[RANIA]
"You asked, I told you what you wanted. A thank you would be nice and courteous, at this moment, you hopeless idiot," Jihoon said to Rania who just ignored him.
"Rania—"
"When did you get to be such a whiny ass bitch. It is disappointing to know that you can't mind your business. I thought it was the simplest thing to do, but a fiddle mind like yours won't understand anyway. That was my mistake, pardon me."
Rania was being mean, but this was the only way she knew to stop Jihoon from talking about the white knight. It was terrible enough that she had murmured it in her sleep. That alone made her wonder if she had been murmuring it in her sleep when she was still at Incayon.
She was tempted to ask what more Jihoon had heard, but she knew she would have to explain, and that wasn't part of the plans. Maybe she was insane for acting all bipolar and shit, but why was it Jihoon who got to hear her darkest side?
Why did he seem to be there each time she unintentionally screwed up? They were enemies for fucks sake and Rania knew Jihoon wouldn't rest until he knew what everything he had heard meant.
The bastard had a long memory and forgetting, that wasn't his thing. Rania was aware she had time to think, and could only hope there was enough time, otherwise, she would be screwed again, in all seven ways to hell.
"Screw you," Jihoon said as he angrily walked to the nearest tree. They had reached the stream, or rather one of the rivers in Calindra. It always ran through Calindra and out of it, and right now, The two alphas were on the bank of the stream beyond Calindra.
No one understood why the wolves always referred to the river as a stream but maybe they had their reasons, or maybe no one bothered, as long as they had water to drink and feed their families.
In silence, the two alphas let their horses drink and even took a bath in the river. They had already spent half a day sleeping and walking and bickering like an old married couple, so they clearly didn't have time to waste.
****
"You're allowed in alphas," the warriors at the pack borders had told Rania and Jihoon, the anger and disappointment on their faces so evident, but that didn't matter to the Calindra and Incayon alphas. They didn't make themselves popular by being nice.
Between their stop and the Obren borders, there were two other packs. At the moment, their options were quite limited considering they had already 'wasted' half a day. So, the only logical thing to do was to cross the two packs.
The alphas of the Obren packs had been informed of the fact that the two of the worst pack rulers were going out of Obren. It may have seemed like the king ridding himself of the problematic duo, but no one cared. So together, they crossed the two last packs.
Granted, Rania and Jihoon weren't exactly popular considering their ruthlessness, but the wolves would have to pretend they didn't hear shit. It was hard and cruel, but they were facing this together.
Maybe that could be a bonding session for them, but no one would know.
Jihoon and his nemesis were the most unstable lot anyone could ever deal with.
"They didn't have to be that cruel to us," Rania said quietly and Jihoon looked at her like she had finally lost her brain cells. Kim Rania never whined, complained, or even cared. So, seeing her with normal girl's emotional issues, was strange.
"No comment," Jihoon said. He had a lot to say, but as he had proven earlier, his words always ended up making Rania plan his murder even more.
Sure, they were both bastards, but there was something about her being vulnerable that didn't sit well with him. Seeing her vulnerable made him want to pull her into a hug, but Jihoon was interrupted by his own shock at his words.
They were still angry at each other. They had worries that wouldn't be laid to rest anytime soon. It was quite sad, that despite being so powerful, their fears were related to each other.
Rania's fear was Jihoon finding out more about her, and Jihoon's fear was not knowing what was going on in Rania's mind. Granted she didn't know what he was thinking too, but at least he could be considered saner than her.
'What the fuck was that about?' he asked himself, unsure of what he had expected, but it certainly wasn't him pitying Rania. No that wasn't it.
Three hours later, they were at the Obren borders. They were finally getting the final wave home. The wave that would remind them that the only way to come home was with Jungwoo, the crown prince of Obren.
"Have a safe journey alpha," the wolves at the border patrol said to Rania and Jihoon as they made their way out of the familiar territory. The safety that came with them being home, was suddenly gone, as their reality hit them harder than they had planned.
This was it. This was the first stage of their misfortunes or their first step to the winning race. This was them finally realizing they were going after the vampire king, a man no one had dared to challenge.
They were finally getting their death wishes, and the raw fear clouded their faces for a single moment but disappeared just as fast. They looked at each other, telling themselves the unspoken war rule.
The rule was that they had one enemy and that they were to have each other's backs. When they were in Obren, they could kill each other and no one would complain about it, because there were rules. Rules that these two alphas had broken more than once.
Out here they were no longer alphas.
They were two powerful werewolves who only had each other; and would fight their enemies together. They were free wolves bound to a mission. They were unhinged, yet controlled by one simple rule, to bring the werewolf prince home.
"I guess this is it," Rania said as she and Jihoon paused to take one look at their home. Granted, they had despised Obren wolves for some reason, but right now, nowhere was truly safer than home.
"Yeah. At least we have each other," Jihoon added.
"The sad irony, but hey, we have a mission, right?"
"Yup, we do."
"Us against Drarun, eh?"
"Us against the world, Rani, always."