Page 6 of Fated to the Rogue

Once I got into my car, I took it to the cliff, parking right next to the river that ended in a waterfall. Tomorrow night, I will be here for my First Shift Ceremony, when I’ll embrace my responsibilities. For now, it was just a good place to get lost in thought.

My eyes were staring into the horizon, where the sky and the sea merged as one in a mix of blues. The waters mirrored the moon and stars, which seemed to dance as the waves rolled over. As mesmerizing as the view was, I couldn’t say I was truly watching it though. All I could see was the events of the past hour playing on repeat in my head as I tried to find a way to fix the situation I found myself in. While I believed what I told Alpha Anders, it didn’t diminish my distress. For a leader who was just taking over, I had quite a challenge on my hands.

“Zephyr?” I had to blink a few times when I heard someone call my name; I wasn’t expecting anyone to be out here at such a late hour. Turning my head to the side, I found Gina, the she-wolf who had gone hunting with us earlier, resting her arms on the open window. “What are you doing here…alone?”

“Just admiring the view.” She could probably tell I was lying, but I knew she didn’t really care about my feelings, which was fine by me.

“Would you like some company?” She lowered her voice, waiting for me to smile in agreement before she opened the door to crawl inside.

After her lips touched mine, it was only a matter of seconds until our clothes were gone. She climbed into the driver’s seat,straddling my lap. The sound of our ragged breathing filled the night, our groans muffling the music created by our bodies slamming against each other.

It was quick, but for that brief moment as waves of pleasure rolled over me, they numbed the emptiness I always carried with me.

3 | Wolf

My birthday had always been my favorite day of the year. Big parties were thrown to celebrate the life of the pack’s heir, and they were a lot of fun. As an only child - an onlysonat that - my parents would also shower me with very expensive gifts, like the chrome gold Ferrari Portofino I had gotten when I turned 16. I usually got excited weeks before the date came, just thinking about the great time I would have.

This year, however, it was a bit different.

Although I couldn’t deny I had been looking forward to the celebration, especially because turning 18 was a huge deal for wolf shifters, the meeting my father took me to the previous night had numbed my anticipation. Sex with Gina helped ease my mind, but only until I got back to my room, where thoughts flooded my mind again. My last night as a 17-year-old was a sleepless one. Needless to say, I was pretty much a zombie the next morning.

“Dude, are you okay? You look awful.” Malin’s remark brought me back to reality. We were at the cafeteria, having breakfast alongside the other pack members. I had to blink a few times to collect myself. We had just left morning training, evident from the new bruises my best friend had so kindly given me.

“Thanks, man. Didn’t think you’d notice.” I faked a smile, sighing soon after. “I’m still digesting the situation. We lostthree of our allies right before my takeover, and the whole Fallen shit…”

“Hey, you’re not alone. You have me,” my second-in-command reminded me, sincerity in his eyes. “And Zach.” He used his head to point at the boy seating to my left. Right. The future Gamma was there with us.

“Please don’t ask me for help,” Zach grunted.

Zachari’s usual grumpy look was even more intense today, probably because his father had come back from his trip and scolded him for slacking off while he was away. His short, wild deep-brown hair was also messier than normal, and his sunglasses did a poor job at hiding the new black eye he had gotten - they did make him look a lot funnier though.

If it wasn’t obvious by his poor state, my Gamma was a disaster when it came to fighting…or any physical activities really. The funniest part was that his parents had named him after Zachari Skies, the founder of Wind Howlers and one of the best warriors our pack had ever seen. If the former Gammas had hoped the name they chose for their oldest son would make him turn out to be just as strong and great, it seemed to have had the opposite effect.

I wouldn’t change a thing about Zach though. Sure, Malin and I would often make fun of him, and he would curse at us in response, but our trio wouldn’t be the same without him. Besides, he was undoubtedly the smartest of our group. He was also the tallest, slimmest, and youngest of us, having been born roughly two weeks after me. But the most intriguing detail about him were his eyes. He had a condition called heterochromia that caused his left eye to be a deep shade of blue, while his right eye was hazel.

“And you’ll also meet your wolf today!” Malin chanted in a clear attempt to lighten my mood. “Let’s hope he’s not as much of a manwhore as you are.”

His unexpected comment made me burst out laughing, and just like that, I forgot all about my troubles. A shifter’s counterpart always either complemented their personality, or balanced it out. Since they were supposed to be the other half of the same soul, wolves were never complete opposites from their humans, but meeting your animal-self could mean learning about a different side to you.

“To your demise, I have a feeling he will turn out to be just as carefree as I am. I mean, Mint is a fucking prude, just like you.”

“Mint’s not a prude!” Malin defended his wolf, as if he had taken it as a personal offense. “He even said he was okay with me having kissed that girl in eighth grade!”

“What a sin!” I teased, making him frown. The next second though, our eyes widened as the same thought crossed our minds, and we immediately turned to Zach with big smirks.

“Please don’t,” the Gamma muttered.

“How do you think your wolf will be, Zach?” My Beta giggled.

“If he’s anything like you, I bet he’ll be one hell of a horn dog, huh?” I teased, knowing it was the furthest thing possible from the truth.

“That’s it. I’m officially removing myself from this conversation,” he stated before crossing his arms over the table and resting his forehead on them to hide his face.

We would have continued to pester him until he exploded if we hadn’t been interrupted by the head cook, who placed a golden food tray before me without so much as a warning.

“Happy eighteenth birthday, Alpha Zephyr! May your future be filled with victories, joy, and love!” the older woman cooed happily.

Mrs. Robinson was almost 60 years old, but even as the wrinkles started to appear on her face, her gentle smile never faded. A wolf of Omega blood, she had worked passionately in the kitchen for most of her life. She was like a second motherto me, not because she spoiled me just as much as my mother, but because she would often babysit me when I was still a pup. I always loved being her little sous chef, though I suspect I made more of a mess playing with flour and cocoa powder than actually helping. Either way, she never complained.

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