The Delta's Daughter Chapter 337

LYRIC

The green-eyed warrior had left me sitting here some time ago. It had to be the next day by now. I had no concept of time as I sat in the windowless cell.

I stared at myself through the large mirror that took up a whole length of a wall. No doubt a two-way mirror. I had stated I would only speak to the Beta. Yet that was hours ago. I was running out of time and patience.

I can admit to lifting the crown but I was no murderer. At least I didn't take anyone's life tonight. Even then, the few times I had taken a life were in self-defense.

I needed to get out of here. But not with these silver cuffs around my wrist. If they took them off or put me in their dungeons I might have a chance of breaking out. Somehow though, I figure their security would be beefed up just for me.

The alternative was to come to clean. To try and bargain with them. The problem was I had no idea who was a spy for the Shadow Witch. The green-eyed man was nice enough but he was a hybrid. I had scented his lack of wolf in the forest. Sadow was known for working with rogues, hybrids, humans, and other creatures like Twenty-Nine.

The only one I could trust was the Beta, my mate. I could recognize his scent, I would know if he was real or not. I just hoped he would show mercy and help me. Help my son. No matter what happened to me he had to be kept safe.

Twenty-Nine was obviously under orders to eliminate any witnesses or threats. He killed Bram. I didn't know if he had killed the two men they were accusing me of killing. But I wouldn't doubt it.

My concern was not for myself but for my pup. If it was still Saturday, then that left two days before Lizzy would leave for the safe house. My body began to tremble as a thought presented itself.

'Note,' I call for my wolf but am met with nothing. "Damn silver cuffs!" I curse aloud feeling frustrated.

Lizzy would go straight to the safe house, but I didn't know how safe that was now. My stomach churned with the thought of him finding my son, because of my own stupid actions.

"I swear Miko when I get out of here…" I cursed out the man who put me in this position, silently promising to make him pay. "Just one more job they said," I mumbled lowly.

I snuck a look at the camera in the corner of the room, the red light blinking as it watches me. Records me.

Not only did I desperately need to pee but I was hungry too. Though I doubted they would allow me such minimal comforts.

"Hello?" I yell out quite loudly to the camera. My voice echoed around the empty room. They could be soundproofed and no one hears me. Maybe someone was watching from the other side of the mirror. Surely there had to be someone monitoring the camera? "Hey! Anyone hear me?" I shouted louder.

I waited but no one came. "I'm going to piss my pants!" I shouted at the camera. This was probably punishment because I wouldn't speak to the green-eyed man.

I would give them answers if it helped get me out of here. If I wasn't getting out of here… then I need my son in a safe place and what better place than under the protection of the Royal Beta, surely as my fated mate he would help me. I needed to see my son. If this was it for me, I needed to secure him.

The door opened and I heaved a sigh of relief. Except it wasn't the green-eyed man this time. Instead, it was a man with darker skin, long black hair tied back, and eyes that gleamed golden brown. He was big and brawny, but nowhere close to as big as the Beta.

"You're not the Beta." I spat out. Pissed that they had sent me someone else.

"I am Hunji, Beta to Queen Lamia."

Fuck me, I was screwed.

He tilts his head inspecting me like I was a rare object. "You asked for a Royal Beta, that is me. You can talk to me." His tone was flat and uncaring, but there was curiousness in his eyes.

"I'm not talking to you," I reply crossing my arms in defiance and turning my head from him. "I will only talk to the Beta that caught me." I huff. The only one I knew was truly who they said they were and not one of his spies.

"You do realize the level of trouble you are in?" He asks, his tone was still flat but matter of fact.

I did know how deep the river of shit I had stepped in was. But I wouldn't waiver. "If you want answers… If you want to know who hired me then I will only speak to the Beta of New Moon." I say with resolve and determination in my voice.

"And if he doesn't want to speak with you?"

I turn my head to look at him, meeting his eyes. His aura threw off a vibe much more powerful than just Beta. Had my wolf been present she would no doubt be cowering underneath the dark look he now gave me. "Then…" Then what? What would I do, what could I do? "Then I tell you nothing. You execute me and will never know the truth."

The corner of his lip pulled into a snarl and without another word, he turns and walks out the door leaving me alone once again.

"Hey!" I call after him because I really did need to go to the bathroom. "Shit," I curse thinking I should have asked to use the facilities first.

My eyes shift around the room some more, taking in every minute detail. The room is clean and sparse, just the table and two chairs. But I smile widely when I spot a sliver of metal peeling from the leg of the table.

That was all I needed.

I worked, hopefully inconspicuously, to free the sliver of metal. Finally, when I managed to separate it from the table leg, I began to work on the cuffs around my wrists. Keeping my hands under the table, away from the camera.

As I said before, their security was good, but not that good. I wouldn't try to escape, I just needed these dang cuffs off me so I could speak to my wolf.

*****

MIKE

At what point do you stop trusting yourself - stop trusting your and your wolf's instincts?

Today might actually be that day.

Everything I know had been pushed to the limits last night.

Finding out you are way off base on... everything - would have anyone second-guessing themselves.

I'm the Royal Beta to the Moon kingdom. second in command to King Kellen Moon himself.

I have failed him once. I won't let it happen again.

What I need is a stiff drink - or many - and time to sort through the mess in my mind. Yet the amber liquid I gulped down did nothing for me.

I needed to process the fuckery that has now become MY fucking reality.

Four hours later, a bottle and a half of some expensive ass bourbon, sitting on the floor of the cellar - I was no closer to organizing my emotions.

But I did come up with a list!

Quite proud of that feat, I begin to recite my mantra again, how could all this shit happen in one night? The fates themselves, couldn't have planned this series of events any better if they tried.

"Let's hold the crowning ceremony so close to Tala's due date" I take a swing from the bottle, swaying against the wall as I punch the air with my other hand. "Surprise! She goes into labor the night before her crowning... Saw that one coming." I sneer.

"Two fucking bodies, a jewel thief - our ONLY murder suspect - who happens to be my fucking mate!" I take two swigs- because I deserve to indulge goddess damn it.

I punch the air again, a little steadier this time. "But nooo, mother fucking nature ain't done there!" I curse at the moon, even though I couldn't see it. Daring her to strike me down and bearing my teeth, my wolf was just as pissed over the day we've had, as much as I am.

The moon was cruel tonight. She did us wrong and fucked us over.

"The woman I love cheated on me!" I shout into the empty cellar. No matter how many times I say it out loud, it makes me sick, my stomach twisting and churning. How do you compartmentalize all those emotions? The Thoughts? The feelings?

Moon fucked. That's what I am.

When you have an unlucky hunt under the full moon - we call it moon fucked.

Or the pups call it moon-jinxed.

How could Jonda... Cheat on me... why? I thought she loved me as much as I love her.

I couldn't wrap my mind around it. It would have had to of been an extreme situation to make Jonda cheat. And to admit it?

The blood drained from my face and the cold realization swept through me bringing my head to thump against the stone cold wall behind me. Her confession almost brought me to my knees.

She didn't know who it was. How could she not know who she opened her legs for? I think that stung the worst. The fact she opened her legs and let a complete stranger fuck her. Then again, if I knew who it was I would probably kill them.

I met my fucking mate last night! Jonda was the first and only thing I thought of when I held my jewel thief-fated fucking mate in my arms. Both of us, naked as the day we were born.

Sure my body reacted, mates are like magnets. Drawn together, our wolves crave the others' touch.

Not ONCE did my thoughts stray to anything other than Jonda. I dreaded telling her, I didn't know how she would take it and I hoped, it wouldn't deter her from becoming my chosen mate. I love - loved Jonda.

And here she was hiding a secret. Oh, what a fool I was.

People rarely change, but when they do - they can't be trusted. I didn't know if I could ever trust Jonda again.

My wolf, Duke rumbles out a growl in detest. He was as unimpressed by our so-called mate as I was. Now his feelings wane on the side of abhorrence towards Jonda, our chosen mate.

I have no clue what to do with this information. Again I drink from the bottle. Taking a deep pull this time. I know I should feel something, but I just can't. There's too much to feel. This overload of information has ultimately rendered me dumbfounded and useless.

I can have Rhett interrogate my mate. Stay away from Jonda, and concentrate on working the case.

Yeah, that's exactly what I should do. Until I can make sense of what to do.

If I give in to my emotions, my wolf will take over. Duke in charge is never a good idea. He is an act first, question later counterpart.

I swigged back the dark liquid, and try to lose myself in the journals of Shayna. Tala's older sister, the bitch who created the inhibitor chips, and the female I killed at the battle of Riocht. Although, I was starting to think maybe she wasn't so much of a bitch after all as I read her entries.

'My shithole of a father told me that the bear king of this continent, King Orion, would be visiting. An honored guest.'

'In six days, the bear king would be an honored guest. Father told me again at dinner. That was the same day as my sixteenth birthday.'

'I hear them arguing again. I envy Tala. When I checked on her earlier she was sleeping through their screaming. I didn't want her to hear the things Father said about her.'

The entries weren't dated, so I had no clue when any of this had been written. Just scribbles and thoughts on the pages. Maybe I was too inebriated, or maybe it was the pity I held for myself at the moment that allowed me to sympathize with the Alchemist.

Either way, reading through her scribbles took my mind off my reality.

The entries went on in the same fashion - little tidbits into her's and Tala's life in the Bhakhil palace. It almost felt like I was intruding into Tala's past. But it was better than dealing with my present.

I felt a nudge against my mind. I had blocked my capability to receive mind links. I was in no mood to talk to anyone.

I lifted the bottle, number three, I think? Taking a few large gulps of the amber nectarine. Only now the buzz had taken hold and I could truly say I was three sheets to the wind. Except it didn't block anything I wanted it to. Even the journals weren't enough of a distraction from what was on my mind.

"Mike," I look up to see Kellen standing at the entrance to the cellar, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. I frown at him and cock my head to the side. Trying to decide if he is real or not.

Kellen pushes off the frame and saunters over to me, dropping down to the floor and taking up the same position I'm sitting in. He reaches for the bottle, plucking it from my hands. Bringing it to his lips he drinks, then leans his head back half closing his eyes.

"Why are you here?" I ask him still puzzled.

"Why are you here drinking your weight in expensive alcohol?" He questions back, quirking his brow.

I chuckle and rub my upper lip. "I couldn't think of anywhere better to be or do right now."

Kellen doesn't say anything. Just takes another swig from the bottle, not passing it back to me. I sigh heavily. Defeated. "I told Jonda I found my mate," I say lowly.

"I'm guessing she didn't take it well?"

Now I really laugh, "She took it so well she told me she fucked someone else on her way back from the Kodiak Kingdom last month." Burborn sprayed across the room, as Kellen choked in surprise. "No, she wasn't lying before you ask."

This time it was Kellens turn to swipe a hand down his face, either in shock or to clean the alcohol he spat all over himself. Maybe both. "Shit bro! Why didn't you tell me? What are you going to do?"

"That's the fucking thing, what do I do?" I snatch the bottle from his hand and drink. "I told Jonda right away, I was ready, am ready to reject my mate for her. But now…"

"Now you're lost."

"Yeah," I admit. I was so lost.

"What does Duke say?" Kellen refers to my wolf.

I drink again. My body sways as I lower the bottle from my lips and Kellen takes it back. "The strangest thing. He seems weirdly surprised that we have a mate. He loves Jonda too, but right now he's as mixed up as me. He wants his mate, but he wants to forgive Jonda too." Duke hadn't spoken a word to me since all this shit happened. He was keeping to himself, trying to process his feelings like I was. But I felt what he felt. "Why are you here Kellen? You should be with your mate and pup."

"If you hadn't gone MIA, put up a mental block, I would be there." So it was my fault, once again. "Don't make that face. No one knows what's going on with you. The only reason I know is because Rhett finally told us. I admit, I didn't know about the whole Jonda shit. I'm sorry man."

"Do you still love her?"

"Who?" Kellen asks confused about my question.

"Lam's" I take back the bottle again, a quick pull and I hand it back to Kellen.

"I will always love her." He says with finality. "If you are asking if I am still in love with her, then the answer is…" He drinks, prolonging his answer. "Sometimes I think I am, but then I think that's just because of how are wolves are connected. But she's not my mate and the bond between Tala and I is strong. I never thought I could feel like that about someone else until I saw her in the stands."

"I still love her too." I was drunk talking now. But I couldn't help but let my mind go back to simpler days when it was just the three of us. When we ran around the woods and swam in the lake. When the three of us would camp out under the stars. Or the times we snuck out of our apartments in the middle of the night just to raid the kitchen. "Did you ever think it was going to be this difficult?"

Kellen shakes his head, takes another pull then jumps to his feet. "No, I don't think any of us did." He holds his hand out for me to take. "Come on, you need to shower. You stink."

"I don't care." I grab his hand and let him pull me to my feet, my body slightly swaying.

"Well, you should. Your suspect wants to talk to you."

"I don't want to see her, let alone talk to her," I grumble.

"Tough shit Mike. She will only speak to you. As your best friend, I get it. As your King and Alpha, I'm ordering you to sober the fuck up, do your job, and go speak to her."