Page 91 of Fated to the Rogue

“Uh…no, not really. Make yourself at home.” I shrugged, definitely not expecting what was coming next.

Cass snapped her fingers, and in a blink of an eye, everything changed. The white sheets covering the queen size bed turned black, the previously empty shelves were filled with a bunch of colorful potions, and four thick books appeared on the bedside table. Needless to say, Valentina and I were speechless. It would take us a while to get used to all of the magic for sure.

“There we go. Much better.” She sighed proudly, blowing the tip of her finger as if it was a gun.

“Whatever works for you.” I shook my head. “Anyway, we’ll leave you to get settled. Good night, Cass.”

“Good night!” She waved at us. Just as we turned to head to our room, her voice sounded again. “Don’t forget that our training starts tomorrow. You better be well-rested!”

All I did was exchange glances with my mate as we continued down the hall.

???

“Okay, not bad!” Cassiopeia’s voice echoed through the indoor gym after we finished detailing how much progress we had made since Tina and I started training by ourselves.

The morning following the witch’s arrival, we met her at the indoor basketball court after warrior training to have our first lesson with her. At first, I suggested we practiced at the dandelion fields like we had been doing, but she insisted we shouldn’t let anyone see us. I thought I was paranoid back when I refused to let Dawn out in front of other pack members, but when it came to this prophecy thing, Cass was ten times worse.

“Let’s review,” she went on, checking the pages of her magical notebook. It was quite hard to pay attention to her when there was a pen floating in the air, writing down everything she was saying. I guess this was a normal day in our lives now. “Sofar, you can intentionally see through each other’s eyes for short periods, but you can only do it when you close your eyes. If that’s a condition to trigger your ability, you should be able to see glimpses from the other’s perspective just by blinking.”

“That makes sense,” Tina replied thoughtfully. She was utterly focused.

“Does it?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Let’s start with that then! Chop, chop!” Cass clapped her hands in a signal for us to shift.

My mate was determined to make this work, but I simply released a sigh as I allowed my counterpart to take control. Once they were freed, Dusk and Dawn briefly greeted each other before turning around, getting ready for another day of craziness.

I took a deep breath, not knowing exactly where to start. Thanks to our daily hours of training, Tina and I were now able to trigger our ability almost immediately. Still, it was hard to do it in the blink of an eye, quite literally. Despite how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t seem to achieve any results.

“Is it working yet?” the witch asked a few minutes later.

Frustrated, my she-wolf shook her head. Soon after, her eyes widened in surprise as the black beast stepped forward, barking and nodding in confirmation.

“What the hell? How did you get the hang of it so fast?” I asked Valentina through mindlink, not bothering to hide my shock.

“It was hard in the beginning, but once you understand how it works, it becomes quite natural,”she stated. “Focus on it, but try not to think too much about it. Does that make any sense?”

“Not at all,” I replied. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

Think about it, but don’t think about it,I repeated to myself before taking a deep breath. Once again, I did everything I wasused to doing to establish a connection with my actual wolf-self. When I still wasn’t getting anywhere, I was suddenly reminded of an exercise my father had taught me when I was younger and had trouble concentrating on something.

“Dawn, can you run in circles?” I asked her.

“Are you trying to make me look even more like a fool here?” She scrunched her brows at me.

“What? No!” I shook my head. “Just trust me.”

She continued to stare at me quizzically, but being as frustrated as I was, she was willing to try it. While she focused on her task, the essence of the challenge the witch proposed was still in my mind, but I wasn’t actively concentrating on it. Then, I finally saw it; it was just a flicker, but for a brief moment, I got a glimpse of Dusk’s perspective. My she-wolf stopped running immediately to turn her attention to the witch, wagging her tail and barking cheerfully. It was weird not being able to communicate properly with Cass, but she seemed familiar enough with wolves to understand Dawn’s reaction.

“Good. Our main focus in the beginning will be mastering this ability.” The witch smiled proudly. “But don’t forget that this is just one of your powers. You should have your own individual abilities, unique to each of your wolves and their role in the prophecy. I want you to think about that over the course of the next week so we can figure out exactly what they are.” She made a brief pause. “For now, let’s continue. We have no time to waste.”

Despite Valentina’s usual determination regarding the crazy situation we found ourselves in, Dusk flashed a look of uncertainty at Dawn. A quick glance was enough for us to communicate our feelings to each other.

We knew we had a wild ride ahead of us.

30 | Familiar

Another couple of days went by in the blink of an eye following the arrival of our new, unexpected coach. Aside from our daily duties, Tina and I had been dedicating most of our free hours to our training. As frustrating and confusing as it was in the beginning, I had to admit that I was having fun. My Luna’s dedication was inspiring, and with every day that went by, it became more evident to me that she truly was an Alpha by blood.

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