[TAMIKO]
"I will count to two and if the lycan and the alpha are not out here yet, I will start dropping bodies!" Lord Sadako's very angry voice hit the ears of the people in the pack house.
Hell had finally come knocking.
"Yeah, that's Lord Sadako," Gabe said as he looked at his team. He knew that this wasn't going to be an easy fight, especially with his father still fighting for his life from the sword that had backfired on him.
There were a lot of things to be considered and right now, Gabe could either be the boy scared of the cruel lycan or he could be the alpha his father had trusted him to be. Perhaps this was just another test, right?
But what kind of test could it be, when it even got the lycan enforcer on their doorstep?
"Let's go," Gabe said.
Zakhar and Judd carried the dead lycan warrior's body as they walked out.
Tamiko, seeing as this was going to be an interesting part of his day, figured he could as well tag along.
Besides, he still needed Galya to spell the name out so he could be sure, otherwise, he would remain a paranoid lycan, and that was even more dangerous than a wounded lycan.
"We're here," Gabe said when he made it outside. The werewolves who had been out here had long gone and in their stead were Grealor warriors who had sworn to put their lives on the line if that was what it took to protect their home.
"Great. It's the puppy alpha. Where the fuck is your father?" Lord Sadako asked, his tone never changing as he eyed the young alpha as if to tell him that this wasn't what he was going to be speaking to.
There was contempt, anger, and disappointment in the lycan Lord's eyes as he took in the man before him. His focus was on Gabe, and he wasn't looking at him like he would an alpha, but as he would a man notorious for making his nephew suffer.
Oh, but the temptation to take out the young alpha here was so great, but Lord Sadako had to remember that Tamiko hadn't wanted him involved in his vengeance.
Funny how fate worked and how it spun to get them on the same page here. But was it fate really?
Was it the universe that was tirelessly working here?
Or had the lycan lord hired someone to make the lycan unconscious for ten days so it would seem like the man was dead and that he would get to come to Grealor and figure out for himself the shithole his nephew lived in?
"You came here for your lycan. Focus on that," Gabe said and Sadako raised a curious brow.
He could hear Gabe's heartbeats increasing erratically and for a moment, Sadako considered saying that out loud to make the young alpha look like a scared little shit, but then he looked at Tamiko who was staring at him curiously.
It was almost like the young lycan knew something that they were not telling.
Well, Tamiko was intelligent and he knew how to account for everything so this wasn't going to be hard for him, especially if he had to connect the dots and see where this fiasco would be leading them.
It wasn't hard but it also wasn't easy because this right here was a challenge that would take many to decode.
"I demand an explanation about the lycan that was found dead on your lands. Why the fuck did you send an alert as the rules demand if a different race is on your land? Why didn't you send a messenger to the border and let them inform us?
"Why did we have to follow his scent and find him here with you? Are those questions you can answer, little puppy?" Sadako asked, the spite in his voice clear as day.
The lycan lord knew that this was Gabe's first challenge and given how the young alpha was responding, it was clear that even the elders had made a run for it when they heard that the lycans were here. They really were cowards.
"Lord Sadako. We are investigating the issue, but I can assure you that we were not aware of any lycan on our lands, until lunch hour when the scouts came back with the information.
"Additionally lycans are stronger and it would take at least ten warriors to pin one down and even more, if they wanted to kill your warrior. Grealor, at the moment, has no such resources or even a desire to go to war with the lycans.
"I can assure you that the lycan wasn't dead at the hands of a Grealor wolf. I request that you give me time to investigate and share the findings with you. The lycans and Grealor have been at peace for so many years now.
"I wouldn't want this to be the reason we stay at odds," Gabe said and for a moment Tamiko stared at his mate like this was a whole new person.
He looked smarter, and more intelligent.
It was almost like the lost brain cells had found their way into Gabe's mind and he was making sense.
Then again, this was the fate of the whole pack in his hands and if he failed to pay attention to that, then there would be very long and dangerous consequences of it all and that wasn't something that they wanted at the moment.
"In that case, I will take one of your wolves as a guarantee that you will conduct the investigation with utmost sincerity. And I'll be taking my warrior back home for proper burial rites.
"So who will it be?" Lord Sadako asked as he stared into Gabe's eyes, daring the alpha to mention his nephew. Of course, he knew of Grealor's treatment of Tamiko, and right now Lord Sadako was counting on that.
Oh but if they proved him right, then Tamiko wouldn't ever be seen in Grealor again, unless he was leading a war against the Grealors, and he would be doing that with the full support of the Kawai army.
"I'll take the outcast," Lord Sadako said and Gabe felt his breath hitch in his throat for a moment.
"Anyone but him."
"I want only him. If not, then the deal is off," Sadako insisted, as his warriors readied themselves for battle, something that got the Grealor warriors alert too.
Gabe felt like he was going to lose his mind, He hadn't even processed what the fuck had happened to him and Tamiko earlier on, and now he was here being forced to give him up. Well, that was going to be a long gamble for both of them.
"I said no. He is not going anywhere," Gabe insisted and Sadako smirked as he realized what was going on here. The two were mated. It was the only reason an alpha wolf would be that adamant. But did the Grealor warriors know of that?
"Are you willing to go against the lycans for a pesky expendable wolf that your kind doesn't even want here?"
"For him? Without hesitation."
"Funny what a mate bond could do, yeah?" Sadako teased.
"You tell me. You're the one who wants to take my mate for a stupid exchange, aye."
'Shit, it wasn't Gabe,' Tamiko said to himself as he looked around him, finally confirming his fears. What the hell?