Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Well, that is a little hard to answer. I mean, she did kill Frida, however, since she was being controlled and didn’t consciously kill her, she doesn’t remember killing her. So, she did kill her but? it’s not quite that black and white. I know that some would say she is innocent, but others would say that it doesn’t matter.” I did my best to explain the situation the way that I saw it while I washed her back.
“Yeah, if her story is to be believed.” I felt her shrug and curiosity instantly gripped me.
“You think she’s lying?” I raised my eyebrow even though she couldn’t see it.
“I don’t know. I think that the story fit together a little too well.” What she said both made sense but didn’t. What was it she was getting at here?
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’m saying that I don’t entirely trust Hibiscus.” She turned her head to look over her shoulder at me. “I know that Aunt Glory trusts her and Athair m貌r has known her just as long as she does, the trust runs deep between them. I won’t let that cloud my vision though, I don’t have the trust that they do.”
What she was saying finally made sense. But even though I could understand the words that she was saying, that didn’t mean that I could understand the feelings behind them.
“Are you sure that you’re not just being overly cautious and just suspicious of every single person?”
“Isn’t that what I need to do, though? I need to suspect everyone until they’ve been eliminated. That is the only way to be thorough and find out who is behind all of this.”
“Yeah, I guess you are right about that.” I agreed with her as I turned her around so that I could wash her hair, but that was just an excuse, in truth, I just wanted to see her face and look into her eyes.
“What are you thinking about?” She asked me. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted back, and even with all that, she could tell that I was giving her a look that was full of curiosity.
“Are you psychic now or something?” I asked her with a laugh, more of a way to stall things than anything else.
“Only when it comes to you.” She smirked, her eyes still closed and a look of happy contentment on her face. She always did like it when I washed her hair for her. I mean, who wouldn’t like it? It’s a free head massage. “So, what are you thinking about?” She asked me again.
“I am just trying to process everything that has happened tonight, everything you’ve said, and everything that I have thought and felt tonight. But I think you are right though, suspect everyone until they’re proven innocent.” I saw her smile like she was happy with what I had said. “Though, didn’t we confirm that Hibiscus was innocent already?”
For whatever reason, my question made her sigh in exasperation. She didn’t say anything though, she just tilted her head so that it was under the water so that she could rinse the soap out of it.
It seemed that that was the end of the discussion. We didn’t say another word about what happened tonight. We just finished cleaning up and got ready for bed. I truly wanted to know what it was that she was thinking, but I wasn’t going to ask just yet.
****
Riviana
****
The first thing that I did the next morning was get up and get dressed as quickly as I could. I wasn’t going to be wearing a dress today. I was going to be busy tracking down a killer, so I needed to be able to move freely. Today I was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a dark gray t-shirt, and a pair of hiking boots that were dark green and black.
Before anyone could even ask, I had to tell them that no, we did not pack these clothes and bring them with us. I had conjured the clothes with my own magic. These were brought straight out of my mind and put directly onto me, I didn’t even have to actually ‘get dressed’.
I skipped breakfast, opting to eat later. I had work to do right now, and I could talk to Aunt Glory while she was eating her breakfast. My guards and knights, as well as my husband, were all a little shocked to see me striding right out the door without them..
“Dammit Riviana, wait up.” Joaquin called out as he shoved the rest of his food into his mouth and kissed Reagan and Rika goodbye.
“Riviana?” Vincent was running out the door before Joaquin had even gotten to it.
“My Queen.” Gabriel was chasing after me as well. “Please wait.” Landon and Trevor also rose from their chairs and followed me but they did so without saying anything at all.
All three of them were out the door and chasing after me in a very undignified manor.
“The five of you did not need to chase me.” I stopped and looked at them with a little bit of anger in my eyes. Sometimes, I would just like to be able to do something alone.
“Riviana, you’re the Queen. You need us there to protect you.” Trevor’s words annoyed me. I knew that it was just the anger and stress from the night before that was truly annoying me, but I was taking it out on his words.
“No, Trevor, I do not need any of you to protect me. I am more than capable of protecting myself.” I made my point by levitating them off the floor a few inches before I turned around and stalked away.
After that, I let them down gently, of course, since I didn’t want to hurt them. But that little show of mine still didn’t make them leave me alone. They were still following me; I just sighed and resigned myself to this fate.
“Riviana, no one said you couldn’t protect yourself.” Landon spoke from behind me, but I didn’t stop to look at him. “It’s just that you shouldn’t have to.”
“I know that, Landon, I really do. But that does not mean that I have to like it at all times. Sometimes, I think it would be nice to go somewhere without an entourage.”
“You know that’s not truly an option.” This time it was Vincent who spoke, and I know he was just trying to remind me of it, but it pissed me off.
“I know.” I snapped at him, my anger flowing freely. I planned to channel that anger of mine into finding the asshole who was behind all this shit going on here.
As I continued to stalk down the hall to Aunt Glory’s room, I did my best to ignore the fact that the five of them were staring holes into my back. This was a little odd as well though, usually they were surrounding me, protecting me. I hadn’t led a group of people like this in years. It was nice, actually. I don’t want to say that it made me feel even more powerful, having these five big strong men at my back as if I was protecting them instead of them protecting me, but it did give me a sense of satisfaction.
When I made it to where Aunt Glory was, I told the guard to let her know that I needed to see her and that there was no time to waste. He seemed a little scared of me when he saw the look on my face, that made me wonder how pissed off I looked. Still, he ran into the room and informed Aunt Glory of what I had said. He was back in less than a minute.
“Th..the Queen will see you now.” His voice only trembled a little as he spoke.
I didn’t chance saying anything else to him. I didn’t want to make him wet himself or anything. I just strode past him and the men at my back followed me immediately.
