Page 51 of The Delta's Rogue
He doesn’t look at me. He flicks his gaze over the damage and the bonfire, his jaw set.
I straighten and cross my arms, staring at my feet. “Alpha. What are you doing here?”
“The patrol sent me reports of a disturbance in the forest. I decided to look into it personally since you never returned after leaving the grounds last night.”
My nostrils flare, but I don’t respond.
“I’m sorry, son.” His eyes are still on the bonfire. “Iknow—”
“Don’t,” I growl, glaring at him. “Don’t act like you know. You can’t possibly know, can’t possibly understand what it’s like to have your mate—yourfatedmate—the female you love, ripped from…” I scoff. “You do not understand.”
If he is surprised at my declaration about Sarina, or surprised that I know he and my mother are not fated mates, he doesn’t show it. Then again, my intuition—my ability to pick up on that which others don’t or can’t—has never surprised him.
His eyes simmer, his aura rippling as he switches his gaze from the fire to me. “Your mother may not be my fated mate, but my love for her is not inferior. Our bond is no less meaningful.” His voice is low and precise, the warning in it clear. “I don’t need a fated bond to empathize with the pain you are feeling now.”
“Oh,nowyou empathize with your son.” I laugh humorlessly and stroll away from the fire. “I’ll be sure to let Wesley know about your sudden discovery of empathy.”
He grabs my arm and twists, yanking me backwards and pinning my arm behind me, between our bodies. My other arm joins it, grabbed when he caught me by surprise.
“Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you!” he roars, his command pulsing around the forest and anchoring me in place. “I fucked up with your brother, okay? I fucked up. I should have realized soonerexactlyhow important Haven was to him, and I should have tried harder to save her when Jack and Shirley lost her.”
“But you didn’t!” I snap.
“And I regret that every day. Especially now. If I could, I would go back and change it, but I can’t.”
His voice cracks and strains. In it, I hear an echo of the anguished howls hurtling through the forest twelve years ago, as Wesley ran through it in his lycan form for hours. I hear a whisper of my soul shattering into pieces as I awoke to find Sarina missing.
“I can’t change it, Sebastian.” He sighs, releasing me from his clutches. “But I can help you.”
I slowly spin to face him again, eyes widening.
“I know I’m only the alpha for a few more days, and you won’t need my permission to hunt her down…” He grips my shoulders, and my throat bobs at the remorse, sincerity, and conviction I find in his eyes. “But I promise you, I will help you do whatever it takes to find her again.”
I scan his face, searching for a lie or hesitation, my heart galloping. “Whatever it takes?”
His grip on my shoulders tightens. “Whatever it takes.”
I nod my acceptance of his offer, and he returns the gesture.
“When you’re ready to begin your search for her, let me know.” He smiles sadly and roughs up my hair, then backs away and walks from the clearing, leaving me alone with the fire and my grief.
I tilt my head towards the sky. A breeze blows through the clearing, winding around the trees and rustling through my hair, bringing with it the ghost of Sarina’s voice in my mind.
“Te amo, Sebastián.”Her voice is soft, sweet, and soothing as she whispers to me.“Siempre te amaré.”
I’m not sure if it’s a memory or a cruel conjuration of my grief-stricken heart, but I cling to the sentiment all the same.
Te amo.
I know what that means, even though I don’t speak Spanish: I love you.
My throat tightens, and a sob works its way through me from my heart. I reach into the void between us, searching for that shining, mysterious star that is Sarina’s soul, the one that has been connected to mine since before time existed.
My mate. My mate who ripped herself from my arms in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye.
I doubt she can feel me or hear me. I can’t sense her, no matter how much effort I exert to reach her. But I try anyway, reaching across space and time with my heart and my words.
“Te amo.” I swallow and curl my hand into a fist before I repeat myself. “Te amo, Sarina.” I lift my eyes to the fire, watching as the last of the flames fade into smoke, embers, and ash, watching as it’s all carried away on the wind with my confession. “And I will find you again.Te lo prometo.”
