Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Thank you, Cadwal. We would like to see where the last body was found. I would like to see what it was that happened to them and decide for myself if there is any more information to be gathered in the area. I will also do the same at the other murder sites.”
“Yes, Queen Riviana, I will take you there right away.” Cadwal stood and was already rushing for the door before I had the time to stop him.
“Wait a minute.” I called out. “How long of a drive is it? How long will it take us? Since I have never been there, I might make things worse trying to travel there. You sent a photo of your office to me and that made it easier, but this is somewhere that I can’t fully visualize at the moment. Also, what time is the sunset going to be? How much time will we have to investigate before we begin to lose the light of day. We are able to see at night, but the clarity is not ideal for searching for clues. Personally, I want to make sure that we have enough light to see by. So, you tell me Cadwal, do we have the time to get all of this done tonight? Or should we wait for the morning?”
“Ah, well, now that you mention it, tomorrow would most likely be best. Sunset will be around twenty thirty, give or take a little, and it is currently seventeen fifty-three. With the time needed to get to the site, we should likely wait until tomorrow.” I could tell that Cadwal was feeling defeated. He wanted to get this done and over with sooner. I guess we should have planned better, but I wanted to see the kids in the morning before we left. We did, however, stay up through the night so that we would be a little more on the local schedule than if we had slept through the night.
“Do not worry about it too much, Cadwal.” Vincent called out to the man as he seemed to deflate. “It is as Queen Riviana said, we want to give this our all. We need the conditions to be right. Because of that, we will take the time tonight to settle in and interview some people that knew the victims. If you could have them summoned and ready within a few hours. We will take the king and queen to their room and settle them first.”
“Yes, I will do just that.” Cadwal, glad that we were not leaving things as they were for the night, immediately perked up.
This man, Cadwal, was a young Alpha. He was maybe twenty-five years old and had taken over for his father not that long ago. His father had, apparently, wanted to step down and allow his son the time to lead their people. He was still around though, and he would be a useful man to talk to. If I remember correctly, his name was Aberforth.
Vincent and Gabriel took the lead as they led us all out of the room. When we were in the hall outside of the office, we were greeted by a young woman that was maybe sixteen. She was pretty, had brown hair, and reminded me of Talia quite a bit. The smile and curiosity was what made them look alike.
“Good afternoon, Queen Riviana. My name is Telyn, if you would allow me to do so, I will be the one taking care of you while you are here.”
Before I answered the girl, I turned to look at Vincent and Gabriel. They would be able to read her and her intentions. They were going to be so useful with this investigation. I saw that they both gave a barely perceptible smile and slight nod. They were telling me that she could be trusted.
“Thank you, Telyn. I would appreciate that. If you would be so kind as to show me to my room.”
“Yes, of course my queen. Please, allow me to take your luggage and follow me.”
“We have her luggage, Telyn, there is no need. Please, just lead the way.” Shawn spoke softly to the girl. I wonder if she reminded him of his daughters as well. He had another back home that was almost this age as well as one younger and the two that were in college with mine.
“Yes, of course.” She bowed a little and started to lead the way up the large staircase for us to follow her. She really did seem sweet, just like my Talia.
I missed the kids already.
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Riviana
****
As Telyn led us up the stairs toward our rooms, I had a chance to see just how different the architecture was for this Alpha home compared to how they were typically built in the United States. There were quite a few differences that were immediately apparent to me. First of all, the building seemed to be mostly made of stone, though there were wooden supports and accents. It was very neat, tidy, orderly, and all in all very beautiful. However, it is what most back home would call rustic. It had the feel of a stone longhouse or cottage, however, it also felt grand and large, like a castle.
The colors were mostly neutral with things like white, grays, and blacks. The primary color was white while the others were just the accents that were either added after the fact or never covered up. It was very nice. I happened to like it here, seeing the differences in what we had in our homes even though we were all wolves. Well, most of us. Shawn wasn’t considered a wolf anymore, and Dietrich was never considered one.
When we made it to our room, I felt like they had done some sort of magic to have a room this large in here. It was not as big as my room in the castle, but it was far from small. It had all the comforts that we needed and then some more. The walls were white stone with black wooden supports and trim. The bed was made of the same black wood, as was the rest of the furniture. The windows were just like an old storybook cottage, but larger since they seemed huge.
And the bathroom in this place was a lot more modern than I expected. I silently cheered with eager excitement when I saw that it was not a 鈥榬ustic cottage bathroom’, or the bathroom that one would find in a very old bathroom. It was clean, modern, and perfect. The only issue, there was no tub for me to soak in. Oh well, I would live. I would have to. And besides, we weren’t going to be here for too long.
…..
“If you need anything, Queen Riviana, please just press this button.” Telyn handed me what looked like a small pager with just one button set into it. “This will alert me to your need for my assistance and I will come right away.”
“How will you know where I am?” I asked her with a smile. I expected a cute answer, but instead she blushed like she was embarrassed.
“W..well, uhm, I..I am very good at tracking people. Better than most people in the pack. If I weren’t considered underage, I would be helping to find the man responsible for these attacks. My tad doesn’t want me to get involved because he is worried about me getting hurt.” I could see the sadness in Telyn’s eyes. She wanted to be useful, that was clear. However, as a mother of children near her age, I could understand why her parents were keeping her out of the investigation.
“You will have plenty to do, Telyn. There is no reason to feel sad.” I smiled at her as I put away the button that she had given me. “Thank you for bringing us up here. Please show the others to their rooms now. We need to settle in before the witnesses get here. We have a lot of interviewing to do tonight.”
“Yes, Queen Riviana, right away.” She bowed to me as she backed out of the room and left with the others. Now, Joaquin and I could relax for a few moments before we started to interview the people that were coming at our request.
Joaquin and I were busy putting things away when he suddenly started to speak to me from across the room.
“We should sit out for the interviews.” He didn’t stop putting his things away and he didn’t even turn to look at me. I know this because I had stopped and turned to look at him. And he definitely hadn’t done either.
“Why? What on earth makes you think that I should not interview those people along with everyone else?” I was angered by his words, and I didn’t know why. I just knew that I wanted to find an end to this as soon as possible.
“Think about it, Riviana. These people revere you. You are their queen. I am sure that they will think the same of me, but to a lesser degree. You are their Goddess, their queen, their everything when it comes to shifter and magic user high authorities. They will all be nervous and scared around you. Just look at how Cadwal and Telyn acted around you.”
“Yeah, I get that, Joaquin. I really do. But I can’t just sit out. I can’t ignore it all. I need to be there.” I didn’t want to let others do this for me. “Like you said, I am their queen and their Goddess. I need to protect them. I should never have let this happen in the first place.”
“Then, perhaps, we should observe. The others can interview them while we watch. That will allow us to pay attention and see if there is anyone that stands out to us. And I also think that Gabriel and Vincent will be best as people that are walking around the interview room. My plan is to bring in four witnesses at once, the others can interview them while you and I observe, Gabriel and Vincent will be able to see if any of them are lying or untrustworthy.”
“Hahh. You’re right Joaquin. I know you are. I just hate not doing anything.”
“I know, Little Bunny. But this will be better. The people will be scared and nervous if you interview them. This way, they might be able to speak a little more calmly.”
“Alright. I agree. We will go with your plan. Please tell the others when they arrive.” At my words there was a knock on the door. They were already here.
Joaquin told the others what the plan was for the interviews, giving them time to get situated and to figure out what they were going to ask most of the people. Gabriel and Vincent were used to having to check people and their intentions, so they had no issue with this at all.
