The Delta's Daughter Chapter 35

KELLEN

It was now 4am in the morning and the effects of the attack and fight had weighed on everyone. We lost a total of 44 pack members. Most of those were warriors and a few omegas. The majority were lost at the eastern border where the bears and rogues attacked from, coupled with the were-cats that slunk from the trees like ninjas.

Mike, my father and I were currently sitting in his office waiting for Zane to turn up. It didn’t think it was a good idea for me to be in the same room as him. I breathed in and clenched my fists a few times before I managed to calm myself down.

I felt guilty as shit when we all went off for the pack run and left Lamia behind. When we were getting to the end of the run and heading back to the palace, I felt a wave of dizziness, almost rendering me useless as I stumbled. I was about to reach out to Mike as a searing hot pain shot through me and we heard her screams and howls of torment. My mind had raced knowing it was Lamia.

Conri, my wolf, cast a glance at Mike’s wolf, Duke, and we both barreled towards her scent. We got there just before she started shifting.

Stopping dead in my tracks as I saw Zane’s naked form wrapped around Lamia’s equally naked body. My nose twitched at the smell of their mixed scents. I felt the pain of rejection all over again, that she would easily bed him of all people so soon. Did we mean nothing? Do I mean nothing to her?

He was shouting for everyone to back off as quite a crowd had gathered.

My hurt pride quickly turned to a boiling anger as I screamed at him, asking him ‘what the fuck he had done to her’. I tried to take her from his arms but she snarled and attacked me. Conri cowered, wounded by her actions, as was I and had to watch her crawl back into Zane’s arms.

Her shift was brutal and her cries rang out through the night. Patrons gasped as she shifted to her Dire Wolf, then all at once it seemed like every bone cracked simultaneously and she morphed into something I’m not even sure how to describe, it was like a cross between a wolf and Lycan. It definitely was not normal, that was for sure.

I didn’t think I could take anymore drama for the night as we sat in the same office as we are now, just a few mere hours ago. Zane and I were ready to tear each other apart. Mate, he was her fucking mate. I groaned inwardly. How could the moon goddess do that to her? They loathed each other.

Or at least I thought so.

Of course, as we were getting ready to wrap shit up, Tyron came barreling in. We were being attacked. We left Zane to protect Lamia with Aunt Vivian and Hunji standing guard, while the rest of us dispersed to fight. I had never seen that many bear shifters, at least not in one place and working with rogues.

I was baffled by two things. Well, maybe more now I think about it. 1. How did they get past our security? 2. How did the bear get inside the palace walls?

Of course, there was the ever-loving question of what the heck happened to Lamia and how the hell was Zane her mate?

The rogues were easy to deal with, the bears, on the other hand, just stampeded through most of us, it took a lot of team work from warriors to take down one of them and we had counted around 28 of the fuckers. We managed to take out a few of them and chase them off. That’s when we realized one of them had made it to the palace and as we made to head back there, that’s when we were ambushed by the were-cats, dropping from the trees and slitting throats, like professional assassins.

As much as I hated the guy, I had to hand it to Alpha Zane. He held his own pretty well against the bear and he kept Lamia safe. I would hate to think about what could have happened if Hunji hadn’t stepped in when he did, though. It could have turned out quite differently.

I glared daggers at Zane when he eventually sauntered into the office. He had showered and had a freshly wrapped bandage around his shoulder, and the claw marks on his back were still weeping as I could see the blood coming through his shirt. Shower or not, I could still smell her all over him. I clenched my jaw, again trying to taper down the swelling anger that was ready to burst from me.

*Try not to kill him, Kellen* my dad linked me as he caught the death stare I was giving him.

“Where’s Lamia?” I all but bit Zane’s head off as he took a seat in one of the leather chairs.

“She is being tended to by the Beta’s mate, while her mother is tending to her own mate. I understand he may not make it?” He looked at my father when he asked.

My father just nodded. I knew Uncle Marcus was severely injured, but I didn’t know it was that serious that he might not pull through. My heart plummeted, more for Lamia than myself or anyone else.

“Beta jr. I would like to extend my thanks for letting my mate rest in your quarters and allowing us to stay there for the night.” His voice was smooth instead of the usual cold and cocky tone.

I looked at Mike and if it was possible for steam to come out of my ears, I was sure it was happening.

*He’s fucking staying with you? With Lamia?* I seethed through our link.

Mike rolled his eyes at me. He fucking rolled his eyes at me!

“Of course, Alpha Zane, Lamia is family, to all of us.” He curtly said as he looked at my dad and then gave me an apologetic look.

“We were unable to capture any attackers alive and we haven’t been able to determine the cause of the attack or how they managed to breach our borders.” I spat out.

My father scrubbed his hands over his face thinking about his next words, his brows furrowed a look I was becoming accustomed to recently. “I want a full investigation as soon as possible. Darnel and Tyron will handle the investigation, get Lamia’s friend Damon involved, seeing as they were the ones who put cameras and laser detectors in place in those two sectors. Their designs were flawless so there shouldn’t have been any breach without warning.

Michael will organize a mass funeral for all our lost members for Monday. And Warrior James is currently handling the burning of the rogues and bear shifters. He will have them taken to the north just outside the borders and dispose of them.” He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed; head tipped back “Kellen, you and Mike will organize our guests leaving tomorrow as soon as possible, all of them. If they are not pack members, then they are to return home, with the exception of the council members and Alpha Zane and his family. And I mean everyone else, including your friends and hers.”

I cut in to Dad’s monologue “Dad… what about Lamia? The cat's out of the bag now. Everyone saw her shift. We had council members here tonight. You know they are going to want an explanation about her.”

The one thing we didn’t want to happen happened. Lamia’s wolf had been discovered.

“So does someone here want to explain to me exactly what the fuck happened to my mate tonight?” The cocky Alpha stood up, starting to pace and asked with no respect or regard to anyone.

“Alpha Zane, can you explain exactly what happened that led up to her shifting like she did?” Did Dad seriously just ask him that? I didn’t want to hear this shit! I groaned and shot a murderous stare at him, my blues meeting his pale blues; we held each other’s eyes for a moment, staring each other down daring the other to look away first, before he cleared his throat.

He shifted uncomfortably, seemingly trying to figure out where to start. “Sure. We were lying in bed, after a few hours of, you know…” A collective growl sounded around the room before he could finish that sentence, getting the idea that he was in a room full of men who were more than protective of Lamia. “Okay… so yah… We were just lying there when her skin started to heat up and burn, she was in serious pain and managed to tell me she was shifting and couldn’t stop it.”

“When did that begin?” My dad asked.

“It was around the peak of the full moon.” He replied. “Why? Does that make a difference?”

I looked at my dad, after what Uncle Marcus had told us, it may just make a difference.

“Alpha Zane, at this point I’m not sure what you know about Lamia, but she is no ordinary wolf...”

“No shit you highness!” He barked at the King, my dad unfazed by his tone.

“Her blood carries a Dire Wolf gene that skipped generations. Obviously, it did not skip her but she also carries a Royal Lycan gene that has shown itself to be present. Her father was not sure what would happen to her once she turned eighteen. We thought maybe she would be stronger and faster but we never thought of the possibility that she would shift and morph as she did. I’m still not 100% sure what happened but my guess is, that it was her Lycan form.” He finished.

“So she could have the ability to shift into both forms?” I asked.

“Maybe, I honestly don’t know.” My father sighed, he truly had no idea. “Beta Michael and I will be meeting with the council tomorrow morning at 11am, Kellen; I want you and Alpha Zane there. And I want all other non-members off pack grounds by then. I will still be sending warriors to the two packs tomorrow, but all ranking members will be staying here. Plans have changed after this.”

“With the involvement of Bear and Cat shifters, should we ask Hunji to speak to some of his contacts and informants?” Mike was way too calm, cool and collected right now, I wasn’t even sure how he could remain impassive knowing his love for Lamia and having this dick of an Alpha even stay in his suite.

“Where is Hunji? Shouldn’t he be here?” I was wondering.

“He is outside the Beta suite, refusing to leave Lamia.” The king stated.

 I saw Zane frown at this. Did he not like the idea of Hunji protecting Lamia? Well, if that was his case, he was in for a big surprise. I wouldn’t want anyone else except myself to protect her. I wouldn’t trust anyone else. He was the best man for the job. He may not be an Alpha or a big guy, but he was dangerous and skilled. Apart from me, he was the only one that I knew of who could go toe to toe with Lamia and hold their own.

We ended the talk after filling Zane in on what had been happening lately with various rogue attacks on some of the outskirt packs, as well as Hunji’s hunch, how he thought there was a bigger force at play, organizing the rogue shifters. We also clued him in on the missing pups and two young female bear shifters that were currently being protected by the crescent moon pack.

I assume any plans we had for sending out further warriors and Lamia to aid packs would be on halt until we had spoken to the council.

 *****

Lamia POV 

I awoke with the worst headache ever, my muscles felt like they had done nonstop training for a week with Hunji. The ache was worse than being hit by a truck. I didn’t recognize the room I was in, it wasn’t mine and it wasn’t Zane’s.

Zane. I could still smell him all over me and on the sheets, giving me a comfortable pleasure. My mind started replaying last night’s events and the mind-numbing sex we had, sending little butterflies through my stomach. I felt my core heating up as images flashed of his sculpted body, his cold, pale blue eyes, his jet-black hair brushing against his fore head as his body poised over me drawing out orgasm after orgasm. Then it hit me, the rest came flooding back to me, the pain splitting my head open like a coconut and feeling like shards of ice were stabbing me all over. Then came the shift.

The most excruciating torture I could think of, my body felt like it burst and then compacted back together at an alarming rate. It was worse, way worse than the first time I shifted. It made my first shift seem like a piece of cake.

I groaned as I lifted myself and threw my legs over the side of the bed. As I looked around the room, I began to recognize the grey walls and navy cushions that decorated the slate grey chair and couch, and when I sniffed I could smell the Beta family.

I was in their home. I stood up, my legs a little shaky and made to open the door.

I could hear talking down the hall and made my way to the kitchen. I was famished and the smell of oak and maple was making my mouth water as the scent tempted my nose and lured me in.

‘Mate’ Inanna purred as I halted at the entranceway to the kitchen where Zane and Mike sat discussing something and sipping coffee.

I knew who my wolf was referring to, as she danced happily and proudly in my mind, her aura hurling towards his scent that pulled her in like the receding tides under a bright sun, and a winter sky that mirrored those penetrating, cold and pale eyes.

They met mine. My heart thudded and my breath hitched, creating a need and want to touch him. I needed him close to me. Impossibly close, I needed to be consumed by him and him me. 

My lips curled up into a seductive smirk as his captivating orbs held mine “Hello mate!” My voice teased easily.

I almost didn’t see it, but in the blink of an eye, Zane was in front of me, his large masculine hands holding me by the waist while, simultaneously pressing me against his rock-hard body, instantly weakening my knees and sending flutters throughout my lower regions as sparks coursed throughout my body.

I braced my hands on his bulging arms, as I felt my legs weaken. If Zane hadn't been holding me so tight I would have for sure crumpled from the sheer force of the effect he had on me.

His breath warm against the crook of my neck, he was breathing heavily, his large broad chest heavily falling up and down as he consumed himself with my scent, taking in as much of me as he could.

“MINE!” His possessive growl was deep and low and sexy as hell.

I clamped my thighs shut, straining against the ache between them, and couldn’t help the needy and wanting moan that left my lips.

So this is what the mate bond felt like. It was unexplainable, there aren’t enough words to describe the feeling/s or the sparks that were still skirting across my skin, the magnetic pull between us was… was… out of this fucking world! This was nothing like it was with Kellen, it was so much more.

So why didn’t we feel this last night?

A clearing of the throat came from behind Zane; I peered around his large frame to see Mike sitting at the table. An awkward smirk that he was trying to hide but doing a shitty job of it. I chuckled, knowing he would rather be anywhere but here.

I let Zane lead me to the table where he promptly placed me in his lap, sideways. Holding me in place with his hands, Mike graciously made me a plate of food and sat back down.

“So who’s going to tell me what happened?” I looked between the two guys; Mike scratched his head, ruffling his chocolate-colored hair. I heard Zane’s adam’s apple bob as he gulped harshly.