章節 19: The Queen of Cowards

"Rania," Jihoon called the Incayon alpha who just ignored him. Their mission was already hard as it was. They would have to cross Obren and the Valley of the Whites before they so much as had a glimpse of Drarun.

Who knew, the mission was probably going to take them more than three months to get there, not to mention before they even freed the damn privileged werewolf prince.

In between, there was also the risk of rogues and the enemies Rania had made over the years, not that she cared one bit about that. But all in all, this wasn't the mission that anyone came from alive.

Maybe that was why the worst of them all were selected to go on it.

"Kim Rania," Jihoon called again and this time, Rania paused.

"I swear to the goddess this had better be very important, because as you may have noticed, we are barely a few miles from the palace.

"We haven't even crossed the first pack let alone both our packs which happen to conveniently sit on the map that the stupid king and his oaf of a queen had given us.

"What in seven hells do you want?" Rania said, not caring to even turn back and look at Jihoon.

The sun was going down and she wanted to cover more distance. She was aware that Jihoon could have walked a longer distance, but for some reason, he was matching her pace. If anything, he walked a little slower, so Rania wouldn't be tired the whole way.

The king hadn't cared how long their mission would take, just as long as they went back home with the werewolf prince. He never cared that it would take them years or months, and he was sure the rowdy alphas would fulfill the mission.

"Why?"

"If you want to ask me about your stupid ass weak mate, spare me, okay? I am not really in the mood to talk about your gentle and sweet Yanna the pathetic. Move along and stop lowering your pace for me.

"We both know there's a grand prize at the end of all this. Hurry and get the prince and come for your price, alright?" Rania said as she began walking.

They were both carrying heavy luggage.

The one weird thing that had been seen of the two alphas, was they ignored the fact that they had been having horses. They were acting as if they didn't have a better means of transport. It was crazy, but maybe that is who they were.

When they had left their packs, they didn't take their horses, because they knew there was a chance they wouldn't come back and they didn't want their horses to be subjects to their fates.

However, when they left the palace, the king and queen had given the horses, with loaded food and water for their journey, but then again, for some reason, the two alphas, still held onto their luggage, the ones they had come with from their packs.

They didn't load them on the horses.

If anyone tried understanding them, their heads would hurt from thinking, because it was impossible to understand how the most dangerous alphas would be so caring of horses they had just been given.

"You insisted earlier that the queen was a coward, but look at you, queen of all cowards," Jihoon said and Rania made a sharp stop, this time, strapping her luggage on the horse she had been given, before walking towards Jihoon with an angry face.

"What did you call me?"

"The queen of cowards," Jihoon said, not batting an eye when Rania turned towards him. He had had enough of Rania's refusal to tell him what he wanted. She was acting as if he wanted to know how Incayon operated.

Frankly, if Jihoon wanted to infiltrate Incayon, he wouldn't even have to try hard. Because the werewolves of Incayon, for some reason, hated Kim Rania.

They would give her up without so much as a second choice. She was their savior and they were her crucifiers. But such was life, and she knew it.

Here and now, Jihoon was still hoping for something, but his way of going at it was wild and could be considered insane. Provoking his partner wasn't exactly a nice way to get along, but then what other option was there?

For years, Kim Rania had refused to tell a soul why she had murdered Yanna and while Jihoon knew that he probably wouldn't be getting answers today, he just wanted Rania to know that he would never stop asking.

He would pester her till she gave in, hopefully before they murdered each other.

"For an annoying alpha boy hiding under his mother's skirt, you sure have guts, you know," Rania said angrily, having realized that the big bad alpha of Calindra was trying to get her to talk.

Rania did not want to talk about Yanna, unless she was talking about how weak the woman had been. She wasn't ready to discuss the probability that she had murdered a woman for absolutely no reason.

She always had her reasons, so why was it hard for her to come clean to Jihoon?

She seemed to hate everything about the battlefield. The screams that day filled her head when she slept. The words Yanna had spoken to her had made her angrier. She had not wanted to kill her, but the woman had provoked her.

The woman had been expecting it and it was almost like she was doing it because she had a different mission. Yanna was never innocent, but only Kim Rania knew that, which was also why she had never been remorseful.

But what could Yanna have said to trigger her that much?

"Rania—" Jihoon tried again, his desperation so obvious that it was even heartbreaking.

"Stop trying to get me to talk about your annoying DEAD mate, because I won't. Pick up the damn pace because your company isn't exactly worth the time," Rania said to Jihoon, the evident spite and anger in her voice.

She was a difficult woman, but that didn't concern her. Instead, she tugged on her horse and continued walking. She had had enough of Jihoon and his questions about Yanna.

Park Jihoon let out a defeated sigh as he watched the woman walk ahead of him, ignoring his questions. He wondered what was holding him back from killing Rania, considering he was aware that no one would miss her. He had the perfect chance.

Maybe he couldn't because they were nearing the Incayon pack. Maybe he would do it once they were out of Obren. That would make it easier to lie to the king about the loss of one of his alphas. But would Rania let go so fast?

Angrily, Jihoon loaded everything on his horse, before getting on the horse himself. He had been walking to get answers, but now that the vile woman had proven that she wouldn't be giving him any answers, he had no reason to play coy with her.

"Come on!" Jihoon said as he pulled the saddle of the horse, as they galloped ahead of Rania. He had no reason to stay beside the woman.