— Elaeya —

I thought I had come to terms with the wealth of the Devon Family. I thought I knew now what to expect and was properly prepared. I was getting used to the power structure and was not as weirded out when people would incline their head to me or go out of their way to help with something. I thought that I had adjusted. That nothing would shock me anymore. I thought my ring was the last thing that had seemed such an excessive gift.

Oh, how I was wrong.

Morea was doing a few touch ups on my wedding dress.

Shae’s reaction was similar to her daughters, all oohs and aahs on the sofa, and gushing about every detail of the dress.

Morea’s looked proudly at me. Whereas my mother’s eyes were probably as big as mine. She had been exposed even less than I to their wealth, and it felt like she suddenly realised the true extent of it.

“I was inspired by that ring of hers,” Morea explained to the excited women. “I had to cash a lot of favors to have this done in time. It borders on miracle.”

“That is gonna blow everyone away,” said Eva, putting her hands on her mouth.

“What is this?” asked Shae sharply to her eldest daughter, snapping her hand in hers.

Eva took her hand away. “Nothing mom.”

“That’s a ring, Eva.”

She looked at me uncomfortable, as her sister went crazy trying to catch a glimpse.

“I don’t want to steal your thunder,” she told me.

“You aren’t,” I told her. “Congratulations.”

She smiled sheepishly.

“Did Darren ask you in marriage?” asked Lisa.

“Yeah,” she admitted. “What happened with his brothers really got to him and said that maybe we should stop waiting for things to run smoothly and instead learn to appreciate what we have to the fullest.”

“Please, tell me I get to dress you?” said Morea.

“Sure,” said Eva, and as questions started flooding she interrupted them all. “The wedding of the moment is Kaden’s and Elaeya’s. Darren and I want a summer wedding anyways. We thought maybe to do it around our one year anniversary.”

“That’s a great idea sweetie,” said her mother as she hugged her, quickly followed by hugs from everyone else.

“I am not being cold, I would hug you too, but I am not sure I can get down that table,” I admitted. The dress was extremely tight all the way to below my hips and would flow in lighter fabric in a wide arc around me, but the tightness on my upper thigh did limit my capacity for acrobatics and I was terrified of damage anything.

Eva climbed on the table next to me and hugged me.

“I’m so happy Kaden found you. More than you can know,” she told me.

“I know,” I reassured her.

She beamed at me.

“He’s gonna lose his shit when he’ll see you.”

I turned my head to the mirror, with Eva by my side.

“Is it not excessive?” I asked her.

“Nonsense,” said Shae. “I won’t let our Luna get married with anything less.”

The upper part of the dress was mostly sheer fabric, nearly transparent and covered in gems in long beautiful patterns. My shoulders and hands were actually the only things exposed, but the design of the dress made me feel awfully naked. It was implied more than shown, but it did look like the upper part of my body was dress in mostly gemstones and nothing else. There was, what looked like insane numbers of tiny diamonds making out the majority of the design, but I could see a large number of white pearls and moonstones accenting in places. A set of necklace and earrings of platinum and white opals had been made to match my engagement ring.

And there was a number of rich pieces for my hair that would be put on, on the fateful day.

My shoes were high and as decorated as the dress even though no one could see them under the dress. I looked like a decade of craftmanship. I don’t know how this has been achieved in less than a month. Maybe it was an existing dress, or maybe the people Morea hired used magic. Regardless, it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

— Kaden —

Of course my mother had to make this a national event.

Hundreds of people have been coming to Blakemore in the last few days for the wedding. There were no inns, or hotel left empty in Blakeden. Every packhouse of every of my packs have been filled, and now there was a small army of people setting up mini temporary towns in either yurts of geodomes all equipped with a wood-burning stove, bed and electricity. Those micro cities, popping all over the place. A few others went to the city outside our territory, renting all the best hotels out.

It was a logistical nightmare.

Given how the Luna Ceremony as gone well at the new location, and how big it was now, it had been decreed the wedding venue.

Of course, my mother decided that a night wedding would be cooler, so the place had been equipped with a bajillion faerie lights, and vines, and exotic flowers from all over the world.

I must admit that when my mother set her mind to it, she can do miracles in a ridiculously short amount of time, and she probably hired a small continent to manage it in time.

Everything was a permanent whirlwind around Blakemore now.

And, of course, everyone saw this as a great opportunity for fucking politics.

“How many exactly?” I asked the room.

“Eleven,” said Alpha Woodcrest.

I pinched my nose with my thumb and forefinger.

Eleven packs we joining Blakemore.

Granted, they were on the smaller side, as none had more than a hundred members, but I could not rule such small territories from a distance safely, which meant that they had to integrate within any of my packs. But that would be a massive influx of people. Nearly a thousand. We did not have the infrastructure for it, as evident by the struggles for the wedding accommodations. It was fewer people coming for the wedding, yet we had to build temporary shelters, and most were not adequate for the coldest part of winter, so this was no long-term option. Most didn’t have running water or sewer lines anyways, meaning that we had to set up temporary bathrooms somewhere for them.

This could do for a week or two of accommodations in autumn, but not permanent through winter.

We needed a solution.

My phone buzzed, I looked at it, dreading what more nightmares were falling on my lap now.

It was from Elaeya.

Land swap. Neighbours.

Thanks, I replied.

And I went to an adjoining room, waving my hand at my men to follow me, leaving the guess back there, and asked Brandon for maps of our territory and adjoining packlands.

We spent the next hours sorting out which neighbour packland were the right size for swaps, then I sent a number of envoys to them all for opening the negotiation channels.

I spend most of the next day on my computer video chatting with each Alphas, negotiating prices and options.

There were a few knocks on my door, late in the evening.

“Yes,” I answered, I was done with my calls for the day as the sun was already down.

“Hey there,” said Darren. “What’s the consensus?”

“Territory-wise, we’ll manage, it’s the structure that I’m a bit more worried.”

“What do you mean?” he asked coming in. He went straight for my fridge and grabbed two brews. He was getting a little too comfortable here, but I joined him on the couch and uncapped mine.

“Every time a small pack was integrated inside any of my packs, one of two things would happen. One would be for the pack to be completely diluted into a bigger pack. The other would be for the pack to stay whole and become an administrative region within another bigger pack. But in both cases, the bigger existing pack is the ruling one.”

“Ah,” he said. “Only now you’re acquiring a whole new territory for them. They’re not being integrated, but making a whole new pack out of them.”

“More or less, but none is much bigger than the other, so I can’t really use the existing power structure on one.”

“Unless you want them to fight for the power,” he concluded.

“Pretty much.”

“So you need a neutral party. A new ranked structure from scratch.”

“Yeah, I don’t see how I can pull this off otherwise without a fight.”

He nodded. “Will they be given administrative control? I mean the existing packs?”

“Most of them are pretty stubborn people who have held on to their independence for longer than most would have. I think a few might fuse together. Probably some of the smallest,” I took a sip. “Some of them do not have more than two or three rank members so they could combine administratively if they wish so. But I doubt they are all fond of fusing all together. Again, that would be more probable if one was a lot bigger than the others.”

“Which means that you’ll need solid people for this.”

“It would help,” I admitted.

“You have people in mind?”

“I know of a few of my Alphas who have more kids than available position in their packs. Some are too young, others may not have prepared for it. Not all of them has the ambition either. Ultimately, maybe three or four could fit the bill and be available at the moment.”

“You contacted any of them?”

“Not yet. I’m not sure if they’re the right fit. Some would probably turn this into a competition.”

“Sibling?”

“Some, and cousins, others might not be found of the displacement. It would be a downgrade from what they’re used too.”

“You mean smaller less fancy packhouse?”

“For one thing. I least until spring. And starting from scratch is a lot of work. I want people ready to get their hand dirty.”

“Right,” he said.

My phone buzzed.

Don’t ask yet, but listen. Darren has the answer. Elaeya sent me.

Damn, she sometimes simplify everything.

“On the plus side, most of them will be around for the wedding, so you might not have too much tracking to do. Alpha Clint Silverstone told me he had no place left to house his daughter today when she came home.”

“I thought his kids were away for a few years at least.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like it anymore. He said his daughter is coming back.”

Clint was a pretty no-nonsense man and had a strict household. Everyone of his children were academically advanced.

“Are there so few Alphas with children without a planned position?”

“Not all families are like yours. Most planned ahead to make sure they have something, if not rank, then a solid position in the pack regardless.”

“Man, if me and my brothers has had something like this, it would have changed things.” He rubbed at his face. “Then again, I like this job, I’m glad I was available for this. It kinda inspired Fred to get on the prowl for something elsewhere. I think if he finds the right opportunity, he’s not gonna wait for a mate. Kev is kinda stuck though. It’s hard to find opportunities outside of a pack without getting a mate in the process. Kate is from Stonewillow so—.”

“What’s her background?”

“He uncle was the Beta for decades, when he died, his father returned to the pack to take his place. She had a pretty decent head on her shoulder, if she didn’t have an older brother, she and kev would have done a pretty decent Beta pair.”

“Isn’t Fred older than Kevin?” I asked.

“Yeah, and he’s had some decent education too, they both had their Alpha basics covered, but Fred doesn’t deal as well with stress and the unforeseen. Actually, I have difficulty seeing him go out on his own. Him and Kevin has been intensely close since they were toddlers. I think he thinks landing a gamma gig like me would be the best for him, but he has no idea what he’s doing. I would not be surprised if he went to scout during the wedding party.”

I drank beer thinking.

“What about Kevin, how solid is he?”

“If anything ever happened to Michael, I think he would be the best suited to take over.”

“Does Michael have any empty seats to fill?”

“Nah, Stonewillow is not a small pack per se, but it’s not big enough to have tons of positions to fill, most positions have been handed down from generation to generation.”

I finished my bottle.

“Well, I’d better get home before it’s too late or I won’t be able to deal with this tomorrow,” I told him.

“You’re going to work tomorrow?”

“I want this delt with before the wedding.” Which was the day after tomorrow.

“So no bachelor party?”

“No, it’s not really my thing anyways.”

“Dang, and I was hoping to give you one hell of a ride,” he said in jest.

I gave him a look. He was becoming as immune to them as Eva. He just put his empty bottle on the coffee table and left waving his hand back at me.

* * * * *

I asked Clint to the conference room.

I looked at Elaeya. We didn’t talk about work yesterday. But I kind of did what she asked me too. I knew she had no idea what it meant yet, and I wasn’t sure if this would be the right decision, which is probably why I asked her to come with me today. That and too spare her from my sisters, which I knew she appreciated.

“You are doing the right thing,” she told me, seeing I was unsure.

“And do you know what this thing is?”

“No, but it is the right path.”

“All of it?”

She tilted her head, unsure of what I was asking her. “Don’t stop now,” she finally said.

I nodded. I could ask others, but if this was the path, then I will take the plunge.

Clint arrived a little later. He was pretty surprised at what I asked him, but complied, then I sent two texts and made a call, while we waited.

Brandon arrived not long after with maps and also a pile of contracts for me to sign, which I did while we waited for everyone.

Darren came in not long after with his three brothers and Kate. A few minutes later Elisabeth Silvercrest, Clint’s daughter, walked in.

I gave the signed contracts to Brandon and gestured for everyone to take place around the conference table.

They all looked at me curiously.

Elaeya stood next to me, in all confidence.

“Here is a map of all the Blakemore territories,” I said unrolling a large map. I took a sharpie and drew a line around a series of neighboring packlands. “I’ve just acquired those territories, the packs will swap places with a number of packs joining Blakemore to form a new pack,” I said. “If you want to,” I looked at Elizabeth, “I’ll make you Beta of this new pack.”

Her eyes went round, so did her father’s.

I saw Darren’s eyes calculating what was going on, and looking surprised as he figured it out.

“What do you say?” I asked her.

“Yes,” she asked, then hesitated. “Could I ask something unusual Alpha?”

“Yes,” said Elaeya before I could answer. Which I knew meant approval of whatever she was about to ask.

“I know that Beta pairs are couples, but—.” She hesitated again. “I think starting a new pack from scratch is going to be a difficult job to do alone.”

“True,” I conceded.

“Instead of a mate, could my twin sister share this position with me instead?”

“You have to understand that if you do this, when either of you will have mates, they will not inherit any rank.”

“I understand.”

“I believe your sister is abroad though, this pack is happening now.”

“I’m calling her right after this, she’ll be here tomorrow.”

“You’re sure she will accept?”

“Yes.”

Behind her, her father nodded.

“Then I see no objections, unless the new Alpha does.”

I turned to the Thomas’s. Michael’s eyes bulged in realisation.

“Do you have any objection with this?” I asked him.

“What?” he suddenly asked confused.

“Of me offering the position of Alpha and Gamma,” I explain.

“Both?” he asked.

Everyone looked confused but me, Ela, Darren and Michael.

“The offer is on the table,” I told him.

He took a long inspiration and looked at his brothers, Darren nodded approvingly.

“You have my blessing,” he told me.

“Kevin Thomas, Kate Mansell, if you want it, I offer the position of Alpha and Luna of this pack.”

Kate slapped her hands on her mouth as she let out a surprised squealed. Kevin, just like Fred had both their mouth hanging open.

“It would require immediate relocation. The territories are combined small pack territories, there will be a lot of adjustment in the first year. I’m not sure I can guarantee a new central packhouse before winter. We will do what we can, but the relocation of everyone will take precedence over luxuries. Are you interested?”

Kevin just stared at me. Kate slapped him on the arm to have him snap out of it.

“Yes,” she said.

“Yes,” he finally echoed.

“You have objections about your beta’s demands?” I asked.

“None,” said Kevin. Kate shook her head.

“Frederic Thomas, I can offer you the position of Gamma if you want it.”

“Yes,” he said before I had even finished talking.

“Okay,” I said. “That’s settled. Now let’s go and meet the pack.”