Page 99 of The Delta’s Rogue (Crescent Lake #4)
Dominic’s story of his dream with Brenna and the information she passed to him erases any trace of joy from the celebratory atmosphere in Wesley and Haven’s home and stuns us into silence.
A fear I’ve only seen once before clouds Haven’s eyes as she clutches Dylan tighter against her chest and leans instinctively into Wesley. It’s the same fear that darkened her eyes the night her ex attacked her outside of Moonlighters, the night Wesley discovered she was his fated mate.
“So, you’re telling us,” Reid finally says through the phone, “that the male behind the entire trafficking operation is Lyall?” He breaks the silence and voices what all of us are likely thinking but too afraid to speak into existence.
“Lyall from the book on a shelf in my living room? The Lyall who killed Asteria?”
With each of Reid’s unnecessary questions, Selene’s expression darkens further, until the silvery light emanating from her is instead as black as the night sky her home hangs in.
“Yes, that Lyall,” Dominic spits out. “Lyall, and whoever his benefactor is.”
Powerful wrath unlike anything I’ve ever experienced exudes from Selene as she moves from the window to the foot of Haven’s bed. “How long has this group Lyall leads been trafficking my wolves?” she asks.
“I don’t know how long exactly.” Sarina stands straight and poised within my arms, even beneath the weight of Selene’s anger. “My team and I have been hunting them down for five years now. The Crescent Lake members started helping when the traffickers captured me a few weeks ago. ”
“Why didn’t you say anything to me about this?” Selene asks Haven. “We’ve spoken several times these last weeks.”
“I figured there wasn’t any point. You never intervened before we found out about all of this, because you’re not allowed to. It’s not like me saying something to you would change that.”
Wesley slips his hand into Haven’s as she stares at Selene. My skin prickles with the awkwardness filling the room as we wait for Selene to respond to Haven’s subtle jab, all of us avoiding eye contact with each other.
“You’re right,” Selene says slowly. “I’m not supposed to intervene. But if I had known, I would have found some way around that to help you.”
“ If you had known?” Wesley raises one eyebrow. “You’re a goddess. You know everything.”
“Tell me, Cassandra”—Selene switches her attention away from Haven and Wesley—“do oracles see all and know all? Do you have an infinite insight into the way the future will unfold?”
Reid laughs. “Cassandra’s not an oracle. Not technically.”
His remark is met with humorless silence.
“Not the time, Reid,” Nolan mutters.
“As an acolyte ”—Cassandra snaps her head pointedly towards the phone even though Reid can’t see her—“I only see snippets. Usually—or at least, since I moved here—those snippets are when Haven or Nolan’s safety is threatened. But even a full oracle has limits of what they see and know.”
Selene scans all our faces, ensuring we all witness the truth in her words.
“Like the oracles, I am not all knowing. I am not omniscient. None of the gods are. I did not know there was someone out there targeting my warriors in so heinous a manner to exact revenge on me.” She holds Wesley’s gaze once more.
“I’m not supposed to intervene, but I will help in whatever way I can. ”
Wesley nods his acceptance of Selene’s offer. He scrubs his hand down his face, his exhaustion and apprehension breaking through his joy at the birth of his son. They paint themselves onto his face as dark circles under his eyes and frown lines in his skin.
“What else did you see?” Wesley asks Cassandra.
“Not much,” she admits apologetically. “They’ll be here at sunset.”
“How many?” I ask.
“A lot?” She shakes her head and squeezes her eyes shut. “I don’t know. It was fast, and there wasn’t enough time to count them all.”
“Why are they attacking us ?” Reid asks through the phone.
“Brenna didn’t say. I’m not sure she knows why, only that they are,” Dominic replies.
“Do you think…” Haven swallows and tries again. “Do you think Lyall—or whoever he’s working for—knows about me? That I’m your daughter and I’m here?” she asks Selene. “Do you think he wants me?”
“No.” Selene’s response is instant and certain. “None of the other gods know your identity. I’ve made sure of that. They know you exist, but they don’t know who you are.”
“And you’re certain Lyall’s working for another god?” Wesley asks.
“He has to be. Only a god can make someone a demigod.”
“Who’d you pissed off then?” Wesley asks Selene.
She laughs drily. “It could be anyone. The gods are petty and have infinite time to hold grudges.”
Reid’s voice overlaps Selene’s. “That still doesn’t explain why they are attacking us.”
“They must have figured out that everything Sebastian did and said was a lie,” Sarina says.
“But how?” Reid insists.
“Does it matter?” Sarina retorts. “They figured it out. We’ve lost our advantage, and now they’re on their way here. They’re on their way here, and it’s—”
She bites her lip and lowers her chin to prevent herself from finishing her sentence.
But I know what she was about to say: it’s all her fault .
She said those same words to me the other day when I chased her through the forest, and I’ve sensed her placing blame on herself more times than I can count over the last week.
“I’ll make sure those unable to fight evacuate to the neighboring packs,” I say to Wesley, taking the lead so he doesn’t have to bear this mental load. “Everyone who is able and willing to fight will be ready by sunset.”
“Haven and Taryn should go to Peter’s,” Sarina suggests, latching onto my strength and letting it bolster her. “He has more protections in place to hide his home from unwanted guests than Silver Ridge or Amber Forest do.”
Wesley nods. “We’ll all head there after we’ve gotten some sleep. ”
“‘We’ will not.” Haven glares at him. “ You are staying here. You are going to fight.”
“Haven—”
“I’ll command you if I have to. You know I will. You too, Reid,” she adds, directing her voice towards the phone.
“Yes, Luna.”
Reid responds with no hesitation, even though I’m sure he, like Wesley, would prefer to be with his mate and their babies. He knows better than any of us what can happen when a wolf’s mate dies.
Wesley stares at Haven, his jaw ticking with tension and indecision. His eyes shine, and he swallows, pinching the bridge of his nose as he blinks against whatever emotion builds inside him from this unexpected turn of events.
Nolan clears his throat and catches Wesley’s eye. “I’ll stay with Haven, Taryn, and the babies while you two help Sebastian.”
“No!” Haven shakes her head adamantly and slaps the bed with the hand that isn’t holding Dylan, and a wave of her aura pulses from her, forcing all of us to lower our chins in submission.
She stares us all down with a fierce expression, one that is so similar to the expression on Selene’s face only moments before.
“The four of you should be here— together —defending Crescent Lake. You’re strongest when you’re together. ”
Her words slam into me. I hug Sarina tighter and inhale her scent, using it to center me.
Nolan does similar with Cassandra, burying his nose into the top of her head.
Wesley perches on the edge of the bed, his forehead resting against Haven’s temple and his arm supporting hers as they hold their newborn son together.
Even though I can’t see them, I’m sure Reid is holding Taryn as close as he can as well.
“She’s right.” I sigh. “Our whole lives, it’s always been us four.
Playing together, training together, experiencing life and all the happiness and sorrow it can bring together.
” My voice hurts as I try to prevent it from cracking.
“I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I wouldn’t be who I am today without you three.
Our adult lives may have seen us drift apart as we all found our mates and our purpose, but everything we’ve gone through—as a group and individually—was to prepare us for this moment.
” I lift my gaze, and I’m met with Haven’s determined but tear-filled blue eyes and my brother’s resigned expression.
“I know I won’t be a Crescent Lake member for much longer, but this is my home and you—all of you—are my family. And wolves—”
“Protect their family,” Haven finishes for me.
My lips tip into a smile despite the heaviness of our current situation. “Exactly, Sparkles.”
A tear slips out of Haven’s eye as she nods at me and tries to return my smile.
“I’ll stay with Haven, Taryn, and the babies,” Selene offers.
“How will you protect them?” Wesley asks. “You just told us you can’t intervene.”
“I’m not supposed to,” Selene confirms. “But if they try to hurt my daughter or her family, they won’t live long enough to regret it.”