The Delta's Daughter Chapter 309

TAWNY

The past week at Riocht has been comforting, aside from having to hash up the last time I saw crimson, and the discussions of our discoveries. I have spent most of my time pouring my attention onto the triplets.

My ovaries go wild as I help change and feed them, giving not only Lamia and Mathias a break, but also her mother Vivian, and father Marcus some much-needed time off.

Amali is beautiful, cute, and tiny. And when separated from her brothers for mere minutes, Zachary and Maximus would wail like banshees until they could see or feel her close. Not even six months old yet and are already so protective of their little sister.

I hold Amali a little tighter, wondering if I will ever get the chance to be a mother. The green-eyed monster called jealousy rearing its ugly head, as I think of Gillian. My thoughts wander back to Crimson as they always do.

For the past week, I have tried to concentrate on just being here, and enjoying my time with friends and the babies. As tears gather behind my eyes, the all too familiar sting of heartache, I tilt my head down gulping in the scent of the little girl in my arms. Finding comfort in that baby scent.

Juniper has been silent in my mind and even her feelings have been empty, causing me to debate whether I was too hasty and did the wrong thing by leaving Cambiador – rejecting Crimson.

But then I look down again and see Amali’s wide innocent light green eyes staring up at me. Her pink bow-shaped mouth parts with a gurgle. “You get it don’t you beautiful.” I smile at her, “Aunty Tawny will always protect you from the big bad boys,” I promise her.

“I think it’s you who needs to be protected from the big bad boys,” I look up towards the door where Lamia stands, leaning against the frame, arms crossed and smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Pushing herself off the frame she walks into the room and gathers up Zachary in one arm, then stoops to gather Maximus in the other. Planting herself on the small couch that sits in their nursery, while I sit rocking Amali.

“I don’t need protecting, Lamia,” I reply, but keep a smile on my face so Amali doesn’t sense my unease. They say babies can feel what you feel, that they are more receptive to your expressions than an adult.

“No?” There’s a coyness in her question and I dart my eyes over to her. She’s not looking at me, her attention is focused on the boys. “Then why are you hiding out here and why did reject crimson to his back?”

I huff, rolling my eyes, “Bitch,” I mutter because she’s calling me out, making me talk about it, again. It’s the last thing I want to do because all it will do is plant seeds in my mind of whether I did the right thing or not. Making me doubt my decision.

“It was rash Tawny,” Lamia says as if reading my mind.

I pause trying to figure out if I indeed said it out loud, but I didn’t. “Necessary.” I deadpan. “He lied to me. To you too. At any time he could have said ‘hey, by the way, I made a blood pact with someone who was looking for this information ages ago’. But no,” I smile with my condescending tone because my eyes are still trained on the sweet cuddly girl in my arms. “Instead he gives me some lame excuse that he forgot about it. How the F- heck do you forget about something like that?”

I stand deciding holding Amali was not a good idea as I was only working myself up. I lay her down in the crib, out of sight from her brothers and they immediately start whining. Lamia hops up, handing me Maximus and we lay them down in the crib with her, one on each side.

“He’s your mate.” She says matter of fact.

“And that should make it okay?” I question her back.

“No, but…” She shrugs her shoulders and nods to the little beans who have settled down and are quickly drifting off to sleep. “But, If I hadn't forgiven Mathias, let go of my fears and inhibitions, I may never have had this.”

I swallow down a lump that formed, along with the welling tears. I want what she has. The love, the mate, the family, the babies. I want it all. I want the sliver of happiness she has found.

I thought I had it. I thought what Crimson and I had was solid until he blew all up in my face.

We move from the nursery into a connecting room that is laid out like one of the parlors in Cambiador’s palace, “How do you do it?” I ask once I’m comfortably seated on a plush couch. “You’re a mom, the Queen of frickin’ shifters, you practically run three kingdoms and have the most advanced and well-trained army in the whole realm.”

She laughs, a sound I have dearly missed. Her green eyes sparkle with amusement. “Most days I ask myself that same question,” She sighs, eyes glazing over for a fraction of a second, then coming back to land on me.

A few moments later a young maid comes in with a tray holding a pitcher and two glasses.

“Thank you,” Lamia says to the maid, taking it from her hands and setting it down on the coffee table in front of us, then proceeds to pour two glasses of the yellow liquid from the pitcher. I sniff taking in the smell of drinks as she hands me one. “Should you be drinking?” I ask taking a sip of the fruity alcohol. “Aren't you still breastfeeding?”

“Girl,” She laughs “Those babies are almost six months old; they have teeth. Besides,” She grabs both her boobs, groping and jiggling them, “I only have two of these, and three mouths. Most of the time I pump but we are already transitioning them to solids.”

“Goddess your tits are still huge Lam’s,” I laugh taking another sip and leaning back, “I bet Mathias doesn’t complain though.”

“Definitely not!” She cracks up, “I’m pretty sure they're his favorite toy. He even said if they shrink he’s knocking me up again.”

We both sip our drinks, the silence between us comfortable until my thoughts start running away and the atmosphere becomes thick.

“Out with it.” She demands. Knowing I’m in my own head again.

I hesitate, not wanting to spoil the moment and knowing rehashing past memories will do that. “Aren't you worried? I mean about the gateways, the stones… That Silas and Orion may have been looking for them, what this means for you?”

She puts her drink down on the table and turns her body to face me. “Silas and Orion are dead. They can't hurt me anymore. Or anyone else. Jack is dead and so is Oliver.” I see a twitch in her eye as she mentions Oliver, “I’m twenty-one years old, with three kids, an overbearing mate, a shit ton of work to do, and a kingdom to run. I don’t have time to worry about shit from thousands of years ago. Curious and intriguing as they are, I concentrate on the here and now. And truthfully… I don’t know how I would do it if King wasn’t by my side.”

“So much has happened, aren’t you worried about what comes next? Because I am.” I don’t have to spell it out for her, she knows what I mean. With new things coming into fruition, the attack on Alpha Xander and then the Clan Mansion, the discovery of our enemies' past, and the library…

I see her drift into her thoughts. For a second I see the old Lamia, the one I first met when she rescued me in the hallways of the high school. A flare of fire and a slight glow to her green eyes. I can she’s thinking about it.

When she speaks, it's slowly and thought out. “If I worry about everything that hasn’t come to pass yet, then my mind will never find peace. If I let the ‘what if’s fester, they will only grow and twist, tainting my mind.

“We both know, or feel that something is coming, but I refuse to dwell on it until it arrives. If it ever arrives. I want to be happy while I can, and soak up all the goodness that surrounds me while I can. And hope and pray that we can live out the rest of your lives peacefully and happily.”

I see something in her expression, as she relays her feelings to me. “To say I wasn’t worried about the attacks on the Kodiak Kingdom would be a lie. Hunji is still out there, with Morgan they have interrogated the prisoners, but they have refused to give up any information.” She tells me, “Until we can figure out the reason for the attack, or what they wanted, I will worry about it.”

“I hear Morgan has a few special gifts, can she not help?” I ask curiously, thinking of the last time I spoke with Hunji, his warning to not trust Crimson. I was hella upset at him, now I’m wondering if there were some truth to his words, maybe his witch had seen something. Something he was afraid to tell me.

“Oh, she has she most definitely has some special gifts, and then some.” Lamia gives me a knowing nod, following it up with a wink. “Unfortunately, her gifts don’t quite work like that. If she could read someone's mind, I’m pretty sure Mathias would have ordered her to read the prisoners. These attackers have high-tech technology, weapons akin to something Orion would have come up with. Someone powerful is backing them. They are mostly hybrids or humans.

“Feelers have been put out to find out who they work for, but so far we have nothing,” Lamia tells me, refilling my glass as well as hers.

We sit for a while reminiscing the old days when we first met, and the fun we had. We avoid mentioning Kira, or Zane Noir, her first mate. Even three years later those names were still too raw to say. To both of us.

I know she loved Zane, she lost their child and him and that will forever be with her. I will always be in awe of my best friend's strength, but looking back it was inevitable that would Zane would die. Lamia is part Dire Wolf, born to be a breeder, Zane was never strong enough to protect her, and neither was Kellen, I hate to admit. With Mathias, wearing his scent, no one would ever deem to touch her in fear of his wrath. He owned her, he had stamped his mark on her, claimed in a way one else could.

Just like Crimson did to me.

Mathias was more powerful than Lamia, a demi-god, and quite possibly the most powerful shifter this realm had ever seen. He even said himself, he hadn’t met anyone that could measure up to him, with the exception of Finnegan Artos, and now Crimson adding to the very short list.

The next day I decide to join in on their warrior training, happy to find Mason there as I walk up to the training grounds. On the far end of the field, I see a group of newbies scrambling through the training course that is identical to the one her father had built in the New Moon Kingdom.

“You think we should show them how it’s done?” Mason beams a bright smile at me, winking. We had a similar, but much smaller, obstacle course built in Cambiador because I loved the one in New Moon so much. This one was bigger than both and bounced on my toes, the thrill of running it excited me.

“Yeah, let's do it!” I boast, eager to try it out.

We spend half the day out there gaining the respect of the new recruits as well as the trainers, as we make the obstacle course look easy, running it a handful of times and helping to instruct the recruits. It took my mind away from the gloomy thoughts that threatened to plague me. Thoughts of Crimson.

When we finally call it day, I relish in the ache of my muscles, knowing I worked them out hard, pushing myself to the limits. Juniper was content in the back of my mind and hadn’t given me any grief for my rash decision and being so far away from her mate. Ex-mate.

I knew crimson would have to accept the rejection for our bond to break fully and I wasn’t aware if he knew I had rejected him or not, thinking about his reaction, or lack of it, the first time I rejected him.

*****

The following day Mason and I packed our bags, ready to head out to the New Moon Kingdom. I have enjoyed my time here, but it made me miss my father even more. Spending time with Lamia - my extended family has been just what I needed to begin to get over Crimson. But it had been so long since I had seen my father. The phone calls or video chats, when he could figure out the computer, have been great. What I really needed, was for him to wrap his arms around me and provide me with the comfort only a father could give.

Seeing as I had planned to attend Kellen’s mates crowning anyway, this was an excellent opportunity to arrive in the Kingdom early and spend some much-needed time with my father.

“You’re going to love him,” I tell Mason as he throws our bags in the back of the car. “And he will welcome you into his home as one of his own,” Mason was worried about being in the Wolf Kingdom, knowing my time growing up in some packs was more than unsavory. I have assured him, and keep doing so, that the Capital was nothing like some of the packs.

He had already met Kellen and Mike during their visits to MacTire, so he had nothing to worry about. I still sensed some hesitation on his end. Once we were there, he would see for himself.

I think what really made him nervous was the fact my father was a werewolf. I don’t know why, obviously my mother was a werecat, because look at me.

Mason has obviously met my grandfather, but he has no clue that my father is pale-skinned with bright red hair and freckles. I almost laugh out loud just imagining his reaction to the stark contrast of skin color. Though Mason does know my natural hair color is flame orange, He just doesn’t know where I get it from.

After saying goodbye to everyone and showering as many kisses as possible on the triplet's heads, I hug Lamia goodbye. “I’ll see you in two weeks,” She says. She and Mathias weren’t planning on making it to the meet-and-greet winter ball Kellen was hosting the night before the coronation ceremony, but they were going to meet up with Hunji on the day of the ceremony and then ride back with them.

“I don’t want to take the attention away from Tala,” She had told me when discussing plans. She also told me how much I would love Tala and what a sweet person she was. So I was hoping to get to know her while I was in the kingdom if she had time.

Mason and I finally climb into the car, ready for another few days of driving.

I give him directions, even offering to drive some, but he refuses, stating I drive like shit. I can’t argue, I’m not the best. He jokes that it's because my legs are so short, but really he’s being kind. Unfortunately, I just can't concentrate long enough to stay on the road. I get bored and tend to let the car drift.

This trip is much more jovial than the one to Riocht, as we sing along to the radio, stopping small minimarts to fill up and grab a stash of snacks.

Before we know it, were entering New Moon territory. Back to where it all began.