Page 13 of The Delta’s Rogue (Crescent Lake #4)

For the second time this week, howls bounce around the pack grounds and echo off the mountainside.

Only, tonight, instead of mournful and melancholic and filled with concern for our future luna, they’re triumphant and full of pride—a celebration of Wesley’s victory against the fucking disgusting male who tried to claim Haven as his own mate.

Wesley can’t hear the howls, ensconced as he is within the soundproof walls of his room in the pack hospital, but I’m sure he can sense the pride and adoration flowing to him from our pack.

He truly proved himself as an alpha today, earning the unyielding respect of the wolves in our pack, as he defended his mate and his honor as our future leader.

I sigh as I trek through the forest, picking my way over the rough and uneven mountain terrain, a peace settling over me.

Everything about tonight is the complete opposite of the night Lennox attacked Haven. And yet, I feel lonely. Isolated. Incomplete. Like something is missing.

Seeing my mission through to the end, seeing Lennox lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood and watching the light fade from Alpha Timothy’s eyes as my brother defeated him, fulfilled me. But there is still an almost tangible emptiness within me.

A twig snaps to my left, and I whip my head around to find Sarina there, her arms crossed and her lips lifted in a half-smile as she watches me.

“Pretty Boy,” she teases, stalking closer to me.

“Little Rogue.” I cross my arms and mimic her stance .

She stops in her tracks as her nostrils flare, but her eyes darken, and I swear a shudder runs over her body.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. “You don’t like your nickname?”

“I don’t.” She answers my question all too quickly.

I cock my head to the side and walk around her. “Hmm.”

She tracks my path with her eyes, flicking her head to the other side as I complete my circle, her shoulders heaving with each breath she takes.

“You seemed to like it just fine the other night.”

She tilts her head towards the ground, her dark hair swaying with the movement, and her legs squeeze together. Her tongue swipes across the seam of her lips as she shrugs. “That was part of the act.” She doesn’t meet my eyes.

I stop in front of her, my arms still crossed, and she lifts her gaze again to mine.

“You never got a chance to tell me what happened to Lennox,” she says, changing the subject.

I huff out a sardonic laugh. “Nolan killed him. Lennox kept popping his mouth off, so Nolan tore his jaw off. Not before I had some fun with him, though.” My cruel smirk grows with my words.

“What did you do?”

“I dipped a silver knife in wolfsbane, then carved his neck with scars to match Haven’s.”

A spark flares to life in her eyes, and her lips twitch with a derisive laugh that matches my own. “Good. He deserved that and more.”

I nod my agreement.

“And the other alpha?” she asks.

“Wesley killed him.”

“Why was he so interested in Haven?”

I lower my eyes to the ground and grit my teeth together. The urge to tell her is strong, but the command of silence King Malachi placed on all who witnessed Wesley’s challenge with Alpha Pierce is stronger.

“I can’t tell you.” I glance at her with my head still lowered, the weight of the alpha command bearing down on me with each moment I consider admitting the truth to her. “King Malachi forbade it. ”

“Haven must be pretty special then”—Sarina shuffles her foot through the underbrush—“if King Malachi is protecting her too.”

“She is.” My cruel smile turns genuine as I think of who Haven is and what she symbolizes to those of us who know.

Everything falls into place now. Our fierce loyalty and overbearing protectiveness of her when she was Wesley’s pen pal, and when she turned up here years later, wasn’t only because she was our future luna but because she’s the daughter of Selene.

“I wish I could tell you,” I admit, shoving my hands into my pockets.

Sarina waves away my words. “I understand.”

“I’m sorry my friends didn’t trust you.” I lift my gaze from the ground. “I’m sorry they asked King Malachi to question you—to alpha command you.”

She shrugs. “I’m used to others not trusting me.”

I swallow and inch closer to her. “I do. Trust you.”

Her brown eyes—two captivating round pools of the darkest melted chocolate set perfectly in her gorgeous face—bore into mine.

My mind wanders back to our night at the sex club, to the image of her pinned to the door of the private room as I fingered her pussy and took her right to the edge of bliss and then down into it.

She was such a beautiful little plaything, so responsive to my touches, my kisses, and my praise.

We muddied the waters that night. We blurred the line between real and pretend, and I’m not sure how to approach the subject with her.

The further removed from the heat of the moment we get, the more I realize how right it all was. Anything I tell myself otherwise is a lie. All my mental gymnastics to create a list of reasons it can’t happen again are pointless.

She is magnetic. There is no resisting her. I can’t, and I don’t want to.

I take a step towards her. “The other night—”

“It was just pretend,” she says.

I lift a brow. “Who are you trying to convince? Yourself?” I chuckle and shake my head.

“I’ve tried to convince myself of the same.

It was just pretend. It was an act. We got caught up in the moment and the atmosphere.

” I venture closer to her with each phrase until I’m staring down into her eyes, my nose brushing hers.

“It’s all lies , Sarina. We both wanted it, and we both enjoyed it. ”

“What about your mate?” she asks .

“What about her?”

“You’re waiting for her?”

“That isn’t what I said,” I remind her. “I said I was waiting for someone whose needs and desires matched up with mine. And I think yours do.” I weave my fingers into her hair, lifting her chin higher until our mouths hover an inch apart.

A spark flickers to life between us as I touch her, but once again I push away the thoughts that spark ignites.

“I can’t stay away from you, Little Rogue. I want you.”

“I’ll have to leave eventually.”

My jaw ticks as my lycan howls, and my hands tighten in her hair. “Then I’ll find you again,” I growl. “No matter where you are or how long it takes, I will find you.”

At my declaration, her eyes flash with her wolf. She reaches up, but I lean away, tugging on her hair to hold her still. My lips twitch as she fights me, straining to reach my mouth with hers, and she glares at me, her annoyance deepening each time I resist her attempts to kiss me.

“Tell me you want this.” Dark amusement tints my voice. “Tell me it wasn’t pretend.”

“It may have started as pretend but…” She licks her lips as her eyes wander around the small clearing, and then she shakes her head.

“No. That’s a lie. It was never pretend for me.

” She meets my eyes again, determination blazing within her words.

“I want you, Sebby. I can’t stay away from you either, even though it would be better in the long run if I did. ”

I smile down at her, leaning closer. “Good girl.” My lips brush against hers with the lightest touches possible as I praise her for her honesty. “Such a fucking good little rogue.”

She closes the distance, standing on her toes to kiss me, and this time I let her, slamming my lips onto hers in response.

My hands slide down her back to her butt, and I lift her into my arms and against my body, rolling her hips on mine.

Her arms and legs wrap around me, holding me as tightly as they can.

She clings to me like I’ll disappear from her life if she lets go.

Our kiss deepens, and I stumble across the small clearing, carrying her, then pin her to a tree.

She feels so fucking good in my arms. Her lips melt into mine, their soft plumpness a perfect fit.

With each twist of them, she brings me further into her mysterious depths, drawing me across a sparkling galaxy of intrigue and hidden secrets.

Their knowledge teases me like my hands tease her ass and the backs of her legs, prompting her to grind her pretty pussy against my dick.

Our collision was inevitable. I realize that now. She’s still the bane of my existence, a tiny, annoying thorn in my side, but only because it annoys me that I didn’t see her coming. I didn’t anticipate the hold she’d have on me.

She may submit to me when I’m playing with her, but between the two of us, she’s the one with all the power. I only dominate her because she lets me. I’m her loyal subject, here to worship and serve her in whatever way she desires.

“You have to promise”—Sarina’s hands wander to my cheeks and frame my face, lifting me from her lips so our eyes meet—“promise me you won’t beg me to stay with you when it’s time for me to leave.”

My nostrils flare, and my grip on her tightens.

“Promise me, Sebby,” she insists.

“I promise,” I agree through clenched teeth, diving forward and kissing her again to hide the pain and the lie in my eyes.

It’s the last thing I want to agree to. I’d rather cut off my hand or take over a pack than promise her I won’t beg her to stay with me.

But I make that promise all the same because I know asking her to stay isn’t a viable option.

She doesn’t belong here. She isn’t meant to be contained by a small pack in the California mountains.

I’ll let her go when it’s time. Not happily, not willingly, and I’ll likely break my promise. But I’ll let her leave in the end.

She kisses me back fervently, a soft noise of pleasure in the back of her throat, and once again I remember our night at The Black Door and how she made that noise—and more—as I gave her beautiful body all the attention it deserves.

Goddess, I want to do that again. I want to take her to new heights and show everyone that she’s mine, even if it’s just for now.