Page 116 of Fated to the Rogue

“Good job, both of you.” Dawn nodded at the two wolves. “We’ll take down as many of them as we can while we wait for Sanders to get here. Then, we’ll follow through with our plan to ambush them from behind and surround them.”

The very second I cut our connection, I spotted the huge soulless beasts in the distance. They were bigger than most of my warriors. I estimated there to be at least 200 of them, coming at us from the right and the left. Since we were already expecting them to try and surround us, we quickly divided our army to cover both sides and prevent them from reaching the main part of our territory. Malin, alongside Beta Warrick, Zach, and his father, commanded the first group. Valentina, my father, Alex, and I took the lead of the second group. That was all the time we had before the battle began.

Since we, the strongest wolves of the pack, were on the front line, we managed to injure the rogues we came across first, leaving them to be finished off by our warriors. It wasn’t as easy as their previous attack though, since the spies they disposed of were probably the weakest of their army.

While me and my team were more resilient due to our bloodline, we could endure a few blows and continue fighting. Sadly, the same thing couldn’t be said about the rest of my warriors, who seemed to be having a little more trouble. I could sense the sickening rusty smell filling the air, and because the blood of our enemy was scentless, I could only assume that some of our men had already been taken down.

That realization, along with the tingles of pain caused by the breaking of the bond between me and the members who had fallen, built up the fury inside of me. It turned my she-wolf into a feral beast. As leader of Wind Howlers, the death of her kin fueled her anger, causing her strikes to become even deadlier.

Dawn grabbed the next rogue that crossed her path by the scruff of its neck, forcing it to the ground with a roughness I had never seen from her. Dusk arrived moments after, promptly immobilizing the creature with his sheer strength. A single blow was enough for him to carve a hole in the enemy’s chest, making him bleed to death in a matter of seconds. And the Switched Pair didn’t stop there.

Dawn was quick to headbutt another Fallen who flew in her direction, causing him to stumble and fall. She gave the pathetic creature no time to stand back on its feet before she sank her teeth deep into its throat. Again, Dusk arrived to help his mate, grabbing a hold of the rogue’s waist and lifting it up with his mouth as if it weighed nothing.

The caramel blonde she-wolf and the jet-black beast started pulling their victim in opposite directions, viciously shaking it. The rogue howled and whimpered in excruciating pain as his skin was torn and his body was stretched, until he eventually went silent. It was as if Dawn and Dusk’s prey was a flimsy stuffed animal as they shredded it in half, making it rain red.

From the corner of Dawn’s eye, I caught a glimpse of Bellona. The cream-white bits of her fur had turned crimson, butjudging by her vitality, it seemed she was covered in the enemy's blood. In order to become Delta, Alex’s wolf had to be just as strong as any other Elite member, so I trusted she could hold her own. Nevertheless, she had Ebert to cover her back whenever she needed a little assistance. My father’s counterpart had many scars from his years of fighting; they were trophies that proved how powerful he was.

I could only watch them for a brief moment though. With Dawn seeing red, I lost count of how many Fallen she injured and killed. The fight seemed to be going on for forever, yet at the same time, it only felt like a minute.

Eventually, the rogues stopped coming. By then, my she-wolf looked like a beast. She was growling fiercely through her panting breath, her beautiful fur entirely drenched in scarlet. She took a few seconds to regain her composure, looking around to make sure that she was momentarily safe. Most of my Elite only had a few scratches, but I knew we’d had quite a few losses on our side; we were probably down to two thirds of our original numbers. It was honestly better than I had expected, but it wasn’t time to celebrate yet.

Dawn’s ears perked up when a deep howl cut through the skies. Immediately turning to the horizon, her eyes widened as she noticed a new wave of rogues approaching us. There were probably around a hundred more of them. While it was less than the first wave, we also had less men, and the ones who could still fight were getting tired.

Then, a chill ran down my spine as I noticed a dirty, dark brown and black beast standing tall in front of his army. He was much bigger than us - much bigger than the others.

“The original Fallen,” my she-wolf spat, raising her hackles.

“Zephyr!” Malin’s thoughts were loud inside my head as Mint ran up to me. “Sanders is here with his men!”

“Just in time,” I said lowly before raising my voice for the next order. “Remember our strategy! Tell our men to go around and surprise the Fallen from the back, while Sapphire Pond faces them head on!” I watched the light blonde wolf nod before howling a command to his warriors. “Alex,” I called, and the next second, Bellona was standing beside me. “Make sure no one comes near the original. Tina and I will take care of him.”

“Will do,” she replied as her wolf bowed her head to me.

With a deep breath, I turned to my mate’s wolf. “Are you ready, sunrise?”

“We were literally born for this.” Dusk’s eyes were fixated on our target, and he looked even more menacing than Dawn.

Once the hollow eyes of the leader of the Fallen fell on us, he started walking calmly in our direction, not minding the fact that his army was going the opposite direction as they viciously chased after our warriors. Dusk and Dawn both bared their fangs, taking an offensive stance, but the soulless beast wasn’t the least intimidated. When he was only a short distance away from us, I realized that he looked even bigger. I should feel scared, or at least worried, yet all I felt was rage. This monster’s selfish pursuit of power had taken too many innocent lives.

I would make sure that this is where it ended.

“Ah, the Switched Pair…” Dawn lost her posture for an instant when an unfamiliar voice echoed through my mind. It was deep, hoarse, and unsettling. “I’ve been dying to meet you.”

Wait…was that the Fallen leader talking? It resembled mindlink, but that wasn’t quite it. His connection with me seemed to be established in a telepathic way, as if he was forcefully reaching into my mind; a bond between us was unneeded.

“Did you know that to get rid of you both, all I have to do is kill one of you?” My thoughts were poisoned by the same uncanny voice again. “You see, since you have each other’s wolf,by slaying one of you, I’m also destroying half of the other as well. Shifters cannot live without their counterparts. Easy enough, huh?” A sinister grin lit up the creature’s face, but neither of us backed down. “So, who wants to go first?”

Both of our wolves looked at each other before lunging at the enemy in a synchronized movement, gladly taking his invitation. Dawn went for his feet at the same time that Dusk jumped onto his back. The opponent got distracted by my she-wolf, and as he tried to strike her, he let his guard down. At that moment, Tina’s black wolf managed to sink his sharp teeth into the enemy’s shoulder, making him howl in discomfort. He dropped to the floor, forcing Dusk off his back. Even if the wound hadn’t been as deep as we hoped for, landing a bite was good enough. After all, the Darkbringer’s ability would stop him from healing either way.

Thanks to Dawn's incredible speed, she was able to strike our enemy one more time, injuring his stomach before he got up. There was fury in his dark, hollow eyes, although his rage was mostly directed towards our mate. At that second, he probably realized that the blood loss would eventually wear him out, unless he managed to stop Dusk.

My she-wolf’s eyes widened when the original Fallen turned in Dusk’s direction. She acted fast, quicker than him, as she managed to stop his advance by grabbing his tail. She bit into the enemy’s flesh as deep as she could. He roared as she turned to her, exposing his sharp fangs, but before he could react, Dawn bit down harder, ripping out a chunk of his tail.

The filthy creature cried out in pain, letting his guard down for a second. Dusk noticed the opening and took the opportunity to lunge for his neck. However, before he could pierce the enemy’s skin once again, he was hurled into the air by a powerful blow. In an attempt to defend her mate, Dawn jumped at theFallen, but before she could dig her claws into his back, he swatted his huge paw at her, sending her flying.

I could feel Dawn’s pain as her body hit the ground for the first time, bouncing twice from the force of the blow before finally coming to a stop. She tried to get up quickly, but her paws failed her. She was still too disoriented to act. Her mind was hazy, her vision was blurry. Lying on the floor, we watched from a distance as the Fallen lifted Dusk into the air by his neck. He was ready to land the final strike.

“No!” My she-wolf screamed desperately, forcing her recovering body to stand back up at once, but it was too late. Not even with her superior speed would we make it to them in time.

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