Page 137 of The Delta's Rogue
Sebastian’s movements stop, and I sense his eyes boring into me. “Weeks?”
“Maybe even months.”
“How is that possible?”
“They used some kind of time-altering magic so there would be enough time to train all of us before the auction. I honestly don’t know exactly how long it was for me. The days… They’re all a blur. But it was much, much longer than one week.”
The silence that follows is terrifying. The tension grows and grows as Sebastian processes my confession. His muscles vibrate, and I brace myself for the eruption, for the rage-induced lycan tantrum that this new information is sure to awaken in him.
That doesn’t happen. There is no explosive roar. No growling and raging and screaming from him.
I glance at him, and his expression surprises me. His guard is down, showing me every ounce of pain in his heart. It leaks from his eyes in glistening, welling tears that hang off his lashes—tears that are the raindrops from the storm clouds in his eyes. He doesn’t hide it from me. He lets me see itall, lets me see him in his moment of vulnerability.
It reminds me that I am not alone in my sorrow, in my anguish. It reminds me that our separation and my abduction affected both of us. That, in different ways, it broke us both. That this is something we need to heal from—together.
I reach for his face and send him a hearty dose of love through our bond that I still barely feel.
His eyes close, and he leans his face into my hand as he takes a shaky breath. “I should have never let you leave without me,” he says, the corner of his mouth tickling my palm.
I press my forehead against his, and he hugs me tighter, wrapping both arms around me. “I should have asked you to leave with me.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I lean away just enough to meet his eyes.“Estaba demasiado asustada,”I admit.
“Are you too afraid now?”
Ask me to leave with you, his eyes say.Ask me to join you. Tell me to leave my pack behind and follow you to the ends of the earth.
He’d give it all up for me. But he doesn’t know the truth yet.
“Sebastián, I…” I dip my chin and tuck my hair behind my ears to keep it out of my face. “There is something—”
The front door slams open, and I flinch at the sound, heart skipping a beat.
Sebastian frowns and tightens his arms around me as hurried, pounding footsteps draw closer to our location.
I sense the newcomer before I see him. His powerful aura, an aura that pulses like a living, breathing extension of his strength and his lycan, travels through the house, carving a path for him as it seeks me out. Even with my inability to feel my lycan yet, his aura calls to me and awakens a part of my soul.
My breath catches, and I swivel my head towards the arched entrance. As the footsteps draw nearer, I rise to my feet, my body moving without a second thought.
Sebastian tenses and grabs my hand. He holds it tightly to keep me close, to keep me from leaving his side, his overprotective, extra-possessive instincts getting the better of him.
“Sarina? What’s wrong?”
There is no time for me to answer Sebastian, though, because the footsteps come to a halt in the archway, announcing the presence of our unexpected, unannounced visitor.
The visitor fills the opening with his towering form, drawing the attention of anyone around him with his powerful presence.
Sebastian rises to his feet too, glancing with growing confusion between me and the male interrupting our meal.
But I—as small and broken as I am—Iam the sole target of our guest’s focus. The center of his attention. The apple of his eye.
He scans every inch of me, searching for outward harm. His gaze lingers on the scars on my wrists and neck before his remorseful and distressed stare locks onto my face.
“Sarina,” he says with an expression that’s meant to be both an apology and a sign of his relief.
My lips tip into a tear-filled smile, and I squeeze Sebastian’s hand as I greet the second most important male in my life. “Hi, Dad.”
