The Genius Delta

Chapter 21 - Silvercloud

Logan can’t get upset with me for blocking the pack link. It’s not like he and the others don’t do the

same damn thing. So I wasn’t going to apologize to him when I took him off mute. He knows why he

was being blocked out and knows better than to expect an apology for it. I wasn’t sure what he wanted,

but I didn’t expect him to drop bombs on me.

First, he told me that I’d got a week to be prepared to face three Alphas that have decided to pop in

and check on Persephone and Delilah, mostly Persephone because of me. I could handle that. I’ve met

André and Alec. Though I only met Alec briefly at Kurt’s wedding. And while he’s intimidating in a way

even Logan isn’t, I’m not worried about it.

Honestly, I’m not concerned about the D’Amore family. I’m worried about Crista Fayte. Along with

Delilah, she’s the only family Persephone has left, and being mated to me means leaving her sisters to

move across the world. While I doubt she’d dare to interfere with the will of the Goddess, it doesn’t

mean she has to make things easy on us.

Not to mention Persephone mentioned her sister is owed an apology basket, so she may want to

interrupt our private time for payback. Either way, I can handle a visit from Persephone’s family.

The part I didn’t expect and am miffed about was Logan telling me we must wait a MONTH to complete

our bond. I couldn’t think of a good reason to wait that long. She’s not a human like Sarael, so we don’t

have to wait for a new moon. She’s not in imminent danger like Aurelia was, nor has human parents

that didn’t like what marking would mean. Hell, if anything marking her sooner sounded logical to me as

that would shut that girl from Demonclaw the fuck down.

But that was Logan’s strategy. He wants us to wait to mark for two reasons. The lesser reason is to let

Persephone have a month in the internship program before she goes and misses days off, or I can

make up some excuse of needing to work remotely that would be believable. His main reason,

however, was the Demonclaw girl. After reviewing today’s security footage, he thinks if we want her to

slip up, we need to give her a false sense of security.

He wants her to make a misstep and give away if she’s here for something other than simply being that

enthusiastic about the bioengineering division of Silvercloud. He thinks if we wait, she will slip up, and if

she doesn’t before the time frame, our marking will push her over that edge. Overall, he wants to give

Azriel and Cillian time to uncover what she’s doing here.

“Logan wants to give time for what’s her name from Demonclaw to slip up. He figures a month would

give time for her to either do that herself or for Azriel and Cillian to find something. If not, he figured

when we mark each other, it will push her into revealing her reasons, if they were for anything other

than a chance to work at my company.” I sighed.

Persephone’s brow furrowed, and I could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she thought

it over. “I don’t like that plan. It means he wants to use you as bait.” She frowned.

“I am not bait.” I laughed, but she didn’t.

“I’m serious, Jonathan. Mila has made it clear she plans to claim you as a mate. She even told me so

while you were talking to Shikoba.” She explained. “She needs to be put in her place. The longer she

believes you’re unmated, the more likely I will break her limbs.”

“She said that?” I wrinkled my nose. “Yeah, I don’t like that. Granted, she will have more limited access

to me once the new security protocols are in place to limit intern access to divisions they aren’t

assigned.”

“You can tell your Alpha, Azriel, and Cillian that they have till after my family leaves. If they don’t find

dirt on Mila in that time frame, it sucks to be their asses.” Persephone scoffed. “We are marking, and

that bitch is going to be put in her place in the only way I can that doesn’t involve kicking her ass at

work.”

“Don’t shoot the messenger, átawit.” I smiled as I held my hands up in surrender. “I’m on your side. Jaci

is still sulking because we didn’t mark you topside.”

“Then we agree? They get two weeks. That’s it.” Persephone nodded.

“Agreed.” I nodded. “Now I have to tell them that.” I sighed.

‘Logan. Azriel. Cillian.’ I called out through the link.

‘Yes, Delta Jonathan?’ Cillian was the first to answer and will probably be the only one to address me © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

by rank.

‘What’s up, Silvercloud?’ Azriel answered.

‘What?’ Logan gruffly answered.

‘Discussed your plan with Persephone. She says tough shit. You get two weeks. If you find nothing

useful on the Demonclaw girl by the time her family is gone, we move forward with our marking.’ I

explained.

‘Not even marked, and she’s got your balls in her purse.’ Azriel taunted.

‘Let me link Saddie and see where yours are.’ I answered.

‘He has you there, Azriel.’ Cillian chuckled in his thick Irish brogue. The accent is probably one of the

reasons that he’s a popular guy with the unmated she-wolves and humans he works with at Kinsley.

‘What makes your mate think she gets to set the time limits?’ Logan questioned.

‘What makes you think you get to set them?’ I countered. ‘The only person that set a time limit on you

marking Aurelia was her parents. You aren’t Persephone’s father, nor are you a human getting

accustomed to werewolf laws. Not to mention Persephone is eighteen.’ I reminded him.

‘He has a point, Alpha. Who are we to put a strain on their bond like that?’ Azriel sighed.

‘Do you and Cillian feel two weeks will be ample time to find out this girl’s underlying reason for being

here? If there is one?’ Logan asked.

‘Of course, Alpha. Between the pair of us, we ought to easily find out why she’s here.’ Cillian assured.

‘As a side note, she told Persephone she has sights on making me her mate.’ I added.

Logan let out a whistle. ‘Well, that explains why the girl is set on marking you sooner than later.’

‘Marking is better than Persephone getting into a fight at work.’ I pointed out.

‘Alright, we have our orders. Cillian is on his way to monitor her till morning, and I’ll take over after that.

See if you can get me access to your office building to follow her inside quietly.’ Azriel requested.

‘I’ll get that taken care of after this. Thanks, guys. Good luck.’ I closed the link and sighed.

“Did he try to give you a hard time?” Persephone asked. “I will have André give him hell if Azriel gave

you grief. It wouldn’t take much convincing. He enjoys tormenting his brothers-in-law.”

I had to smile at her offering to sick her Alpha nephew-in-law on Azriel. It’s very adorable. “Only a little,

but I put Azriel in his place with a reminder that Saddie’s wearing the pants in their relationship.” I

chuckled.

“Good, he should never forget that.” Persephone rolled her eyes. “So, should we get back to choosing

who might be my guards and why that Rohan character is on the list?” She gestured back to the

monitors.

I frowned and looked at the monitors. I don’t know why or how Rohan made it to the list. It bothers me.

And I don’t simply mean because he’s unmated. I’m not one of those guys that will get super territorial

and worried an unmated male could make a move on my mate. Okay, so maybe, to an extent, I am.

Every werewolf is like that. Persephone feels that way about the Demonclaw girl.

‘Why do you keep calling her ‘demonclaw girl’ or ‘what's her name’? You aren’t stupid enough to forget

her name,’ Jaci questioned.

‘Because her name doesn’t matter. And for all I know, it’s not her real name. She’s a potential spy and

a threat to our pack and my company. I know the saying is innocent until proven guilty. To me, anyone

from Demonclaw is guilty of what happened to my parents and pack.’ I explained.

‘Alright. I thought you would say you don’t say that girl’s name or acknowledge it to abuse our mate. I’d

have accepted that too, but your answer was good.’ Jaci conceded.

“Why don’t we save that for tomorrow? It’s getting late, and we both must work in the morning.” I

suggested.

“Sounds fair. Are we staying here?” Persephone asked as she looked around the bunker, probably

searching for anything resembling a bed.

“We can…” I shrugged and pressed a button on the workstation.

Persephone jumped, turning to see a segment in the wall slide open to reveal an alcove with a

mattress with a wad of blankets and pillows. Her blonde brow arched, and she looked from the nook as

four rungs for a ladder popped out to give access to the bed.

“That’s your bed?” She asked.

“In the bunker, yeah. I don’t often use it since I tend to fall asleep at my workstation.” I shrugged.

“It’s going to be like sleeping in a cave.” She commented as she walked to the wall and climbed into the

bed.

“But at least the mattress is comfy. Much nicer than sleeping on a cave floor or hunched over a

workstation.” She commented as she crawled around on the mattress, fixing the blanket and pillows,

her ass up in the air tempting me.

Clenching my jaw, I looked away. I need to look away before I reach out and rip the shorts off

Persephone. Not that it’s a bad course of action, but I want to ensure Dove is shut down and secure

before we do anything. There is still much we don’t know about its capabilities, and the last thing I need

is that mechanical bird making a sex tape of us. That would probably not endear me to her family when

they arrive.

“Dove, shut down,” I commanded, wanting to be sure he was fully powered down for the night.

Persephone peered out from the bed alcove to watch Dove fly off the desk to a beam on the ceiling. I

furrowed my brow as I realized it had made a nest out of loose wires and scrap metal. We watched as

it settled into the nest, tucking its beak against its chest as its eyes went dark. At least it’s shut down.

“Come to bed, mia anima.” The sultry tone of Persephone’s caught my attention more than the Italian

pet name.

I looked away from where Dove had settled and blinked as a shirt, and then a pair of shorts hit my face.

I could hear Persephone giggling as I pulled the fabric off my face. I was rewarded for my trouble by

seeing my naked mate kneeling on the bed, smiling at me as she crooked her finger. I’m unsure how

much sleep we will get, but that’s okay. I know I can function on minimal sleep.