Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
A little while after Joaquin and I sat down with Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley, we heard someone else coming in. Reagan and Rika were home now, and they were who we needed to talk to. The quads understood that Mommy and Daddy needed to get to work now, and they were happy to have had that time with us when they got home. Now though, they were going to do their homework and prepare for their lessons that they had in the afternoon.
Reagan and Rika saw that we were waiting for them and looked at us with perplexed eyes. They wanted to know what was going on, but I think that they were a little iffy about actually asking us about it.
“You both want to help, right?” Joaquin broke the ice and opened the floor to the conversation.
“Yes, we do.” Reagan nodded excitedly. “What can we do? How can we help?”
“Did something new happen?”
“We had a friend, Darrol, come in to hack into the computers from the NSA. He managed to get in, and he has a lot of information that needs to be sorted and processed. It’s tedious and boring work, but if you want to help, this is where you start.”
I thought that they would object to the offer to help. I mean, it was menial work meant for an intern or an office gopher. I didn’t think that they would want to help with something so tedious.
“Yeah, we will help.” Rika nodded immediately.
“Hell, yeah we will. We get to see the secure files from the NSA. Who wouldn’t jump at that opportunity?” Reagan’s excitement was palpable.
“Alright then, if you still want to help, then come with us. It might take more than one day, so you can tell the others to come and help later if they want to. I know that Shawn and Dietrich most likely told their kids what was happening, the same as I told you. And Carter, Cedar, Juniper, and all the others. And all of you can help us in various ways.” I explained to them as I started toward the door.
“Hey, Mom.” Reagan called out to me, stopping me before I had gone more than a step or two.
“Yes?” I turned to face him.
“I was thinking about something recently. Something that I think will help us out a lot.”
“And what is that?” Joaquin asked him quizzically.
“It won’t help out the issue at hand. It will actually be centered on me and Rika. And the others. Levi, Luka, Alyssa, Alexandria, Elias, and the others. We are the ones that will eventually take over when you retire, or just want to take a break. And we will be helping out with things when we are done with university. I think that we need to learn more about our people and our kingdom. There is a lot that has happened over the last twenty years, and while we know about a lot of it, I am sure that there is a lot that we need to learn. And yeah, sure, the world isn’t what it was when you were our age. There are still so many things that we need to figure out on our own, but there is also so much that we can learn from the two of you. And it is not just the two of us that needs to learn this stuff. And I know that it’s not just the two of you that can teach us. We need to learn all that we can from you and Dad. Uncle Shawn and Uncle Dietrich. Uncle Vincent, and Uncle Gabriel. All of them have knowledge that we will never get on our own. We need to be taught. And that is why I suggest that we start learning it all as soon as we can. We have been sheltered enough, it’s time for us to grow up.”
“I agree with him too, Mom. We need to learn all of this. I know that I have been immature, selfish, and sheltered lately. And I am ready to move past that. I need to better myself so that I don’t make the same mistakes ever again.”
“I am proud of you two. You are both growing up so fast, and seeing this right here and now, I see that you are more mature than I ever thought that you were. And yes, I agree with you. We need to start teaching you how things are run. We should have done it sooner, to be honest. However, like you said, you were sheltered. I thought that by keeping the dark things away from you I was protecting you, but I was wrong. I left you na?ve and that is on me. Can you ever forgive me?” I felt shame then, so intense that I didn’t know how to get past it.
“Of course. It is on us as well. We didn’t have a desire to learn until now. Not until the truth of the world was shown to us. And, honestly, I am glad that you gave us a childhood that didn’t have darkness in it. I loved my childhood.”
“Thanks.” I felt a little better after that. “Now come on. Let’s get to work.”
The four of us left the living room together. I got to talk to Reagan and Rika for a while on the way down. I chose to take the stairs because it gave us more time together. And I knew that moments like this one, where they were so open and carefree with us, were limited. They were getting older, and soon they would have mates and families of their own. That was such a heartbreaking topic for me to think about.
Then again, it wouldn’t be all that bad either, would it? I mean, when Reagan and Rika found their mates they wouldn’t be my babies anymore, but they weren’t that right now anyway. They would both be happy, and they wouldn’t need to worry about their futures at all. They would eventually have kids, and that would mean grandkids for Joaquin and I. And the other kids, Talia, Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley would all be aunts and uncles. They would probably like the idea of that, even if Joaquin hated it with every fiber of his being.
And if I am being honest, seeing Joaquin flip out over the kids, specifically his little girls, finding mates was going to be hilarious to watch. And I just knew that I was going to be right there, front row center, when he had his first meltdown. Honestly, in a way, I couldn’t wait for them to move on, but I also valued this time with Reagan and Rika so much that I was torn and unwilling to make a true decision.
I guess that, in the end, they would do things at their own pace. And Joaquin and I just needed to watch it happen. And until then, we could continue to prepare them for the world and their future as best as we could. They needed to know as much as they could about our world and our culture. More than they had already been taught. Way more.
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Riviana
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Joaquin and I took Reagan and Rika back to my office. That was where we met with Darrol and Reggie again. They were already hard at work on sorting the information that they had received. It was nice to see that they were already preparing things even before Joaquin and I had made it back to the office. They were dedicated to the work that they were doing.
“Hello, Queen Riviana.” Darrol, as excited as he usually was, leapt to his feet when I entered the room. “There is a lot of data that we have ready to go through, but I am sure that we will get it all done as soon as we possibly can.”
“That is wonderful Darrol, I am glad that you are so enthusiastic. We did bring you some help though.” I explained to him, and that was when he saw the extra people that were with us.
“U..uhm, Q..Queen Riviana, why do these two look familiar to me? I am sure that I have not met them before.” He looked thoroughly perplexed as he tried to figure it out.
“You can’t tell?” I laughed as I asked the man that question. “Do they not look like Joaquin and I?”
At that, Darrol looked between Reagan and Rika then to Joaquin and I. It was easy to tell that he was a little shocked when it dawned on him.
…..
“Th..these are your kids?” He looked way more shocked by that then I would have thought that he would. “Oh wow. I..I admit, I forgot how old you were, Queen Riviana.” He laughed nervously as he said that. “A..and so, i..if these are your kids, w..would that make them the oldest of them? That would be Princess Rika and Prince Reagan, right? I..it is so nice to meet you. I am Darrol Harper, FBI agent and hacker extraordinaire.” It was clear that Darrol was nervous about what was happening, but he was the type to go with the flow, no matter what it was. He was a good man to have on our team, and I was glad that he was on our side.
“It is nice to meet you, Darrol.” Reagan held his hand out to him. “I am Reagan Gray. And I guess that it is you I am here to help. My sister and I wanted to help my parents with whatever it was that they needed. And this data you have is the first step.”
“Alrighty then. I am good with that.” Darrol clapped his hands together, the nerves in him ebbing away.
“It is nice to meet you, Prince Reagan, and you as well, Princess Rika.” Reggie held her hand out towards them. “I am Regina Danylo. You can call me Reggie.” Rika took her hand in introduction.
“It is good to meet you both. I am Rika Gray. Thank you for this opportunity to work with you.”