CHAPTER 1

Pierre's POV

"I call to order the official meeting of the board of leaders of the Legion of the North."

Everyone was alerted. As the quarterly assembly had officially started with my opening remarks, every single soul inside the boardroom paid attention to me. 

"A timely letter of notice was received by all the members of the board and is to be filed with the minutes of this meeting. Lane, do we have a quorum?" I asked my secretary. 

She motioned herself towards me and handed me a folder containing the details about today's agenda. I observed that everyone already had theirs before I even arrived here. As I read through the details on what was inside, my secretary was reciting the names of the board members aloud.

As the head of the biggest and oldest organization of wolf leaders throughout the land, I am used to having formal meetings like this. Funny that despite being the youngest member of the board at 25, I found it easy to be with this crowd of highly experienced alphas. 

I am Pierre Morrison, alpha of the Silver Crest Pack. It was an old pack sitting in the alps of Crustwick Mountains, extending throughout the western territory of the Caspian River; one of the two major rivers in  our state. Three years ago, I rose into our pack's leadership position when my brother, Alpha Peter, decided to step down due to his declining health. As he was unmarried and without a son to inherit the title, it was a no brainer that the seat was passed on to me. Adding feather to my cap, I was voted to be the Legion of the North's head alpha after a year.

Perhaps the reason why I found it relatively easy incorporating myself to the role was the fact that my alpha brother was preparing me for this at such a young age. When his mate and Luna unfortunately died due to a rogue attack, he no longer opened his heart to another wolf. Even with our father's constant pleading for him to look for a substitute mate for our bloodline to continue, he was consistent with his refusal. In his words, there was only one girl for him and she was gone forever. He would not destroy another she-wolf's life by marrying her only for her womb; as he was sure he would never be able to love that woman. And if our father's request was only fueled by a need for a son, he named me to be his successor. With that, our father settled on the matter. He allowed him to remain an alpha bachelor with me, his younger brother, as his heir. 

Being the alpha's second born son, I am destined to be anything but great. I already accepted that my role in life was to be my brother's supporter; the shadow of his raging flame. True enough, my brother Pete was my hero. I looked up to him. He was the father figure I needed growing up, as our alpha father was busy with his tasks and responsibilities. Everything I am now, I owe  to him. 

As soon as my secretary finished the roll call, I gave her a nod as courtesy and proceeded, "You have all received and had an opportunity to read and inspect the minutes of the last quarter's meeting. Are there any corrections to the notes presented? If there is none, I call motion to move."

The alpha of the Blood Moon and former head of the Legion, Alpha Casimir, raised his wrinkling hands and said, "So moved," another board member from the further back of the table second the motion. 

Now that the opening formalities have been done, it is now time for the actual discussion. 

"Now, let's move to the next order of business. Any-"

"Let's cut to the chase, Alpha Pierre," Alpha Casimir blurted. As the alpha of the fiercest pack in the Legion, he did not hesitate to show his abrasiveness. "We are here to discuss your plans on annihilating the glorified rogues."

My body began to tense, as I am pretty much aware that this topic would be the main focus of this assembly. Knowing the pugnacious alpha, it was no surprise he already had a derogatory term for them.

Glorified rogues, as he had called them. A group of rebels that were masking as packs that pushed for change, inclusion and equality. The very organization that is opposing traditions that have made its way for thousands of years.

A group of werewolf packs called the Scarlet Union.

"I can see that you were all made aware of these packs-"

"They are rogues!" Alpha Casimir shouted. The now irritated alpha didn't even let me finish. "You cannot call a pack without an Alpha, Luna, and other wolf ranks. They were just a bunch of stubborn wolves who wanted nothing but chaos and destruction. Their organization should be destroyed before their twisted ideologies pollute other packs!"

I clenched my fist but remained calm. If there was one important lesson my brother had taught me, that was not to be intimidated by those who wanted my failure. As Pete had reiterated, they would surely feast on my defeat like hungry vultures.

And I would do everything in my power for that not to happen. 

"But doing so will violate the peace treaty that existed throughout the werewolf packs in  the continent," Alpha Stephan of the Blue Moon pack retorted. "We cannot declare war amongst other packs unless they will pose a threat through violence and destruction."

Thank heavens somebody had spoken! This unexpected opportunity had given me a chance to reserve my arguments and think clearer. Being the legion's appointed leader, I should act like a fearless and capable ruler I was expected to be. And imposing my leadership in the face of these highly respected alphas throughout the continent was definitely not an easy task.

"Aren't they already posing significant threats to us?" Alpha Percival hissed. "They are maligning our traditions and way of living. Are we going to wait for innocent werewolf lives to be taken by their disturbing philosophies?" 

The room was filled with whispers and growls. Clearly, everyone is distraught by the gaining popularity of this leftist group. I, too, was not an exception.

Since the beginning of time, the Lycans had   established our packs similar to how the regular wolves are running their family. The strongest wolf would take the role of Alpha with Beta as his right-hand man. Delta rose in third rank then followed by the Omegas that comprised the pack's warriors, trackers and servants.  Each werewolf has a designated role in the community depending on what they could offer to the pack. While the role of the Alpha can be challenged by any wolf, it often falls within the same wolf clan as no one dares to challenge the ruling family most of the time. 

But in Scarlet Union, they were adapting the principles of that in a human government to our society; preferring democracy over power. They opted to elect their leaders, rather than identifying the strongest wolf. They also took down the social rank system. Wolves are living how the hell they would want to live. 

"Enough!" I yelled. I held a deep sigh as the group took a sudden halt and began to look in my direction. "I am all aware of the points presented and dare I say everybody has their arguments well presented. However, I implore everyone to not make any drastic motion; as it might disturb the balance of peace and order this Legion had long-been constituted."

Not a single soul dared to speak. Alpha Casimir and the rest of his supporters are clearly unhappy yet no one uttered a word. 

Alpha Stephan raised his hand. I gave him a nod to continue, "I heard that the current leader of the Scarlet Union is about to step down and would name his successor. I am sure it would be attended by the union's group members throughout the continent. If we could secure an invitation to that event, we would know whom we are dealing with and could devise a plan ."

"Leave that to me," Alpha Lexington of the Silver Stone pack said. "The man who owned the hotel where the ceremony would be held is a good friend of mine. I am sure he would not mind securing some seats in the party knowing that his daughter is my son's human mate."

"Then it is all settled," I declared with conviction. "We would secure an attendance to the Scarlet Union's event and would plan based on what we would gather from that party."

I am afraid that the legion would not side with my suggestion yet judging on how the majority nodded their heads, I am certain I had gained their approval. Obviously, Alpha Casimir and the other alphas who shared his vision of taking the more aggressive approach were visibly upset. However, the board members had spoken. We would carefully plan our next move. We would not be pressured by their gaining popularity. We  would not let our emotions take over our logical thinking.

"If there is no objection, we will now end the meeting. Hearing no objection, this meeting is now adjourned." 

After the closing remarks, the rest of the committee had slowly left the room. I noticed that Alpha Casimir was the last one to stand. Before heading for the door, he stopped in my direction. He looked me straight in the eyes, mocking me with a sly smile.

"All enemies should be taken seriously, kid. Sometimes, the best form of defense is by striking first."

I held a long, deep breath trying to compose my raging emotions."I appreciate the reminder, Alpha Casimir," I retorted. "But careful planning has been proven to be more effective than senseless attack."

"I hope you're right, kid. I hope you're right,"  he responded before his feet guided him outside of the board room. 

"Trust on your instincts, Pierre," I told myself after he left. I tried to convince my inner voice that I had made the right decision as the head of the legion. 

Waiting is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of intelligence and wit. For we were wolves. And wolves knew when was the right time to strike and kill its prey. 

And that's exactly what I was doing now.