[AWUOR]
"Saving my ass? Do I look like some fucking charity case that needs your attention? You think that just because you got me to go to Greyson you have some say in what I do?" Awuor asked angrily, as she flickered her nose, before using her hand to rub her dirty hair.
She couldn't believe that Rukiya had crossed over just to give her a scolding, what did she think her presence would do for her anyway? Awuor wasn't even pissed or mad at the woman it was her audacity that made Awuor even more curious.
Rukiya looked like a ridiculous mess and right now, with bananas on her head, Awuor wondered whose idea it was for Rukiya to show up here like this. And where was that annoying beta of hers?
Looking back at the Sicario gates, Awuor saw Theo and the warriors staring at her. Her body language with the apparent banana vendor could make someone believe that he wanted to fight the vendor, but did she?
Then again that didn't matter because she didn't need Rukiya disrupting her very sane plan of going back home, even for ten minutes only, to talk to her mother on her graveside.
"Take it as you may, but we both know that walking into Sicario right now will only cause you more trouble than you're ready for.
"I just don't understand how your brain works," Rukiya said and Awuor looked at her again, like she wanted to be sure that this was the Greyson alpha on this side. Understanding Awuor's brains wasn't exactly Awuor's problem so why the fuck did Rukiya feel like she needed to make a show here?
"So you're unhinged and senseless too? Are the Greyson affairs so minimal that you didn't get to have as much fun, or do you just like poking your nose in people's affairs?
"You look like a lost sheep without a shepherd right now and the fact that you're here means you have time on your hands, so how about we go together to Sicario and kill them all, yeah?
"If you want to have that much fun, you will join me there, no?" Awuor asked disbelievingly, still gripping Rukiya's arm. This woman needed a reality check because otherwise one of them would go insane and it was obviously going to be Awuor.
"Move it, Rukiya. This is my war, and you have no part in it," Awuor insisted and this time, Rukiya put the basket that was heavily balanced on her head to the ground. She clearly didn't come here to play with the woman who was stubborn as fuck.
The Sicario alpha was clearly angry and was being controlled by that. They both knew that energy could do so much damage, so why the fuck weren't they able to communicate with each other even as they stood there?
"You don't get it, do you? I am saving you because my mother made a promise to yours, the promise to save you even if it meant from yourself. If it were me, I wouldn't have wasted my time.
"Consider this me doing your mother a favor and keeping her promise with my mother," Rukiya bit back angrily before continuing, "Did it ever occur to you why your mother didn't tell you about your brother's ploys?
"She already knew you were powerful, so why would she sacrifice herself for you? Why would she give up everything for the daughter who could defend herself? Think Awuor, think!
"I would like to believe you are not dense, so please, think," Rukiya said when she had freed her arm from Awuor. She could tell it was a rough topic for the woman, but if he was planning to go back to Sicario and face off with her family.
"You don't know shit," Awuor growled at Rukiya who was just staring at her with a bored face now. They were both stubborn, but somehow their goals were similar. Whatever they were doing right now, was because of the luna Eniola.
It was like they were trying to make do with whatever they had to get through the fact that she was dead, but did that even matter now?
Awuor was hated by her people. Her brother and mate had gotten what they wanted and her father, he had given up on her.
Maybe Awuor was giving up on herself too and that's why she so desperately needed to go back home so that they could lock her up before she went insane in the freelands.
"Listen, alpha Awuor, I know your mother sacrificed herself for you. I know she could have used her powers as Luna and stopped her son and son-in-law from doing the unthinkable but instead, she sacrificed herself. For you.
"Whether you like it or not, your mother is dead and it is on you. So you can either waltz in there in the pretense of seeing a grave that is well preserved, or you can come with me and find ways to get the answers you need.
"The real answer as to why your mother had to die just so you white wolf would be activated," Rukiya insisted, pissing Awuor off even more. She was however telling her the truth that she wasn't ready for what, though?
It wasn't common for Luna to be friends, but to befriend the luna who people were looking down on because of her husband was something else. Eniola knew what she was doing, and she had been a friend to Razia till the very end.
"If that is too much for you, if you think that was far-fetched, think of the punishment your father gave you and how bizarre it was. If he was going to banish you, why not strip you of your alpha position completely?
"Why let you walk out with your crown and power? Why warn you to never create a pack or they would kill your new members?
"It just doesn't make any sense because packs are meant for people to move on, and even the goddess would deny you that, so why did your father tell you not to? Why not close off the mind links between you and your people all this while then?
"I agree, the punishment was bizarre, but if your father truly believed you killed your mother, he would have made you a feral, not an alpha without a pack—"
"Because he expected me to find my way back home," Awuor said, realization hitting her so hard that she was in shock. Rukiya looked at the packless alpha, and hoped that she now understood what this all meant.
"You have to find out why the alpha would do that, and why he wants you to go back home, when he knows your idiot of a mate is the temporary alpha of the pack. If you still want to break the gates of Sicario, then you can go ahead Alpha Awuor.
"However, at least try and think of the sacrifices your parents have made. Sure, they were not so conventional about them, but they did it in a manner that would allow you to identify yourself. You survived in the freelands where the rogues roamed.
"You survived the gas Adolf released. You survived the clog of penance. You survived a lot of things, and if you wanna ruin it, that's your choice alpha.
"At least my mother and I tried to keep you sane," Rukiya said to Awuor, before she began walking back home, with her call for bananas not slowing down anytime soon. She had to keep up the act and she had to give the banished alpha a choice.
Awuor looked at Rukia and wondered what she truly wanted. Of course, she knew the facts, but in all the eight months she had been alone, she had never thought that her father hadn't just banished her but given her a power that no rejected alpha would ever have.
She had to make a choice and make decisions. Looking at the Sicario gates, she had made her decision as she walked back home.
Maybe whatever Rukiya had said was true, but did that matter now?