The Delta's Daughter Chapter 373

MIKE

I managed to push the morning meeting to the back of my mind. Determined to enjoy my day with Lyric and Zane.

I took them to New Moons city, only a short drive from the palace to a shopping center that housed many different stores and plenty of clothing places for pups.

Several times Lyric tried to pay for things and several times I had to tell her to put her money away. I was the Royal Beta and made plenty of money plus this was my mate and her child. There was no way I would let them pay for anything.

We left the shopping center loaded down with bags full of clothes and toys for Zane because honestly, I just couldn't say no to the kid. His excitement at being able to pick out some of his own clothes, and seeing all the toys, was just too much. I would have brought him everything his little eyes landed on if I had my way, but Lyric put her foot down.

"Is that an ice cream place?" Zane asks me, pointing across the road.

"It is," I tell him, and he grabs my hand, dropping Lyrics. I warmed at the feel of his small hand in mine. It felt natural.

"Can we go there?" I look down at his hopeful expression.

"We can." I look to Lyric whose lips are pursed ready to argue with me but then I say "After we have lunch and have real food. Then if you still have room for dessert, we can go get ice cream."

"It's a little cold for ice cream buddy," Lyric tells Zane.

I laugh because I don't agree at all. "It's never too cold for ice cream." I shake my head because this is one thing she won't get her way with. When it comes to food, ice cream is definitely my weakness.

"Fine." She says cocking her hip and holding her hand out for Zane, who grips mine tighter. I squeeze his back reassuringly. "But only after lunch."

I decided to take them to a little place down the road. A casual burger joint. When it's just Lyric and I then I will take her somewhere more up-market. I figured Zane would appreciate this place as it had a few arcade games in the restaurant that still worked.

I grab Lyrics' hand with my free one after dropping the bags at the car and lead the two of them down the road. I can't help but feel joyful. More like my old self as I walk hand in hand with Lyric and Zane. It feels so natural, and I feel proud to have them by my side.

I suddenly have the urge to show them off to our pack and the citizens of New Moon. I want everyone to know this beauty by my side is my mate and the kid will be my son. I want them both and when I claim Lyric Zane will be mine too.

The hostess leads us to a booth, and it warms my heart when Zane sits next to me and begins to happily chat away telling me what his favorite things we brought today are. Which turns out to be everything.

"Beta Mike! It's so nice to see you again. It's been a while. What can I get for you?" The waitress whose face I remember but have to look at her name tag that reads Sophia, interrupts Zane.

"Hey Sophia," I say awkwardly because this was the girl I was banging before I met Jonda. I met the blonde's eyes, and they twinkle with glee that I acknowledged her. "I'll take a double with cheese and bacon and order of fries with a cola. Thank you."

The waitress winks and writes my order down, "So have you been. It's been a while. We should get together sometime." Her smile broadens for a few seconds as she looks me over. Probably remembering how many times and how many ways I fucked her if I can go by the dreamy look in her eyes.

I clear my throat glancing at Lyric sheepishly. Jonda knew what a manwhore I was, and she didn't care. She would always laugh when the females would hit on me and then tease me for the rest of the night. Not an ounce of jealousy in her.

But Lyric, I was pretty sure she wouldn't take it as well as Jonda did. Especially as the waitress just blatantly ignored her and Zane.

I sneak a look at Lyric, her eyebrows are at her hairline, her eyes narrowed into slits and her attention was directed at the waitress, who was paying her and Zane no mind at all. She was pissed I could tell.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen Sophia." I shake my head and rub my lip. Then extend my hand to Lyric, "This is my mate Lyric, and this cute little guy is her son Zane. They are both mine."

Sophia looks a little hurt, but she doesn't let that smile falter too much. "My apologies." She now says to Lyric and leans in close to her like they are old friends, "Can you blame a girl for trying though? He's quite the catch and I already know how he can make you feel in bed."

The next thing I know, Lyric has the girl by her hair, smashing her face onto the table. I place my arm across Zane, keeping him out of harm's way. I'm too stunned to say anything or do anything. I thought Lyric might be pissed. I sure as shit didn't think she would turn to physical violence. Not because of me.

Lyric leans into the girl. At this point, we have plenty of eyes on us watching what's unfolding.

Quietly she whispers into the girl's ear, only loud enough for Zane and me to hear. "I don't give a rat's ass who you've been with. What I do care about is that you would say that shit in front of my kid and after finding out who I am to him and ignore us, my son, without knowing who we are. Either you are stupid or just plain ignorant." Lyric releases Sophia's hair and lets her up. "Now I will have the same as the Beta and my son will have the chicken fingers with fries and apple juice."

I hide the proud smile behind my hands, trying not to laugh. Damn, this female is feisty. I fucking love it. "What are you ashamed of me now?" Lyric quirks her brow at me questioningly.

"No." I shake my head and drop my hands revealing the lingering smirk. "It's just…"

"You thought that was because I was jealous of what she said?" Now it's her turn to smirk. "Not jealous. We all have a past. I just thought it was damn rude to talk that way in front of a pup."

"Mommy does this," Zane states sighing. "At our old place, one of the other kids made fun of me for being a werewolf and threw stones at me. Mommy beat the parents up because she couldn't spank the kid."

"You did what?" I asked her surprised.

Lyric presses her fingers against her forehead. "It wasn't like that. The family down the road were rogue werebears, and the daughter was seven. I let Zane outside and she called him names and then proceeded to throw stones at him. I mean who does that? To a two-year-old no less? So, I went to have words with the parents, and they were… let's say hostile so I called them names and it led to an altercation." She shrugs.

"With werebears?" I question because werebears are pretty big and strong. And well, Lyric is a slip of a female. Strong, definitely has some fighting skills, but still.

"Small brown bears and also rogues. Not much of a challenge. The father was very skinny and pretty sure the mother was on drugs. So, I taught them the lesson they should have taught their cub." She states as if it's no big deal. "I didn't beat them up, but I did let them know who the Alpha was."

"You really are something else," I tell her with sincerity. Our eyes lock across the table and heat flares between us.

The waitress comes back with our order breaking our eye contact. But even throughout the meal I can't help but steal glances at the enigma of the female. My mate.

The rest of the day was fun, and we get that ice cream I promised Zane.

On our way back to the palace I take a detour pulling onto a dirt road that's on the south side of the palace forest and pull the car over.

"What are we doing here?" Lyric asks, looking around.

"I thought maybe," I glance back at Zane "That we could expel some of Dacia's energy. He's an Alpha wolf and he needs to run, even if he's just a pup."

I laugh at Lyrics' horrified look, contrasting with Zane's excited giggle.

"He's too small to run out in the open forest. Anything could happen a predator…"

"Lyric, I'm with you. Nothing is going to happen. Besides he's safe with me. You both are." I promised her.

What I didn't tell them was that I had already alerted border control that we would be out here. They would stay far enough away so we didn't sense them but close enough that if any problems did occur, they could reach us quickly.

I didn't want to take any chances with little Zane. Not while the threat of Senko still hung over our heads.

I get down on a knee in front of Zane once we are out of the car and a little way into the tree line. "Did you need assistance shifting?" He shakes his head no. "Okay, when we shift, I want you to tell Dacia that he needs to follow instructions and stick close to my wolf Duke and your mommy's wolf. If he doesn't, I won't let him come run here again." I explain and hope his wolf is listening too.

I understand Dacia was Zane Noir's wolf and was still mentally mature. He was an Alpha wolf and would want to do his own thing. I was hoping Dacia would remember my wolf and would listen. I was also hoping he would understand that he is now joined with the body of a little boy, not a full-grown man.

I could understand that Dacia felt restricted. An Alpha wolf hates to be restricted in any shape or form and I believe it may have been the reason for his outburst and tearing up little Zane's room.

"Do you want to meet my wolf first?"

"Yes please!" He tells me bouncing on the balls of his heels. His black hair flapped over his face, the lone blonde streak falling in the middle.

I begin to strip out of my shirt and shuck my shoes and pants, "Beta you can't be naked in front of a girl!" Zane giggles.

I look at Lyric who slightly turns. I chuckle, maybe he is right even if Lyric has seen it all already. "Okay buddy, Mommy has turned her back."

I shift into Duke who immediately nuzzles Zane's hand.

"Wow!" He exclaims excitedly and grabs my fur in his small hands. "You are huge! So much bigger than Note!"

"Zane, stay with the Beta wolf while I shift, then you can shift." Lyric instructs her son and dashes behind a tree, emerging once fully shifted. Note, Lyrics wolf nudges Zane and grips his coat with her teeth encouraging him to take it off.

Once off, Note stands back and bobs her head, indicating for him to shift.

Without a second to spare Zane shifts into Dacia, clothes shredding as he does. The shift is quick and effortless. Something that omegas and other werewolves still have trouble with. A smooth shift doesn't always happen for the weaker wolves.

I am not only amazed but Duke swells with pride as he watches the pup shift. In no time at all, a small black-as-night wolf pup stands between Note and Duke. I have never seen a werewolf pup before. A wild wolf pup, sure, but not a shifter pup so young and small.

Dacia prances on his feet, it's so strange to see the wolf I once knew as big and mighty, now so small and innocent looking. As Zane grows, so will his wolf, and I am a hundred percent sure he will grow to be the Alpha wolf he once was. If not, then maybe bigger than he was before. After all little Zane also carried Lamia's DNA which meant he could have the dire wolf gene.

The pup is all black except for a patch on his chest which is a blonde color and in the shape of a crescent moon. Lamia's wolf was all black with a white stripe across her eyes. It was a strange marking for a wolf to carry and I was almost positive in Dacia's previous life he was a solid black.

The three of us played and frolicked for a good solid two hours until Dacia wobbled on his paws. And Note linked Duke to say he was getting tired. I was having more fun than I had in a long time and hated for the day to end. I didn't want to say goodbye to Zane, and I didn't want to part ways with Lyric.

Alas, Lyric and I shifted into our skin form putting our clothes back on, and led Dacia back to the car so he could shift, and we had fresh clothes for Zane.

We didn't want him getting cold out here. As the sun went down it took the heat with it. Bringing the icy cold air with the rising of the moon.

Zane fell asleep before we could make it back to the palace. I pulled into the garage and Lyric went to get Zane out the car. "Let me," I more tell her than ask her.

Reaching in I scoop Zane up who doesn't stir at all.

"He could really do with a bath," Lyric grumbles.

"Ahh, one night without won't hurt him. Besides it might help Dacia rest better if he surrounded by the scent of the forest." I can tell the thought of putting Zane to bed dirty bothers her.

For a moment I think she is still going to wake him up but once we reach her suite, she opens the door and leads me to his room. Lamia's old room and has me placing him down in bed.

It's really not that late, only 9.30 in the evening and I don't want to leave Lyrics side. Neither does Duke but we know we can't push it. We've had a fantastic day, the three of us. There was no need to push it. No matter how much I wanted to.

"Lizzy's already in bed. You could stay for a little while. If you wanted to." Lyric says once we reach her front door. Her eyes are cast downwards at the floor, fingers twisting together awkwardly.

I pinch her chin between my fingers, drawing her face up so I can look at her better. Her bottom lip is caught between her teeth. Using my thumb, I pull it loose. "Don't do that." I tell her.

"Do what?" She frowns unknowingly that that small little action that seems insignificant means so much more to me.

"Chew on your lip. That's my lip to chew on." I say staring into her velvety brown eyes. The force of our bond works it way through me and the sparks begin to flitter between us.

Lyrics breath hitches and I stare her longingly waiting for permission to kiss her. I tilt her back further and lean over to brush my lips against hers but I'm too impatient and end up crush my mouth against hers. I swallow her moan, moving my fingers from her chin to cup my hand around the back her head and pull us together closer. Tighter.

Moons she was sweet to the taste, and I was happy to get lost in the feel of our tongues tangling together. Sparks flew between us, heightening the sensation of being pressed against my mate.

I devour her mouth and she melts against me.

My cock strains against the zipper of my pants and I jut against her, needing the friction. "Do you feel what you do to me." I mumble breaking the kiss, letting my lips slide down her jaw to the crook of her neck.

Lyrics leg's part and her head lolls to the side, giving me access to nibble on the soft skin below her ear. I push my thigh between hers and she rubs herself against me.

"Mike." She moans and I groan at the sound of my name that sings from her.

Goddess, I want nothing more than to strip her bare, lay her out and feast on her body.

Dainty hands find their way to my chest and fist my shirt. The needy move sends Duke into overdrive, and I find my hand clasping her ass and pulling her up so she can rub herself against me.

My mouth moves back up until our lips meet again in a hungry and passionate kiss. All too soon I break the kiss and lean my forehead against hers.

I didn't want to stop but I knew I needed to.

'Patience' I reminded myself and Duke.

To Lyric I say: "I don't want to leave you, but I should." In between small kisses on her forehead and button nose. "I want to stay. I want to keep making you feel good." I sigh clenching my teeth together because every fiber in body as well as Duke is telling me to mate her. To her mine.

It's too soon. It has to be her choice. Not mine. Not until she asks me to.

I step back taking my warmth and watch her shudder with the loss of contact with me. Duke howls to have her in our arms again and my heart thuds harder just imagining having her beneath me. My cock is so hard right now that even a cold shower wasn't going to do this time.

"I understand." She speaks. But I don't think she did. I see the sadness in her eyes, the disappointment. Was she ready for me? Was ready to be my mate fully? I knew I was ready. Had been for a while now. Now that I had stopped fighting the bond. Now that I had spent so much time around her.

"Hey look at me." I coaxed her head up, looking into her eyes. I lick my lips and she mirror's the action. I groan, wanting to bite them. "You're not ready for me. Not yet. We aren't ready."

I press a kiss lasting kiss onto her forehead and step back towards the front door and open it. "Good night, Lyric. Sweet dreams." I say before disappearing from her sight and closing the door behind me.