Page 49 of Fated to the Rogue

I changed out of my pajamas, and by the time Tina was ready, our food had already arrived. Over breakfast, we talked some more about the visions we had, hoping to understand more about our peculiar situation. It was bizarre and fascinating to listen to her recall things Dawn had done in detail while she was out. However, she didn’t seem to have seen my first shift, like I had seen hers. Apparently, her vivid dreams had only started two weeks ago, after her counterpart awaked.

As soon as we were done eating, I got a text from Zach letting me know Malin and Amaya had returned home safely. I was immediately reminded that I hadn’t talked to my Gamma since my mate’s appearance. Since I needed to inform both him and Malin about what had happened, I decided to call a meeting in my office.

My best friend was certainly confused to see the blonde, unknown girl standing hand-in-hand with me, but I didn’t hesitate to tell him everything, from how I had found her - or rather, how she found me - to how I believed our wolves had been switched.

“Wow. I was only away for two days, and all of this happens?” To say Malin was shocked was an understatement. “You should have defeated that Ryder bastard sooner. Would have made things easier.”

“I should have fucking killed him.” I clenched my fists. “If only I had known what he had done when he challenged me…”

“Wait. You said he challenged you. And you won?” My mate’s questions confused me, but I nodded nevertheless. “What happened to the members of Silent Rivers?”

“They were absorbed by Wind Howlers. They’ve all been slowly moving over here for the past couple of days,” my Beta answered before I could.

“Vincent!” The joy in her voice as she chanted another man’s name made my skin crawl with jealousy. I was about to ask herwho she was talking about when she turned to me with a grin. “He’s the Omega I told you about. The man who took me in.”

“Oh.” I blinked a few times to hide how stupid I had been to even consider she could be talking about a love interest. Then, it hit me. “Did you say his name was Vincent? I think I met him yesterday.”

“I have to see him. He needs to know that I’m okay,” she insisted.

“Whatever you want.” Lifting her hand up to my lips, I planted a soft kiss on the back of it before turning to my best friend. “Malin, can you link Alex? Have her locate Vincent and send him here.”

“Right away, sir.” He saluted playfully before his eyes clouded over.

“Thank you for your time, guys. You may go back to what you were doing now.” I nodded at the Beta, his mate, and my Gamma. The three of them returned the gesture before exiting the room.

While my Delta took care of contacting Valentina’s adoptive father, I decided to introduce my mate to my parents. She was a little nervous at my suggestion, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide her from them for very long.

It only took Mom and Dad a few minutes to get to my office after I called them, and just as I expected, they didn’t mind at all that my mate was a rogue Omega. In fact, they loved her immediately. The four of us talked for around half an hour; the whole time, I made sure to stay right beside Tina to ensure she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

When there was a knock on the door, I asked my parents to leave so my mate could have a little more privacy for her reunion with the man who raised her. As I opened the door for him, my suspicions were confirmed; he was definitely the wolf who had stopped me the night before. He was shaking when hearrived, afraid he had gotten into trouble for approaching the Alpha recklessly, but as soon as his eyes landed on my mate, his expression changed.

I watched as they hugged, and much like Valentina feared, Vincent was worried sick about her. After he made sure she was fine, he proceeded to apologize for his mistake the first time we met, and thank me for reuniting him with his adoptive daughter. I felt awful for having to separate them again, but I had scheduled a meeting with Elder Laelius and we couldn’t keep him waiting. The male Omega gave my mate the number of his house, telling her to stop by whenever she wanted to.

As the two of us climbed down the stairs together, I couldn’t help but notice how Valentina was a lot more serene than ever. Certainly, having a familiar face in her new home would help her adjust. It was all such a huge coincidence, but I was really happy for her.

By the time we made it to the Elder chapel, my team was right outside waiting for us. There were smiles on their faces as we walked past them on our way in; they were happy for me. Once we stepped inside, I noticed Laelius had everything ready. I led Tina towards the center of the room, where we started.

The ritual was exactly the same as the one I had performed with the Beta Female following our return from Galensoles. I had briefed my mate exactly on what she should expect from the process, but I was still proud of how well she handled it. She didn’t wince when the silver blade sliced her skin open, even though I knew she had felt the discomfort caused by it. In fact, she held her head high in a gesture not very common among Omegas. The more time I spent with her, the more I realized how similar she was to my brave she-wolf.

“The ritual is complete!” The Elder’s voice echoed through the stone walls, loud and clear.

As my friends clapped and cheered, I held my mate closer to whisper in her ear, “Welcome to Wind Howlers, my Luna.” She smiled in return, touching her nose to mine.

Then the next second, a terrible headache struck me, ripping a groan out of me.

And suddenly, I felt my connection open to all 400 members of my pack.

“Zephyr?!” Tina called in distress. It took me a moment to collect myself after the unexpected experience.

“Zephyr?!” This time, it was a male voice echoing in my head. More precisely, my best friend’s voice. “Holy shit! Can you hear me?”

“Fuck, yes, I can,” I responded out loud, shooting him a glare. I’d be a lot more excited if I didn’t just have hundreds of people connect to me all at once.

“Hey,your mindlink works now,” he continued.

“I noticed.” I sent him a telepathic message for the first time, testing how it worked. “Dawn? Care to explain?”

“I…I don’t know. As soon as the joining ritual was over, I sensed our connection to our pack opening. All I had to do was establish the bridges to allow communication.”

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