61: The Hostile Monarch

The auditorium was filled with colors and cameras. A lot of celebrities were also visiting the exhibition so the media guys were having a field day. A Hollywood actress showed-off after buying a rare west african desert flower that looked fascinating but not worth the humongous amount of money the actress had paid for it. She posed with it as the cameras swarmed around her. The entire auditorium smelled fabulous. Everything about the event screamed of happiness, colors and bliss. The only bitter thing was the reason that Aaron and company had arrived at the event for. They entered the auditorium and acted like a part of the crowd that was being fascinated by the colorful flowers. Salesgirls from different kiosks came running to them with their brochures. Aaron gladly accepted them. The brochures would make it easier for them to blend in with the crowd. They bounced around the hall for a while, trying to locate Mrs. Hudson. Her distinct convertible in the parking lot made Aaron certain that she was there. She was nowhere in sight. Sophie didn't even know what she was looking for but Aaron would rather jump in front of a train than leave her in the car alone. They wandered around for a while and eventually decided to spread out. Sophie was assigned to infiltrate the large packs of women that looked the same age group as Mrs. Hudson. Mike and Boris went to the food court and started to comb the area. Aaron patrolled the corners of the hall. They kept on searching in their domains but to no result. The Alpha was wondering how he was supposed to proceed if he actually managed to locate her. Vampire High Lord’s wife was no joke, he admitted. She was bound to be with a platoon of security guards, probably even undercover vampires. Aaron knew that he had to tread lightly and handle the situation with extreme care. Any hint of hostility towards her just might trigger exactly what he was there to prevent. Aaron stopped at a spot, tired of all the aimless wandering. He casually looked around and found Sophie staring right at him. It looked as if she was waiting for him to look her way. As soon as their eyes met, she subtly motioned to her extreme left with her eyes. Aaron followed the direction of Sophie’s clue and found a lone mature aged woman, wearing a white dress with pearl earrings and necklace. It took less than a second for Aaron to recognize the woman. He was having a sinking feeling. Boris and Mike stepped up from behind him and startled him.

“I’ll go talk to her”, Boris volunteered. Mike shook his head immediately. “It’s better to keep the Alpha out of the equation”, Boris added. Aaron was open to all sorts of suggestions.

“Keeping him out of it only makes it worse. It’ll make her think that he’s on some sort of high horse that he’s sending his henchmen to talk to her”, Mike calmly suggested. Boris seemed to understand. “And you can't be the one to speak brother, not with that inhospitable accent”, Mike added. That remark didn't sit right with Boris but he took it. Afterall it was his scary outlook that had made him optimal for the jobs that he did. “It’ll be for the best if she thinks that no one else came with him at all”, Mike concluded. Aaron agreed and started making his way towards her as Mike, Sophie and Boris disappeared back into the crowd. Aaron felt his heart race as he neared her. He had almost reached her yet he was still not sure how he was going to introduce himself to the woman. She abruptly turned to him and looked straight at him. Aaron froze in his tracks. Her eyes were filled with blunt hatred for him. There was no need for introductions afterall. It took all the effort in Aaron’s being to resume his walk. She patiently waited for him to reach her and speak his business. Something told Aaron that he would have been dead the moment he had entered the auditorium if she had wanted him dead. He made the rest of the way without making eye contact as she glared at him.

“So, you recognized me?”, Aaron reluctantly asked. Sandra Hudson gave him a venomous look. It almost made him shrink with fear.

“Sadly”, she responded, grinding her teeth with rage. Aaron was feeling his window of opportunity narrow with each passing second. “You stand in front of me but you don't have the balls to speak? How pathetic”, she added. “This is the fearless Alpha my people are so worried about?”

“I wanted to talk about your husband”, Aaron blurted as quickly as he could. He wasn't going to be able to endure another insult. Sandra raised an eyebrow in contempt.

“Surely you didn't come all this way to threaten a man like him?”, she responded with a wide smirk. Aaron was feeling uneasy but at least the conversation was going somewhere. Boris stared at them from a distance and tried to read their lips. It was no secret, even from dozens of meters away, that the conversation was not a merry one.

“Of course not! I request you to talk him out of it”, Aaron put forward, thinking that it would drastically alter her emotions. She chuckled.

“Who the hell do you think talked him into hunting you down in the first place?”, Sandra responded with another bone chilling grin. Aaron was depleted. His hopes of finding a sane voice in the Hudson family had gone down the drain. “You’ll die alright. But he’ll kill everyone you love before he comes for you. My Sam will be avenged!”, Sandra added as the grin on her face faded away and she glared into his eyes.

“But it was an accident! Self defense!”, Aaron quickly pleaded in his defense. Sandra wasn't buying it at all. To her, it was all nothing but a defeated man’s last attempts to buy some pity.

“His death maybe, but the mockery of his body wasn't by accident”, she softly spoke as emotions were starting to overwhelm her.

“I had nothing to do with it. I was in hiding when your son cornered me with a gun”, Aaron added to his plea.

“You lured him into an ambush. I should’ve done something when he was on his phone for hours and was angry at everything”, she spoke. Gears in Aaron’s head started to turn. He had never heard of anything about Sam’s bad mood in the last of his days. And the phone reminded him of the anonymous phone call at the Cafe that had warned him about Sam’s coming. Then the anonymous phone call in the car that had given him Rick Hudson’s exact whereabouts.

“I had my gun on me because a nameless phone call informed me of Sam’s coming. My people never call. Hours later, Sam was sitting on me with his gun pressed to my gut. He kept asking about some spy among his people when my gun went off in my jacket”, Aaron explained. Sandra Hudson looked like she was budging. “Trust me ma’am, I’m also looking for some answers”, he added. Sandra wanted to know more.