****
“Just one more day until the party of the century,” Delilah stated sarcastically as Boone poured his morning cup of caffeine in the form of Turkish coffee.
“I really hope your baby bugs pick up the conversation we need to hear tonight,” Boone remarked casually.
“All we need is Miner to brag about Lucy or even ask someone in attendance about her,” Delilah added.
“Then we identify the sick bastard and go get Lucy,” Boone continued. “I am so ready to return her to her mother.”
“And maybe shut down Miner’s operation,” Delilah suggested wide-eyed. “This man needs to pay for everything he has done.”
Boone was now suspicious. “What are you thinking Dee? What are you up to?”
“I am going to record all the conversations and turn them over to the FBI. Human trafficking is illegal,” Delilah responded. “I think Miner needs to spend a little time locked up just like he has imprisoned his next oldest daughter. That man is evil on so many levels, and I would love to see him suffer for a long, long time.”
“Where is all this angst coming from?” Boone asked.
“When I saw the way the room was decorated last night I...it was designed to be romantic, like a fairy tale. There is nothing romantic about being sold to the highest bidder. The thought of those poor girls expecting to find love in a room full of candles and roses, while being paraded around in come-fuck-me stilettos, just turns my stomach.” Delilah took a deep breath. “No! It makes me fucking mad. Every girl dreams of her wedding day; marrying her prince charming and living happily ever after. While these girls were raised a bit different than you and me, they still deserve to find love, true love.”
Boone stared at Delilah in admiration. He knew Delilah was a passionate woman, but her anger was awe inspiring. “Just like we found our true loves,” Boone smiled. “We have all day before we meet with Katia. I say we just curl up in each other’s arms and relax.”
Delilah immediately melted. “Oh Hooxei, can we? For a couple of hours?” Delilah missed just cuddling with Boone doing absolutely nothing but feeling each other’s love. It was their way of being intimate.
“My morning belongs to you, my love.” Delilah ran to Boone and jumped into his waiting arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.
“Couch or bed?” Boone asked. Delilah looked at the couch, worn and lumpy.
“We have our fur blanket. We can lie in front of the fireplace.”
“That would be perfect,” Boone smiled as he moved towards the fireplace and set Delilah onto her feet. Delilah spread the fur blanket in front of the fireplace and lay down. Within seconds, the two were wrapped up in each other’s arms.
Delilah stared into the flames, her back to Boone’s front. “I have cared about you for a long time Hooxei. You just do not know how I have felt.”
“Are saying you felt sorry for me?”
“Pity? No. Sympathy? No. Empathy. Yes. I knew what you were going through. I have known about you for ten years. We have run in the same circles. It always saddened me to see you when you headed home knowing I was just minutes away, sitting up on my hill, looking down at you. You do not know how many times I just wanted to knock on your door and let you know I was here for you. But I couldn’t. You do not know how many times I stood on Raven Hill and watched you during the full moon going out to hunt. Worrying about you every time you went out alone, afraid something bad would happen to you. You do not know how many times I prayed to Daddy to watch over you and bring you home safe. But it was never pity. I knew you were lonely. I knew you were sad. So was I. I could always empathize with how you felt, with what you were going through. I was isolated up on the hill all by myself with my own secrets I could not share with anyone. But now we have each other Hooxei. And we do not have to be alone anymore.”
“How long do you think it will take Daddy to set a date?” Boone asked.
“Daddy works on his own timetable, Hooxei,” Delilah reminded him.
“But he is a god. He could just wave his arm and everything would be done in a matter of seconds and effortlessly.”
Delilah laughed. “Yeah, I guess he could but in some ways Daddy is still a little old fashioned. Everything will be done by hand, painfully. All the silk for our clothing will be handwoven. All the lace will be crocheted by hand. Everything will have to be perfect. Daddy will accept nothing less than pure perfection. He will even weave the knotting cord himself.”
“Your daddy actually weaves,” Boone chuckled.
“Yes, he will actually weave the gold rope himself. It will be the rope he uses when we tie the knot. All of this takes time.”
“What about the wine? Does he really make the wine himself?” Boone asked. He was curious.
“The minions will take care of it. You would be surprised. The vamps can make some mighty good wine. And I am sure the elves and the fairies and the ogres will help as well,” Delilah replied as if what she was saying was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Doesn’t he worry they will poison him? Or poison the wine,” Boone asked a bit surprised.
Delilah smiled. “No, they would never do that. While he has technically ‘enslaved’ the people he has whisked away, he treats them very well. Everyone learns to love him, just like you have learned to love him.”
“So now you are comparing me to vampires and ogres?” Boone asked facetiously.
Delilah laughed and pulled Boone’s arms around her. “No, Hooxei. You have never been one of the bad guys. But I still think you have learned to love him too. Daddy’s been a part of your life for quite a while now even if you have not realized it.”
Boone’s eyes started to darken. He wasn’t sure how to feel or what to think. “What do mean he has been a part of my life?”
“He has watched you and helped you out, making sure you are okay.”
“But I haven’t always been okay.”
“True. But it is because you have always had free will. Daddy led you to points in your life where you had to make a decision. But you had to make those decisions on your own. And he helped lead you to where you needed to go. Do you remember when you left home? When you left your grandparents?”
“Yes, I decided it was time to find others like me. I wanted to find other wolves, find out who I was and what I was.”
“And did you know where you were going when you left?” Delilah asked.
Boone thought for a moment. “No, not really. I headed south towards the mountains. I figured it would be a good place even if I did not find anyone. It would be a good place to maybe live, hunt. I could make it on my own if I needed to.”
“Daddy had decided it was time to meet your father. Of course, you did not know who he was. Rafer may have known about you. But Daddy just wanted to see if Rafer would accept you and let you into his heart. Daddy was hoping that maybe having an heir would change the way Rafer was. But you showed up and even though he saw the green eyes and he knew you were his son he never acknowledged you. He never opened his heart. He never changed. All he cared about was having daughters and finding his daughters. The females were power to him. They made him rich in a way. He knew he could use the females for leverage as bride-mates with other packs. He could use them as a bargaining chip. He did not need sons. He did not need somebody who would challenge him for Alpha.”
Delilah could feel Boone’s arms tensing around her. “So Rafer knew I was his son?”
Delilah was afraid of Boone's reaction. She was almost afraid to answer. But she did. “Yes, Hooxei. He knew. So did his Beta. His Beta saw your green eyes and thought of you as a threat. You were the heir apparent to Rafer’s pack.”
“So that why he challenged me? A death challenge over a lousy little shack; a place I wanted to fix up and call my own.”
“Yes, it is why he challenged you.”
“And it is why I left. And I ended up in Red
Mountain. I remember running through the mountains not knowing where I was going, what I was going to do. But I knew I had to get away from that pack. I could not be like that; like them. I could not lose the compassion I was raised with. I could not lose my humanity.”
“And what happened after you arrived in Red Mountain?” Delilah asked rhetorically. She already knew the answer.
“I was staying in a flea-bitten motel, no money, and hunting as a wolf to eat. I had nothing.”
“But you had the trust fund your grandparents had set up for you when you were born?”
“Yes I had it, but I did not want to use it.”
“But you did!”
Boone had to chuckle. “When I overheard an older couple talking about how they were going to sell their house and their land for pennies on the dollar and move to Florida, it was a deal I could not pass up. Red Mountain was too beautiful. I felt comfortable there. I knew I was destined to make it my home.”
“And who do you think put the idea into their heads Hooxei?” Delilah smirked.
“Are you saying Daddy did?”
“Yes, Daddy did. But you still had to choose whether or not to buy the property and use your trust fund. He just put the opportunity in front of you. It was still your decision to make.”
“So all these times he just put the opportunity there and I still could have said no?”
“Yes! It was always your decision; your choice.”
“But after I bought the land, I had nothing. I was totally broke. Yes, I had a place to live. I had the property and a home of my own. But I did not have a job. I did not have any money. I remember I was down to my last fifty dollars, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do,” Boone recalled.
“So what did you do?”
“I did the same thing everyone else does with only a few bucks left in their pocket. I bought a lottery ticket.”
“And did you win?” Delilah asked rhetorically. She was having a difficult time stifling a laugh.
“I did not win much, but I won. I won enough to get me through another month and enough money for me to get an old clunker and my license to become a bounty hunter. And the rest is history.”
Delilah smiled.
“Are you telling me Daddy made sure I won the money?”
“Well yes. He did not give you a lot, but he made sure you did not starve. And remember he did not make you buy the ticket. He just made sure you had the winning numbers.”
“So he has been helping me out all along?”
“Off and on, yes. He has watched over you.”
“But why?”
“I am not sure, Hooxei. I do not know why he took an interest in you. Maybe he has plans for you.”
Boone laughed and kissed Delilah on the back of her neck. “Do you think he planned this?”
“Planned what?”
“Us! Do you think he put us together?”
Delilah raised her brows in wonderment. “I do not know. It took us ten years for us to have our first conversation. Why would he wait so long?”
“I do not know, Dee. But you said, that Daddy does things on his own time frame. He waited over a hundred and fifty years for you to have a real love interest. What is ten years to Odin when he is as old as the world?”
Delilah was silent. She did not know what to say. “It did take us a long time to get here,” Boone added.
“Daddy did always have a soft spot in his heart for the Snow Wolves.”
“Did Daddy turn two humans into wolves?”
“No, Hooxei. It is the other way around. Daddy had two white wolves who went everywhere with him as his companions. Of course, the wolves fell in love and wanted to have a family. But the female was barren. Daddy turned them into humans and gave them a family.”
“So what is the Legend of the Snow Wolves?” Boone asked hoping to learn the rest of the story.
“Sorry, it is not my legend to tell. Maybe someday you will know the rest,” Delilah replied.
After a few moments of silence, Delilah spoke. “It really is a bittersweet story. Hrolf and Ulrika went everywhere with my father. They were his loyal companions.”
“They were his servants?”
“No, they were his companions, his friends. Daddy hated the thought of losing them. He loved having them at his side. So he made them an offer which would cause them a great sacrifice. To have a family, they would have to become human. Daddy hoped Hrolf and Ulrika would change their minds and remain wolves but their desire to have a family overruled everything. It was sad for all of them. From that day forward Hrolf and Ulrika were on their own, as humans.”
“What happened to them?” Boone asked.
“In time, Hooxei,” Delilah snickered.
Boone inhaled deep and slow. He hated it when Delilah told him ‘In time Hooxei.’ But Boone would wait.
Red Wolf Page 39
