Page 59 of Fated to the Rogue

Shit, she’d gotten even sassier since the previous night.

“Yup, she’s definitely me!” Dawn barked in approval inside my head. Sadly, I didn’t share the girls’ amusement.

“What’s up with thescared kittenshit? Why’s everyone always calling me that?” I huffed as I opened the door for my mate. “Is there a secretI hate Zephyrclub or something?”

“Damn it, Tina! You weren’t supposed to tell him about it!” Malin was standing at the end of the hallway with Amaya, right in front of the Beta suite. He must have overheard our conversation thanks to his werewolf hearing. “We’ll have to erase his memory now!”

“I’m surrounded by fucking idiots.” If I had been surprised to see my Beta, I was even more shocked to notice Zach leaning against one of the walls, hidden in the shadows. “I’m so glad you’re gonna be far away from here today. Some peace, at last.”

“Well, good morning to the two of you too.” I rolled my eyes at them. I tapped my best friend’s shoulder as I walked past him. “Come on, let’s hit the road. We ain’t got time to waste.”

Malin’s smirk faded as he entered business-Beta mode. Amaya and Zach followed us downstairs, where we said our goodbyes before getting in the car. Usually, only the two highest-ranking members of a pack were allowed to participate in official meetings, but I decided it would be good for Tina to tag along so she could learn about pack politics first-hand.

Although the Luna was considered to be the heart of the pack, holding as much power as the Alpha, they weren’t required to take part in decision-making. Still, I wanted my mate to be as involved with everything as I was - after all, she was my equal, and Wind Howlers was as much her right as it was mine.

Unfortunately, our business day didn’t start as well as we had hoped for, with the first leader we visited rejecting our deal. Alpha Robert was a kind man who welcomed us with open arms. However, he was only willing to lend us ten of his warriors, which wouldn’t be of much help. Like most other leaders in Genoro, he had little faith in Wind Howlers - or any pack, for that matter - winning a war against the Fallen without Elder intervention; he was more comfortable watching his own kind be murdered while he waited for someone else to solve his problem.

Fear was the reason why our following two business meetings didn’t yield any fruits either. As we were about to leave the third pack’s territory, Dawn suggested I challenged the leaders who refused to establish an alliance with us. She claimed she could easily take them on, and though I believed her, I doubted her idea was the best way to solve our problem. It was unusual for young leaders to go around challenging other Alphas, especially in such a short time span. Although it would grant us the warriors we so desperately sought, it would drawmore unwanted attention to us, and we definitely didn’t need any more of that.

We were exhausted when we made it to Blue Creek, our last stop. Desperate to get at least one deal, we were willing to double our initial offer - an entire month’s worth of prey caught at our territory. However, at only 21 years old, Alpha Wyatt was just as bold and proud as any new leader. As beneficial as the treaty would be for him, he wasn’t willing to shake hands on it. We were in his cozy office, renegotiating the terms of a possible agreement for the fifth time.

“You see, Alpha Zephyr…” He leaned forward over the table, a clever smirk on his face. “We have 106 warriors here. If I let you borrow 50 of them, we’re basically down to half of our defenses.” As Wyatt looked at me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was trying to take advantage of me. “If my men die fighting your battle, we’d be out of hunters as well, as they would have to occupy the position of those we lose. In order for this deal to make sense for us, we’d need to have enough to feed the rest of our pack for at least five months while we replace the fallen ones.”

“That’s literally five times what we offered you in the first place,” I replied, overly annoyed. I was ready to go on, but I held my tongue back when I noticed my Luna taking a step forward. She had been silent until now, but judging by her aura, she was just as pissed as I was.

“I would like to believe you’re not trying to make fools out of us, Alpha Wyatt.” Valentina’s voice echoed through the room, surprising us all. The young leader opened his mouth to speak, but my mate didn’t let him. “Hunters can easily be temporarily replaced by female Omegas and a month's worth of food would give you more than enough time to train new men to replace your warriors,” she stated, leaving Malin and I speechless. How did she know all of that? “You’re deliberately trying to rip us off.”

Wyatt frowned at her, letting his displeasure show before he turned to me with a fake smile. “My, your Luna has a sharp tongue, doesn't she? This is why we’re advised to keep women out of negotiations.” His sexist comment made the hairs in the back of my neck bristle. Dawn was growling inside my head, ready to rip out that man’s throat. “Well,Alpha Zephyr,” he went on, clearly excluding my mate from our conversation. “I’m sure you know everyone’s talking about Wind Howlers, the pack whose Alpha has a female wolf and an Omega as a mate. A wildrogue,at that.” He grinned, leaning back against his chair victoriously. “You should be thankful that I’m offering you a deal at all.”

As I stood up from my seat abruptly, the sound of my chair rapidly scraping the floor made the room go silent. My palms splayed against the desk, and I stared straight into Wyatt’s eyes. I was trying my best to keep my elongated canines from showing, as baring your fangs to another Alpha was a clear sign of disrespect. But then again, he started it by speaking ill of my mate. I was about to let Dawn take control and pounce on the bastard when I felt Valentina’s hand brush against my arm. My muscles immediately relaxed, as if she was draining my anger.

“Relying on rumors rather than actual proof shows exactly what kind of leader you are, Alpha Wyatt. I do hope you have a reliable source of information regarding your enemies and your allies,” Valentina held her head up as she too gracefully rose from her chair. I couldn’t believe she had been an Omega her entire life. She was clearly a born Luna. “It would be a pity to watch this pack fall due to decisions made based on tittle-tattle.”

“Is that a threat,Luna?” The man sneered, but remained seated.

Valentina shook her head calmly, behaving like a real queen. “Just friendly advice.”

“I think we’re done here,” I announced, feeling the tension rise. “Let’s go.” I gestured towards the door with my head, and Malin didn’t hesitate to follow us. We left without as much as saying goodbye to the young leader, who didn’t utter another word either.

The three of us headed straight back to the car, ready to make our way back home. We should arrive at Wind Howlers by nightfall, and I couldn’t help but feel like we had wasted the day. Since larger packs were too far away from us, they lacked a reason to get involved in our situation, and smaller packs were too afraid to fight beside us.

There hadn’t been news about a Fallen attack in almost a month, but I knew it was only a matter of time until they showed up again. With only three other packs standing between us and them, they would get to us sooner than later, and I was getting more and more concerned about what we could do to stop them. No one had been able to take down a single Fallen soldier so far; I failed to see how we could do it, especially when they will probably grow in numbers by the time they make it to our territory.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come,” Tina’s guilty whisper pulled me back from my thoughts. “The things people think about me… My presence must’ve only made it harder for you to get a deal,” she sighed, looking down.

“Are you kidding?” Malin chimed in with an amused smile. “If what you did back there didn’t show you’re not to be messed with, I don’t know what would.”

“He’s right,” I agreed, kissing my mate’s forehead sweetly. “If anything, you proved to him you’re not just some Omega who happened to become Luna. You’re powerful and worthy of your title,” I reassured her. She flashed me a small smile, and I knew the issue wouldn’t bother her anymore.

???

We rode in comfortable silence until we made it back to Wind Howlers, more tired and disappointed than we had ever been. We decided to head to the dining hall together, hoping a family meal would help us forget about our unsuccessful day.

By the time we were done, I led Valentina back to our room. She was tired, so I tucked her in and kissed her goodnight before going to my office to take care of the remaining tasks for the day. There’d be three more meetings on Monday, but I wasn’t hopeful about gaining those packs’ trust. I needed to call Zach so we could discuss new ways to defend our territory without any additional help, but I decided not to dwell too much on the matter when I was already exhausted.

I had already turned off the lights and was about to close the door to go back to my mate when I heard the landline phone ringing. I was immediately confused - the only people who called me on that phone were Alphas, but what would any of them need at such a late hour? After hesitating for a few seconds, I picked it up.

“Alpha Zephyr, I’m sorry about the late call. I had a busy day and this is the only time I found.” The voice on the other side sounded strangely familiar, but I couldn’t decipher who it belonged to.

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