The Delta's Daughter Chapter 245

MORGAN

I finally find Kian in the hall of law, standing in front of the humongous stone epitaph. His back is to me, and I know he senses my presence. I cannot see his expression when he speaks but I can feel the raw emotion in every word.

 “This is why I love my Queen. Lamia. I admire her. She doesn’t run from fate, she embraces it – despite whether she agrees with the gods or not she doesn’t make rules to suit her own needs, she makes them to protect her people. All races. The weak the vulnerable, the good, the bad. And even the ugly. She doesn’t discriminate and believes we all should flourish. She will never shy away from a fight, and she will always stick up for the little people. She is justice in the flesh with a heart as pure as light.” I draw closer and slide my hands around his waist pressing my face to his back and relishing in his warmth. He doesn’t move away like I thought he would and I take it as a win.

Despite what he believes and thinks – I have fallen for this wolf. I have fallen so hard that when we eventually return to his home, I know it will be hard for me to be apart from him. The thought brings water to my eyes, and I squeeze them shut knowing he will smell the saltiness of my tears.

“I never wanted the throne – I still don’t. My place was never here, and I fear it never will be.” I listen to him, the vibrations from his voice soothing my very soul. He turns, wrapping me in his warm embrace, pulling me in closer and my head buries into his secure chest. With his arms around me, shielding me from the realm, I feel safe and loved. I never want to leave him but if my vision is correct – and they usually are – our time together will end once we make it to the Kodiak Kingdom.

“Then come with us,” I dare ask, knowing the answer already and biting back the tears.

He sighs “Morgan…” I don’t want to hear what he has to say, I already know, but I listen to him anyway, and he tells me anyway. “I have a new path and a new commitment; I can’t walk away from these people – my people.”

“I know,” My lips tremble, this is how it must be whether I want it to be or not. Our futures were never meant to be together. Whether I had imprinted on Kian or not I think it would be just as hard to leave him. “I don’t want to say goodbye,” I tell him honestly.

“This is not goodbye Morgan; I will see you again. I just can’t say when.” He turns and wraps his arms around me planting a lingering kiss on top of my head. I can feel his melancholy and wonder if he can feel mine.

“Did we ever stand a chance?” I mumble. It had only been weeks since we first met in the corridors of the Megaron, but it already felt like a lifetime. I sighed heavily at his silence and buried my head into his chest deeper, savoring this moment and committing it to memory.

After a few minutes of silence, I dared to look up at my wolfman. It broke my heart to see the sad look on his face and the loneliness in his eyes. Unwrapping one of my arms from him, I reached up my fingers caressing the roughness of the beard he had grown in the last few weeks. His eyes shifted down and those honey-brown globs held mine, reminding me of how dark they were when we first met and how they changed the night of the Blood Moon, the night I imprinted on him.

“Hey,” I smiled at him “We will always have the Blood Moon,” I smiled weakly.

One of his hands came up, his index and thumb pinching my chin, holding my head in place. He dipped down his lips lightly covering mine in a tender kiss. My lips parted, making way for his tongue but it never came. I felt disappointed when he pulled back.

“You will always be my little witch, Morgan,” He said somberly “And we will always have the nights before and during the Blood Moon. I will cherish every moment I have spent with you for the rest of my days and thank the Moon Goddess every night for allowing me that time with you.”

“Are you ready?” I hear Finn’s voice, but I can’t bring myself to pull out of Kian’s embrace. If I do I know I’m going to collapse, I don’t think my legs will hold me up.

Our eyes stay locked on one another, even when Finn calls my name again. It’s time to go - I know I have to go. Gods this is so hard.

I feel Finn’s large hands on my shoulders pulling me from my Wolfman. I gulp down my sob and as I feel the warmth of his body leave mine my hand reaches out to grab his. For a brief moment, they clasp together before Kian’s grip loosens and our fingers slide against each other until just the tips remain in contact, then nothing. Kian’s eyes fill with a watery glaze my hand is still stretched towards him as Finn pulls me from him and out of the room.

“I’m sorry Morgan,” My brother whispers as he takes me from the Hall of law, my head tilting over my shoulder to catch one last glance of my Wolfman. His eyes never leave mine and mine stay trained on him until I can no longer see him.

This time, it was me who walked away, I was closing the door on us.

I put my head down and violently swipe at the stray tear that managed to escape from my cheek.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, sister, but I’m sorry.” Finn’s words are full of concern and genuine despondency.

“It’s not your fault, you have nothing to be sorry for.” I try to smile, but the most I can manage is some form of curled lip. I don’t know if I will ever smile again. “It was just us for the past weeks and we became close. I will miss him.” I tell my brother truthfully without divulging everything. There is no need for him to know everything. I don’t think I could even form into words how I was feeling right now. Never mind explaining how connected I am with Kian, or how much I have fallen in love with him.

“Do you love him?” I chuff at my brother’s question.

“What do I know of love?” the words sound bitter coming from my mouth.

“What do either of us know of love?” He says back with just as much despair. He wraps his arms around my shoulder tighter and I lean into him for comfort and stability. “We can make a new and better life for ourselves Morgan. Just you and I against the realm. I’m not going anywhere this time.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he says giving me a tighter squeeze. “You and I, just like how it should have been.”

*****

MORGAN

3 WEEKS LATER

IN THE KODIAK KINGDOM

It’s been a few weeks since we left Eririat, the boat ride back to MacTire was uneventful and mostly quiet. I turned twenty-four while traveling to the western continent. Like every year there was no celebration, no cake, and no presents. It was just a day. Finn had promised that we would celebrate my birthday properly when we reached the Kodiak Kingdom. Honestly, though, I really didn't care - you can't miss something you never had. 

I exchanged some words with Alpha Travis and the Hunter named Rhett, during our travel but mostly I stayed by Finn’s side. Rhett was sweet and nice, a genuinely good guy. So was Alpha Travis, however, there was something I just couldn’t put my finger on with that guy. The state of his aura and his soul had me confused and I felt like there was something menacing that he was hiding. Despite that, and the fact I kept my distance from him, I felt my eyes being drawn to him every few moments we were in the presence of each other. To say he was good-looking was an understatement, the Alpha radiated power, not like Finn but still in a way that demanded your attention.  His dark brown hair was messy from the wind, his beard trimmed and thick, covered his face neatly. His light brown eyes lit up every time he smiled which was a lot. And the tattoos that covered his arms and part of his chest rippled every time he moved, providing him with a tad more of that dangerous edge. 

But I sensed something dark in him, and that feeling is what kept me from getting to know him better. 

I think he knew I was having reservations about him as he didn’t forcefully engage with me. I hoped he didn’t take it to heart, as I knew he and Queen Lamia were close friends just the same as Rhett.

Rhett on the other hand was interested in my gifts and spent time talking with Finn and I. He too was good-looking with blonde hair, a clean-shaven face, and moss-green eyes that were hard but kind. He wasn’t as built as the Alpha or my brother, but he was lean and cut. I noticed he had the same mark on his chest as Kian did. He too was a Knight of the Queen.

I think any other female would have swooned being amongst all these males who like to strip their shirts for no reason whatsoever. But not me. There was only one shifter for me. The one who let me go.

Rhett had shown me around MacTire the after we arrived, and he talked non-stop about his sister Ria whom I would meet once Finn took me to the Kodiak Kingdom. I was hoping I would get to meet Queen Lamia, but that would have to wait as I guess it wasn’t too long ago that she had given birth to triplets. I didn’t envy that woman.

A few days later we reached the Kodiak Kingdom, where I have been ever since. Just like Rhett said his sister was amazing and human! So, we had a lot in common when it came to being around all these shifters.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Ria asked me as I licked around the edge of my ice cream absentmindedly. I was per se deep in thought, but my mind had been drifting much more these past few days.

“Not really thinking of much,” I told her.

“Finn will be back tonight, that will be exciting!” She tried to cheer me up noticing that I didn’t smile. I have hardly smiled at all these past weeks. Being away from Kian really affected me – it made me feel empty.

“I guess,” I sighed.

My brother had traveled to Riocht to meet with the Queen and King Mathias, our half-brother who I had yet to meet. I don’t think he is very keen on meeting me. I know he had Finn under house arrest for his involvement in our father’s bid to take over the realm. The only reason King Mathias didn’t kill him was because of Queen Lamia. And the only reason he was released from house arrest here in the Kodiak Kingdoms Clan mansion, was again because of Queen Lamia and the fact that my brother insisted that he come to find me as he knew his way around the second continent.

Had been hard being here? Yes and no. I was in wonderment at how different this side of the realm was compared to Andora and Mint as well as Eririat and every other place Kian and I had passed through. The forests reminded me of Mint, and the night sky, full of stars reminded me of the night Kian and I lay beneath them on our journey to the sanctuary.

I hadn’t had a vision since the sanctuary but each night, since being here, I woke with a terrible feeling and that image of those burning eyes boring into me. Leaving me unsettled and panicked. I didn’t know what it meant or when and if that was just a version of a future and I hoped I would never find out.

Sometimes my dreams were filled with memories of Kian and I together. The look on his handsome face when he made love to me for the first time. The agony in his eyes before he gave into the lust. I missed it, I missed him. So much. And I wondered how he was doing. If he would pick a queen if he already decided on one. That thought tugged at my heart, making it ache for my wolfman.

“I know we don’t know each other that well Morgan, but… I’m here for you if you want to talk. It would be just between you and I.” I sensed the sincerity in her voice, and I managed a weak smile that I know didn’t reach my eyes.

“Thank you,” I told her, and I meant it whether she knew it or not.

“It can be hard; being thrust into a life you didn’t want and never knew. It wasn’t easy for me to be with Xander. I feared shifters at one point even though my mother was a werewolf.” She spoke about her mate who was the current Alpha of the Kodiak Kingdom and also King Mathias’s half-brother from their mother's side.

“Do you have shifter abilities like your brother?” I asked of Rhett.

“No,” She chuckled “Rhett got all the abilities, I can run faster than average and have great eyesight but nowhere close to what some hunters have.” Hunters were strange hybrid creatures. Most hybrids were either one or the other of their parents or nothing at all. Hunters ended up with some form of supernatural ability or two but didn’t have a counterpart/spirit animal. According to Ria, her brother, Rhett was different. He could partially shift yet he had no wolf.

I felt a similarity to that. I was meant to be all Witch; I had no spirit animal. Yet, I was able to imprint on Kian. So far, three weeks later there was no sign of our connection fading. My imprint on him was still strong and I felt the distance between us greatly.

“Do you wish you did?” She shook her head, smiling.

“I’m happy as I am. Happy with what was given to me.” She smiled licking her cone of chocolate ice cream. I copied her and licked my strawberry one. I think Ice cream had become my favorite thing to eat. I had never had it before coming here.

I like Ria. She was sweet like her brother but tough. She had to be, being a den mother to all these werebears. She had fast become a friend. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Kian and me yet. I hadn’t even told my brother. Though, I suspect Finn has an idea. I was just thankful he hadn’t pushed me on the matter. He was giving me time and space to adjust.

Adjusting wasn’t the problem.

“Whenever you feel ready.” Ria reinforced her willingness to listen to me when I was ready to talk.

“Thanks,” I said again. That word had become the most overused word in my vocabulary. I’m pretty sure she, like everyone else, assumed my meekness and melancholy demeanor was due to being locked up my whole life and then being kidnapped by a crazy werewolf prince. If only they knew, that was the least of my worries or problems.

Truth be told I didn’t really dwell on the fact that my father had locked me away like some fairytale princess or that an evil villain was going to force me to bear their heirs. I mean seriously, I summoned an army of dead and command them to systematically wipe out half of Eririat’s army. It was kind of badass. So, I think the small amount of trouble I had gotten myself into while on an adventure of a lifetime was worth discovering my greatest power. One that I knew I couldn’t and shouldn’t use lightly or take for granted.

“Come on,” Ria tugged at my arm “Your brother should be back soon, and he is bringing home a special guest he wants you to meet.

“Oh really? Who?” I ask surprised as this is the first, I am hearing about it.

“Petra, a special little girl to him.” She smiles “That little girl has these burly Dominant Alphas wrapped around her finger. Especially Travis and Hunji” She laughs.

“Petra,” I repeat and then my eyes light up when I remember. “Kian spoke about her; said she was like a niece to him.” This time I gave a genuine smile remembering how he spoke about her so animatedly during one of our many conversations on the train ride. 

“Yep, she is definitely one of a kind that girl, and knows just how to get what she wants. You know your father had her kidnapped. It was Finn who looked after her and made sure no harm came to her. Even though he had no choice but to take her.” I nodded, well aware that my father had implanted a controlling inhibitor in his own son. Just another sick and despicable thing my father did to add to his ever-growing list.