The Delta's Daughter Chapter 105

MATHIAS

Tomorrow morning we will leave for Riocht. It was almost a two-day drive to the edge of Morngord and from there we were not sure if our vehicles could travel through the forest. We would find out once we arrived, if there were roads or if we would have to make the rest of the trip via foot.

I am assuming the latter, as the city was lost and, as far as we knew, nobody had stumbled across the old kingdom. Much like MacTire was abandoned and hardly anyone knew this place existed. Forgotten and isolated.

Lamia had retired to our room earlier. I think the stress of Petra being in the hands of Orion, all the travelling and the battle we were gearing up for at Riocht was playing on her mind and she had been going none-stop for the past two months.

The past week she has been looking tired, so I stepped up my role here. As her mate and a King it was my duty to take care of her and her pack.

Walking into the main foyer, I smelled Xander in one of the lounge rooms and made my way to where he was. He was sitting on one of the couches, holding a glass lazily in his hand that hung off the arm of the couch, his head back and eyes closed.

“Where are you Brother?” I asked, taking a seat opposite from him.

His eyes opened and his head came up to its right position, Xander took a deep breath regarding my question, then let it out slowly, before he answered. “Home” He said with a wistful smile playing across his lips.

I nodded my head in understanding; I, too, wished I was home. I was ready to go back to the Kodiak kingdom, to the Clan Mansion. It was where I belonged, with my tribe, my Clans, in the mountains. I shoved the longing feeling down deep. I may miss home, but was it even home without Lamia there?

No. That was the simple answer.

She was my home and wherever she was, I would be. No matter where she wanted to live when all this was done, I would be by her side.

I bit my lip thinking how I hadn’t even introduced her to my Clan. She would make a fine Den Mother, bear shifter or not. She was strong and resilient, beautiful and kind, forgiving and wanted to bring peace to our realm.

“Drink with me Brother,” Xander offered me a drink, holding a glass out to me. Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t even realized he had moved from his position.

“No!” I said, waving my hands in front of me. Truth is, I hadn’t touched a drink since we found out the bottle of rum had been spiked and it sent me off the rails, thinking Lamia was cheating on me, causing me to see things that weren’t there. I still couldn’t explain how I had felt, pushing her away like I did, throwing accusations at her and then leaving.

I knew it was wrong, but my brain couldn’t rationalize why I was doing the things I did. I was lucky I had a forgiving mate, but I knew it would be a while before she forgot. I had thrown some nasty words at her. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt her.

“Why aren’t you trying to woo Ria?” I asked my brother.

“She is still at school helping to organize pups and cubs who are being left behind tomorrow, making sure they have a host family.” He replied, sounding a little strained.

“You haven’t marked her yet? Are things not so great in paradise?”

He groaned, closing the lids on his brown eyes “She is basically human, I need to go slow, not like you and Lamia, hating each other one minute then fucking the next.”

“Fuck off! I didn’t hate her and never said I did.” I snapped back.

“I just hope after all this is done,” he waves one hand around, looking at me now. “That she will come back to the Clan Mansion with me, that she will want to live there.”

“Idiot,” I chuckled.

“Asshole” he chided, “Besides, why am I an idiot now?” I shrugged my shoulders at his question and not answering him. “Where will you and our queen live once this shit is over?” He redirected the conversation.

“I don’t know. My priority is to kill Orion, win the war and then see what happens. I won’t leave her and if that means giving up the Kodiak Kingdom, then so be it. Because I can’t see us ruling two lands, I don’t know how it would work. MacTire and Kodiak are huge territories, too much work.” I chuckled at my words, they sounded lazy, but in all honesty, I wanted simplicity not over complicated.

And at the same time, I couldn’t see myself giving up the kingdom I fought for, in order to restore my father’s name. I mentally scoffed at that last thought.

My father was never who I thought he was.

I wanted to raise a family with Lamia, have a couple of cubs, because let’s be honest, I was 28 years old; I didn’t want to be in my late thirties before having a few cubs and Lamia was it for me. She’s my end game, she’s my soul mate. It’s her or nothing.

Which is leading me to second guess this battle, or at least wanting to tie Lamia up and stick her in a cell until it’s all over. I don’t know what I would do if she got hurt. A mate is meant to protect, a king protects his queen at all costs. But how could he do that when his Queen, his mate…

Was the one damn ingredient Orion needed, to ‘unlock’ this fucking curse so he could be, what, king? Not to mention, this was their fight together and he highly doubted his little wolf would let herself be put on the sidelines.

I sat with Xander for a little while, shooting the shit. The castle was otherwise quiet, except for our conversation. Until I finally bid my brother goodnight, urging him to get some good sleep, we had a long journey ahead of us in the morning. Again.

I made my way up the stairs and wove through the corridors to mine and Lamia's chambers, taking in the castle décor as I went. I couldn’t help but beam with pride at how far my little wolf had come. I was in awe of what she and her team had built in such a short time.

MacTire was a well oiled empire, thriving in business, and pack members. In the past few weeks I had gotten to know the majority of her warriors, and I could tell they all adored her. Most of them told me how she had changed their life for the better and had built a pack they were proud to be a part of.

How she made sure no family or child went without; providing three meals a day at the schools and the pack dining hall, just so nobody would be left hungry. Ria was the person who made all this happen, acting like an unofficial Luna.

It wasn’t just her they adored, but they had a deep respect for Hunji and Travis and, in a lot of ways, saw them as just as much of a leader as she.

I opened the door to our room, finally reaching it. The room was cast in a dim light and my little wolf was already asleep. She truly had been tired these past few days. I left her to sleep and headed in to the bathroom to take a much needed shower.

When I got out, Lamia was still fast asleep, curled up like a child on her side of the bed. I gently climbed in next to her and took her in my arms, pulling her as close to me as possible, spooning her.

I inhaled her sweet scent of brown sugar and vanilla, my beast almost purring at our closeness and her comforting aroma. I took in another big whiff, calming both the beast and myself. Her scent seemed sweeter than usual and I reveled in it. I had no idea her scent could be even more intoxicating.

****

The morning had come and a convoy of trucks had rolled out. Warriors said goodbye to loved ones and Lamia gave a speech to her people, providing them with courage and thanking them for their support and loyalty. She made no promises but did tell them she hoped to bring every member back home with her.

Josiah and Ria stood waving everyone good bye, wishing us luck and to hurry home. Josiah was still a little pissed he was left to defend and handle MacTire, but Ria just elbowed him, telling him he should be honored to be considered for the job. I was sure she was the one who would actually be running things in their queen and commanders' absence.

Xander had found a good mate. She was shy and innocent but she knew how to speak up for herself when she needed to and that was a good quality to have if she mated with a ranked were-bear.

We travelled for 2 days, only stopping for fuel and food. Luckily Mrs. Brown and other pack members who were not going with us, got together and packed coolers full of sandwiches and drinks, filling one whole truck so everybody got something.

This was an absolute gods send, because with the number of warriors we had, it would have been a nightmare trying to get them all fed at a diner or pub. Mrs. Brown had even called my mother, who was with Abner Brooks, who was overseeing the Clan Mansion and kingdom in our stead, and had her organizing the same food for our army as we had here.

Hunji, Lamia and I were in one car with another she-wolf warrior, whose name escapes me, Travis, Xander and James, one Lamia’s top warriors and a bear shifter, and Rhett were following behind. As much as I liked Travis, and I did like him, I still had issues with him being in too close of proximity to Lamia, knowing they had, had an intimate relationship.

“This is it,” Hunji broke the silence. “End of the road, looks like we might be on foot from here.” He said while pulling the car over to park on the side of the road near a worn and narrow dirt path that led into a thick forest of evergreens.

I looked down at the map in my hands, then back up. “The trucks won’t make it, but some of the SUV’s might.” I suggested.

Trucks and cars began pulling in behind us, coming to stop with us. All in all, we had almost 50 vehicles that transported around 400 fighters. With my kingdom and King Kellen’s, we were looking at a 1200 strong army. This did not include what the were-cats would bring with them.

Her friend Tawny was struggling to help put the kingdom of Cambiador back together. They had lost many and then there were many who were not willing to fight for our cause.

“Well, let’s go check it out, send a few trackers ahead of us to scope it out” Lamia said as she hopped out of the back seat of the car.

“Good idea, let’s send a few scouts in to see what we are up against.” Hunji replied as he, too, climbed out of the truck.

We stood there for a few moments, the three of us and the she-wolf, looking into the dense forest.

“This place gives me the creeps” The she-wolf said, a shiver running through her and she shook her body, like she was trying to shake off a feeling.

I had to agree with her, there was a creepy and eerie feel to the forest that lay dead ahead. Yet, I felt it calling to me, like a whisper on the wind, beckoning me to come forth and enter.

*Do you feel that?* the sound of my little wolf's voice filled my head.

*You feel it too?* I asked her, as I felt a wave of trepidation pass through me. It wasn’t my feeling, rather it was Lamia’s. She was letting me feel her emotions through the bond. I reached out and grabbed her soft hand, squeezing it lightly in order to ease her discomfort.

*I do, it’s calling to me, Mathias.* She echoed my very thoughts. *I don’t have a bad vibe, I can’t explain it, it’s like a comfortable chill, like Avalon*

*Like magic* I said

“Yes, exactly like that!” Lamia said out loud with a slight intake of air at the revelation.

“Like what?” Travis asked as he came up beside us and I instinctively pulled Lamia closer to me.

“Magic, do you feel it Travis?” Lamia asked him, her eyes still on the the forest before us.

“I feel something all right, but I don’t know if I would call it magic.” He scratched his beard, thinking about what he felt from the forest.

“Magic from the Gods is the only true magic I know of” Hunji said. “I feel it too.”

“Make that three,” Xander quipped, as he sauntered over to us “I think we are all feeling something, the guys over there,” He pointed to a group of warriors who had also come out of the cars and trucks to stretch their legs “They are a little antsy, said the trees are creeping them out.”

I watched Lamia’s eye’s space out, a look of concentration on her face, and I knew she was trying to open a mind-link to Kellen.

After a few moments, she came back to us, “They are close, they should reach their entry point by morning. Any word from Tobias yet?” She asked after telling us where the werewolf king and his army were.

“My Queen, Beta Mike, has informed me through mind-link that the Kodiak bear army has reached the border and they too will be at their entry point by tomorrow, mid- morning.” Rhett came over, giving Lamia a slight bow as he spoke to her.

“Good.” She said regarding him, then turned to Hunji, her 2nd in command. “Send in the scouts. We will give them a few hours before we follow.” She commanded, and then turned to me. “King?” she queried, looking for my approval.

“Send in two bear trackers, they will pick up any scents faster than a were-cat or wolf,” She nodded at my answer, as did Hunji.

“Yes your highness” he said before his eyes glazed over to mind-link the first team we would be sending in.