Page 16 of Fated to the Rogue

I managed to happily explore my lands a bit more before exhaustion finally caught up with me. While the unexpected opportunity to leave the dark mind I was cloistered in provided me a boost of energy, I couldn’t deny that I was just as tired as Zephyr, which was only natural since we shared the same body. Once I found a nice, cozy spot under a tree at the bottom of one of the many hills surrounding the dandelion fields, I curled myself up into a ball as the soft grass hugged me.

Before long, I drifted off to join my counterpart in the land of the dreaming.

7 | Fight

Whether it was because my plentiful life as an heir left little room for me to wish for more, or because the void I felt could only ever give me nightmares, I normally didn’t dream when I slept. After I set Dawn free, however, I had the most peaceful dream.

In my sleep, I imagined my she-wolf galloping through the dandelion fields of my home with such vivacity, as if she had just been set free after spending her whole life in a cage. Well, I guess that was exactly it. It flooded me with serenity to watch her rolling on the grass, sneezing every time the puffy seeds tickled her nose. Her carefree attitude reminded me of what I was like when I was younger, back when there were no duties; back when the sole problem I had was the hole in my heart, which only grew with time. I caught myself hoping life could go back to being that simple again.

The next morning, I woke up with the sun shining through my window, and I cursed myself for forgetting to close the curtains again. At least Ithoughtthat was what had happened, until the intense light forced me to open my eyes - or better yet, Dawn’s eyes. The sight of the flowers dancing swiftly in the morning breeze was not what I expected to see. I stopped breathing when I realized I had never gone back to my room.

“What’re you scared of now, kitty-cat?” my she-wolf teased, though I doubt she needed an answer. After all, she had access to my every thought.

“Shit! We’re still out in plain sight!”

“Calm down.” She rolled her eyes before focusing her gaze on the wide fields. “No one’s around.”

I was starting to relax when she looked up at the sky and something else hit me. Judging by how high the sun was, it should be around nine in the morning, which meant I had missed training. Fuck! I was going to be in so much trouble!

“Maybe the way you’ve been acting made you forget that you’re the Alpha,” she pointed out. “You don’t have to answer to anyone. Besides, who cares if you skip training once?”

“It’ll be more reason for the pack to think I’m a weak leader!”

“Your behavior is the only reason why they think you’re weak, not your training. Can’t you see that?”

I was ready to retort when the sound of footsteps made me freeze. A large shadow cast over Dawn, and she instinctively lifted her head to find a wolf standing on top of the hill, right above her. I didn’t stop to identify who it was; knowing there wouldn’t be enough time for me to shift back, my immediate reaction was to give my counterpart a single command.

“Run!”

She didn’t seem to share my worry though. “How long are you going to keep running from who you are, Zephyr?”

“For the love of the Goddess, Dawn! Quit being stubborn and do as I say for once!”I yelled frantically.

Probably not wishing to destroy the small progress we had made in our relationship, my she-wolf followed my instructions despite clearly not agreeing with me. She finally stood up, not wasting a second before bolting towards the forest on theoutskirts of the territory. I thought I had seen her run yesterday, but I didn’t realize just how fast she was until now.

I hoped her speed would be enough for us to escape our pursuer, but a howl sounding from behind us let me know I was wrong. With my heart beating faster, she tried her best to gain some distance. When she did, she jumped behind a thick bush, lying down to hide herself better. Even if she was camouflaged, I knew it would be a matter of seconds until they picked up on our scent. Not throwing away the advantage she had gained, she carefully poked her head over the leaves to take a better look at the wolf who had been following us.

When I recognized him, I heaved a sigh of relief.

“It’s just Mint.”

“You’re such a drama queen,” Dawn scoffed as she stood back up.

Relief flashed in the blond wolf’s green eyes when we revealed ourselves. The creature’s fur started to retreat through his pores as he quickly shrunk in size, and in a matter of seconds, my best friend was standing in front of me. He stared at my she-wolf for a brief moment before his voice echoed through the forest.

“Goddess, man! You scared the shit out of me!” The worry in his tone was palpable. “What were you doing in the dandelion fields? And why were you running away from me? I tried to link you, but I couldn’t establish a connection. What’s going on?”

Dawn gave me back control without me even asking, aware that it would be impossible for me to communicate with my Beta without the mindlink as long as we stayed in wolf form. My transformation was quick, and though it was still a little painful, it was already a lot better than it had been on my birthday. As an Alpha - a pure-blooded one - I got used to the process a lot faster than lower-ranking wolves; it could take Omegas more than a year to stop feeling the discomfort caused by shifting.

As soon as I was back to my human form, I glanced around in search of my clothes, only to remember I was far away from where I had left them the night before. Since Malin didn’t seem to have brought any clothes with him either, it looked like we would be having this conversation fully naked. As embarrassing as it seemed, the situation was actually quite common for shifters.

“My mindlink doesn’t work,” I blurted out, earning a look of pure confusion from my best friend. Unwilling to stress over it, I continued before he could ask me questions I didn’t know the answer to, “And I was running because I didn’t know it was you. Dawn begged me to let her out last night, but I was so tired I ended up passing out on the grass. Why areyouhere though?”

“Looking foryou…” he replied as if it was obvious. “You’re the Alpha, in case you’ve forgotten. Everyone started losing their heads when you didn’t show up for training this morning. And then no one could find you-”

“Shit! Training!” It had slipped my mind with the whole chase situation. “My father will be so disappointed. And what will everyone think of me? An Alpha who doesn’t show up for training! How could I have let that happen? I should have kept my guard up. I-”

“Chill, dude. No one cares that you skipped training once,” he cut me off.

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