Page 51 of Fated to the Rogue

The past few days had been the craziest of my entire life. I wasn’t upset about being banished from Silent Rivers; in fact, I felt like the chains that bound me had been broken at last. Because of my past, they never treated me as one of their own. However, they had offered me a roof, clothes, and food - enough for me to live, anyway. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared to be left to my own devices for the very first time.

In a way, I had always been alone. No one wanted to mingle with the daughter of traitors, the lowest of all Omegas. I had no friends, no family, which would explain why I felt void inside. The only two souls who ever showed me compassion were Vincent, the widowed father who had lost both his daughter and wife during childbirth, and more recently, Dusk. I was frightened the night I met him, but it didn’t take me long to realize my unexpected counterpart was a blessing.

The black wolf, dark as the day during a full solar eclipse, had sworn to protect me from the very moment our connection was established. He took the same oath when I was banished, and he lived up to it, fighting against dangerous, wild creatures as he subconsciously made his way to Wind Howlers territory. I warned him to stay clear of other packs’ borders, but he insistedhe was drawn to these lands, so I trusted him. And I was glad I did so, although the information I had found here was hard to take in.

It was unsettling enough to have a male wolf as my counterpart. It was even more bizarre to learn that my fated partner’s wolf was not only a female, but a clear reflection of myself. I couldn’t begin to understand why it felt like the she-wolf held a piece of my very soul, before I was thrown into an even bigger mess, with witches, and prophecies, and battles.

For the first time, I was away from the only home I had ever known, where the one person I could trust was my mate, whom I knew little about. My life had been turned upside down. I should be panicking, but somehow, I felt safe.

Zephyr Wyndhammade me feel safe.

Whether it was the unlikely situation we both found ourselves in or the weird feeling of having known him for forever despite the fact we had just met, I wasn’t the least wary of him. On the contrary; something deep inside me told me everything would be fine as long as he was by my side. He had shown concern and sympathy towards me from the moment I arrived at his territory, not once judging me based on my past or my rank. While everyone I used to know disrespected and underestimated me, he accepted me for who I was.

The rest of our day following the disturbing conversation with the witch was surprisingly wonderful. Zephyr took me on a tour around the pack, making sure I became familiar with every inch of the lands where he had grown up. When we were approaching the waterfall, I could have sworn I heard the wind calling my name, as if I belonged here. By sundown, he led me back to his room - well, our room, as he insisted - where we watched silly cartoons and had dinner in private.

Aside from kissing me, not once did he try to take things to another level. Thanks to my heightened werewolf senses, Icould smell his arousal whenever I was too close to him, yet he never pressured me. Although it was evident he wanted me, he was letting me set the pace in our unusual, sudden relationship, which I really appreciated. Most mates couldn’t keep their hands off each other; from the moment their eyes locked, it was common for their beasts to take over. I couldn’t deny the pull I felt towards him, nor my own desires. Still, I barely knew him; I wanted to get to know him better before deciding whether I could really trust him.

After our nice, relaxing evening together, I fell asleep in his arms. However, when I woke up in the morning, I realized I was alone in the spacious bed. Before I could start wondering where Zephyr had gone, I spotted a tiny piece of paper lying beside me over the cotton sheets. I rubbed my eyes before reading the message on it:Left for training - link me if you need anything.It immediately made me smile. Despite his kind and caring nature, my mate didn’t strike me as a romantic man, yet his gesture was cute.

“He seems to have a soft spot for you.” Dusk’s deep, imponent voice sounded in my head.

“Like you do?” I teased.

“You’re an amazing counterpart, Tina. I know I made your life harder. I just wanna make sure our bond won’t cause you any more harm.” The guilt in his voice pained me.

“That’s not true, Dusk. If anything, you saved me,” I tried to reassure him. He didn’t look too convinced, but he didn’t argue anymore.

Setting the matter aside, I stretched my arms and rolled out of bed. It was almost eight, which meant warrior training should be ending soon. Not willing to stay in and wait, I decided to go meet Zephyr outside.

I resisted the temptation to shower, heading straight to the small closet where the clothes Delta Alexandra had kindlylent me were hanging. As I scoured through my few options, I couldn’t help but be grateful for how well I was treated at my new home. Wolves were usually wary of outsiders, especially rogues, yet my mate’s team had welcomed me with open arms. His second-in-command was the happy-go-lucky type, humble and funny, while the Beta Female was a little shyer, but just as kind. The Gamma was quiet and grumpy, but I could tell he had a good heart.

In the end, I decided on a simple yellow backless sundress with a rounded skirt, finishing the look with old gold sandals. I brushed my hair, but didn’t waste a lot of time styling it, as I preferred to wear it down. Once I was ready, I rushed downstairs, taking a moment to remember where the gym was. It was the first time I walked around without the Alpha, and it didn’t take me long to be reminded of why I shouldn’t have allowed myself to be comfortable here just yet.

At first, I felt eyes upon me. Then, I heard them talking.

I had learned to live with listening to other wolves speak ill of me. After a while, it stopped bothering me. Maybe because I wrongfully expected my restart at Wind Howlers to be different, it was actually hard to keep a straight face as I continued on my way. My smile faded as I heard the members whispering about how a rogue wasn’t fit to be Luna. Some, probably my old pack mates from Silent Rivers, added that I was also an Omega and wolfless. The more they talked, the more I found myself agreeing with their arguments.

“You know better than to care about what others say,” Dusk reminded me, feeling my insecurity. “Especially wolves who don’t even know you.”

“I don’t care when they spread lies or insult me…but they are right. I’m not Luna material.”For some reason, my heart ached as I said the words.

“You’re so much more than a title, Tina,” he whimpered, feeling my pain, before a low growl broke through his sharp teeth. “If you don’t believe me, let me out! I’ll put them in their place for talking shit about you!”

“It’s fine, Dusk. I have to deal with this by myself.” Noticing he was about to snap, I took a deep breath and held him back. Letting my new pack find out about my male wolf now surely wouldn’t help my case.

“Tina?” The unexpected sound of the masculine voice I had loved from the moment I first heard it pulled me back to reality.

Lost in thought, I hadn’t even noticed I had already made it to the outskirts of the training grounds. The sight of my mate dressed only in black shorts, with his muscular stomach exposed, confirmed that his sparring session was over. Drenched in sweat, his messy hair looked even darker despite his attempts to dry it with a white towel that rested around his neck. As my eyes helplessly scanned his delicious body, my heart skipped a beat. Yet for the first time, his presence also made me nervous.

“Is something wrong?” he whispered in my ear after closing the distance between us with his werewolf speed.

We couldn’t possibly know each other well yet; still, the concern in Zephyr’s voice suggested that he must have noticed the change in my expression. Looking past him, my gaze landed on his Beta and Gamma, who were both staring at us in confusion. Unwilling to draw unwanted attention, I shoved my insecurities aside to force a smile.

“No, nothing. I just thought I could come here to see you,” I finally replied, trying to keep my tone as calm as possible. Judging by the way my mate eyed me with suspicion, I realized I had failed to fool him.

He didn’t direct another word to me before turning to his friends. “You can go ahead without me. Meet me in my officeafter breakfast.” After they nodded in response, his gentle blue eyes fell back on me. “Let’s go.”

Zephyr’s fingers intertwined with mine, and he dragged me all the way back to the pack house. On our way there, I couldn’t help but notice the wolves who had just been gossiping about me were now silent, yet their judgy eyes were still glued on me. Had they been looking at me the same way since I arrived? Maybe I had been too lost in my fantasy to notice it from the start.

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