"Greetings, we're here for King Seojoon," Jihoon said when the royal warriors opened the gates.
They were bulky men who clearly didn't like to play around. But then this pair of alphas wasn't here to pay around If anything, they were being forced to be here and in each other's company.
Then again, everyone in the werewolf world knew the two of them.
"May I know what brings you here, alphas?" the warrior asked, with all the respect he could muster amidst the fear.
You'd think that being part of the King's special envoy was a ticket for them to have some courage, but then Rania and Jihoon had a reputation, one that everyone was scared of in the night.
Just like Rania's prayers were to find new ways to murder Jihoon, the werewolves' prayers were to never cross the Calindra and Incayon alphas. These two were chaos materialized and could make the world feel bad for being nice to them.
"Try a smile you little tard mole," Jihoon said to Rania who forced a smile on her face, probably creeping the warrior out, because Jihoon just sighed before sarcastically saying, "you traumatized the man for life. What a beauty."
"You wanted a fucking smile and you got it, now shut the fuck up and finish whatever that is and move," Rania said, while the warrior was looking at the paper in front of him.
Even though he knew who these alphas were, he had to counter-check the expected visitors, lest the two alphas walk in there and gang up on the king, or even worse, try kidnapping Kim Seojoon.
"I shouldn't have even asked— wait, you actually did what I wanted for once," Jihoon bragged.
Rania smacked his head with her duffel bag, making the man welp in pain, but the soldiers stood there awkwardly, unsure of whether they were supposed to laugh, or smile, or even pretend like they didn't see anything.
"Jeez woman—" Jihoon began but the warrior's voice interrupted him.
"The king expects you, alphas. This way," the warrior said, pointing them towards the place where they would be meeting with the king. He walked slowly so that the bantering alphas could catch up.
It was quite the sight, seeing the most feared alphas on each other's throats like it was their daily meal, but the warrior couldn't say shit. Instead, he pretended like he wasn't even sharing the same space as them.
Maybe then, he wouldn't be worried about them fighting and him being part of the collateral damages, because everyone knew that was bound to happen. The two alphas in one space were a deadly gamble, everyone knew that.
The death of Yanna was something that had shaken the Obren kingdom and couldn't be erased easily. It had broken the hearts of many who knew her, considering she was always lively. Her death earned Rania a lot of hate, but it wasn't like she cared.
The woman went on with her life like she wasn't being cursed by the kingdom.
And that was also why seeing Jihoon and Rania here together raised so many questions, most of which no one was willing to ask out loud because these two were the prime crazies of Obren, the werewolf kingdom.
"You scared the warrior away you little shit," Rania said and Jihoon just looked at her like she had extra useless brain cells on her. This woman was something else, and it was going to be hard to understand what she was thinking.
A full-blown bantering session, waged swords, shoddy hair, a thousand glares, a deathly aura filled with worry and fear, and ten minutes later, the two alphas were finally in the throne room. They had been so lost in their bickering that they hadn't even realized it yet.
Or maybe, they had realized it but didn't think it was significant. It was kind of assuring how they were at each other's throats over meaningless things, and yet at the same time, their senses were on high alert.
Rania and Jihoon knew better than to be comfortable in the Obren palace.
They truly had no pressing issues to land them here, so their skepticism was understandable. Who was to tell, whether the king had brought them to this place so he could put an end to the most troublesome set of alphas in the history of Obren?
If the werewolf ancestors saw Rania and Jihoon, they would even wish to not be werewolves. That was the power these two idiots with no regard for power held. It was crazy, but so were they.
"Please wait for his majesty here," the warrior said and they nodded subconsciously, each of them almost having forgotten their banter, and instead, they looked around the throne room, marveling at how beautiful it was.
Everything was either in gold or white, and it seemed like the whole palace got a paint job frequently, otherwise, there would be no other explanation for how everything was at the moment.
Quietly, the warrior left the two alphas in the room, silently hoping they didn't screw up, but even the warrior knew that was too much hope and positivity to expect from Kim Rania and Park Jihoon, the two mortal enemies.
If ever they were stranded in a forest and they were hungry, there was a possibility of them murdering each other and eating themselves, or so the rumors around Obren said. They were unrealistic and cruel, but nothing could be put past the two of them.
"Doesn't look as beautiful as I expected," Rania said, lying through her teeth. This place was heavenly. It was everything she would have wanted to have in life, but then it was unfortunate that life had decided to treat her like an enemy.
Having Jihoon in the same room was proof of that, and no one would convince her otherwise.
She wanted to know if there was someone else watching them from a distance and sure, a gasp was heard, making her understand that they were being watched. It wasn't the gasp of fear, but the kind that didn't agree with Rania's choice of words.
The palace was heavenly but right now, Kim Rania didn't give a shit about it.
She was smart and knew she had to do whatever it took to be safe. She had someone to go back home to, a girl she had promised to bring her parents to, and mission or not, Kim Rania was going to fulfill her promise to Dalrae.
Jihoon looked at Rania, having realized what she did, and he couldn't deny that the woman beside him in this throne room was an intelligent piece of shit. If only she wasn't psychotic, life would have been a walk in the park.
But maybe Rania was the chaos they all needed in their lives.
******
On the palace balcony, was a werewolf king who was determined to get what he wanted. A man who would go to hell and back, and even make a deal with the devil himself to get what he wanted, and right now, the stubborn mules in the throne room were his easiest way out.
He was in a predicament, one that broke his heart in so many ways, but maybe this time, things would be right. Maybe these two would make his dream come true. Maybe it was selfish of him to use Rania and Jihoon, but he didn't have a choice.
It was either the two psychos, or the king himself, and the kingdom couldn't be left unguarded, especially with the enemies that had gained over the years. He knew this was a risk, a dangerous one, but what would the werewolf king do?
He was reassuring himself that he wasn't making a bad decision, and maybe he wasn't. Maybe these two were his solution, truly.