Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Well, you know how we mortals are. We live our lives in a bubble and are often ignorant of the true events of the world.” I wonder what she was going to say to that one.
“HA HA HA HA HA!” Well, that was a new sound. And it was one that made me want to vomit. I didn’t truly know if Hekate was laughing or not. The sounds of those angry birds in her voice obscured the laughter and made it sound ten times more sinister than it already did.
I remained calm though. I didn’t let it bother me. Or rather, I didn’t let it show that her laughter had bothered me. I am pretty sure that she would have pounced on the fact that her laughter had rattled me.
“I have not heard something that funny in a long time, Riviana. Thank you for that.” Hekate almost sounded as if she were truly grateful to me, but I didn’t buy it. “I mean, of course I know who you are, girl. I know that you are no mortal. No shifter or magic user is mortal anymore. Their lifespans are equal to that of the Fae now. How interesting. And it is all thanks to you, their goddess. Isn’t that wonderful, Riviana? I think it is superb. All of my children now live for all eternity. They had long lives thanks to me and Thoth, but they did age and die after a long time. Now they won’t” There was something childish in the way she spoke. Childish and sinister at the same time. It was like watching one of those horror movies where some crazy child-like dwarf pretended to be a kid and killed so they could be adopted and kill the family. It was really creepy.
“I am sorry, I did not intend to mislead you, Hekate. I used to be a mortal, and I live in the realm of mortals, so therefore I still refer to myself as a mortal. Living among the humans does tend to make one act like the humans.” I rubbed the back of my head in fake embarrassment as I pretended to laugh nervously. “Ha ha ha.”
“I do not want to hear your paltry excuses, Riviana. You are a pathetic goddess. You do know that, right? You are weak and useless while you are on earth, and you are weak and useless while you are here.” That was pissing me off even more, but I couldn’t rise to her bait. I knew that she was just goading me.
“Well, that might be true. However, I am a new Goddess. I need to fully commit myself to the job. I am sure that after a while I will get the hang of it.”
“You will not.” She snapped at me then, her voice so filled with anger that it sounded like the whole flock of birds in her voice took off all at once. There was cawing, screeching, and the sound of wings flapping. Seriously, that had to be one of the weirdest powers ever.
While I waited for her to say something else to me, I looked down at the three little imp boys that were standing near me. All three of them looked scared and nervous. I could see one of them shaking as if he were about to start crying and another one of them had his hands over his ears to block out the sound of the birds. The last one was staring at the sky as if he were in shock or denial. They all looked just like regular little boys right now that all I wanted to do was protect them.
“Hekate, why am I here? Why am I in the underworld?” I needed to ask her that. I needed to get this conversation done and over with.
“You are here because I brought you here. Or rather, I tried to. Those three led you astray though. They took you through a different door and made you go through a path that was not in my original plan.”
“Why did you try to bring me here? What purpose will it serve?” The anger within me was starting to boil into a rage.
“You are going to get me out of here, Riviana. You are going to be my ticket to escaping this prison that I have been in for so long.” There was pure glee in her voice right now. So much so that it terrified me even more.
“No!” My response was immediate and expected.
“You will not have a choice. You will do it because you are already here. And if you don’t do it, then I will just keep toying with your mind until you cannot take it anymore. And while I destroy your mind, I will just lure someone else here to help me. I will see my freedom, no matter the cost.”
“I will not allow that, Hekate. I will not let you out of here. The world does not need you in it again.”
“HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!” There was that screeching laughter again. That sound made me shiver. I simply wasn’t able to stop it.
“I swear to you Hekate, I promise this to anyone and anything, I will stop you. I will make sure that you never escape the prison that you were sentenced to. You will never set foot in the mortal realm or the celestial realm.. I will not stop until you are destroyed.”
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Riviana
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“YOU DARE TO SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY! YOU DARE TO SPEAK TO A GODDESS AS OLD AND POWERFUL AS ME IN SUCH A MANNER! I WILL DESTROY YOU, RIVIANA GRAY. I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING THAT YOU LOVE BECAUSE OF YOUR INSOLENCE!”
The moment that I threatened Hekate, I felt the air around me become icy cold. I was not usually affected by the cold at all. especially not since I had gained various ice abilities. However, even I thought that this was way too cold. It was almost enough to freeze me in place, and I could tell that the three little imp boys were feeling the cold as well.
“I need to do something.” I said the words out loud to myself as all three sets of those familiar looking eyes gazed up at me with pitiful, helpless expressions.
If these little imp boys were Reagan, Rika, or Talia, I would never let this happen to them. I would never let anything bad happen to them. So, that would stand to reason that I couldn’t let something like this happen to these little imp boys either. I needed to protect them, to save them. I needed to protect these little Joaquin looking babies.
“Dammit! If only I had my magic right now. If only I could wrap these little ones in a protective barrier I could-.” I stopped right then and there because I was too shocked by what I saw. As I had been saying those words, I had envisioned what would happen if I had been able to perform magic in that moment. And it was actually happening.
The three little boys were all suddenly inside their own little bubble. The bubbles looked like they were made out of such fragile things, but they were actually quite strong, judging by how thick they felt when I reached out and touched them.
And to top it all off, those little bubbles were warm to the touch. It felt so much warmer next to the bubbles than it had when Hekate’s icy air was buffeting around me.
“Are you warmer now?” I asked the three little imp boys. They didn’t speak, just the same as before, but they nodded their heads. I tried to focus on them and their answers instead of the fact that my magic seemed to have worked. I didn’t know if it was a one time thing here or not, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up at all.
“Oh, how sickeningly sweet. You are being so nice to three little lost souls. Well, maybe I will destroy them first. Maybe I will take them away from you before I escape this eternal hell and destroy the world you once knew. I will enjoy tearing them limb by limb and devouring the deliciousness of their souls. I will make a snack out of those three before I take over the world and feast to my heart’s content.”
This bitch was fucking bat shit crazy. What the hell was she talking about? I didn’t know right now, but I knew that I needed to stop her. I needed to keep her here in her hell forever.
“I have a present for you, Riviana. I will end you right here and right now. I will make it quick and painless for you.”
“Oh gee, thanks Hekate. That sounds like it would be so wonderful. Only, you know, I don’t really feel like having any gifts right now. It’s not my birthday and it’s not Christmas. Damn, it looks like I will have to wait.”
‘OK Riviana, do you think that you might be able to tone down that sarcasm? We do not know what she will do. We do not even know what she is capable of doing. We need to be careful. We need to tread carefully.’ The other me spoke up, obviously not happy with the turn of events.
“You will have no choice, Riviana. You will see what it is that I can do. You will see what kind power the Goddess of Darkness possesses.”
After Hekate finished her little threat, I heard something that sounded like millions of crows and ravens scream through the air. I figured that this was the entirety of Hekate’s plan coming together.
“Lost souls need a shepherd.” I could barely hear Hekate above the sound of the birds. Not to mention, I was too busy looking around me for the swarm of birds that was obviously making their way toward me. From the sound of them, they were coming at me from all angles. I was going to need to protect the three little imp boys and defend myself against an onslaught of bloodthirsty birds. I needed to be on guard and watching for their approach.
However, I was watching the sky a little too much. Because of that, I didn’t see what was happening around me. If I had been watching my surroundings, and not just the aerial ones, I would have noticed that all of the people in the vicinity were no longer running on their loops. I would have noticed that they were all seemingly frozen for just a moment or two.
