Page 99 of Fated to the Rogue

Our coach wasn’t exactly happy about our training being cut short, but she understood why we had to do it. Since the Elder Council was willing to cover the costs for the witch’s magical aid, my Gamma decided to take a look at our current defense system and check how it could be improved. Once he came up with a few ideas, he called Valentina, Cassiopeia, and I to the Alpha’s office to discuss which of them would be feasible in practice.

By the time we made it to the top floor of the pack house, where Zach was, he was scribbling on a huge map of our territory that was spread on the desk. He was so absorbed in what he was doing, he barely noticed us walking in. I greeted him before sitting in my chair, with my Luna by my side. Cass preferred to remain standing.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” I leaned over the desk, trying to make sense of my Gamma’s jottings.

“I only studied magical defenses very briefly during my years of training, so I tried to stick to what I learned. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, Cass,” Zach addressed the witch, never taking his eyes off the paper. She, in turn, took a few steps forward. “This line here represents Wind Howlers’ territorial outline.” Using his index finger, he traced the area on the map. “In addition to the enchanted alarm traps, spread all across our borders, we also have a few common traps placed in ourterritory’s main entrances. Those are effective against normal rogues, but I doubt they will present much of a challenge to Fallen. Which made me think…” He finally lifted his head to look at the woman in front of him. “Cass, do you know how to cast barriers that only keep away certain supernatural creatures?”

“Yeah. That’s pretty basic,” Cass answered, annoyed, seemingly offended by Zach’s question. “However, those can only be used to protect small areas. Lifting a veil around the entire territory would demand too much energy and time, which we don’t have.”

“I know. That’s not how I planned on using them,” he went on. “I know barriers can be used to keep enemies away, but can they be used to trap them inside an area instead?”

Cass raised her eyebrows. “You mean like a reverse trapping spell?” My Gamma nodded. As I listened to their exchange, I barely understood a thing they said. “I can do that. Wildfire circles should work, and they aren’t too complicated to cast. Plus, they are very effective at imprisoning specific targets.”

“Can you have more than one of them active at the same time?” Zach’s eyes glistened. He was obviously excited about the idea he had had.

“How many are we talking about?”

My Gamma proceeded to circle the five main entrances to our territory. “We’d need them in these locations. In the event of an attack, I believe the Fallen would try to march into our lands through one of these areas, since they have grown to become a fairly large group. These are the easiest access points to our territory, where the forest isn’t as dense and there’s little to no geographical obstacles, like rocks, hills, and lakes.”

Cass was thoughtful for a moment before a smile lit up her face. “Yep, that’s doable. It won’t stop their attack completely, but…”

“It’ll be enough to slow them down, since they’ll have to search for other entrances, while also reducing their numbers,” Zach concluded.

“Dude, that’s genius!” I chimed in at last, stretching my arm in my friend’s direction to pat his shoulder.

He didn’t seem thrilled by the physical contact, but he straightened his posture proudly at the compliment. “I also took the initiative to contact Alpha Sanders and Alpha Ruben, since their men will be fighting alongside us. They agreed to come over in three days to help us discuss other battle strategies.”

“Good job, man.” I smiled at him, crossing my arms behind my head as I leaned against my seat. “That’s why I made you Gamma.”

Zach frowned. “I was next-in-line to be Gamma. You didn’t make me shit.”

“Well, I didn’t even try to appoint someone else for the position, because I knew you were perfect to occupy it,” I continued, playfully.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed my Luna rolling her eyes at me. “What Zephyr’s trying to say is, thank you, Zach.”

My friend glared at me before bowing his head to Tina. “It’s my pleasure, Luna.”

I had to laugh at his reaction. Despite how stressful the previous night had been, I couldn’t deny that my mood had just become a lot lighter. We had quite the challenge on our hands, but with how efficient my team was, the Fallen would also have to hit us with their best shot if they wanted to take us down. Once again, hope was on our side.

“On your command,Alpha…” Cassiopeia’s voice caught my attention, and I turned to her in time to watch her give a mocking bow. “I will start preparing the spell. If things happen according to plan, I should have everything ready to activate the wildfire circles in less than a week.”

“You have my permission, Cass.” With a smile, I gestured towards the door, excusing her.

???

As promised, our new magical defenses were up and running in precisely three days following the meeting with my Gamma. On Thursday, my team and I woke up early to accompany Cassiopeia as she set up the wildfire circles first thing in the morning. With the information she had access to, thanks to the research done on the Fallen that had been caught so far, she enchanted the traps to ensure only said enemy would activate them. Should they try to sneak into our territory through its main entrances, they would be trapped until we decided to release them.

On the days that had gone by, our secret training sessions, as well as the quest to discover Dawn’s unique ability, continued. Sadly, we hadn’t made any progress on the latter. As tirelessly as we tried to figure out what kind of superpower my she-wolf could possess, all of our efforts were fruitless. I was starting to consider that maybe not all details about the prophecy were right; maybe the so-calledLightbringerdidn’t have any magical skills. Dawn, on the other hand, was adamant that she had been blessed by the Moon Goddess, even though she seemed just as clueless as us regarding the matter.

After ensuring the trapping spells were placed and working correctly, Cass teleported us back to the main square just in time for training. Once our two hours of sparring were over, we joined the girls at the Elite table in the cafeteria for breakfast. They were discussing their girls day out, which was set to happen the following day, but the subject changed not long after we took our seats.

“Have you heard anything from Alpha Ruben and Alpha Sanders?” my Luna asked me as I took the first bite of my scrambled eggs.

“The driver we sent to get them has just left Sapphire Pond. They should be here in less than half an hour,” Malin kindly answered for me. “I’ll gather the warriors they lent us as soon as I’m done with my plate.”

“You can finish eating calmly.” Amaya touched her mate’s arm, which caused him to immediately stop devouring his food like he was a starving animal. Then, she flashed him a sweet smile. “I can gather the warriors for you.”

Returning her gesture, my Beta gave her an eskimo kiss. “Thank you, my star.”

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