Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

2 - Annað

It took me a moment to process Valente's words.

Alpha Alfie was the man responsible for the two attacks on Fathilagt. He was the person who, in his search, destroyed our pack and took away our loved ones.

He gave the order to kill Gramma.

I could hear Imadis growling in the back of my mind, causing me to scowl viciously at the Alpha and Luna sitting on the other side of the table.

"Control yourself Rayne," Valente's voice said in my mind.

"What do you propose to do then?" Alpha Lamont asked Valente.

I tried my best to not look murderous.

"I have ideas. I want to hear their proposition first, then we can decide if their involvement would be necessary to our cause," Valente replied, looking directly at Bayo.

"We came to propose a rogue hunt. We know this person doesn't belong to a pack, and a Liet band against another Liet band makes more sense since our combat styles would be the same. We could do that for you," Bayo said.

"And what do you want in return?" Alpha Alfie chimed in, the sound of his voice made me want to strangle him. Nevertheless, I maintained composure.

"Everyone here knows the Liet's priority. Essentials. You give us the leads we need, in exchange we'll find the person for you. If and when we do, we take our share for our band," Bayo continued.

Bayo seemed quite confident for someone who didn't plan to share the reward with anyone else, but that's probably why he was here.

Alpha Lamont and his two men seemed to be having a private discussion.

"The Liet don't have a reputation for honesty Bayo," Beta Lachlan said after a few minutes. "For all we know, you can discuss matters with us and leave to find this person, and claim the whole reward yourself. How do we know you'd credit us?"

Bayo was quick to answer. He didn't miss a beat, and that was probably his biggest mistake.

"You can keep my mate here, till you're all announced as rewardees," he replied.

Fraser and Lachlan looked at him skeptically, whereas Valente seemed suddenly more interested. A slight smirk came upon his lips.

"You're willing to leave your mate in Fala, knowing she was stabbed a few hours ago by two young warriors, and her face looks like that?" Alpha Lamont said. I could tell by his tone, that he took no responsibility for what happened.

Bayo realized where he went wrong, and immediately started picking up his act.

"I have nothing else to offer right now," Bayo replied.

Zula's eyes sparked with anger.

"She's not an object for you to give and take, imbecile!" she said. Although I didn't like her one bit, her words were welcome. Everyone else nodded, while Valente was now openly staring at me, highly amused.

"What else can I do to show our band's loyalty?" Bayo asked everyone else at the table, now sounding genuinely desperate.

"It seems to us that you had nothing to offer us in the first place," Beta Lachlan said, turning his head away from Bayo to face the others.

"Wait! We can negotiate on the share! Think about how much easier it would be for you if we do the hunt!" Bayo said.

Alpha Alfie looked at Bayo, almost disappointed. Zula was too angry to even look at him.

"Your zealous plea to do this reeks of insincerity child," said Gamma Fraser. "Valente has already told you about Garou's lead, but what that lead is, I highly doubt we should discuss this matter further with you in the room."

"You and your mate can stay for the night," Beta Lachlan said. "Please leave at the earliest in the morning."

Bayo knew he had lost. He was doing his job so well, and in a matter of minutes he lost the cause he went through all the trouble for.

"If I may," Valente said, the amused look on his face still, catching everyone else's attention. "If we can set certain conditions on the rogue hunt, I think this band could be useful to us."

"Valente the matter is closed. It is always been difficult for me to trust these people, and I let them stay in my pack as a show of my hospitality. But I can't tolerate betrayal. I will not take that risk," Alpha Lamont said, in his Alpha tone quite sternly.

I realized it didn't work on Valente the way it did on me, because his smirk didn't leave his face.

"You don't have to Lamont. I'll do it for you," Valente said.

I looked up at him.

"What does that mean?" Ima asked.

"I don't know," I replied.

"It doesn't matter who does, it's a risk we all would bear," Beta Lachlan said.

"They're right though," Valente continued. "It would be too difficult for us to do this on our own even with the combined force of our three packs, knowing we can only spare some of our warriors for the search. We know we can't leave our own packs unprotected. And even if my lead has narrowed down the search area, it's still quite large. Garou is already way ahead of us, and we would give our movement away immediately as packs. The Liet, on the other hand," he said, looking at Bayo. "They're crafty. Having them on our side, the Garou on their own wouldn't stand a chance."

Nobody spoke a word. Bayo was sitting on the edge of his seat in anticipation, while the others had a private conversation.

"I missed you," Valente's voice said in my mind.

I didn't want to look at him as I blushed at his words. But I couldn't stop myself as I looked up to see him smile a soft smile, telling me he was there for me.

Tears pricked my eyes again, and it was getting more and more difficult to keep them in.

I missed him too. So damn much. And I was sure the gravity of seeing him sit in front of me, knowing he was my mate, hadn't hit yet. I had no idea what would happen to me when I finally got a hold of the fact that Valente had marked me, and he was my mate.

"What is your plan then, Valente?" Alpha Lamont asked him.

Valente looked at him for a second, as if showing him that he was contemplating his next words, but in reality, I could tell he knew exactly what he was going to say.

"We'll have some of our warriors involved too, but the major part of the search would be handled by Bayo's Liet band. We will keep Rayne in our custody till he fulfills his end of the deal. But I know you can't guarantee her safety in Fala.

So I will take her to my pack.
I will take her to Fathilagt."

...

Author's meme:

Thank you @SimplestOfThings for the ship name. I can't believe I didn't even think of a ship name before now. :)