155, To be a pack, or to not be a pack?

155, To be a pack, or to not be a pack?
Nash

I wished I could pull Tite into my lap to calm both of our nerves. As we were about to join the Alpha council meeting, I resisted the urge. Tite reached her hand out to me and I took it in mine. We intertwined our fingers and I enjoyed the tingling sensation I now knew came from the mate bond. We were sitting at the conference table in the Alpha office. Alpha Ulf, Luna Amber and Tite’s father were also there. When Alpha Ulf logged us into the meeting, I took a deep breath. This was surprisingly important to me, I wanted the council to give us permission to form a pack more than I had wanted anything in my life, with the obvious exception of Tite. The screen on the wall filled with faces, I recognised most of them from our previous meeting with the council. 

“Thank you all for joining today’s meeting. Our packs have a couple of things to talk about today,” Tite’s father said. “First, it gives me great pleasure to announce that I have officially stepped down as Alpha and my son, Alpha Ulf, has taken over. With that, I hand the word over to my son.”

“Welcome, Alpha Ulf, and thank you Jacob for the hard work you have done for your pack and for this council,” Alpha Mickael said. There were agreeing statements made from several Alphas and Lunas. 

“Thank you all for the warm welcome. I hope I can be as good of an Alpha as my father,” Alpha Ulf told everyone. “That brings us to the next topic we would like to discuss. You have all talked with my sister and her mate before. I am here before the rest of the council today to ask for permission on their behalf to start a new pack,” he said. The meeting that had been orderly and quiet, became a whirlwind of activity and spontaneous reactions. 

“A new pack?” a Luna exclaimed.

“But he’s not a wolf,” an alpha said.

“As if that matters,” another one replied.

“Okay, okay. We need some order,” Luna Bella told everyone, and the meeting simmered down. 

“I find this intriguing. Why don’t we hear them out?” Alpha Mickael suggested. I felt Tite squeeze my hand and we started to tell the council about our plan. We talked about the club, how it was almost a pack as it is. About the coven. We told them about the land we had and our plans for the land. We showed them economic calculations, plans and projections and lastly we presented the leadership. 

“A human, a half wolf, half witch, a panther, a witch, a wolf and a fox. I don’t think I have ever seen such a mixed leadership group,” Alpha Brutus stated. 

“I absolutely love the idea,” Luna Rayvin said. “There needs to be more diversity in the community and what better way to create a diverse pack than to make the leadership mirror the pack? Us hybrids have a history of being made to feel less than a full wolf. This is good progress,” she continued. Tite smiled and nodded. 

“I agree. You all know that I see Tite as a sister so I’m not the most neutral party. I would argue that it makes me uniquely qualified to speak on her personality. As I see it there is no one better suited to take on this unique pack. She will need all her stubbornness and intelligence, but I believe she can do it. Especially with the help of her mate,” Luna Alice said. 

“I don’t know Tite as well as my mate, but I have had the pleasure of considering her a friend for almost ten years, and I agree with Alice. I think any pack with Tite as it’s Luna will be a lucky pack,” Alpha Sam agreed. I smiled at the praise Tite was getting. 

“It’s not exactly a traditional pack they are suggesting,” one Alpha said. I didn’t know his name or pack. 

“What did you expect from Jacob’s daughter?” Alpha Brutus asked. There was a round of laughter, even Tite’s father joined in. 

“What is your opinion, Jacob?” Alpha Graham asked. 

“I think it’s a good idea. Like Luna Rayvin said, we need to change how we look at our packs. If the recent years have shown us anything, it is that we need to evolve with the times. My daughter has been raised in a pack, but she has a lot of her mother in her as well. Her aunt has made sure, even when I have failed, that she stays in touch with her witch. She has a different outlook than most of us. Her mate is human, and I will be the first to admit I had my doubts about how good of a choice our goddess made with that match. As always, when I doubt her, Selene proves me wrong. Wolf is an Alpha. He is the perfect match for my daughter and if I didn’t think he could lead a pack just as well as my son, I wouldn’t have let them put this question before the council. I think they will be a success. Now that I have retired, I can support them and mentor both them and my son,” Jacob told them. I was moved by his words. Tite squeezed my hand again. When I looked at her, she looked happy. We got a couple of more questions.

“It seems they have thought things through,” Alpha Noa said. 

“It looks very well planned and it covers all aspects,” Luna Bella agreed. “Then we all know that running a pack seldom goes as planned,” she added. The other chuckled and nodded. 

“I feel ready to vote, and it will be a yes from HearthStone pack,” Alpha Sam said. 

“It’s a yes from us as well,” Alpha Mickael said. One by one, the alphas voted, the last one was Tite’s brother. 

“I can’t say no, my sister will kill me,” he said, pretending to be scared of her. 

“Honestly,” Amber said, slapping his arm. 

“We vote yes,” Alpha Ulf said. Tite looked at me with a big smile, I responded with a smile that felt just as big. Not one of the alphas had voted no. We had the council’s full support, and I felt like howling. Maybe I had spent too much time around werewolves. 

“Thank you,” both Tite and I said to them. 

“We look forward to the day you will be a part of this council. We have enjoyed the guest plays you have made,” Alpha Noa said. When we hung up the call, Tite flung herself at me. I laughed, pulled her into my lap and kissed her. 

“We will have a pack!” she said. 

“We will,” I agreed. 

“Congratulations, both of you!” Luna Amber said and got up and gave both of us a hug at once. 

“Thank you. I can’t believe they agreed,” Tite said. 

“I’m very proud of you, moonpie, and of you as well Nash. Well done,” Tite’s father said. 

“Thank you, sir,” I said. I had a hard time not calling him Alpha. 

“I knew you would get their approval. You are too stubborn to have left the meeting with another answer,” her brother said. 

“There is so much we have to do,” Tite said. She was looking around like she was going to start this very moment. 

“We do. But it can wait for a little while. We need to call home and tell everyone the good news,” I said. 

“Yes! And then we need to talk to my aunt, we need to convince her to stay so she can do the blessing of the pack land,” she said. 

“I’m sure she will insist on it,” her father said.