Page 28 of Fated to the Rogue

“We have more important issues to discuss now.” I felt bad for cutting him off, but I needed some time to digest the news. “Where’s Amaya?”

“Alex took her back to our room to help her unpack while we have our meeting,” my best friend clarified.

“Where do we start?” Zach chimed in.

I gestured for them to follow me towards the pack house. “We have to discuss a new plan to prepare for the Fallen attack. But we’ll get to it soon.” The topic demanded discretion; I knew better than to discuss it outside, where anyone could hear us. “First, I managed to take a quick look at the suggestions you made to our defense system, Zach. I’m honestly impressed. I’ll study them in more detail later, but I believe we can start implementing the changes,” I informed him, turning to my Beta soon after. “Malin, we also have to talk about your days off.”

“Days off?” He flashed me a quizzical look.

“You have found your mate. It’s only fair that the two of you have some undisturbed time to get to know each other better,” I clarified. “What do you-” Before I could finish my sentence, a strong headache hit me.

The sudden pain forced me to shut my eyes, and when I opened them again, I wasn’t in Wind Howlers territory anymore.

11 | Vision

There was no one around me, nothing aside from tall trees and thick bushes. I blinked a few times, taking in my surroundings. Nothing here was even remotely familiar. Where was I? I could hear my heavy breathing, muffled by the sound of the rain thundering as it hit the ground. It hadn’t been raining a moment ago, but that’s not what confused me most.

My heart was beating fast, pounding in my chest. Was this…fear? No, this was more than fear. I was terrified. It had been a long time, surely more than a decade, since the last time I felt scared. I was taught from a young age that Alphas shouldn’t fear anything. So why was I shaking?

Before I could make any sense of the situation, I bolted through the forest at lightning speed. There was nobody chasing me; I was running from myself. From the dread I felt. My large paws crashed against the wet grass, sinking into the mud with every step I took. The thin leaves couldn’t prevent the downpour from drenching my coat, making me feel heavier. My eyes nervously scoured through the area as I desperately tried to spot any clues regarding my whereabouts. Nothing.

“Stop!”

A man I had never seen before jumped in front of me. I almost ran him over, my massive weight making it harder for me to come to a full stop, especially since the earth was slippery from the rain. Thankfully, he wrapped his arms around my neck,using all of his strength to push me back. As my eyes landed on the stranger, I noticed that he looked to be around his fifties. In his light brown, I saw empathy. He was quite short for a werewolf. Or was I suddenly bigger? Dawn didn’t seem to be this tall in the previous times we had shifted.

“Calm down. It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay…” he whispered, caressing my muzzle softly in an attempt to soothe me. I didn’t know why, but I felt safe with him. “You just can’t let them see you like this. Promise me you will stay hidden.” His tone grew more serious. “When they start asking, you have to tell them you are wolfless. If they ever find out the truth…” he warned, horror evident in his expression. What ‘truth’? “Now, shift back. Before anyone sees you like this.”

Wait, what was going on? How did I end up here? Who is this man? Who…

Who am I?

I didn’t have time to seek an answer to any of my questions. Darkness consumed me yet again as another wave of pain rolled over me. I forced my eyes to open, but when I finally got my vision back, there was no forest, no rain, no man. My gaze fell on the huge building in front of me, and I knew I was back.

“Zephyr! Zephyr!” my friends yelled frantically.

It took me a few seconds to get back to my senses. As I tried to move, I realized that I had one arm around Malin’s shoulders, the other wrapped on Zach’s neck. They were both staring at me with a mix of confusion and shock. My legs were weak, but I fought to stand on my own two feet.

“W-what happened?” I struggled to speak.

“We should be the ones asking you that question,” Zach observed.

“You just passed out, dude,” Malin revealed, standing in front of me as he proceeded to check if there was anything visiblywrong. “And you look pale as a ghost. Are you alright? What was that?”

Good question,I thought to myself. I wish I knew the answer to it. In a moment of clarity, I decided to ask Dawn if she had any idea what we had just gone through. To my surprise, not only did she not acknowledge me, she also simply kept pacing around my head in utter distress. It was almost as if she was in a trance. What the fuck?

“Zephyr?” Malin called again in a demanding tone.

I breathed in, looking away. “I…I haven’t been getting much sleep lately. I’m just exhausted, that’s all.”

As silence filled the air, I could feel their doubtful gazes on me. I had never lied to either of them before; we were the new Elite of Wind Howlers, and there should be no secrets between us. Honestly, I didn’t know where such an instinct had come from. Whether it was out of fear of them thinking I was slowly going insane, or simply because I was still confused about the vision I had just had, I decided I couldn’t tell them the truth. At least not yet.

“You’re an Alpha, but you’re not invincible. You should go get some rest.” Malin’s suggestion was almost an order.

“As soon as we’re done with this meeting,” I insisted.

At that exact moment, I felt something light hit my head, then my shoulder. Slowly stretching my trembling hand out, I understood exactly what was falling over me.

Rain.

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