Chapter 9 S*x goes a long way
Ruel’s POV
Ruel Xuaru,
Focus on the strays at the East border. Quit your unnecessary complaints. You’ll find a little something I sent your way to ease that tension of yours. Sex goes a long way.
— Alpha King Andre
I squeeze the letter in my hand, feeling the thick edges digging into my palm.
Sex.
That’s what he thinks I need? That’s what he sends me instead of rations and medicine?
A low growl rumbles deep in my chest before I can stop it. With more force than required, I throw the crumpled paper, getting more furious when it connects with the ground unharmed.
Elric leans against the post near my window, a large opening from where you can view a large range of the space behind the dorms.
It's the same spot from where I'd watched one one of my men collapse from food poisoning.
“You’re going to break your teeth grinding them like that.” Elric mutters and only then do I realize he's shut the window and is now watching me.
“You think this is funny?” I snarl, pointing at the cursed piece of paper I'd thrown to the floor.
Elric exhales. “I never said so.”
The table shakes as I slam my fist down, water spills from a full cup. A large plastic ball, featuring the map of Vahl and all its cities, nearly rolls off.
“Calm down before you split the table again.” he adds, moving to sit on my bed.
“Calm down?” My voice rises. “We’ve lost three men... warriors in twelve weeks, Elric. Three. Not to battle, to food poisoning! The supplies are contaminated. The food reek of mold. The health department is lacking terribly. And he writes jokes about SEX!”
With a curse, I grab the edge of the table and flip it, sending the map, papers, and cup of water crashing to the ground. The sound echoes through the room.
Elric’s sigh reaches my ear but he says nothing. Not when I smash the table the second time on the ground ensuring it breaks to pieces.
Breathing heavily, I run a hand through my hair. I don't want to loose control but lately that promise has been so hard to keep.
“Did you see her? Her hair is fucking fake. Dyed… and for what? Who dyes their hair without trying to cover up a secret. Perhaps she's a thief, maybe a damn stray. And he thought she’d…” I stop, the words pissing me off even more. “Ease my tension.”
Elric’s mouth tightens.
“Is he trying to humiliate me and turn the men against me?” I seethe. “'Cause that’s what it fucking looks like.”
But it makes no sense. I've served him my whole life.
Elric holds my gaze, studying me. “There’s something else on your mind.”
I sink onto the edge of the bed, my eyes fixed on the rolling water on the floor.
“We’ve served the king more than ten years of our lives. There's no way he'd actually ignore us at such a crucial moment.”
Elric scuffs, shaking his head. “I knew you would say something like this once you calmed down. It's like when you're mad, you accept the truth but when you relax, you try deceiving yourself.”
I frown at his words. “If the Alpha King is actually making a mockery of our needs then we're fucking doomed. For him to do that, we must have given him a reason to. But we've been holding the East up alone. We’ve protected these borders, the people, his throne. He owes us a listening ear at least.”
Elric bends over, gathering the cup and wet wap ball. “Let me guess, you think another letter will change his mind?”
“If we were allowed into the pack house yesterday, I’d have made him listen.”
He stares at me. “Ruel…”
“What?”
He drops the papers on the desk, shaking his head. “Why do you keep pretending it’s not him? You think his beta is writing the letters? That his beta ordered our supplies to not only be cut in half but that we should be given expired supplies?"
My jaw hardens but Elric continues.
"That his beta withdrew our best doctor? Really? We both know that woman doesn't have that much power. You can’t keep defending him when he's obviously trying to eliminate us all… or at least frustrate us until we rebel.”
I stand, the muscles in my shoulders twitching with tension. “It doesn’t make sense,” I say through gritted teeth. “The alpha king isn’t a fool. He knows how this system works. He knows we can’t keep the border if our soldiers starve. There’s no way he read our letters and thought this madness will solve anything.”
“But he did. You saw his seal. Your alpha King is a fucking pussy.” Elric seethes.
“Don't say such about your King, Elric.” I correct.
“Oh come on, stop being a hypocrite. You were complaining some minutes ago. Quit clinging to the false image Alpha King Andre showed us while he trained us. Think of it… We've purged the pack completely of every stray. He doesn't need us anymore. Of course he's no longer interested in our well-being.”
“That's enough,”
“You can’t keep pretending,”
“I said that's enough!” an order rips out of me, matching the fury of my wolf.
Elric throws his hands in the air. “Fine,” he says after a pause. “You want to believe it’s the beta? Then it’s the beta. What next?”
I rake a hand through my hair, thinking. “I’ll write again. One last time.”
He nods. “And when he doesn’t answer? Or he sends another pleasure machine disguised as a traumatized beautiful lady?”
I don’t reply. I don't get to.
“Commander Ruel!” a loud knock comes.
“Enter.”
The young man steps in, drenched from the rain. He bows. “Sir. The prisoner we locked up last night is dead.”
“What!” My heart fails for a second. “W…Who?” I stutter, every muscle in my body becoming rigid at the thought of her.
“One of the rogues we caught. It seems he died of food poisoning. That's the autopsy from the health workers.”
I glance at Elric but he's already watching me with a suspicious gaze.
“And the other one, the young lady with red hair?” I ask the young man.
“She's been cleaned up and given a dress like you ordered.”
“Tell Cortis to bring her to me. And get rid of the rogue.” I say.
The man salutes before stepping out.
Elric watches me carefully. “Are you good?”
“Yes. Why?” I question harsher than I intend.
He studies me for a moment, then tilts his head. “We going to pretend you didn't just show sympathy for a lady who almost stabbed you.”
“What bullshit are you saying?”
“Really? You hear a prisoner dies of food poisoning and the next thing is to ensure the lady is removed from harm's way. I mean, Kennedy who yelled back at you last month is still in there… you didn't think about him?”
“I have too much work to stay here listening to your nonsense.” I mutter, marching out, my heart pounding as I try to push off his acidic words.