Page 98 of Fated to the Rogue

“Training, obviously,” the witch answered promptly, her eyes locking on Tina. “We have 30 days left - probably less - to figure out what your other skills are,andyou still have to master them.”

My mate flashed me a hesitant look. I nodded at her in encouragement before stepping in front of the two women tolead the way. “Let’s go.”

Once we made it to the indoor gym, Cass proceeded to remind us about the prophecy and the role our wolves were supposed to play in it. Now that we were more confident in our ability to see through each other’s eyes, she insisted we focused on discovering our other unique abilities. Instead of shifting immediately, as we had done every other time, we spent a few minutes racking our brains, trying to awaken our inner powers.

“It’s likely your unknown abilities are related to the nature of your wolves’ titles,” Cass explained. “As the Darkbringer, Dusk should be more offensive. He’s probably physically stronger than most wolves. By contrast, Dawn’s skills should be more defensive. The Lightbringer is supposed to be very resilient and agile.”

“Well, that’s correct. Dawn can definitely move at the speed of light,” I observed before turning to Tina. “And Dusk is quite powerful in combat, too.” She nodded in agreement.

“Good. That can be our starting point.” Cass tapped her chin with her index finger. “Have either of you noticed anything else about your wolves related to what I just told you?”

I barely had time to think when my she-wolf’s voice echoed inside my head. “When we took down that first Fallen who snuck into our territory, they were bleeding pretty badly from Dusk’s bite. Similarly, the most superficial cuts he inflicted on Rhys weren’t healing, not even hours after the battle was over.”

“In Rhys’ case, I thought it was because of the wolfsbane…” I furrowed my brows thoughtfully. “But that wouldn’t explain what happened to the other rogue. Do you think maybe Dusk can slow a shifter’s healing process?”

She shrugged. “I think it’s worth considering.”

Without a second thought, I opened my mouth. “Dawn thinks Dusk’s bite might make other wolves unable to heal.”

My mate shot me a quizzical stare, while Cass simply smiled at my suggestion.

“That would make sense,” the witch agreed. “Why don’t you call your Beta here so we can test her theory?”

“What? Why would we need him? We could just test it on me,” I pointed out.

Cass rolled her eyes. “Remember what I said about the Switched Pair countering each other’s abilities? If the Darkbringer really has the ability to slow healing, the Lightbringer will likely have abnormally rapid healing. That means Dawn will probably heal either way, nullifying Dusk’s ability.”

“Oh. Okay.” As confused as I was, I didn’t ask any further questions as I established a connection with my best friend.

Only a few minutes after I linked Malin, he showed up at the gym with a puzzled expression. We explained what we had been discussing, and though he seemed a bit wary of being our test subject, he agreed to help. Taking one last breath, Valentina let her huge black wolf out. My Beta stood still as the beast approached him.

“Alright, Dusk. Take it easy on me.” The man stretched out his arm, offering his hand to the creature.

If Dusk wanted to, he could easily bite Malin’s arm off. But as his massive head got closer to my Beta, all he did was open his mouth slightly, just enough to let one of his sharp canines show. With a gentleness unexpected from a creature his size, he carefully pierced a shallow hole in Malin’s palm. A low hiss left the man’s lips as he retracted his hand to analyze the damage caused by the bite.

And we were all surprised to see that, as superficial as the wound was, the blood kept flowing out non-stop.

“Seems like Dawn was right!” Cass celebrated.

“That’s awesome.” Malin immediately turned to her with a frown. “But what am I supposed to do now? Bleed to death from a puncture wound?”

“Don’t be so dramatic. You still have enhanced healing. Even if the wound takes longer to heal, your body can still take care of such a small wound. I’d advise you not to get on Dusk’s bad side, though.” Cassiopeia shrugged, the shadow of a smile playing on her lips.

At the snap of her fingers, a cute little band aid with a very feminine flower pattern materialized out of thin air, sticking to my Beta’s skin to cover his injury. Seeing his unamused face, I tried my best to hold my laughter. Dusk didn’t bother showing him a wolfish grin though.

“Ha ha. You witches have one hell of a sense of humor.” The annoyance was palpable in Malin’s tone. “Is that all you needed me for? I have more important things to do as Wind Howlers’ Beta, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah. You can go, lab rat.” Cass waved him off. He shot me a glare, and I offered him a wide grin as he turned to leave. The next second, the witch’s gaze fell on me. “You were right, Zephyr. Your mate - or better yet, your actual wolf counterpart - does have the ability to interfere with a shifter’s healing.”

Walking past me, Cass took a few steps in Dusk’s direction. Without warning, she grasped each side of the wolf’s muzzle with her hands. He did nothing aside from gasping in surprise as she forced his mouth open. Seemingly having no value for her life, she poked her head between her jaws to take a good look at his teeth.

“I’m no vet, but if I had to guess, I’d say Dusk’s saliva must produce a different enzyme that inhibits blood-clotting. Very interesting.” The smile never left her face despite the bizarre situation she put herself in. The black beast’s discomfort wasevident in his eyes, until she finally released his muzzle to look at him. “Anyway, how it works really isn’t important. Just know that, when you need to kill Fallen, bite them as hard as you can.” I was quietly observing the scene when Cass turned to me with a sinister grin, making me freeze. “Now, it’s time to figure out what Dawn’s capable of.”

However, before I could say anything, my eyes clouded over. When I opened them again, they fell straight on the witch.

“We’ll have to take a rain check on that,” I announced. “My Gamma needs us all in my office right now.”

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