The Delta's Daughter Chapter 149

I will not cower, I will not submit, I will not go down without a fight. I vow right here and now; Vargr, Jack, and Oliver will wish they had never set eyes on me. Their deaths will be a service to the realm.

“Today we learn to fight! Tomorrow we survive! The days after that we conquer and become Gladiators of legend! ARE YOU WITH ME”

“ARGHOOH, ARGHOOH, ARGHOOH. LIVE OR DIE WE FIGHT! ” They chorused, chanting the warrior code from my kingdom.

I could see the smile on Teal's face, pleased with the turn in my approach and pride shining in his eyes and I knew he had a hand in this.

“Will you fight for the man who stands next to you! Will you fight alongside me! Will you take back your freedom! Again, ARE YOU WITH ME”

“ARGHOOH, ARGHOOH, ARGHOOH. LIVE OR DIE WE FIGHT!” They recited again, louder and clearer.

“Now pair up and begin defense!” They turned, finding the first person, and began to spar; starting with the basic movements Teal and I had been teaching them.

I felt evocative, lifted.

Then I felt Conri surge through me, his honor, his virtue, and his nobility shining like a beacon inside me. "Yes," I whispered as my mind came to terms with my decision. By the end of these games, Oliver and Jack would meet my wrath and I would have Vargr’s head.

For the rest of the day, we trained and trained hard, going over defensive moves as well as hand-to-hand combat. Half of these men had never held a weapon before and those who had been here longer having never been taught. Ajani and Teal began teaching them the basics of weapon handling, where I worked with those who demonstrated some skill.

We were not required to enter the arena every day, only when our name was called. Teal explained that in the first week of the games, each visiting pack would demonstrate their fighters then depending on their level of fighting skill, we, the Gladiator slaves would be selected for each fight and that the crowd would decide whether we lived or died by cheering or booing.

Ultimately the Alpha had the last say, using the age-old technique of thumbs up or thumbs down. However, not many of the slaves were expected to make it out of the arena alive. The visiting pack fighters would crush the opponents the first chance they got, not hesitating to deliver the final blow, no matter what the spectators chanted.

*****

DAY 7 OF THE GAMES

For the next three days, it was much of the same, up before the sun rose, training the other Gladiator slaves. They were becoming stronger and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Even the weakest of the bunch had shown a vast improvement.

Before my father handed the Alpha title to me for the New moon pack, Mike and I were in charge of training the warriors. The Academy had taught us how to lead, how to train, and how to command. Those skills became fundamental as we built trust and relationships with not just our warriors but other pack members too.

This is what I had begun to implement with the Gladiator Slaves.

Each day I stood by the barred wall, watching the fights, and each day, I couldn’t see her but I knew she was there, in the stands, under the tent. Watching.

Every now and then I would get a whiff of her scent carried across a slight once and a-while breeze. I would close my eyes and imagine she was in front of me.

It was night, the moon was high and the vast amount of stars that sprinkled the never-ending black sky shone down casting a soft light across the barracks. I was laying on one of the stone benches, no thoughts, no fantasies, just conversing with my wolf. Conri was adamant that we were getting stronger and he felt like he would soon be able to shift.

It was wishful thinking on his part. After Teal had explained the chip and its function, I had no doubt if we tried to shift, it could be the death of us.

‘Give him your blood’ Conri had said about Rogue. The same argument we had been having since the first time he suggested it.

‘There is no point. We cannot open a link with Lamia and Inanna, or the other Knights, why do you think it would work with him’ I was starting to get a little agitated with his incisive pestering at trying to make Rogue a pack member, he thought if we did that we would be able to establish a mind-link with him.

‘If it does not work then no harm done.’ He huffed before mentally turning his back on me.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the cool night air, so different from the hot and humid sun that beat down in the day. I heard the shuffle of feet and peeked one eye open, turning my head to where the sound came from. When I saw it was teal, I closed my eye again, just enjoying the quiet, until Teal sat down by my feet and leaned against the gritty sandstone wall.

“Orion ripped me from my home, over 22 years ago, almost 23. He invaded our island, him and his witch.” He snarled the last word, I could tell he had no love for either but his distaste for the witch far outweighed his hate for Orion.

I now opened both eyes to watch him as he told me his story.

“He and his rogues came in the dead of night, their boats silently slipped into our port. They killed everyone they came across before they could alert me. I was Alpha then. I have a son, John, who is 30 years old now, he would be Alpha if he is still alive. My Luna was heavily pregnant with our little girl, due to give birth any day, she would be 23 now.” Teal's head hung low as he talked and his hands shook. I felt the bout of sadness that came off him in waves as he spoke about the family he had been ripped away from.

“I have never met my eldest daughter.” He took a pause and I remained silent wanting to hear the rest of his story. “That night, Orion forced me to my knees; he killed my Beta, the Gamma, and the Delta’s mate. The only reason my Delta survived was that he was in your kingdom, visiting your father on business. He was too strong and his rogues had already swarmed the pack house. They dragged my Luna and son out to the front of the pack house and made them watch while he ordered my warrior's executions. Then his witch forced my Luna to drink an herbal tonic and cursed the child she was carrying.

“She said the child would never shift, her wolf would be locked away inside forever until a wolf-less mate came to claim her. Only then would her wolf be able to emerge and she could shift.” Teal gave a half-hearted, sarcastic chuckle. “She cursed my unborn child, then Orion told me if I did not comply and pledge myself to him right there and then, he would slaughter my son and Luna. I had no choice. I was brought here and sold to Vargr.

“I don’t know what happened to his witch, as the years went by I never saw her again and as the years went by Vargr’s eldest daughter, Shayna, took a liking to Orion and Orion took a liking to her mind, and Vargr's Mines. Vargr was all too eager for his daughter to be Orion’s chosen mate, Bear king or not. It only strengthened Vargr, but it also protected him from Orion’s wrath.

Orion had already claimed half the kingdoms on this continent, but it was never enough for him, he wanted more. He wanted to rule the whole realm; to be the King of shifters.”

Teal paused to clear his throat and I took this as an opportunity to ask the question that had been burning in my mind since I had realized “My mate is your daughter, how”

He looked at me, an impassive look on his face, then he said her name, and the smallest of smiles played on his lips, and just for a moment a light shone in his eyes but it was gone all too quickly. “Tala.” He said her name and my wolf hummed.

“I had only been here a few weeks, wallowing in myself pity, much like you have been doing, When the Luna, Mila came to visit the slave barracks. Even then Vargr abused her, his thirst for blood and women growing, the power he held going to his head. Mila fell in love with me, but I did not feel the same, I had a mate, a Luna, a wife who I loved very much and despite the little chip they put in me, I would never willingly betray the mate bond. I felt pity for her and refused her advances.

“One night she came to me, giving me a canteen of liquor. I stupidly drank from it, not realizing it had been laced with herbs that could make any wolf aroused and lustful. She had several guards tie me down to the stone bench in the weapons area and she rode me until my seed spilled inside her. Not just once either. Tala is my daughter, not Vargr’s. The only reason I am alive is because he wants me to suffer, to watch my daughter grow up under his command, to watch Mila be abused. Tala is the only reason I endure.

"Young King I fear, that he is planning something. He announced her pairing with the Beta’s son on opening day. By the full moon, they will mate and mark each other with the ranked members watching. Now that you are here, if he finds out you are her mate, he will kill you. Slowly, or he may make you watch your mate be claimed by another, without a rejection.“

I let out a growl, deep and warning, “She is MINE.” the word louder and echoing through the small space. Now standing to my feet I began pacing, the turmoil of the situation making my hackles rise.

“I need an inside man, the situation is worse than we thought. The two men who flanked her on opening day are Jack, a were-bear, and Oliver a wolf." I said with slight panic "They were the ones who duped me and sold me. They are also the ones who kidnapped the Queen of shifters, Lamia Langley. We have been after them for three years now. With them in the picture, I can only imagine and I don’t want to imagine, what roles they would be playing in all this.” I pinched the bridge of my nose as I paced back and forth in short bursts.

“Teal, will you help me And I promise I will protect your daughter with every fiber of my being. I will not let her be claimed by another and I swear I will kill Vargr. I need three things, to get this fucking chip out the back of my neck, the other Gladiator slaves to fight with me, and a man on the inside. Only then can we take back our freedom and the freedom of this kingdom. The people deserve to be free from his rule. Not just us.”

He stood and stopped my pacing by putting both of his hands on my shoulders, leveling his gaze at me “Spoken like a true King. I am with you, Kellen. Live or die we fight.”

“Live or die we fight.” I heard Ajani’s voice as he came into view, Rogue beside him, who put his fisted hand over his heart and gave me a small bow. He may not be able to talk but his actions echoed Ajani and Teal’s words.