Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“But you did not give him a trial, did not send him to prison. No, you executed him on the spot in front of everyone. Your family was devastated about that.”
“I know they were.”
I remember that. I remember that everyone had been slightly afraid of me. I hadn’t liked the fear from them, but there was nothing that I could do about it. That was the way that things needed to be.
“There are just a couple more to go, Riviana. Bear with me for just a little while longer. This part of the ordeal is nearly over.” For some reason, I didn’t quite believe her.. This felt like it was going on forever and I didn’t think that I would ever get out of here.
****
Riviana
****
For once, the other me didn’t take out more dust and throw it on the fire. Instead, it just continued to fast forward the images until the next time that I visited Aunt Glory and Athair m貌r. This time there was a lot of horrible things that had been happening, including a murder right after we had gotten there. That was the busiest and most hectic time that I ever had on ‘vacation’.
I went almost immediately into investigation mode. I was using all the things that I had learned over the years so that I could make sure that nothing escaped my notice. I didn’t fall for Hibiscus’s fake stories, and I was the only one to believe that she had something to do with it all from the very beginning. Aunt Glory and Athair m貌r didn’t want to trust in me at the time. They were having trouble believing that someone they had known for so long, someone they thought was powerless, had turned so bad and done so many things wrong.
I guess what the other me is saying is true. Anyone could grow the seeds of darkness and turn bad. Even though Hibiscus had been manipulated by someone else, she didn’t do anything that she wouldn’t have already done.
“You saw through her lies from the start, Riviana. That was good. However, you were not able to see that it was not just her that was a part of all of this. Instead, you hyper focused on what you thought was the truth and followed it until the end.”
“But I was right. It was all Hibiscus’s fault. She killed those Fae. She was the one that had been causing all those problems. She had been the one to mind control people and make them do things that they didn’t want to do.”
“But she was being manipulated.” The other me tried to counter my argument.
“NO! I am not letting you do this. Solanum told me that she only took away her inhibition. Those were things that Hibiscus already had in her mind and her heart. All Solanum’s so-called manipulation had done was make her stop hesitating and just do it.”
“I see your point, Riviana. However, is it not true that almost everyone harbors dark thoughts and desires? Is it not true that a lot of people might imagine doing something really bad, like killing someone, but they don’t follow through with it? That is just the way of the human mind. Just because they think something doesn’t make them a bad person. However, if someone forcibly took away their inhibition, that good part of them that kept them from behaving like a criminal, then they wouldn’t stop at just thinking about something would they. They would wind up hurting people for real. So, is it truly Hibiscus’s fault or was it someone else’s?”
While we spoke, the images had progressed, unlike in previous visions. This time, when I looked at the screen, it was when Aunt Glory, Athair m貌r, and I put together our little plan to oust Hibiscus. It went well, but it ended in her execution. It had been a very brutal execution as well.
I saw me standing there, pretending to be on trial while Aunt Glory pretended to be dead. Athair m貌r even pretended to be judging me for my ‘crimes’. There was a lot of stuff that had been going on. Amid it all, we were fooling the people as well as Hibiscus. I felt bad about that, but it was necessary to get Hibiscus to confess. And once she confessed, Aunt Glory, Athair m貌r, and I killed Hibiscus for her crimes.
At that moment, I had felt nothing for it. I still didn’t feel much for it. I was trying my best to block out the emotions at the moment. I didn’t want to deal with them right now.
“So, I guess the next thing that you are going to show me is the Fae that were with Solanum. You are going to tell me how stopping Solanum from taking over the world and killing millions of people was a bad thing. I shouldn’t have done what I did.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared at the other me.
“Not quite.” She mirrored my pose and glared at me for a moment before breaking into a smile and laughing at the childishness of her actions.
“Really? And why aren’t you? I thought you were bringing up everything that I had done that caused people to suffer?”
“Well, Riviana, there are a couple of reasons. The first of them is that you were there, and you know the true horrors of that battle already. And the second is because you are right, if you had not stopped Solanum, then the world would have been annihilated. There was death and destruction, yes. Thousands of people died, that is true. However, the only other option would lead to even more death. And you have been blaming yourself for the thousands of lost lives for years now. I do not need to bring that back up for you at this moment.” That was the first compassion I had seen from the other me. I wonder what she was up to, this couldn’t be real.
“Alright, other me, what else is there for me? What else do I need to see? I can’t think of anything else, but I am sure that you have more.”
“Actually, Riviana, that was the last scene that I needed to show you. Now, there is the next stage of all of this.”
“Really? And what exactly is the next stage of all of this? Huh? What other horrors does this self-reflection chamber have for me? Are you going to remind me of every lie that I ever told? Are you going to bring up every time that I got in trouble growing up? I’m just dying to know.” I was being way too sarcastic right now. I just knew that I was going to piss off the other me again.
Sure enough, the other me grinned evilly and leaned forward. She leaned so far forward that I felt the fire start to burn her face. I felt it because whatever happened to her happened to me. She didn’t seem to feel it at all, but I sure as hell did.
“Ah! Ah! Ahh! Enough! Enough! Stop it! Stop! Please! Stop it!” I was trying to push her out of the fire but the tears from the pain were blurring my vision.
“Take heed, Riviana, I do not want you acting like that much longer. Not to me at least.”
“OK! OK! OK! I hear you. Just stop! Stop already! Please. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!” I was practically hopping up and down with the pain right now but thankfully, the other me decided to listen. She straightened up and pulled away from the fire. Finally, the pain started to subside.
I could once again smell charred flesh, even though my body was fine. I could also smell burnt hair, but my hair was still intact as well. The other me was intact as well, so the whole thing just seemed odd to me.
“Sit down, Riviana, it is time to continue.”
****
Joaquin
****
The day after I got home to find my mate without her soul in her body was a hard one. All three of the kids were so miserable that they didn’t want to go to school. That was to be expected though. All they knew was that their mommy wasn’t waking up and that scared them. I was doing what I could to comfort them, but I didn’t know what to do or say.
They weren’t the only ones scared, so was I. This whole situation was scary, every part of it. And the fact that Dietrich and Shawn said that my Little Bunny’s soul wasn’t in her body was another thing that scared the hell out of me.
How? How did she lose her soul? Where did it go? And how could I get it to come back? The only thing that I could think to do was talk to Gabriel. He knew a lot more than most people when it came to these strange and weird occurrences.
And if Gabriel didn’t have any answers, then I would call someone else. I would keep calling old leaders of different species and clans that I thought might be able to help me. I would call people until I could find someone that was able to tell me how to help my wife.
