Chapter 4 By Decree of the Supreme Alpha Council
Lyra
THE SUPREME ALPHA COUNCIL
Office of the Sovereign Crown
Geneva, Switzerland
To His Excellency, Alpha Charles Sinclair
Alpha of the Aurelia Moon Pack
Minnesota Territory, North America
By Decree of the Supreme Alpha Council
Alpha Sinclair,
The Supreme Alpha Council acknowledges receipt of the annual tribute rendered by the Aurelia Moon Pack.
After careful review, however, the Council has determined that the current contribution is insufficient to sustain the institutions, territories, security, and noble houses of the High Packs.
The wealth of Aurelia Moon has increased considerably under your administration. Your agricultural holdings, timber operations, mineral reserves, and commercial interests have placed your pack among the most prosperous territories in North America.
Such prosperity exists under the protection and authority of the Sovereign Crown.
Accordingly, effective immediately, the Supreme Alpha Council hereby requires the transfer of one-third of all territorial lands currently held by the Aurelia Moon Pack to the direct administration of the Crown.
All agricultural, timber, mineral, and commercial profits derived from these lands shall thereafter belong exclusively to the Sovereign Crown and its appointed noble houses.
This decree is not subject to negotiation, appeal, or refusal.
The transfer shall be completed within thirty days of receipt of this notice.
Failure to comply shall constitute an act of defiance against the Supreme Alpha Council.
The consequences of such defiance are well established.
Your Alpha title will be revoked.
Your pack and all its assets will be placed under Crown jurisdiction.
And your life will be forfeit.
The Council trusts that you will demonstrate the wisdom expected of an Alpha entrusted with the stewardship of his territory.
Obedience preserves the bloodline.
Defiance ends it.
By Order of the Supreme Alpha Council under the authority of His Majesty, the King of the Sovereign Crown.
I clenched the letter so tightly in my hand that the parchment crumpled beneath my fingers.
My father opened the bathroom door and stopped short when he saw the fury on my face. “Lyra?”
I held up the letter. “Dad, who are they? Hmm?”
His eyes widened as he recognized the document in my hand.
“The Supreme Alpha Council,” I said, my voice shaking. “Who are they? What is the Sovereign Crown Pack? And when exactly were you planning to tell me that people like this existed?”
Dad was silent for a moment. Then he sighed. “Sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down.”
“Lyra.”
Something in his voice made me stop. He gestured toward the leather chair across from his desk. I reluctantly sat.
Dad closed the study door before turning back to me.
“The wolves aren’t the highest authority in our world,” he began. “Not even the Alphas.”
I frowned. “Then who is?”
“The Lycans.”
I stared at him. “I thought they were a myth."
"No. Lycans are real and they are nothing like us.” He leaned against the edge of his desk. “Most werewolves are quadrupedal shifters. We transform into wolves. Our intelligence, instincts, and physical abilities increase when we shift, but we remain fundamentally what we are.”
“And Lycans?”
“They are different. Lycans can shift between human and wolf forms, but they can also remain bipedal while transformed. They are larger, stronger, faster, and considerably more intelligent than ordinary wolves. Their senses are sharper. Their healing is superior. And their aura…”
I remembered my father’s aura crushing the room around the dinner table.
“What about it?”
“A Lycan’s aura is something entirely different from an Alpha’s.” His voice became solemn. “An Alpha can dominate weaker wolves. A Lycan can overwhelm them. Prolonged exposure to a powerful Lycan’s aura can cause an ordinary wolf to lose control of his own instincts. In extreme cases, it can drive a wolf mad.”
I shook my head, trying to piece everything together. “So they've always ruled over us?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because they were stronger.” His answer was simple. “The first Lycans became the ruling nobility thousands of years ago after winning the Ascension War. They established the High Packs, the Council, the laws governing territorial disputes, and the system of tribute that still exists today.”
I looked down at the letter. “Tribute?”
“Taxes.”
I looked back at him. “Every pack pays them?”
“Every recognized pack.”
“And in return?”
“Protection.” He folded his arms. “The Council maintains the borders between packs, suppresses rogue populations, and coordinates defenses against creatures that threaten our existence. When a pack is attacked, the Council can deploy Enforcers. When rogues become too numerous, the Council intervenes."
He paused, considering his words.
"But above all, they protect our anonymity. The human world cannot know we exist. If they did, everything—every pack, every family, every Lycan—would be at risk." He gazed at me. “Who do you think keeps Winterwood Prep safe? Why do you think the tuition is so expensive?”
I laughed bitterly. “Sounds more like extortion.”
Dad didn’t disagree. “The system may have served a purpose once,” he said. “But power has a way of becoming corrupted.”
I looked at the letter again. “They’re greedy.”
“Some of them.”
“They’re demanding a third of our land.”
“I know.”
“Not just the land. The profits from it.”
“I know.”
My hands tightened around the parchment. “Land is everything," I said. "Our farms feed dozens of packs. The timberlands protect our northern border. The mines fund half our operations. The port—”
“I know what we own, Lyra.”
“Then how can you possibly consider giving them any of it?”
“I don’t.”
His calmness irritated me.
“Then what are you going to do?”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “The thirty days aren’t up yet.”
I blinked. “So?”
“So,” he said calmly, “we negotiate.”
“Negotiate?” I repeated. “It says here—and I quote:
This decree is not subject to negotiation, appeal, or refusal."
My father dismissed the words with a flick of his hand. “They always write that in their decrees. Yet wolves before me have always negotiated.”
He seemed completely unbothered, and for a moment, my anger faltered.
“Okay. So what exactly are you going to negotiate? They’re demanding a third of our territory. That could cost us nearly a billion dollars in revenue, Dad.”
“I’ve already contacted the old alliances,” he said. “Several of the old North American packs. Packs that have been paying tribute for generations. Packs that have their own grievances with the Council. They’ve also condemned the demand.”
My heart began beating faster.
War.
I nodded slowly. “Okay. So you’re forming an alliance.”
“I’m reminding them that we’re stronger together than we are alone.”
I leaned forward in my chair. “That can’t be all you’re planning, Dad. This is a noble pack capable of taking down feral rogues. We wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“But the Lycans are few compared to the wolf armies,” my father said.
“But if their aura is as powerful as you say, numbers won’t matter,” I pointed out.
I drew in a deep breath and decided to think like the Alpha I intended to be.
“We have to offer them something. Maybe twenty to thirty percent more on top of the annual tribute you’re already paying. I think that’s fair.”
Dad said nothing. He stared into the distance, thinking.
“Well, Dad?” I pressed. “What will you offer them that's worth our land?”
