Page 100 of The Delta’s Rogue (Crescent Lake #4)
“That’s the last of them.” Alpha Benjamin Pierce pats the hood of the van loaded up with non-combative Crescent Lake members and waves the driver towards the parking lot’s exit.
We watch it drive away in silence. Sebastian’s hand slips into mine, and warmth spreads from my fingertips, up my arm, and straight into my heart—the warmth of the mate bond.
My lycan spins in a circle, chasing her tail with excitement at the sensation of our completed bond.
But my joy at feeling her every whim and experiencing her animalistic antics again is overshadowed by my anxiety over the battle we’re preparing for.
The excitement of experiencing our completed bond in full force must wait until we eliminate our enemies.
“Thank you for harboring them in your pack.” Wesley approaches us from the path leading towards the forest and his house.
“You don’t need to thank me,” Benjamin replies, raking his hand through his wavy blond hair. “It’s the least I can do since my father was once involved with this group.”
“Is Haven at Peter’s?” Sebastian asks Wesley.
“She just left.”
Wesley’s voice catches, and he covers his mouth. His gaze traces back down the path he came in on as if following it with his eyes will take him to his mate and their son.
“She’s safe,” I remind him. “Both of them are. The traffickers aren’t likely to find them, but if they do, Selene and my parents won’t let anything happen to them. ”
Wesley’s jaw clenches, and he nods his response.
Sebastian squeezes my hand, shooting more tingles through my body.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you fight?” Benjamin asks. “Your warriors are resilient and your plan is solid, but it wouldn’t hurt to have another—”
“No.” Wesley shakes his head. “Thank you, but no,” he repeats. “If something happens to me…” He clears his throat, and his eyes follow that same trail once more before landing on Benjamin again. “If something happens to me, I need you to help teach my son how to be an alpha.”
Benjamin’s blue eyes widen and flick towards Sebastian and me. “But—”
“Sebastian will be far away. My dad is taking a position on the royal council, so his time will be split between Hawaii and Crescent Lake. I need someone here , someone who knows our area and our lands, so my son can stay in Crescent Lake. There’s no one better I could think to ask.”
Benjamin exhales. “I don’t think it will come to that.”
“But if it does—”
“Then you have my word.”
Wesley claps him on the shoulder, then turns and strides away from us and towards the packhouse. Benjamin turns in the opposite direction, jogging towards his jeep so he can head back to Amber Forest.
Which leaves Sebastian and me alone.
As soon as Benjamin’s vehicle is out of sight, Sebastian tugs me against him.
His hand wraps around my neck like a temporary choker.
I expose my throat to him, submitting to him with the same ease I did all those years ago, before he knew who I truly was and what we were to each other.
A satisfied growl of approval vibrates in his chest, and he lowers his lips to the mark he placed on my neck last night.
“Stay by my side as best you can. If you need something to anchor you, remember this.” He kisses my mark, and I shudder from the earth-shattering pleasure zooming through me from that singular kiss. “This is real. My mark is on your neck, your mark is on mine, and nothing can come between us.”
I nod, too overcome with emotion to utter any words in response.
He kisses my mark again, and I sigh. I relax into him, wrapping my arms around him to keep our bodies close together .
We hold each other for as long as we can.
His lips move from my neck to my mouth, where my lips match the speed and intensity of every kiss he gives me—slow and sweet, fast and heated, hard and unyielding. Each is different and better than the last. Each tells me more than any words ever could.
They end too soon.
He backs away from me. His shoulders rise and fall as he takes several unnecessarily deep breaths.
“It’s nearing sunset. We should join the others.”
“Promise me everything will be all right,” I demand before he can turn away from me.
His jaw ticks, and he gives me an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “I promise I will be with you until the very end. Whatever that may be.”
I take a deep breath. I hate that he doesn’t promise me what I asked for, but I understand why.
He can’t. None of us can promise that.
We head into the packhouse side by side and hand in hand. The others—Wesley, Reid, Maddie, Micah, Dominic, Riven, Rune, Landon, and Steele—wait for us there.
Harrison, Sebastian’s dad, is there too. Tall, broad-shouldered, and serious, he’s an older version of Wesley, with gray hair sprinkled amongst his dark brown strands and in his beard. Wesley and he stand shoulder to shoulder and stare out the window.
Sebastian joins them on their dad’s left. “Where’s Nolan?” Sebastian peers around his dad and Wesley to where Reid stands on Wesley’s right.
Wesley points towards the lakeshore. “He’s in place already.”
Across the large open field, seated on a blanket on the lakeshore, Cassandra leans against Nolan’s chest. She reads a book as he holds her and watches the sunset.
Around them, various Crescent Lake pack members fly kites, fish off the dock, or meander the paths leading to various parts of the pack’s town.
It looks like a typical late spring evening on the lakeshore.
“Did I miss your speech?” Sebastian switches his attention to Wesley.
“The whole thing.” Reid glances at Wesley from the corner of his eye. “It was very rousing and heartfelt. Maybe if you ask nicely, he’ll reenact it for you.”
“Please, Wessy?” Sebastian widens his eyes, bats his lashes, and pushes his lower lip out into a wolf pup pout .
Maddie and Reid break into hysterical laughter, and even Harrison cracks a smile.
“You’re all dickheads,” Wesley mutters. “I didn’t give a speech. This is Micah’s mission, not mine.”
“It’s Sarina’s mission,” Micah corrects him. “I’m just a figurehead.”
“It’s your pack,” I say, passing the proverbial torch back to Wesley.
He sighs. “They don’t need a speech. They all know what’s at stake.”
“I still wish we could have had Haven command them all to stop and surrender.” Reid crosses his arms.
“She just had a baby,” Maddie reminds him as Wesley’s jaw clenches.
“She would have done it.” I remember how quick she was to offer me her help last night. “If you’d asked, she would have said yes.”
“The more we expose her, the harder it is to keep her true identity a secret.” Wesley shakes his head. “It probably wouldn’t work anyway. When Pierce challenged me for Haven, he had his witch protect him from King Malachi’s commands with a spell. I’m sure these witches will do the same or similar.”
Reid scoffs. “They don’t know that we know that they are coming. I doubt they’d plan for—”
Wesley raises his brow. “You’d risk your luna’s life on an assumption?”
Reid’s mouth snaps shut, and he shakes his head emphatically. “I know there are too many what-ifs for it to be a viable option. I was just saying it would make it all easier. And faster.”
“I think we’d all like this to end quickly,” Harrison agrees.
“I wouldn’t like that.” Sebastian’s grip on my hand tightens, and his eyes linger on the scars on my neck and wrists. “I’d like their deaths to be drawn out and brutal.”
Reid shudders. “As long as you don’t make me watch.”
We’re silent after that. We wait, staring across the grounds, all of us keeping our nerves and our fears unspoken, using them as fuel for our battle against the traffickers.
The sun disappears behind the trees and works its way down towards the horizon.
Rays of light disappear and reappear between the trunks of the dense forest. The tension between and within all of us increases as the light decreases.
We’re on edge, waiting for the attack, waiting for them to show themselves .
A single wolf sprints out of the forest, zooming over the grounds and towards the lake. Not a werewolf, but—
“Is that— Is that Cav?” Reid’s crossed arms loosen as Cav’s purple tutu bounces with the momentum of his movements.
Wesley’s eyes widen. “Fuck!”
Reid’s eyes stay locked on the projectile that is Cav racing across the pack grounds. “I thought he went to Peter’s with Haven?”
Cavalier kicks up massive amounts of dirt and rocks as he sprints to Cassandra and Nolan, before he spins around, his teeth bared and his hackles raised.
Cassandra and Nolan stare at him in confusion and surprise.
Cav growls and readies himself, glaring at the forest’s edge.
Nolan’s and Cassandra’s gazes follow his, and her book drops as another wolf—a werewolf—breaks through the tree line.
The large, all-black werewolf hurtles towards Cassandra, Nolan, and Cav. His yellowed eyes narrow as he hones in on his targets, and drool froths in his mouth as he revels in delight at the thought of tearing into them.
“Someone get Cav out of there!” Wesley bellows through the pack link. “Throw him in the cells or something. Just make sure he’s not anywhere close to the fight!”
Cassandra and Nolan leap into action, both trying to grab Cavalier to get him to safety. But Cavalier stands his ground, digging his paws in and not letting them move him from his position.
The black werewolf draws closer.
Wesley jolts, darting towards the back door, but his dad and Reid both grab him, holding him back. He snarls and fights against the hold on him, and Sebastian grabs onto his arms, helping them keep him inside.
My heart gallops, pounding as fast and as loud as the paws of the black werewolf hitting the ground as it sprints towards them. Wesley roars and breaks loose from their hold right as the black werewolf leaps towards Cav, jaws wide open and ready to clamp down onto him.
But Cav is prepared. He darts away, out of reach from where the werewolf lands, and pounces on him. Cav latches onto his ear and tears with all his might as he jumps over the werewolf, his claws raking across his ribs at the same time .
The werewolf yelps in surprise and then howls in pain as Cav lands on his other side, shaking his head side to side with the detached ear between his teeth.
Blood splatters fall onto the grass and stain his purple tutu, but there is a gleam of triumph in Cav’s eyes as he drops the ear and leaps towards the black werewolf again, aiming at his jugular.
Nolan and Cassandra freeze. The other pack members stop what they’re doing as well, their activities forgotten.
All watch in disbelief as Cavalier tears into the werewolf with no restraint.
Reid, Harrison, and Sebastian all burst into laughter, and I can’t help but join in with them.
Wesley’s shoulders sag, and he shakes his head, his expression torn between amusement and fear.
“Are you sure you don’t want his help?” Maddie asks.
“Haven will kill me if he gets hurt,” he says through gritted teeth.
Our amusement at Cav’s perfect defense of two of his favorite Crescent Lake pack members is short lived. Across the expansive tree line, more werewolves—both shifted and not—appear, slipping out of the forest and into the wide-open space surrounding the lake.
Panic erupts on the grounds as the werewolves race towards the scattered pack members, who all still stare at Cav and the black werewolf he took down. But everyone bursts into action, jumping to their feet or sprinting away from the large group heading towards them.
The mass of attackers splits into smaller clumps, each following a group of Crescent Lake members. They run, weaving through the buildings, all heading in separate directions and staying just out of reach of the werewolves chasing them.
Cassandra and Nolan sprint towards the packhouse. Cav, once he’s certain the black werewolf is down, chases after them, his tongue hanging out and his mouth in what I can only describe as a proud, wolf-husky smile.
“Don’t shift unless you absolutely have to,” Wesley reminds Sebastian and me—not that we need it. “If they see your golden eyes, they’ll know we have the royals on our side too. We need to keep our upper hand hidden for as long as we can.”
Sebastian and I both nod our response, but Wesley’s attention is already back on the field, on the pack members racing across the far reaches of the grounds.
The running members slow their steps as each group nears the large buildings they were heading towards .
Sebastian grabs my face and slams his mouth against mine as the pack members running away from the attackers turn and face them, standing their ground and preparing to fight back.
“Te amo, mi reina,” he whispers into my mind as our mouths move as one.
Time slows to almost a stop as Sebastian pulls away from me and our attackers launch themselves into the air, triumph etched into their expressions and gleaming in their eyes.
Just before our enemies land their first hits, we attack.