Chapter 62: The Binding Blood Oath
[RUKIYA]
Malika was skeptical about what was happening, but she also knew that they couldn't rely on a dumb plan all the time.
Their time was getting more limited and Hawi was right. So as Rukiya and the prisoners made their way out of the shelter to do the blood oath, Hawi could only hope that this was going to be truly beneficial for her.
She knew that there would be risks, but wasn't she born of risks from the very beginning anyway? She had lived a happy life, only to lose it all because of her family, and maybe that was enough motivation for her to get on their necks and demand what was hers.
"I need to see what is happening too, help me out of this damn shelter," Hawi said and Malika and everyone else just looked at her. It was like they had forgotten that they had an old woman keeping them company all this while.
The woman was a nuisance and they were contemplating whether to let her be there or to see to it that she was helped. But would it be worth it?
"Stay in the shelter, nana. It is cold out here. Besides, we prefer doing the blood oath next to the shelter. We will be back, don't worry," Alpha Rukiya said and Hawi resisted the urge to roll her eyes at them.
These people were about to expose her and she was supposed to stay and sit tight? Then again, it wasn't like she would lose anything after the blood oath was done, right?
"Fine, I smell like pee anyway," Hawi said and they all facepalmed, but stood in a semi-circle, making sure that the stubborn old hag was able to see what was happening so she wouldn't cause them more trouble than she was worth.
The two prisoners looked at Rukiya, wondering if she really was going to do this.
Hudhayfah and Adolf were still against the idea, but they had given up trying to make peace with her because she was determined to make this happen. All they could do was to support Rukiya anyway.
"Let's get on with it, shall we?" Hudhayfah said and they all just nodded.
Hudhayfah had a knife that he always walked with, most of the time it was for his own protection, but right now, as they stood here, he was going to use the knife to slice the Greyson alpha's palm so she could bleed into the earth.
The ground was still wet, but it was drying a little too fast, but they couldn't complain about it. Besides, they are a little higher on the terrain so it is understandable.
"Are you sure you want to do this? This is the last chance before you bind yourself to the psycho who will probably want you dead more than you might want her dead," Adolf said and Rukiya just smiled sadly at her best friend.
"I need to do this, Adolf. I have to. Besides, who knows what is happening to her. If these two will tell me where she is, and if she is alive or dead, then I will do it, for her," Rukiya said earnestly and Hawi almost choked from the sincerity and Rukiya's confirmation that no matter what happened, she would go on with this.
Oh, but it was still a risk still.
"Alright, let's begin, shall we?" Hudhayfah said, and the Greyson prisoners looked at Rukiya, still expecting her to back out, but then Rukiya never backed out of deals with what she was seeking, so they just had to get on with it.
"Do you, Rukiya Greyson, swear to keep the banished alpha safe, and protect her with your life, and your people? Do you swear to never put her in harm's way and to never let her take the hits alone?
"Do you swear to be there for her no matter what differences you may have, should she be alive? Do you promise to listen to her and be by her side through and through, no matter how harsh the winds could get?
"Do you swear this and do you willingly agree to the blood oath?" Hudhayfah said and for a moment, Rukiya looked at the prisoners who were standing there with her and her friends, not to mention Hawi who was actually seated at the door of the shelter, waiting for Rukiya to refuse the oath.
It was evening already and they needed to keep warm, given the temperatures weren't exactly welcoming to say the least. Rukiya looked like she was hesitating and Adolf almost let out a sigh of relief, but then all that went away when Rukiya responded.
"I Rukiya Greyson, alpha of the Greyson pack and commander in chief of the Greyson army, swear on my life to protect, love, and fight for the banished alpha, until my last breath," Rukiya said, making everyone a little emotional.
She had mentioned love and that wasn't even in the oath, did that mean that Rukiya had a crush on Awuor? Did it mean that she had a different motive for doing this? Maybe there was and maybe they wanted to.
"Then you shall bleed on the earth to make sure your earth is bound to the very earth you walk on. If you betray the oath, may the fates have mercy on you," Hudhayfah said as he handed Rukiya the knife he was holding.
Rukiya didn't even hesitate to slit her palm, and watch as her blood dripped on the earth's surface, as light that made Malika convinced that making this woman wasn't so bad.
Besides, now that Rukiya had made the oath, nothing would change the fact that no matter where Hawi was, the Greyson alpha would always be on her side. It was a fate that Rukiya had decided on for herself and no one had forced her, which made all of this a tad more interesting.
"You really did it you crazy girl," Adolf said as he pulled his best friend into a hug. He didn't know what else to do for her, especially now that she had healed and her blood had dried up pretty faster than they had expected.
"Yeah, I did it," Rukiya said excitedly as she looked at the prisoners, "now it's your turn."
"The alpha is alive, alpha Rukiya," one of the prisoners said as the other added, "That is all we can give you for the moment. That is all we know anyway, because if she had died, then the wire would be storms that came with the death of the only white wolf in this lifeline.
"She is alive, and maybe the oath will bring her to you. Our work here is done, don't you think?"
"You've gotta be kidding me. She made the damn oath and all this while you didn't know where she was? What the fuck is with you both?" Adolf said angrily as he looked at the prisoners. He didn't believe that they really didn't know where the troublesome alpha was.
They had forced Rukiya to make the blood oath and it was or nothing?
"If you can't be as resourceful, then we have no use for you," Adolf said as he showed his claws, ready to strike the suddenly worried prisoners.
They knew that the beta would easily take them out and they would have lost their lives for her, but damn, none of them had thought that it would come to this.
"No Adolf, don't kill them," Rukiya said, as she reached out to her best friend to stop him. She didn't want to use the alpha command on him, because she had promised that she wouldn't, but seeing what she was seeing right now, Rukiya was tempted to be the alpha.
"Don't do that, Adolf," Hudhayfah added, like he was suddenly realizing something that they all hadn't all this while.
"She'll kill you, if you kill them," Malika said, the conviction in her voice as she stood there, with an annoyed face.
Unlike Hudhayfah and Rukiya who were trying to stop Adolf, Malika was staring at him, like she was waiting for her mistress to tell her what she needed to do. She knew Hawi wasn't cruel to let her loyalists die for being loyal to her, when she could save them this early.
"You never really learn, Adolf, do you? You really want me to kick your ass again?," the old Hag finally spoke up, shocking everyone except for Malika.