Chapter 33: The Swift One-Off Trade

[TAMIKO]

"What… What did he do this time?" Gabe forced out, even though he was scared on behalf of Tamiko. He knew that Igor wasn't the kind of man who forgave and with his reputation preceding him, Gabe felt like his mate wasn't going to get out of this one real easy.

"Ah, Gabriel Grealor, Alpha Ashton's son. I see I met the right people," Igor said with a sinister smile as he looked between Tamiko and Gabe.

He knew.

"Why do you have him? He is a member of our pack—" Judd asked and Igor just let out a sinister laugh before he looked at the skinny werewolf that was talking to him.

If Igor hadn't been busy trying to impress Tamiko or even make sure Tamiko was safe, he could have broken Judd into two pieces and none of them would have done shit to him.

"—Who lives alone in the dangerous woods, while everyone else is in good houses. It makes me wonder what the realm would do if they knew the truth, especially if they heard it from me?" Igor asked, not letting go of the hand that was entwined with Tamiko's.

It was almost like Igor was keeping Tamiko close to him because he wanted to make sure that Grealor was safe enough for him to go back to, but was that ever going to happen, given the history Tamiko had with this pack?

Surely it wouldn't take an insane warrior to convince them all to allow Tamiko to live in a normal house like the rest of them, no?

"Is that a threat?" Zakhar asked, while Gabe silently hoped that Tamiko would say a word to him.

He was too silent, and right now Gabe wondered if Igor had done something to his Tamiko. That would be dangerous, and the whole pack would have to come and step forward.

And yet at the same time, there was a horror that lay with Igor being the only lycan warrior outside home.

The only person who could ever stop Igor was King Zaffuto, and the man hadn't been sighted in twenty-five whole years, so it wasn't exactly a leap of hope for Gabe right now.

"What do you want, huh? If you want the outcast, you can have him," Gabe said strongly even though Igor could see right through the facade Gabe was putting on.

He could hear the young alpha's heartbeats ramming in his chest, almost like he wanted to fight Igor for Tamiko despite knowing that Igor Konstantin was stronger, and more capable than him.

"Are you sure about that?" Igor asked, as he walked towards Gabe.

Tamiko was wearing a bored long face, almost like he didn't even want to be a part of this conversation. This wasn't the first time Gabe had traded him to anyone who wanted to make use of him, but damn, Tamiko wondered how long he would be traded easily like that.

"If it puts an end to this charade, then why not. Besides, it's not like the pack would be any different without him, no? He's just a slave for us, and we can do everything without him.

"After all, we only feed him because father dearest thinks that keeping him in this pack is a show of how kind Grealor is, but you already know the truth. I must warn you though, he's a little slow sometimes.

"Sure, go ahead, and take him—" Gabe said, and Igor looked at the man angrily.

What the hell was going on in Grealor and why the fuck were they that cruel to Tamiko? Surely this couldn't be the same pack that preached humanity like they were the best soldiers that the goddess had ever made right?

"As Gabe talked and talked, Igor focused back on Tamiko, the most beautiful man he had ever seen. In his eyes, Tamiko was the definition of gorgeous and Igor wanted to take him like Gabe had said. Then again, Igor could also see a hint of anger in Tamiko's eyes.

There was a dislike for the pack, and it was amusing, because this was the first raw emotion that Igor had seen in Tamiko, and boy did he love it.

'You want them to pay. I can see it in your gorgeous eyes, my soul. You want them to feel the pinch of what they have done to you all these years, no?' Igor asked as he looked at the man beside him.

He loved everything he was seeing, hell even the anger on Tamiko's face was a huge turn-on for Igor, and he loved it.

However, as much as he wanted to make a comment about how Tamiko looked hot while angry, Igor knew he didn't want to see Tamiko bothered by anything, much less these pesky wolves who were ready to sell him out to the realm's worst warrior. It was just cruel.

"Whatever you want as long as you take him off our shoulders—" Gabe said, as he continued rambling and Tamiko felt the urge to punch the man into silence. This was a shit show and he hated it.

But what if he was honest with Igor?

'Yeah right, like you'd do anything about it. Go home, Kosta. Leave me to my troubles. The longer you stand here challenging them, the harsher my punishment will be once you leave.

'How about you just leave me in my world and you go back to your pretty world out there?' Tamiko responded in the mind link, having gotten over the shock that he and Igor could communicate in the unconfirmed mind link.

'My world? Sure, it is pretty, and gorgeous, with beautiful eyes that make me want to live in them. My world gives me a hundred reasons to be good and make life better and my world makes me feel like I am not as bad as everyone makes me out to be.

'My world has kindness, love, and everything, even though my world has seen shit worse than I have ever caused anyone.

'My world deserves peace, dusha, and if I have to go back to my pretty world, which is pretty dark right now, I will have to gladly burn down the Grealor pack. It's really tempting to ruin them in ways that haven't been invented yet, because they dared to take my world.

'They dared to look at my world with different eyes, and were audacious enough to cause pain to my world, Tamiko, love,' Igor said as his tone got angrier in the mind link.

Tamiko was not in the mood to listen to Igor blubber about his world, and that too when he didn't even know if he would survive the night, so he figured he would stop him.

'Then go back to it. Go back to your w—' Tamiko began before realization hit him a little too hard.

"What?" Tamiko asked and this time, he didn't care that he had spoken loud enough for Gabe and everyone to hear. He was not in the right mind and frankly, being with Igor was a little too confusing for him.

One moment, the man was all smiles and shit and the next, the man was angry and calling him his world. What the fuck was Tamiko even supposed to do with that this time? It wasn't like he could walk away and run freely, right?

"Don't act so shocked, Tamiko the freak. You know you don't like it in Grealor; besides, haven't you ever imagined what the world outside of Grealor would feel like? The probable freedom that would come with staying away from slavery?

"Don't tell me you haven't thought of it in your spare time. Look at us right now, you don't have a shelter that we destroyed because you made Father dearest scold us, and we're here to torture you again.

"I'd suggest you leave with Igor while HE still wants you," Gabe said like he was already disgusted by Tamiko, even as he walked closer to Tamiko, and pushed the young Lycan's chest, making Tamiko gasp in shock.

However, that wasn't the reason for Tamiko's gasp.

Igor Konstantin's actions were.

"And no one touches my world, however broken and bruised. No one," Igor said, before he moved around so fast.

The next thing Tamiko knew, Igor was sitting on a pile of three unconscious bodies, grumbling about his clothes being dirty when all he wanted was to look pretty today.

"Kosta—"

"Come on, baby, I got an alpha that owes me a chat," Igor said as he wiped his hands, and extended it for Tamiko to take.