Chapter 5 This Is Our Turf

I reach the Tribal House, or as we commonly call it the Pack House. It's our safe haven and Royal Palace. The architects vision and it's through execution makes this mansion a treat for the eyes. Designed as the central location for all official pack business and by extension the abode of royalty.

I rush inside and up the stairs and like clock work "Good day Prince" ripples through with the atmosphere as one by one the workers pay their respect as I pass by. Unfortunately, I don't have time to stop and individually greet them all so I wear a permanent smile to signal my acknowledgement. I reach to the top of the stairs, bargaining into my room quickly removing my school's attire before getting dressed formally for the pack's meeting being held in the conference room. I stand at the entrance of the conference room. From the outside you may not be able to tell just how magnificent it really but I know cause I've been in this room more times than I can count. Most meetings or arrangements for special occasions were usually held in here. However, only those of Royal status are present. That would include the Alpha and his entire family, along with his Beta and his entire family. Hence the enormous magnitude of the conference room. The layout on the inside is in boardroom style, where there is a center table surrounded by chairs. The table in the room is long enough to comfortably fit 50 counsel members with their families in it.

There are 11 neighboring Tribes a lot smaller than ours, so our residence had become their main head quarters. Together they are involved in any pack decision made, that way each tribe is heard and gets a say in rules and regulations passed through out the region.

In addition, the conference is build for housing emergency guest. If there's a global tribal threat, tribes from lands afar journey to meet with the heads of other Tribes to come to a general consensus in dealing with the issue. However, these occasions are rare , so rare, I've thankfully never had to experience one in my lifetime.

I push the large rustic wooden door open and immediately know that this meeting is going to be very serious one. There are only 12 chairs, which means only one representative from each tribe was summoned. Usually that delegate is the Alpha. The size of the people tell the magnitude of the matter. The phrase 'the less people who know the better' is applicable here. I assume it's to alleviate worry, panic and fear. Therefore these meeting are done discreetly to avoid alerting the residence.

Whatever the matter, it meant it was serious enough to activate the A.A. Code, a secret code simply put is the Alpha Assembly Code. As the eldest of my siblings, I'm chosen to soon take over the role as King Alpha, therefore, I am invited. Becoming King Alpha means that one day I'll be Pack Leader of the Alphas of the other 11 tribes.

I walk over to the stack of unused chairs and grab one make it 13 chairs to the table. My dad struts into the room drenched in the aura of his dominance as it permeates the atmosphere. We all stand in respect in the sight of his intimidating presence.

He scans the room and as if taking an mental attendance record he mutters....

'Red Blood Pack, Moonlight Pack, Shadow Pack, Midnight Pack, Starlight Pack, Forest Storm Pack, Silver Sword Pack, Night Walker Pack, Yellow Stone Pack, Slayer Pack, Spirit Walker Pack....'

His eyes flick to me as he completes

'Black Moon Pack'

He sits then we sit. I anxiously await the start of the meeting.

"As you all know...." he begins.

'No I don't' I yell....with my inside voice of course....I'm not that crazy to do such a risky thing. Dad or no dad he is the Alpha, plus I have some brought-upsie.

"the hunters are nearing in on us" he continue.

I gasp.

"Only two choices we face now, we flee or we fight"

The other Alphas glance at each other as if looking to each other for answers.

"What will it be?" he pauses.

I know how hard it had been on my father each time he had to rally the Pack to move camp because of hunters. Just the thought of it fills me with grief and rage.

"We fight" I roared shattering the silence of the room.

"For too long we've been on the run. We've been hiding like turtles in a shell. Our lives as nomads must come to an end. We are faster, stronger, and each one of us has some unique ability. Yet why do we buckle under the weight of their oppression?"

I stop briefly to give the question time to register within them.

"Red Blood, your pack has the ability to cripple the enemy with a single touch." I proceed looking the Alpha directly in the face as if reminding him of who he is and the power of his pack.

My speech singles each one of them out.

"Moonlight your pack possesses the ability of mind manipulation. Shadow you have the ability of camouflage. Midnight you have the ability to alter time. Starlight you have the ability to partially impair the enemy with one touch. Forest Storm your ability to control the elements will always be a useful entity. Silver Sword your speed, you agility, therein lies your strength. Night Walker your ability of hypnoanalysis paired with Moonlight's is always an advantage. Yellow Stone your perks of levitation is just as good as your flight ability. Slayer your deadly blows and Spirit Walker your ability to channel energy is what we need to stand up for ourselves."

I am now facing my father. My expression softens.

"Dad I know I still haven't fully uncovered all my abilities and I haven't yet mastered my Explosion ability, or the force but I've been working on my healing powers. I've been training to maximize my speed and strength. I've still got some ways to go but I have confidence that there is strength in numbers and greater strength in unity"

He nods his head as though processing all I've shared.

I make my closing remarks.

"If we can harness all our ability looking beyond our differences and fight together towards our common goal, fight together the common enemy, we'll be an unstoppable force to be reckon with. Our aim is never to hurt and I know it's in the oath we took but its time we stop running with our tails between our legs and defend our turf."