Page 102 of The Delta’s Rogue (Crescent Lake #4)

Sebastian snaps. He reacts before I have a chance to.

He leaps from his hiding place with a roar of vengeance, his eyes as dark as thunderclouds. His fangs descend from his gums, and his claws extend. He attacks Nuncio from the side, slicing across his groin.

The fabric rips, blood flies into the air in harsh pulses, and Nuncio yells in terror and surprise. He crouches, doubling over in pain, and a small, wrinkled, flesh-colored body part falls to the ground out of his shorts.

Nuncio’s dick.

Sebastian cut Nuncio’s dick off through his shorts.

Nuncio snarls and spins towards Sebastian. “You motherfuck—”

Sebastian’s fist meets Nuncio’s cheek and cuts both his curse and his attack short. A tooth flies out of Nuncio’s mouth, along with a large wad of saliva and blood, and he grips his jaw, stumbling backwards from the force of Sebastian’s punch.

“I believe you’ve met my mate once before?” I smile with dark delight as I watch Sebastian rain blow after blow on Nuncio’s body.

Sebastian doesn’t pause, doesn’t take a break, doesn’t leave any opening for Nuncio to attack back.

Blood drips down Nuncio’s legs from where he lost his dick and spills from his nose, eyes, and mouth. Bruises form beneath his skin, and he stumbles around, barely keeping his footing on the blood-soaked ground beneath him.

“Who…”

Sebastian pauses his assault long enough for Nuncio to glimpse his face.

“You!” Nuncio snarls. “You came to my club! You—” He launches towards Sebastian.

Before Nuncio can reach him, a silver collar flies through the air, held aloft by Rune’s magic, and attaches itself to Nuncio’s neck.

My silver collar. The one he put on me, the one I wore for weeks.

“Fuck!” Nuncio screams, grabbing the collar on instinct to tug it away from his neck, but the metal stings his hands, and he drops them as quickly as he grabbed the device. “Shit!” he hisses.

“That doesn’t feel very good, does it?” Sebastian taunts. He holds his hand out, and Rune sends the two wrist cuffs and the chains to him as well.

Nuncio backs away from Sebastian, but I kick him hard in the back of the knees, sending him to the ground right as Rune sends the ankle cuffs flying towards us and they clamp onto Nuncio’s legs.

Through the bond, I feel the sizzling burns the metal gives Sebastian on his hands, but he doesn’t show any hint of pain.

All that is on his face is pure, unbridled rage, enhanced by the vengeance and the midnight-black darkness swirling within his aura.

He snaps the devices onto Nuncio’s wrists and throws the chains into the air, wrenching Nuncio’s arms up and behind him, dislocating his shoulders as they swivel in their sockets.

I catch the chains and ignore the bite of silver on my skin. It’s nothing compared to the constant pain I was in for the innumerable days Amara kept me imprisoned—days I only experienced because of Nuncio.

The chains attach to the collar on his neck and the shackles on his ankles. His head is yanked backwards, and I slice my claws through the backs of his calves as deep as they can go until I reach the bone.

Sebastian’s eyes flash with primal approval as the blood flows unfettered and Nuncio’s sobs of pain fill our ears.

“P-please,” Nuncio begs. “Please don’t— Please let me—”

“Let you go?” Sebastian raises a brow. “Let you go like you let my mate go? Let you go like you did all the other helpless females you’ve ever laid a hand on?”

“Oh, wait…” I laugh, although there is absolutely no humor in the sound. “You didn’t let us go. You captured us and tormented us and did whatever you wanted with us. ”

“I was lying,” Nuncio pleads. “I was taunting her. Trying to scare her. I didn’t touch her in the van. We’re not allowed to touch them.”

Sebastian stares at me over the top of Nuncio’s sniveling form. “We could find out for sure,” he mindlinks me. “Get the truth from him by alpha command.”

My throat constricts, and my empty stomach curdles as the reality of what Nuncio said settles into my bones.

The memory of waking up strapped to a gurney in nothing but my bra and underwear replays over and over in my head.

The helplessness, the fear, and the vulnerability I felt hit me once more, as strong now as then.

And that thought. That one thought I had, that fear that they’d done more to me than I realized while I was unconscious, nearly breaks me. It threatens to send me down into that gaping pit of brokenness I’ve worked so hard to climb out of.

“I don’t want to know,” I reply.

The answer won’t change anything. All it will do is damage the progress I’ve made on my healing.

Sebastian sets his jaw, then crouches down so he’s eye level with Nuncio.

“Maybe you didn’t.” His voice is low and eerily calm.

“But even if you didn’t, it doesn’t change everything else you did.

It doesn’t erase the crimes, the cruelty, or the way you enjoyed every second of misery you wrought on all those girls.

We’re here to make sure you never do any of that again. Ever.”

Sebastian grabs Nuncio’s detached dick from the ground and shoves it into Nuncio’s mouth, forcing it as far back as he can through Nuncio’s snarling, flailing, and gagging. “Taste this, motherfucker.”

Sebastian keeps his hand in Nuncio’s mouth, shoving the dick deeper in Nuncio’s throat.

He stands and kicks Nuncio in the groin.

The kick deepens the injury and brings a fresh wave of blood.

Even with his dick muffling his voice, the sharp noises of pain Nuncio makes as Sebastian kicks him repeatedly in the groin are loud and satisfying.

Each one makes my lycan howl with glee. Each one feeds my need for blood, death, and destruction.

Sebastian gives Nuncio’s crotch one last kick. He shoves the dick even deeper, then spits on Nuncio’s face before backing away from him.

“He’s all yours, my queen. ”

He says the words through mindlink. He says them only to me. No one else. But the pride in his eyes, the absolute devotion and commitment, is clear for the world to see.

This man is mine through and through. My mate. My life. Mi vida . My king.

Tears, snot, saliva, and bruises cover Nuncio’s body. Blood dampens the front of his shorts, and the potent stench of fresh shit wafts towards me as I circle him.

His shoulders heave, and his eyes beg me to leave him be, to show him a sliver of mercy.

But it’s too late.

I decided his fate the moment he laid his hands on me in that alley.

I make my way behind him again and dart forward, tearing his fingers off. I rip them from his hands one by one. The memory of him groping me wraps around my throat and chokes my lungs, but I continue detaching his digits with renewed motivation.

With every strike I make against him, with every yelp of anguish from Nuncio, a new memory jumps to the forefront of my mind.

Being chained to the bed in the cell upon arrival.

The realization that my red choker was no longer tied around my ankle.

Brenna’s hands wandering over my body as she peered into my thoughts.

The electric sensation of my blood used against me to make me do whatever they wanted.

The gnawing emptiness in my stomach when I wouldn’t comply and they refused to let me eat.

The way a part of me died when I gave in and pretended to be the perfect little pet Amara wanted me to be.

The way my dreams warped, and I couldn’t remember what version of Sebastian was the real one.

And the utter helplessness that flooded me when they sent me up onto that stage with no clothing, to sell me to the highest bidder.

As the moments replay, I lash out at Nuncio harder. My blows fall faster, swipe after swipe, my claws slicing through his skin with no resistance.

Each memory is a reminder of how extensively they broke me. But each time my claws meet his skin, I take back a piece of myself, a piece of my strength, a piece of my heart.

I take all of it back. Everything they stole from me falls back into place. It may be slightly off center. The pieces may be jagged and may not fit together the way they used to. But they are mine once more. They are mine, and no one can take them from me.

Soy libre . I’m free.

“He’s gone, Sarina.” Sebastian’s voice breaks through my bloodlust and brings me back to reality. “He can’t hurt you anymore. ”

I slash through Nuncio’s body one more time, and then I back away, stumbling over my feet as I do.

Nuncio’s body is unrecognizable, torn to shreds by my brutal, unrestrained attacks.

Sebastian’s hands curl around my upper arms to hold me steady, but I yank myself from him with a yelp, my shoulders and chest heaving with every breath. Tears blur my vision as I press a bloodstained hand against my heart.

Sebastian stops two steps from me. “I’m here when you’re ready, carino .”

I stroll away from him, closing my eyes. The battle continues, the warriors and the traffickers unaware of the personal war I just won.

Sebastian’s love and support weave around me like a safety net, reminding me I bear none of this alone. Through it all, through every challenge I will face during my life, he will be there with me—behind me, or at my side, or protecting me with his own life. He will never abandon me.

“Their numbers are dwindling,” Riven reports to everyone through the link. “There aren’t many left.”

“I think we’ve gotten all the witches as well,” Dominic says. “We kept as many alive as we could, but we’re still searching for Amara. I’m not sure where she is exactly. Her scent keeps bouncing around, and…”

His voice fades into the background as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. A chill runs through my body, followed by a shooting, staggering pain that sets my every cell on fire with its electric grip.

No. No es posible . It’s not possible.

My body seizes up, frozen in place. I try to move, to run, to fight, to shift— something —but nothing happens. I’m stuck in place against my will, unable to do anything.

I scream, fighting against the magic controlling me. The scream echoes across the grounds and bounces off the buildings. Shrill and bloodcurdling, it sends birds into the sky and gives pause to every wolf on the battlefield.

“Sarina?” Sebastian whispers.

Dread coagulates in my stomach like tar. My body spins without my permission, turning to face Sebastian. Sobs rattle my lungs and shake my shoulders, but those are the only movements I make of my own accord .

Pain shoots through my veins as I push against the blood magic manipulating me. I push and push and push , but there is no point.

I’m powerless to stop this.

“Lo siento, mi vida,” I say in my mind, unsure if he can hear me, if the mindlink works when someone is controlling me. I’m sorry, my love.

Confusion wrinkles Sebastian’s brow and concern gleams in his eyes.

Another sputtering sob leaves me as my knees bend. Then I fly across the grass towards him, my arms outstretched and my claws aimed at his throat.