[JIMINIE]
"You—" So Hee tried, as if that was supposed to make Jiminie change his mind. Well, it would have worked if the claws that were ripping Jiminie's body weren't a little too visible in the worst of ways.
"Don't insult my intelligence and lie to me about the man in my mate's bed, So Hee. You can tell me about Ming Chang Zhu, or I will walk towards Chang Zhu and ask him why he wants me," Jiminie said calmly as he held So Hee's shocked stare.
The woman clearly hadn't counted on Jiminie being this up to date with everything that was happening in the realm and let alone the life of the mad king. Perhaps it is because the alpha was so petite and small that he didn't even seem like a danger to anyone.
However, the longer that So Hee interacted with Jiminie, the more she realized why the entirety of Kiyoto and the werewolf race had trusted him to save them from the mad king who was out of the lot of them.
Jiminie was a formidable alpha and there was no doubt about it, but would he ever be ready to face the ghosts beneath the shadows that were being cast around him in a bid to make sure that the mad king was under control?
"It's not that easy," So Hee said and Jiminie scoffed.
This woman here couldn't be real with him, right? He was the one who was already getting marks from the man who was making his mate and now he had to deal with a Lycan enforcer who thought it would be easier if she minced her words?
That wasn't fair, and surely So Hee had to have known that too because this wasn't going to be the last time that Jiminie Sent through this. They both knew it. Perhaps they were hoping for a different outcome, but what outcome was that?
"Looks like the decision had been made then, So Hee-yah," Jiminie said as he put on his shirt. He was tired of the games and he wasn't going to gamble the fate of all his people on the off chance that someday, Kim So Hee would be forthcoming with the truth of this mess.
"What are you going to do?" So Hee asked and Jiminie shrugged at her before he stepped out of the balcony and back into the pack house. He was not going to sit and wait for a savior to come because no one was coming for him.
Agust had already said his goodbyes yesterday and with the mess that they were entangled in, it was just a matter of time before the cake attacked his home and he wasn't going to sit by and wait for the obvious.
"Jiminie… please!" So Hee shouted as she ran after the alpha who was not paying any attention to her. It was like she was suddenly invisible and that wasn't what So Hee had intended for this time.
Whatever was going on, had to have So Hee in the middle because, at the end of the day, it was her duty to protect the Lycan king's mate. But would she be able to do that when Jiminie wasn't even in the mood to chat with her?
So much was going on right now and it was just a matter of time before everything exploded and Jiminie wasn't going to wait for that to come for him or his people. He hated the thought itself and did it make him want to go to Helia himself.
Then again, that was also out of the question.
"What is going on?" Luna Park asked when she saw her son being followed by the enforcer. She was aware that Jiminie could handle himself. However, there was something — not the desperation on So Hee's face —that got Luna Park worried.
Perhaps she was reading a little too much into the fiasco or maybe this was just the right time for them to embrace the fact that everything had gone to hell since the day that Jiminie had come back from Helia, right?
"So Hee is leaving. We don't need Lycans mingling with the werewolves and making it seem like we forgot what they did to our friends and neighbors in the past," Jiminie said nonchalantly and So Hee stared at him in disbelief.
A part of her had expected that he would kick her out, but he had expected it to be this soon. The alpha's statement had gotten everyone in the alpha's office silent and wondering what the fuck was going on.
Just last evening, they were celebrating and So Hee was a part of all that. And now she was getting kicked to the curb that easily? Even Jiminie was never that bipolar, and yet somehow, they were witnessing something that should have been impossible to pull off.
Perhaps this was what life was meant to be like for them, right?
"You don't have to do this, Jiminie," So Hee pleaded, but it seemed like Jiminie had made up his mind, seedier how Lee Tang and Jae Jun had been armed to the teeth, ready to fight the Lycan enforcer if they had to.
It was all so sudden, but Jiminie didn't care. If he was about to deal with his mate's evil twin, then he needed to get his army ready and that wouldn't be easy if they had to have an enforcer who wasn't theirs on their land.
Jiminie appreciated the fact that Agust saw it fit to get the enforcer to keep up the protection, and while Jiminie had gladly accepted that last evening, the alpha was not willing to do that right now.
This enforcer would forever be the reminder of a link that he shouldn't have had and one that had taken his innocence after all his father had done to him. It was a constant reminder that Jiminie wouldn't ever be able to get up on his own.
Maybe Jiminie was overthinking all of this. Maybe he was trying to make a mountain out of nothing, but the feeling that had long been there for the years since he had met Agust. He had been reduced to a man who was always looking over his shoulder.
It wasn't what Jiminie had ever dreamed of and he knew that it wasn't what he would have anticipated a day and again, he always had a savior readying himself to show up.
This was not what he had wanted and with So Hee's adamance earlier, Jamie finally had a reason to send her back to Agust. It was a need for Jiminie; for the sake of all that he believed in and more than anything, for the sake of the race that had tested him.
The wolves in this pack loved and believed in him, but if Ming Chang Zhu was coming and there were games being played by Jung Hyuk too, Jiminie had to make a choice between his people and everything else.
He was choosing his people.
"Create the portal and head back to Helia, So Hee. If not, will create it for you," Jiminie said his tone unwavering and the enforcer called a bluff. She knew that Jiminie was still a new wolf-Lycan hybrid, and Jiminie hated everything Lycans did, so there was nothing much that he could do to her, right?
Or maybe So Hee was being a little too comfortable in a place where she wasn't needed. She had to make a decision because Jiminie had long and his, even as he whimpered thanks to the pain that Jung Hyuk and Agust were inflicting on him.
It hurt to see him like this and Jiminie wished for better days. But what he had learned in the past years of defending his home was that help wasn't always going to come quickly. He had to step up and fight, just like he had stepped up against his father.
"You don't mean that. Agust sent me to protect you!" So Hee insisted. and Jae Jun chuckled darkly. He was always the kind warrior, the one who never interrupted his alpha, and yet standing there and watching the enforcer he just couldn't take it.
"Listen to the alpha, or we will all rally to fight you, and you will still go home," Jae Jun wanted and So Hee sighed. She wanted to rest their patience still, but there was something in Jae Jun's tone that pleaded with her to leave.
It wasn't the kindest of pleas, but it was the one that warned her that their alpha would do a lot worse than just asking her to leave politely. If So Hee loved herself and all that she believed in, then this was a decision she had to agree to.
"But who will protect you?" So Hee asked, even though her question wasn't meant for the Kiyoto wolves. It was meant for the big bad alpha who was softly staring at her right now. She knew the Kiyoto people were protected fiercely by Jiminie and it wasn't questionable.
However, just because Jiminie protected his people, didn't mean that they had the capacity to protect Jiminie from the kind of evil that even got the Lycan king pushing Jiminie away for his own safety.
"I will protect myself. Now leave, before I create that portal for you and attract the attention you don't want on Kiyoto grounds," Jiminie insisted and So Hee sighed in defeat before she created the portal.
"Be careful, Prince Consort. War is coming to Kiyoto, and it isn't the kind of war like that with the Lycans. This is one that will test everything you believe in. You know where to find me if you need me," So Hee said right before the portal closed behind her.