Page 148 of The Delta's Rogue
“Sarina, no—”
He moves towards me, hands outstretched to grab me. I flinch and duck, darting away from his touch. A small yelp flies from my lips, and I cower, hugging my stomach with one hand and gripping the railing with the other, as my heart rate escalates and my chestheaves with each quickened breath I take. The wood digs into my skin. Tiny splinters pierce my flesh.
I shake my head, my eyes shut tight. “Por favor…”I plead.
The back door slams against the wall, and my eyes fly open, clashing with the cloudy gray of Sebastian’s eyes. The others—his friends and mine—file out the door, giving him a wide berth.
I see only him.
He holds my gaze for a moment before scanning me from head to toe. He still wears only the sweatpants he put on last night and nothing else. A thin sheen of sweat coats his bare torso, highlighting his toned muscles. He’s gained more definition, more strength, in the four years we’ve been apart. But he’s kept his lean build—a build that’s always made him seem taller than he actually is. He’ll never have the intimidating, broad-shouldered stature that some shifters have, but I know what he’s capable of. I’ve seen it in action, when he snapped Lou’s neck and knocked Lennox out without breaking a sweat or batting an eyelash.
I tremble and press myself harder against the railing, holding myself back from sprinting to Sebastian and diving into his arms. My natural instincts to cling to him and seek him out as my mate battle with the brainwashed urge to submit to him as his property. My memories and my nightmares from captivity clash, and I can’t differentiate between the two, can’t determine which Sebastian is in front of me—the cruel one, who delights in my misery, or Sebby. My Sebby. The one who takes care of me and makes me beautiful promises.
The one who loves me.
Those raging, storm cloud eyes move from me to my dad, whose hand grips the railing almost as tightly as mine does.
“I’m sorry,” my dad murmurs, his voice low and soothing. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“What happened?” Sebastian asks with the hint of a growl, glancing between us.
I shake my head and bite my lip. My eyes lower to my feet. I’m too afraid and too ashamed to explain in front of my dad why I reacted the way I did.
“I moved too fast,” my dad says. “I tried to hug her, and I scared her.”
Sebastian takes slow steps forward until he’s right in front of me.
I swallow and lift my chin. His expression reveals nothing to me. Nothing about what he’s thinking or what he’s feeling. The muted bond is inaccessible to me, blocked off by him or maybe my fear. The only thing I sense is an underlying urgency.
“Are you all right?” Sebastian dips his face closer to mine so we’re on the same level.
Am I all right?
I don’t have an answer. I don’t even know what ‘all right’ means anymore.
“Areyouall right?” I repeat his question back to him so I don’t have to respond.
His jaw clenches, and he rests his hands on his hips. “Amara called the club. She needs to meet with me.”
His attention remains on me, but his volume raises so everyone can hear the bomb he drops. My heart lodges itself in my throat. Amara’s cruel, taunting face flashes into existence, and her sugary-sweet voice chimes through my mind as clear as a bell, echoing all her fake niceties and false assurances.
“What are you going to do?” my dad asks.
Sebastian tears his gaze away from me and stares at him for a long moment before he answers. “I’m going to meet with her.”
Behind Sebastian, Reid gapes at him. “But—”
“It’s better to meet with her on our terms, when we’re expecting her,” Sebastian explains over his shoulder. “If I turn her down, she may just show up anyway, and we won’t be prepared. Our entire ruse could blow up in our faces.”
A glimmer of approval and pride shines in my dad’s eyes for the briefest moment as he watches Sebastian take charge. It’s gone in a flash, but he gives me a quick wink.
I try to smile back, but I can’t. This isn’t about Sebastian accepting and stepping into his role as my mate, as the future king. This is about the mission. Sebastian is only thinking about the mission, about finishing what I started, what Dominic and the others dragged him and the rest of his pack into.
“I’m going to head to the club now,” Sebastian continues, “so I can call Amara back, set the meeting up for tonight, and get everything in place before she arrives. I’ll need a team. Whoever is willing, be ready to leave in ten minutes.”
Our friends disperse, most of them heading back into the house.
Sebastian stares after them, his eyes vacant as that brilliant, cunning brain of his thinks through his plan.
