[TAMIKO]
"I'm so sorry, Gabe," Tamiko said earnestly, the sincerity in his voice shocking Gabriel. Of the things he had expected from his mate, an apology hadn't been it. The young lycan had proven that he had a heart too.
"You were just defending yourself… Let Igor take care of you, alright?" Gabe responded defeatedly, as he looked at his beautiful mate who was on the ground.
"I—"
"Please… Please don't leave Grealor… I can fix this," Gabe said and for a moment, Tamiko felt his heart break for the boy before him.
So he just nodded in reassurance.
"Who is Liana?" Tamiko wondered as Gabe walked away, leaving Galya, Danny, and Igor staring at Tamiko. He knew that it had to be someone important for alpha Ashton to use that name when he was charging at Tamiko.
The young lycan was curious but his friends were confused as to what just happened. It wasn't daily that the alpha went feral like that. It was strange and they wished to know what the altercation had been about.
Hell, Tamiko himself didn't understand what the alpha had been thinking when he started an unprovoked fight with the young lycan.
It was beyond him but he could only hope that somewhere in Grealor, we're answers to the new question that had just popped up a little too conveniently.
Tamiko wasn't going to let it go, no matter how long it took him to get answers.
"Hell, if I know. And what the fuck was that all about? Why would the alpha decide to come after you when you didn't do anything? What is going on, Tamiko?" Danny asked clearly worried for his best friend and pissed that the alpha had tried to hit his friend.
It was something that he couldn't quite understand and it bothered him as it did Galya.
The Grealor Luna wanted to know how the alpha had just changed overnight. It wasn't usual and that was making them even more worried than the fact that despite everything that had just happened, Gabe had checked on his mate first before his father.
"It's a lot to take in, I know. But can we go back to Tamiko's? He is still in shock from what just happened. The alpha tried to kill him with the one sword that could harm lycans from a special family line.
"As for Liana, that's the name of someone who died twenty-five years ago. It's not as important but you guys can check it out later," Igor said softly even though Tamiko could feel Igor's rage.
The barbarian was more than just pissed that the alpha had tried to murder his mate using his own mother's sword, the one sword that was meant to protect a Tamiko.
The lycans always told stories of the kind lycan Queen's sword missing from the collection at the palace on the night that the massacre had occurred. And now that he had seen it, Igor wanted to make Alpha Ashton bleed even worse.
"You're too calm, it's scary," Galya pointed out and Igor just smiled at her genuinely. He knew that the beta's children were not Tamiko's enemies and he didn't have to protect his mate from them.
He knew they would always step into the line of fire for his mate and that automatically made them important to him. Oh, but Igor was always loyal to people who were loyal to him or those who meant something to people he cared about.
"I am calm because I know he is safe with you. Because I know even if I were to leave Grealor for an errand back home, I know my boyfriend would be in good hands," Igor said, making Danny and Galya look at him with cheeky raised brows.
Tamiko on the other hand may have been tired, but hearing Kosta claim him without putting the title mate, made him feel like a normal person.
"Boyfriend, huh?" Galya teased as she looked at Tamiko who wanted to be everywhere but with his friend who were about to turn this into a teasing fest.
"Well, he's mine either way, right?" Igor said confidently and Tamiko just showed him his tongue.
Needless to say, Igor Konstantin hadn't been used to titles too and while he wasn't going to openly admit it, he had never imagined he could be calling Tamiko his boyfriend today. Though it had a beautiful touch to it.
"You both haven't answered our questions," Danny said as they made their way through the woods to Tamiko's house.
Maybe Tamiko would have better answers, right?
"I don't even understand it myself. One moment I was with Kosta in the house, and the next, the alpha was in there with the warriors, threatening to take me with him. He also said something about King Zaffuto showing up again.
"My mind is thinking on overdrive and now there's also a Liana who the alpha mentioned. I don't know what to think of all that. Maybe I needed to go to the library and read some more," Tamiko answered truthfully and Igor looked at him warmly.
Tamiko had insisted that Igor not carry him on his back earlier, because he wanted to be able to walk with his friends, so they were currently walking slowly back to his house, however strange it all felt to be free and unharmed in Grealor.
Seeing Tamiko with so many questions that Igor may have had answers for was not making Igor's life any easier.
On one hand, the barbarian wanted to come clean to his mate and tell him of the meaning of everything that had just happened, while on the other, he didn't want to confuse Tamiko even more.
Igor had already confirmed himself that Tamiko was the crown prince who had disappeared years ago and the one that had been snatched from their loving queen's arms.
He wasn't sure that Tamiko would love to know that Alpha Ashton was the bastard behind the murder of the great lycan queen of hearts, a queen that was loved by all the lycans, which was a very rare phenomenon.
Overfeeding his mate with information would make the young lycan furious and he wasn't sure what Tamiko would do in his fury, especially if he unlocked all his abilities when angry because nothing hurt like losing a mother.
That was dangerous, even for Igor himself.
Igor didn't want his erasthai to blame himself. So he figured he could try to ease his way into the actual conversation that no one was ready for yet. With King Zaffuto back, it was just a matter of time before the father and son would be reunited.
Maybe he would protect Tamiko as his crown prince and even more as his mate, right?
"Baby, I have a question. You don't have to answer it though," Igor began and they all looked at him with curious eyes.
"What is it?"
"I know your friends know you are a lycan and from Galya's not-very-shocked face right now, I can tell she saw you in your true form already," Igor said and Galya let out a fit of coughs, while Danny looked at Tamiko accusingly.
"You showed her your true form before you showed me? Oh, you traitor," Danny whined and Igor just smirked before continuing.
"So that gets me to my question, do you ever dream of going back home… To Kawai, love?"