Page 71 of Fated to the Rogue

To our shock, no matter how hard Laelius tried to establish a connection with the Elder from the deceased girls’ pack, he simply couldn’t. We only found out why after he decided to reach out to the Elder of Raven Woods Pack, located between Wind Howlers and Nightwalkers. He informed us that the latter had been entirely decimated the previous night.

After our interesting and horrifying find, I called yet another meeting in my office. This time, I invited Alpha Sanders to join us, as I believed he too should be aware of what was happening.

“No survivors…” my Beta repeated after Tina and I finished explaining everything to him, Zach, and Sanders. “Are we assuming it was the Fallen?”

I nodded “That’s what everyone believes so far.”

“It matches their M.O.,” my Luna went on. “They left no trace behind, and only the bodies of pack members were found. The time frame also matches their attack plan so far, considering they tend to lay low for a month or so before moving on to destroy another pack.”

“There’s only Raven Woods standing between you and them now, right?” Alpha Sanders asked me.

“Yeah,” I replied reluctantly, trying to steady my anxious heartbeat.

“That means you have around two months to prepare, should they stick to their schedule,” the ally leader observed. “Raven Woods has half that time. It’s not my business to say what you should do, Alpha Zephyr, but maybe you could try establishing an alliance with them.”

“I tried, but Alpha Nolan refused it vehemently,” I revealed.

“That was before we defeated Ryder,” Dawn pointed out. “Like every other leader, he must have doubted our strength.With the threat of the Fallen knocking on his door, he might change his mind.”

Well, I guess it was worth a try. “Gamma Zachari, see if you can arrange another meeting with Alpha Nolan.”

“Will do,” he casually replied.

“I believe there’s nothing else we can do for now.” I turned to our guest to shake his hand. “Thank you for your time, Alpha Sanders. I assume you’re ready to return home. We will let you know if we have any more news regarding the matter.”

“Thank you for having me, Alpha Zephyr.” The taller man smiled politely at me. “And congratulations again, Luna Valentina. I hope to see you soon.”

“Have a safe trip home.” My mate returned his gesture.

After our guest left, I gave my Elite members a few more instructions before dismissing them. As frustrating as it was, all we could do was wait until we had more information to start planning our next move.

24 | Natural

Over a week after the incident at Valentina’s Luna Ceremony, my team and I were still working hard to ensure the safety of our pack. There was technically no reason for Wind Howlers to be attacked before Raven Woods, considering our enemy had been traveling in a straight line down the coast. However, I wasn’t too comfortable blindly trusting that. We knew very little about the Fallen, and their path of destruction could very well be a coincidence. Besides, I was pretty appalled since the two she-wolves managed to sneak in, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

My Beta - along with his mate, who was always happy to help him - was working twice as hard in training our new warriors, including the men Alpha Ruben had lent us. Aside from arranging a meeting with the leader of the only pack standing between us and the Fallen, which was scheduled for next Friday, my Gamma also proposed a few changes to our current defense system. He had spent the weekend perfecting it, making sure to protect the blind spots our sentinels couldn’t cover.

Today was Monday morning, and I decided to go down to the city before training to buy the materials Zachari would need to build the new traps. Tina insisted on coming with me to keep me company. She was slowly getting used to waking up early, though she wasn’t too pleased to rise before the sun. I could onlyhope the surprise I had planned would…inspire her, and make her efforts worth it.

“Catch!” I yelled, throwing the car keys in her direction as soon as we made it to the garage. The jumpscare itself made her eyes widen. Thanks to her werewolf reflexes, she grasped the object right on time.

And the first thing she did was raise her eyebrows as she lifted the keys at eye-level. “What am I supposed to do with these?”

“Drive, obviously.” I smiled playfully, but she clearly didn’t find it as funny.

“Oh, hell no!” She tried to toss the keys to me, but I threw them right back at her. “Zephyr, no! No way! It’s 4 a.m. for Goddess’ sake!”

“Come on, you said you don’t drive. It’s ‘bout time you start learning,” I encouraged her.

“Are you trying to get us both killed?!” She stared at me in horror before her gaze landed on the car. “How fast does that thing go? Does it even have insurance?”

“Don’t call Thor a ‘thing.’ You’re gonna hurt his feelings.” I pouted, jokingly petting my Ferrari. “And of course he has insurance.”

“Thor?” She gave me a blank stare before a chuckle escaped her lips. “Don’t tell me you named your car. After some superhero movie, at that!”

“Hey, Thor is a God in Norse mythology!” I defended, adding in a barely audible voice, “What’s the problem with superhero movies though? I think they’re pretty cool.”

My Luna rolled her eyes at me. At least, our interaction seemed to have made her forget about her fear to drive. She hopped in the driver’s seat and I instructed her on what to do from the start. Like any beginner, she was very careful at first,but she was a quick learner. By the time we reached the highway, she was driving at…well, an acceptable speed.

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