Page 59 of The Delta's Rogue
I hold my breath as I wait for her to decide my fate.
I swivel my deskchair side to side as I wait for my computer to boot up. Rays of fading sunlight shine through the window, creating a golden rectangle on my desk and catching on the dust gathered on top of my trunk.
I didn’t realize how much dust had collected on it until now. I rarely look at it these days. It reminds me too much ofher, and I haven’t had the heart to open it, let alone touch it, since the one and only time I used it.
Music from the club reaches me through the vents. It mixes with laughter and chatter as the crew readies the space for another evening. Their jokes and jabs are too muffled for me to make out what they’re saying, but I don’t mind. I didn’t come here today to see or speak with anyone. I came here with one singular purpose.
The computer kicks on at the exact moment my phone rings. It vibrates on my desk, the screen flashing with Wesley’s name and picture.
With a groan and a sigh, I swipe it up. I’d rather get started on my task now than speak to him, but if I ignore him, he’ll just keep calling until I answer. Hopefully, whatever he needs from me won’t take too long.
“What?” I slump back against my leather chair.
“Where are you?” Wes asks, not bothered by my lack of greeting in the slightest. “I tried mindlinking you, but I couldn’t reach you.”
“I’m in town.”
“Well, I need you here.”
“Why?”
“Pack business.”
I tap my foot, waiting for him to elaborate.
He doesn’t.
“I’ll see you soon.”
He leaves no room for argument in his tone. It’s an alpha command. I can’t feel it through the phone, but I know he used one.
Wesley hangs up before I can ask any further questions or tell him to start without me.
Whatever it is he needs me home for is important, urgent—he wouldn’t command me like that if it wasn’t—but I’m finding it harder to care about pack business when all I want is to find my little rogue.
I’ve been without her for too long. Each day that passes, the hole in my heart expands. Darkness creeps in, filling that gap, making it difficult to hide the pain. Burying myself in my work—for the pack and for the club—helps, but only so much. It’s only a matter of time before I snap. Before I break.
Seeing my brother and my friends with their mates—helping Reid win over the female who could finally tame him and watching Nolan find his much deserved chance at happiness—doesn’t help. I’m happy for them all, of course, but when I’m around them, that growing hole is an aching, yawning cavern—a stark reminder of what I’m missing without her at my side.
Love. Happiness. Peace. Life.
My eyes flick to the computer screen. It glows in the darkening room, beckoning to me. Tempting me.
My lycan pushes me to leave, though. To head back home. He’s been on edge since last night: pacing, snapping his jaws, snarling, and whining in my mind off and on for hours. He kept me awake until dawn and had me distracted through every training session I ran today.
I grit my teeth, not bothering to turn the computer off or lock my office as I depart. I’ll come back after this meeting.
“Leaving already?” Forrest’s voice stops me in my tracks as I reach the back door.
“Pack business.”
He crosses his arms, leaning against the stairwell, examining me. “No luck?”
“I didn’t get to check. Wesley called me back to thepack before I could.”
Forrest and my dad are the only two who know I’ve been searching for Sarina. My dad knows because he’s helped me this entire time, utilizing every connection he has and even flying to other countries to follow potential leads when I couldn’t get away without raising suspicions. Forrest knows because I told him I’d be using my computer here to store all the information, and because he kept asking me when my sub would be returning with me to the club or wondering why I wouldn’t come down to watch anymore. I had to tell him to get him off my back.
I never told him I think she is my mate, though. Bear shifters don’t always settle down with a single mate, so I doubt he’d understand. But as a Dom, he gets it. He understands that when you find someone that special, that perfect of a match for you, you don’t let them go without a fight.
