The Delta's Daughter Chapter 346

MIKE

I have my mate escorted up to the Alpha floor. When Lyric walks into the dining room all eyes are on her, especially my wolf's.

Duke howls in my head to move closer to his mate but I keep my feet grounded. Though my eyes wander over her, appreciating each and every curve on display under a pair of skintight leggings and a sports bra. Her long hair is tied into a ponytail and still reaches past the middle of her back.

Her skin prickles with goosebumps and Rhett goes to offer her his sweater. A growl rips out of me, I whip off my t-shirt and shove it towards Lyric. "Put this on," I commanded her. At first, she was hesitant to take it. I turn to Rhett, "Your scent has only just faded from her. Don't touch her again." I was surprised by my own jealousy, and I didn't know if it was because of him and Jonda, or my wolf and I becoming possessive over our mate.

Either way, I didn't want Rhett's scent on her again and I certainly didn't trust him to be near another female of mine.

When Lyric didn't make a move to put the shirt on, I snatched it from her hands and pulled it over her head roughly.

"Just stop." She growls at me. "I don't want to wear it."

A low resonating growl rumbles from my chest, Duke pushing forward. "You will wear it. Mate." I give her no choice and she huffs out but pulls her arms through the sleeves.

Once the shirt covers her, Lyric throws her arms out to the side. "Happy fucker?" She curses at me.

Duke wants me to warn her about the attitude, I don't say anything. Instead, I glare at her thinking of how she should submit to me. Of ways to make her submit.

Her velvet eyes meet mine and her lips part. A flush creep's up her skin and her face turns a shade of pink. She diverts her eyes and looks around at everyone in the room, finally landing on Lamia. She gives her a curt nod, "You met my son?" She asks but it sounds more like a statement.

If I affected her, she didn't say. She didn't look shaken, she was too confident and poised. And it irked me that I wasn't getting under her skin as much as she was getting under mine.

"Leave us," Lamia says waving her hand in dismissal. "You too Mathias," She adds when King hesitates to move. Eventually standing and heading for the door with the rest of us, but not without a low rumbling growl and mumbling of curse words.

'Stay with mate.' Duke says to me. For the first time since he became a part of me not wholly trusting Lamia.

'Lamia won't hurt her.' I try to ease his discomfort plus I was itching to get out of there. The more I was around Lyric Swift, the stronger the pull of the mate bond. I conjure images of Jonda, but they dissipate and are replaced with the angelic features of Lyric Swift, my little thief.

The door shuts behind us and the party moves to the sitting room. Except when I walk in, I turn to walk back out. My wolf is giving me hassle and the mate bond is playing havoc on my emotions, clouding my judgment and causing me to think unclearly.

I ran into a brick wall in my haste to abandon the gathering. "In a hurry to leave?" Mathias chuckles as I peel my face from the mountain of a shifter's chest.

"Just need to work out some of this tension," I tell him truthfully.

"It's been a while since we spared. And I need a distraction too." I look at Mathias, his silver eyes slightly glowing, showing his beast. "Arcas doesn't like to be away from his little wolf." He says through a tight jaw.

King and I had never spared, it was more like him knocking me six ways from Sunday. "Alright." I agreed against my better judgment.

"I promise to take it easy on you Beta," He chuckles again.

*****

Either Mathias was taking it easy on me or I was getting stronger, either way, we had been grappling and exchanging blows for the past two-plus hours. "They've been in there for hours," I grumble, blocking an incoming left hook from Mathias. "What the fuck could they be talking about."

Lamia kicked us all out of Kellen's private dining room so she could talk to my little thief. But that was hours ago, and I hadn't heard anything since.

"That's none of our business, Lamia will tell us what we need to know when they are done," Mathias says, sidestepping my kick. "That pup smells of her." He grabs my leg and twists it and I land on my ass.

Rolling out the way of his foot that attempts to stomp me, "I don't like it." I don't know why I'm being open with Mathias; we don't have that kind of friendship. In fact, I wouldn't really call us friends at all. Mathias was Lamia's mate, I had had a hard time accepting she had been mated to a werebear, and truth be told Mathias was an ass. To everyone but Lamia. I just didn't like his arrogant personality and we only dealt with each other if business between kingdoms called for it.

I preferred to deal with his second in command, Tobias.

I copped a punch on my jaw and stumbled back, pissed that I was too wrapped up in my thoughts and didn't see the fast punch. "You're not concentrating," Mathias growls at me and steps back lowering his hands. "You got mate problems wolf."

Didn't I know it.

"No shit." I spit back. That wasn't the only problem. Duke was addicted to the little thief's scent. As soon as she walked in earlier, her scent invaded our senses. The sweet smell of peaches enveloped us, and my body reacted. The main reason why I had to leave so fast - before I bent her over and fucked her in front of my friends.

I was fighting myself and it was frustrating. The longer I was away from Jonda, the more my wolf craved Lyric.

'She is no longer ours.' Duke grumbles from within speaking of Jonda. He too was at war with himself. A horny as fuck wolf, who wanted his mate yet missed the mate we had chosen.

He was right, no matter what had gone down, Jonda was no longer ours. She belonged to Rhett. Yet he appeared to have no interest. Or at least that was what he portrayed on the outside. Maybe he too was at war with himself on the inside. But he didn't have a spirit animal, so maybe the bond didn't affect him the way it did regular shifters. I know it didn't affect Jonda the same way.

"They are crying."

"What do you mean they're crying?" I drop my arms to stare at Mathias, waiting for him to elaborate on his sudden statement.

"I mean they are in there crying. I can feel Lamia's emotions and they are having a heart-to-heart."

I palm the back of my neck and stare at him. "You can feel her crying?" I'm a little astonished at their connection.

"No, I can feel her emotions and she is sad for your mate." I must have rolled my eyes at the word mate because Mathias glares at me and scowls. "You don't want your mate?"

How do I answer this, "No. I don't know. I didn't, I don't… Jonda…" I was waffling, the words I was thinking refused to form a coherent sentence. Even I didn't know what I wanted.

Duke growls deep and warns, 'I want our mate.' I ignore him.

He only wants her because we're horny. I'm not a complete ass, I know that now we have met our mate she would feel pain if I slept with any other female other than her. And I wouldn't do that to someone. Not after watching what Zane went through and knowing what it had done to Hunji.

I was planning on rejecting Lyric Swift. That was when I thought the Moon Goddess had given me a thief and murderer as a mate, now I knew she was just a thief, and the lines that seemed so clear before were now blurred. But still, I didn't think I wanted her.

Mathias walks out of the training ring and grabs a towel, wiping the sweat from his face. "You need to give her a chance. Just like Lamia gave me a chance."

His words echo in my mind. I wasn't sure I wanted to give the little thief a chance. I was so sure, until she showed up, that it was Jonda whom I would spend the rest of my life with.

But where was Jonda now?

No one had heard from her in several days. She wasn't answering her phone. She couldn't mind-link because of the disconnect from her wolf. I had set up a team of trackers to go out and find her but so far, they have turned up nothing yet. I did it, not just for myself, but for Tala too. Plus, it was the right thing to do.

"Different circumstances," I tell Mathias coming up beside him. Trying to convince myself his and Lamia's situation was nothing like mine and Lyric's.

"Maybe the circumstances surrounding your bond are different. Not so different that you should make a rash decision based on your biases. Also, I know the situation between you and Rhett is a little shaky,"

"More like fucked up." I pick up a water bottle pointing it towards Mathias, "The dude fucked my chosen mate."

"In his defense, he didn't know, and neither did she." He holds a hand up to me as I open my mouth to protest. "And before you say anything, they may not know they are mates, but obviously the pull of the bond was there for her to cheat on you with him. If it was anyone else but the male that turned out to be her mate, do you think she would have done it? Do you think she would have stepped out on you?"

I don't need to think of my answer, "No." I shake my head knowing it was out of character for Jonda. But it still stung.

"And do you think Rhett would have knowingly fucked your girl?"

Again, I shake my head "No." I reply a little more sheepishly.

"Then you need to forgive them before you can decipher your own emotions. And you need to understand your mate and know her before you can judge your goddess's gift."

Fuck, the asshole made sense.

"I tried to fight my bond to Lamia, but my beast wouldn't let me. Arcas actually threatened to leave me permanently if I did." Mathias stares off into space for a moment, probably recalling his memories. "If Lamia had rejected me, or vice versa, the knights would never have formed." A look crosses over Mathias's face, his eyes gleaming silver and eyebrows pinching together.

"What?" I asked, knowing the look he wore. Like he just realized something and didn't like it.

"Nothing," He wipes the troubled expression from his face and replaces it with a grin, trying to cover his true feelings. "Just thinking of my little wolf." But I can see that's not it.

"They're done." Mathias suddenly says and he picks up his pace walking out of the indoor training facility. I'm a big guy but Mathias has a good four to five inches in height on me and a hell of a lot of muscle, but the bear shifter moves fast and calculating, as he heads for the palace back entrance.

Once in the palace, I cross from the back foyer towards the front foyer and spot the older she-wolf Lizzy with Lyric's boy, Zane.

Zane. I don't think I will ever get used to calling him that or seeing his face. The constant reminder of past dark days was not a welcoming thought.

The boy sees me. "Beta Mike!" The kid beams in my direction.

"You have a fan," Mathias says.

"I'll catch up," I reply already moving towards the pup. I'm a sucker for kids, no matter what, and this pup has no idea about anything. Just because he wears Zane Noir's face, carries his name, and could be his carbon copy… "Shit!" I cover my mouth and nose with my hands as the real possibility of where this kid came from enters my mind.

"Hey, buddy!" I change the expression on my face as little arms wrapped around my legs. I ruffled his hair. "What ya up to?"

"I'm bored." The pup replies. "Aunt Lizzy says we have to be quiet and calm. That's boring." He whispers the last part.

I chuckled at the little wolf, still amazed that he already has his wolf at three years old. It may explain why he is so advanced with his speech, and he is definitely a smart pup. Wise beyond his little years. I picked up on that the first time I met him.

I lift my sight from the pup to look at Lizzy, who stands there with her fingers twiddling looking uncomfortable. "Has anyone shown you the daycare we have in the palace?"

Her eyes dart left and right, not daring to look at me. "No Beta, they haven't." She speaks.

"Alright," I say, "Let me walk you over there right now," It makes sense, they had only been here for a few days and a lot has been going on, but the kid could do with being around pups his own age.

As we walk to the east side of the building, towards the back, I feel Lizzy keep glancing at me. "Ask," I tell her, knowing she has something on her mind.

"Lyric…" She sighs, "She is a good girl Beta," I hear her swallow.

"She is fine. She was speaking with Queen Lamia. I will be up there shortly, and I can assure you King Kellen has everyone's best interests at heart. Lyric is under house arrest and is no longer a suspect for murder."

"And the theft?" She timidly asks.

"She is under house arrest, I'm not sure what the King has decided. She still has to go before the council. This was a crime against the crown, the kingdom." My words fall short as we reach the door to the palace daycare.

I hold the door open for little Zane and Lizzy. "Beta Mike!" I hear the excited yelling of the pups as soon as we walk in.

"Hey, my little wolves and future warriors!" I smile, "I brought you a new friend to play with. This is Zane," I hold my arm out for him to come forward. "He is a special friend of mine and new in the kingdom." One of the boys comes up and introduces himself, telling Zane he can come and play with him.

Zane doesn't hesitate and the two skip off chatting like they were old friends. I called one of the daycare workers over, Martha, and introduced her to Lizzy. "If you could get them signed in, I think little Zane will be staying with us for a while." I go to leave now that Zane is playing, and Lizzy is chatting with Martha, but stop to add "Martha, put me down as an emergency contact."

I'm not sure why or what led me to want to know how Zane is doing or have some form of responsibility over him, but it felt right. Duke purred in my head that I felt somewhat protective over the pup.

I leave the daycare and head back upstairs, eager to return and know the outcome between Lamia and Lyric.

Halfway up the stairs I get a whiff of myself and cringe, diverting my intended direction to the suite I shared with Jonda, deciding I most definitely needed a quick shower before joining the rest of the group again.