[TAMIKO]
"So, what is it going to be, Ashton? Will you spell it out or will I?" Tamiko said, his tone instinctively making everyone around him take a step back. Hell, even Kosta stepped back from the sudden surge of energy that Tamiko had subconsciously released.
"I don't know what you mean, Tamiko. You should be at your station by now, waiting for orders from the wolves," Alpha Ashton said and Tamiko let out a chuckle.
It was a dangerous thing for the Grealor alpha to do, but then Alpha Ashton had a different determination on his face. It was almost like he was daring the young Lycan to say something, goading Tamiko, waiting for him to fuck up.
"Well then, in that case, you won't mind if I try something out, right?" Tamiko asked and Alpha Ashton just shrugged. He wasn't worried about Tamiko and maybe that was his mistake or maybe that was something he didn't want the people to think of, right?
If anything, he was the great Ashton, a werewolf Alpha who ran the kindest pack in the entire realm, a pack that was known for compassion and love. Perhaps Alpha Ashton was certain that his alliances would protect him.
Then again, if the son was worse than the father, would there be anything to save the wolves of Grealor?
"If it gets you out of your delusions, then sure have at it," Alpha Ashton said while Galya and Danny stared at Tamiko worriedly. Their minds were still stuck at the point when Tamiko was told about the letter.
Tamiko knew they had betrayed him, and now they knew he knew; which even made it worse, because he was never the forgiving type, especially for betrayals. He would come for them, that much they already knew, but would they run faster than Zaffuto's son?
"Zula!" Tamiko called out and the Alpha scoffed.
"Seriously?"
"I thought you wanted me to be done with my delusions, Ashton. How about you let me do my thing and then let you and your people be?" Tamiko asked and the Alpha stared boredly.
"Fine, whatever. Get on with it. Zula, come forward," Alpha Ashton added and Zula just stepped forward and bowed before the Alpha, as she always did.
"What is it?" Zula asked as she looked between Tamiko and the Alpha.
"You're the high warlock, right?" Tamiko asked, like he didn't already know that. It was always obvious, seeing as Zula was one of the best warlocks in the realm, outside of the Lycan kingdom anyway.
"Yes. What does that have to do with anything?" Zula asked worriedly like she wasn't getting what the fuss was about. Warlocks were never to come between petty wars and right now this seemed like a petty one. But even Zula knew she couldn't snub the outcast.
"I want to cast a dice, and if Alpha Asthon wins, I free his son from the Omega tirade. If not, he has to fight his son for the Alpha position. It's only fair that a pack has one Alpha, right?" Tamiko said and gasps were heard.
His offer was tempting, up until the point when the fate of two people was being decided on by a gambling dice. This was cruel of him, but maybe the decision-making wouldn't be that bad, right?
"What exactly am I supposed to decide on?" Zula asked, confused.
"The Belova siblings are to engage in a full combat, and fight themselves to the dead. If they try to save each other I will kill them both. Alpha Ashton is to place a bet on which twin will win the fight. If he wins his bet, I free Gabriel.
"If he doesn't, well like I said… Anyway, you, Zula dear, are here to make sure they are on the same level. No special abilities or anything. Just two traitors fighting each other to the dead," Tamiko said coldly as he looked at the siblings who had been his friends.
He hated that this was how he found out they had been training to betray him in the end. That shit fucked him up a little and it got him wondering who he could trust.
There were endless times that Tamiko had taken the hit for the siblings, because he loved them too much to let them get hurt. And yet they had been readying themselves to discard him and use him against his people.
It was a sin that Tamiko wasn't going to forgive. He didn't care that he would be friendless, what mattered was that he dealt with the traitors in the only way he knew how.
"They are your friends—" someone in the crowd said.
"They are traitors," Tamiko countered.
"Forgive them."
"They wouldn't have shown me mercy in the end. I know then at war. I know them best," Tamiko said, the hurt in his voice showing for a split second, and disappeared just as fast. He was done being nice and kind.
"Tamiko—" Alpha Ashton began but Tamiko was done.
"The fate of your son is in their hands, Ashton. Make your bet because they will fight either way. I will make them kill each other if they don't follow through, we both know what that means for you and your little omega.
"If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't kill Gabe, he would just be my slave in the same house that I slaved away in. Decide, fast, Ashton," Tamiko said and the pack beta, Erin Belova, stared sadly as his children were pitted against each other.
He wanted to make the step and try to defend them, but he had seen the eyes Tamiko had, and nothing could make the young Lycan change his mind. This was their collective punishment and regardless of what happened, they should have done better.
"You're cruel, Tamiko," Alpha Ashton said as the wolves watched in silence.
They were scared of what the future held for them and it made them wonder if this was the price for all they had done. They hadn't been kind, but surely they didn't expect butterflies and unicorns when Tamiko came back for them right?
"I volunteer to die," Erin suddenly said.
He couldn't watch his children take the brunt of something that they had been trained into. They had all been innocents and the pain he would feel would be worse. He didn't want anyone to choose them for certain deaths.
"Okay," Tamiko said and Galya watched in shock as tears fell down her face. She hoped that that would be better, but instead, she had to witness Tamiko let out and dig his huge Lycan claws into Erin Belova's heart, killing the older Grealor beta instantly.
"Anyone else feel like making a useless sacrifice?" Tamiko asked and the wolves gasped in shock. They had never seen this side of Tamiko, not that they had ever seen him as anything other than the slave they were to use and dispose of.
However, this right here felt like a call of shame, something that they didn't wish even on their worst enemies. Thankfully for them. The only worst enemy they had made was Tamiko, and King Zaffuto was definitely not going to let his son die.
"Good. Now, Ashton, I don't have the whole day here. Make the damn choice or watch me kill all of them in one strike," Tamiko said.
"I bet on Galya… To win," Alpha Ashton said sadly while Tamiko just laughed.
This was going to be interesting.