Page 94 of Fated to the Rogue

“That’s Ryder’s father!” Valentina announced through the mindlink. “I didn’t notice it at first, but I’m sure it’s him!”

“Fuckers!” I spat angrily. “I gave these bastards a chance to live, and this is how they repay me!”

Dawn joined Dusk, and they decided to combine their forces to hopefully take Rhys down. Considering that his wolf was larger than his son’s, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy fight. Besides, both of our wolves had already been hurt, and I didn’t know how much more they would be able to take. Regardless of that, they both jumped forward to try and catch up to their new target. But before they could, a familiar voice sounded in both our heads.

“Get down!” When I saw Mint with the troops right behind us, I didn’t hesitate to do as Malin said.

Next thing I knew, there were arrows flying through the air. As soon as they pierced the rogue’s skin, they poisoned him with wolfsbane. The former Alpha cried out when the substance entered his system, causing his veins to protrude as it burned him from the inside out.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Dusk and Dawn stood back up to lunge at the enemy, pinning him to the ground. Since he kept struggling under our grasp, Mint and Talon soon joined us, making sure the rogue couldn’t move. Little by little, the poison started to weaken him, until he was forced to shift back. Once the threat had been contained, we all transformed into our human forms as well.

“What’s the report?” I immediately asked, spitting blood as soon as I finished my sentence. I instinctively slid my hand over my neck, and I was surprised to see how much blood there was in my palm. Damn, that son of a bitch had really fucked up my neck. At least the adrenaline was still high in my bloodstream, making the pain bearable.

“No survivors,” Zachari informed me with his head low.

“We killed the other three Fallen. We couldn’t find any more of them,” Malin added.

“And I killed Ryder.” Everyone widened their eyes at my announcement. The one I expected to be shocked the most though, didn’t even seem to care.

I lowered my gaze to stare into Rhys’ eyes, but he was too weak to utter a word. “That leaves you, fucker.” With a single kick to the head, I knocked him out. Satisfied, I turned to my Gamma. “Zach, tell Alex to inform the I.N. Elder Council about what happened. For now, we’re taking Rhys to Wind Howlers, and we’ll squeeze every drop of information out of him.”

31 | Answers

After our Fallen hunt, my team and I were definitely worn out. Aside from the emotional exhaustion, most of us ended up with a fair share of new wounds. Unfortunately, it would still be a while until we could rest.

Once we returned to Wind Howlers territory, Malin immediately took our prisoner to the dungeons, Zach went straight to my office to write a report about what we had found at Raven Woods, and Alex notified the National Elder Council about the attack. Meanwhile, Valentina and I headed to the pack hospital together to get our wounds checked. Since we had fought the strongest of the remaining rogues, our injuries were naturally worse.

Thankfully, my Luna’s condition was far better than mine. She had a deeper wound on her shoulder that should take about a day to heal, but most of her cuts and bruises were already fading by the time the doctor was done patching her up. As for me, the gash on my shoulder needed quite a few stitches, and it would definitely leave a scar. At least it wasn’t hurting anymore. I even refused the pain killers I was offered, despite the nurses' insistence.

As soon as we were discharged, we went to the dungeons to meet with my Beta. I could feel my mate’s anger through our bond the second her eyes landed on the unconscious rogue Alpha sitting on the floor inside his cell. Despite how enragedI was earlier, I now felt utterly calm. I blamed it on the serene melody Dawn had been humming inside my head ever since we left the battlefield; it seemed to be her favorite way of clearing her mind during stressful situations.

“What’s his condition?” I asked Malin. He was keeping an eye on our prisoner along with half a dozen guards.

“He started moving a couple minutes ago. The wolfsbane must be leaving his body,” he promptly replied. “Want me to wake him up now?”

“Yes, please.”

“Wait!” A third, unexpected voice surprised us all.

Needless to say, I was confused to find Cassiopeia standing behind us. “How the hell did you get in here?”

“I teleported. Duh.” She shrugged, shaking her head a moment later. “Anyway. I wanna check him. We have no idea if we’ll ever catch another Fallen alive. This might be our one shot to collect critical information on them.”

“Sure. As soon as I’m done interrogating him,” I determined.

“What? No! You can interrogate him later!”

“Look, Cass, I’m thankful for your assistance in our training. But from what you told me, you came here out of your own free will, not under the order of the National Council,” I reminded her. “While you’re a guest in my territory, you’ll play by my rules.”

The look on her face let me know she wasn’t the least bit pleased, but she didn’t argue with me any more. “Fine.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “But let me at least stay here to watch.”

“That I can allow.” I nodded at her before turning to my Beta. “Malin?”

My Beta bowed his head at me, pushing the cell door open as he followed through with my previous order. He stared coldly at the unconscious man for a few seconds before slapping himwith all his might. The sharp, sudden pain caused the pathetic creature to jolt awake with a cry almost as loud as the blow he had taken. He tried to stand up to defend himself, but he couldn’t do much while he was chained to the walls.

“Rise and shine, fucker.” Malin crouched beside the still disoriented prisoner, flashing him a mocking smile.

With a sigh, I turned to my mate, whispering close to her ear, “Are you sure you wanna stay? Things are about to get pretty nasty.”

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