SWNOVELS Chapter 25 ~ Atop The Waterfall
Delilah’s POV ~
The tracking teams found what Maddox and Venom feared. Neither Alpha was at their packs.. with half the warriors missing from each pack. Maddox sent the trackers back out to.. well.. track them. Blue tells me 🐺 No shit, Captain Obvious.. Tracking team out tracking!! The audacity! I told her okay.. I got it. And I realized it when I thought it!
Emily has been pretty good this week. She even shared a laugh or two with the kitchen staff. I’m not saying she’s changing. It’s too soon to claim that. But she doesn’t want another black eye.. That’s a win in my book!
I was in the back.. helping the line cook prep the grill and griddle.. and I heard a very loud female screaming for the owner to get front and center right now!
I stepped off the line and listened as Kathy tried to calm her down.. but she was having none of it.. I took off my apron and patted my hair back into place.. I walked out to confront this loud assed siren.
I loudly asked “How can I help you?” She looked me up and down.. then said “You can’t! You better get DeLady out here right now!”
So this drunk bitch wants Delaney.. and she doesn’t even know her name? De Lady? The fuck!? That’s hilarious! I mind linked Delaney to let her know what’s happening.. she said she’s in town with Venom and would be right over.
I walked back over to the drunk and told her Delaney would be here soon. And she pulled her hand out of her purse.. holding a grenade.. and sneered “You better hope she is.. I got no problem blowing us all up.”
I linked Delaney she has a grenade that looked like she had already pulled the pin and is holding the trigger. Venom told me to keep her talking.
I asked “So.. what do you need with my boss?” She hiccuped and demanded a drink.. I poured her a shot of whiskey and let her talk.. “Dylan left. You know who else left? Cabot. Cabot left. Do you know why!? They want DeLady. Everyone wants DeLady. Nobody wants Jessalyn. Everybody wants DeLady. My true mate has her and everybody wants to take her away from him. Marcus going to kill DeLady brother. Cabot and Dylan going to kill Tiberius and then take DeLady. And Mungo gets the new gir.. OOOh.. You! Mungo gets you for his government wolves.”
Delaney mind links “ask her who the fuck Mungo is” so I did. And she giggled. “He gets mad when I call him that. I don’t care. He always mumbles and is a dick. So I call him Mungo because his name is Max Unger.”
Delaney stepped in front of Jessalyn.. startling her.. And Venom grabbed the wrist holding the grenade..wrestling it loose and shoving an ice pick in place of the pin.
Delaney asked her what she thought she was doing.. and that she just landed herself in the prison cells. Jessalyn said “It doesn’t matter. Everyone wants you. Not me. You’re all they talked about. Mungo gave them armor piercing silver tipped bullets to kill Tiberius. But the guns they are supposed to use got damaged in a fire. And Mungo had to order more. They won’t be here for a week.”
Venom asked “Why the fuck should we believe you? Why are you telling us this?” Jessalyn shrugged “Why not? I wanted to blow up their precious DeLady but it won’t make them want me. Killing her won’t make You want me.. so why not tell you what I know? I’m leaving anyway. Moving to Italy. Being Luna ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
She is talking about betraying her Alpha. They will kill her, if she’s caught. Well.. I don’t think they’re going to live long enough to catch her.. but still.. she’s a traitor. I mind linked Delaney to check for a contact camera like Tammy had.. You never know…
I asked “Where are they now? When they left their packs.. where did they meet up?” She looked up at me and said “Mungo wants you.” I smiled and nodded “So you’ve said..”
She muttered “I don’t know where they are. Mungo provided their hideout. Marcus is at a motel in that college town. Maybe they are there too. But I don’t know about three hundred warriors”
Venom and Delaney decided to take her back to the clubhouse and get her sober before questioning her further. I don’t know if that’s a good idea. She may change her mind when she’s sober.
Just as we were cleaning up from dinner service, Maddox walked in “I came to escort you home.. Had some excitement earlier, did ya!?” I smiled and said “The best part is she thinks your sister’s name is De Lady.. and I nearly crack up every time she says it!”
We rode home the back way.. I prefer this route but we haven’t been riding it as much with everything that’s happening. It’s scenic.. all the trees have changed colors.. it’s a beautiful ride.. We stopped at the lake and he asked if he could speak with me.
I took his hand and led him to the pile of rocks that overlook the water.. and sat down. We skipped rocks across the water for several minutes when he blurted “I think you’re my mate.”
I didn’t say anything for the longest time.. I had prayed for it to be him for a few months.. and now he thinks it too? What if I get my hopes up and then it isn’t true. But what if I screw it up by not believing him? Blue said 🐺 Stop what-if-ing! You drive me nuts! Steele knows. I know! It’s enough!
I whispered “Blue knows. She said Steele knows. And that’s enough. Why do you think we are?” He smiled and moved closer to me.. rubbing his hand up and back down my arm.. leaving tingles in his wake.. “Feel that? That’s a mate spark.. just not strong. Not yet. Not until your birthday. Your scent.. It’s getting richer.. more potent to me. I can scent you from outside the house right now.. Day after tomorrow.. I will be able to scent you for a hundred miles. You smell like gardenias and vanilla. Intoxicating.”
He looked me in the eye and said “I only told you because we all think we should move your Luna ceremony to four days after your birthday. It’s the first full moon.. and with Unger after you to force a mark.. We thought maybe you would want to be marked before our meeting with him.”
I swallowed.. hard.. “I will be Luna in less than a week? Of course, I am going to accept you.. but are you okay moving that fast?” He laughed “I fell in love with you weeks ago. I have had thoughts of being your mate a long time. Yesterday is not fast enough for me!”
I smiled and nodded “Okay then. Let’s do it.. How are we going to announce it?” He grinned and kissed my cheek “We will announce we are mates at your birthday and the Luna ceremony for the following Sunday.”
I agreed and we headed to the clubhouse to let Delaney know we talked and had decided to go ahead with the ceremony.
We walked in to chaos.. Jessalyn had told Venom where the shipment of guns was coming from.. and when. He was getting a team together to intercept the shipment. Maddox asked “You’re okay alerting Unger that he’s on your radar?” At Venom’s nod.. Maddox turned to Geek “Find everything.. absolutely everything on Maxwell Unger for the last few years.. Everything and everyone he has associated with since Slate. I want his boss’s name.. and number. How high up the food chain he is and how far up this corruption goes. I want to get my hands on who he answers to!”
I smiled.. He is becoming the Alpha he is meant to be. Steele is such a strong wolf. I walk over to him and slide my arm around his waist. He smiled and leaned down.. kissing my forehead.. “I know where I want our ceremony..” He raised an eyebrow and I whispered “Atop the waterfall.”