Chapter 11
FLINT
Walking into the conference room ready for the meeting, I had ensured I would be here before any other councilman or councilwoman. My evening had been spent going over the history of Eve Planter within the council and any infractions she had caused.
There are several times that Eve has caused either issue or upset. I feel it is time she retired, but I know she has nothing else to do and no family as her mate died young, and she never took a chosen mate or found a second chance mate. I feel for her in that regard as I never found that either, but unlike Eve, I have filled my life with other things and am satisfied.
I cannot remove her from her position without a unanimous vote from the other council members, and I don’t think Ulmer will agree, as he has been friendly with Eve for many years.
The door opens, and Gerry walks into the room, giving me a small nod. “Good morning, Councilman Flint.”
“Good morning, Warrior Gerry.”
Behind Gerry are Eve, Ulmer, and Merry. That’s the reason Gerry had spoken to me with my title, and my reason for giving his.
Taking their seats and giving me greetings, we wait for Porter, Lykos, Roman and Cinder. I know they will not be late as they are all efficient and worthy members of the council. I have known none of them to take liberties with their positions.
Once everyone has arrived and taken their seats I open the meeting. “Good morning, Council. This morning, we have to make some serious decisions. It is not a straightforward thing to decide the fate of an Alpha of a pack. I, for one, would never leave a pack without its rightful Alpha. In the case of the Blood Pearl Pack, Alpha Aurora left acting Alpha Raina in her stead. Raina was her Beta and I have to tell you a very efficient one. Alpha Aurora’s daughter Taria is not a candidate for the Alpha position, she is however a Luna in waiting. It has been noticed many times that Taria is gentle, nurturing and very kind. But is not forceful enough to command a pack without her Alpha by her side.”
“We have met Taria, and you are right, she is all those things. We like her very much and hope she will find her mate, who will be an Alpha or Beta, because she has a lot to offer a pack in one of those official positions,” Roman states, and Cinder is giving a small smile of agreement.
“Where does she stand in this mess?” Eve asks, but with a hint of sarcasm.
“She stands nowhere. She was not and is not involved,” I respond, and give her a serious look to pull herself back from the vitriol I suspect she was going to spout, or I will call for a vote to remove her.
I can see she understands my look and eases back somewhat in her seat. Turning my head when I hear Merry snort with amusement, she gives me an amused shrug of the shoulders when she sees me looking at her. Now we all know that Merry doesn’t give a care as to being on or off the council, but she gives her best while serving.
“Has anyone any information to add since yesterday's meeting?” I ask.
Roman speaks before anyone else. “I spoke to my son, Alpha Lyle, last evening. He said the activity level of the rogues has increased along his territory border. He spoke to one of the Blood Pearl Pack border warriors, and he said the warrior was very jumpy, watching over his shoulder the whole time they were speaking. The warrior said that along the Blood Pearl Pack territory border, the rogue's presence has lessened. They have extended the time between their checkpoints, which seems odd because it’s not that long since the rogues had increased their presence. Yet they have now increased it along the Spirit Walker border.”
“Do you think they are going to make an attempt at snatching pack members?” Porter asks with concern in his voice.
Merry gasps, “Oh, my, I hope not. This is becoming an enormous problem, and I think we should send the Council Warriors to both the Blood Pearl Pack and the Spirit Walker Pack.”
“That will leave us short on warriors,” Eve states, and we all look at her and wait for more. “What? We can’t leave the council open to attack.”
“Who is going to attack us in a time of peace?” Merry asks.
Eve looks nervous now that Merry has thrown the question to her. “Well, you never know.”
“Come on, nobody is going to attack. The only threat we have at this time is from the rogues in no-man’s-land. The Northern Parklands are settled, and the Northern Region is calm too, unless of course someone like you causes a drama,” Merry snarls whilst giving Eve a deadly look.
Lykos surprises us all when he speaks. “I think with how Alpha Aurora took the pack to the heights she has, has shown how extremely capable she is. It also shows how hard she has worked, her dedication to her pack members and for Eve to be on her case all the time. I think now trying to leave her swinging in the wind shows what a poor council member Eve has become.
“But to suggest not using the Council Warriors to protect packs that are under threat shows her total lack of empathy for all the pack members, never mind the Alpha. I suggest that the next time we have any detrimental comments, suggestions or drama from Eve she be brought up for a vote of no confidence.”
“I agree with that, Lykos. My conscience would not allow me to withhold the Council Warriors when they are training every day to protect and serve. How would they feel if all their efforts, hard work, and allegiance were thrown into their faces when a pack was under threat? They are not sitting around waiting for a threat to us. They are here for all the packs, for the region in general. I abhor the thought of not protecting the Blood Pearl Pack members.” Cinder states, and as she hardly says a word, for her this is one heck of a statement, which she says with her eyes on Eve the entire time.
“Give me a show of hands for sending the Council Warriors to both the packs prior mentioned,” I ask, and watch as everyone quickly raises their hand, except Eve, who checks everyone before raising her own. I’m thinking that is another check against her, and they are adding up quickly. “Okay, Warrior Gerry, please arrange all but a handful of warriors to the two packs. I know you will deal with the matter efficiently, so I’ll not intrude. You will, however, return to the Blood Pearl Pack and monitor the members' training and any movement we need to know about.”
“Certainly, Councilman Flint.”
That is all I need from Gerry, because I know he will deal with the matter and report to me when it’s needed. I can place my efforts in other places for the time being.
“Who told you about the members being missing?” Merry asks surprising me as I thought I had mentioned this previously.
“Rona Whitewater reported to me that pack members were going missing because she was worried. Alpha Aurora, however, was aware and was doing her best to have them returned or take them back herself. But, once I knew about it, I went to speak about the matter and the rest is history as they say,” I reply, and again see Eve giving a sour look, but she remains silent.
“Okay. I just wondered how the information came about. Is there any other information we need to know?” Merry asks.
“They are holding an Alpha. We don’t know who he is or from which pack he originates,” I reply.
“Oh my, we all need to reach out to other regions and see if an alpha has gone missing. I’ve heard nothing from our region and I’m sure if one of ours had gone missing we would know,” Porter states, and I can see he is as myself distressed at the thought of two Alphas being held as hostages by rogues.
“Do we know where they are being held?” Lykos asks.
When Gerry moves to the wall we watch as he pins a map to the corkboard. Standing, we all step over to the map and listen as Gerry points out the area of the camp, and his thoughts that they have an underground room of some sort.
“Why do you think that?” Porter inquires as he leans forward to look at the map closely.
“Because they seem to arrive out of nowhere. They were there one minute then gone, yet we didn’t see any pass us by. Then they appeared just as easily, and again without passing us. The only answer to that would be something underground. Trouble with that is, we would have no idea how many rogues this self-appointed Alpha has,” Gerry informs us all.
“We need more information,” Roman states, and we all nod in agreement.
“Everyone reach out far and wide. Find out if an Alpha is missing, then report back anything that will help bring it to the table quickly,” I turn back to the table and retake my seat, watching as everyone else does the same. “I have asked Warrior Gerry if he would consider joining the council as a council member. You all know he retired, and then returned after I twisted his arm somewhat. He would be an excellent addition, and he has a wide knowledge base that would be immeasurable for us.”
Agreement flows around the table, apart from Eve, of course, but I’ve lost all patience with her. She either gets along with everyone or she steps down as far as I’m concerned.
“I have not made my mind up as yet. I’m thinking about what I would like to do with my retirement. If I give my allegiance to the council as a member rather than a warrior, I would give nothing but the best I can give of myself. That may upset some of the council.”
We all turn to look where he is looking, and I struggle to hold the grin from appearing on my face, when he is giving Eve such a deadpan look that Merry places a handkerchief over her mouth, but the twinkle in her eyes gives her away. She is truly struggling not to laugh out loud.
“Take your time, but know we would love to have you join us on the council. You have been an upstanding warrior for us, and I’m positive you would be a splendid council member,” Porter states, and we all can see how sincere he is being.
“I will consider and let you know my decision, but whatever I decide, I would like to say that I appreciate you asking it of me.”
“Okay, let’s close out for today. Get in touch with your contacts and see if you can find out who this alpha is. We also need to know how many of the alphas in our region would stand by Blood Pearl and Spirit Walker Packs if their territory borders were breached. I will speak to all the alphas and report back on that at our next meeting,” I take to my feet, which signals this meeting is done, and I watch as Eve storms out of the conference room not speaking to anyone as she does.
“I’m going to speak to her about her attitude and find out what is going on with her. I will let you know what I find out,” Ulmer murmurs from my side. I give him a nod and watch him walk out of the room, followed by everyone else apart from Gerry, who will give me his reaction to the meeting, as he always does. He will then leave to head out to the Blood Pearl Pack.