Page 61 of The Delta's Rogue
“We all are.” Wesley gives Reid a warning glare. “He told you it would make sense once he explains why he’s here, and he wanted to wait untileveryonearrived before he began.” His glare switches to me.
I finally take my seat next to Nolan, but I’m already focused on Dominic.
His dark gray eyes fill with turmoil and remorse, and he no longer resembles the powerful, confident alpha he used to be. His light brown hair is shorter, the curls nonexistent with how closely it’s cropped to his head. He’s dressed simply, in jeans and a black T-shirt. Yet even with the pain, even with the regret, he seems more himself than the Dominic I remember.
Although, I don’t know if the Dominic I remember was ever truly Dominic.
He gives Wesley a nod of thanks, then folds his hands on top of the table. “As you all know, I’ve been working as an official member of the royal guard. I left on my first mission shortly after Savannah was born last July. After a few months, King Malachi switched my assignment. He placed me on an exclusive mission—a mission so classified and secretivethat it doesn’t exist on paper. I had to cut myself off from contact with anyone other than him, and I could only communicate with him through very specific means.” His eyes flick to Reid and Taryn, and the pain in them grows. “I couldn’t tell you any of this. It was an honor to even be considered for this mission, and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity.”
Reid stares at him, eyes wide and guilty, and Taryn nods, a sad smile on her face. “We understand,” she whispers, glancing at Reid out of the corner of her eye as she brushes her long box braids off of her shoulder.
“I’ve seen every picture and video you sent me, though,” Dominic continues, swallowing and rubbing his chin as his eyes turn glassy. “King Malachi made sure I received them so I could watch Savvy grow. I just couldn’t respond. We couldn’t take that risk.”
Reid clears his throat. “What was this mission? Or is it still classified?”
“It is, but I have special permission to give you some of the details.”
“Why?” Wesley angles his head.
“Because we need your help.”
“But why?” Wesley repeats.
“Well, for starters, you have a healer, an oracle—”
“Acolyte,” Nolan corrects him, lips twitching with a silent laugh as he winks a hazel eye at his mate, Cassandra. “She’s just an acolyte.”
Cassandra giggles but bumps him with her shoulder and shushes him with a finger over her lips.
“And a computer hacking genius among your ranked members,” Dominic finishes, ignoring Nolan’s remark and Cassandra’s laughter. “King Malachi also says you know the female we’re trying to help.”
The others exchange glances, brows raised or frowns of confusion wrinkling their faces, but I’m focused on Dominic.
My heart skips a beat. My mouth opens, but no sound comes out.
It can’t be her. It can’t be her. I won’t let it be her.
“Someone from our pack?” Wesley asks.
“No.” Dominic shakes his head.
I grip the arms of my chair, my fingertips itching as my claws push against my skin.
“Then who is it?” Haven asks.
Dominic is quiet for a moment, hands tightening around each other and his brow furrowing. He stares at a spot in the center of the table, jaw ticking as he thinks through his words. “The king sometimes enlists small, nameless packs to perform favors for him or investigate issues he doesn’t want to draw attention to until he has more information on them. In exchange, he provides them with resources and protection.” He taps the table with his finger and glances at each of us in turn. “A few years back, your pack stumbled on one of those groups. They helped you, and you unknowingly helped them.”
“The rogues?” Reid’s head swivels between Nolan, Wesley, and me before returning to Dominic.
“Nomads,” I reply, but my voice doesn’t work.
Dominic nods. “You shouldn’t remember them. They’re supposed to erase any traces of themselves, including memories, before they leave for their next location. But they broke that rule for your pack.”
I shut my eyes and roll my neck, rubbing my temples to massage away the overwhelming sense of wrong creeping up on me. It slithers up my spine and slinks through my veins, cold and dark and gruesome. I blink my eyes, vision blurring as I fight through the black sludge of doom poisoning my mind.
“When the palace reassigned me, they appointed me as the…liaison…for that group,” Dominic continues. “They were drawing closer to their goal and needed some extra help and support. I’ve worked with them ever since. Last night, one of them went missing.”
The air leaves my lungs at his words as if sucked out by a vacuum. I freeze, heart pounding in my chest and ears thundering.
