[GREYSON - HUDHAYFAH]
"I do understand," Draffin said.
"Then I promise I will keep our daughter safe, as long as I need to," Razia said as she watched her mate break through the windows and disappear into the woods.
"Mama?" Rukiya called out to her mother making Razia stare at the door, worriedly. She hadn't imagined that her daughter would come to her at this time, but then there were rogues outside and her father was nowhere to be seen.
"What is it, girl? It's too early for me to hear your voice," Razia grumbled as she used her magic to clean the space so it wouldn't seem like she was a part of the mess outside. She knew it was a matter of time before her daughter came, but not this soon.
"I'm sorry, mama, but can I get in?" Rukiya asked and her mother just growled in warning. Making her daughter back off.
"Oh... I won't come in then. Have you... Have you seen Father? He is missing and there was a group of rogues looking for him," Rukiya explained and Razia facepalmed, when the hell did her daughter get this smart?
"I have been here all morning I doubt I know whatever the fuck your father does in his spare time. Don't look for me. You can find him on your own. And don't come back here," Razia said cruelly and her daughter just sighed.
To Rukiya, this was normal. Her mother was always treating her like shit, and her father was always trying to make her feel better after that. But right now, Rukiya knew something was amiss.
There was a shift and one so sudden that she felt the winds get knocked out of her. It was like it needed her attention but she wasn't sure what it was. Maybe her mother was right, there was no point in standing there waiting for nothing.
"I'm sorry, mama. Have a good day," Rukiya said, her footsteps fading in the distance while her mother just stood near the window as she stared into the distance. She knew that her husband was definitely fighting for his life and she hated that this happened.
A few months after the passing of alpha Greyson, Luna Razia stepped out, but only because her best friend, Eniola, had come to pay her a visit. She had missed her and hoped that this would give her a break from all that was happening.
Eniola was already mated and married to the Sicario alpha, the same pack that rivaled Greyson. Rukiya had by then done her homework on the alpha there and it was safe to say that she liked their daughter, the fierce Awuor Sicario.
It was a harmless attraction, and Rukiya never paid too much attention to it. However, her mother had been watching. With Eniola's visit, Razia Greyson knew that fate was never going to leave her be.
Razia knew that the world was never going to stop going round, just because she had killed her husband, because her best friend had come to her, with news that the younger Sicario, the girl everyone was scared of, was the white wolf.
Razia had begun noticing her daughter and she knew that Rukiya was somewhat attracted to the wild Sicario girl. Granted, she couldn't exactly walk over to Rukiya and ask her if she really liked Eniola's daughter, but Razia hated this new reality.
She had worked her ass off to keep the fates on the sidelines, but then she had failed, because her daughter was attracted to her mate, her chosen mate, one that the fates had prepared for her since time immemorial.
To Razia, it wasn't fair, especially when she realized that her dutiful alpha of a daughter would occasionally sneak out of the Greyson pack, just to go watch the younger Sicario fight.
She hated that her daughter was mesmerized by the very reason she had killed her husband. So, over time, Razia started growing closer to her daughter. She hoped that maybe, if she was a good mother to Rukiya, her daughter would let her in.
And it worked.
Rukiya had always been alone and now her mother was suddenly showing interest in her.
Her mother was advising her, giving her compliments on her work, and frankly, the young alpha was high over the moon finally her prayers were being answered and her mother was liking her.
But at what cost?