are all of my boys ditching me today?” The older lady pouted, referring to the fact that Malin and I didn’t join the pack for our meals. “Only Alpha Zephyr came to visit me. He’s such a sweet young man!” she cooed.

“We know he’s your favorite,” I stated the obvious, frowning. The cook faked offense.

“I have no favorites! I love you all the same,” she insisted. “Have a nice dinner, Gamma Zachari. Gamma Nisha.” She bowed her head at us before closing the door behind her.

“Wow. Smells delicious.” My mate turned her attention to the gourmet dinner on the table. “Looks good, too. What did you get for us?”

“I don’t know a lot about cuisine, so I just asked Mrs. Robinson to get us something fancy.” I shrugged. “She said it’s Seared Scallops with Brown Butter and a homemade bread basket. And for dessert, we have…” I paused as I lifted the cloche to reveal what was on the silver plate. “Berries and Cream Crepes.”

“Ordering room service has its perks, huh?” Nisha chuckled as I pulled the chair for her to sit. “Thank you, my handsome crow.” She pulled me closer by my chin and planted a soft kiss on my cheek.

“Wait, that’s not all!” I told her with a wide grin. My mate was the only one capable of making me smile like that. “I know champagne’s your favorite, so…” I lifted a white towel that was covering a bucket of ice. Inside was a bottle ofVeuve Clicquot, especially made for werewolves. “Thought this would go well with our dinner.”

“Oh my Goddess, Zach! Is thatCave Privee?” Her eyes widened and I nodded. “How did you get that?”

“The pack has a secret stock of fancy alcohol for special occasions. Regular pack members have no access to it, but being Gamma…” I shrugged nonchalantly, making her laugh.

“Okay, fancy pants, let’s enjoy our dinner. I’m starving.” She closed her eyes to take a deep breath of the freshly cooked food.

None of us knew when the next and final attack would happen, but we knew it was close. Aware that things could take a tragic turn, I was happy to have this amazing time with my mate. It gave me confidence and strength to make sure I would come back to her in one piece once the war was done.

37 | Last

There was not a cloud in the sky on this Monday morning. Most wolves in Wind Howlers were either lying in bed with their mates, or out to enjoy the beautiful day in their company. I had no doubt that my friends were doing the same.

It was in times like these that it sucked to be a leader.

After waking up early to do a round across our borders, talking to our scouts and sentinels to make sure everything was in order, I returned to the main square only to lock myself in the gym with Valentina and Cassiopeia. Our coach insisted that it would be good for us to continue our training until the day of the attack, especially after we figured out one of Dawn’s abilities and discovered yet another one of Dusk’s.

Since we needed living creatures to test our skills on, a few Omegas volunteered to help us. While Dusk practiced his ability to inflict psychological pain just by staring at the wolves, Dawn would immediately hum her healing melody to take their pain away. I would obviously be rewarding them for it, although they insisted they were happy to do it just to increase our pack’s chance of winning.

By lunchtime, Cass finally decided to give us a break. “Well, that was pretty good. You two have made great progress in the short time we’ve had. Good job,” she congratulated us. “I believe Dawn should have at least one more ability, which should counter Dusk’s bleed-out bite in some way. It’s a shame wecouldn’t figure it out. But I’d say you’re prepared to face the Big Bad Wolf.”

I wanted to scoff at how she mentioned the original Fallen and his army as if they were an irrelevant threat. Like they hadn’t just slain a dozen packs in the span of a few months. In the end, I just stepped forward to shake her hand.

“Thank you for your help, Cass.”

“Having you here was…enlightening, for sure,” my Luna added, mimicking me.

“Don’t thank me.” She waved us off before flashing us a serious stare. “Win.”

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