Alpha Zaelah | Book One: Realities Demise

THIRTY-NINE

Z A E L A H

"Did you enjoy your stay?" Fiona asked me as we stepped outside onto the stone pavement before our feet graced the grass that seemed greener than before.

"I did, but I have to admit I wish I could stay longer," I answered with the confidence I had been building up during the silence when my anxiety took me.

"I have that same wish, I'm very regretful of my choice to stay longer in Lumarine than intended because I missed the opportunity to speak with you and to get to know you better." She voiced with a gentle smile that only made me relax further.

"We'll have other chances, I promise."

"I'll hold you to that promise, but how have you been holding up? Has this visit been benefiting you in the way you hoped?" I nodded before using words to better express my answer.

"I've learned far more than I expected I would. I am still in shock at the number of lies that were told during my history classes and I'm possibly even more shocked that I believed every word that was uttered about the werewolves."

"What will you do with it?" Fiona inquired and her question only seemed to bring me confusion since I couldn't find the context.

"What will I do with what?"

"The truth."

Even though her response was brief it had my mind swarming with a million answers because there were a lot of things I could do with this knowledge, but at the end of the day, it all depended on my intentions and whether they were pure or not.

"I hadn't really thought about that, though I think stopping the younger generation from learning what I did would be a good start," I replied once I got myself to focus.

"And how will you do that?" She questioned me.

"By fixing the school system and the textbooks that contain every lie that was engraved in my mind," I answered immediately as it was the most obvious solution because the school system was the root of the problem.

"I think that would be the perfect start, but the hardest part would be convincing the older generation of this," Fiona stated and I nodded to physically showcase my agreement with her statement.

"I can't admit defeat unless I've tried, right?" I remarked and she smiled brightly, completely destroying all the anxiety that was left within me.

"Right. Follow me." She instructed and I quietly did.

Fiona led me to an area of the palace grounds that I had never visited before because I had been warned not to by Maya's parents as they said 'danger lurks in the woods and swims in the sea'.

"Where are we going?" I questioned her as my eyes took in the old stony path that seemed to be leading us to the ocean as the air was filled with a familiar salty scent.

"Surike ocean." She answered which caused my mind to light up with this information since it wasn't the first time I had heard the word—in fact, it was mentioned a few times in the books I'd read.

"Isn't that the ocean filled with loeinas?"

She nodded in response to my question.

"Don't worry, we'll keep our distance," Fiona assured me and I did my best to keep myself calm the closer we got.

"So, this is what Malik was mentioning earlier?" I asked her since I remembered him saying something about 'feed them'.

"Mhm. We occasionally feed the loeinas just in case they haven't found any...food." She informed me and it doesn't take a genius to know she meant humans.

"You mean humans." I corrected her and she nodded slowly.

"Yes, I do." She replied and it only carried more questions into my curious mind that was waiting to be fed with answers.

"What do you give them as an alternative for humans?"

"Human blood." She disclosed to me as the ocean slowly came into view and my brows furrowed warily at her response because it had me wondering how she got the blood.

"And how do you obtain the blood?"

"If you're wondering—and I'm sure you're wondering no one was harmed for us to get the blood. Everyone willing offered it up—for a price of course," Fiona guaranteed.

"Good to know," I told her as we ceased our walking the second our feet met the ocean's brown sand that was constantly greeted by water whenever the winds scraped across the ocean's surface, like a bird diving for fish, causing a wave to arise with only one goal and that was to reach the land before it plunged into the depths of the salty water.

"You might want to cover your ears." She advised me and I listened, choosing not to ask questions.

"Ishtico."

That was the word she shouted so loud I swear the ground began to shake.

I slowly removed my hands from my ears which were soon greeted by the sound of thunder that arrived after a bolt of lightning greeted the ocean—not too far from where we stood.

The sky that was once clear was now being met with grey clouds that informed us of the coming weather as the wind began to pick up its speed with such strength that could blow me away if it wasn't for the rock beside me that I held onto for my dear life. The waves that were calm earlier were now crashing against each other like cymbals when being used.

I could feel cold bumps rising against my skin in an instant despite the fact that I was wearing a jacket and I knew this was probably a result of me not being used to such cold weather since it never snowed in Aropia as it was a tropical country and we barely had storms such as this one.

"What's going on?" I asked her with a slightly raised voice as a way to overpower the noise.

"I called for them." She notified me and it still didn't clear up my mind's current haze.

Fiona was about to speak again but her focus was shifted onto the ocean they called 'Surike' which meant drowning in Fèmeig.

My focus was also diverted to the ocean as my eyes caught the sight of fins journeying at a high speed toward us and this only told me who was coming. I would have backed away if it weren't for the fact that the wind would take me in its course without my given consent, so I stood in place unable to stop my fear from reaching my heart as it began beating rapidly with the emotion.

"Tuanya." Fiona greeted the loeina who was the first to arrive on the shore while the others took their time to reach their destination.

Water dripped harmoniously against her obsidian black skin which was covered in scales that were slightly lighter than her, I transferred my curious gaze to her face and I was greeted by magnificent bright blue eyes that stared deep into my soul as if she was judging my character.

Her left eye was partially covered by her beautiful blue-green locs that seemed to be longer than her entire body—and speaking of her body, the further my eyes went the more she appeared less human as she had a fin, like a shark they claimed her kind was a part of and instead of legs she had a deeply forked scaly tail.

I couldn't stop my gaze of awe as she just seemed unreal, but fear quickly overpowered that awe as I forced myself not to tense up when her companions arrived on the shore beside her, all ranging in different colours, genders and sizes, the only thing they had in common was their locs that emitted wisdom and elegance.

I noticed the clouds began to disappear which allowed the sun to come out to remind everyone of the time as the ocean became calm the second the wind ceased its harshness upon it.

Fiona opened the bag she had on her shoulder before slipping her hand inside to take out what I assumed to be blood in a tiny grey bag because I spotted a couple of red stains against it.

"Who's hungry?"

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