The Delta's Daughter Chapter 76

Mathias

“Abner, I am about 5 seconds away from losing my shit right now, Arcas does not like your challenging manner.” I grit out threateningly. His temper simmering, he wanted to be near his mate. All this talk about her was giving him the need to be near her. To scent her, to rub on her.

Abner shut up and straightened himself out fast. He put his drink down on my desk and lent against it, crossing his arms and facing us. “The high council had just mapped and recorded The Kingdom of MacTire. Lamia Langley will be crowned queen on her 21st birthday. Her second in command is Hunji. I was just there, at MacTire, last full moon.” He picked his glass up and took a big gulp.

“You, my son,” he pointed a finger on the glass at me, “have only scratched the surface with this one. You are picking a fight, her army will start a war with you for her and King Alexander will back her.” He stressed the word ‘will’.

“Fuck” I threw my head back cursing. “She was the one who sent the file on the massacred Clan out west. Fuck, why didn’t I put two and two together?”

I was severely mentally kicking myself. How could I be that fucking stupid? I was more focused on defending my Clan and its tribes, as well as putting too much focus on Odeia.

The little she-wolf had a fucking army; the last thing I wanted was a war when my clan was suffering from rogue attacks already.

Her words came back to me. “I am not your enemy, Mathias. That would be you”.

Arcas grumbled deep within, ‘Mate is not weak’. Wolf or not, Arcas wanted his mate. I could feel he trusted her, but I was still skeptical. I could agree; I too wanted her. I wanted her naked underneath me, begging to be…

“What do you want to do, King?” I snapped up, meeting his gaze. For a moment, I thought I had been speaking out loud. It took me a moment, an adjustment of my pants and a clearing of my throat to answer Tobias and threw my hands in the air.

“Go get the fucking Delta.” He nodded and turned on his heel just as he was at the door. I called out to him, “Not a word to his daughter. Am I understood?”

“Yes King” And he closed the door behind him.

“You should have treated him as a guest when he first told you who he was,”Abner chided.

“How the fuck was I supposed to know?” I scowled hard, more at myself. I wouldn’t admit it to him, but he was right. I should have treated him as a guest, and called the werewolf king. But the whole Odeia thing was throwing me off. “Odeia.” Was all I needed to say and he knew what I meant.

“Let’s see what the Delta has to say first, he may respond better to me." While we sat waiting for Tobias to bring the delta to the Clan mansion, Xander filled Abner in on the attacks that have occurred over the past few weeks. Abner said there were some similarities to the buildup of a war just over two years ago, when the Wolf prince was targeted and so was Lamia. “Prince Kellen and Alpha Lamia are very close, still are. He was also at the Winter Solstice moon ball. I’m surprised you didn’t get an invitation, King. Oh wait you were holding her dad prisoner.” He laughed at his own joke.

Arcas sent out a low, rumbling growl when Abner mentioned The Prince and the little wolf being so close. Is that why she wanted to reject me because she was already in love? To that weak wolf?

I am so much more. I could offer her more; I could give her the world. I am her mate. It’s me she should want. Not some wolf.

A few minutes later, Tobias came back in with the Delta in tow. This was going to be an awkward conversation, but there was no way I felt sorry for him or the situation I had put him in. All he had to do was explain why he was looking for Odeia and how he knew about the old crone.

I linked Tobias and Xander, asking them to give us privacy. They, of course, obeyed and left to carry on with their regular duties.

I gestured for him to take a seat on the opposite couch, keeping my face free of any emotion which included any grievance towards the situation. Nor did I get up to greet him, instead I just grunted towards the couch.

The Delta’s face registered shock and then relief when he saw Abner leaning on my desk. “Councilman Brooks, boy am I glad to see you!” he shook his head slightly, a small smirk playing on his lips and ruffled his dirty black hair as he took a seat, leaning back in comfort.

I couldn’t help but notice how much his daughter’s eyes mirrored his. The same emerald green, but his were not as sexy and they damn sure as fuck didn’t say ‘fuck me’.

Abner pulled another glass out, filled it halfway up and then stepped over to the Delta and handed him the drink. I said nothing to the Councilman’s actions, even though my head was screaming ‘who the fuck does he think he is!’ I was watching the interaction between the two.

“Marcus, So sorry about the mix-up. I cannot apologize enough for your captivity.” He held his hand out for the delta to shake and took it eagerly, like two old friends greeting one another. “The King, here, of course, needs to protect all his members and someone who comes in asking the questions you did, well… And your timing couldn’t have been any worse when smaller tribes from the Sleuth and Clans were being picked off by organized rogues.”

“I understand” The Delta regarded Abner, scratching the months-old beard on his face before he trained his piercing green eyes on me “Your highness, I did want to see and speak with Odeia, but now that Lamia is here, It is she who should speak with her. After all, it was because of my daughter I was searching for her.”

“What do you know of Odeia?” I asked harshly, whether it was for his daughter, my mate, or not. I still needed to know exactly what he knew about Odeia.

“What do you know about my daughter?” Was his counter reply, and then he turned to Abner, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Marcus, the King only knows that while you have been sitting here rotting in cells, MacTire has been founded as a Kingdom and Alpha Langley will be crowned Queen after her 21st birthday. “ A huge smile spread across Abner’s face as he spoke and the Delta mirrored him with his own wide grin. “I cannot tell you enough, how impressed I am with your daughter Marcus. I will be honest, I was a little skeptical at first, but once I visited MacTire and saw how she ran things, I was impressed. And believe me, I gave her a hard time at the council meeting. She handled herself like a true queen. Put me in my place.” He chuckled at his last sentence, the delta chuckling with him.

“Abner, old friend, you are lucky you still have your head if you gave her that much of a hard time. And thank you, she has been through a lot these past years, and to come out where she is now. Proud daddy moment, very proud daddy.” The delta, held a tear in his eye as he spoke of his daughter.

I realized just how close Lamia was to her father when I listened to him and Abner speak, like I wasn’t even present. I cleared my throat “Delta, I am glad you and Abner can reconnect, but Odeia. Why are you seeking her?” I couldn’t understand why he kept dancing around this question. I clenched my fists with frustration. It was like he was purposefully pissing me off.

“It’s OK Marcus, Kings Clan protects Odeia, and he protects her secret. “ Abner encouraged him.

The Delta took a big sigh and threw the drink he was holding down his throat in one big gulp. He then turned his attention to me, shifting on the couch uncomfortably. “Your highness,” He swallowed his spit, pausing “I am not even sure where to begin, like you do not trust us, how can I trust you?”

“I will not hurt your daughter, you have my word.” She is also my mate, but I was not going to admit that to the man who I held captive for 2 months, who happened to be my second chance mate’s father, whose daughter happened to be in our dungeon. Who happened to be a…. a… I don’t even know what at this point.

“My daughter is special; she carries a royal Lycan gene from my side of the family and a gene that has been dormant for hundreds of years, from her mother’s side…” He was interrupted by Abner.

“She’s a Dire Wolf, Lycan hybrid.” Abner supplied. “Marcus, let’s cut to the chase please.”

I appreciated Abner at that moment. I really couldn’t stand people beating around the bush. I furrowed my eyebrows at the mention of Dire Wolf. They were one of the first shifters, blood of the firsts.

My mother used to tell me stories about how certain shifter races came to be. Dire Wolfs came from the first born werewolf.

Children of Ashe, a demi-god who was the daughter of the goddess Fortuna and the King Lycoan, who was turned into a beast by the God Zeus.

Lycoan was a giant Lycan who had 50 sons and one daughter. While his sons produced Lycan heirs, his daughter, gave birth to the Dire Wolf shifter.

The moon goddess took pity on Ashe’s children and didn’t want them to suffer as their grandfather had. So she granted them a fated mate, someone who would love them for who they are, no matter what. Their counterpart that could sooth their beast.

“As I was saying your highness, yes she is Lycan and Dire Wolf. She is incredibly gifted and very powerful. She is only here in your cells, because she chooses to be.” He took a pause for a moment, shifting uncomfortably his eyes holding a shine like tears were sitting just on the surface. Clearing his throat, he spoke again, but with a gravelly voice laced with sorrow.

“Two and a half years ago, she was kidnapped and held by the king of the rogue wolves, Silas and his beta, Oliver. The latter was never found, disappeared with a band of bear shifters. They found out what she was and wanted her for themselves. She ended up killing him and claiming MacTire as her own. Her fated mate died in that battle. That was when she truly became the powerful wolf she is.”

“Yes, I heard about that battle, Marcus. From the stories, I hear it was quite a scene to behold.” Abner was sympathetic; I was sitting there astounded by the information being given to me. How had I not heard any of this? Oh that's right, I was fucking my life up in Sin City for the past few years, more so this past year. I have had my own problems to deal with, never mind anyone or other kingdoms issues.

“What happened to her?” I asked, wanting to know more of her story.

“That is not my story to tell your highness. But I will tell you, after depleting her energy and being held captive for months, she collapsed. Several days later, when she woke up, she told us about a dream, or some kind of vision she had. Where Ashe visited and spoke with her. This was why I was looking for Odeia.” The delta stood up and turned to the window, his hands on his hips. “I met Odeia long ago, while travelling with my grandfather. He took us here to the bear kingdom, and she came before me as an oracle and told me one day I would need to seek her out and when that time came, the King of the bears, the king of kings, would show me the way to her.”

He turned around and looked me in the eye, true determination shinning in them. Gone was the glassy look, or the sorrow in his voice. Now he sounded like a father protecting his Pup. “That time is now your highness. I always thought she was an old lady kook. Until Lamia woke up and told us about her dream and described Ashe to us. I knew I had to find Odeia. She could answer all our questions.

So you see, you highness, I am not an enemy, just a father trying to protect his daughter, even if she doesn’t need me to, I will always do what I can.”

I bobbed my head. I had been a fool to treat him like I had, but in my own defense, he had been a fool for not trusting me. “We also know Odeia as an oracle. However, it’s not like I can just call her. She usually finds you, not the other way around. But I do know someone who can tell us where she is. She may even be in their pack.”

It was always to my knowledge that Odeia resided deep in the mountains with a remote pack of Lycans, near the the place they called Avalon. If anyone knew where she was, it would be Nyctimus, Alpha of the Lycans, named after the son Lycoan sacrificed to feed Zeus. Not to be confused with the werewolves. The Lycan pack was the last of their kind as far as we knew, and they lived a peaceful life within my kingdom's mountains.

My mother always told me how important it was to keep them safe. “You are a king, my dear son, your father would want you to protect all life. You remember what he said, you are special and you must be a fair and just king when it is your time to sit on the throne.”

I wasn’t even born when my father was murdered by his own brother, so I don’t have any memories of him. Only what my mother, Amitola and Abner told me. Abner was a younger cousin to my father’s 2nd in command, who also died the same night. She would always tell me I was special and meant for great things.

Instead, I was a fucked up King, who was unable to sympathize with my subjects, and in aligning with my beast we were fueled by our own vexation and the notion of being betrayed by the one person who was meant to love us.

I couldn’t help but think about the little wolf sitting in our dungeon. I had killed my first mate because she betrayed me. The little wolf’s mate had been killed. We had both lost a mate, but how would she feel knowing I had unremorsefully ripped the head off my mate?

****

Lamia

“Hey! Hey, where are you taking him?” I yelled at Xander and Mossy (I still didn’t know his name) as they carted my father off out of the dungeons.

I shook the silver bars, trying my best to bend or break them. My hands would sting from the silver but they were quick to heal. When that didn’t work, I began kicking the lock panel.

“What the fuck are these made out of” I huffed out loud to no one in particular. I should have been able to break the lock, or at least do something.

‘They are reinforced, built strong enough to hold the bear king himself’ Inanna quietly spoke from the back of my mind.

‘Where the heck have you been’ I scalded her, annoyed that she had said nothing since we discovered the King of bears, Mathias, was our second chance mate.

‘He is our mate; he is not like those other were-bears. He loves us’. She was full of sadness, but how could she forget so quickly what those were-bears did to us? I could not and would not forgive. They were brutal, disgusting, disturbed. It made my skin crawl just thinking of them and my time in captivity.

‘You may have forgotten and are willing to forgive. But I will NEVER be able to do that’. I felt her crawl back and retreat at my harsh words.

I puffed out a hard breath in frustration, now pacing my tiny cell. It had been a few hours since they had taken my father. When, finally, the two men came back into the dungeons and made a beeline for my cell.

“I swear to the goddess, if you have hurt one hair on his head, I will fucking kill you all!” I spat as they started to unlock my cell.

“Calm down, he is fine. We will take you to see him now.” Xander chuckled.

As soon as the cell was opened, I rushed out, knocking Xander to the floor and throwing a punch at Mossy’s face. I hit him hard square in the jaw, causing him to fall on his ass. Xander had gotten up and I turned swiftly, grabbing his head and holding him in a tight lock, ready to rip it off when Mossy got up, holding his jaw with one hand and the other stretched out towards me..

“Easy girl...” He tried in a soothing voice “That is one heck of a punch you pack. Let Xander go, no one is going to hurt you or your father. He is sitting in the king’s office… talking” He calmly spoke, still keeping his distance. “He is in the king’s office as we speak with High councilman Abner brooks.

“Abner?” I asked, but the question sounded more like an exclamation. I released Xander, who stood up and scuttled away from me.

“Yes, now come on, they have asked for your presence” Xander was the first to head out of the dungeon, rushing to get away from me, then Mossy followed after him. Turning over his shoulder once he reached the end of the corridor, “Are you coming? Because believe me, you do not want to stay the night down here, not tonight. There is a huge storm approaching and the dungeons will freeze. “

I was still stuck on the fact that Councilman Abner Brooks was here, maybe he could be trusted, maybe he could help the situation. Either way, now I was out of the cell, there was no chance of them putting me back in there.

I followed them out of the dungeons into the frosty late afternoon air. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my body. The snow was thick and caked into the tops of my boots. I was half tempted to shift just for the extra warmth my fur would provide.

“Come on Princess, just up here!” Xander called, a little too cheerfully for a man who was just overpowered by a girl and could have easily broken his neck.