Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“That’s not good at all.” Griffin didn’t need to state that obvious fact for me to know that it was bad. Venom wasn’t supposed to burn the ground like that. That was just some sort of overkill that these fucking dark Fae had cooked up. Dammit.
“G..Gr..Gr..Grif..Griff..Griffin, a..a..am I..I..I g..g..go..going t..t..to d..d..die?” Vincent was already preparing for that to happen. He just wanted Griffin to tell him.
“I hope not, Vincent.” I saw light moving from Griffin’s finger as he assessed and healed Vincent at the same time. “I don’t want you to die.”
I wanted to keep watching the scene. I wanted to watch Griffin heal Vincent and save the day, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to watch them for fear that the worst case scenario would come true.
As I turned away from them, I looked at the battle around me. Or should I say, the last stragglers of the fight that was happening around me. There were maybe a dozen dark Fae still clinging to the fight. The majority had either been killed or captured.
Most of the people that we were close to, the onlookers that is, were people we knew. Gloriana, Trevor, Landon, Dietrich, Shawn, Shane, David, and several other members of the council. They were all watching on to see if Vincent was going to make it. There was pain and sorrow in every face that I saw around us.
The battle was over. The war was most likely ending. But the victory was hollow without Riviana and Vincent. Where was my wife? And, would Vincent live? Those were things that I needed to know.
I was glad that the war was over. I was glad that the fighting was ending. But how many lives had we lost? Over these last couple of days, throughout every wave of this battle, how many people had we all lost in this fight?
Too many. If even one person, Fae, shifter, vampire, magic user, and of the people we called in for this war, if even one of them died then it was too many. This was a war that needn’t have happened. This was a war that was started because someone was stupid and petty and over all just plain evil.
We needed to do something about this world. We needed to stop more people from dying senselessly like this.
“How many children have lost a parent? How many parents have lost a child? How many people have lost a lover? How much will all this carnage affect our world?” I hadn’t meant to say those words out loud. I hadn’t meant for anyone to hear the sorrow filled words as they escaped, unhindered, from my lips.
“I don’t know, Joaquin.” Trevor came to my side, Gloriana with him.
“I am sorry, Joaquin. I should have been more careful. I should have been paying closer attention. I should have made it so that Vincent didn’t have to save me. This is all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault, Gloriana.” I assured her. She was not used to fighting, she was not accustomed to battles like this. Even so, she had done an amazing job over the last few days. “Vincent did his job and protected you. He knew that Riviana would have been upset if you were hurt. He was just protecting Riviana by protecting you.”
“But, if he dies, won’t Riviana be-.”
“Yes, she will be devastated.” I nodded, not even needing her to finish her question.”
I could only think of? two things at the moment, ‘Hurry back, Little Bunny’ and ‘Please don’t die, Vincent’. Those were the only thoughts in my head at the moment. That was all I could process at the moment while I watched Griffin pour a bright healing light into Vincent. The problem was, Griffin didn’t look too hopeful.
“Come back, Little Bunny.” I whispered the words. “Please, come back.”
****
Riviana
****
I didn’t want to carry that frozen head in my hands all the way back to the battle. At least, I didn’t want to carry it in my hands. I didn’t want to touch any part of that crazy bitch that had caused all of this. So, instead of touching her at all, stabbed my sword through the bottom of her neck.
The tip of my blade slid in effortlessly past the ice, skin, bone, and everything else that was in between it and the brain. I knew for a fact that the blade had slid in far enough so that it was planted firmly in the soft, vital organ.
Now that her head was skewered enough for me to carry it, I put my sword over my shoulder and walked back toward the barrier that separated me from the outside world. I had an image of someone with a hobo stick walking through the dark countryside as I made my way out of this place.
I remembered which way I had come, so it didn’t take me long to get to the fog barrier. I just needed to pass by all the unpleasant looking scenery along the way. I tried not to think of that sea of bloody water as I passed by, hoping that the battle up above hadn’t turned into something that resembled that hideous body of water.
When I did finally make it to that hazy, foggy divider between me and the exit, I took a deep breath. I needed to brace myself as I pushed into the thick, clingy, nasty substance. I knew that it would be gone soon. And I knew that it wouldn’t cling to me when I was through it, but that didn’t make it any easier for me to push my way through it. It felt disgusting and unnatural.
Finally, after a few moments, I was able to pass through that ten foot stretch of the tunnel. I was finally looking up at the exit and ready to leave. There was only one problem. I didn’t know how to get out of here.
As soon as I thought that while looking up at the light above me, I felt myself being lifted. It was once again that gentle and slow movement that didn’t make me feel the least bit nervous or scared. It was like the magic was fully welcoming of my presence and was assisting me. There was nothing at all hurried or terrifying about the way I was flying up and up and up.
After what felt like several minutes, I could see the end of that long tunnel. I was almost out of here. I was almost back to where everyone one else was. I wonder if Joaquin was going to be mad that I ran off like that?
I felt myself fly effortless out of that crack in the barrier and land gently on my feet. I was now out in the bright afternoon light and the sudden change had me squinting in an attempt to see what was around me. When I had gone in through the barrier it was in the morning. I don’t know how long I was in the dark Fae realm, but it was five times longer out here than it was in there. Yeah, Joaquin was going to be angry for sure.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that the battle seemed to be over for the most part. Most of the people that were near me, near the boulder, were all just standing around and staring at something.
‘What are they looking at?’ I asked myself silently as I started to walk forward. ‘What the hell is going on here?’
As the people around me saw that I was back from the dark realm, they were pointing and whispering. I hadn’t felt this uncomfortable since I attended pack meetings as an ostracized teenager who was the ridicule of the entire pack. Huh, to think that I went from being worth nothing to the pack to being the most sought-after shifter in the world. That was kind of funny if you think about it.
“The Queen is back.”
“Look at that sword.”
“What happened to her?”
“Where did she go?”
The whispers were following me and making me feel even more uncomfortable with each passing second. This just didn’t seem right. It didn’t seem normal. What was really going on here?
