Ashes of the Forgotten Alphas

Chapter 4: Motives

Despite the baggy jeans and funky T-shirts like the one he has on now, showing Betty White smiling proudly, the head of all Alphas in the world was older than he looked. William Caldwell sat behind his desk with a warm smile on his face the moment Tate and I entered. In contrast to his look though, he was as formal as a noble in olden times.

“Good to see both of you are getting along well,” he said as we sat in the couch in front of his desk. “It is nice to see after everything you both went through.”

I smiled at him. Illia has seen us from the start when I was off being a grouch at how difficult it is to have mates. Back then, the thought of being together with him was not only improbable but impossible but here we are. 

“Took us a long time,” Tate answered, taking my hand in his as he looked at me, “but it was worth the wait.”

I pursed my lips, trying not to be affected by his words or show embarassment. Seeing the look in Illia’s brown eyes told me I failed but instead of saying something about it, I just trudged on and ignored Tate .

“Anyway, after you told us about that town where wolves have gone missing, I made a couple calls but came up with nothing. No missing persons report have been filed at all.”

“Were you looking for humans?”

“Yeah. The town is populated purely by humans so if wolves have gone missing, chances were that humans would have been too. But nothing came up.”

“That was a smart move but no. However, there are others who have gone missing besides our wolves.”

“Who else?” Tate asked and before Illia could have answered, I smelled the scent of autumn becoming stronger until the door opened and a man who looked like autumn incarnate came in.

Karael had long pale hair the color of ashen oak flowing smoothly past his ankles and eyes a bright orange when autum is at its finest. Despite the length of his hair, it didn’t seem like it limited his movement as he glided towards us with the grace of a cat. “I see William has yet to inform you. My people have also been caught by this portal.”

Fey? I didn’t know much about them except that like other supes, they tend to keep to themselves. And more so than the vampires, they think highly of themselves that they don’t interact much outside their race. However, by some turn of events, Phink seem to be wary of this guy who was somehow Illia’s friend.

“As Karael said,” Illia started as Karael sat in the maroon-colored straight back chair close to the door. “Feykin have disappeared as well in Willow. We are not yet sure what has happened but we have good cause to believe this is related to Evermoore.”

I leaned forward, remembering a certain town with the same name a few months ago who had a flesh-eating monster roaming it. “Evermoore? The one that was burned down because of that creature?”

A solemn look crossed Illia’s face as he nodded. “Willow and Evermoore are neighbors to each other. No one has found the reason why the Fideal was released in that town up until now, especially since the humans burned their town down after they were being picked off left and right.”

“Illia, I’m not up to date in fae lore, what’s the Fideal?” 

Instead of Illia answering, the fae in the room answered. “A carnivorous freshwater fey that prefers human flesh. They are quite elusive and does not like dealing nor interacting with anyone.”

“So where is this Fideal now?” asked Tate. “Last we heard about this is that the few humans who survived fled to other towns.”

Karael gracefully lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “While what happened to Evermoore has a connection to Willow, we are not dealing with that bog so that has no importance. However, I have carefully observed Willow for the past few weeks and there is an open portal there. Where it leads, that I am not sure of except whoever enters it, nobody comes back alive.”

“Both fae and wolves have a stake in this matter so we need to do what we can to bring back the people who have gone missing,” said Illia before adding, “and this is where Evangeline comes in.”

“To prevent more people from going missing, it is important that we send you in to help in this investigation because of your abilities.”

Ah. Of course. It made sense but at the same time, there were other things I need to be focused on especially when I was this close to finding my father. However, after everything that my half-brother did that decimated half our population, the least I can do is help out when I can.

“So you want to send her head first into danger in the hopes that she’ll come out of it alive just because she has abilities you don’t have?”

I blinked in surprise at what Tate was saying and the fact that he had the balls to say it to Illia. Turning my attention to Illia, rather than frowning at the disrespect he was just shown, he looked calm as ever like the anger Tate felt was nothing.

“This is not because I do not care about her but because I care about everyone. Move past the emotions clouding your judgement right now because we do not have time to waste on this.”

Keeping a hold of Tate’s hand, I glanced at Karael who had remained silent but had been observing us since earlier.

“He’s assisting us?” I asked the Alarick, to bring the conversation back. As if the calmness he was portraying had been rudely interrupted by something in his mind, there was now a tension in his body that made him move a little awkwardly as he jerked his head.

“He will be a great help, especially since the fae are well-versed when it comes to portals,” answered Illia before focusing his attention on Karael. “I trust you will do your best to resolve this quickly as you can.”

Karael merely looked at him as a response. This is the person supposed to help us? I didn’t know why Phink warned me about him but seeing how stiffly the guy acted compared to Phink’s, I can definitely see why they don’t see eye to eye.

The man then stood, pulling a circular object swirling with various colors out of his pocket. He held it in between his hands and within seconds, an archway with a plethora of colors decorating it appeared. I scrunched my brows, seeing there looked to be trees in it.

“Let us go,” Karael said, keeping one hand on the object. “This portal would close within seconds.”

“Excuse me, what? I’m not going through there unless you tell us where exactly we’re going.” I snapped, looking at him. 

“Wolf, just get in.”

“Evangeline, there is nothing to worry about,” added Illia.

Deciding to trust him, especially since he is the Alarick and my great grand uncle, I jumped in the portal, hoping as all hell this wasn’t a mistake. 

As soon as I got inside, it felt like I jumped right into a vat of warm goo that I pushed my way forward to. In what seemed like forever but might have been only a few seconds, I was being pushed out of it and head first into a wall.

Pain flashed in my head as I leaned on the wall to stand, my legs and body feeling like jelly. The hell was that portal?

As I regained my balance, I looked around and saw there was a field of trees in front of me and the wall I was leaning in seemed to be the back of a building. Not knowing where I was exactly, except there was a subtle mixture of the earth and oil in the air, I walked to the front.

The sun was shining brightly ahead, indicating it’s only been a couple of seconds since I went into that portal. Unless it’s been more than a day or something, which is why Karael or Tate isn’t around.

FuelMania. Bright red letters in large characters decorated what looked to be a convenience store I had just leaned on. A gasoline station was in front of it but there were no cars around.

Now where the f**k am I? Tate would have followed me to the portal as soon as I got in. There was no doubt to that. And with Karael assisting us on this, he should have been here as well. 

Closing my eyes briefly, I felt for that connection I have with Tate but there was nothing. Usually if he was anywhere close by, I would have felt his presence already. Damn it. Where were they?

Deciding nothing would happen if I just stood there, I went inside the convenience store. A short girl with her hair in a ponytail sat behind the counter, browsing through her phone. She barely looked up when I came in. 

Rows filled with snacks and other items lined up the racks but I headed straight to the stand near the counter where the papers were located. I picked up one of them, immediately seeing that the date is exactly the same day we went through the portal.

“Hey, what time is it?” I asked the girl as I put back the paper.

“11:59 AM,” she drawled out.

Tate and I arrived at Illia’s around 11 and with how long that meeting was before we left, I doubt much time has passed. I thanked the cashier and headed out, scanning the dense area of shrubs and trees surrounding the gas station and convenience store. But there was no one. Not even a car was passing by.

Too quiet. Is this really how the town is, assuming I’m actually in Willow?

“Evangeline, what are you doing?” spoke the familiar voice of my mate. I turned to the side and saw him standing there with a frown on his face. “We’ve been looking for you. You had me worried. Since you went ahead, as soon as that fae and I arrived, we thought you’d be right there.”

“I don’t know if you’d gone through portals like that before, but that one was definitely a b***h. I was dizzy and confused after so I wandered around, looking for you guys. Anyway, what took you guys long?”

“Nothing. We went through right after you did,” Tate said, “I think you’re experiencing a version of jet lag after that’s why you’re feeling like that.”

“Lucky,” I said to him since Tate looked like he just walked out of a magazine cover without a hint of the jet lag I had the luck to experience. “Anyway, where’s Karael?”

He gestured to the back of the convenience store, where I came from earlier. We headed there silently since I couldn’t shake off the weird feeling about how quiet this place was.

Looking as if the turbulent portal was nothing to him, Karael stood stiffly when I saw him. “You should learn to wait, wolf.”

“And what makes you think you have the right to order me around, especially after rushing us to enter that portal with no explanation whatsoever?” I raised an eyebrow at Karael, glancing at Tate who looked as if he didn’t hear the insult as he stood calmly beside me. 

“Now rather than making comments like this, why don’t you just lead the way to the portal and tell us more about it.”

Karael made a soft sound under his breath, remotely sounding like a scoff before turning to the direction of the forest and gesturing. “Let us go then.”

I don’t know what’s up with fae if they are generally like this but man, they are a pain in the a*s.

As we started heading deeper into the forest, I glanced towards Tate who looked like he’s not heading right into danger. Any semblance of the anger he showed before we went in that portal heading here that Karael created was gone. Wondering what was wrong or what might have been said when I headed into the portal first, I thought I’d just ask later. Not now when we’re right in the middle of a possibly dangerous situation.

The trees in Willow town were tall, spanning a height that seemed to reach for the sun but failed. Instead, they dwarfed anyone walking underneath them and created large shades that covered the soft ground. 

Silence seeped into the group, mostly because Karael trudged on without worrying that his boots were getting mud on them and Tate didn’t seem to want to talk. Suddenly, I remembered what Phink said about not doing anything until he got there.

I mean after being around Karael for a short while, I could see how Phink and him had such opposing attitudes and why they might hate each other but it didn’t mean the guy was pure evil.

After all, Illia wouldn’t be friends with someone who are anything but good. The Alarick’s morals ran higher than I’ve already seen, which is one of the reasons why he has been such a great leader to the rest of the wolves. Although there were a couple of things that was a swing and a miss, most of the time he made the right decision for the greater good.

I bit my lip, knowing Phink would b***h about being left behind after he already said to wait. Not only does he hate Karael, but he definitely has no good feelings about the Alarick.

Since I probably wouldn’t be able to talk to him for a while, I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and sent him a short message as to where we were. Then I put the phone in silent to make sure it would not get in the way in case something happens.

Karael glanced at me as I put the phone away but didn’t say anything. Deciding to break the pressing silence around us, despite what happened earlier with the snobby fae, I asked, “How did you stumble onto this portal anyway?”

“How much do you know of us sidhe?”

Sidhe? “Not much.”

All I knew was that they were not a fan of iron. Since the fae were purely nature beings, man-made things had a way of interfering with their powers. They also tend to keep to themselves and out of the dozens of shows in the Supes Channel, there was only one of them that had any fae in it. 

An adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves that was only on air for two seasons before it was cancelled. Apparently, the dwarves were mining real human body parts for them to eat and when Snow started living with them, she was kept as a s****l slave. Suffice it to say, it was wrong on many levels and not only most of the audience were disgusted, but it provided a public relations nightmare to Fae.

Since then, nobody gave them license to air their shows in that channel but I heard from Lowell that some of them still produced the same twisted ideas but on the down low.

“Unlike humans and how William is leading your kind, Faery has since been ruled by the strongest sidhe,” started Karael.

“No matter what you might have heard, not every fey is the same. Sidhe like us have been granted powers that the lesser folk can only begin to imagine since we command facets of nature itself. At the top, stands our sovereign who has been blessed by the god and goddess themselves.”

I nodded my head at him to continue, slowly taking in what he’s saying. “It will be a long discussion if I delved right into the history of my kind but to shorten it, there are two courts in Faery. The Light and Dark Court.”

“That does not answer what Evangeline asked though,” Tate said a few seconds after Karael remained quiet.

Pale orange eyes glinted with an emotion I knew was anger before it went away as Karael continued. “I am the right hand man of Prince Atlas of the Light Court who put me to the task of investigating the disappearances of his people.”

I frowned at him. That made sense but at the same time it didn’t, especially taking into the account that fae generally kept to themselves. “So after your investigation led you here, you just happened to tell the head of the wolves about this so we can assist you?”

“Do not think you are particularly noteworthy for us sidhe to seek your help,” immediately said Karael who looked so offended he could have keeled over at the thought of it. “The prince is good friends with your William and he owes us a boon. So here you are.”