I am Twelve - Captive of the Vampire Prince

Chapter 7 - Weirdly ordinary

#musicvibe - Uprising, Muse

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Valeria POV

When I came outside, the black limousine was waiting with the engine running. Tyson was already there, along with Kayden, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

I grinned at Tyson and he gave me a brief kiss.

“Ready to go?” He asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

I was dressed in a deep red maxi dress with sleeves that ended just above my elbows. I wasn’t really fond of showing this much of my arms, but it was really hot outside so I didn’t really have a choice. Fiona insisted that I wore a dress that went past my knees every time I was doing something officially. It was a part of the royal etiquette.

We were just about to get into the car when I saw Mr Burke approach us hesitantly. He came closer and bowed.

“My king, my queen.” He greeted.

“Hi.” I replied. “We’re actually just leaving for Grey Moon pack now.”

His eyes welled up with tears and he fell to his knees in front of me.

“I never thought this day would come.” He cried. “Thank you for believing me, Queen Valeria.”

I glanced at Tyson with my cheeks burning, silently pleading for help.

“It’s umm- okay.” I replied. “We’ll go take a look around, and hopefully they won’t be able to hide from us.”

Mr Burke looked up at me and hastily got to his feet.

“I’m not going to delay your trip.” He said sheepishly and wiped his tears. “Thank you so much.”

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention.” I replied and walked back to the car.

As the car drove through Caniluna Village, I pulled out a file and opened it.

“So, this is the current Alpha?” I said and pointed at a picture in the file.

“Yes, that’s Henry Smith.” Tyson replied. “He’s Alden Smith’s son. He took over when Alpha Alden was too old to carry on. I think his son Jack just turned eighteen, so he’ll probably take over the pack in a few years.”

I nodded, deep in thought.

I had no idea what to expect when we got there, but it felt like the more we could keep a secret about me, the better.

“Don’t tell them who I am.” I said. “If they ask, tell them that you wanted me to visit the packs now that I’m their queen.”

Tyson nodded.

“Let’s see what they show before we tell.” He smiled. “I like it.”

I smiled back and looked out the window.

The journey took about two hours, and I started to feel nervous when Willow stirred inside me.

“I feel wolves out there.” She whispered. “We’re on pack territory now.”

I gulped, but forced myself to take a deep breath, remembering that I was a queen and that I shouldn’t show anyone that I was nervous, especially if we were going to be able to find any evidence.

The car came to a stop and Kayden pushed the door open. He held it open for me and Tyson, as was the routine. He was our Beta and I could tell that he was used to stepping into a professional role during official business, even if he wasn’t like that usually. I just hoped that I looked equally professional next to them.

Two men and a woman approached us, and they all bowed.

“That’s the Alpha and Luna.” Willow said.

“How can you tell?” I asked her.

“Their auras.” She replied. “The taller one has a really strong aura around him. I can feel that he’s an Alpha wolf.”

I forced myself to focus on the conversation in front of me, and I forced a smile as Tyson introduced me.

“This is my mate and queen, Valeria.” He said and they bowed to me.

I was happy that Tyson had left out my last name, it could have risked giving my identity away. The three people in front of us introduced themselves as Alpha Henry, Luna Doris and Beta Chase.

“It’s an honor to have you as guests in our pack.” Alpha Henry said and gave me a once over.

He reminded me of a toad. His skin was grayish and his eyes were so light brown that they looked yellow, sitting way too far apart and a huge forehead.

I gave him a cold smile.

“Thank you. I’m happy to see the kingdom.” I replied, purposely not acknowledging his pack at all.

“Let me show you around.” He said and gestured to the small but busy street outside the packhouse.

There appeared to be a market, small stands lined the street with food, clothes and jewelry. I looked around, hoping that I could spot something that looked out of the ordinary, and was slightly disappointed that I didn’t really see anything.

We walked down the street and Alpha Henry showed us the pack hospital, school and chatted with pack members along the way. Most of them were startled and bowed to us when they realized who was visiting. The whole bowing thing still made me feel a little awkward, but Tyson seemed unfazed by their behavior.

I stopped and frowned when I saw a pillar of smoke rise to the sky just outside the village.

“Is there a fire?” I asked and pointed in that direction.

“Well, unfortunately a house burned down last night, my queen.” Alpha Henry replied. “The fire department did everything to make sure that the fire didn’t spread, but the house was beyond saving.”

“That’s terrible.” I said. “I hope no one got hurt.”

“It was a rundown old orphanage, so it wasn’t much of a loss.” Alpha Henry shrugged. “It was practically empty anyway. The last of the residents have been moved to the packhouse for the time being.”

I forced myself to look indifferent, but I felt cold inside.

There was something wrong about this whole thing, but I couldn’t really put my finger on it. Maybe it was just because of what Mr Burke has told me, but this whole pack gave me the chills.

“How about we go back to the packhouse and get something to drink?” Alpha Henry suggested.

I kept my eyes peeled as we were on our way back, and I almost wanted to groan out loud in frustration over how incredibly ordinary and dull everything seemed. Apart from the fire at the orphanage, there wasn’t really anything going on here.

Maybe there was more to this fire. Could it have been deliberately started? How many children lived there at the time of the fire? How many of them had parents who stood up against the Alpha?

I wished that I could sneak off on my own, but with everyone around it seemed impossible.

We were shown into a dining room and sat down around a large round table. A young man walked in right after we sat down and bowed.

“Sorry I’m late.” He mumbled and sat down next to the Alpha.

“This is my son Jack.” Alpha Henry said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Tyson replied and gave Jack a curt nod.

Jack bowed slightly, but kept his gaze stuck on me while the Omegas started serving us drinks.

“If you don’t mind, my queen.” Jack said and I forced a smile. “According to rumors, you have powers. Is it true?”

“It’s true.” I replied and tapped into my powers, careful not to knock something over accidentally if I started feeling around too much. I didn’t trust my powers after the heat, but I didn’t want them to see that.

My white glowing eyes seemed to do the trick though, because there was gasping around the table, and I could sense a mix of fascination and fear in the air.

I was used to that. When I worked in the military, I had to demonstrate my powers to a lot of skeptical people and most of them had the same reaction.

These people weren’t any different.

“That’s truly remarkable.” Luna Doris smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

From the corner of my eye, I saw an Omega walk into the room with a tray. I didn’t know why my gaze stuck to her, but there was something different about her.

I didn’t sense a wolf in her, which meant that she was probably still underage. Her straight blonde hair was tied into a bun and her eyes looked red and swollen, like she had been crying.

I turned my head back to the conversation, but a movement caught my eye again and I saw Jack stick out his foot in front of the Omega. She tripped and fell to the floor with the tray she was carrying scrambling to the floor with glass shattering everywhere.

The alpha flew out of his chair and glared at the crying girl on the floor.

“Evelyn.” He roared. “You useless b*tch, clean this up, right away!”

“I’m sorry Alpha.” The girl sobbed, picking up shards of glass with her trembling hands.

Small pieces started to fall into place in my head, and when I sniffed the air and felt a faint smell of smoke coming from the girl, I realized that she must have been one of the kids from the packhouse.

And she might have all the answers we needed.

I just needed to figure out a way to get her alone.