Page 118 of Fated to the Rogue

“That’s when I decided to make it my life goal to destroy all Alphas and end the werewolf race as we know it. I’ll become king and create a powerful species that forsakes thediscrimination and negligence of the higher powers!”He made a brief pause, enjoying his confession.“So I stayed to watch Rhys kill your parents. I can still hear them screaming for mercy, and smell their fear. Oh, what a delightful moment it was! To see a couple of mighty Alphas begging for their lives!” He laughed once again, making my blood boil. “Had I known back then that they had an heir - and that she was part of a prophecy to overpower me - I would’ve ended your feeble life right then and there.”At that moment, I finally noticed an opportunity to escape his hold.

And Dusk didn’t hesitate.

“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance!” I thought loudly, not knowing if he could hear me with his telepathy. By the shocked look on his face, I guessed it had worked.

Dusk stood up abruptly, pushing his back against the soulless wolf to throw him into the air. Even if he was bigger than us, we were still naturally stronger than any other shifter. Without giving him time to recover, my black wolf jumped at him, hitting him hard in the face with his claws before biting down on the side of his neck. The enemy shrieked in agony, but still managed to kick us back into the ground with his front paws, freeing himself from our teeth.

Aware that the Fallen wouldn’t waste time to launch another attack, Dusk instinctively used the last ability we discovered - the ability to inflict psychological pain with a simple stare. Well, at least he tried to. Still lying with his back against the ground, my wolf glared intensely at the monster in front of us, but nothing happened. He didn’t even shake. Instead, a macabre laughter left his throat.

“You really thought it’d be that easy to stop me? Your mind-twisting stare might work on my minions, but I know real pain. You can’t fool me with your illusions!”

I felt my counterpart’s searing pain when canines tore through our waist, but even if Dusk’s plans were hindered, he wasn’t willing to give up just yet. We knew we had already injured him badly, and since he wasn’t healing properly, it was a matter of time until he lost too much blood to stay conscious. In hopes of further wounding the original Fallen, my black wolf started struggling, trying his best to ignore the discomfort of his flesh being torn in the process.

Thankfully, our sacrifice was worth it, as we managed to loosen the beast’s grip just enough to sink our teeth into his neck once again. Neither one of the wolves let go of the other, but that was an advantage to us - after all, we were still minimally able to heal, while the adversary bled out. But it seemed I had gotten too hopeful, too soon.

Acknowledging his disadvantage, the Fallen tightened his bite, and in a swift movement, ripped out a chunk of our flesh. I felt all of the air escape from Dusk’s lungs as unbearable pain tore through us. The opponent was in pretty bad condition, but I could feel my counterpart blacking out, both from his suffering and the blood loss. There was no way we could stay alive until the enemy fell.

As a last resort, I concentrated on Zephyr, forcefully sending images of what was happening right now to his mind. I didn’t even know if it would work, since Dawn was still passed out on the bloodied grass, but I had to at least try. The last thing I saw was the Fallen’s open mouth coming towards us.

Then, everything went black.

???

Zephyr

“Dawn… Wake up, my child…” An unknown motherly voice infiltrated the voice in my mind. Despite not being able to identify its owner, it brought me inexplicable peace. “It’s time, Dawn. It’s time you remember all of your abilities. You and your mate must put an end to the massacre. Only you can restore the natural balance…”The bright light that came with the call suddenly flickered away, leaving me in the dark yet again before I could make sense of the message that had been delivered.

Being unconscious was uncanny. It felt like I was trapped inside the darkest part of my mind, floating in the dimness. The feeling of emptiness I had lived with for my entire life was stronger here, and it would have certainly consumed me whole if I couldn’t still hear my she-wolf’s faint melody. I was glad to have her with me to ease my pain. Even if I was dying, and we would soon have to say our goodbyes, I felt a little more at peace to know I would go in her company.

But before my life faded entirely, something bizarre happened - even more bizarre than the strange voice I had just heard.

Flashes of a bloody battle invaded my mind. It was just a fraction of a second, but I could feel the terrible pain of the one projecting the sight to me. Allowing me no time to figure out what was going on, another image crossed my thoughts, followed by another. And another. A dying figure, sharp teeth, hollow eyes. Then, all I could think about was…death. Was that Dusk, covered in his own crimson blood?

“He’s dying.” I heard Dawn’s faint whimper, echoing somewhere in the distance. How did she know that? Was Valentina projecting those images to me?

One final scene crossed my mind. The black wolf howled in agonizing pain before the monster’s jaws opened up again, ready to strike one last time. No, this couldn’t be happening! I waited for another projection, a sign that my dear mate was fine. But there was only darkness.

No, no, no!

“Dawn, we have to wake up!” I yelled frantically.

“She said the same thing…” she whispered. What? Who was she talking about? “But we’re still weak, Zephyr.”

“The Fallen leader was in pretty bad shape. All we need to do is land the final blow!” I encouraged her, my low heart rate rapidly increasing. “Please, Dawn! Wake up! Wake up!”

Even if I was only sharing my thoughts with my counterpart, I felt like I was losing my voice. My throat was sore and dry, but I never stopped screaming, cheering for her. She taught me to trust her, to never lose hope. Now, it was my time to remind her not to give up. Eventually, I saw a faint light. Golden beams reached the sky, painting it a mix of light pink, lilac, orange, and blue. The dawn had come after a long, freezing night.

We were awake.

It felt like a thousand needles piercing my skin as Dawn moved her head with great effort, groggily trying to recognize her surroundings. The first scene she saw was gruesome. Dusk was lying in a pool of his own blood, his chest barely moving as he struggled to take slow breaths. There was a massive wound on his stomach, leaving his flesh completely exposed. He was clearly unconscious, hanging on by a thread.

Dawn cried out, feeling her fated partner’s pain. She wanted to go to him, but a thought crossed her mind. In our vision, theenemy was about to end our mates' life, but they were still there - badly injured, but alive. Where was the original Fallen?

As if to answer my question, a loud snarl caught our attention. When Dawn turned in the direction of the sound, she found a dark brown wolf battling fiercely against the apocalyptic threat - Ebert. It seemed that, while we were passed out, my father had stepped in to protect my mate on my behalf.

A whimper escaped Ebert’s throat as he was sent flying. He landed right next to Dawn. A quick look at him was enough to notice that he had quite a few ugly-looking wounds, as well as dozens of scratches scattered around his old body. Still, he pulled himself back up to his feet. Shooting my she-wolf a look, he finally seemed to notice my presence.

“Good. You’re up.” My father’s voice sounded in my mind. “I’m glad I managed to buy enough time.”

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