The Delta's Daughter Chapter 104

OLIVER

It was about three weeks after the attack on MacTire, and we were currently camped out at Lake Maplepeak, in the Cila territory. Morngord forest sat just the other side of the vast lake. It was a good job that spring was in the air and the lake wouldn’t be frozen, making it easier for our fleet of small cargo boats to cross.

After the attack, we split up. Jack and I headed here with some of Orion’s top commanders, while he and Finn went back to the Lewe compound to collect Shayna, his personal chemist, and some other things he said they would need.

Finn took the young girl we kidnapped and won’t let her leave his side. I’m not sure what his interest is in the young child, but I hope he has good intentions. As much of a sick bastard as I am, I don’t like the idea of hurting children, that’s a line right there, I don’t cross.

I scoff at myself. I have aligned myself with some of the worst characters history has ever known. I stood bye when Silas had fun or took his anger out on young girls. Stood by and even helped transport children for Orion, watched as his crawlers massacred Clans, Packs and Clowders, killing innocent children. But never have I dirtied my own hands with the death of a child, but neither have I spoken up and called it out for what it is: wrong.

No, I said nothing and did nothing.

“What you scoffing at over there Ollie?” Jack's voice invading and interrupting my own self-loathing.

I turned to look at the rogue were-bear. He, meaning Jack, was a sick mother fucker. Just strolling through life taking what he wants and throwing away what he is done with. I have never actually seen him harm a child in any way, shape or form. Though, I have watched his eyes shine with glee when the crawlers killed a group of kids, and he even helped string them up through the trees like lights once they had been killed. Humming as he did so.

Sick fuck.

“I don’t know, I was trying to think when the last time I had a good fuck was.” I lied. Now I put that idea in my head, my buddy down below thought he was going to get some.

Just then, a few trucks and SUV’s lights shone in the not so far distance. Orion had arrived with Finn and the rest of his army.

Jack laughed, a bellowing and jolly laugh. “I don’t think you need to wonder for too much longer, King Orion has got a truck full of female humans and shifters. I’m sure he would let us men borrow a few for the night, if you catch my drift.” He said, winking.

Maybe, I thought, I could do with fucking out some of this tension and de-stressing for a while. I didn’t even care if I had to share a female. It wouldn’t be the first time and it surely wouldn’t be the last time.

“You gonna stick around after this battle?” I asked Jack. We were sitting outside on the deck of one of the houses here in the Lake compound, passing a bottle between us, while we ate some food I caught and he roasted. Bears sucked at catching small animals unless it was fish and Jack was lazy.

He contemplated my question, leaning back in the camp chair slightly and pursed his lips, before he looked at me and answered, “I don’t know, thought I might stick around for a bit, see what the deal is after Orion takes the throne. After that?... Dunno man.”

We sat in silence and watched the trucks get closer, waiting for them to pull up and park. Then we would need to go help out, unloading crawlers and transferring them to boats for the night. The shifters and humans, I wasn’t sure what Orion’s plans were for them. Either way, they would fight for us, as their natural form, or they would be turned into monsters, by the biggest monster of us all.

“Hey Ollie,”

“Yah Jack?”

“You got my back?” his question surprised me so, I lifted my head to look at him, his crystal blue eyes held mine, waiting for an answer. I realized his question wasn’t a joke, he was serious.

I raised my brows at him. Did I have his back? I had never really thought of it. Out here, being a rogue, it had always been every man for himself. I never relied on anyone, never made a good friend, or someone I would want to call a best friend. In my life, people have come and gone. In my life there was no one except Silas and he taught me to never trust anyone. “They are all your enemies” is what he said. That’s how I grew up, never learning to trust, never experiencing real friendship.

“I don’t know Jack, are we friends?” I admitted and followed up with my own question, not quite wanting to give him a straight answer. This was a weird conversation and it was making me feel uncomfortable.

I passed the bottle of clear alcohol back to him, watched him take a long pull and then wince once he felt the burn down his throat. He coughed a little “That’s some strong shit.” He chuckled, “Gonna get me in the mood for some pussy!” he said excitedly, rocking his body like a kid excited about sweets.

“I ain’t never really had a friend, Ollie. Sure I bum around with some of the rogue bears to have fun with, but I don’t trust none of them.” He said after a beat, taking a pull and passing the bottle back to me. “I want to trust you Ollie.”

“I won’t take an arrow, or jump in front of a blade for you, but anything else…” and waved my hand around, gesturing to the compound we were at, “As far as this shit is concerned, you can trust me, Jack.”  

I pass the bottle back to him, he swigs, and his shoulders sway when he tips it back. He’s drunk. He burps when once he is done, like he was drinking soda, and pulling a strained and weird face. He points around, “See all this? The trading the trafficking, I can do this,” he pauses and sways some more “But war, that ain't my thing.”

I chuckled at him “Not your thing, huh?”

“Nope Ollie, I’ll fight for me,” he slurs, “no one else, and this aint my war.” He tries to wink at me but it looks more like a nervous twitch.

We hear a whistle, and look up over our shoulders behind us, the trucks were parked. We both get up and head that way.

“Ah your highness!” Jack lavishly calls to Orion as we approach, giving him a mock bow. The stupid bear is going to get himself killed. “Excuse me, I have had a bit to drink, my king, but I wondered if you would be needing any females to be watched?” He grinned and winked, straitening himself out a little.

“Jack, my dear friend,” Orion smirks, clapping him on the shoulders “See truck F over there,” he points, still clasping Jack's shoulder, to a large moving truck painted with ‘F’ “That truck is full of females, pick one out, then pass the word around, I want my men feeling good for the upcoming battle.” He snickers.

Jack’s eyes lit up like a beacon. “No problem, Your highness, and I thank you for your hospitality.” He steps away from Orion and again, gives a little bow before skipping over to the truck, and rolling up the back. I hear whimpers and small screams from a group of women.

“You too, Ollie, get in there, go pick a female for yourself.” Orion urged. I looked over to where I had caught Finn from the corner of my eye. He was holding the little girl's hand tightly, looked right at me, then snapped his head towards the truck that held the females.

I almost felt sorry for those girls, some would not live to see tomorrow, there wasn’t enough to go around, they would be shared and passed around like a human carrying germs. Fucked three ways from Sunday and then some!

Again, I almost felt sorry for them, it was a sight I was so used to seeing and participating in, that I didn’t bat an eyelid, they were here for our pleasure. That was it. They were going to end up dead one way or another.

“You” I pointed to a small brunet. She smelt like a cat. A pussy with a pussy. I licked my lips when one of the guards dragged her shaking body out of the truck, shoving her at me. Her tears stained her face, leaking streaks through dirt that crusted to her face. Her brown eyes looked up at me pleading.

I brushed my knuckles over her cheekbone. “It’s OK little one, it will only hurt for tonight. Come the morning you will be received by the moon goddess, as I doubt you will survive.”

*****

FINNEGAN

We rolled into the compound, a convoy of trucks behind us. My father sat in the front of the SUV with the driver and I sat in the back with Petra, the little girl my father, Orion, had kidnapped from MacTire.

Her tiny hands clung to my arm and I hadn’t let her leave my sight for three weeks now, afraid of what could happen to her with all these rogues around.

I shudder at the thought of any of them laying a hand on her, for whatever reason.

“Finn, am I going to die?” She asked me shakily. I looked down into her big brown, wide eyes that held so much fear, and rightly so.

“No little one, I promised I would keep you safe and I will.” I told her. Knowing, no matter what, it wouldn’t ease the little girl's mind. “I promise you will see Lamia again, soon.” I cupped her little face and gave her a weak smile, in a bid to offer some kind of comfort to her.

Tomorrow we would cross the Lake and trek through Morngord forest to reach Riocht. They say the forest is haunted and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

I wasn’t scared. My mother always told me: “It’s not the dead that will hurt you, it’s the living.” As a child I didn’t believe her, but as I grew older and my sister developed her gift, I was shown that my mother’s words couldn’t be any truer.

I had no idea what to expect when we got to Riocht. I knew the Dire Wolf and my brother would be there. My father hoped we would arrive before them so we could set up a strong hold.

“We need to win the war, then on the full moon I will take my place on the throne, the blood of the chosen will be spilt and the curse lifted, crowning me king of shifters.” Is what he had said. His eyes had twinkled as he romanticized sitting on the throne and being crowned.

Once crowned, he couldn’t care less if Lamia lived or died. Unless she co-operated and he found another use for her, his plan was to kill her too. The night we faced Mathias, he had hoped his prodigal son would join us, but once we were there he realized it was inevitable that we would face him in battle.

He and Shayna, his chemist, a woman with no morals, whose wolf was as vile as she, had everything planned out.

It was Shayna who helped develop the serum to turn humans and shifters into crawlers. She was also the one who came up with the concoction of an old drug humans used to take down big game, Carfentanil, and mixed it with nightshade and pyilquois to create a lethal drug that would take down the strongest of shifters.

That’s how Oliver and the late rogue King, Silas, were able to take down the Dire Wolf and keep Lamia sedated.

I had also been witness to a chip they had planted in shifters, that enabled them to control the shifters' animal counterpart.

I got out of the car holding on to Petra's hand and went to make my way to the cabin that was mine, wanting to get Petra far away from the monsters' beady eyes. I snapped my head up towards the box truck that was carrying the females. Jack was there picking a woman. I heard my father tell him that, the women were a gift to his men and to have fun.

When the back of the truck opened I swear I couldn’t walk away. My senses were hit with a delicious smell. Under the scent of sweat, fear, panic and death, came another, a scent that made my mouth water; crisp apples and pumpkin spice.

My feet moved on their own accord, and I found myself dragging Petra towards the truck. Jack dragged out a small brunette, a she-bear, her eyes wide with fear and her body shook. But there were no tears on this female's face. She stood as straight as she could, accepting what fate might have in store for her.

As I got closer, I realized the delicious scent was coming for her. The she-bear snapped her head at me, the blue in her eyes crying out for help. She parted her lips and I gave a slight shake of my head, silently telling her not to say a word. Her head dropped and I watched her shoulders round, her body going slack like she had given up.

“Hey Jack!” I called to him. He turned, a silly grin on his face and his hand smacked the girl’s ass. I bit back a growl. “That one’s mine, I want her, go find another.” I said, giving him a steely stare.

“Come on Finn, we can share! I’ll even let you have a go first.” He whined. I could smell the stench of alcohol from here, rolling off his breath and clouding the air.

“Don’t give a fuck, I said she’s mine.” I gritted out, and then quickly added “Besides, I don’t think I will be done with her anytime soon and when I am, she won’t be much good for anything else.” Before he realized that when I said mine, I meant she really was mine. I winked at him, making him think I was going to ruin the girl while having my way with her.

The petite brunette opened her eyes wide and I could see them begin to water. She knew what I was to her, her mate. But I couldn’t let anyone else know that. If they knew, if my father knew, her life would be over in seconds. The moment he found out, Orion would kill her.

His way of keeping in line, and I wouldn’t let him hold another thing over me, or destroy someone else I would care about.

I grabbed her elbow harshly and gave Jack a glare, daring him to say something. He didn’t, he knew if he did I would rip him to pieces. With Petra’s small hand in mine and the girl's elbow in my other hand, I dragged them both off to my cabin. Walking in and slamming the door behind me.

I whirled around to face the girl, who by this point was trembling. “Go sit there.” I commanded, pointing to the couch. Her small and curvy frame stumbled to the couch and perched on the end. I turned to Petra and bent down to her level.

“Hey little one, I need you to go to that room for a little bit. I will come get you when it is safe, do you understand?” my voice was soft as I spoke to her.

Her eyes darted to the she-bear perched on the couch, then back to me “Are you going to hurt her, Finn?” She timidly asked. I gave her a smile.

“No.” I shook my head “I’m going to save her, but I need you to be good. Once I have spoken to her, I will get you something to eat. OK?” She nodded at me and went to the room I pointed at and closed the door.

I knew she wouldn’t run, she was a smart 10-year-old, she knew what waited for her if she left my side. I turned my attention to the brunette and stalked over to her. My Beast was raring up, he was ecstatic he had found his mate. But he didn’t understand, this was not the place or time. His mate’s life was in danger and it was more important to protect than to claim her.

I knelt in front of her and took her shaking hands into mine. I looked up at her, her eyes reflecting every fearful emotion possible and my heart stung at the thought of her fearing me. “What’s your name beautiful?” I asked her.

“F-F-Farah” He stumbled “Are, are you… what are you going to do to me?” She sobbed, not being able to hold it back any longer.

“Shhh, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I couldn’t let anyone know you were my mate, they would have killed you faster.” It pained me to say it. It pained me to see the terrified look on her face. “My name is Finn and if you listen to me carefully and do as I say, you will leave here in one piece and will be able to return to your life. Do you understand Farah?”

I closed my eyes, her name on my tongue tasting like her scent, crisp and sweet, and when I opened them she was staring back at me. “Are you going to claim me?” her voice steadier when she asked.

“No, you deserve better, but I won’t reject you either. If I live through this war, I will come find you and then claim you.” I sighed deeply, there was a very high chance my life would end in a few days, despite not being the enemy; I was still the bad guy, guilty by association.

I masked Farah’s scent in the morning and had her hide in the cabin. I left with Petra clutching my hand and as I closed the door behind me, I lent my head against it, taking a calming breath.

It hurt to leave my mate, not knowing if I would ever see her again.

I didn’t touch her last night, only to hold her hands. That would have to be enough. For now.