[GABE]
"Well, I have the letters I got from Tamiko. It seems like the reverse spell Zula cast on Tamiko worked, because she says that Tamiko is suspecting his uncle for the disappearance of the letters.
"That should buy us enough time," Galya said casually as she lifted her robe and pulled out the letters that she had stolen from Tamiko's bedroom.
"Is there anything useful in there?" Gabe asked.
"Other than Igor's coded love language? Nothing."
"Coded?"
"Yeah. I think it's a plot against Grealor. I'm not sure though. Here," Galya said as she handed the letters to Gabe.
She didn't think twice before doing it and it didn't feel like betrayal; If anything, this was a reminder that she would always choose her home over a stranger, and in this case, Tamiko was the stranger. Oh, Galya.
"Well, let's read and see what's in there. Perhaps it's nothing other than a lovesick chief commander's words to a lycan who doesn't understand shit about his home," Gabe said in a mocking tone and they all burst out laughing, save for Zakhar.
Zakhar seemed to be finding it hard to process that these were his friends. These were the people he trusted and these were the people who were supposed to have his back.
The Grealor warrior wasn't sure if he was meant to be weary of the idea or just be thankful that his friends didn't have him as a target.
But then if they could target Gabe's true mate and laugh about it like it was nothing, what was the guarantee that it would be any different for him?
Perhaps he needed to find a way out, but then again, he knew a secret that he shouldn't have and he had a feeling that if he left then he would be blackmailed with it in his long werewolf lifeline.
He just had to stay put and hope that someone out there was on the side of the boy kidnapped from his home.
Zakhar knew it was a strange ask to the universe, but then he had seen strangers who had the faces of his friends, and he didn't trust them, not anymore especially when they were so different from the people he knew. That much he was sure of.
"For you, who has my heart and love, my beautiful erasthai. Please forgive me," Gabe read out loud, the disgust in his tone so evident. He hadn't expected Igor to be this caring towards Tamiko or even challenge him for the outcast.
He hadn't expected that Igor would actually fall in love with Tamiko, let alone give him a run for his moment with Tamiko. It just didn't make any sense to him, how someone so unwanted could be loved by a powerful lycan chief like Igor.
That was just absurd and while Gabe was mated to Tamiko, he couldn't help but wonder if he, being the alpha of Grealor, was a better fit for Igor Konstantine instead of the lycan who didn't have the slightest clue of his parentage.
But would that make Gabe feel any better?
Would it brighten his day, like he always looked forward to seeing Tamiko's face?
Would it teach him how to live and love despite everything that had been going on? Oh but there were so many things that were running through Gabe's mind and strangely enough, his jealousy wasn't directed toward Igor, but toward Tamiko.
He couldn't understand how an outcast could bag a commander of the lycan army. It just wasn't what he imagined, but then it seemed like he was always going to never win with Tamiko anyway, right?
"Yoh dude, are you alright? You've been staring at the letter thoughtfully. We also kinda want to know what the hell Igor wrote in there for the lycan prince. Get on with it, we don't have the whole day.
"Besides, we need to be ready for when the cruel enforcer comes back," Galya said, snapping Gabe out of his unruly fantasies with Igor.
He should have been disgusted for wanting someone that had claimed his mate, but then for him, everything was about power, so he didn't actually mind going around as long as there were benefits for Grealor.
And having Igor rule Grealor with him was a clear assurance of the lycan army coming to Grealor's aid.
Gabe had dreams, but would they ever be actualized?
"Uh yeah. I'll keep reading. There are three of them and they each have a rose. Who knew the barbarian could be this romantic?" Gabe said with a laugh that didn't reach his eyes.
The truth would eventually set in on him but until then he was choosing to live in the shadow of whatever blank space was left by Tamiko when he went with the lycan Lord, to save Gabe and Grealor.
"The first letter with the red rose says, 'trust in nothing but love. Believe no one, no matter how good they seem. I shouldn't be saying this to you, but I will not stop, until the sea finds a worthy conqueror. So Hold tight, dusha. I will make sure the storms don't reach you.'
"Wow, this is so heartfelt. It feels like some weird profession of love. He probably thinks Tamiko is just another lowly lycan. Poor guy doesn't realize he has a goldmine and a ticket to the Kawai throne room," Gabe said and Zakhar let out a sigh.
"The second one with the lavender rose reads, 'I loved you when the five-five lake was nothing but a bloody river. I loved you when the glitters fell from the sky, when no one knew what the fates would decide.
'And in that, I chose you, the heart that beat for mine. Don't trust me, krushka, I am but a man with limited power in the House of commons. Perhaps that will lighten whatever is left of us, given I am too much of a coward to face it, without bringing it all to the ground.'
"This sounds creepy but whatever. What the hell is even a five-five?" Gabe asked as he tossed aside the second letter. He wasn't sure what to expect with the last one that had a white rose, but he just had to read it so they would think about them later.
They would find ways to decode the letters and perhaps, they were just messages from a lycan chief who was feeling poetic, right?
"The third and last letter. 'I saw a wolf when the sun rose, and set. I saw a crypt when Bellie came home, and I made a decision then. If love ever became a burden, then I would make Karina's desires a reality.
'I just hope that by then, the darkness won't still be waiting for me home on the days of the bloody rains. However, if that happens, trust the bluish-yellow streaks. They will lead you to me, under the dark sun.
'Until then, I will forever live for you. With all my love, your Kosta.' Shit, this is something else. I feel like we're invading their relationship. There's nothing coded here," Gabe said even though the last letter hadn't made any sense to him.
It was like someone was saying something, something that they wouldn't be able to understand unless they found a person who knew what Igor always meant. But then that someone was Tamiko.
Perhaps they would seek him out again?
"Let's return the letters where they were. we can decode them later. Take a photo of them."