[TAMIKO]
'A few more years and I'll be sure of my age, then I can disappear from this hellhole,' Tamiko said to himself as he waited patiently for the chaotic trio to reach him.
The trio consisted of Gabriel, the Grealor alpha's son, Judd, and Zakhar, who were Gabriel's friends. They were the top warriors in the pack and knew their way around serving the people of Grealor and protecting them.
Well, that never meant that they would ever consider Tamiko as one of the pack members that needed their protection from the rogues or even who needed their love. Instead, they had unanimously decided that Tamiko was nothing to them.
The trio was notorious for their impulsive actions and mischief, but none more than the blatant hatred they had for the orphaned Tamiko, the boy who had always been an easy target for them, the ageless boy, and the boy who didn't even know his last name.
'This won't even take long, because of tonight, right?' Tamiko said to himself though a part of him could tell that not even the arrival of the moon goddess would stop the trio from attacking him.
Tamiko was a perfect target on all fronts for them because they were aware that no one would ever stand up for him, and they knew that they could do whatever they wanted with poor Tamiko; not even the alpha would do anything to reprimand them.
If anything, they were the aces of the pack, and the best warriors that the pack had. They were everyone's desire, the men that women and men wanted, and the boys that mothers wanted for their families.
Maybe it was because the whole pack despised Tamiko, that they didn't even bother to defend him or give him the time of the day. Maybe the Grealor pack members had already made their peace with the fact that Tamiko was the pack slave, right?
The three of them would be turning twenty-five this evening, at the mating ceremony and they had hoped to get their mates.
Tamiko, on the other hand, hoped that maybe if they got their mates, they would stop focusing on him and leave him to his world, but then that was just the hope of a broken boy who wanted to fly with his broken wings.
'They'll have their mates and forget about me,' Tamiko consoled himself as the footsteps got closer. He just stood there like a statue, not sure of what to do, but very aware that he could break them apart in seconds and it would take them months to heal.
Shaking his head, Tamiko waited.
"Good morning, Tamiko, you look so clean today," Zakhar greeted, as he fisted Tamiko's long hair, pulling so hard that Tamiko felt like he would be seeing stars because of the pain. He couldn't react though, because that only made them angrier.
Those were lessons he had learned in his career as the pack slave. It was easier if they felt like they were in power because then, they would attack him and hurt him, then leave.
If he tried to defend himself, then they would do worse, and frankly, Tamiko still had unhealed wounds. He didn't want to add more salt to his injuries.
"You really have long hair, Tamiko," Judd said as he looked at Tamiko's hair. Tamiko's hair was beautiful and it was the envy of many. No one understood his lineage enough to explain his hair, but they knew he was different from them in so many ways.
"Only Lycan high-borns have this kind of hair, but we all know you're nothing close to a highborn," Gabriel, or as they called him, Gabe, added and everyone burst out into laughter as they watched the poor boy be tormented again. It was nothing new to them anyway.
He was right though, the hair was the first hint they could have taken to know that maybe, just maybe, the orphaned outcast was someone powerful, someone, who would find out his lineage sooner than anyone had imagined, but then they didn't think.
If anything, they had all assumed that it would be fun to tease the poor boy because they could. They had power and they were misusing it in all the possible ways, and that was disappointing on so many fronts.
"Are you a Lycan by any chance?" Zakhar mocked, as he got a scissor from his pocket and gave it to Gabe, who gladly took it.
And that was when Tamiko knew what they had planned for him that day.
He wanted to protest and remind them that he could beat them to a pulp, but strength without power in a place like Grealor meant nothing. He could fight them, and they could give him punishments worse than death.
He was still too young to go through all of that, but it wasn't like they could try to understand him anyway. So in silence, he waited to feel the scissors slice through his hair, and sure enough, it did.
Tamiko had no choice but to watch as the trio took turns chopping his ever-so-neat hair, the only thing that kept him sane in this place.
He had always believed that he would fight back someday, as long as he had his hair, but now with nothing left to fight for, he knew he was done for.
"Have you eaten today?" Gabe asked once they were done trimming Tamiko's hair. He sounded genuinely worried, maybe it was because of how thin the outcast had gotten, or maybe it was because of his dry chapped lips and scratched face.
For a moment, anyone could have believed that he cared for Tamiko, that he was worried about the boy he hated in front of everyone, but then he didn't. He never did, and never would.
He was the alpha's son, and Tamiko was just a toy for him.
The trio looked proud of their work, but the crowd was left in shock, gasping as they watched what had remained of Tamiko's once-long hair. It was heartbreaking given how long it had taken for that hair to grow that long and healthy.
But that wasn't why they had gasped.
The furious alpha Ashton who had been standing there watching as his son did the unexpected, was the source of their shock, and boy did the man look like he could kick his own son to the curb.
Alpha Ashton had waited it out, like a man who was amusedly watching his son do the one thing he did best. The alpha and his son were dangerous, but even that wasn't grounds for them to be bullies, right?
"Gabriel Grealor!!! Who the fuck gave you permission to cut HIS hair???" Alpha Ashton asked angrily, his rage so evident that the whole pack was forced into silence, even Tamiko who had been sniffling stood there in shock as he turned to the man of the hour.
'What?' Tamiko asked himself, this time not sure if he was supposed to thank the alpha for saving him from being bald, or if it was just a long game for the alpha. Then again, it was impossible to tell what was happening there right now.
"Father, I can explain," Gabe tried, but the alpha was not going to listen to them, at least not here and with everyone watching them.
"The three of you, my office, now! And you, Tamiko, go clean yourself up and brush your hair... Neatly," the alpha said, shocking everyone once again.