Page 93 of The Delta’s Rogue (Crescent Lake #4)

Sebastian stretches out behind me. One arm rests beneath my head and the other wraps around my middle, holding me to him.

His breaths come in a deep, steady rhythm, rustling my hair with every exhale.

I’m pressed as tight to him as I can get, hoping his warmth and his embrace will coax me into a slumber as deep and fulfilling as his.

But sleep evades me.

Through the parted curtains, I watch the stars twinkle and dance in the endless dark heavens. The smallest sliver of the moon hangs in the sky with them, watching over the mountains and the forest, and all their inhabitants.

My mind sprints over those mountains and through the forest. It races and races, never following one thought through to the end, jumping from idea to idea and worry to worry.

I suggested we mark each other to ease Sebastian’s mind, but all it did was cause mine to freak out more.

At least I can feel him now. My lycan is missing in action, but the bond is back and stronger than ever.

That should count for something, right?

I trail my hands across his forearm and savor the sparks flaring to life on my fingertips.

His scent floats into my nose, and I hold each breath in my lungs for longer than I need to.

It’s all more intense than ever, more than it was the night I left four years ago.

Like then, I savor the connection we have.

But unlike then, I’m not soaking it all in to get me through our time apart.

I don’t have to because we will never experience a separation like that again.

Nunca . Never.

Through the bond, I sense his peace and contentment. There’s worry there too, but it’s diminished from what I saw in his eyes earlier. And there’s protectiveness, but that will always be there. It’s ingrained in his instincts as my mate and as an alpha.

He may deny it, but he is an alpha. He’s always been one.

I spin in his arms to face him. With my palms flat on his chest, I kiss my mark on his neck.

“ Te amo, mi vida ,” I whisper.

A light groan vibrates in his throat, but he stays sound asleep. I chuckle softly and rest my cheek on his bare chest to listen to his heartbeat.

Even with my back to them, I’m fully aware of the stars. There’s a pull. A summons. It’s an awareness similar to the mate bond, except stars don’t have emotions. But there’s something there, calling to me. Something that’s been urging me to acknowledge it since Sebastian fell asleep.

Unable to ignore it any longer, I sigh and roll over again, extracting myself from Sebastian’s embrace carefully. I tiptoe to the dresser and throw a T-shirt and leggings on.

As I dress, my gaze stays on the sliver of night sky visible through the parted curtains. The twinkling stars beckon me the same way they do at home and, once I’m clothed, I press a palm against the glass.

It’s not enough. I need the open air. Necesito el inmenso cielo sobre mi cabeza y el susurro de la brisa en mis oídos. I need the vast sky above my head and the whisper of the breeze in my ears.

At home, I’d throw the glass double doors to my balcony open and sleep on the chaise, or I’d take myself downstairs to wander the open-air hallways of the lower palace.

Or I’d climb onto the greenhouse roof and pretend Sebastian was there with me, pointing out constellations and shooting stars as the breeze rustled the palm trees and the waves crashed against the shore.

But I’m not at home, and Sebastian is sound asleep behind me.

So I do the next best thing. I take my old navy-blue blanket, wrap it around my shoulders, and head out to the back deck. I traipse through Peter’s house as quietly as I can to ensure I don’t disturb anyone.

Only, when I reach the deck, someone is already there .

Haven stands at the railing, one hand on the wood and the other on her pregnant stomach.

She stares at the sky, taking deep intentional breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth.

The moonbeams light her from behind, giving her an otherworldly glow.

Her light red curls cascade down her back, shimmering like the smoothest silk from the light around her.

I inhale, ready to turn around and head back inside to leave her to her thoughts, but I’m louder than I thought I was.

Her eyes snap to me, and the glow around her pulses outward, like a visual representation of a rippling alpha aura.

The light isn’t coming from the moon. It’s coming from within her.

The glittering aura Haven sends towards me washes over my body, and I gasp as it hits me and holds me frozen in place. She utters no command, but the strength of her aura keeps me from moving or doing anything beyond breathing.

Just as quickly as her power pins me in place, it releases me from its grasp.

“Shit. I’m sorry,” Haven says as she reins in her aura. “I didn’t mean to use that on you.”

Even though it isn’t binding me anymore, the flecks of light from her aura remain swirling around me. I watch them dance, sparkling like stars plucked straight out of the midnight sky.

It’s as potent as an aura from an alpha, and yet it’s softer.

Sweeter. It stems from a place of self-preservation and protection instead of from the animalistic need to be the most dominant creature in the room.

It’s still wild and primal, but there’s a gentleness within it that most alphas don’t have.

There’s something about it that’s familiar too, like greeting an old friend. After the harshness, the unnaturalness, of the blood magic Brenna had to use on me, Haven’s aura is a breath of fresh air.

“ Está bien . It’s fine.” I track the stardust floating around me as I walk the rest of the way to join her at the deck railing.

“You’re not that surprised by it,” she observes, frowning slightly at me. “By my aura, I mean.”

“Dominic told me about it and your…alpha co mmand?”

“Haven command,” she corrects me with a chuckle. “Reid came up with that label. But how would Dominic be able to tell you about it? The blood contract prevents anyone from speaking about it unless—”

“I’ve known who you are for a while. My dad told me after Wesley killed Alpha Benjamin’s dad,” I confess. “It’s part of our duty, as Conan’s descendants, to protect Selene’s daughter. You,” I amend. “I’m sorry I scared you when I came out here.”

“It’s not your fault. The aura gets harder for me to hide every day.”

“I haven’t noticed it.”

“That’s because Cassandra is very good at absorbing it when I can’t hide it. But when I’m alone, I don’t bother trying to hold it in anymore.”

She exhales and rubs her stomach, watching as her glittering aura settles back into place around her. Crickets chirp, and a wolf—an actual wolf, not a shifted werewolf—howls in the distance.

The sounds are different from home but comforting nonetheless. Combined with the constellations above us, the breeze teasing the ends of our hair, and the innate familiarity I feel with Haven, a peace settles over me that I was unable to find while with Sebastian.

We stand together in comfortable silence, both of us relaxing under the sliver of moonlight and the innumerable stars, both of us wearing shirts that belong to our mates—the Stone males.

Sebastian’s shirt hangs to my knees. My petite frame swims in it.

And Haven’s body would drown in Wesley’s shirt too were it not for her pregnant belly stretching it out.

The breeze picks up in strength and speed, blowing my hair across my face, and I tuck it behind my ears. Haven’s nostrils flare. Her jaw ticks, and she flicks her eyes towards the trees, scanning the borders of Peter’s property.

“Why are you out here?” I ask.

She tears her attention away from the forest, where it lingered on the line of trees. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Because you’re worried about the attack tomorrow?”

She gives me a soft chuckle and glances down at her stomach, her hands framing the large bump. “That, and this future alpha is making it very difficult to get any good sleep lately.” Her gaze shifts back towards the sky, like when I first exited the house. “So, I came out here and…”

I follow her gaze and wait for her to continue, but she’s silent. “I couldn’t sleep either,” I say.

She nods her response, but her eyes stay locked on the sky.

“Where’s Wesley?” I ask.

“He’s asleep.”

“And Nolan?”

“I didn’t want to bother him and Cassandra.”

“He’s your gamma,” I remind her. “You wouldn’t be bothering them. He’s supposed to protect you.”

“He works too hard and takes his job too seriously sometimes.”

“He cares about you.”

“I know. He’ll be pissed when he finds out I came out here by myself, but Nolan deserves a break. I’m not going to interrupt his night with his mate because I can’t sleep. He needs to connect with his mate pre-battle just as much as the rest of us do.”

A teasing smile graces her elegant features and lights up her sapphire-blue eyes as they flick towards my neck. The smile turns into a bigger, knowing grin when I instinctively reach for my mark at her words and what they imply.

“I can’t say I’m surprised Sebastian marked you,” she says, still smiling. “Those Stone men are quite possessive.”

I smile with her as I trace over my marking spot and remember the heated, romantic moment Sebastian and I shared together.

I remember the passion, the intensity, the explosive connection.

The way he took charge, took command of my body and my pleasure, and yet was gentle with me.

I remember the words he said to me, how he told me and showed me in equal measure how much he loves me.

The entire experience was better than any fantasy I concocted in my mind over the years of what it would be like when we finally marked each other.

“I marked him too,” I tell her.

“So your lycan is back?” Haven’s aura brightens, and her eyes widen in excitement.