The Queen of the Exiles

Arriving at the Alpha Council

Eric Claw walked into the King's office early the next morning, already having an appointment scheduled with him as he was the Alpha of one of the 3 Lycan Packs that made up the Royal Army. Jared has been a long time friend, nodding as he entered before Eric bowed to the King. "Alpha Eric of Blood Fang Pack reporting as requested your Majesty." he said formally standing beside the chair.

"Have a seat, we have a lot to discuss and not a lot of time." Damien replied as Eric sat down once instructed he could.

"Of course your Majesty, unfortunately I have an item that must be added to that list that is of some importance. Last night I met my Fated Mate and before she will accept my offer to join the Pack, she insisted I discuss the matter with you." Eric said formally as Damien looked up at him.

"Who would this young woman be that she thinks I would be interested in who you accept into your Pack?" he asked dropping the pen on the desk as he gave this his full attention having a bad feeling he already knew the answer.

"Miss Dillinger Your Majesty. I offered both her and her mother a place in my Pack if they are willing to join." Eric managed to get out before the King began growling before he surprised the response.

"Shut the door Jared, this conversation just got even more interesting." Damien said with a sly smile as he considered the possibilities. As soon as the door was shut and locked he continued. "Did she happen to tell you who she is?"

Eric was surprised at this response as generally King Damien left the door open during these meetings. "No sir, just insisted you may have something to say on the subject. She promised to tell me this evening at a private dinner unless you decide to do so now."

Damien smiled at the cunning of his daughter, ensuring that the secret wouldn't come out because of a public conversation. "I suppose a few hours won't make a difference. Amanda Dillinger is my daughter from the Fated Mate I rejected and banished from the Kingdom 17 years ago." he said carefully watching the young Alpha's reaction to the information he was given. Shock was the big one, which told Damien she hadn't even given him a clue what he was walking into with the conversation. "As for her joining your Pack, you have my blessing if they are willing. How we move forward is still a work in progress that will have to be decided between my daughter and I."

Eric was stunned silent for several minutes, King Damien going back to his paperwork to allow the Alpha some time to process what he had just learned. "Your Majesty, do you know if she is the one who inherited the authority?" he asked as it was a big part of his job to train the next King or Queen in how exactly to use it.

"I am fairly confident that she did indeed inherit it, however I have not had an opportunity to test that assumption. As you can imagine it is not easy to do especially when I have known for maybe 12 hours." Damien replied evenly as he looked at his future son in law.

Eric was surprised at how easily the King said it, as he thought he would have to fight tooth and nail just to get him to approve Amanda, but here he had authorized Miranda as well, even going so far as to write out that it was authorized by the King as he rescinded his banishment of his once Fated Mate. "Thank you your Majesty."

"Nothing of this conversation leaves this room other than you accepting them. Whether or not Miranda will accept it is between you. It however would behoove you to not allow her to the Capitol where she may meet the Queen." Damien told him firmly as Eric nodded.

Amanda was surprised when she walked out of the cafeteria to meet the car to take her to the Alpha Council, especially because Eric was leaning against the passenger door to a luxury car waiting for her as Amy swooned over him. Amanda elbowed her discreetly as Amy laughed at the reaction, knowing that he was her Mate as the two of them walked down the steps towards where he was parked. She watched as he propelled himself off the car and strode towards her with an envelope clearly visible from his jacket pocket.

"My lady." he said taking Amanda's hand and lifting it to his lips so he could kiss the back of it while never taking his eyes from hers as she blushed. He stood and released her hand before he looked at Amy. "Pleasure to meet you, I am Eric Claw." he said extending his hand to shake Amy's.

"Amy Black, it is indeed a pleasure." she replied amused as Amanda cleared her throat.

"We will be late if we don't hurry." Amanda said making Eric laugh as he turned and followed her towards the car so he could open the door for her and helped her in.

"I would offer you a ride as well Ms. Black, this however is only a two seater and Ms. Dillinger and I have a few things to discuss in private before we get to the Council chamber." he said before closing the door and rushing around the car.

"I wouldn't want to go there anyway." Amy said making him chuckle as he paused.

"Nor would I if truth be told." Eric said before he opened his door and disappeared in the car before it came to life and sped from the school parking area.

Amanda loved the way he was driving, making it seem like they were racing to where they were headed before he reached up and grabbed the envelope to hand to her. "What's this?" she asked curious.

"I doubt you would believe me if I told you, so just open it and see." Eric replied as she shook her head and did just that. It took her only a few moments to read it before looking at the signature and Royal seal right where it was supposed to be for official documents.

"Oh s**t, you already talked to him?" she asked serious as he chuckled.

"Yes Princess, I did talk to your father about you joining my Pack. The irony is if you wanted to become the Crown Princess you would have to come to my Pack for training anyway. This way we can do it and no one ever need know until you are prepared to announce it." he answered as he turned onto the highway at a speed that forced him to pass cars on the shoulder.

Amanda was a little surprised when she looked up at him. "So he told you who I am than? I must say that surprises me a bit."

Eric looked at her for a second before turning back to the road. "He found it funny as hell that you sent me to get his approval without even giving me a hint as to who you were." he said making her laugh as she had done it intentionally as they thought. "So what do you think your mother will do? You are both very welcome to join my Pack and move in. In fact I have a house that I could sell your mother that would be perfect."

Amanda laughed as she looked at him. "My mother may or may not join any Pack, as she has her career in the human world and already owns her house free and clear. I do not even know what I want to do, as I wasn't exactly planning to find my Mate before I am even 17." she said watching as his hands tensed on the wheel.

"Are you considering rejecting me?" he asked quietly, fear filling his voice as he served through traffic.

"No, I have no intention of rejecting you. But I also am not prepared to drop my entire life just to come to your Pack to be a Luna either. I want to go to college and have a career, travel and see the world. Running a Pack leaves little time for that, no matter how much I might want you." she said honestly as he chuckled.

"The great thing about being part of my Pack, is despite my responsibilities, I actually have a lot of people who are more than willing to stand up and help it run. I could disappear for months and know that between my parents and Pack leadership I would return to a perfectly functioning Pack. I wouldn't dream of having you leave school, as there are a lot of positions in the Pack that have to be filled. If your mother wanted, we have a law firm with 20 attorneys of different specialties. We are starting a major expansion and a specialist on human laws would be a very welcome addition to smooth over our rough edges. You can do anything you want, work wherever you wish." he finished saying as he slammed on the breaks to take the exit that curves around to intersect a different route that would take them right to the city center.

Amanda was surprised he said that, as everything she had heard was that if your Mate was an Alpha that you had no choice but to focus on the Pack. "And what is your Pack going to think when your new Luna leaves them for months on end to attend school?"

Eric laughed when she asked, not realizing just how different his Pack was. "I think you have been misinformed about what exactly it means to be an Alpha and Luna of a Lycan Pack. Unlike our cousin species, we don't require our leadership to be in the Pack at all times. In fact my father and grandfather are still very active Alpha's in the Pack, my mother and grandmother extremely active Luna's. In fact I am here from my own college courses and haven't been home in 4 months." he told her warmly as she was surprised it was so different from what she had been told.

"So your Luna isn't going to be restricted to just running the Pack with you?" she asked hesitant.

Eric laughed as they pulled into the parking garage for the Alpha Council chambers before he looked at her. "My Pack is 25,000 warriors supported by another 10,000 Lycans. The entire Alpha Family helps run the Pack, specializing in different areas. One Alpha and Luna wouldn't be able to manage everything alone, so no. We won't be restricted to just running the Pack as it takes far more than either one of us could provide. In fact my sister got her degree in business and manages some of the business interests so we don't have too. Lycan Packs are more like a large corporation, the Alpha Family the Board of Directors more than a single person in charge."

Amanda was stunned when he said there were so many of them, because the largest werewolf Pack was made up of a little more than 1,000 Warriors with another 2,000 supporting them. "How is it so different between the two species?"

He looked at her surprised about her lack of knowledge where they were concerned until he remembered it was a closely guarded secret to outsiders. "Because Lycans are far more long lived than Werewolves are. Where they have 3 or 4 thousand years, my second great grandfather who retired was 5,400 years old."

She looked at him with her eyes wide at that revelation. "So how old are you, 500?" she asked skeptical as he laughed.

"19, and still very much on school just like you. Now I would like to attend the same school as I still have a few years, or at least nearby ones after you graduate so we could be together and travel during breaks." he told her honestly as she smiled at the thought her world wouldn't be turned completely upside down because of this.