Cheyenne's POV
Alpha Brock had just finished updating me when a couple of alphas from the northern packs that I hadn't met before walked in. Alpha Nik did the introductions and I smiled as I shook their hands. It didn't take long after that, more and more started showing up. Alpha Nik and Alpha Brock never left my side the entire time, to which I was thankful for. I wasn't really the people person and I really hated meeting new people. Ty always said I had social anxiety which would kill his social butterfly every time he took me out. Once everyone was here, I went out to meet with all the guards.
"I know y'all don't know me, but I am in fact the Queen Alpha." I started and simultaneously all their heads bowed. "No need for the formalities out here. I just wanted to introduce myself and to thank you for coming. I don't care what your Alpha has said, my order over rules him and when we break for lunch, y'all are more than welcome to join. I'm not about to have you out here starving while they're in there soaking it up." I smiled at all of them.
They all exchanged confused looks before one finally spoke up, "Free to speak ma'am?" He deep voice asked.
"Always." I smiled.
"My alpha would not appreciate if I left my post." He said causing a few other to nod.
"Ok I understand your concern. You're afraid that you might be punished when you leave here for disobeying your alpha. I can compromise though. How about you take turns? That way there's still some of you out here at all times?" I asked.
They all exchanged looks again and then nodded. "Then it's settled. I will leave it up to y'all to work out who goes when. I will not end the lunch until all of ya's has had a chance to eat." I smiled. "Ok I better go deal with the others now. Thank you again." I said as I walked back in the room and one of the guards closed the door behind me.
I walked up to my spot at a table between Nik and Brock. "Ok guys let's get this show on the road. I will not be here all day because y'all wanna bicker like children. This is just an informative meeting." I hollered to get everyone's attention.
Everyone started taking their seats and quieted their voices. I looked around trying to get a reading on some of them to see if I would have problems out of anyone. There were a few, Alpha Trent being one of them, that I wasn't too sure about.
"Koa, keep your attention on those across from us. I don't know why but something feels off about them." I said in my head.
"Already on it sweetie. Do what you got to do." She replied back.
"I might have to call you forward…" I started.
"Sweetie don't worry your pretty little head. I'm right here." She said in that motherly tone.
I looked around for Gunner and Ben and finally caught sight of them over in the furthest corner. Gunner and I locked eyes and I felt a wave of calmness come through the bond. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding before looking back to the alphas and lycan leaders sitting before me.
"Ok, first things first. Y'all know who I am by now. I am the daughter of the late King Seeley Romanov. My birth name is Alida Romanov but grew up knowing Cheyenne as my name. Some of you know me by one name and others by the other. I answer to both, and no I haven't decided which name to go with. I guess just choose one." I shrugged.
"Second thing. Yes I killed my own biological father, the King. If you don't believe me, there are more than 300 witnesses who can attest to it. Alpha Nik, Alpha Brock, and even Alpha Trent being a few." I pointed to each one as I said their names, but the reaction I got when I said Alpha Trent's name was one of confusion.
"Koa, you see that?" I asked her.
"Yep. Something is definitely off here." She said.
"Does anyone have any questions so far on who I am or what happened?" I asked.
When nobody said anything I continued. "Good. Now I wanna talk about the laws put forth by my father and what's changing and what is not. First and foremost, I am not here to take away your power over your packs. Y'all have done amazing jobs and running them thus far. Every pack is different and has their own specific needs. You are the ones who know best what that is. Not me. I cannot even begin to claim what the Ice Mountain pack needs as I have never lived in a climate that's snow and ice year-round. I can make a good guess on lots of heating supplies possibly?" I shrugged looking over at the Alpha of the Ice Mountain pack. This caused him and a few others around him to smile and laugh while he nodded his head.
"That would actually be a good guess your majesty." He said.
"That reminds me. Sorry, I gotta squirrel brain. The titles drop at that door. Inside this room, we are all equals. No alphas, definitely no queen. Yes I am more powerful than y'all but can we just drop the formalities while we are here? I understand in front of pack members and such, but while we are here, can we agree on that?" I asked looking around.
Everybody looked around, mumbled a bit, and then agreed.
"Good. Ok back to business then. Like I was saying, I do not want to take your power away from your packs. I only want to be here at a third-party kind of thing. If you need advice on a troubled pack member, call me. If you are having issues with another pack, call me. If it is something that warrants a full board meeting, which is what I am calling these meetings from now on, then we will discuss it then." At that one of the alpha's raised his hand.
"Will these meeting be a regular schedule thing or only when the need arises?" He asked.
"I know running a pack is a lot of work and can be time consuming at times, which is why I would only like to meet at least once every quarter, so every 3 months. If another one is needed between those then we can arrange it then. Sound fair?" I asked everyone.
Again everyone mumbled amongst themselves before agreeing. Then Alpha Trent raised his hand.
"What are you going to do about the rogue problem?" He asked which caused all eyes to turn on me again.
"First off, why are there rogues? Why were they banished from their packs to begin with? Yes I know some are born into it. We need to look into the why before we can come up with a plan on downsizing those numbers." I said. Most the alphas seemed pleased with my answer but of course there were a few were not.
"I have banished wolves for betrayal to my pack. No other pack would take the chance on letting them in knowing that." Alpha Trent added.
"In that case, maybe we need a prison territory of sorts. One where serious offenses can be sent and won't be able to leave that territory, lessening the rogue numbers running free and the number of attacks on packs." I shrugged.
"Why didn't we think of that?" I heard one of the alpha's sitting closer to me ask another alpha.
"Wolves being banished to rogue life is a power that you alphas issue as you see fit. Hell, I just put my own two sisters on trial for their crimes and I can tell you that one of them will be banished herself if not the death penalty." I said causing a few of their jaws to drop.
"If I may?" One of the lycan leaders raised their hands.
"Floor is yours." I smiled.
"All of you have welcomed us lycans into your packs and we will forever be grateful for that. Like Alida said, not to take away any of your power over your pack, but what if we set up a court system like the humans. Your packs courts for the minor infractions, and then a court system at a higher level for the more serious ones. This way all wolves are being held accountable at the same standards everywhere." He suggested.
"I would be ok with that. I would help free up some of my cells and clear some paperwork off my desk." One alpha chimed in causing others to discuss and ultimately agree with the idea as well.
"Ok if we want to do that then that's where we can also set up the rogue territory. I will need to look at the maps of territory lines and such to find the best location for this. I have all your files here, I would like to go over the basic details, not every single line, and just make sure everything is up to date and correct. Let's break for lunch, Gunner can you tell the guards to start their rotation also?" I asked and Gunner nodded his head.
"Rotation?" One alpha asked.
"I have told the guards that they are to eat as well. They will be doing it in rotations so that there is still some on duty at all times. Also, if any of you punish them for eating, you will answer to me, as it would be defying my order." I said sternly remembering my conversation with the one guard beforehand.
"I'm just going to do this in alphabetical order so no one can claim favorites or some bullshit. So Alpha Acker, I'll start with you. The rest of you may go eat." I dismissed the group and pulled the file with Alpha Acker's name on it.
He came up and sat next to my while we went through his file and confirmed contact information, territory lines, and the number of pack members. I repeated this process with everyone one by one. When I was talking with Alpha Trent, Koa kept stirring. Something had her on edge. Once he walked away I decided that I better ask her.
"Koa what's wrong?" I asked.
"His wolf is not liking having to answer to a female and Trent is following his lead. We might have to put on a little show and tell." Koa replied.
"I've heard the rumors about his pack but he claims he's cleaned up his act and that his pack is no longer ran that way." I said.
"Unless he got a different wolf, I highly doubt it." She snorted.
"Ok keep an eye on him then. I'll try to act normal." I laughed.
Once everyone was done eating I went to check on the guards to make sure they had all eaten as well. Once I was sure I went back into the room.
"We're almost done here guys. Just have a couple of other things to go over." Silence fell across the room again with all eyes on me.
"After this meeting, I would like to have y'all bring your betas with you. This will help them with keeping up with any changes we make, so if you have to leave your pack and leave the beta in charge for some reason, they are able to do so smoothly." I stated.
"What about Luna's? I know mine was a little upset that she couldn't come today." One alpha spoke up.
"If we include Luna's, then we would need to include the lycan's mates as well. What's fair is fair." I shrugged. "As long as you guys are ok with it then fine by me. But let it be known that these are not going to be for a social gathering. It's strictly business. They will sit at these tables with you and your beta." I added looking around.
Everyone looked around, mumbled, and then agreed. I looked at Nik and whispered, "Good thing you got a big enough room." Causing him to chuckle.
"Then it's settled. Next meeting, Lunas and betas will join us. That brings us to our last thing." I said standing back up and pushing in my chair.
Most were looking at me confused while others had a look of, if I didn't know any better, looked like a look of disgust.
"Is there anyone here who has a problem with answering to a female?" I asked bluntly.
All eyes went wide before heads starting shaking and saying no.
"Good." I said turning around and taking a few steps away from the table. Koa was itching to come forward. Something had her on edge. I slid my boots off and then turned back around.
I was looking at all the alphas and lycan leaders to gauge their reactions. With all the eyes on me, I took a few steps and then jumped and shifted in midair. Koa landed right in the middle of the square of tables. Some of the alphas jumped back, almost falling out of their chairs. The lycan leaders, having already seen Koa before, tried to muffle their laughs. Koa stopped right in front of Alpha Trent and huffed.
"Are you sure about that Trenton!?" Koa asked.
We saw his eyes flash colors as his wolf was trying to surface but Trent kept him down.
"Not a problem here." Trent smirked.
Koa let out a warning growl before back away.
"Her royal highness would like me to introduce myself. My name is NaKoa, but you can call me Koa for short." Koa said lowering her head but never taking her eyes off Trent.
"Also, if there is no other questions, then this concludes today's meeting. You are all free to go back to your packs. Thank you for coming." Koa said politely now looking around at everyone.
As people started to leave, Gunner had walked back in with a bag over his shoulder. We hadn't even seen him leave in the first place.
"I had a feeling that would happen. Here's some clothes." He handed Koa the bag with a smirk.
We went and shifted back and I got dressed. Good thing I slid my boots off beforehand otherwise I would have been more pissed than I was.
"What was that all about?" Gunner asked.
"Get Nik, Ben, and Brock over here." I said sliding my boots back on.
It didn't take long before all three of them were walking back in the door. "What's going on?" Ben asked.
"Trent. Be prepared for issues outta him at least. Koa sensed his wolf wasn't too keen on taking orders from a female. Hence the show and tell act. Damn dog shredded my favorite pair of jeans too." I said holding up the pieces.
"We will keep our eyes and ears open." Nik said.
"Why are you telling me this though?" Brock asked.
"Because I came from your pack. My family is still in your pack." I said, which made Brock make the O shape with his lips as he realized what I was getting at.
We all headed out at the same time, making sure we didn't leave any paperwork behind. Once we were back at the pack house, I headed straight for the kitchen. I was starving.
"We just ate at the meeting." Gunner laughed.
"That was over two hours ago. Now I'm hungry again." I said looking in the cabinets for something to eat.
I found some cereal and decided that would hold me over till dinner at least. I made a bowl and started chowing down. Jax found me and started talking about the looks on the alphas faces when I shifted. We all had a good laugh at his reenactment.
I finished my bowl and then placed it in the sink and decided to head upstairs for a nap. Gunner was going to talk to his dad and then said he would meet up with me later. Although I didn't want to leave him, I was completely drained. So I gave him a kiss and went upstairs. Once I was in our room, I belly flopped on the bed and it didn't take long for sleep to claim me.