Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
鈥楴o, I am sure that they are part of that same group. They have a similar smell to the other ones.’ Garret was again the one that was talking and explaining things. I guess he was the most outspoken of the guards and knights that were with us. That or they all unanimously made him their designated talker. I knew Garret a little, mostly by reputation. He was a good man, a wolf from my own pack before it exploded into the massive thing that it is now.
鈥榃hat do you mean similar smell?’ I asked him, not wanting to let that little tidbit of knowledge pass me by. This had the potential to be something important, though it could just as likely be something that was nonessential and therefore not at all important. Still, as a leader, I needed to ask him about it.
鈥榃ell, they have that same musty and general nasty smell that you were talking about. I noticed that on the guys that took the girls to the restaurant. However, these people seem to have it stronger. And there is a slightly different undertone to it as well. I detected a little bit of something that was sulfurous. It was almost like they were lighting match after match. It wasn’t overly strong, but it was there.’
I tried to understand what that might mean for the case. What does having a stronger odor and sulfur mixed with it mean? What should I do with that information? How was I going to use that to my advantage?
While I was thinking about that, my amazing Little Bunny, the wonderful queen that she is, figured something out.
“I am going to guess that they are the ones that disappeared in the car last night Joaquin. They have to be higher in the pecking order. These people, whatever it is that is wrong with them, the closer to the top that they are the stronger that smell will be.” Of course, she would figure that out in almost no time at all. You know something, I am not a stupid man, not by a long shot. But that doesn’t stop me from feeling like an idiot at times. I didn’t even think about the strength of the odor being relevant to the power they had in the family. Or it could also be related to the dedication that they had to the family’s mission.
“I think that you are right, Riviana. But let me add upon that.” I leaned in and grinned as I whispered to her. “Clovio and Warrick don’t smell like that, because they don’t believe in the mission. I think that the smell is a combination of power and belief or dedication.”
“Agreed.” She nodded. “Now back off and get to work. We can’t afford for you to get distracted by little Joaquin at the moment.” She rolled her eyes.
“That isn’t little by any standards.” I chuckled but did as she told me to. I raised up so that I was staring at the entrance of the park through my binoculars again.
“It’s not the full size Joaquin, so I call it the little Joaquin. I can call it something else, but I don’t think you would like all of the nicknames that I am able to come up with for it.”
“Probably not.” I didn’t even want to think about it. She would turn it into a joke on purpose. She would definitely try to make herself laugh with any name that she thought of. It was best to drop that subject permanently.
鈥業 see them.’ I heard another voice come through the mental connection. 鈥楾hey are making their way toward the park. I estimate that they will be there in about three minutes.’
鈥楢lright everyone, you heard him. Be on guard.’ My Little Bunny was the first to respond to him. She was the leader of all of us, so it all made sense that she was the one to be giving the orders. 鈥楲et them get to the park before we make our move. Those that are closer to the entrance that they come in, swing around and circle the other group as well, I do not want to lose any of them. I want this situation locked down as soon as we can. Let’s stop these guys, people. Saving those girls is only a small part of this. If we manage to capture all of them, then we will be one step closer to ending this whole thing.’ She was giving orders and a pep talk all at the same time. I could literally feel the spirits and determination of our warriors rising just by hearing her words.
鈥榃e will give it our all, Queen Riviana. We won’t let you or any of the others down. We will make sure that we get them all. For your sake and that of those we must protect.” OK, some of these people were a little over the top. I mean, it was good that they were dedicated, but it was a little much sometimes.
鈥楾hank you. I am glad that I have all of you here to count on. We need all hands on deck with this. Do your best everyone.’ Riviana sounded like she didn’t really know what to say and just said something random to fill the gap in the conversation. Thankfully, the talking died out after that. It was time for us to focus and get to work.
The next few minutes seemed to drag on forever. I stood there with Riviana, Shawn and Dietrich as we waited for the first group to get into position. It was like the universe was determined to make it take ten times longer than it should have been.
After what felt like thirty minutes, or three eternities, I saw the group start to enter the park. They were there, right on the edge of Acacia Park, opposite the statue that Talia said that she had seen in her vision. They were laughing and I saw the men all holding onto one of the girls. I didn’t think that they had been bespelled yet, this was just them being boy crazy teenage girls. If I was their father, I would have been disappointed in them. And frankly, as a father to three daughters, I was disappointed anyway. Why did they have to try so hard just to get boyfriends when they were so young? Why couldn’t they be young for a little while longer? Seeing these girls with those men, it made me think about my own daughters and I didn’t like that. I knew that anytime now, Rika could find her mate and Talia wasn’t that far behind her. And before I knew it, Zaley would be finding a mate and getting married as well. I was losing my little girls, and that was too hard for me to process.
NO JOAQUIN! YOU NEED TO FOCUS! I scolded myself and shook my head. It was time to get to work.
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Joaquin
****
The five men and the five teenaged girls were entering the park now. They were heading toward the picnic tables and park benches that were in the center of the park. It was time for us to move. We needed to hurry. Riviana and I were going to be there in the lead when we stopped these people. This was what we had been working for over the last month or so. We needed to stop these people as soon as possible.
We were on the move now. Riviana, Shawn, Dietrich and I were running toward the park. I was able to sense that the others were moving as well. One hundred and twenty people were convening around this area at once, and it was all to get these twelve men. The entire group was on guard for these people, and those people didn’t even know it.
The moment that we were down the hill that we had been hiding on, we ran across the street and into the park. My ears were already picking up the words that were being spoken by that group.
“This is fine. I don’t mind coming to the park. It’s a nice night.” There was a girl talking with a voice that sounded like she was nervous and excited at the same time.
…..
“Yeah, parks are nice.” Another girl spoke. She was someone that I had heard before. This was one of Talia’s friends that had come to the castle before. That was Ada.
“I like nature. Seeing the moon and stars is the best.” This was a man’s voice. It was one of those creeps that wanted to hurt those girls. And the closer that I got to his voice, and the others, the more that I could smell his disgusting scent. I hadn’t even come from the direction that they had entered the park from, and the wind was blowing away from me, yet I could still smell that stench that was coming off of those disgusting creeps.
“Yeah, you should see things back home. It’s so clear and beautiful at night.” Another man was speaking. The two of those men had German accents that matched the ones that Clovio and Warrick had. They were obviously raised in the same area.
“I find it so cool that you’re all from the same place. Are you all cousins or something?” This was another one of the girls that was talking. I was inching closer with Riviana at my side. We needed to make sure that these men showed that they meant to do these girls harm, so we were hiding in the shadows as we entered the park. Not to mention, we were hidden with the runes and a little magic. I knew that Riviana had cast several spells this evening, and one of them was meant to manipulate the shadows around us. I must admit, having a powerful magic user as a wife had its benefits. And not just in the bedroom when she wanted to dominate me. Not that now was the right time to be thinking about that.
“Something like that.” The man that was hanging off of that girl spoke softly. “Brothers and cousins. We were all raised with each other though.” I wanted to smack that man’s arm off of that girl. I didn’t know which one she was, but I knew that her father would not approve of a situation like this at all.
“That is so cool, Fritz. I would love to have a big happy family like that.”
“It wasn’t bad, most of the time. Though it wasn’t always pleasant.” Another of those assholes was talking now. They were trying to put the girls at ease. I knew it was just a matter of time now though.
鈥楯oaquin, Riviana?’ Dietrich spoke into our minds. 鈥業 can sense Talia’s soul. This is definitely the scene that she was watching in that vision of hers. She cast herself into the future to see this moment. She is most definitely a lot more powerful than I ever thought that she was.’ He was speaking to the two of us only, and I could feel the awe in his voice.
鈥業 always knew that Talia was special, but I never knew how special until this case started.’ I shook my head, wondering just where it was that she was watching this scene from.
“I can’t believe that you asked us out.” One of the girls spoke then, breaking me free of my mind and bringing me back to what was most important.
“Well, you’re adorable.” Blech! I wanted to vomit. I was imagining Clovio and Warrick saying things like that to Rika and Alyssa and it made me sick to my stomach.
“We were the lucky ones, catching you when you came out of the mall. I can’t believe that we were able to evenly split like this. None of us have to be lonely tonight.” Another of the creeps was saying whatever he needed to so that the girls would feel calmer.