Darius sat on the highest seat in the hall, surrounded by eleven other men dressed in lovely outfits. Some of them wore crowns on top of their heads while others wore nothing on their heads. Those were the Alphas of the twelve Packs that made up the Werewolf Council.
"It's such an honor being in your midst as the council member and Lycan King. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I promise to make sure that the werewolf kingdoms stand tall amongst all the kingdoms of the world."
The rest of the members of the council in the room applauded Darius following his speech. Finally he had gotten all that he desired but there was one thing remaining.
"However, we have one thing to take care of." Darius cleared his throat calling the attention of the Council members who had started mumbling amongst themselves. It seemed as though few members of the council were not truly in support of Darius being their leader. His profile preceded him.
"Silence!" He bellowed hitting his hand hard on the oakwood table forcing everyone in the hall to silence.
"Now that I have your attention, I would love to speak concerning the gruesome murder of my brother William who was our leader and a wise ruler of the Lycan Pack. It is such a pity that he died in the cold hands of his own son."
The murmur resumed resounding throughout the ambience of the room. There were gazes at Darius but no one dared to speak directly.
Darius had a reputation that presented him as domineering and vicious. Only the mention of his name alone sent shivers down the spine of great Alphas of several Packs. So many Werewolves in the 12 council Packs got to know that he instigated his brother to fighting so many battles which they had won, vandalizing several castles and villages, killing anyone who was on his way. Darius enjoyed hunting down werewolves and taking their survivals as prisoners.
"It seems the bounty hunter sent to deliver Bruce into our hands failed woefully at her duty. I raise the motion that we send reliable and well trained soldiers. The best from each of our Packs to get him so that he can face justice."
In the council, it was a directive that whenever the Lycan King raised a motion, it was always put to vote and a decision is made based on the number of supporters with respect to the vote.
"We shall caste our votes now, whichever group comes with the highest vote counts decides if we are to follow the directives of the Lycan King or not."
The Alpha of Crimson Pack Morris was responsible for protocols in the Council he was the youngest in the Council and would have not been the youngest if not that Bruce was declared Rogue. He stepped up and addressed the Council.
"Those who stand with the Lycan King should raise their hands."
"Those against the motion should raise their hands."
He counted the votes including himself and at the end, there were equal votes, six of the Alphas voted against the motion and the remaining six Alphas voted in support of Sending soldiers after Bruce.
"We have a truce! By virtue of this truce, we shall take no decision till the next Council meeting." Morris bowed slightly to Darius and proceeded to take his seat.
Darius seemed not to be really satisfied with the outcome of the vote. The Council meeting was usual held one every full moon and this meant that Bruce was going to be free till the next full moon when the next Council meeting would be held.
Getting up from the golden throne he sat on, Darius walked down to the center of the hall, his red cloak flowing down his shoulders to the floor, the golden crown resting on his head glittering to the rays of the sun.
"Oh well, it seems some of the Alphas of the Packs in the council have grown weak. Perhaps we should dethrone them and find suitable persons to take charge since they stand against justice."
There was murmuring in the hall, some of the Alphas who found what he said insulting started to raise eyebrows.
"Silence all of you!"
There was serenity in the hall once more, no one dared to speak up, not only was Darius' stature and face dominating, his deep voice was also a tool for him at that moment. He sparked fear into the heart of some of the Alphas in the hall.
"Alpha Timon, I hear you are without an heir, perhaps it would be nice for your Beta to take your place since you have no one to take your place." Darius smirked looking at the Alpha seated in front of him, his eyes glaring mischievously. Alpha Timon bent his head, exposing part of his gray hair.
"Alpha Sepias, You forget so soon that you owe the council stacks of gold as payment for the casualties your Pack members caused the council in the past years. Maybe we should make you pay by letting your daughter forcefully marry one of us and reject her fates mate!"
"Alpha Almond, remember your place in this council is on the threshold of being removed from you due to the poor condition of your Pack, some of your members have gone rogue and your castle is on the brink of collapsing. I bet your understand that this would have terrible effects on your leadership."
The Alphas whose names Darius had mentioned all bowed their heads, they had been blackmailed by the new Lycan King and at that point, they were left with the only voice of giving in to his antiques otherwise they were going to face severe consequences for refusing to change their decisions.
"Now we shall have the correct vote, and this time I hope we all make the right choice. Darius flashed his eyes at the Alphas seated in the hall. His large growl almost piercing through the skins of most of the Alphas in the hall.
Morris stepped forward for the second time and carried out the vote count for the second time. At the end, 10 out of the Alphas in the Council supported Darius while 2 others still insisted on taking their stance against sending out Soldiers to capture or even kill Bruce. Alpha Owen of the Red moon pack and Alpha Damian of the Willow Pack. These were the closest Alphas to William and most probably they knew what really happened to William. They were also among the oldest Alphas in the council and their Packs flourished independent of the support of the Council. There was nothing to hold them liable for.
"Well it seems we have a decision. We shall task all the Betas in our Packs to summon the best soldiers in their troops. A huge reward would be given to whichever soldier captured or kills the Rogue!"
Darius was satisfied as he made those utterances, he had a smile on his face as he sneered. He took glaring glances at the two Alphas who still insisted on voting against his motion. He was determined to make them pay for their actions.
"I shall not do as you have spoken. My soldiers have more important things doing than to do your bidding!" Drake was taken aback by the fact that Alpha Owen stood up to him. This made him very furious, his rage was boiling at each word he spoke far from being pacified.
"I stand on the same choice as Alpha Owen. I shall not send any of my soldiers to this unjust quest."
There was great silence following the words that Alpha Damian had spoke. It was very obvious that they had gotten the Lycan king very angry. Everyone in the hall waited to hear his response to the outbursts.
"Very well then, if this is what you have chosen, I have no choice than to carry on with the rest of the Alphas. It is saddening that you would choose keeping hold of your soldiers than helping to fetch a Rogue who killed our wise and noble leader, my brother."
Darius smiled at the two Alphas. He was determined to make them pay for their actions towards him. He decided it was best for him not to act immediately since he was still new and they seemed to have nothing he could lay hold of.
"I thank you all for your support, with you by my side, I am certain that the twelve Council Kingdoms would dominate the entire kingdoms of the earth. We shouldn't be forced to hide forever afraid of living freely because of a treaty our ancestors had with the Humans. We too deserve to inhabit a greater portion of the earth. I say it is time we rise above our enemies and take our rightful places. For the Lucan's!"
"For the Lucan's!" There was a loud uniform response to what Darius said. The Alohas in the hall except for Owen and Damian raised their goblets as they roared in acceptance of what he said.
Darius has always hoped to dominate both the Lycan world and the human world. Even though the human had a truce with the Humans hundreds of years earlier never to be seen around the Human territory, Darius wanted so much to dominate, not so eager to abide by the rules of the truce. Sitting comfortably on his throne while the Alphas murmured in excitement, he sipped the blood from his Goblet smearing in anticipated victory!