Alpha Lance

Chapter 11 - Team Lance

Lance’s POV

I had just gone over the events of the last few days. And though it was still pretty early in the morning’s meeting, devastation had already been wrecked upon the donuts and coffee that the pack house kitchen had provided to sustain my officers, my ‘temporary’ Luna Grandma DeeDee, my top warriors, and I.

“I think I need to have a serious talk with my son about signing contracts without reading them first,” Grandma DeeDee grumbles unhappily. “This should be a matter between fated mates anyhow, mating contracts are such an old and outdated concept! I never was a fan of your mom’s father, Lycan King Alexander. Seemed to think far too highly of himself, in my humble opinion. And this contract giving away your goddess gifted mate to your brother doesn’t make me think any better of that blasted old wolf, may he rot in peace!”

“I agree with you, grandma, but I still have to abide by the terms of the contract regardless of how I feel about it,” I tell her. “Calliope’s father could cause all sorts of problems for our family and even our kingdom if I don’t.”

“Pish posh, all these i***t kings with their contracts and their manifest destiny. Thinking they are the masters of everything,” DeeDee continues her rant. “They all pray to the moon goddess and then ignore what she wants for us. As if they know better than Selene!”

“I think we should invite all the Oregon Alphas to a meeting here, and explain the situation,” my Delta Ramesh suggests. “We can remind them of the taxes they pay to Emerald Pack, and the lack of respect and representation they have gotten out of that deal over the years. Tell them of your plans to make their lives better. Tell them that you’ll reduce government oversight and give them back more power over their own packs if they will join with you. I bet you could easily sway most of them into joining your movement to break with the Emerald Kingdom without a fight.”

“I agree with Delta Ramesh. That actually sounds very sensible,” Johnathan adds, making the plan seem even better to me. “Some of mom’s initiatives over the years to improve the lives of lower ranked pack members, while well meaning, ended up being costly and badly managed due to government oversight. Most packs could do the same for far less cost, and we’ve heard many Alphas complain about that over the years.”

“There will be a few packs that will resist change,” grandma DeeDee reminds us. “Willamette Pack in particular is far too ingrained in the left wing political powerhouse of Emerald Kingdom, and may not willingly go along with breaking off with them.”

“Alpha Derrin is getting old,” my top elite warrior Dakota Jones speaks up. “And he’s been reluctant to give either of his older sons the Alpha title. They have a reputation of being too tough to touch, but the rumors are that the older sons are weak and that Derrin hopes his third son will take over once he’s of age.”

I had not heard that before, nor had anyone else in the room from the shocked looks I was getting from everyone at the table.

“Where did you hear this rumor?” I ask Dakota. “Is the source a reliable one?”

“I’d say my source is very well informed,” Dakota claims with a knowingly smug looking smile. “My mate Ava is from Willamette Pack. Her older sister Ella is the future Gamma female of Willamette Pack if the older son Brendon takes over. The sisters chat almost daily, and Ava tells me everything.”

“Sweet goddess, Selene!,” I exclaim, moving closer to Dakota. “This is great! But is there anything more you can tell me?”

“Well, yeah,” Dakota informs me. “Apparently tensions are high between Brendon, Clayton, and Ripley. So much so, that there’s talk that the pack is going to be split up, and Clayton and his followers will move elsewhere. They’re only waiting for Alpha Darrin to name his successor first.”

“Oh,” I reply irritably in disappointment. If the strongest pack were to split up into smaller packs, it makes my job easier. But without knowing when that might actually happen, and preferably very soon, then the news is basically useless to me. “That doesn’t help us right now. Well, thanks anyway.”

“I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything else,” Dakota promises. Something I appreciate, but can’t bank on at present.

We move on to discuss when we can host an alpha gathering, and whether to invite all the packs, or to accidentally on purpose forget to invite Willamette Pack, since they are the ones most likely to object to splitting off from Emerald Kingdom.

“I can have the pack house cleaned and organized to host the gathering in 5 days time,” Grandma DeeDee promises.

“Better to give the Alphas at least one week’s notice,” Johnathan brings up. “We don’t want to appear desperate, and an Alpha can’t just drop everything on their schedule on such short notice to attend a gathering. Especially during the growing season for Alpha’s like Craig of Silver Falls Pack.”

“That is cutting it close for me, but I concede your point,” I agree, then address everyone else at the table. “Anyone else have any input? Delta Ramesh? Gamma Portia, you haven’t said much. Is there anything you’d like to add?”

“Just that I look forward to meeting and working with your mate,” Portia says confidently. “I’ve really enjoyed working as your Grandmother’s Gamma wolf, naturally, and no one could have been a more graceful and beloved Luna, but I’m sure DeeDee is also excited to pass the baton on to the next generation.”

Grandma DeeDee thanks Portia for her ‘kind words’, but with a rather bittersweet smile on her face. I think grandma had always rather enjoyed being left in charge here, and dad had only ever allowed it out of necessity. I suspect that the transition will not be an easy one. But that is a problem for another day. There may never be a Luna for me, unless I can win Calliope’s hand.

“Alright, let’s get the invitations sent out and start preparing the pack to receive a dozen Alphas and their officers,” I finish the meeting. Ramesh raises his hand. “Yes? You have a question?”

“Can we have breakfast first before we get busy with all that?” He asks in a sad pathetic tone. “I only got one donut.”

Everyone laughs at Ramesh when I say he can’t, as he must go train the warriors first. But that everyone else is allowed to go eat.

By lunchtime a video of a sad looking Ramesh saying “I only got one donut,” was posted to the packs website.