Page 42 of Orange Town
“Look who’s talking. You are one of the greatest Alphas on this planet Roqs. Not me. I’m just a mercenary.”
“A mercenary who needs a keeper! What was your mission with the Elders?”
I am now the one taken aback. Roqs knew how I have this integrity of keeping missions sacred. Now he’s asking me to betray the confidence of the Elders.
My brows knit.
“Zirc.” He used his Alpha tone on me.
“I always believe in us Roqs. You know me. Youknowme,” I thumped my chest to emphasize.
Roqs stared at me. “I know. Things are happening that I think the Elders are not telling you. This is also why we need to know from Croone. Our planet is heading to a war. There are reports that there is a shortage of eggs because the Elders are hiding the truth from the beginning.”
I stayed silent.
“So, you are aware.”
I made an oath to the Elders and I take them seriously. Roqs, even though he is the Alpha of my tribe, can play politics. He has different shades of gray.
Roqs turned a bit away from me and cursed. “I see. I see the picture now. Okay,” he said, nodding. “Okay, I get it now.”
I don’t, I winced inwardly. It’s hard to lie to Roqs. To keep secrets.
He looked at me again. “Promise me this then. If, and it’s a big IF. If you find yourself in danger and need help, promise me that you will come to me. Promise me. I am always available for you. Always.”
My heart lurched. Roqs is offering not only himself but our tribe to help me. It is a tough decision coming from him. The one thing I swore to my parents before they died is to make sure the tribe survives. At all cost. That is why they sacrificed themselves.
And now Roqs is telling me I can ask him, our tribe, to help me. To sacrifice the tribe for me.
He is right. A war is coming. All the wealth in this world will be for nothing if we don’t have a future generation. I don’t want to think of the young ones back home. We only have less than fifty children in our tribe. Majority are young adults. Those less than 10 years old are five. Five.
There are millions in our tribe, but only five children.
“Zirc.”
Now, it is I who turned away from him. Started to pace. We both know he is asking too much from me.
“Roqs, you know there are gangs trying to infiltrate the egg housing. War is imminent. It is not a question of if but when it’s going to happen. We don’t know if we can stop it. Even our allies will fight us on this if there are limited resources.”
What I cannot tell Roqs is that the Elders confided in me their darkest secret. There are only 291 eggs left. Where are the millions of eggs that they said they are still keeping?
Gone. Or missing?
Now the most notorious gangs on the planet are out to discover the location of the missing eggs. For profit, for greed. Any reasons are valid. Who wouldn’t want to sire a child? The tribal leaders suspect something’s amiss but they should be the last to know. Otherwise, the whole system will collapse and each tribe will demand their share.
Or fight among themselves to lessen competition.
I stopped and looked at Roqs. His face was impassive.
“I will never betray our tribe.”
Roqs winced as if I punched him in the face. Damn it.
I stepped forward and he stepped back. Pulled up his hand to ward me off. “How can you think so low of yourself?” he hissed. His tone is soft. Ah, I have angered the alpha of the Silver Tribe.
“I’m sorry.”
“Well sorry don't cut it, Zirc! We had this conversation a million times to count. The tribe doesn’t think you will betray them. I know you will never betray us. You are not like your parents -”
