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Chapter 6 - Alpha Meeting

At nine o'clock sharp Phelan walked into Alpha Mixon's den where 12 other Alphas were all sitting. Phelan found a comfortable looking leather arm chair and took a seat. Alpha Mixon sat across from him in the matching arm chair. As Phelan made himself comfortable the remaining six Alphas walked in joining the group. When everyone was seated Alpha Mixon's Beta walked around the room closing all the doors for privacy. At the last door he turned and nodded to his Alpha and left the room.

With the doors closed Alpha Mixon cleared his throat signaling the start of the meeting. Immediately all of the men fell silent in anticipation of learning what the private meeting had been called for. Mixon leaned forward and looked at each of the men sitting around him before speaking. "First of all I want to thank each and everyone of you for attending tbis meeting and for accepting without question that it was necessary to attend without your entourage. I want to begin by introducing Alpha Phalen. For those of you that have not had the privilege of meeting him, Alpha Phelan comes to us from the otherside of this continent. Some of you may not know him, but most of you have heard of the infamous Red River Pack. It is the largest pack on this continent and second largest in the world. Alpha Phalen is a strong leader and well respected among not only our kind but also with many other races. As he has formed formidable alliances with several different powerful beings over the years it is evident of his diplomatic abilities as well.. Because of this I have agreed to give him audience and ask that all of you please at least hear what he has come all this way to tell us. I assure you that this is a most worthy topic and absolutely concerns each and everyone of us and our respective packs. Without further ado I am now going to turn leadership of this meeting over to him. Please hold all questions until he has had a chance to explain. Alpha Phelan the floor is yours. Please, inform the men of what we discussed over the phone the other day."

As he finished his introduction he sat back and gestured for Phelan to proceed.

Phelan nodded to Alpha Mixon and stood, looking at all the men before beginning. "I want to thank each of you for coming tonight and affording me the ability to discuss the issue at hand. The matter of which I am about to discuss with all of you is of a truly grave concern for all in the werewolf world and potentially beyond. It is an issue that some of you may already be dealing with. Left unchecked the rest of you will most definitely be affected in the future. As you all may know I am in command of a very sizable pack, burdened with the safety and well-being of more than 10,000 lives. Normally, this would mean that I am most definitely capable of handling any threat. And with respect to my packs size and strength I believe that I most definitely will be able to stave off any attack on my pack. My concern is not as much for my own pack's safety and well-being as much as it is for each of you and your packs. Because our common enemy is several thousand strong. I'm aware that that would be quite a challenge for many of you on your own. Now please understand, that is not meant as an insult. I am simply stating the facts as they are."

Here he paused for a moment before continuing, "Now gentleman, before I continue I must ask now that what I am about to tell you should remain between us. At least until we finish the festivities and return to our homes." Upon hearing this many of the Alphas looked around nervously. Unsure of what Phelan had to say, but understanding that what they were about to hear was very serious. But none of them spoke. All were listening intently.

"Now, the threat I have mentioned before is one of our own. You need not look amongst yourselves you won't find him among us. He is Alpha Cullen of the Crescent Moon Pack. He has led his pack for the last 32 years. He took over as Alpha upon murdering his own parents at the age of 19 years young. He burned his mother alive. Lighting her on fire while she slept. They say that he was heard laughing as she thrashed about in the flames. His father tried to hunt him down to punish him for his crimes. Yes you heard correctly, crimes, not crime. Taking his mother's life was not his first offense. It is unknown how many he raped, tortured, and/or murdered before he committed matriside. He was suspected of many heinous crimes from the age of 16. It is believed that his parents actually helped cover up his crimes initially."

Phelan stopped for a moment to allow the group to absorb what he had said. He walked over to a table with bottled water and coffee and took a bottle of water. He removed the cap and took a long drink before returning the cap and walking back over to stand before the group of men. Then continued his tale of horror.

"When Cullen's father and his men tracked him down they cornered him in an abandoned barn. They fully intended to burn it down around him. However, Cullen is quite clever and naturally was one step ahead of them. They didn't run him there and ambush him. No, he had been there the entire time. Cullen had managed to steal away with his younger sister. With all the commotion she had not been missed. The unspeakable ways in which he tortured her... it is unfathomable to believe any creature could do such things to their worste enemies. Let alone to do these things to their own families. Unhindered the deranged Cullen had defiled his sister several times. He had tortured her relentlessly for hours on end. He gauged out her eyes, and cut off her fingers and toes one by one. She had been beaten with a cat of nine tales that had been modified by having shards of glass and silver beads woven into the braids and burned with hot pokers. The list of atrocities goes on and on. I trust that by now you understand this wolf is pure evil. His sister was only 12 years old. She was more dead than alive when his father and men arrived at the barn.

When they realized that the pup was inside they couldn't burn the old barn down. Instead they attempted to reason with Cullen. They tried to negotiate his sister's release. Clever Cullen convinced his father to come inside alone. When he entered the barn his fate was sealed. Upon entering the barn the poor father was frozen in horror at the site that lay before him. The girl was unrecognizable and Cullen was covered in her blood. As the Alpha stood unable to move, unable to look away from the mangled body of his daughter, his son came around from behind him. With a maniacal laugh he plunged a sliver knife straight through his father's heart. As his father fell dead and his men ran into the old barn, Cullen ran out the opposite end of the building. Before the men could pursue him several explosions rocked the structure from it's foundation and brought the old barn down on top of their heads. The whole thing was engulfed in flames within a matter of moments."

Again Phelan paused to let them absorb the information. He took a long drink of his water finishing it in one go. Then plopped down into the leather arm chair in front of Alpha Mixon holding his head in his hands for a few moments before sliding both of his hands down his face with a heavy sigh. Looking up at his fellow Alphas stunned faces before taking a deep breath and continuing with his story.

"You may be wondering how his pack allowed him to take over as Alpha. Surely you want to know why they didn't instead kill him for his crimes. Well, over the next few weeks Cullen somehow managed to get in and out of his packs territory unnoticed by anyone. He stole in and out of their lands over and over. Every day he tortured, raped and murdered any ranked wolves and their loved ones. He murdered the elders as well. Over time he managed to kill off anyone willing to stand against him. Then to coax the wolves to follow him without question, he slowly kidnapped most of their children and hid them away. Once their children were held hostage most were willing to do anything he demanded of them. He turned the pack against itself. When it was all said and done he walked freely right back into the Pack and has never been held accountable. Some of the kidnapped children were returned to the pack. But they were not allowed to return home to their families. Instead Cullen designated watchers. The children were separated, boys were trained to be loyal and obedient warriors. Girls were groomed to be breeders and slaves. It isn't known exactly what happened to the children that never returned. It is likely that they suffered a similar fate as Cullen's family. Another sinful law he enacted upon his people is making mates illegal. When one of his men finds their mates they have neither the right to choose them, nor the ability to reject them. Instead they obligated to kill the she wolf immediately. Failure to do so results in a fate worse than death itself. The law breaker is imprisoned as is any other blood relative of their's. Then they are all kept alive for as long as possible while all manor of unspeakable atrocities are committed against them. Their mates that they wouldn't kill are put on stakes allowing gravity to kill them slowly and placed through out the pack territory as a reminder for everyone else that Cullen will not be denied. For the males that try to escape with their mates, they are beaten and chained with silver. Then they are forced to watch Cullen himself torture their females to death. Cullen is an expert in the ways of prolonging torture. It isn't until the she wolves die that the male's torture begins. So no mates. Instead his males are encouraged to take many females for breeding purposes. They take females from their own pack. But are also notoriously known for attacking and murdering unsuspecting packs. They take only women and children alive. Women are taken as slavesand breeders. The children are endoctrinated into their society. All adult males are killed or tortured and then killed. Cullen stands nothing to gain from torturing these poor souls. Nothing but the joy and thrill he derives from torturing another living creature until it's death. It is rumored that Cullen keeps the daughters of the Alphas alive in his own private harem. Condemning them to a tortured life of hell as his own personal breeders.

The list of atrocities Cullen visited upon his pack is unimaginably monstrous. They have become a tortured and twisted lot. I believe it is too late to save his pack members from his tyranny. Many feel that they are far to conditioned to his insanity. Some have occasionally been taken captive. The few that didn't commit suicide immediately after faked gratitude and upon given the chance at freedom turned and killed those that wanted to help them. But they didn't try to escape. Instead it seemed they preferred death over help or their freedom. It is the same with young children from Cullen's pack.

Over the years my pack has taken in many who have been fortunate enough to escape Cullen's attacks on their packs. They all say the same thing over and over again. The attacks are unprovoked. They aren't aware that they are in any danger. When Cullen attacks a territory it is as if he appears from thin air. There is never any warning before the packs total destruction comes to fruition. My allies and I believe he is being helped by dark magic. However, what witches and sorcerers would gain by aligning themselves with him none of us can imagine.

Another issue with handling Cullen is that he cannot be found. His territory is bewitched. We are unsure whether the territory is bewitched or if it is in an entirely different realm. All maps and lands have been searched. No trace of the place has ever been found. At least not by anyone that has gone out to search and returned."

Phelan paused again to retrieve another bottle of water before concluding his tale. The other Alphas waited anxiously for him to continue. "Two months ago my pack took in the remnants of the Black Night Pack. They were able to escape with only the clothes on their backs. Their were mainly women and children and a few males. The males are mostly teenagers or old men. My pack has taken in other survivors over the years as well. which leads me to believe that Cullen will never stop his reign of terror. This is why I have asked you all here to night. To inform you of this danger and hopefully to form an alliance against him. The only way we can hope to protect ourselves and defeat him is if we work together. Gentlemen I thank you for your time now I would like to open a discussion on the matter before we disperse to attend the hunt. Are there any questions?"