Page 39 of Fated to the Rogue

“I thought you were ready to get rid of me,” the she-wolf joked, though I could sense a hint of hurt in her voice.

“I’m a little concerned about what we might find. Some things are better left alone,” I replied honestly.

“Just go in already, scared kitten. We’ll be fine,” she reassured me.

Inspired as ever, I recovered my confidence and bravely walked through the large doorway. Once I stepped inside, mygaze instantly landed on a woman standing in the center of the room. She had olive skin and short straight hair darker than night. The second her piercing emerald eyes fell on me, I froze. Her clothes were all black, except for a moss green cardigan that tried to hide her voluptuous curves. She looked to be around her thirties, shocking me considering she was a witch whom I was told was over 400 years old.

“Alpha Zephyr.” The old man nodded at me.

I broke eye contact with the stranger for a moment to address him. “Elder Laelius. Thank you for having me.”

“So you’re the famous Zephyr, huh?” The woman approached me, stretching her hand in my direction. It felt odd to hear someone call me by my first name without using my title, but judging by the way she didn’t bow either, I assumed witches either didn’t know or didn’t care about werewolf customs.

“That would be me.” I forced a smile, still getting used to the feeling of being near a witch. The magic flowing around her, emanating from her being, was quite distracting. “Thank you for coming all the way here, uh…”

“Cassiopeia. Cass, for short.” She finally shook my hand. I expected all witches to be gloomy and short-tempered, but she seemed rather nice.

“What do you say, Cassiopeia? Can you help the Alpha?” I didn’t miss the hint of curiosity in the Elder’s voice as he interrupted us.

She took a moment to eye me from head to toe before replying, “Let’s find out.” I stiffened when she stepped closer, circling me slowly. “You say your Goddess paired you with an opposite-gender counterpart.”

“Yes,” I answered, trying to follow her with my gaze.

“Okay.” She made a brief pause, standing in front of me. “This might feel a little weird.”

“What-”

I couldn’t begin to understand her intentions before she quickly lifted both hands up to my face, grasping the sides of my head tightly. My eyes were forced to cloud over, much like what should happen during a mindlink session. The next second, a wave of the most uncanny sensation I had ever experienced rolled through me. It was like something had entered my body through my belly button, turning my insides over, and exiting through the same place it had come in.

“Goddess! The fuck was that?!” I panted as soon as I recovered my senses.

“I was looking into you and your counterparts souls,” she clarified with a blank stare, though her clarification made little sense to me. When she released her grasp on me, taking a step back, I almost sighed in relief. “You’re right, Zephyr. Dawn is definitely not your wolf.”

“How do you know her name is- wait, what did you say?” My eyes widened in confusion.

“Exactly what you heard.” Cass crossed her arms in front of her chest, arching an eyebrow at me. “I bet you can’t mindlink anyone from your pack either, can you?”

“No… I… How…?”

“Sit down, wolfie.” A snap of her fingers, and an accent chair magically appeared right beneath me. She opened her hand in front of my chest, causing a wave of invisible energy to hit me, forcing me to obey her command. “Alright. Breathe in, breathe out. Listen to me. It is almost unheard of for this to happen, but sometimes, wolves can be mistakenly switched when they come to Earth with their humans. There are many reasons why it can happen, though I’m inclined to think your case is different than any other.” She offered a few seconds to digest her words before she continued to spill them. “In every other case I’ve studied, there was no sort of bond between the wolf and the human. Some couldn’t even shift. You, on the other hand…” She pointedher index finger at me. “You do have a connection with your she-wolf.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked in utter bewilderment.

“Like I told you, most wolf switches are mistakes. In your case, however, I believe it was intentional.” Her eyes were staring deeply into mine, almost as if she was trying to read my mind. “There was a prophecy about two true Alphas who would get opposite-gender counterparts. Though I can’t remember the details now, I’m almost sure there was something about a battle that would last from sunset to sunrise.”

“Are we to believe that an old legend is the reason for Alpha Zephyr’s uncommon situation?” Laelius furrowed his brows, clearly displeased. Elders were known for holding a lot of knowledge and strongly base their decisions on science and religion.

“Unlike your kind, witches are a lot more tied to magic, so yes, we do believe in prophecies.” Cass turned to the old man, returning the gesture. Not long after, she looked back at me. “But I cannot prove that legend is tied to you in any way. At least not yet. For now, focus on finding whoever has your actual wolf.” I was sure that was supposed to be advice, but at this point, I was barely understanding a word she was saying.

“My actual wolf? Are you saying that someone out there is linked to the wolf that was supposed to be mine, while I have theirs?” My mind was a total mess.

“Precisely,” Cass answered coldly. “I can perform the switching ritual once I know who has your wolf. Call me when you find them.” She turned on her heel, presumably to leave, but I stopped her.

“What’s your phone number?” Did witches even use cell phones?

“That’s not what I meant.” She burst out laughing, losing her composure for the first time. “You’ll have to summon me. Here.” She offered me a small card with some kind of ancient writing on it. “Just say my name out loud while you cut this card in half, and I’ll instantly appear wherever you are. But only call me when you find your wolf.” There was her seriousness again.

“Okay,” was all I could mutter.

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