Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
A lot of times, even when we didn’t all have classes at the same time, we all went to school with the others. This morning I didn’t have any classes, and neither did Luka, but Rika and Levi did. And so did several of the others. Luka and I had planned to do some research for the semester project that was recently assigned in our politics class. It was something that we had to do independently, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t do the research together. And that was why we didn’t have any issue with going to the campus early.
Of course, before I could head to the campus with Rika, we all needed to have breakfast together. Through all of the stuff that was going on, this was one thing that we always tried to do. We tried to be here and be consistent for the little kids. Even though Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley would all say that they weren’t little kids anymore and that they should be treated with respect and like the 鈥榞rown ups’ that they thought they were. These little consistencies in life gave us all a sense of stability that helped to make life that much easier.
…..
“We can use Rawlynne’s connection at the FBI to get more information on them.” I heard Dad whispering to Mom as they sat with their heads together.
“That might not be enough.” Mom said as she idly stirred her bowl full of sweet rice. “We need to come at this from all angles.”
“Mom?” I called out to her, but she didn’t seem to hear me.
“We need to involve as many agencies as we possibly can.”
“Yeah, I know. But that isn’t exactly easy at the moment.” Dad’s eyes were uneasy when he responded.
“Dad?” I called, this time a little louder. It seemed that I got through to them this time because they jumped a little, startled back into the reality of the moment.
“Yeah, son?” Dad said as he looked at me.
“I think that it would be best if you were present for breakfast.” I looked at the quads who had been watching our parents as they had their secret conversation.
It seemed that both Mom and Dad had forgotten where they were and what was going on around them. I could see the moment that they both blushed in embarrassment and looked around sheepishly. At times, they were so much alike that it was almost funny, and more than a little eerie. I just smiled at the way they were acting like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They weren’t supposed to be discussing 鈥榖usiness’ at the breakfast table, and they knew it.
“Sorry, Reagan. Sorry, guys.” Mom smiled at us all and did her best to be present for the rest of the morning. She and Dad were just so busy right now that it was hard not to bring work into private life. Especially because work currently involved so much of our private lives.
“It’s OK, Mommy, we know that you are busy.” Zaley smiled and looked deep into Mom’s eyes. “We’re sorry to pull you away from it.”
“Don’t be.” Dad told her with a calm and loving tone. The look in his eyes was apologetic. “We’re with you guys now, and that’s where we need to be. We will discuss work later. We are sorry for being distracted.”
“You’ve been distracted for most of the week, did something happen?” Talia asked them, knowing that they were going to give us another excuse.
“No, nothing happened. We’re just trying to stay ahead of things.”
“You’re lying.” Zaley said the words so flatly and matter-of-factly that it took me by surprise.
“Huh?” I asked her with a shocked tone in my voice.
“I can feel it in your voice. You’re lying. Why are you lying to us?” I could hear pain in Zaley’s voice now.
“Zaley, sweetheart, we’re not lying. Nothing happened. No one is hurt. There have been no new incidents. Nothing is wrong. We’re just trying to stay in front of the issues as they might arise.” Mom did her best to explain this to her.
“Hmm. That one is true, but the other one was a lie. I don’t know what happened though, so I can’t say for sure.” Zaley seemed to drop the subject and went back to her food. “By the way, you two are both happy and angrier than you used to be.” Sometimes, Zaley talked about things that didn’t make sense to me. What was she trying to say? “I just want you to be happy.”
The rest of breakfast was less confusing, but no less awkward. I think that everyone was just trying to puzzle out what it was that Zaley had been talking about. She had been acting like she knew what Mom and Dad had been feeling, and other things as well. Was that possible? Could she really sense that?
Given that Rika and I needed to get to school anyway, we offered to drive Talia and the quads to school that morning. It was a common thing for us to do anyway, so there was no reason to think that this was anything other than one of the typical and ordinary days. We talked about movies and what the kids wanted to do this weekend. It was Friday after all, so they were excited about the prospect of the next two days out of school.
Talia, not as young and childish as the others, was planning on going to Sereia’s this weekend. She had made friends with the girl pretty quickly, and her entire family was pretty nice to Talia. I could see why she liked it over there.
Zachary, Zander and Zayden wanted to have a video game tournament, one that would involve bringing their best friends over and playing as two man teams to be the ultimate winners. It sounded epic and pretty fun.
Zaley was hoping to go out somewhere with Breanna. She couldn’t go without her guards, and of course Mom and Dad had to OK it. The thing is that she hardly ever wanted to go anywhere, so I was hoping that she was able to make it happen. I liked seeing how she was blossoming and opening up now that she had a close friend at school.
Rika and I dropped the kids off at the school, waved to some of the parents and other kids that acted almost as awestruck as those human fans always did, and then went on our way. It was just me and my twin sister now, and we were usually comfortable with the silence in the car. Today, though, we both felt the need to talk.
“Were Mom and Dad acting weird today, or was that just me?” Rika asked as I turned away from the school and toward the city.
“They were definitely acting weird, but what was that with Zaley?” I asked her, not sure how to process that part of the morning.
“I think I heard her and Breanna talking once before. Something about how she can sense emotions. She would know what everyone around her is feeling, and I am sure that is quite overwhelming.”
“Damn. That would be hard. No wonder she has a difficult time at school. All the other people around, I am sure that it is sensory overload for her.”
“Agreed.” Rika turned to face me and looked quite uncomfortable. “I can’t even begin to imagine what it is like to be Zaley. Then again, I can’t say that Talia has it any better. I think that I am more than happy to be me, and there are things that I do that are weird as well.”
“We’re all weird.” I laughed at her. “I think that is a requirement to be a member of our family.” We both laughed, but it didn’t last long.
“Still, I am worried about Mom and Dad. Something had to have happened, but they don’t want to tell us about it.”
“Yeah, but they said that it wasn’t an incident, and no one was hurt, so it can’t be that bad.” I told her, remembering how that part was true according to Zaley.
“Yes, and that’s what is making this even more confusing for me. What would cause them to be so paranoid, if not for one of those incidents?”
“Yeah, that I can’t answer for you. Not right now anyway.”