Robbin's POV
"What are we going to do?" A councilman called out to the rest of the people seated at the table.
"Four attacks in the last two weeks. FOUR. They have to be stopped." Another responded.
The war room is crowded with the Northerner kingdom's councilmen and their rulers. Xander and I are sitting at the head of the wide table, side by side, with Gus, Grey, and Alec on either side of us.
After the rogue attacks quickly escalating over the last few weeks, Xander and I decided to have a council meeting with the leaders of the kingdom. Apparently, Ryker Arden, the leader of the rogues was seen with them.
"Those attacks weren't on Northerner soil. They aren't our problem."
"Any werewolf committing a crime is our problem, councilwoman," Xander said, his alpha tone completely dominating the room. "It doesn't matter what kingdom they're in. they're criminals who will be held against their crimes."
"But, alpha," the woman tries to rebuttal.
"My say is final. If we don't take responsibility for them, the Northerner kingdom will seem like it's turning a blind eye to the situation in general."
Everyone nods in agreement. The way Xander takes charge of his people is really something. They respect him and trust his judgment, even when they don't want to.
"The situation has risen to the point of a war breaking out," Xander continues, "Stopping them is the kingdom's main priority."
"How do you propose we do that?" asked councilman Ernest Poe, an elderly man with hair only growing down his beard.
"The last sighting of the rogues was in the Westerlie kingdom, correct?" Xander continued.
"Yes, alpha. Their government alerted us that they're west of the kingdom on their separated territory. A small fleet of them was seen by the docks with Ryker, but their whereabouts at the moment is unknown."
"Is it possible that they left?"
"No," I stated, finally joining the conversation. "If they were already spotted, then the entire place would be on lockdown."
" Then we should strike now but we still have the chance." Said the Councilwoman.
" no. That will make us look aggressive and won't help. We should capture the question."
" your queen is right," said Gus. " violence won't bring us anything but closer to war. We will fly to the Wesley territory and capture every last one of the rolls. Once we have them in our custody, they will be questioned and later held accountable for all crimes they have committed."
"and how do to plan on catching them? They voluted us for some time now. What makes you think that we saw it easy to obtain?" Asked Ernest.
For once and then I actually felt silent. No one knew how to capture the rogues. They are smart and cunning creatures known for their ability to hide from the public. They were banished after all not fitting in this kind of second nature to them. And even if we did manage to capture them there's no guarantee that Riker is still with him. He could have escaped the Westerlie territory if he found out we knew of their location.
"We have dragons." Xander suddenly announced to the table. All Eyez including mine flew to him in a hurry. What did you just say? "Will use the dragons to hunt down the rogues."
"Dragons?" Asked the Councilwoman. "You mean the one's queen Robbin and her royal advisor brought with them?"
"Yes exactly. What better way to prove the alliance between the northerner are in Westerly kingdoms than by joining forces with their strongest weapons?"
Wow, the idea isn't terrible. Maybe if we –" I cut him off before you missed the finish whatever he was going to say.
" A dragon is not a weapon." Anger sweet to my body in an instant, taking on a life of its own. How could Sanders or something so vulgar, so disrespectful to my kind? To me? "You not use my dragons as a bargaining chip. Do not bring it up again."
"They have the power to wipe out any room who wants to become a traitor, not just to us, but to all the four kingdoms still standing."
"Using the dragons to hunt down the road you will surely cause A war to break out. We should not handle the situation with violence."
"Says the woman who threatened to burn not only me and making them as well when we first met. What happened to that woman?" Xander asked in a mocking tone. He must know that these situations differ completely. I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to tell him how wrong he was for bringing that up, but now is not the time for a childish debate.
"Enough Xander. Understand that it's too late to try and find peace for this conflict, but sending every rogue a flame is not the way. You know this. You can't let your anger for Ryker and Thandililion affect how we handle this situation." I was right, and he knew it. I fear that Xander might be too close to this case, close enough to throw us into another war.
Send away to a few more moments before finally responding. He lets out a small size and says, "you're right, I'm sorry."
"What if we don't kill them?" Ask Alec, finally speaking up on the matter. "What if we use the Dragons to track down the rogues? Are we allowed to do that instead?"
Xander looks my way and I remain hesitant. Using the dragons in any way is something I am fully against, but if I say no, and the rogues decide to finally overthrow us, will it be my fault? If I say yes now, will this guarantee the capture? Or will it start something bigger than any of us? Part of me knows not to question any future outcomes because no one knows what truly is going to happen in the future.
I look around the room, every I is trained on me, waiting for an answer, one I am not comfortable giving. But that's the catch of being a queen I guess. It doesn't matter what I want, only what will benefit the people of my nation.
"OK," I say, straining the words from my mouth. OK," I say, straining the words from my mouth. " we will use the tracker dragons to hunt down any rogues in the Westerlie territory, but no death shall happen on my motherland, is that understood?"
"I think we can agree on that," Xander said, rising from his seat. "We leave at sunset. Brother, prepare the fleet and tell Grey to ready the dragons." Gus nodded his brother then took it to leave from the war room. The councilman along with the rest of the leaders of the Northerner kingdom followed in suit, leaving Xander and me alone to discuss the situation in private.
You shouldn't have done that Xander. You shouldn't involve yourself and the lives of your fellow packed meet with dragons, with my dragons. They are not toys for you."
"I never suggested that they were, but if there's even the slightest chance that we can win this with all the uproar of war, we need to use with strongest to us."
"What makes you think that dragons are the solution to this?" I ask, giving him a stern look, the kind my mother would give me when I did something wrong. "You know nothing of how to tame a dragon, So don't go around suggesting that this is what's best for the Northerner kingdom."
"Using the dragons is a good approach, be it roasting them in front of their fellow comrades, or tracking them down and extracting information from them."
"How exactly do you plan on keeping the peace if you want to kill every enemy that comes your way?"
Xander gives me a hard look, one of pain and anger. "Any chance of saving the piece was lost 10 years ago when my parents died. They are the reason for this is happening, so forgive me if I'm not ready to settle with anything less than their death."
It's words take me back. I had forgotten the pain directory his sister has caused him and gas, the sole reason behind this plan. "What do you plan on doing with Ryker when you find him?" I ask, hoping for any sign of sympathy and his next words.
Xander turns away for me, his gaze pointed at the door frame. "Ryker Arden, along with the rest of the rogues following his lead already has a sealed fate."
"You need to be careful Xander. I know he has hurt you to the point where part of you can never be healed." I move towards him his back still facing me, and place one hand on his arm, Feeling him tense from my touch, "I know Xander what it's like to lose a parent, someone who's been there for you from the moment you open your eyes. I know that pain, but you can't let it control you. Don't let it control you."
"He has to pay for his done." Xander finally faces me, his face frozen over in a stone-cold appearance. But his eyes, they held a storm of emotions begging to be set free. I fear that Once they are, Xander will be facing a war if his own.
I didn't want to release my hold on him, but he moved away for me faster than I can obtain a tighter grip and headed for the door. But before he left, the center turned slightly to me and said, "go get ready. They will surely be a battle. As much as I don't want you to be there, your kingdom needs you. They need their queen, and so do I." And with that, he left meeting me here alone.
But I'm right here. I thought. I wanted to reach out to him, to let him know that his queen is standing right here, but I guess it's too late. Besides, he already left.