Page 96 of Fated to the Rogue

“My aunt and uncle weren’t traitors; they were trying to reclaim what you stole from me! Diamond Stream was my birthright!” She growled fiercely. Her claws sunk deeper intoRhys’ skin as her grip around him tightened. His blood oozed down his entire body like a scarlet waterfall. “You nevergaveme anything, youtookeverything from me!” Her golden eyes shone light purple due to Dusk coming forth.

“Tina, wait!” I tried to stop her, but Cassiopeia was faster.

“Stop! I need him alive!”

From ten feet away, the witch sent what seemed like a telekinetic wave of energy in my mate’s direction, yanking her off of Rhys. If I hadn’t stepped in on time, she would have likely continued flying backwards until she hit a wall. Holding her tightly in my arms, I shot daggers at Cass, baring my fangs at her.

Amidst the chaos, we failed to notice the prisoner somehow breaking the silver cuffs. The sound made me turn my attention back to him. A wicked smile lit up his face, making him look just like the monster he was. Out of instinct, I pulled Valentina behind me, standing between her and the man to protect her. But to my surprise, she wasn’t his target.

Once Rhys freed himself, I thought he would fight tooth and nail to escape. I never expected him to dig his claws into his own chest. His cries filled the underground chambers at the pain he inflicted to himself.

“You’re no Omega, and you’re not wolfless.” With his dying breath, he turned to my Luna with realization in his eyes. “You have a male Alpha wolf, and your mate has an Alpha female. You’re the Switched Pair.” Even in terrible pain, he smiled proudly at his discovery. “The original Fallen knows about your existence. He’ll soon figure out exactly who you are, and he’ll destroy you!”

Rhys growled one last time as he pushed his hand further into his chest. None of us could do anything to prevent him from pulling his beating heart out of his body, dropping to the floor a second later. All we could do was watch in disbelief as a pool ofthe rogue’s blood formed around his corpse. I remained silent, horrified by the sudden turn of events, until my Beta broke the silence.

“How did he break free? The silver should have weakened him!”

“Yet there aren’t even burn marks on his wrists…” my Luna uttered, still shaking in my arms from the rush of emotions she had just gone through.

“Of course. That makes sense…” Cass stepped forward, circling the dead rogue. “When werewolves were created, they had no weaknesses. It was only a matter of time until your kind started destroying the world, and nothing could stop them. Recognizing how dangerous her children had become, Diana made a sacrifice. She made all werewolves weak to her holy metal, silver. Upon rejecting her, the Fallen also lose that weakness.”

“But why did he kill himself?” Malin asked in shock.

“He might be immune to silver, but he still had wolfsbane in his system. He wasn’t at full strength, and he knew it. When he realized he wouldn’t be able to fight us to escape, he decided to erase the evidence,” I concluded. “His soul was still bound to the original Fallen, which meant he certainly believed in the Fallen’s ideals. He didn’t mind being just another pawn, as long as he could help his leader accomplish his goals.”

“He knew that if he was still alive by the time the Council got here, they would’ve made him talk. It would’ve been the end of the Fallen.” Cassiopeia’s words caused a pinch of guilt to strike my chest, but her glare was even worse. “Good job, Alpha.”

“He wouldn’t have broken free if you didn’t push me away from him!” Valentina countered, releasing herself from my grasp. She was drenched in the rogue’s blood, staring ferociously at Cass, who didn’t seem the least intimidated.

“You would have killed him if I didn’t!”

“At least he would’ve gotten what he deserved! He usurped my pack and stole my future! He should’ve died by my hands!” my mate screamed angrily.

I had never seen her so furious, and I immediately knew it was Dusk talking; his Alpha aura was all over the place. In an attempt to calm her down, I approached her slowly, carefully wrapping her in an embrace. As I sensed her relaxing, I turned her around to face me.

“None of that matters,” I told her calmly. “One way or another, you became the leader of Diamond Stream. Our packs have been united, and you are my Luna. This is your pack as much as it’s mine.” I watched as she let go of her reluctance to nod in agreement. “It doesn’t matter how he died. He got what he deserved.”

“But we didn’t get what we needed,” Cass’ voice echoed again.

The witch’s observation made me stiffen. Despite how hard I was trying to mask the whirlpool of emotions inside of me, I couldn’t hide my nervousness. After one hell of a long day, I’d still have to face the National Elder Council and tell them that the only Fallen ever captured alive had taken his own life under my watch.

32 | Bleed

For the first time in a while, I couldn’t sleep well. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw Rhys’ sinister smile, reminding me of how foolish I had been. If I could turn back time, there were so many things I would have done differently. In the heat of the moment, I acted impulsively, eager to take matters into my own hands.

Aside from the guilt, my nervousness also kept me awake. As an Alpha, I should be fearless, but I would be lying if I said that the rogue’s last words didn’t send a chill to my bones. It wasn’t his empty threat that worried me, but rather the confirmation that the enemy knew more about us than we did them. Shit, they probably knew about what Valentina, I, and our wolves could do more than we did. And we were running out of time to prepare for their inevitable arrival.

When morning came, my mate and I headed to the shower to get ready to welcome the Elder Council and deal with the aftermath of last night’s incident. She helped me lather before removing the bandage on my neck to clean my stitched-up wound.

After leaving the bathroom I put on a pair of shorts, while Tina got dressed in one of my t-shirts. I sat on the bed with her by my side. She wasted no time to start rebandaging my wound with the help of the medical supplies she had been able to gather around my room. As I watched her closely, I was remindedof the poor state she had been in after the interrogation. The experience had definitely taken a toll on her.

There was no doubt in my mind that Valentina was strong - probably stronger than me - but there was only so much anyone could take. Not only did she listen to the unrepentant confession of the man who murdered her entire bloodline, but she also couldn’t get the answers she wanted. I couldn’t help but curse myself for allowing her to go through this. As much as I thought she had the right to interrogate Rhys with me, I shouldn’t have let her.

“Look. It’s not bleeding anymore.” My Luna’s sweet, soothing voice pulled me back to reality. “It should be completely healed by sundown.” When her warm golden eyes met mine, they melted my heart. But I couldn’t find it in me to smile back at her.

With a heavy sigh, I brought my hand up to her face to caress her cheek gently with my thumb. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” She leaned into my touch, closing her eyes. I could only hope my touch would give her the closure she needed.

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