Page 186 of The Delta's Rogue
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 fromwithinher.
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 command?”
“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.
