Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Please, Shawn, Geliebte, listen to me. I didn’t do anything wrong. The people that we hunted, the men and women that we killed, they were the worst of the worst. They were people that didn’t want to hide what they were. They were killing people at random. They killed their own kind. They killed humans. They didn’t care at all. All they wanted was to kill. These people still occur in our world today, and they are swiftly dealt with by their Alpha or Coven leaders. Back then, these people were not as easy to catch. There were fewer people in the world, and they would be able to hide a lot easier. The man, this friend of mine, he worked with me and the others like me to destroy those killers. We weren’t just hunting our kind. We were also protecting them. That’s why I know that he has nothing to do with this. For one thing, Alaric died centuries ago. He isn’t around to do this anymore.”
“Alright.” I was finally letting Dietrich’s words settle in. “I understand what you are saying. And I am not going to hold it against you. I have had to personally take care of people like that. My father, when he was alive, was like that. And so were the two Fae that I had to kill. Solanum and Hibiscus were evil and needed to be stopped. And even though it was in the underworld, I killed Hekate to save the world. I had done what Dietrich was talking about. I had killed to protect the world. We all had.
“That was all it was?” Shawn asked Dietrich, needing to be sure.
“Yes, Liebling, that was all it was. I did not harm innocent people. I only killed them to protect the innocent.” Dietrich was desperate to be understood at that moment. “You must believe me.”
“I do, Dietrich. I do. Just calm down, mein Liebe.”
“So, Dietrich, you killed vampires, witches, warlocks, shifters and Fae? You didn’t discriminate at all?” Joaquin wanted to join the discussion as well.
“That is correct. We only killed those that we were completely certain were guilty. We would collect undeniable proof and then the sentence would be carried out. In the beginning, Alaric would trap the souls inside the body until they were cleansed with fire. That would be when the souls were freed. He stopped doing that after a while though. He said that it was not humane. He did not want to be seen as an animal. These runes though, they were in his home. They were in a certain part of his cellar. He made a sort of vault of souls. The worst of the worst that he did not think could be cleansed. He kept them trapped in there so that they would not be reborn.”
“So, he was humane, to an extent.” I mused as I listened to what Dietrich was saying. “And what happened as time went on? What did this Alaric do as he got older?”
“He had a family. He continued to hunt, but he often sent his children to complete the missions when he was getting older. At some point in time, I left him and his family to their work. I did not fear for my life or the life of anyone that was innocent. I knew that they would continue to live by their morals. They were doing good work and they were good people. I have heard a little bit of what they have been doing over the years, but for the most part, I have not thought about them in three hundred years.”
Three hundred years. I sometimes forget that Dietrich was almost five hundred and fifty now. He still looked like he was in his late twenties and would forever look like that. But having it being brought up again like this, it just surprised me for a moment.
“Alright. That is understandable.” I nodded at Dietrich. “If they didn’t do any true harm, then they are not the ones that we are looking for. It’s possible that they aren’t even still active. Just in case though, we should look for them. We need to be certain.” I looked at the watch on my wrist then, checking the time and comparing it to the time back home. “It’s two here now, so that means that it is eight in the morning back home. I know that everyone is flipping out over the fact that Talia is missing. I need to call them. The rest of you, relax and take a break. We will head back after the rest of them get here.”
“The rest of who?” Joaquin asked me curiously.
“You’ll see.”
****
Riviana
****
If I was calling just to talk to one person, then I probably would have ended up calling through a mental link. However, I was calling to talk to multiple people. I needed to talk to Mom and Lila. I needed to talk to Reagan and Rika. I needed to talk to Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley. And I needed to talk to Rudy and Alexio. The last two in that group needed to be calmed down. I just knew that they were going to be going on a rampage.
Everyone but Joaquin left the room when I pulled my phone from my pocket. Perhaps they wanted to give me some privacy. Perhaps they knew who I was going to be calling and didn’t want to hear the panic on the other end of the call. I had a feeling that the moment that they picked up, there would be a massive amount of frantic yelling.
I pressed the button that was the speed dial for my living room back home. I wasn’t calling anyone specific. Instead, I was calling so that it would be a video call on the TV in the main part of the tower. It was a place that everyone would be able to see and hear me, and I could see and hear them all as well. It was just the most efficient way to do this. Honestly, with some of the things that had advanced in technology, simple video calls were still pretty much the same as they had been ten and even twenty years ago. The only difference was the ease with how we were able to do it.
I heard the ringing for just a fraction of a second before the call picked up. Either they were standing there, waiting for me to call, or they were about to call me.
…..
“Riviana!” I heard Mom’s frantic voice before she even appeared in the video. “Thank the Goddess. I was just about to call you. Talia is gone. We can’t find her anywhere. When Beth went to wake her this morning, and assist her with getting ready, she was not in her room. We had assumed that she was still asleep because she is such a night owl, and that had been the reason that she was late to breakfast.” Mom looked so scared, but just as I was about to explain things to her, and the others that I could see gathered around her, Lila started to sob on the line.
“At first, I thought maybe she couldn’t sleep and was in the music room or the library. Or you know, maybe in the observatory. She likes to wander when she can’t sleep. But we searched the entire tower and the entire castle. We can’t find her at all, Riviana. She’s just gone.”
“I have failed you, Queen Riviana. I am not worthy to be her guard.” Rudy looked heartbroken at what had happened. Alexio, who was just beginning to speak, looked pissed off.
“I will find whoever took her. I will-.”
“Can you all let me speak for a moment?” I interrupted him. “If you give me a minute, I can explain a few things to you all.”
“Mommy? Does that mean that Tally is with you?” Zaley, who had looked so sad a moment ago, was not smiling as if disaster had just been averted. I could feel her relief from all the way over here.
“Yes. She is with me.” The cries of relief came immediately, however they were almost instantly followed by grumblings of anger and wonder.
“Why?”
“How?”
“Did you do this just to give me a heart attack?”
There were several outbursts, but those were the ones that I heard first. After that, I wasn’t listening to them anymore.
“No. I didn’t do this to give you a heart attack. Honestly, Mom, why would you think that?”
“Well, you tell me, young lady! Why in the world did you make my grandbaby disappear in the middle of the night?” Mom was taking this pretty hard. That was understandable, she was supposed to be in charge of them all. Of course, she and the others would be really scared if one of the kids just disappeared for no reason at all.
“First of all, Mom, I am not a young lady anymore. I am going to be forty a lot sooner than I want to be. Secondly, I originally intended to have her home before it was time for her to go to sleep, but my plans seem to have changed.”
“What plans?” This was from Alexio. He took his job as a guard very seriously.
“Well, I called Talia here to help with the case a little bit. There was something that I knew she could do for me that no one else would be able to. However, this is a job that she is going to need to do repeatedly. So, for a little while, she is going to be travelling with me. I need to have some arrangements made for her with the school. She will complete all of her assignments, which will be easy since they are all on the computer anyway. But I need this to not be held against her for her attendance. She’s in her senior year and I don’t want to jeopardize her college admission. Also, since she will be staying with me now, I will need someone to pack her some clothes. Mom, you can handle that for me, right? Lila, can you take the kids to school while my mom does that for me? Also, Rudy and Alexio, you are coming here as well, so you need to pack your bags. You will be traveling with Talia to protect her.”
“Good.” Alexio looked like he was going to demand that if I hadn’t suggested it.