Chapter 166: The Game of Hearts [1]
[HAWI]
"You sure are something. But let's play your game, right? The game of our weak loves, I hear you like attacking the weakness of my Mistress, so how about we try and see if your Luna can survive it?" Malika said casually.
Jer almost broke his neck at the mention of his lovely Luna. Oh, he was always going to be so whipped for his Malika badly.
He had promised himself he would let Sicario burn for that woman and while it was an insane choice, he knew he wouldn't care about the repercussions. Jer would always go over and beyond for the woman he loved and he wouldn't hesitate.
"Don't you bring her here just to prove to yourselves that you're in power? You are a lost bunch, a group of misfits trying to force their way back into a pack that had nothing to do with them," Jer said like he wasn't being poisoned by the thorns around him.
He would die for his Malika, even if the world was ending and it was an admirable really. Mbali and Rukiya were fighting snorts and chuckles at Jer's statement, because they knew what was happening.
They knew that Jeremiah would be completely shattered if he realized that the woman he was ready to give up the world for was the one poisoning him at the moment. And that made this game of hearts even more fun.
"Bite me," Malika said as she created a portal, and someone who looked exactly like Jer's Malika came through, looking like shit and emotionally disheveled.
She looked like she had gotten through the worst phases of torture and like the entire world was crashing down on her little back and she had no way out.
Oh, but Jer's Malika looked so expectedly terrified, especially when she felt herself being dragged on the ground by the women who were there. They were staring at her like she was some sort of food, and goodness, it was crazy on all accounts.
"Hello, sweetheart. What's your name?" Malika asked the woman she had just dragged out, like it was the most normal of things.
"M—" the woman began just as Rukiya spoke.
"You sure you want your people watching this? Because we could prove to them all the endless ways your Luna is a useless shit that doesn't know the first thing about ruling, much less running back.
"I could get into the specifics but you are useless yourself, so I guess birds of a feather, huh?" Rukiya spoked and Jer could feel his heart beating a little too fast as she struggled to look in the direction of his people.
He knew the elders were also watching for something in the pack house and in that moment he regretted provoking the woman here then again, it wasn't like they had been here to make merry with him.
They had their own goals and they would get to them, come hell or high water. This was just the beginning of a beautiful and long engagement. Perhaps they would call for a ceremony too, right? Maybe it wasn't all bad, right?
"You wouldn't dare," Jer said even though he was outnumbered and everything else was not in his control.
He hated this, but he would let the woman that had been banished do this to him. Perhaps he was taking Hawi's silence for weakness because once again, he took a jab at the woman who was staring at him with a bored face.
Hawi had spoken her peace and she really had nothing to add.
She was here for retribution and if Jer wanted to complicate that for himself, then she wouldn't mind; besides, her friends would always love a little fun messing with people. So much had happened and she just didn't have the time to chat.
She was still mourning her father and the familiarity that came with home.
"Oh really? Why wouldn't I? When you murdered my Mistress's mother just for your power here in Sicario? I bet you would have a better explanation for all that. Should I open the doors to that pack house, yeah?
"Maybe I should ask the surviving wolves of Sicario what they think of the man who murdered the most beloved Luna of all time? Maybe they will grant you more mercy than I have, no?" Malika asked, as she looked at the door that separated the Sicario wolves from their Alpha.
In just one snap Malika could bring them all down. She could reduce them to ashes and ruin them without feeling anything. But then she had to follow Hawi's lead and she had to wait for what her mistress wanted. Granted the goal was the same, but she had to.
"Hu… Husband?" the woman presenting as Malika said, her voice shattering as she looked around.
She was genuinely horrified and the fact that he wore Malika's clothes that Jer had left her with was even more horrifying. Soon much was going wrong, and yet he wasn't trying to do anything.
"Don't worry, Malika. They will not do anything to you. Awuor won't let them. She hates having innocents brought between battles," Jer said confidently as he looked at his ex-mate.
Either he was being stupid or he was choosing to ignore everything that had just happened. The fact that the entire Sicario was covered in bodies, most of them dead, should have been the first red flag, but he was not even focusing on anything right now.
"But the dead bodies. Some of them are you people, husband. What happened here? Why… why would they attack our home? What happened to us?" meek Malika asked and Jer felt his heart shattering.
He had always promised his mate that Sicario was safe. He had always been sure that life would be better, but right now, as he watched his mate be this weak and before his ex-mate, Jer wasn't sure he wanted to give in.
He was standing between his Luna and his people and frankly, that wasn't the bargain he had dreamed of, not to mention his cruel punishment that was tearing through him like he was just another experiment for them.
"Tell her, Jer. Tell your sweet useless Luna what happened and why this is happening. Why don't you explain to your Luna why we chose to come to Sicario instead of other packs that could be easiest to concur like Clarkson, hmm?" Rukiya stated.
Jer struggled against the thorns, and even as they tore through his skin, he was relentless in his fight.
He was hurting, but he hated to be the one to break his wife's heart. He didn't want to see her blame herself for things that were not her fault and he wanted to save her from the horrors of death.
"No… Please, no," Jer whimpered as he looked at his wife. He could only imagine what the poor woman was thinking and he hated it.
All he wanted was to see her happy, to make sure that she got everything she wanted and yet here she was, in the middle of a bloodbath, with people who were demanding a revelation that would shatter Malika's heart.
He just couldn't let them do that to her.
"Kill me if you must, but please, don't hurt her. Please, don't hurt my Malika, please," Jer begged.