The Alpha King

Fourteen

Brian's point of view

I woke up this morning to the delicious smell of my mate snuggled in my arms, looks like yet again I woke up first but now my immediate problem was disentangling myself without making my mate Slyverken up. After careful consideration I agreed on my pillows. I propped the pillows around me to take my weight and gradually but intricately used a lot of skill to swap the pillows with myself, I did this slowly and got up even more slowly,once up I shifted into my wolf and qw t for a run around the park perimeter, warriors snapped to attention at my approach, and Alphas bowed in my direction, from the looks of things I am not the only person up early,it was not yet sunrise but early birds were already up and about. I finished my run and returned to the pack house but not before shifting back to human form and wearing the green t-shirt and grey shorts hidden in the branches of the nim tress. I walked briskly into the pack house entered the mess hall, went to the refrigerator and picked a very cool cold drink and oh I smelt Lewis my Beta from a mile away as he approached me quickly but quietly making sure not draw attention to himself nor to me but before he could sneak up directly behind me,I turned around to face him, he was so startled he almost dropped the papers in his hands though he recovered quickly from the shock and broke into a laugh, which I joined in. " Beta Lewis, what did you think you were doing sneaking up on me?" " Alpha King Brian, I just wanted to sure you were aware of the happenings around you all the time and by the way how did you know I was behind you, Alpha?" " You may be stealth but your heart was pounding way too  hard, your heart beat gave you away" " oh, I see. Alpha King Brian, everything is settled for tonight, the ceremony would take place in the middle of the pack just like the bonfire party, there would be a raised platform for you and Luna Slyverken, the seats for the guest would be arranged arranged around the stage. The first five roles are for the Alphas and their respective lunas, invitations have been sent to them all, the remaining seats are for the rest of the packs. The guest list is around thirty thousand wolves." " Wait, that many people just for a Luna ceremony,then what about the official coronation ceremony?" " Alpha King Brian for the coronation ceremony, the Guest list would definitely increase, also the king's of the other species send you their heartfelt congratulations." " Wait who?" " The Griffin King, the Vampire king and the human minister of state have sent you congratulations on finding your mate" "Extend my heartfelt thanks to them" " definitely Alpha King Brian, I would do so. But Alpha King Brian, are you not supposed to be sleeping in this morning?" " Yeah, I was but I felt the need for a run so I went for one by the way who is officiating the ceremony?" " Greg and Daemon" " ouch, those two? Did you not get any priest?" " No, Alpha King Brian, no priest . There was none available" "we have to make do with what we have then. Okay I am heading in for now but at twelve I want to  have a meeting with my alphas and then I will address the pack, make the arrangements" "Yes, Alpha King Brian" I turned away and climbed the stairs back into my room where Slyverken was awake and having a shower, I joined her

Greg's point of view

Well today is the chosen day of the Luna ceremony the first full moon after the claiming or marking,there is an undercurrent of excitement as everything was put in place, Luna Tina and her mate Alpha Riddick, who are Luna Slyverken's parents arrived on the Red moon Pack grounds earlier than I expected and as Delta, it was my job to tag along and ensure their safety and needs are taken care of. Gamma Daemon on the other hand was arranging security for the ceremony, even though this is one of the joyous days in the pack, heavy alcohol consumption was not allowed and sice most of our warriors were recovering, that was a good idea not to mention the fact that Daemon and I would be officiating this ceremony is more than enough to keep me high. The final preparations were made and now everything is in order, now we only have to wait for night time and for the moon to rise. I was thinking about what to do in the meantime since it was midmorning and night time was  far away when I felt the persistent knock knock in my head, my eyes glazed over as I opened the link," Greg, I hope everything is going on well on your end. By the way Alpha King Brian wants to have a alphas meeting at twelve noon and afterwards he will address the pack. Can you speed up everything you are doing and help Daemon take care of the arrangements and Jerkins would take care of security for the night" " sure anytime, beta Lewis" I closed the link and apologized to my guests for the disruption and explained to them what was going on. They nodded in understanding and shared one of their all knowing smile. I excused myself and went to look for Gamma Daemon but not before assigning two warriors to keep an eye on Alpha Riddick and Luna Tina. Anything fishy should be reported immediately to me, I said through the pack mind link. They nodded in unison and went about their duties like they were not keeping an eye on Alpha Riddick and Luna Tina, with that taken care of I mind linked Daemon " Gamma Daemon, where are you located as of now?" " Delta Greg, I am overseeing a training session in the training grounds. " " Okay I am on my way" I walked briskly towards the training grounds,where I could hear puffing and groaning.

Daemon's point of view

Everyone is excited about today's full moon because it also marks the day the Luna ceremony would be performed and as Gamma of the pack, all security arrangements are in my domain but I also have another duty today, Greg and I are the officiating officers for today's ceremony. Greg mind linked me saying he wants to talk and Jerkins, our new Commander also just walked into the training grounds. " Morning, Commander Jerkins what brings you here this early in the morning? I know for a fact, you trained earlier.* " Gamma Daemon,how do you do? Oh I am not here to train or interfere in the morning's training. I reached emergency summons from Beta Lewis, to meet you here,so here I am" " wait, Beta Lewis asked you to meet here and did not even inform me?" I quickly mindlinked  Lewis, " Beta Lewis, good morning" " morning Gamma Daemon, I was just about to mindlink you. Has Commander Jerkins and Delta Greg, arrived yet??" " Commander Jerkins is here with me, Delta Greg is on his way" " Okay, I am currently on my way to you all. The reason for this meeting is to discuss security arrangements for tonight's ceremony, so sit tight, I will be there" I disconnected the link and addressed both Delta Greg feeling a little better at having my best friends around and the other is on the way. " Boys, do not be so stressed, no one did anything wrong. We are here for security reasons and I am not sure which but I know it has something to do with pack security for today's ceremony so sit tight and let us wait for Lewis" Lewis had just walked in and headed our way "  guys, sorry for keeping you waiting. I had to talk to the alphas and it took longer than expected. First off thanks for waiting, the initial business is how do we go about security for tonight's ceremony, any ideas"  " well beta Lewis let us see how about we set Alpha King Brian's normal security arround him and have the other warriors on normal patrol, and a no alcohol rule for all warriors and the twenty assassin trained warriors that joined us a few days ago, should spread out in the crowd mixing well and at the first sight of trouble, the form a circle around the royal family. What do you think?". " Well Commander Jerkins, you have it all figured out then. But in addition to the assassin trained warriors,a few ordinary warriors should stand guard all over the place and I also want border patrols intensified. Any questions?" Lewis asked us if we had any questions about his plan, everyone shook their heads me inclusive. " Okay it is decided then and Jerkins you are in charge of security as both Daemon and Greg would be a little too busy tonight" " no problem, Beta Lewis besides this should be a piece of cake and I need the distraction" " alright then, our little meeting is over but do not forget, our presence is needed during the Alphas meeting at noon,see you then." We dispersed, I returned my attention to the ongoing training.

Chapter thirty eight

Later that night

Brian's POV

Well, the full moon is finally here. A huge crowd gathered around the square where a big stage was mounted and on that stage, the pack altar was mounted and Greg and Daemon stood behind the altar, in front of the altar seats lined every sphere of space available, because this is a union between two large packs and the Alpha Pack, a tripod of sorts. The Alphas of the Alpha Pack lined the first hundred seats on my left, there were other Alphas present whom I did not know nor recognize, I made a mental note to ask Daemon about them later, the entire membership of the Moonlight Pack led by Alpha Riddick and Luna Tina lined the seats on my right and the members of the Vernom Claw Pack and the Red moon Pack took the seats in the middle lane and in the front seat was my dear cousin Alpha Ruby and her Beta Cercie, the entirety of her pack lined the seats behind my packs and I was standing awkwardly on the stage in front of the altar with the attention of everyone present on me, Lewis my Beta stood beside me and smiled encouragingly at me,as if that would help alleviate the tension I was feeling right now. I dressed up in a black three piece suit, complete with a white long sleeve shirt and a black tie and Oxford shoes, Daemon, Greg, Jerkins and Lewis were similarly dressed and this suits is why we spent hours and almost emptied an entire boutique. Daemon and Greg as officiating officers stood behind the altar radiating joy and flashing dazzling smiles at everyone, they were really enjoying themselves and the night had just begun. Lewis mind linked me  "Alpha, ease up. She will be here any moment" " My tension has nothing to do with her not being here yet. Look around you, when you said we would have company I never for once thought it would be this huge a crowd" "Alpha, you are the Alpha King and leader of the Alpha Pack,every Alpha who heard of you trouped here, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, not many would miss it besides this number is nothing compared to the crowd that would show up when your official coronation is done" " yeah about that, when is it supposed to happen??" "Right now everything is set, in three weeks the coronation ceremony should take place with your permission of course" " like you really need my permission to do it. I know it is a requirement so I do not have much choice in the matter. Plus, I love the funfair that comes with it, it has been long since we had fun our way, or what do think?" " I agree, it has definitely been awhile" " now enough talk,let's get this show over with quickly" I closed the link and I did so just in time because coming from the direction of the pack house and walking majestically towards the altar was my mate, Slyverken. She was dressed in a white straight dress, there was nothing provocatively about it but it held my attention like a magic spell. This dress seemed to scream class, it hugged her figure perfectly, my wolf was doing a somersault dance in my head, as she approached a hush fell on everyone, she was simply glowing and I did not even notice her entourage entirely,they blended into the background for me, I had eyes only for my queen, it took Lewis's forced cough to break my attention from my mate as I started turning to him anger clearly visible in my face, the look on his face was one of shock, this caused me to do a back turn and the site made my breath got caught on the way. Impossible. Dressed in similar white luminous dresses were Michelle, Catherine, Gracie and Bernie, their dresses emitted a kind of glow which in turn made the white decor glisten casting a luminous presence all over the place. Everyone present was spellbound.

Slyverken's POV

As the time for me to go out drew closer, I became nervous and my hands shook slightly of their own accord, my bridesmaids, Catherine, Michelle, Bernie and Gracie noticed and stopped the rehearsal they were doing and turned to face me. " Slyverken, what are you scared of? Is it the crowd or do you think Brian would not like what you are wearing? If that is the case then don't worry, I can assure you he would be lost for words when he sees you"  " Yes, Michelle and he will definitely not be the only one, they all will be spellbound, our little surprise will blow them away" "Catherine you could not have phrased it better, this is definitely going to be a night to remember. Mark my words" " Girls, what would I ever do without you?" They chuckled. I opened my hands and they gave me a group hug. 'Now enough, talking it's almost time. Let us get the finishing touches in place'

As I walked out on to the path that was created for me to follow, I tensed but from the encouraging looks my girlfriends were giving me, I took my first tentative steps but when I saw Brian looking sexy and hot in his suit, the whole place seemed to disappear and only Brian and I existed, everything else just disappeared. The fear I was experiencing earlier just disappeared, unconsciously I increased the speed at which I was walking,all I wanted was to get to Brian as quickly as possible,I did not even register the gasps and shocks as I passed by, the look of pure love and adoration in Brian's eyes was all needed to be edged on. When I finally reached the base of the mounted stage after what felt like hours but was in reality only a few minutes, Brian was standing there in all majesty and extended a hand to me, which I accepted and he helped me up the stairs to the altar. When we arrived he whispered in my ear," you look lovely dear, I am truly lucky to have you as my mate and Queen" I blushed and said"you do not look bad yourself and if I am not wrong a lot of the females here wish they were in my place" " they can wish all they want,it will only be a dream. So shall we?" I looked at him in confusion and he gestured to the altar where a blushing Daemon and Greg stood nervously fidgeting,no doubt trying to keep their wolves in control. The girls were right our boys are really loosing it. Brian nudged me slightly and I nodded to his unvoiced question,we begun climbing the five steps, my bridesmaids and fellow conspirators followed suite, at the top Brian released my hand and assumed a serene posture though the look was ruined by the cocky curl of his lips and Jerkins materialized beside Lewis,who seemed as surprised as everyone else by his sudden appearance, he winked at Bernie and assumed a solemn expression and turned facing the altar, Brian on the hand was completely unperturbed, my bridesmaids assumed their respective positions beside their respective mates. Daemon cleared his throat and began his sermon " today,we are here to witness the official joining of two hearts that beat as one,as you are all aware mates are chosen by the Moon goddess herself and Alphas do not get married, hence the need for this Luna ceremony and in order not to bore you with a long history, let us get this ceremony underway and my name is Gamma Daemon and my assistant is Delta Greg, if you will kindly resume your seats except you Alpha and Luna of course." There was a few nervous laughter at the playful banter " shall we, Alpha kindly repeat the words after me but before that kindly face each other; I Alpha King Brian Armstrong Alpha of the Red moon Pack, Vernom Claw Pack and the Alpha Pack accept you Slyverken Ninn, Alpha of the Moonlight Pack as my soulmate,my queen and better half" Brian did repeat this words while looking me directly in the eye, never breaking eye contact. " Now, Luna Slyverken if you will kindly repeat this words after me, I Alpha Slyverken Ninn Alpha of the Moonlight Pack, accept you Alpha King Brian Armstrong of the Vernom Claw Pack, Red moon Pack and the Alpha Pack as my soulmate, King and better half" I repeated the words, Brian's smile spread lighting up my world. " Now that the vows have been exchanged, Greg if you will pass me the earthenware and the sliver knife" I was surprised by this as silver was a werewolves worst nightmare and was about to ask questions when Brian stopped me by shaking his head ever so slightly. "Now, this is not a common occurrence, only few packs, the Red moon Pack inclusive that practice this particular tradition. Alpha King Brian if you will, cut your hand and let the blood drip into the earthenware" Brian dutifully slashed his right hand allowing his blood to flow crimson into the earthenware, after a few seconds Daemon signaled him to stop and he squeezed his bleeding hand, the healing process was already underway. " Luna Slyverken, if you would kindly repeat the same process" reluctantly I took the silver knife hilt first from Brian and repeated the process, I winced as the knife cut cleanly through my skin leaving behind a burning sensation, after awhile Daemon signaled and I stopped dripping my blood into the earthenware, Greg picked up the earthenware and placed it before the altar. " Now, you may exchange a kiss" Brian dipped his towards me and kissed me lightly on the lips and I returned the kiss eagerly, Daemon cleared his throat again and we broke off the kiss." Now, I declare you both legally joined but before you get carried away, Luna Slyverken, there is a custom of the Red moon Pack that you would have to fulfill" " Okay, what is it?" " You have to hunt and kill enough wildlife preferably a bull, to feed the entire pack and that is everyone present." Everyone's jaw dropped, even Brian was surprised "what did you just say?" " Yes, Alpha that is part of the tradition of the pack and Luna you are allowed to pick any number of warriors to accompany you but you must do the kill yourself, this is prove that you are capable of taking care of the pack. If you can provide them food then you can take care of them in the absence of the Alpha." Sure, Daemon does the tradition also determine whether the warriors are males or females? " " No Luna, it does not say" " in that case, I chose Michelle, Catherine, Bernie, Gracie and Ruby and Cercie" Brian could not believe his ears, I just formed my hunting party and they they are all females and I also asked for Ruby and Cercie my nemesis before now finding out she and Cercie were related to Brian, his lips were furiously opening and closing yet no sound came out. Daemon shouted for attention ," everyone I present to you  luna / Queen Slyverken and Alpha King Brian" there were cheers and clapping from the crowd. Ruby and Cercie beat everyone to get to us first " well congrats sister in-law it is official now, welcome to the family" " thanks Ruby" " oh, that is nothing though I was surprised you asked me to hunt with you" " Ruby we are family now before today we used to hurt each other but now we fight as one and protect each other and you are one of the best hunters I know and this would be the perfect excuse for us to spend time together and my hunting party and I left together heading towards the southern border. Brian made to follow but was stopped Jerkins.

Brian's POV

When Daemon mentioned going hunting,my wolf was going ballistic, there is no way in hell I am allowing my mate to go hunting and bring back enough meat to feed the thousands of wolves on the pack premises, that is just not possible. Even for me that would take a lot of time and they want her to do so and to make it worse her choice of hunting partners were the girls scouts as I like to call them,she chose to go on this crazily foolish hunting expedition with Michelle, Catherine, Gracie, Bernie, Ruby and Cercie,yes I agree, Michelle, Gracie, Bernie, Ruby and Cercie are capable warriors in their own right but Catherine is still a newbie in hunting and self-defense, plus despite Slyverken and Ruby being Alphas, they are not used to hunting in packs or formation like Lewis, Daemon Greg and I now even Jerkins has adopted our hunting style but even for the five of us that type of hunting would be tasking and not to mention almost all of us, excluding Catherine are still recovering from various degrees of injury, this was a bad idea from the start. After the ladies left everyone dispersed to their various accommodations awaiting news on the success or failure of the hunt meanwhile there was a variety of entertainment going on but I was not in the mood, I stormed into my office where I spent ten minutes pacing around before being joined by Lewis, Daemon ,Greg and Jerkins. " Alpha, relax they would be fine" " yeah, easier said than done. Do you want to tell me you have not tried mind linking Catherine all this while Daemon??" No answer " I thought as much and the same thing applies to Greg, Lewis and Jerkins. We all have tried mind linking our mates to find out how they are doing but they are not responding and you expect me to be calm. That is just not possible. Jerkins did you dispatch the shadow team as I asked?" " Yes, Alpha. But we might have a little problem" "and that is??" " It would seem Luna Slyverken suspected we might send people after them,so they set a trap and two of the five men I sent sustained some serious injuries and are currently in the pack hospital, the remaining three are on Luna's tail and report three bulls have already been slayed and left in a pile" " three bulls you say?" " Yes, Alpha. It would seem they were prepared and with Alpha Ruby and beta Cercie's knowledge of this woods,it is turning out to be a m******e for the bulls" " of course, that is why she specifically requested for Ruby, sly Slyverken. How many bulls do you think will be enough?" " Alpha in my opinion three or four should be but knowing Luna and the team she chose, they are definitely bound to go beyond our expectations." " That is right, Greg but my main worry now is how did so many Alphas come all the way down here just to witness a Luna ceremony?" " Jerkins you are right, Lewis how many Alphas aside those in the Alpha Pack were present, I could not get an exact number,I was a little preoccupied" They chuckled at this " Alpha, there were or should I say there are three hundred extra Alphas present here tonight, all most all came with a minimum of five warrior wolves accompanying them." " That is not good at all. How are they doing accommodation wise and how did they even find out I was here? Lewis??" " Alpha it would seem these Alphas arrived at the Vernom Claw Pack and were waiting for you to come back for them to swear their loyalties and that of their packs to you but when they found out because someone could not keep his mouth shut, that tonight a Luna ceremony would be held for you most showed up here in the hopes of meeting new people and also to observe you and your mate, the queen of the wolves just to have an idea of the kind of person you are" " fine I get it okay. They came here to do a first hand assessment of me before making their choices. Now to more pressing issues, how soon can we leave for New York and I do not intend to travel by foot." " Anytime from tomorrow, I already made some calls and our passenger planes and private jets would be arriving at the ATL airport in approximately two hours and seven minutes. The teams of pilots and staff would need at most twelve hours of rest and sleep,so anytime from six PM local time." " Okay tell the crew to be ready from four PM local time and inform them,we would give a one hour notification before arriving and I want the planes fueled and ready to go at a moment's notice" " yes Alpha"