The Delta's Daughter Chapter 181

MATHIAS

Things had not been going according to plan. I thought after Riocht things would get easier, or at least Lamia and I would find some normalcy in life. How wrong I was. The life of a King and Queen would always be anything but normal.

We had been crowned the King and Queen of shifters and the work began to pile up. That wouldn’t be so bad, but Lamia was heavily pregnant with triplets, who according to the doctor had grown at an exceedingly faster than normal rate and seemed convinced that she was further along than we originally thought.

We thought she had conceived when we were at MacTire before the battle, however, if we put the timeline back to the first time we mated it was in January, we were now in June. A few days later we completed the bonding in Avalon, her heat never fully surfacing because our souls bonded. Maybe that’s when she fell pregnant

She was almost at full term if she carrying pups, and another month to two if she was carrying cubs. I had the doctor perform a scan on her, and he put her on bed rest. Two of the babies were large yet the third was small, smaller than a shifter baby should be. Causing the doctor to worry that the smaller child may not survive. Or if it did they would severely be underdeveloped if she went into labor and couldn't guarantee its life.

I picked up a bottle of rum and poured myself a glass. We were still at the Clan Mansion. The original idea was to have a crowning ceremony for Lamia, as the queen of bears. However, since Kellen had gone missing that was put on the back burner and we began to focus on transferring the Alpha title to Xander, I would keep my title but he would be in charge of our kingdom. But as the days went by and we were still upgrading Riocht, I began to think maybe I should step down and hand the crown to the bear kingdom next in line.

The next in line would not be Xander though; it would actually fall to my half-brother Finnegan. After many discussions, we had released Finnegan from the dungeons and had given him a room here in the mansion. There was no way I would make him king.

I still didn’t trust him. Not one bit, but Lamia, had faith in him. She saw something I didn’t. Or maybe I just didn’t want to see it. I told her she was too soft and we should have taken his head as soon as we had answers. Yet, the more he was around the more I began to appreciate his presence.

I took a deep gulp of the rum, sighing in satisfaction. This was my first drink since I had been spiked and attacked Lamia. I had missed the rich and heavy taste. Arcas had been on edge since visiting the doctor, concerned for his cubs, and the fact that one was too small had him constantly pacing. His drive to be near his mate made it almost impossible to get anything done and there was still so much to do.

Lamia had already handed MacTire to Travis, who was allowed to keep some businesses that Lamia said belonged to the people and that’s what MacTire survived on. That, those businesses, was what built the kingdom to what it is now.

Rhett had become Travis’ Gamma, a respected advisor, and enforcer. Travis was still looking for his Delta after Josiah was named his Beta. I smirked at the thought of Travis having a Bear shifter as a Beta. When I first met him he hated me because of my race, I thought he hated all bears but it was only because I was mated to my little wolf and he had firsthand experience of what she went through at the hands of rogue were-bears.

I felt the void of Tobias, his presence was greatly missed. It had always been the three of us since I can remember. My thoughts going back to Finnegan, I refused to call him my brother. I did have to admit he had been doing a good job of filling in and helping Xander. He was no Tobias, that was for sure but he had some strengths and even though he was under house arrest, he was still proving to be valuable.

Abner had gone back to the council, we could no longer cover for Kellen’s disappearance and decisions had to be made. We had a call from Hunji and thank the gods, they had a lead to his whereabouts. In two days they would set sail from the Sea dog packs Island to the second continent in search of an Alpha named Vargr, in a faraway kingdom of Bhakhil.

As soon as we asked Finnegan if he had ever heard of Vargr, he didn’t hesitate to supply us with the information and his kingdom. Telling us that Orion’s bitch was the first daughter of this Alpha Vargr and he was just as murderous as Orion. He also said if that’s where Kellen was, then he would pray he was still alive and Vargr hadn’t ended his life, or that he wouldn’t lose his life to the Gladiator games. Kellen meant so much to my little wolf, that I had begun to worry for the wolf king too. I was not a fan of him at first but knowing what I know now and how close the wolf king and mate are, I knew if anything happened to him she would suffer severely. She did not need the stress and I hoped our men would find him and bring him home soon.

I just wanted to take care of my mate and the babies, and the faster we could get the kingdoms organized the sooner we could take the much-needed time for us. Things were moving so fast. Lamia wanted to deliver back in MacTire as Riocht wasn't even close to being ready to move into.

We had left Lucien, the leader of the Lycans and guardians of Riocht in charge. Although they had lived in a place where time had stood still for so long, I was told that Lucien and the other Lycans had welcomed the Elite guard and were doing their best to accommodate the troops we had sent from each kingdom. Construction was going well on the palace, slow but it was getting there. However, Lamia didn’t want to move in until we had power, running water, and communication towers erected.

*MATHIAS!* “MATHIAS!” Lamia’s agonizing cry through my head and out loud jarred me from my internal turmoil. I sprang up from my chair, clearing the desk as I bolted out of the office and towards our room.

“Mathias!” she cried out again, this time with more discomfort laced in her voice “There's something wrong!” She said looking into my eyes when I burst through our bedroom door.

Her eyes were full of tears and her voice shaky “I’m bleeding.” She pulled back the sheet from the bed and a small pool of blood was gathering between her legs.

She suddenly groaned in pain and her hand reached behind her back. “Fuck” I grumbled, beginning to panic. We couldn’t lose the babies, we just couldn’t.

I rushed over to her, flinging the sheet off the bed, and lifted the hem of her nightgown carefully and hesitantly. Afraid of what I was going to find. I furrowed my brows when her lower region was exposed.

The blood was not coming from her vagina, but from the scars on her upper thigh. “Lamia, your scars have opened,” I scowled at the sight and ran a palm down my face. She tried to look down but her massive belly didn’t allow her to.

“Arggh,” she said reaching around to grab her back again. “Get me up.” She moaned, shifting her feet.

I gladly helped her out of bed, still concerned about her scars reopening and why but very relieved that the blood was not coming from between her thighs. The babies were okay. “Are you in labor” I asked pulling her to her feet.

“No, I don’t think so, but I feel like my back is being whipped…” She started and then looked at me with horror in her eyes. “Kellen,” She breathed out and went to take a step forward.

“Arggghhhh!” she let out a shrill wail, almost falling to her knees, but I caught her, holding her by her arms.

“Fuck, Lamia, what’s going on” I didn’t know how to help her and I was trying to mind-link My mother and Ria, but I was failing because all my attention was on my mate and I halted any action when her eyes began to glow that brilliant emerald color when her wolf came forward. She threw her head back, making a weird breathing noise when her body jerked, her arms spread out wide and her marks began to illuminate in a blue hue like they did when we bonded.

“Lamia, baby, speak to me, what’s going on” My voice was shaking. Her body began to lift from the floor, suspended in midair. Her emerald eyes glowed so hotly like the flames of the underworld. I had no idea what to do and managed to link my mother and Ria.

"I call upon the power of the Knights, your brother needs you. Take his pain and lessen the burden share it, and give back your strength. Your Queen commands this of you." It was not Lamia's voice but Inanna’s that was speaking through her.

I raised my hand, still in awe of what was happening. Lamia being suspended in the air was scaring the shit out of me. I had never seen anything like it, demonic and eerie as if her body and mind had been taken over. I wrapped my hand around hers and gave her a tug trying to bring her back down, as soon as our skin touched she gripped me and I felt the heat begin to rise inside of me. A burning warmth traveled throughout my body straight to the hand that held hers and felt my energy being drained.

‘One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…’ I listened to her count. When she reached fifteen Ria, Xander, my mother, and Finnegan came into the room. They all stopped dead in their tracks as they saw Lamia hanging in thin air. Her eyes were ablaze and Inanna’s voice emanated from her, counting. Up to what I had no idea.

They stood in momentary shock and bewilderment until Ria stepped forward and grabbed her other hand. The contact had Lamia’s body lowering, then Xander touched her shoulder and she lowered more until we all had a hand on her and I took her in my arms and placed her back on the bed, the whole time she kept counting ‘Twenty four, twenty-five, twenty-six…’

“What is she counting up to” Xander asked standing over the bed. I had lain down next to her, trying to ease her stiffness and give her some comfort but my touch had no effect, only that she seemed to be drawing energy from me.

“I don’t know, she just… her wounds reopened and her wolf pushed forward, she said something about calling on the Knights to help their brother and began counting.”

Ria gasped, “Rhett!” and ran out the door flustered, Xander close behind her.

Inanna kept counting until she reached 100 and that’s when Lamia cried out screaming and pleading for what I don’t know. She wasn’t coherent. She was in her own mind. Eventually, she collapsed and fell into a fitful sleep leaving me confused and worried even more. The way she cried out agonizing to hear like she was witnessing death, her pleading held devastation and saw the roots of her begin to darken and another strand turned black.

While she was in a self-induced deep sleep I had the doctor come to check on her. “Keep an eye on her” He grimaced “She could go into premature labor any day and stress will help induce that labor.” He warned, leaving me to worry even more about my little wolf and what had happened to her.

I would not get my answers until she woke up.

*****