Chapter 46: Yes, Alpha. Take The Offer
Maybe Jer would try to be a pain in the ass, but Rukiya Greyson was more than willing to bet on him speaking in the end. She was determined to get her answers about Awuor's whereabouts and this man was the way out.
The next ten minutes were spent on the road that led away from Sicario, and more importantly, the side of the free lands that Awuor had been in. That was to make sure that Jer, didn't prepare a lie for her. Rukiya was too pissed and too anxious to take on another load of bullshitting maybes.
"Where are we headed, alpha Rukiya?" Jer asked and Rukiya ignored him. She needed him to keep pushing until there was nothing left and then she would ask him the question that had been creating her up for weeks now.
"Beta Adolf, where are we headed?" Jer insisted and Adolf ignored him and turned to the Greyson warriors who were making small talk as they walked the road from Sicario. There was no point in indulging the very alpha he had been against for a while now.
Maybe this would prove to Rukiya that Awuor was dead and that she could finally focus on running their pack, as usual, right?
Granted, Rukiya had never slacked as the Greyson alpha, but since Awuor had shown up and disappeared, it seemed like she was the only thing Rukiya Greyson ever thought of. She wanted to know if Awuor was alive, and if so, she wanted to know where she was all this while.
Rukiya was determined to prove that the rejected alpha was not dead, and that was why she had triggered the war between Greyson and Sicario. Awuor was compromising Rukiya in ways more than one, especially with her absence.
Adolf was determined to make sure the answers they got today were straight and that Rukiya stopped obsessing about Awuor. But what if the answers were different, would he let the alpha do as she wanted to, or would he use the laws to forbid Rukiya from looking for Awuor?
"We're here. Get comfy. We still have at least two and a half hours left," Rukiya said to Jer who looked at her, hoping to get more answers. The woman hadn't said a word since they had come from Sicario and frankly, Jer was worried.
"So, are you going to tell me where we are, or are you going to try threatening me too?" Jer asked. For someone who had come with them from Sicario, and that too, uncuffed, Jeremiah was not thinking straight. If Rukiya wanted him dead, she wouldn't have let him tag along.
"We're in the free lands, alpha Jeremiah. Besides, weren't you the one who said we could talk?" Rukiya said as she sat on the first floor. They had managed to get a shade that was comfortable, one that they could stay under for their period of wait.
Looking around, Jer thought of the alpha they had banished, the woman who had left without causing a ruckus. For someone who hadn't been given a fair trial, Awuor's peaceful exit had been phenomenal, but it was Jer's greatest nightmare.
He should have defended her but he hadn't. And if defending her and been hard considering how they had found her, he should have demanded a fair trial for the alpha wolf, and yet even then he hadn't done anything.
He had so many regrets, but that wasn't what Rukiya was interested in.
Rukiya could see how deep in his thoughts Jer was, and she figured it was the perfect time for her to interrupt him. She didn't want him to think this was some friendly meeting for them, because it wasn't.
"So, what is it you want to talk about?" Rukiya began and Jer almost let out a loud sigh.
"Stop the war, Rukiya," Jer said, his tone coming off with his alpha power, but he was very aware that Riya was his equal so she obviously understood that this was him trying to talk serious business.
"Oh, but we already stopped it a long time ago, like ten minutes ago, Jeremiah. You're only here as collateral, if they fail to deliver the culprits. Need I remind you of how harsh that would be for your people.
"They might probably never trust you again, selling off their friends and families like that," Rukiya shrugged like she was talking about the weather and not the lives that had been taken by the Sicario wolves; lives that were now being paid for by other lives.
Blood for blood had always bene Rukiya's policy since she stepped up and had to protect her people from the ruthless wolves that had surrounded them for a while.
"What if I offer something else instead of my wolves to be your prisoners?" Jer asked, and Rukiya's eyes lit up. Of course he would try to negotiate to save his legacy if that was even something he had at the moment.
"At this point, I don't think you have anything that would interest me alpha Jeremiah. Just wait it out, and when I get my crimiatls you get to go back to your people and live happily ever after with your women, alright?" Rukiya said, smiling at Jer like there real wasn't anything that Jer could offer her.
"What of weapons? We could create a tretay that lets us supply you wth weapons, and in return, you don't take our wolves, and free the two that you have been holding" Jer said and Adolf looked at the man, wondering if he was thick headed or he really was out of options.
Everyone knew Sicario ahd the best weaponry systems, and everyone also knew that for hundreds of years, so many alphas wanted to get the Sicario firepower supply and weaponry, but none of the had managed to get it.
Which was also why the weapons gotten from Sicario were valued at extreme prices in the black market. Was he really not aware of that?
"Interesting, but my people already have more than enough weaponry. Why would we need yours?" Rukiya asked and Jer looked at her worriedly. He knew he couldn't sacrifice himself, but he also couldn't let his people be captured.
Rukiya was ruthless, beneath the smile she was giving him, and everyone in the werewolf lands knew it. Sending someone to Rukiya as a prisoner was the worst thing that could happen, hell it was worse than the usual death penalties.
The only person who ever matched her cruelty was Awuor and Jer was sure she was dead.
"Hudayfah, do you think we should take the weaponry offer?" Rukiya asked her healer. he walked slowly to where Rukiya and Jer were seated and he touched Jer, which was clearly making the Sicario alpha uncomfortable.
To Jer, this was probably some weird ritual that her healer did to make sure the deal was going to be worth it, but Rukiya and Adolf knew what this was about.
Adolf was silently praying for the end of the chaos while Rukiya, her curiosity got her hoping to the universe that she would have to avenge Awuor. There were just so many things that needed to be done at the moment and so little time.
"Yes. Yes alpha, take the offer," Hudayfah said with a huge smile like this was the best thing that happened to them since the morning began.