Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“It was them, Mom.” Reagan said as he pointed to a man and a woman. I recognized the little boy that was with them. It was LeRoy, one of Zachary’s friends. Only now I could see that LeRoy was glaring at Zachary, and in turn Zachary was glaring back at him.
“Do you want to explain to me why you are talking about my daughter like that?” I growled at the woman.
“You know what, Mom, I forgot to tell you something last month.” Reagan turned to face me. “It was while you were gone, and I hadn’t wanted to ruin the good times that we were all having.”
“What was it?” Joaquin demanded as he rose to his feet.
That was when Reagan leaned in and explained what had happened at the sleepover with Zachary, Zander and Zayden. That boy, LeRoy, had started saying things about Zaley that were not only false but were infuriating. I don’t know how Reagan managed to keep his cool that night. I am guessing that he managed because the offender was just a child, but this was not a child that had been speaking. It was his mother, and she should have known better.
I let the information that he just gave me sink in for a moment. I didn’t want to rip the bitch’s head off, but I also didn’t want to let her get away with this just yet. Actually, I lied, I did want to rip her head off, but I wasn’t going to do that. I was supposed to set an example, and that wasn’t the message that I was supposed to send.
“Tam?” I glared at the bitch and saw her flinch. “You have been spreading lies about my daughter.”
“They are not lies.” Tam rose to her feet, and so did her husband Marion. “That little bitch is the reincarnation of Edmond. He killed so many of our kind, and yet you welcome that thing with open arms.”
“You have no idea how Edmond changed in the afterlife. If it wasn’t for him, Zachary, Zander and Zayden wouldn’t be here. He also gave Zaley his soul so that she wasn’t lost before she was born. He gave everything for us. He was willing to have his soul snuffed out of existence to save the boys and myself. He was a changed man. You have no idea what he was like at that time. Nor do you understand what he went through when he was a child. I am proving to the world that a soul is not born bad. Zaley is not evil. She is a good, sweet, and kind girl. She would never hurt anyone. She is loved and cared for, which is something that my father never had when he was a child. They are not the same.”
“I don’t believe a word of that. That girl is creepy and dangerous.” Tam screamed at me, her finger pointing at my daughter. “I lost family to that psycho.”
“I am not Edmond.” Zaley cried out in fear when the woman pointed at her. In an instant, Zachary, Zander, Zayden, Talia, Reagan and Rika all surrounded Zaley to protect her.
“Put your hand down, Tam.” I screamed at her. “And you should know that you do not say such things about the royal family.”
“Oh yeah, what are you going to do? Execute me? You’re such a pathetically weak queen that you outlawed that method of dealing with people. If you hadn’t, I would have already killed that monster girl.”
“That is a direct threat against the princess.” Joaquin roared at her. “Shawn, Shane, arrest that woman.”
“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY WIFE!” Marion snarled. “I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU TRY TO TOUCH HER!”
“Arrest him too.” Joaquin told them. “He is issuing threats as well. Is there anyone else that thinks that they can talk that way about my daughter and not be punished?” Joaquin paused and glared at the people that were gathered. “I want you all to know that I would not have had them arrested if they hadn’t issued threats of violence and said that they would murder my daughter. We live in a land of free speech, and I honor that. I do not, however, honor blatant lies and hostility against the royal family. You want to complain about us, that’s fine. You do not wish death upon a little girl. That is not only immoral, it’s also disgusting. It just shows what a disgusting person you really are.”
There were cheers in the crowd at Joaquin’s words. Clearly, the majority of the people agreed with us, but there were some that I could tell were parents of those bullies at the school. I had talked to them before and gotten them to mostly understand about Zaley, but there were still issues all the time. I needed to make sure that she was protected more, but I also didn’t like to suffocate them by sending a guard to school with them.
I watched on, almost in a trance, as Shane and Shawn moved to remove the two from the throne room. I was about to move on when I noticed something that I had almost forgotten. LeRoy, now sitting all alone, had just seen his parents taken away. And now he was going to need someone to take care of him.
I might be a generous person, but that was beyond my capabilities. I could not take that boy into my home, not after how he treated Zaley. Thankfully, it didn’t look like that was going to be a problem. After a moment, a man rose to his feet. He looked a little like LeRoy, and a lot like Marion who had just been taken away.
“Can my wife and I take our grandson?” He asked me timidly. “I didn’t raise my son to act like that, and I want to teach my grandson that it’s not acceptable to behave in such a way.” The man spoke pleadingly.
“LeRoy, do you want to go with them?” I asked the child, hoping he would agree.
“I..I want my parents.” He pleaded, but he looked at the man behind him. “B..b..but I know that they are in trouble. I will go with my grandma and grandpa.”
“Then it is settled.” I nodded at them. “LeRoy will stay with them for the time being.”
Now that this scene was over, and the two offensive people were removed from the crowd, we were able to get back on track with the speech that we were here for. I explained to them all that we were revealing ourselves to the humans. I told them that we were going to be safe because we had gotten the laws to pass in our favor. I told them that there was nothing to worry about, and I truly believed that as well.
Some people asked questions about what was going to happen, and I was happy to see that Reagan and Rika were answering them with us, not missing a beat at all. They really were getting really good at running the pack and the politics that had to do with the kingdom. They were both really good in these roles.
With the discussion over, it was time for everyone to leave. They didn’t seem to be too worried about what was going to happen, but I could tell that some of them were just a little tense. I think that it was a combination of what had happened in the beginning of the meeting as well as the discussion that we had just had. They were trying to process it all. And thankfully, they all had a week left to process it before we reveal ourselves to the humans.
****
Joaquin
****
The last several days seemed to have just flown by. We had busily prepared the venue for when the reveal was to take place tomorrow. We made sure that as much media from various outlets were invited as possible. We had the governor, the president, and so many others that were going to be present with us. And we had as many big names that were willing to be there with us as possible. I felt like we were as ready for this revelation as we could possibly be. Yet, I still felt like we were missing something, or that something was off somehow.
I knew that this feeling inside of me was probably just nerves, or something similar to it, but that didn’t mean that it was any less powerful. It was hard to sit here and not feel the thrumming that was the blood speeding through my veins. And why was that happening? Because my heart was pounding and yet beating way too fast at the same time.
“Joaquin?” I heard my Little Bunny call out to me, but I was still lost in thought. So much so that it was hard for me to respond to her right away. “Joaquin?” She called out to me again and this time I managed to turn to look at her.
“Huh?” I started a little, just a little jerk that told her that she had somehow surprised me even though I had heard her the first time.
“Are you OK?” She looked worried about me as she leaned over and placed her hand over mine. We were at the dinner table and she and all the kids were staring at me. I guess I had stopped eating and talking as I lapsed into thought. How long had I been lost inside of my head like that?
“Yeah, I am fine.” I smiled at her in response and took her hand in my own. “I was just thinking about some things.” I reassured her and the kids at the same time.
…..
“What things, Dad?” Reagan asked. He looked as concerned for me as my Little Bunny did.
“Not much son, just about tomorrow and how things are going to go.”