Alpha's Fallen Angel

Chapter 4-Amara

We woke up with the sun high in the sky, meaning we overslept again! Shit! I didn't realize how exhausted we would both be. Tamisra didn't seem too concerned, so I guess it didn't throw us off schedule too much, but I really did not want to spend the night in the rogue areas.

'You worry too much; if we get started now, we can clear the area by nightfall.'

'Yeah, that's great and all, but I was hoping we could eat. We'll need energy if we encounter any rogues, and we haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning.'

'Fine, I'll block you out and catch us a quick snack. Any preferences? Deer, fox, maybe a wild boar?' she said while snickering at me as I gagged. She blocked me out, and I just went to the deep recesses of my mind and curled up.

Now that I had time to let everything sink in, I didn't feel so broken over this. I worried my mate would still want me if I bore another man's mark. I would explain everything to him and hope for his understanding. Most people don't save themselves for their mates; some do, but not all. I had no desire to be an almost 21-year-old virgin, and Felix didn't care that I wasn't "pure." A lot of the men in our packs wanted their women to be pure for them, but no one could really get mad when they fucked around too. Our mates are meant to be the perfect match for us, and if the true mate bond is anything like my mother and Sophie described, the pull is impossible to fight. Chosen mates and rejected mates are scarce because the level of attraction is supposed to be beyond the charts, making it extremely rare to be able to defy a bond. Thinking this made me feel even dumber for not questioning my lack of attraction for Felix.

I kept pondering what my true mate would think and if he would reject me simply for being a dumbass when Tamisra eventually called me to come forward again. God, I hope she at least ran away from whatever she munched on before I take my sight back.

'I thought about making you see it just to fuck with you, but we'll be coming up near some rogue camps soon, so I need you not to pass out. Next time though.'

'Gee, thanks. Ever the considerate one you are' I rolled my eyes.

It wasn't long until we caught the scent of rotting leaves and decay. We slowed down, making sure to stay downwind from the rogue camp, and tried to pad quietly through heavily bushed areas, all of our senses on high alert. We cleared that camp, only to be hit in the face with rogue stench even stronger than before, meaning they were closer. We paused, locating the source of the stench to our left. Probably 100 yards away, a sickly-looking rogue was staggering, trying to walk a path. His fur was wholly matted, and saliva dripped out both sides of his mouth. We continued to move, deciding we could easily take him if he spotted us, but he didn't even react if he heard something.

The thing about rogue wolves is that they lose their sanity very quickly. Wolves are meant to live in packs, and although some rogues collaborate to attack other packs, that still isn't enough. Being a rogue is dangerous; they're always a target, even in wolf form, so shifting back to their human form is inevitable suicide. Eventually, the wolf part of us goes rabid, losing all of our humanity. It's not a life anyone hopes for; rogues are typically wolves who were banished from their packs. It's infrequent nowadays that a wolf is born rogue. It wasn't always that way, there would be women and children who were rogues, and it got to the point that there were so many rogues around that if one day they all conspired against packs, it would be an easy takeover. So to prevent this, most packs would give asylum to rogues so long as they weren't rogue for committing a crime. Eventually, the only rogues left over were the criminals, but they were few and far between. However, that being said, if we encounter one while in these lands, that means it will be a sure fight. I was not a trained warrior, thank you, Red Moon Pack, so my only hope is to get through here unnoticed or, at the very least, not be swarmed. I have enough training under my belt to take on one or two, especially if they're already weakened.