The day of the conference, luxury cars came one by one and parked in front of the CC Hotel. Amber was at the entrance to welcome the Alphas while Zael's role was to lead them to the conference hall at the tenth floor of the building.
After everyone had entered the venue, Amber followed behind after instructing her warriors to pay attention to their surroundings. The conference hall was simply decorated, nothing fancy just its regular look. All the Alphas were already seated with their trusted aides standing in attention behind them.
As the person in charge of the meeting, Amber was naturally standing at the head of the table as she was required to. She looked at them before she gestured for the guards guarding the door to close it.
"Welcome to Cartnan," she started with a greeting. "It is my pleasure to host this conference and I hope that after this meeting we will come to an agreeable agreement that everybody will be satisfied with."
No one spoke, so with that, Amber started with their agenda. All of them knew that there was no need for any pleasantries between them. How to deal with the rogues? That was the agenda of their meeting.
"Do any of you have any thoughts about this matter?" Amber asked to formally start. Zael was ready to take note of whatever they would say but contrary to expectation the start of the meeting did not go well.
"Most of all, why are you the one standing in front of us? Hah, a woman trying to act high and mighty in front of us," one of the Alphas sneered with his hands crossed in front of him.
Amber recognized the man, he was the Alpha of Peruvia, one of the larger packs in the area. Their territory was located in the next city to Cartnan. Alpha Ruben was known for being arrogant and self-centered. Many also described him as someone who was very traditional thus their pack would always look down on packs with leaders who were women, especially Ceurian, because their Alpha was a woman.
A wave of silence, some of the Alphas feigned ignorance while the others were staring at the Amber, waiting for her reaction. This was expected more or less, Amber did not believe that he would remain silent. "Yes, thank you for recognizing that I am a woman and that I am standing in front all of you right now. And if you are uncomfortable with that fact, you are free to leave this place. The door can always be opened for anyone who wanted to leave." She pointed at the door that was already opened. She was also smiling brightly and did not let the Alpha's words affect her.
Alpha Ruben's face became dark at her words, his hands pounded on the table as he glared at the woman. "How dare you!" His eyes were looking at her like he was about to attack her. She could also see him shaking and clenching his fist but she did not care.
"We are in the middle of a meeting to find a solution in order to stop the rogues from coming to our territories and yet you are here criticizing me. With all due respect, the agenda now is more important than your prejudice." She was also an Alpha and she would not stay silent while someone was mocking her. Her wolf did not care that the man was older than her or that he was more experienced than her. "All of us inside this room are Alphas and all of us know that any Alphas cannot take an insult. And I hope that all of us here know that as an Alpha, the safety of our pack comes first and not some trivialities like my gender."
The temperature inside the room became colder as Amber let out her wolf's aura. No one refuted her and Alpha Ruben maintained his silence although he really wanted to walk up and slap her on the face but he held back. He thought to himself that there would be time for him to teach her a lesson.
"Let's proceed," one of the Alphas spoke as seconded by the others. They very well knew that the reason why they have gathered was because of the rogues so they should just talk about it.
Without any more interruptions the conference proceeded as planned. The Alphas were active in giving their inputs which smoothened the meeting. It took them almost six hours after they had finalized the measure that they had decided. After that, they were treated to a banquet where they had time to talk with the other Alphas. It was a short time of relaxation before they return to their packs and their works.
"I am always amazed at how you deal with Alpha Ruben," one of the Alphas who approached Amber was smiling. This man was an Alpha who would always remain neutral most of the time but in times of crisis, his pack will always move to help.
"Well, I have learned from the best and if I did not do that, he will think that I am that easy to push around," she answered with a smile. If her father had not taught her how to deal with people like Alpha Ruben, she might have walked over to him and punched him the face.
"Yes, Alpha Ruben is a bit rough and if I may say, a bit unruly so you should be careful because he holds grudges against people he doesn't like." The alpha warned with concern on his face. He had heard that Alpha Ruben would not waste time in making sure that the people he hated would suffer.
Amber already knew of these rumors and she had already proven that it was true. Ever since she became the Alpha of Ceurian, she would always hear snide remarks from the other Alphas who hated her, especially Alpha Reuben but she learned to ignore him and fight back if necessary. "Thank you for the reminder. I'll keep that in mind."
The banquet ended in a good note with the Alphas returning to their accommodations and the others traveling to return to their own packs. After the conference, all of the Alphas agreed to an information sharing system, wherein each of them was obligated to inform the other packs of any relevant information regarding the movements of the rogues.
Amber had hoped that this system will be effective in alerting them of any movement from the rogues that may endanger their packs and she also hoped that the Alphas would fulfill their promise of sending back-up once an attack may occur. A special team was also created to investigate the cause of the sudden increase of rogue sightings around the packs. This team was composed of the brightest and experienced warriors from each pack and with the agreement of most of them, this team will directly report to Amber.
Though some were not happy with this decision, majority of the Alphas were still in favor of Alpha Amber taking over the task as they believed that she will fulfill her duty to the utmost. It may be a great responsibility, still with no other choice, Amber accepted the role.
"Are you sure that you can handle the team?" Mykel asked after hearing the result of the conference. He had been calmly reading some papers in his office when both the Alpha and Zael entered for a rest. The beta then relayed what they had talked in the conference which made the mayor a little bit anxious.
"I could do nothing about it, they wanted me to be in-charge of it." She rubbed her head that had started to ache after the banquet. She had been smiling all through the conference and the banquet that her cheeks started to hurt. "I wanted to say no but they insisted on it."
"That's because they wanted you to take responsibility. If the team fails in any way, they will put all of the blame on you. They don't want to be blamed in the end so it is better to find someone who they can point their finger with when things go awry. They were clearly looking for a way to discredit you." Mykel sighed as he started to pace on the floor. He was muttering curses while doing so then he had cursed at the Alphas who in his opinion only knew how to avoid responsibility and liked to blame other people.
"Then there is only one thing that I could do, that is to make sure that the team will not fail and that they will be able to get relevant information about the enemy." It was the only viable option she had. She tapped the arm rest of the chair followed by a grin that appeared on her face.
Mykel flinched when he saw the smile on her face. That smile only meant that the Alphas will not be able to blame her if the team they had formed won't be able to bring results in the future.
"I don't really like that smile of yours, it is giving me an evil vibe." Mykel shuddered at the thought of how this would turn out in the end.
"Aside from that, you should also take Alpha Ruben in consideration as he might take this opportunity to get revenge at you for what you did to him." Zael interjected which made Mykel froze as he stared at Zael for more information.
Amber sighed at the thought of that man, "I do not regret what I had done during the conference. I would not let any, even an Alpha, insult me."
"Well, I actually applaud you for your temper. The Alpha's face was priceless after you have said your piece." Zael grinned and even gave Amber a thumbs up. Mykel, faked a cough which turned got the attention of the two.
"You are supposed to be the rational one in those kinds of situation and yet here you are encouraging her. Of course, Alpha Ruben will be furious because he was embarrassed in front of the other Alphas and I can't blame you for defending yourself but now you've earned his ire. He did not like you already because of your identity and now you have given him another reason to hate you even more." Mykel was looking at the both of them with a serious face. He was like a parent scolding his children for their mischief but at the same time there was concern that can be seen in his eyes.
"I'll be extra careful around him." Amber could only compromise to stop Mykel from his tirade. Besides, she had been warned and there was no harm in heeding their words.