Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Yes, that is correct. I am a pure wolf, both my parents were wolves as well. We don’t usually use the term werewolf though, because we don’t behave like the stereotypical werewolf in the movies.”
“Oh, OK. So just wolves then. And Shifters in general. Now, Riviana, you are not a pure wolf, right?” Wayne moved on, not dwelling on the negative part of things.
“That is correct. When I was growing up, people thought that I was half human, because they didn’t know who my father was, but then as time went on, we learned the truth. My father was a Warlock. And my mother, and consequently my entire family, wasn’t pure wolf either. They are actually half wolf and half Fae.”
“So, they were all hybrids, and you Riviana, that makes you a tribrid.”
“Yes, Kelsey, that is correct.” I nodded as I answered her. “I am not the only mixed breed among us though, so that isn’t an issue. We believe in accepting everyone, because our community is so vast and diverse.”
“That is so amazing to hear. To know that you are all so inclusive and accepting.” I could see genuine happiness in the eyes of the female host that was speaking with us. She really was happy to be hearing about all this positivity.
We talked a little more about the ways that we lived. How we had families, careers, and did all the things that the humans did.
“I mean, think about it, if we didn’t work with you and live among you, then there would be a lot less people in the world. We’ve been your neighbors, your coworkers, your friends, and in some cases your family. We have been here for a long time. And we have never once tried to take over.”
“Never?” Wayne sounded a little skeptical about that. “There has never, in all of history, been someone that tried to take over the world?”
“Alright, I can’t say that. But humans aren’t any different there. Look at Hitler, Stalin, and all the others that tried to rule the world. They were humans, and they were evil. As for our people though, when one got too big for their britches, he was dealt with from the beginning.”
“Dealt with?” Kelsey gasped. “Y..you mean, you know.” She made a motion that meant that they were killed.
“In older times, yes. But that was how the humans did things as well. Now, we lock them up in a prison that strips them of all magic, they can’t shift, they can’t cast, they are as human there as it is possible to be. We don’t believe in killing, not anymore. We evolved with the times just as the humans did.”
“OK, so you all do not hunt the humans?” Wayne restated what I had just told him, and he did so with a smile on his face to prove that he wasn’t at all scared of either me or Joaquin.
“No, we do not hunt the humans. Not even the Vampires hunt them. They might make contracts with humans and use them for nourishment, but it is a completely painless process that is no different than donating blood. No one is harmed, and the humans are generously compensated for it. However, most of the Vampires choose to get their nourishment from actual food, like you and I eat, or from animal blood. They do not require human blood for survival.”
“Really?” Kelsey sounded intensely interested in that topic as she leaned forward. “I wonder, how-.” She stopped mid sentence and looked to the side of the stage. She had gotten a message through the earpiece that she was wearing. My sensitive ears picked up on it immediately though, so I already knew what she was hearing. “Well, it appears that we have a caller that wants to discuss this topic with you a little more.” I could tell that she was not happy about this, but she had no choice but to follow along with the producer.
“Alright.” I sat up a little straighter and waited for the caller. “I can answer their questions if they would like. Joaquin and I have absolutely nothing to hide.”
“I love that.” Wayne looked at the producer, clearly as displeased about the interruption as Kelsey had been. “They are not going to hide anything from us right now. That sort of open honesty will do a lot for them and their cause.”
“I agree.” Kelsey nodded as she too prepared to allow the caller to speak. “Alright then,. Are you there, caller? You can go ahead now, Riviana and Joaquin are ready for your question.” Her voice was calm, but there was an edge to her eyes that said she was angry at how things were going.
“Yeah, I want to know when exactly they stopped killing people? From what I hear, they are still hunting humans in droves. There are thousands of people that go missing every day, and I just know that they are behind it all. Why else would there be so many people getting killed?” The man’s voice was angry and full of loathing. I knew that there would be people that talked about these things. And that tried to blame us for all the negativity in the world. It was an unfortunate side effect of life. We would just have to deal with it. No matter what it was that life threw at us, we would make it through this time, and we would see a time when the humans and the supernatural lived in peace together.
Taking a deep breath, I braced myself to deal with this man that was calling in to ask such a crude and outright false question. However annoyed it made me though, I needed to remain calm. I needed to make sure that I didn’t let him get to me.
****
Riviana
****
There was utter silence in the studio after the man’s question was spoken for us all to hear. I could tell that the others were curious about this as well, but the hosts, who were both human, were looking at me like they were completely offended by the man that had spoken. They had been fully supportive of Joaquin and I from the moment that we had arrived here. And I knew that they were allies of ours.
“Riviana, I know that this is a factless and baseless accusation that this man has hurled toward you with that question of his, but would you mind humoring him? I know that it would help a lot of people to settle their unease about you if you explained how things are with you all.” Kelsey leaned forward after she spoke and whispered with her hand covering her microphone. She wanted to make sure that no one would hear what she had to say. “Tinley Fraiser is a friend of mine, and I know that you are good people. I support you two completely. And so does Wayne.”
“Thank you.” I whispered to her as she pulled away from me. “And yes, Kelsey, I will answer his question. I know that this might help a lot of people with their apprehension about my kind.” I smiled at the camera. I tried my best, sweetest, and most innocent smile. I was sure that by the time that I was done, I looked no older than sixteen and that I appeared to be a pure and innocent angel.
“I can’t wait to hear this explanation.” Wayne smiled at me. “I know that this is going to be a wonderfully interesting piece of history that we never learned in school.” I smiled at him and nodded in agreement.
“It wasn’t taught in your schools, Wayne, but there are a lot of things that we need to learn in our lives as supernatural beings. And one of those is the history of our people. As you know how the saying goes, those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it. We don’t want to relive the dark ages where we were hunted by the humans, when we had less cooperation among our people and felt ostracized for just being ourselves. All we want is a world where we can all live harmoniously together.” I started the explanation and Joaquin picked up the thread seamlessly for me.
“There are things about history that no one wants to relive. And, unfortunately, there were times when our species were at odds. A time when humans knew of our existence and wanted to eradicate us. Back then, it was each group for themselves. The unification that we have had over the last twenty years has only served to strengthen our bonds. Our people are allies now, not enemies, and we want that with the humans as well.”
…..
“Exactly.” I nodded at Joaquin as I continued to speak. “Back in these dark times, when humans killed us and we returned the favor, there were lives lost all around. However, once we retreated to the shadows, turning ourselves into myths and legends, hiding ourselves from the people around us, there has been no rampant killings on either side. There would be a rogue human that managed to kill some of us, and likewise a rogue member of our society that killed humans as well. More than likely though, any killing that happened at the hands of our people was taking the lives of another of our people. Like humans, there used to be a lot of infighting with us as well.”
“Yes, it used to be quite common for fights for power to break out in a pack and the men would fight to the death to gain control. That doesn’t happen now, but it used to be a common thing.” Joaquin explained to them all.
“Now, about the missing people that you speak of sir, I can assure you that we are not responsible for it. However, I know that there is still a large human trafficking issue in almost every country in the world, including our own. And now that we do not need to hide as much, we can track them down a lot easier. I happen to know quite a few very skilled private investigators that I can put onto these cases. Not only that, but there are your typical runaways, as well as human murderers. There are a lot of explanations for these missing people but none of them have anything to do with our people.”
“That doesn’t answer my question at all. You didn’t say when you stopped killing humans.” The man nearly screeched over the line.
“Didn’t I?” I tilted my head in confusion as I looked toward a monitor in the distance. “I said that the killing of humans stopped generally around the dark ages. When there was a rogue among us, they were dealt with. We have even worked with humans over the years to stop these rogues. There was a man, a human man, that used to be quite good friends with some of my kind. He lived long ago and helped to keep the peace all over the world. His name was Alaric Jaegan.”
“Jaegan?” The man caught onto the name right away. “Like those murderers from the summer?”
“Yes, he was their ancestor. However, an ancient species of demons from a version of Hell had infiltrated the family and bastardized their ancestor’s memory. They turned them against my kind and made them kill my people.”
“Seems like that group had the best idea there is. You claim that you are not killing people, but you’re all just monsters.” The man’s voice was filled with rage when he spoke, like he was mad that I stopped the Jaegan from completing their mission.