A Whole New Realm
1989 Words
*Trisha*
I’m not sure what I expected. After years of being told Green Mountain is horrible, and the people there are primitive, I’m shocked to pull into the docks that look almost identical to the ones I left weeks ago. At least maritime-wise, everything here seems to be the same.
That includes creepy sailors. I hold my bag close while disembarking, and just about every one of the guys on the ship “accidentally” bumps into me, and it only gets worse when I hit the docks with hundreds of other sailors hanging around.
I catch a quick glimpse of Alessandro, but he quickly disappears around a corner toward the town. I look around, not really sure which way to go. I’m surrounded by a huge, busy metropolis without a forest to be seen anywhere, so there’s clearly not going to be a way to get in touch with whatever force is guiding me here.
The best I can do is pick a direction and go, so I choose the way that Alessandro headed. His scent seems to be still alive in my mind, and I’m not sure why. I don’t usually even notice a guy’s scent unless it’s rancid, which happens more often than I’d like.
The further I get into the heart of the city, the more other women are around me, so it’s a huge relief. I decide to explore the city a bit before I find somewhere to stay for the night, so I just keep strolling around, looking in all the shop windows. Though I find more than a few things I’d love to buy, holding onto my money is a bit more important right now since I’m not sure how long I’ll be here.
I spot a little boy crying on the corner.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, walking up to him. “Are you lost?”
He nods, tears still streaming down his cheeks. He’s really adorable, and I feel awful. I stand up and look around, but no one seems to be looking for him.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Kenny.”
“Well, Kenny, I’m… I’m Daphne.” I decide to stick to my fake name in case anyone from the ship is still around me.
“That’s a pretty name,” he says through his tears.
“Thanks. Let’s find your mommy, okay?”
He nods, and I take his hand and walk to where there are a few more people. After a few minutes, I see panicked eyes in the crowd.
“Ma’am!” I call to the woman. “Is this your boy over here?”
“Oh, thank the Goddess!” The woman runs over to us and picks up Kenny in a tight hug. “Thank you so much,” she says to me.
“No problem at all,” I say. “I’m glad he’s safe with you.”
Smiling at how cute the boy is, I keep walking to explore the city. I’m not sure how it happens, but time gets away from me, and the sun is already starting to set. I look around and have no idea where I’m at. The shops seem to end on this street, and there’s nothing but houses to follow, so I turn around and head back, hoping to find a hotel somewhere in the middle of the shopping district.
But there’s nothing…. All around me are stores that are starting to shutter for the night, and the street is starting to empty out.
“Okay, let’s figure this out,” I say to myself.
I look up and down the street, and it’s hard to recognize where I’ve been now that the shopkeepers have pulled in the displays that were out on the sidewalks. With no obvious hotels in this area, I turn on a side street that looks like it’s still part of the business district, but that soon turns into houses as well.
Another street looks promising, but it turns out to be a dead end. I sigh and stop for a moment to get my bearings, but then I catch a whiff of a scent… and it grows into three more scents. I take a deep breath and turn around.
And there they stand, four fairly burly guys with big shitty grins on their faces like cats who just cornered a mouse. I curse silently that I can’t shift yet because these guys definitely can, judging by their ages.
It isn’t like I’ve never been through a similar situation before, though. Since I can’t use my wolf, a little smooth talking usually gets me through, and if not, I’m a pretty good fighter even in human form.
I spend a few seconds sizing these guys up to figure out what might convince them. They’re no sailors, which might be good because there’s only one thing those guys want, and that means a tough fight. They’re most likely thieves, which is good in some ways because I might outsmart them but bad in others since I don’t have much money to give up and need every coin I’m currently carrying.
“Hey, guys,” I say when I finally make up my mind. “It looks like I’m a little turned around. Could you point me toward the Alpha’s mansion? He’s expecting me.” I figure if they think I know the Alpha of these parts they might be less likely to mess with me.
It doesn’t work.
Instead, they laugh. The tall one who I could probably take on my own if he didn’t have backup, moves in closer. “Oh, yeah? What’s the Alpha’s name?”
Shoot. I wasn’t expecting that. I rack my brain trying to remember some of the so-called enemy Alphas my dads had talked about from Green Mountain, but all I can think of is one.
“Alpha Rohan,” I say. I hope that’s a good choice.
Apparently, it isn’t, because they start laughing harder. Skinny guy speaks up again. “Alpha King Rohan?”
Oh, damn. Bad choice.
He gets up so close I can smell his bad breath. “Sweetie, you’re nowhere near the castle, and what would the Alpha King want with the likes of you? I think you’re lying to us. What do you think, boys?”
“Yeah, the broad is lyin’.”
I don’t know which guy says that because I’m not taking my eyes off the tall one since he’s completely in my personal space. In fact, I have to back up a couple of steps to get away from the guy, but he just keeps moving forward. I realize instantly that I’ve made a mistake because now he has me up against the wall.
I start assessing which spot to hit first. I’m pretty sure I can immobilize him, but then I’d need to get through his posse. They don’t seem smart, but they’re all pretty big.
“I’m not lying.” I decide to stick with my story. “Alpha King Rohan is expecting me. I’m the daughter of one of his friends in the north.” Now I know I’m really getting deep in it because I have no idea what the geography of this kingdom is like. I really wish I’d paid attention in class when they taught this stuff, but now that I’m here, it seems like my teachers didn’t have the right information about this place, either.
He’s laughing again, and that can’t be good. “Oh, you keep digging yourself a deeper hole. Where have you been living, in an eastern cave? Ain’t nothin’ up north but snow and ice.”
I wince a little inside but try to hide it. I’m starting to realize that fighting my way out of this is the only way to go. I just have to figure out how to get around those bulldogs he’s got behind him. I think about yelling for help just to get some backup, but around here as dark as it’s starting to get, I’ll probably just have more guys to fight off.
I’m just about to make my move to take down the tall guy when I catch a whiff of one of the most wonderful scents I’d ever smelled, so good it overpowers this guy’s bad breath. It confuses me a little bit, and I hold off my attack. It seems to be a mix of strawberries and green apples, two of my favorite fruits. I hadn’t noticed a scent this strong since Alessandro.
What’s wrong with me?
“What’s going on back here?” The voice is definitely all Alpha… stronger than that, really. It leaves the tall guy trembling, and he immediately backs away from me.
“We were just… helping this young lady find her way,” he whimpers.
“Yeah. We was just givin’ directions.” Big guy number two has a stupid grin on his face while he says it.
“Get out.” The power the Alpha says it with even makes me want to high-tail it out of there, but I stand my ground, still feeling a bit woozy from that scent. The four guys harassing me are gone in an instant, and the Alpha guy approaches me.
Now that I can see him in the light, I swallow, trying to clear the lump out of my throat. My heart’s beating so hard I can hear it in my chest, and I know he can, too.
Now, I know for sure something’s wrong with me. I like to look at eye candy like any other woman, but usually I don’t freeze up and act like a babbling i***t around anybody. I figure being in a different kingdom is having an effect on me. Maybe there’s some magic here that makes people a little fuzzy in the head.
He gets close, really close, but somehow I don’t even care that this hunk of a man is in my personal space. I can see him a little better as he steps more into the streetlight. His jet black hair is the same color as mine but straight, not curly. His eyes are the color of the ocean, not the one I just crossed, but like the one just off the coast where people go for a beach vacation.
“Are you all right, miss?’
I’m starting to like his voice just a little too much. I see another man walk up behind him, keeping his distance yet keeping watch. It has to be his Beta. The presence of someone else snaps me out of whatever stupor I was in. I’m not even sure what that was, but I feel like myself again.
“I’m fine,” I say. “And I had that handled.”
The Alpha’s eyes go a little wide. “Oh, you did, huh? Well, sorry to intrude, miss.”
“I’m just trying to find a hotel to stay in,” I say a little louder than I mean to.
“Ah, well, this is a bad neighborhood for that,” he says. “Let us show you back to the right street for that. I’m Alpha Heir Damon, and this is my future Beta, Daniel.”
Alpha Heir….
So, this is Alpha King Rohan’s son. I give him a polite nod though I’m still feeling frazzled. For the second time in as many days, some big burly dude—sexy as they may be—have burst into my life and pretended to save me from something I could have handled on my own.
If I wanted to be protected, I could have just hung out at home at the castle. I guess this is my life now.
At least they know where the hotels are. I shrug and follow them, trying to ignore those strawberries and green apples dancing around in the air.
- Writer
