Page 55 of The Delta's Rogue
“No…”
I scratch at my leg, eyes flying down to my ankle. I grab at the cuff, sliding it as high as I can, but all that does is confirm what my heart already knows: the last tangible physical piece I have of my time withhimis gone. Gone. Taken from me.
“No… nonono…” The syllables leave me in rushed sobs, all stringing together into one word, muted and muffled by the gag. “No, no puede ser…”
This can’t be happening…
The anguish and the sobs rip through me. Air can’t get into my lungs fast enough to keep pace with the panic and the desperation, and the gag isn’t helping either.
I lift my hands to it, tugging at it, but it’s tight and even my best efforts don’t budge it. My fingers travel to the corners of my mouth, where two thick chains extend from the gag. I follow their path to where they’re hooked into the back of the silver collar around my neck.
Grunting and sobbing, I yank and fight with the chains to pry them from the collar, but it’s no use. The silver and the wolfsbane have weakened me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if every restraint on my body is imbued with magic as well, so only certain people can remove them.
I slump against the wall, hands shaking as I cover my face with them. I try to breathe through the agony.
I can’t break. Not now. Not yet.
Nunca.Never.
They took my choker, but they can’t take my memories. They can’t steal his words. Those are mine.
Mine forever. Mine for always.Para siempre.
I collapse onto the cot, my arms wrapping around my middle, fingers brushing against my ribs. They trace over the words he spoke to me that night, the three lines I inked into my skin to mimic their imprint on my soul.
Nosotros somos las estrellas.
“We are the stars.”
Sebastian’s voice echoes in my mind, much like it has in the dark hours of the night or the quiet hours of the morning when I’ve felt too small and too alone.
I cling to his voice now. I wrap it around my heart.
Prometo que te encontraré.
He will find me. He promised.
And the last line, the last string of words. Words he never said to me but I know are true nonetheless. Words that whispered their way into my dreams, night after night, until they were as much a part of me as my brown eyes. Words confirming he loves me too.
Te amo.
I lie on thecot, curled into a ball, drowning in a whirlpool of perilous sadness. My fingertips skate along the edge of the cuff on my ankle, mindlessly searching for the piece of red fabric, even though I know it’s gone.
The tears stopped at some point, but the pit in my stomach—in my soul—continues to fester and grow. It gnaws at my insides, feeding on the darkness, despair, and loneliness lurking there.
My other hand still strokes my ribs, tracing my tattoos—Sebastian’s promises.
I repeat them to myself like a mantra. A motto.
I don’t know how much time passes. There is no way to tell. The room is eerily still and silent. There is only the hiss of air passing through the vent on the high, vaulted ceiling. No voices, no footsteps, no beeping or buzzing or any other indication that anyone other than me is inside this entire building.
I also don’t know how long it’s been since they caught me in the alley. It could have been days ago. They could have dosed me over and over as they drove further away from where they took me. Or it could have been only a few hours.
Ice forms in my veins and encircles my heart. Only the Goddess knows how long it’s been, and only she knows how long I’ll be in the clutches of this vile group—a group who traffics unmated female werewolves and sells them to the highest bidder, or places them in one of their sex clubs, which are not at all like the club Sebastian took me to. They cater to the nasty types who only wish to exert total power over thoseweaker than them. These clubs aren’t at all representative of true BDSM clubs, of what they do and what they stand for. They’re dangerous and usually a front for other illegal activities.
At least, that’s what we think they’re doing with the females they take. We have no solid proof beyond the trail of disappearances over the years. We’ve never crossed paths with them, always missing them and cleaning up the mess they leave behind, searching for clues that might lead us to their next stop.
Until now.
