Page 84 of Fated to the Rogue

“One of them?! You mean there’s more?!” I asked in awe.

Out of the blue, Valentina broke free from my grasp, jumping off her chair to storm out of the office. Even if we hadn’t marked each other yet, I could feel every single one of her overwhelming emotions: pain, fear, rage, confusion. I should’ve known that it was becoming too much for her to take. I should’ve told Cass to stop. But I didn’t, and now my mate was hurting.

“Look, Cass, thank you for…whatever the hellthatwas,” I waved my hand in her direction, still frowning. “We need some time to think.” I stood up and turned around to leave, but stopped when I felt the witch hold my arm.

“You don’t have much time, little Alpha. The leader of the Fallen doesn’t know you exist yet, or else he would’ve come to kill you.” She stared straight into my eyes. “But he will find you two, and you must be prepared when that happens. You have to start mastering your abilities now.”

For a few seconds, I just stood there looking at her. Eventually, I shook my head and left the room without saying another word. Tina needed me, and that was my priority right now.

28 | Abilities

Valentina’s emotions were louder than the clashing of my shoes on the wooden floor as I rushed down the hallway towards the Alpha suite. As soon as I burst into our room, I wasn’t surprised to find her staring out the window. Not willing to stress her even more, I collected my breath before approaching her calmly, hoping to transpire serenity.

Once I got closer to her, I managed to see her reflection in the glass. My heart sank deeper as I noticed that she looked like she wanted to cry, though no tears fell from her beautiful golden eyes. I carefully ran my fingers through her hair, placing a long kiss on the back of her head before cocooning her with my arms in an instinctive attempt to shield her from the world.

“I’m here if you wanna talk about it,” I let her know. Even when she remained silent, still in my embrace, I stayed as close to her as possible.

Ever since I was a pup, it always bothered me seeing the ones I cared about sad, mostly because I didn’t know what to do to help them. I wasn’t a big fan of saying things like “it’ll be alright.” How could I be sure of that when I didn’t truly understand what the person was feeling? It always seemed wrong to pretend I knew what they were going through. Everyone fought their own battles; I had no right to judge how hard or easy it was. So, I usually resorted to simply staying quiet and offering them a friendly shoulder.

After a long time, my mate’s words echoed in my ear, low as a whisper, “Why can nothing ever feel right in my life?” A sob threatened to escape her lips as her voice cracked, but she quickly recomposed herself. “I tried to make friends, but I never fit in with the other Omegas. While they were happy bowing their heads and doing what they were told, I didn’t feel like that was my purpose. Then, I got a male wolf, and that seemed like the major confirmation of what a freak I was…” She made a short pause, struggling to continue. “Even now that I know why my soul was tied with Dusk’s, I’m still so confused. For once in my life, everything was starting to make sense. But now… Now I’m just as lost as I’ve always been.”

“I can’t say I understand how you feel…” I held her tighter, breathing into her hair as I literally felt her pain. “Growing up as the Alpha’s son, I was adored by everyone. I never questioned my place in the world, as my life had already been decided for me before I was even born.” I gently spun her around, bringing her to face me. “But I know what it’s like to feel empty and lost. We’ll find our way, together.ThatI can promise you.” I brought my hand up to her face, but she stopped me.

“How can you promise me that?” she whispered, overcome with sadness and doubt. “I just found out that my whole life was a lie. When I was four, I mourned the loss of my parents, who were actually my aunt and uncle. At their funeral, I swore to never cry again, because nothing could be worse than losing your parents, right?” The look of despair on her face was heartbreaking. “Except now it’s like I’ve lost them all over again. What’s worse, I don’t even know who they were this time!”

“I can’t begin to imagine what that must feel like…” I told her sincerely, struggling to hide the ache in my own voice. “But rest assured, I will never judge you, Valentina. You’re safe with me. Cry if you feel like it.” Her eyes widened as the truth behind my words surprised her. “All my life, I heard that Alphas shouldn’tshow emotion, as they believed it made them weaker. But, now, looking at you…I realize that’s bullshit. It’s easy to hide and suck it up, but to face your demons without fear, that takes balls.” I let out a sad laugh as I rested my forehead against hers. “So, if you wanna cry, do it. Hell, I might even join you.”

For a long while, Valentina just stood there staring into my eyes. It was as if she was trying to reach into my soul to search for evidence that she could really trust me. In the end, she gave in, burying her face in my chest. Hugging her as tightly as I could, I tried my best to numb her pain.

When I felt her warm tears through the fabric of my shirt, I felt miserable. My precious, golden sunrise had been through so much. It hurt me to see her pouring her pain out, but in a way, it also felt liberating. It was relieving to know she was freeing herself from everything she kept bottled up because of a promise she’d made to herself. It was impossible not to be reminded of the many times I did the same, and for what? To sustain some stupid stereotype? For once, I wanted to feel all what I had been blocking since I was a pup. So, I did.

It was hard to tell how much time went by as we, the unbreakable Alpha and the girl who never cried, shared tears with each other in silence. At first, it seemed a little ironic. But on second thought, I guessed that was exactly what mates were supposed to do - free you from pain, turning you into a better version of yourself.

And I was damn grateful for having found my sunrise.

After Goddess only knew how long, Valentina glanced up at me. Her face was swollen and red, but there was fire in her bright golden eyes. Despite my initial surprise, a smile lit up my face as soon as I understood what was on her mind.

“Thank you for this, Zephyr. I won’t spend another minute feeling sorry for myself,” she vowed, both to me and to herself. “I’m done wasting time. If it truly is our destiny to stop theFallen, then we must do it. I refuse to sit by and watch them destroy our pack, and a thousand more to come until they wipe out our species.” She wiped away the remaining tears on her cheeks and mine, straightening up soon after. “Cassiopeia said we should start training as soon as possible, whatever that means. I say we do it now.”

The whole situation still felt surreal to me, but if my mate believed we should dive head first into this madness, then I would gladly support her. “Okay. How do you wanna do it?”

“We’re free for the rest of the day. Let’s go to the dandelion fields. We can shift there and see if our wolves can help us figure our abilities out.” Her suggestion was more of an order, and I couldn’t help but find her commanding attitude hot. The powerful aura surrounding her was hypnotizing; I’d do anything she told me to.

“Sounds like a plan.” I stepped away from her, still holding her hand, and gestured for her to lead the way.

???

To get to the fields faster, we hopped into my Ferrari and I drove us there. Once we arrived, we took off our clothes and left them in the car to prevent them from getting destroyed during our shift. Taking one last deep breath together, we let our wolves out to test the witch’s theory. From the moment Dawn was freed, I could sense her desire to be with her mate, but like Valentina, she seemed determined to find out what we could do.

“Do you have any clues where to start? Since you’re supposed to be a special wolf and all,” I asked my she-wolf first.

“The fact that I’ve been able to stand you this long alone proves I’m special. I doubt any of my other skills will be as impressive,” she joked, and I had to roll my eyes at her.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Momentarily closing our connection, I mindlinked my Luna. “Would you like me to call Cass? Maybe she can give us some direction.”

“No,” she answered promptly as Dusk shook his massive head. I immediately cursed myself. She obviously wouldn’t want to see the witch after the rush of emotions she’d just put us through. “I wanna try this with you alone first. If we can’t make progress, we’ll talk to her.”

“Alright,” I replied. Dawn sat down, scratching her ear with her hind foot while I tried to think of a starting point. “Let’s see… We know we both had visions where we could see through each other's eyes. If we can understand what triggered that, we might learn how to control it.”

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