19. Supply Run

Supply Run

Larken

M ated life was pretty sweet. As the babies started sleeping through the night, I could spend more nights with Dalton because Tate and Hiroshi needed me less and less at home.

Let me tell you, those were the sweetest nights. We didn't have to do anything special, either. Just dinner, then maybe something on TV or we would read together. He learned of my love of graphic novels, especially manga, manhwa, and manhua. I wasn't all too picky on where the story came from as long as the art was good and story entertaining.

Dalton loved fantasy novels. He filled his e-reader with them. He liked to crochet little outfits for Spice when it got colder and he did a mean crossword. I noticed his habit of using random words in documents or when he was talking to people.

From him I'd learned the word scintilla. I'd overheard someone asking if he had feelings and he'd used the word. As soon as I could get my phone out of my pocket, I was googling it. My smile lasted all day. Every time I thought about the confession, a smile would stretch across my face.

Given his background, he was well educated, having used every resource he could get to grow and learn as a child and well into his teens. When others, okay people like me, were teens, we played sports and tried dating. Not Dalton. He was earning money, raising his siblings, and just trying to survive.

I was in awe of him. His siblings were all grown now, thanks to him. He spoke to them occasionally, but they weren't close. I hated that for him. He'd given so much and received so little in return. They weren't there for him when he had to leave his pack with almost nothing to his name.

In the weeks after mating with Dalton, I fell deeper in love with him.

My smile stretched across my face as I walked to Deke's office. Deke had asked me to meet him for a training session. The gym was full of enforcers putting themselves through their paces. Every enforcer was duty bound to keep themselves in peak condition. Under the Sweetwater pack, I'd learned other martial arts disciplines, helping me subdue targets easily. Most of us learned something new and passed it around the enforcers, keeping outside contact to a minimum.

Sticking close to the compound itched at my skin. My lizard wanted the freedom to roam. In the wild, he would track prey for miles. Staying at home was foreign to him. It was easier having Dalton around, it didn't itch as badly, but he was busy with work.

"Hey, Larken, could you do me a favor and go on a supply run?" Deke asked as I approached his desk. Paperwork surrounded him, a frown on his face. "There's a warehouse on the other side of Northarbor where we've got essentials waiting to be picked up." He glanced up to check for my response,

"You sure Lark should go?" Chase asked. I hadn't noticed Chase in the corner.

"Why are you even in my office?" Deke growled at his cousin. "When did you get here?"

Chase laughed. "I've been here at least half an hour. You're slipping!"

"Fuck off," Deke snapped with little heat. "Why are you here again?"

"Because Axel and T are making kissy faces at each other. It's disgusting."

"Make them go somewhere else." He waved Chase off. "You can't just come over here and bug me while I'm trying to get your supply run organized. "

Deke was looking frazzled. His normally neat hair was in disarray. He'd cut it again, irritated at having to tie it back all the time. I was pretty sure he was wearing clothes from the day before, because the coffee stain on his shirt was in the same place as yesterday's one.

"You okay?" Chase peeled himself off the wall and wrapped his arms around Deke's shoulders from behind him. He rested his head on top of Deke's in an affectionate gesture. It was reminiscent of two wolves giving each other comfort. Only Chase could get away with something like that with the standoffish alpha.

Over the last few weeks, I'd noticed a change in Deke. The alpha wasn't the most social of people to start with, very much a lone wolf. Still, it was still noticeable when he pulled away from the pack and his friends. He was spending less time with his family, though maybe they didn't notice like I did, since they were busy with their mates.

Though, given Chase's appearance in Deke's office, some of his family had noticed. There were dozens of places Chase could escape his twin and his mate. I would have thought Deke would have been lower on the list after Blake, Kade, and the pups.

"Stressed out. The attacks are… look, it's hard for me to find routes through the city to where we collect our order." He rubbed at his face, showing his growing agitation. "We need the supplies. In this load there're medicines, food, clothing, and equipment."

Northarbor's strategic campaign against us was so difficult to manage we'd had to stop getting post delivered to the compound. We had to go to Sweetwater to collect it. If the pack wanted to order anything online, they had to wait for someone to get it from the depot in Sweetwater. Even that was dangerous. The birds could fly high enough you couldn't tell the difference until one was dropping out of the sky and shifting. They were vicious. Relentless. All because we had different ideals from them. We weren't stopping them from being backwards.

"Okay, but is there no one else who could go? Dalton will freak if Larken is outside of the compound. He's due to go into heat any day now."

Why was Chase being the voice of reason?

I knew there weren't many free enforcers who could go. This job required someone who could drive the truck and also be someone Deke could trust. I was both.

"The last couple of runs have been fine. Dalton won't mind," I said, adding my opinion to the conversation before things got heated between the pair.

Deke looked skeptical. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm feeling a little suffocated in the compound. It'll be great. "

Chase snorted. "Your funeral."

***

It was my fault. I jinxed the run. Why was I always doing that?

Everything was going fine. We'd gotten to the warehouse and swapped the vehicles out rather than unload one to load another up. Having two different trucks would confuse anyone following us.

We didn't factor in their knowledge of the warehouse's whereabouts. Now it lay in ruins and we were speeding along roads, hoping to get to civilization before the truck following us caught up.

Just a couple of miles down the curving road was safety, the outer limits of Northarbor.

On one side of the road, we had a high cliff face. On the other, trees and a steep drop. We had to make it to the city.

"Make the call!" I yelled, as I yanked at the steering wheel. Where was our backup? There was supposed to be a car following us, being our guard. They'd never appeared behind us. We needed help .

The truck whined as I pushed it harder, almost going on two wheels as I took a sharp turn. I was grateful for the additional driving courses I'd taken.

My gut clenched with fear. I couldn't do this to Dalton. This mission was supposed to be easy. I needed to get home so he could be mad at me.

If my companions said anything, I missed it as we sped towards Northarbor. We were nearly there!

Suddenly, there was the squealing sound of metal on metal as the truck behind us hit our bumper. It rocketed us forward.

Just recovered from the last bend, we fishtailed and spun. I followed my training and went with it until our momentum slowed. I tried to right the truck as the aviary struck again.

"Portal!"

I saw it just up ahead on the edge of town. I gritted my teeth, determined to get there. The truck behind us shot forward, closing the distance.

We wouldn't make it. The portal was too small.

A line of elves suddenly appeared as we were shunted again. With their magic, they widened the portal. They prepared themselves to fight.

Our truck hit the guardrail and just crumpled.

The aviary didn't stop. They plowed into us, sending us toppling onto our side.

Metal scraped across the tarmac, causing sparks to fly. Glass shattered, littering the road.

Close. We were so close to safety.

My head hit the steering wheel just before the truck slammed to a halt against the rocky hill on the opposite side of the road.

Everything went black.

"You better wake up soon so I can yell at you! Just what were you thinking?" Dalton's shrill voice pulled me out of the blackness.

So I was alive, then. Also in a shit-ton of trouble if the expression on my mate's face was any indication.

"What happened?" I croaked.

Dalton helped me drink some water.

"‘What happened?' he asks. "Well, what happened was that you went on a risky supply run and nearly died!" Dalton was trembling from head to foot.

Shit. I was in the dog-house.

"Dimples, I'm fine," I tried to assure him even though every part of my body ached. I felt like road-kill.

He screamed a long, pent up sound that seemed to come from his very soul.

James peered around the corner. "Oh good! You're awake. I'll go find Aldrin so we can check you over. He's working on the others." His gaze fixed on Dalton who was still shaking and letting out little growls. "Are you okay? Do you need to shift and run it off?"

"I'm… too angry to be rational at present!" Dalton went to the corner of the room and thunked his head against the wall, his back to me. "I think I'll just stay here and take some breaths."

"If you're sure," James grimaced. "Let me know if you need anything."

"What I need is a mate who isn't a giant dumbass!" Dalton broke into sobs.

It killed me not to go to his side, but I was hooked up to equipment, and one look from James said I wouldn't be welcome.

"Dimples, please," I tried. He at least turned around, though he was still too far away to touch.

"Do not try to be cute with me right now, Lark. I'm too mad at you to even look at your swollen face!" He sniffled, then sighed. "James, could you please get Aldrin or Hiroshi to do something about his face? I just—"

"Of course. It must be riling those coming omega instincts. You're so close to your first heat, your hormone levels must be through the roof. Remind me to do some tests before you leave. There's so much going on with the missing shifters being found."

"Missing shifters?"

"Ricky and Rudi, the birds who fled from the aviary," James explained. "They were following the truck, ready to step in if they could help. They're injured, though. Rudi might never fly again after what they did to him the first time." He said the last part sadly. I knew he wished he could have helped them sooner.

"Ugh, I feel so happy for Nova and Sofia, but poor Rudi!" Dalton's tears flowed faster. "Dammit!"

"Yeah, sounds like those omega instincts are really kicking in. Right on time, too. That month long transition is hard, but worth it. Tests after. We'll deal with your mate's face first."

Dalton gave a watery chuckle. "If this is what being an omega is like, I'm not sure I made the right choice."

I felt lower than low for doing this to him. It was a stupid risk for me to take, especially so close to his heat.

"Will I be okay for his heat? I don't want to let him down."

"Like I care about my heat!" Dalton raged as he crossed the room to stand next to my bed again. "This," he waved at my face, "makes me sick to my stomach! I hate the thought of you in pain!" His tears were flowing freely down his cheeks onto his rumpled shirt. "You must have been so scared!"

Unable to stand the distance between us anymore, I reached for him. The tubes and wires tugged at my skin, but the flash of pain they caused was nothing compared to what I felt through our bond.

My injuries terrified Dalton. If I had any doubt about how he felt about me, it vanished then. Maybe he wasn't ready to say it, to even admit it to himself. He loved me. I knew it for certain.

"Come here," I whispered, grasping his arms and trying to pull him onto the bed with me.

"Wait! I'll do it." Dalton climbed up beside me, snuggling his head on my chest. "I could shift, then I'd fit better."

"No, I want you to stay like this."

"Be back soon. No more moving, Larken. Okay?"

I nodded at my nurse. James left us alone to get Aldrin.

"You should be able to come home tonight. They've healed the worst of your injuries, the rest are superficial." Dalton's voice was hollow against my throat.

"What happened? I blacked out."

"There was an explosion. The aviary shifters were hurt but managed to shift and fly away. They left you and the others with you in the truck. It—it caught fire. Luckily, the elves were there. They used magic to put the fire out. Ricky and Rudi helped them get you through the portal."

"So the load—"

"Lark, I swear to the goddess, if you ask me about that, I'll scream!"

"Again. "

"Yes, again! You're infuriating. None of us give a shit about the load." Goddess, I was struggling so hard not to laugh. He was too damn cute. "Which is fine, by the way. Ugh! You make me so mad!"

"I'm sorry. It shouldn't…" I trailed off. That wasn't what I wanted to say. I wasn't about to make excuses for how things went. Not when I didn't have to offer to go. "I shouldn't have gone," I said softly into his hair.

"Damn right you shouldn't."

"The pack needs that order."

"Someone else could have done it." Dalton stiffened with anger. I had this mental image of him bristling like a cat that I tried not to share down our mating bond. My lizard found it amusing. Dalton would not.

"We were tight on time. So I offered," I admitted.

"There has to be a better way of doing things. I'll find a way." Even without looking at him, I knew his jaw was set with determination as his tears dried.

"Knock, knock," Chase called from the open doorway. "Can I come in?"

"Chase, tell him he's not going on anymore of these missions," Dalton ordered.

"Larken, you are officially grounded. Dally-Do is right. I told you that you shouldn't be leaving the compound. Your overconfidence nearly got you and three other enforcers killed."

Fuck. My stomach fell to my feet .

"Hey!" Dalton bolted upright and was in Chase's face in the blink of an eye. "You're not putting this on him! Was he in charge of planning the routes? Did he have all the necessary information? The system is flawed."

Chase held up his hands. "Chill!" He laughed. "I was told you were screaming and I didn't believe it. Not my Dalton, he would never cause a scene!"

Dalton looked on the verge of murder, but ignored his boss teasing him. "Chase, you better not be blaming Lark for this shit show!"

"Goddess, no!" Chase laid his hands on Dalton's shoulders and rubbed them. "I was kidding, sorta. He could have checked the plan better." Dalton growled. "But he didn't know that route was a regular one. He didn't have all the information."

"Right. Not his fault." Damn my mate was hot when he was protective of me.

"Anyway," Chase continued. "We've been given the job of making it easier and safer for the pack to get what we need. This problem with the aviary isn't going away. With law enforcement breathing down our necks because of this, we need a solution."

My mate deflated. "Oh." I saw the panic hit as the monumental task registered.

"Yeah," Chase winced in sympathy. "Lark, heal up. No more leaving the compound, by order of Blake. I need my assistant sane, thanks." He turned to leave and tossed over his shoulder.

"Glad you're okay."

"Thanks."

"Can we come in now?" Aldrin's deep voice said from the corridor. "I'd like to get Larken into the care of his mate, at home, where he belongs."