Page 82 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“No,” I mutter, turning around slightly, taking in my surroundings. “It’s just… it feels like I have been here before.”
twenty-seven
Secret Mission
*ROYAN*
Shayan and I made it to a small town close to the eastern border. It’s not too far from the castle, just half a day, but it’s said to be a village with lots of problems; a werebear problem, it seems. Aylin was the one to send us here. One of her contacts claims that there is someone around this village who tries to recruit people for the cult.
It’s a place predominantly inhabited by humans, very unusual for the kingdom. Normally, humans live in their own realm or they live with the wolves in a pack – generally when they are mates. It’s rare that there is a village with mostly humans. It makes them weaker and prone to attacks.
Plus, they are probably easier to manipulate. I want to believe that the inhabitants of the kingdom are better than falling for any tricks, but I know that in desperate moments people make desperate decisions.
“Remember, once we are there, we can’t communicate openly. Werewolves have good ears, and while it’s mostly humans, there are also some werewolves,” I explain, probably for the third time today.
General Shayan looks at me with amusement. “I understood it the first time, but thank you for repeating it.”
I feel my face heat up at his words. It’s fucking rare that I blush, but this guy… he is truly the perfect match for Tynan! “I will be able to mind link Beta Quinn while we are here,” I hurry to say to diffuse my embarrassment.
Shayan nods. “We should probably leave the horses a bit further from town and walk the rest of the way by foot.”
I easily agree with him, having had a similar thought already. We make sure to leave our horses at a safe place, and provide them with food and water for the night. Hopefully, it won’t freeze too soon. Then, we take the small forest path to the village. “It’s weird that it isn’t a pack,” Shayan ponders.
“It indeed is. It originally wasn’t like that. They were a normal pack with humans living alongside them, but then a rogue attack happened. We tried to support them, but they didn’t want any help.”
“Why?” Shayan frowns. “That doesn’t make sense.”
I furrow my brows at his words. He is right, it doesn’t make sense, yet I never tried to find out why these people here were acting the way they were. As I’m not sure what to answer, I remain quiet and lead Shayan towards the entrance of the village. I toss him a glance and he nods his understanding. His expression changes slightly, turning more grim and earnest. I try to follow his example to look similarly serious. It seems to work because, when we enter the village, a few humans look at us shortly, just to look away immediately.
Shayan owns it because he confidently approaches a group of people with a death-glare on his face. A young man looks up and scurries away, while the others swallow. “How can we help?” one of them stutters.
“My buddy and I need a drink,” Shayan huffs.
“The tavern,” the man blurts out. “It’s… down the road. You can’t miss it.”
Shayan nods shortly and pushes past them, making one of them stumble slightly. I follow him close by, impressed by the show he puts on. I feel bad for the villagers, but we are going to make it up to them later when we have actually found the threat here.
With Shayan leading the way, we make it to the tavern, and Shayan marches into it confidently. Without greeting anyone, we both plop down at an empty table, ignoring the stares we receive from the other guests. “Something to drink,” Shayan orders.
“Make it strong,” I add.
The waiter, a rugged looking man, approaches us after a while, putting two shot glasses with liquor in front of us. Shayan takes a sip from it before smashing the glass against the wall. The waiter winces slightly when he glares at him. “Stronger,” he huffs.
I’m impressed, to say the least. I didn’t know he had it in him to act like that. I find myself relaxing into my role, too. All the while I thought I’d need to have his back, because he is the human, but he easily outperforms me.
The waiter brings us something new to drink, and this time we both accept it with a grumble. It’s then that I see a tattoo on the man’s wrist… an eye. This can’t be a coincidence! The man just tosses us a gaze. “Are you traveling alone?”
“Yes,” I huff. “Does it matter?”
“No,” the man mutters, openly weighing me up. This is finally where I can shine. As a gamma, I’m naturally strong. Shayan looks strong too, but he is a human. “Just… werewolves normally travel with a pack.”
“I don’t need a pack,” I growl.
“I’m sure the king would help if you asked,” he says, and I can detect a sly tone in his voice. He is testing us.
“The king,” Shayan snorts. “I have not cared for a king for years.”
“Where was the king when my family was killed?” I say before smacking Shayan’s shoulder. “This one was the only one to pass by and give me a job, a lousy human.”
