CHAPTER 2: TACTICA & THE VALFARIS

RUNE WAS LYING down on the couch inside their resident physician’s office. It was where she ended up after the incident with the taxi driver this morning. Her wound was already treated and bandaged, her whole body was scanned and lucky for her, she didn’t have any damage inside. She also had a change of shirt since the one she was wearing was stained by her blood. She had to borrow one from her boss, it was way too large for her frame but as if she had any other choice.

It was already one in the afternoon. Mirra, the woman she saved, was with their company secretary for an interview. She was an omega from Lunaseine, a town located just outside Hypnosia. She mentioned that she was new here and was looking for a job when the incident happened this morning. She then called her boss’ assistant because she remembered that they were looking for another assistant due to their growing clientele.

She let out a sigh and stared into the white ceiling, recalling what happened earlier. Mirra brought half of their agents and her boss to help her. Authorities were called, took the Alpha away and both of them gave their full statement. She included about the substance that man had taken and the effects it manifested. Since NXPD was already involved, she knew that she shouldn’t be concerned anymore but whatever that substance was and knowing that it was circulated in public, didn’t sit well with her. She heard the door opened and turned her head towards it. She sat up when three tall and gorgeous men entered.

If she was an ordinary woman, she’d probably had her jaws on the floor, gasping for air and hearing the erratic beating of her heart at this moment. Why, these three commanded attention whenever they went! And she was a first-hand witness how women from different realms threw themselves into this trio.

She scrunched her nose. “You know what? You can still form a boy group and we’ll call it…hmm…The Flirty Gods? The Moon God gifts to women? What do you think?”

Nobody answered and they just stared at her like she was spouting bugs from her mouth.

“Or better yet, we’ll change the agency into a modeling one, because dang you three! You look like you’ve walked out of a fashion magazine! Is looking good as the three of you a requirement now while working here? If that’s the case then, I’d better be handing my resignation at this moment.”

She was nobody compared to these three, a plain face with a plain personality. She realized early on her teenage years that she wasn’t given that classical beauty standard. With her lean built and androgynous features, she looked like a teenage boy who was trying hard when she was with them and a woman whom they would never pay attention to.

Heh. Women would kill just to be in her position right now. It was safe to say that she was already immune to their physical attributes. The one with blonde hair and green eyes looked at the black-haired one.

“Wren, are you sure her head is okay? Did you double check her results?”

The black-haired, dark-eyed man he was talking to was Wren Avery Williams. He was the co-owner number one of Tactica, a doctor by profession and their resident physician. He was a Beta Sentinel. He owned this clinic along with several other ones here in Hypnosia City and across Luna Mundi. A team of doctors were working with him, so, he had time on his hands helping them with cases.

“She’s okay, Cal, and it’s a good sign that she’s back with her corny self.” Wren answered.

“Oh, yeah. That.” the blonde retorted.

She glared at them. “I can hear you, you know.”

The two just laughed it off while the third, the brown-haired one with cobalt-blue eyes just shook his head in amusement.

“Tch.” she muttered.

These three were her close friends, the main reason why she was immune to their charms. They were hands-down, good-looking fellas and she would be a billionaire by now if she sold their pictures alone to all the women in five realms of Luna Mundi who would spend money on them without second thoughts. She wasn’t blind to see that, but she was past all that. Ugh. Those women didn’t know how annoying these three could be. Oh well, she was annoying too, maybe that was the reason why they were friends.

The blonde guy was Calvin Thorne. Private Investigator extraordinaire and co-owner number two of Tactica. He was from a military family here in Nyx and a Prime Alpha. She met him and became her close friend from her police academy days.

When she came here in Nyx eight years ago, she entered the academy in hoping to join the IRIB or the Inter-Realm Investigation Bureau, the highest investigative body and authority in Luna Mundi, to find any information about her missing older brother who was an IRIB agent before. Unfortunately, she was kicked out due to some a—holes. After two years of wandering and part-time jobs in order for her to stay in the city, their paths crossed again and he recruited her to join Tactica, a private investigation and protection agency. Surprisingly, the company had already an established name even though it was new to the private investigation and protection business, but she understood the reason for that when she met the other two owners.

The brown-haired one was Calix Winters. The CEO of Tactica, Prime Alpha and the one who saved her a while ago. Both he and Wren were members of the nobility in the neighboring Kingdom of Larran. He was also a former IRIB agent to boot so he really knew what he was doing. Both him and Wren had vast connections, but not only that, Tactica’s work were efficient, organized and their ground teams were composed of highly trained individuals who mostly came from military and police backgrounds. For the past years, they penetrated the market and now, carving their own name in the industry. With regards to private investigation, clients trusted them with even the most confidential information.

Also, one may wonder what the hell were these Alpha, Beta and Omega thing. Well, these are the secondary genders of every citizen of the Kingdom of Larran and half of the population here in Nyx, especially in Rivermoon where she hailed. Yes, she was born here, but most of the families in their town, including hers originally came from the Kingdom of Larran. Their race was called the Valfaris. According to their lore, they were the modern-day descendants of werewolves and the watered-down versions of their ancestors. This was due to the changing of their environment which greatly affected their evolution as time passed by.

In general, they still had their enhanced stamina and senses along with some supernatural abilities like changing of the eye color and having their canine teeth more pronounced as well as their claws when they were feeling intense emotion or distress. They still had their Heats / Ruts, but the ability to shift into a wolf-form was lost to them. Nowadays, it was also unlikely to meet their kin who had a wolf inside them. And unlike in the ancient times where their people lived in packs, now they were free to live anywhere they want and to mingle with other races.

Previously, secondary genders were divided into three categories only. Alpha, Beta and Omega, but throughout the years the emergence of Prime Alpha, Beta Sentinel and Dominant Omega became evident. These three became the ultimate form in their respective genders and took precedence over the others.

Alphas were regarded in their society as the top tier, the elite class, the pride of their families and excelled in almost everything. They tend to dominate and stand above the rest. With this preconceived notion, most people who were in this category looked down on other secondary genders, especially on Omegas.

The difference of Prime Alphas from common Alphas was that they were more approachable, level-headed and much more capable of empathy and tolerance. They also had more self-control even when they were in rut. Their Alpha personality was well-balanced by their emotional quotient, which made them a step ahead from the common Alphas. In simpler terms, common Alphas dominate but Prime Alphas lead. Personally, she was thankful for having them in her life as her friends.

Betas were the average classifications in these genders. Some may think that they were boring, but the sense of normalcy in them made them the most comfortable people to be with in their race. While Beta Sentinel were the above-average type of this category that could rival a common Alpha and keep up with a Prime.

And for the longest time, the third category, the Omegas were considered to be the lowest and weakest. But the Dominant Omegas had challenged and changed the view of their race towards them in general. Dominants were physically stronger than common Omegas. They were more emotionally stable and if they will, they could keep up with both Prime Alpha and Beta Sentinel.

But along with these new categories came another two, Feral and Aberrant. The first one pertains to people of any secondary gender who lost touch with reality and could be triggered by a lot of stressful situations. The latter was a category for those who had genetic disabilities. Common cases were because of the difference in the genes of the parents.

In this era, especially here in Nyx, people could love whomever they wanted to love regardless of gender, secondary genders or race, although, some of the conservatives from the Kingdom of Larran still raised their brows with these kinds of relationships. But some were just unfortunate to have it for no apparent reason at all. Just like her. Yes. She was an Aberrant and the only one in her family.

Her parents as well as her brother were Betas and probably, she would be the same if she presented like a normal Valfari teenager, but she never did. She still had those enhanced senses but her stamina didn’t change and she never got her Heat. All of the specialists that checked on her concluded that she was an Aberrant. As this was uncommon for someone whose parents both have secondary genders, she was labeled as a freak of nature by most of the people back in Rivermoon.

Her existence was frowned upon and looked down because of this. Some thought that it was unlucky to have someone like her. Thanks to the support and love of her family that she was able to go through with her life. But those words came back to haunt her when her parents died in a car crash just after her eighteenth birthday and few months later, IRIB agents came to inform her that her brother was missing. They said that he was in the middle of investigating a case before he disappeared. Her uncle, his father’s brother, who was living in Larran offered to take her in, but she refused.

She was close to him and his family but at that point in her life, she really believed that she was unlucky and she didn’t want them to suffer because of her. As she was already legally an adult, her uncle couldn’t do anything but support her choice. But luckily, she overcame that and accepted herself. There were things that only an Aberrant could do and it was enough for her that she was able to contribute something, especially when she started working in Tactica which didn’t mind her condition. To improve her stamina, she hit the gym and trained hard until she could bring down anyone with or without a secondary gender. She also maintained a good relationship and communication with her uncle’s family through her cousin Tomyris.

Her thoughts were cut off when Calvin gently patted her shoulder. His eyes looked at her with worry.

“How are you?”

Her annoyance instantly dissipated when she heard his gentle tone. He was the last to know about the incident. She let out a deep sigh, put her hand on top of his and squeezed it.

She gave him a small smile. “You heard Wren. This is nothing.”

Wren walked towards his table and sat on his chair, Calvin then flopped down beside her while Calix took up the vacant seat in front of them. His cobalt-blue eyes focused on her.

“Hey, thanks for saving me a while ago.”

He just nodded his head. “No problem, Rune. I’m just glad that you are okay. Who knows what he’d do to you if we didn’t get there on time.”

She felt a shiver of disgust ran down her spine when she remembered that Alpha’s expression. She grimaced inwardly and erased it from her mind. She looked at Calix.

“I could’ve handled him if only he didn’t take that damn thing.”

All of them had been trained on how to neutralize threats from all realms. That Alpha, even if he was in rut, would not be a problem for her. But she really was caught-off guard when he suddenly went Feral minutes after taking that substance.

“We are all curious about it, Rune.” Wren said. “Have you heard anything from Brenner?”

She frowned at the mention of her best friend’s name. “About what?’

Wren and Calix looked at each other while Calvin remained quiet.

Her frown deepened. “What is it?”

Calix turned to her before he answered. “You know what happened to Rosworth Pharmaceuticals last month right?”

She nodded. Everyone knew about the incident. Someone broke in and took one of the drugs the company was developing. Brenner was working with them as head chemist and was present when it happened. He also fought the intruder and just lucky to survive due to the arrival of the company security. However, it didn’t deter the suspect and was able to escape with the drug. She was in constant contact with Brenner at that point. One of the reasons she was so frustrated with her last job. She couldn’t leave her client who turned out to be a phony for her friend who really needed her. She also suggested for him to move in with her but he declined and assured her that he was safe.

“Do you think it has something to do with the incident earlier?”

Calix just shrugged his broad shoulders. “It’s just a gut feeling. You know what’s in the news, Rune. We can’t be that careless.”

She carefully looked at Calix. His face at the moment was passive but they all knew that his gut feeling and instinct never missed. Wren opened up his phone and showed her a picture of a test tube with a blue liquid inside it. She stood up, took the phone from his hands and looked closely at it.

“It’s the D-15, the missing drug.” Calix said. “Wren and I were close friends with Sven Rosworth and when we heard what happened this morning, we asked him if he could send us a picture. Was it the same with what that man took?”

She shook her head as she handed the phone back to Wren. “No. It’s much lighter in color.”

Calix crossed his arms and sigh. “Hmm…maybe it’s different after all. Besides if it is the same drug, NXPD will surely inform Rosworth, but it will be big problem for them if that concoction is already in circulation.”

“I thought of the same.” she said.

“Unfortunately, since it was already in the hands of proper authorities, we can’t just barge in now. All we could do is to wait and see how all of these will turn out.” Calvin said.

She let out a sigh. As if we have another choice.