Page 140 of The Delta's Rogue
My eyes involuntarily flick to her neck. The band of scarring circles it right above where I’ll eventually place my mark. I don’t want to rush her, don’t want to push her into doing anything she’s not ready for, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about the possibility of someone challenging me to claim her before I have the chance to mark her as mine.
“Still hung up on that law, are you?” King Malachi chuckles and crosses his arms, his laughter making his eyes sparkle with a mischief akin to the playfulness I’ve seen so often in Sarina. “Maybe you two will be the ones to finally change it.”
Sarina swallows then dips her chin to her chest. She pulls her hand back, but I clench my fist, keeping it in place.
My brain spins, and blood rushes behind my eardrums with the force of rapids on a raging river. “What did you say?”
He can’t have possibly said what I think he just said.
“Maybe you and Sarina can be the ones who finally change that law,” he repeats.
“Us.”
“Yes.”
I bite my lower lip and inhale, angling my head towards Sarina, who sits straight and completely still, staring down at her free hand in her lap.
“How? How would we be able to change it?” I ask her.
It can’t be. It’s not possible. I won’t believe it.
“How?” I ask again when she doesn’t reply, my volume increasing and my body tensing from the eternal pause.
“Sarina isn’t justanyprincess,” King Malachi explains when Sarina still doesn’t answer. “She’s the crown princess. She’s the future queen, and you are her future king.”
My hand loosens aroundSarina’s. I lean away from her, staring straight ahead but not seeing her or anything else. All I see is my best laid plans fall apart, unraveled by the thread of fate that links my soul to Sarina’s.
I spent all this time avoiding the prospect of running my own pack. I reassured Wesley many times that I had no plans to leave Crescent Lake to take over or start one somewhere else. They suggested me as an option for the temporary alpha position at Silver Ridge after Dominic left to join the royal guard, but I turned that down too.
Only to find out my mate will rule over not just one pack but all of them.
Every single one.
An entire kingdom of packs. All led by her.
And me.
I was ready to leave with her once we found her. Ready to follow her and join her on her journeys, working undercover for the king and helping packs in need. I’d already told Wesley I’d be following her once we found her, once we saved her, and that he’d need to find a new delta for Crescent Lake. My bags were packed, my body more than ready to reunite with my heart.
But this…
“No.” I shake my head. “No.”
Sarina reaches for me, but I yank my hand from her grasp. She winces at my physical rejection, and her reaction stings like a slap to the face, reminding me that I’m supposed to be helping her heal, not pushing her away when she seeks me out.
But this recent development is overwhelming. It’s flipping my world upside down, forcing me to question everything.
“Sebastian—”
“No. I’m sorry, but no. Just no.”
I shove my chair away from the table and rush towards the exit. The chair topples to the floor behind me, but I continue on my path.
My meager meal curdles in my stomach. It bubbles and gurgles like molten lava on the brink of an eruption. My legs are as sturdy as jello, and I stumble, catching myself on the doorway between the dining area and the living room.
Sarina’s feet shuffle on the floor as she follows me, dancing in a rhythm with King Malachi’s heavier footsteps.
I launch myself from the archway before she reaches me, crossing the room in bounding strides to reach the house’s grand entrance with its sweeping double staircase.
