For The Love of A Wolf

Damien’s POV~

Lynette and I ran to our room to change into more stately clothing. She slipped into a ruby red dress.. high collared, with long fitted sleeves.. knee length, nude tights and matching red heels. I chose a ruby and diamond tiara to adorn her beautiful curls. I wore a black suit.. with a red shirt, I paired it with a gold tie. We chose a smaller solid gold crown, encrusted with diamonds and rubies to match her tiara. Deciding we looked, every inch, the majestic duo we are supposed to embody.. we walked back inside the throne room, to discover half the pack were brought in.. for the sake of the cameras. Showing a unified front to the rest of the realm.

A long table set in front of throne chairs.. to my left Dad sat with Aaron and next to Lynette sat Liam with Blaze next to him.. forcing him out of his little cocoon of love and he didn’t look happy about it! We both sat.. and we turned on our tablets so I could read what Liam wanted me to address and almost immediately, a cup of coffee was placed in front of my mate. The entire assembly chuckled, knowing her infinite need to be caffeinated. It has become a standing joke in the kingdom. She just smiled brilliantly, and thanked the guard.

I noticed the red lights on the cameras started blinking, and the cameraman held fingers up, indicating the countdown. He pointed at me and I looked directly into the camera in front of us.

“My fellow Alphas.. wolves throughout the realm, I come to you today a grateful man! To those of you who are rallying around us.. we thank you. We are standing on the precipice of the greatness our kingdom will become! With our Goddess’s blessings, we have been appointed to reopen the kingdom. To bring the doctrines and teachings of Selene to the forefront, once again! It was time. And it was necessary! Wolves are succumbing to the greed and avarice that has prevailed, for too long in our species.

We want you to understand.. while this is a monarchy.. it is not a dictatorship! We will not rule absolutely! The realm will be divided into four separate sections. With elected governorships for each sector. A total of four retired Alphas will be reviewed..and vetted.. on four key components. Loyalty. Dedication to our species. Fairness.. and Compassion. Of these four… each division will be allowed to vote on whomever they feel most capable. Every wolf.. 18 years and older, will be required to register to vote.. regardless of rank, or specifity. Hybrids are also required to register. You all have a voice! You all have the right to be heard! The retired Alpha with the highest amount of votes, will be elected to the governorship of his ..or Her.. district! That governor will then appoint their own cabinet of advisors! Any and all disputes will be settled within each sector. Only the most major offenses will be brought to the attention of the monarchy. Understand that any rebellion will be squelched immediately by Royal Decree! These governorships will be audited, at random.. as well as quarterly.

Power can be a dangerous thing! We will have a system in place of checks and balances to ascertain the Goddess’s doctrines are being followed.. Taught in our schools. Preached jn our temples! Everyone is to be treated fairly.. justly. Executions will only be carried out after a trial where all evidence is presented and guilt proven. No longer are we a society of brutality and criminal offenses. Rogues will be given a voice! Only the most feral will be put down without benefit of representation! Times are changing, my people!

All of you will be listened to! Everyone will be heard! All ranked members of every pack in each separate sector will vote on the candidates for Royal Council, that have been carefully vetted and selected by the Senior Royal Advisor to the King. We suggest you read each candidates’ qualifications before your decision is made. These people will be your sector’s voice in the Royal Capital! This vote takes place one week from today. The candidates will be visiting each pack in the interim.

As was stated earlier, any rebellion will be put down immediately, with great force, when necessary. The cliche’ Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely has never been truer than it is today, in our current society! And that absolute power has come to an end!

Now, I ask you to bear with us just a bit longer.. as my mate.. your Luna Queen has asked to be heard. I ask you to pay close attention…as hers is an interesting story!”

The camera pans to Lynette’s face and she smiles into the camera…” I wish to fully introduce myself.. my King is already known to many of you, while I am essentially, unknown. There is a reason for that. You see… had you known of my existence.. I would have been murdered in infancy!

My mother…is the only surviving child of Adolfo Baronski. Her mother was Celeste Dubois….and my mother’s name is Colette Dubois.. excommunicated High Preistess of the Dubois Coven. Because you see, her mate is a werewolf..like her father was. My mother is considered a hybrid.. however, her wolf never manifested. She is a null and therefore, incapable of ruling wolves. I told you that.. to tell you this… My father is the Alpha of Black River Pack.. Massimo Devereaux. I am his mantled heir! He did not know of my existence..because you see.. after he mated my mother.. he rejected her.. Not having a wolf, and being a witch..he either felt she was not good enough.. inferior in some way.. or simply because of his hatred and prejudice of witches.

Regardless, his reasoning.. my mother felt he lost all rights to knowledge of my existence. He only realized there must have been a resulted progeny from his one night with his TRUE MATE when his chosen delivered him a male heir… with no mantle! He then began to recruit Alphas from other packs to hunt me down.. auctioning me off to the highest bidder… all the while, having no intention of allowing any of them to force mate me.. his aim was to murder me. In losing our way.. and the doctrines of our Goddess falling by the wayside.. he failed to realize the Alpha mantle would not transfer to my half brother.. it would die with me. He would have lost it all regardless!

You have questioned the validity of our claim to the throne.. non-believers have decided to rebel. The doubters will be reassured that we are the Goddess’s chosen! Even though I am a hybrid.. I am a high-born hybrid from both my parents. Camera, please pan in closely…Can you all see this mark? A crescent moon with an inverted triad of stars! When the Goddess wants or needs to relay a message.. my mark will spark and glow! My mate and I are Goddess blessed. We have been anointed by Her grace and we will follow her words to the letter! Thank you for your time! Thank you for your attention! Please realize and remember we are steadfast in our resolve. Any rebellion will be stopped at its’ inception!”

The camera pans back to me “So now you know.. we did not come into this ill-prepared..we are not dancing blindly in the dark. This regime operates on the edicts of the Moon Goddess. Right is our Might! We only want what is best for our realm.. and our species! Selene has appointed us her guardians of her favorite creations. We will prevail! Thank you for your time!”

The entire room erupted into roaring applause and cheers. Paul was grinning ear to ear. Colette, Mom and Dianne sat in the back in tears! I feel pretty good about our speeches. We touched on everything we need our people to know.. to be aware of. They have been informed and warned..

Liam said “Emails are blowing up…Damien. Nearly 3000 on the royal server alone. Paul.. yours?” Dad nods “almost to 5K.. and rising. Come on, Aaron.. let’s get the legal team on response!” We all moved to our offices so we could let our people know we are serious about hearing them… I want them to always see us as approachable!