Page 38 of Fated to the Rogue

My Beta’s eyes clouded over before he revealed, “He said it’s Talon.” A smile lit up his face before he stood up, taking his shirt off. “Talon, meet Mint!” In the blink of an eye, the light blond wolf was freed.

“Well, I guess it’s our turn,” I told Dawn as I watched the two beasts play in the water.

“Are you really forcing me to socialize with the boys?” My she-wolf rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “Let’s be quick then.”

I allowed my wolf control and she eagerly came out, immediately howling to call the other two’s attention. Now that they were standing right beside her, I was shocked to see that Dawn was indeed the same size as they were, which was pretty uncommon for a female. My friends were right - she really was special.

Before I noticed, the sun had set. Eventually, we each returned to our rooms in the pack house. After my turbulent day, I couldn’t wait to go to bed and have a good night’s rest.

Little did I know, my dreams would keep me awake.

15 | Dream

Werewolves are violent creatures by nature. While humans had established democratic relationships to prevent nations from declaring war against each other, like they did in the past, our laws allowed - and even encouraged - us to defend what was ours by force. Packs could also ask for permission to launch attacks against other wolf colonies, and most of them were almost immediately approved by the National Elder Council, as it was a means of ensuring only the strongest of our species would thrive.

Although Wind Howlers was mostly a peaceful pack, I knew my time to take someone else’s life would come. All Alphas had blood on their hands, whether it was due to them punishing a traitor to ensure the safety of their followers, or to defend their lands from rogues looking to steal food and resources. With a war lurking like dark clouds over us, I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape such fate for long.

The time for my first kill had come even sooner than I had anticipated. I would like to think I was ready for it, but I don’t believe anyone ever is. The pride I felt over defending my title and proving my strength, as well as gaining new warriors to fight beside me, did help mask the memory of the lifeless Beta lying beneath me, but it still lingered in the corners of my mind. Once I was alone in my room, I expected it to come haunt me.

To my surprise, no nightmares came to visit me at night - though the dream I had was just as unsettling.

I was in wolf form, standing in the center of a clearing. It reminded me a lot of the area where the vision I had had a couple days back had taken place, although I could easily notice a few differences: the forest wasn’t as dense, it wasn’t raining, and I sure as hell wasn’t alone.

My loud growls echoed through the trees as my eyes shifted from side to side, my attention divided between the three dirty beasts surrounding me. They were all smaller than me, and judging by their rotten scent, I assumed they were rogues - wolves who had been banished from their original packs, and whose human conscience had vanished upon them turning feral. Why were they attacking me?

Before I could make sense of the situation, my paws moved as if they weren’t my own. One strike was all it took to put the filthy creature down, but it also offered the other two an opening to lunge at me. They jumped straight on my back, pain shooting through me as they pierced my skin. Dawn could have easily dodged their move, but for some reason, she seemed slower than usual. It wasn’t until I turned around to pull one of them off me that I saw it - her caramel brown coat was now pitch black.

I was in wolf form…but not as Dawn.

My mind was racing a million miles a minute, yet I still managed to take care of the other two wolves in the blink of an eye. I thought the situation was already confusing enough, but the next second, it became even weirder.

“I’ll protect you…” The voice I heard…it sounded a lot like me. I could have sworn itwasme talking, but I knew those thoughts weren’t really mine. “I’ll keep you safe, just like I promised. You can come out now. The sun is about to rise.”

And as the wolf closed its eyes, I opened mine.

“Shit!” I screamed as I shot up in bed.

The first light of day shone through my window, illuminating my room. Wait…My room. I had to take a minute to make sure I was really at home and not in the forest I had been in a moment ago. My next reaction was to look at my shaking hands. The sheets were covered in sweat, but I was definitely in human form. There were no signs of me ever having shifted either.

What the fuck was that? This was too real to have been a dream.

“Dawn? You there?” I asked instinctively. Although she didn’t answer, probably startled by my sudden awakening, I could feel her presence. She was here, with me, in my room.

There was no forest. No rogues. No pitch black wolf.

I was still trying to catch my breath when my alarm sounded, followed by the sound of Dawn’s voice echoing in my head. “We should probably go to training.”

“That wasn’t just a dream, was it? What’s going on?” I completely ignored her.

“I don’t know. You can’t catch a break lately. It must be taking a toll on you.” She shrugged, but I sensed no confidence in her tone.“Today’s probably gonna be another long day…” I immediately knew she was talking about the witch coming over to hopefully shine a light on our unique pairing situation. In the middle of everything, I had completely forgotten about that. “Maybe training can help clear your mind before we dive into that.”

A low grunt reverberated in my throat as I rubbed my face with my hands. In the end, I nodded in agreement, finally forcing myself to get out of bed. Without giving it much thought, I grabbed a random pair of workout shorts from my closet, not hesitating to rush outside. There was a good chance my she-wolf was right about me not being in my right mind, and staying inside my big empty room only fed the hole inside of me, which wouldn’t help distract me at all.

When I made it to the training grounds, I had to do a double take as I saw our former Beta, Warrick, standing where my best friend usually was. It took me a few seconds to remember Malin had left early this morning to visit his family’s farm, where he would be spending his days off with his mate. It would be weird not having him around, but at least he would be back in four days. By then, the former members of Silent Rivers will have all moved to the main part of the territory.

After sparring with Zach, I headed to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite before going back to my room to shower. As soon as I was done putting some new, clean clothes on, I got a text from Alex saying the witch sent by the National Council had already arrived and was waiting for me at the Elder Chapel. I mindlessly made my way there, but as I stood in front of the stone building, only a few steps away from the entrance, I hesitated.

From the moment I learned I had been paired with a female wolf, I longed for answers. In the beginning, I was convinced that she was a curse; one I would do anything to be freed from. But as the days went by, I started getting used to hearing her voice. She was sassy and stubborn, but she gave good advice. And the more time we spent together, the more I was convinced that we actually made a great team. They say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So did I really want to know more about the mysterious reason why our souls were tied, possibly throwing myself into an even bigger mess?

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