The Delta's Daughter Chapter 349

MIKE

Lamia had called a meeting with the four kingdoms, and we were going to hold the conference in the ops room. I walked in, trying to wipe the sour look off my face that I was sure was still there ever since the beginning of the day.

I couldn't get Lyric out of my mind, no matter how much I tried. The more she was here - around me - in the palace, the more the bond fell into place. The more it had both my wolf and me craving to be near her. Yet I also couldn't get Jonda out of my mind.

Rhett shifted uneasily when I walked into the room. Our eyes met but there was nothing there. No animosity, no hatred, and no pity or empathy. We weren't friendly like we usually would be. It was strange and foreign. If I was this worried about Jonda, I could only imagine how Rhett was feeling. But then again, he didn't have a wolf, he wouldn't feel a complete connection to Jonda. And if he did, he wasn't showing it, or at least he was keeping very quiet about it.

Everyone was already seated. I was the last to enter the ops room and it was a full house today with Lamia, King, Kellen, Tala, and both mine and Lam's fathers. Rhett and Tyron were also present, with Damon manning the keyboard. The only person missing was Rogue. Which seemed odd as he was either stuck to Tala or Kellen's hip. Mostly Talas.

One by one a different monitor lit up. First, Alpha Xander, Tobias and Finnegan Artos appeared on a screen. Then Alpha Travis and his Beta Josiah, faces appeared. Next was Tawny and Crimson and last but not least Hunji, Morgan, and the Lycan leader of the south who had guarded Riocht, Lucien.

Once greetings had been established, Kellen started off the meeting. "Before we get into anything, as you know from the reports, Jonda, Tala's sister is missing. She left the New Moon Kingdom a week ago and nobody has heard anything from her since. She did not return to the Sea Dog Pack, and we have not been able to pick up a scent or track her. We have sent trackers out and so has Alpha John MacTire. Tala and I are working closely with the Sea Dog Pack to locate Jonda. However, we have little to go off."

"I would be happy to spare a team or as many men as you need if it will help locate her." Alpha Xander speaks. Kellen nods his thanks and appreciation.

"We too will send out a unit." Tawny supplies, her face showing worry for my chosen mate.

"Count us in too," Travis points at us through the screen. Clear determination in his voice and I see his eyes flit to Rhett.

Lamia stands, brushing back her streaked hair and scrunching up her nose. Her emerald eyes were slightly glazed with thought. She stands tall and regal once she has clearly thought of what she wants to say and then addresses the room and the other kingdoms who are on screen. "Finding Jonda is a top priority." She looks over at Tala, her eyes softening, Then she looks at me, and lastly Rhett "She is family, and we do everything we can for family."

I let out a deep breath and I hear Rhett mimic the sound, his containing a slight shudder of relief just like mine. I want her home and I'm sure he is just as worried as I am. Jonda had been a part of me for the past six months. I had fallen deeply in love with her and even though the last time I saw her things were rocky, to say the least. I didn't know if she and I could ever be what we thought we would be, but I still loved her and I wasn't over her. I didn't know if I ever would be. Mate or not.

I could only imagine what Rhett was feeling. Did he feel the pull to Jonda? Was her absence eating him up inside like it was mine and my wolf's?

Sitting here, discussing a plan of action to find Jonda gave me a sense of déjà vu. Bringing up memories of when we were in the same situation over three ago searching for Lamia. More recently when Kellen had disappeared.

I didn't like it. Something was off and that feeling that I was missing something crucial was twisting in my gut. Tormenting and teasing me as if in warning that something bigger was at play.

Just then the ops door opened, and Rogue walked in with Lyric behind him. Duke immediately perked up in my mind, his tail mentally wagging at the smell and sight of his mate. I still couldn't and didn't want to get on board with the mate bond. Yet it was hard to ignore when she stood there with her head held high, her long hair tied in a ponytail that I wanted to wrap around my fist, and the tantalizing smell of peaches invading my every sense.

She may not have murdered the Alpha son and the unknown wolf, but she was still a thief. A criminal. She may have saved her sister's child and raised him as her own, but even that child was stolen. Maybe not by her but someone had stolen the child's DNA.

I must have growled out loud as the room went silent. And all eyes present, be it in the room on the monitors looked between me and Lyric.

Lamia cleared her throat, regaining the attention of everyone. "I asked Lyric to be a part of this discussion because she contains valuable intel and like it or not, her son little Zane, and Lyric's destinies have been woven into ours." She peers around the room at everyone except Mathias, daring them to challenge her on her decision.

Of course, nobody does.

"Morgan, did you know?" There's a slight harshness in Lamia's voice as she addresses Morgan.

Morgan's eyes widen and she turns her head from side to side slowly. "I swear to you, my queen. I did not see this coming."

Lamia's head bobs and her lips purse. "As you are all aware of now, Lyric's son was birthed by her sister. On her death bed, Melody confessed what had happened to her to Lyric." A pensive and melancholy look encompasses Lamia's features before she regains composure and carries on. "The child is not only the clone of the late Alpha Zane Noir but the child carries my DNA too."

There were a few gasps around the room, we all knew he was the spitting image of Zane Noir and I had guessed with that blonde streak that there was more to him, but to hear it out loud from the horse's mouth, it still came as a surprise.

Lamia holds her hand up. "We don't know how, or when, but it is evident to my wolf that little Zane's genetic makeup is a combination of my blood and the late Alpha Zane's. As well as another person's. This could be Melody's scent that has been detected, or someone else's. This is unclear.

"What I do know, and we can all agree on, is that this child needs protection and a man named the Shadow Witch will want to claim him if he finds out the child lives." Lamia looks to Lyric who nods in agreement. "What else do we know about this dark witch?" Lamia asks, opening up the floor for discussion.

"The Shadow Witch, also known as Senko, controls the black market as well as many boroughs between here and the Kodiak Kingdom. He makes up his numbers by extortion or forcibly making others comply. He was supplied female shifters by the Rogue King Silas which he impregnated and performed scientific testing on. My sister was able to tell me some of what went on. The fact my sister, Melody, was Zane Noirs' true mate was the reason she was able to carry the child. At least this is what she told me."

Duke preened with pride at the way his mate spoke up and took charge of the conversation. She didn't hesitate to divulge the information she had. Lyric readily supplied the people in the meeting with all the knowledge she had.

"We also know Senko is my biological father, and he may have been behind my accident and perhaps stealing my blood," Crimson adds. "Lyric, do you know where he can be found? Does Senko or the Shadow Witch have a base of operations?" He asks my mate.

"No. Not that I know of." Lyric pauses, her lush lips pulling into a thin line. "But… The man who hired me to steal Queen Tala's crown, Miko, might know. He had dealt with him a few times."

"Finn, do you recall this Senko when you were with Orion or him hanging around with Silas?" Mathias asks his brother. I watch as Finn's face creases on the monitor. Tobias and Xander look at him expectantly.

He shakes his head, "Not that I recall. There was a person my father referred to as the mad scientist but… Again, the only person who could effectively fill in the gaps is no longer alive."

We all knew who he meant. Oliver.

"Once Mathias and I are back in Riocht I will send Hunji and Morgan to MacTire, maybe you," She points to the screen that Morgan and Hunji are behind, "Can see if you can have a conversation with the dead rogue."

Morgan's eyes shift uneasily, and I notice Travis becomes more tense. "What?" I say, "What do you know that we don't?" I ask Morgan then turn my attention to Travis, "You have something to say, Travis?"

Travis shakes his head, no, but Morgan becomes more fidgety. "Morgan…" Hunji stresses his mate's name. He too knows she's hiding something.

"I can't connect with those who aren't dead." She mumbles the words lowly, but I caught every one of them and so did the rest of the room.

"Explain yourself." Mathias barks at his half-sister who jumps on the other end of the monitor. Hunji of course growls at the way Mathias spoke to his mate.

"Umm well, are you sure he's dead Travis?" Morgan asks him.

"Of course he is dead! I watched his execution myself!" Josiah pipes up defending his Alpha.

"And the corpse was burnt?" This time Hunji asks the question.

Again, Josiah speaks for his Alpha, "Well no," Josiah suddenly looks puzzled and turns to Travis, "Did we burn the body?"

Travis nods in confirmation, otherwise, he remains silent with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"We will go to MacTire and see what Morgan can do. If anything." Hunji says.

"Good." Mathias stands up and comes to Lamia's side, sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her to him. "Lyric," He addresses my mate, but his eyes are on the monitor that holds his brother Xander, Tobias, and Finn. "Last month the Kodiak Kingdom was attacked by a mixture of rogues, hybrids, and some humans. The weapons they used were like any we have seen. With your background and knowledge, I wanted to know if you had seen anything like this." He points to the monitor and Tobias holds up a whip.

Tobias steps back and cracks the whip, a sharp blue electrical current crackles from the end, traveling down the length of the whip to the handle. Illuminating the whip, turning it into a more dangerous weapon than it already was.

"Careful with that thing!" Xander hisses at Tobias jumping back in his seat. "They also had electrical nets woven with silver." He tells Lyric. To the rest of us, he says: "We were unable to get anything out of the prisoners. Each day we try and each day we inflict more pain but still, they refuse to speak."

"It's almost as if they can't" Finn adds.

"I have seen similar weapons when I was Bhakhil, cattle prods that were highly charged, more than what would be used in a regular setting," Kellen informs us.

"King Kellen," Finn speaks, "I can't say for sure, but…" He shakes his head, "Orion had Shayna who was a metal alchemist, it was she who invented the inhibitor chips and other things, is it possible she could have developed these weapons too?"

"It's a possibility," Tala interjects looking around the room.

*Is it possible that this Shayna could have worked with Senko, the Shadow Witch?* Rhett's voice filters into my mind, speaking the thought I was just processing.

*I was thinking the same thing.* I replied to him privately. Out loud I turn to Damon, "Damon pull up the footage you recovered from the theft."

In seconds Damon pulls up the footage he had shown me when I was at his house and goes through it with everyone else. My father had already seen it, and so had Kellen, but this was new to everyone else.

"Wait!" Lyric suddenly exclaims. "Roll back that footage about 3 seconds." Damon complies, "Pause." Lyric points to the big screen that we can all see including those on the monitors. "Him, that's Twenty-Nine."

"Whose Twenty-Nine?" I ask.

"He is one of Shadows men. He killed Bram." I see the sad look in her eyes before she quickly recovers and covers her emotions in a blanket of indifference. "He called the Shadow Witch, Senko, master. It struck me as strange when he said it, but then everything about him was strange." She frowns.

"What do you mean strange?" I asked her, moving closer.

Lyric protectively crosses her arms, and I can see her recalling her memories. "He didn't have a scent for starters. And not from using a masking spray. His eyes were a strange mustard color and his skin," She shudders with revulsion. "His skin was a washed-out gray, ashy. He moved in complete silence and his teeth…" She lifts her hand to her mouth and points to her own. "They were sharp like needles, yet smaller than a Werecats. I had never seen canines like that. And he moved fast. He made my wolf nervous, and she doesn't get nervous." Lyric admits.

"Skinwalker perhaps?" Tawny asks.

Lyric shakes her head, "I don't know much about Skinwalkers, but this man couldn't shift."

"The children of Tolba?" Crimson says but his question is directed at Lamia and Mathias.

"Maybe," Lamia says with thought.

"Is it possible, that everything is connected to this Senko, Shadow Witch?" I speak. The question in my sentence is redundant. "The attacks, the stones, the children, who according to - whatever the woman's name from Tolba is - says the children were created by Senko. He could have created more children; shit he could have been growing these kids in labs for years!"

"But most of the children don't live past eighteen," Tawny says skeptically.

"Maybe these are the kids that survived and grew up?" I counter, "Like little Zane?" I throw my hands up in the air.

"We already know Senko knew Silas and Orion. We have no idea what happened to the man once he left Tolba. Ashe claimed he was alive to Althea, but what evidence do we have? This is all circumstantial, there's nothing solid tying all these assumptions together. Fuck, for all we know, Senko and the Shadow Witch could be two different people."

Lyric's hand raises slowly, "Um what stones?" she hesitantly asks, her eyes flitting over everyone in the room.

"Maybe it's time the thief stepped out," Tyron spoke for the first time, his eyes narrowing on my mate.

"Actually, no," Mathias says turning to face Tyron. The Kings size dwarfed the warrior. "It's a thief we need."

Tawny's sweet voice comes over the monitor and moves closer to the screen, her yellow eyes pinned on Lyric. "Once upon a long time ago, many, many moons before now, The doorways to the realm of the gods were sealed by four powerful gods and goddesses. They created four stones, one per each god's magic. These stones not only sealed the doorway, but they also became the key to reopening it. We recently discovered a book with an explanation, a doorway, and some other papers." She casts Crimson a sideways glance and he shrinks in his seat.

"And that's what I stole? One of these four stones?" Lyric asks.

"Yes, we believe so," Tawny tells her.

"Plus," Hunji interrupts, shifting his seat to move closer to his monitor, "Morgan had a vision about the crown."

"Am I the only smart one in this room?" I'm pretty sure she was meant to sound condescending, but somehow Lyric's statement sounded like she was more confused than anything.

"I doubt it." Damon chuckles from behind the keyboard. Lyric just lifts a lone brow at him as if he was talking crazy.

Rubbing her nose, Lyric clears her throat. "You all act like the story of the magical stones is a mystery. I've heard rumors. The Shadow Witch wanted the crown for a reason, I'm assuming that reason with new information, is because he was after the stone.

"I came across a tablet a while back, one I was paid very handsomely for, that spoke of the four stones that could open a passage between realms."

"What tablet, and who do you steal it for?" I asked hurriedly with impatience. If there was more information out there, we needed to secure it quickly.

"I didn't steal it!" Lyric hisses at me, her lips pouting and velvety brown eyes narrowing and glaring at me. "I was paid to find it."

"And where did you find this tablet Lyric?" Mathias asks her.

She chews on her lip and damn if it isn't the sexiest thing. I want to pull from between her teeth and nibble on it myself.

"In Lewe, where the humans gather and live underground." She tells Mathias.

"How?" I ask. Because finding something like that is one thing. I want to know how she managed to find something so rare and lost.

She looks at Damon. "You're not the only people who can connect and have the capability to use old satellites." She says as a matter of fact.

"There's more than one?" Damon asks in surprise to which Lyric nods her head.