Chương 86: THE NEXT GEN LEADERS

Finally, Ben spoke, "I don't really know what you want us to say. I don't really care either. Sam is the Alpha. No matter what you say, you can't change the fact." Woah, Ben. I hadn't expected that. I think his speech was better than mine. {I have good Betas.} My Wolfie boasted. I looked at Jonah. Then I realized I should have looked to them to indicate for them to speak just now. I forgot I was not alone; I had some really overprotective backers. Why?

Did I let Gamma Endo's words doubt my worth so much that I did not count on the loyalty of those who followed me?

"Yeah," Jonah nodded, "I don't care. Sam's the Alpha. I know she looks like a girl, but she's not!" Lizzy face-palmed.

"I mean, she is a girl, but she is a good Alpha inside." Jonah corrected himself clumsily. So now it was my other Beta's turn. He was holding that wry smile. Everyone looked to him for his opinion. Gamma Endo smirked, and Nix stole a look at him before settling his expression into a smug smile. Harvey's voice was his usual calm: "I'm glad to hear Ben and Jonah's true feelings on this matter. Our Alpha has no use for Betas and Gammas who cannot speak for themselves.

I am looking forward to serving together with you."

"Serving" was such a pretty word.

"Serving together." That sounded like something I wanted to do with these guys. So Harvey was testing my other Beta and Gamma? A few of the adults looked confused.

"Beta Harvey, can you clarify which Alpha you are referring to?" Edna asked. Harvey's smile widened. Oh no… He was about to unleash a cheesy line. I was sure of it.

"Of course I am referring to Sam. Do you think I would casually call any girl my princess?" Kill me now.

"I'm not your princess! I'm your Alpha!" I flared up at him. As in I stood up and slammed the table so that the entire solid mahogany table flipped forward and folded like it was made of paper.

"My bad, Princess. I meant my Alpha." Harvey was not sorry at all.

"Shut up, Harvey!" Ben pushed the table back up—at least he pushed his half up. The other half, where the Morning Light sat, had broken off somehow.

"Yeah, you're doing it on purpose." Jonah accused. Everyone was standing up now to right the table. Most of the adults looked a bit bewildered.

"How did you break a solid wood table like a toothpick?" Gamma Harry complained. I dropped back in the chair, "I'm so grounded."

"No, it's really my bad." Harvey admitted.

"I'll take the rap."

"Tell me, Beta, why?" I asked. I was tired. This wasn't getting us anywhere.

"Better to discharge a bit of your wolf on the table, although I didn't expect you to break it. I don't think you might like what Nix is going to say." Harvey explained. His voice was still calm, with the growling bits riding in it. I took a deep breath.

"Well, we might as well hear it. What's your say, Nix?" After Harvey's wholly unjustifiable breakage of a perfectly good table (he did say he'd take the rap), and the forward introduction to Nix's turn to speak, I could guess what to expect. But it was disappointing anyway. I really had hoped that he would surprise me, or choose at least to give it a try.

"Sorry, Sam." Nix said.

"No hard feelings, but you're a girl. I can fully support you as my future Luna, but I can't accept a female Alpha."

"Maybe little boys like Ben and Jonah won't mind it, but any self-respecting grown man won't take it. I don't know what you did to convince Harv, but you won't be able to convince me, and you won't be able to convince any of the real men out there either."

"We're warriors, not girl scouts. In fact, this whole discussion is just embarrassing. Your dad had a dream; I respect that, but you're not your dad. We need to accept reality." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"When your Alpha mate comes, he will be Alpha. If he isn't Alpha, maybe your sister's mate could be. At worst case, you can take notes from us and let your Beta and Gamma run the show like we do in Morning Light." Growling all around the room. I was right—Nix was a good heckler. But I don't think he expected the growling show of disapproval. I wasn't sure what he was expecting—applause?

"What?" He tried to shrug it off.

"It's the truth!" Truth? Nix had got so many of his points twisted that I didn't even know how to untangle his web of crap. Now I felt somewhat glad to have broken the table. It was either the table or Nix's stupid handsome face.

"Harvey?" I said finally.

"Yes, Princess?" Harvey replied grimly.

"Can you fix his fact sheet for him later?" I asked.

"Yes, Princess." He looked reluctant. I laughed.

"You look like you'd rather fix the table."

"That would be the easier job, Princess." Harvey admitted.

"Lola, did you get everything down?" I asked.

"Yep." Lola said. She was now using a file as a backing to write (since Harvey had broken the table).

"Even the part about Harvey preferring to fix the table?" I asked.

"Ermmm… No. I can add that if you want." She offered tentatively.

"No, I was just joking. It's your turn."

"My turn?" Lola's eyes widened.

"Yes, what do you think?" I said. Lola hummed as she gave it thought. The sound was rather musical.

"I think," Lola said carefully, "I think you're definitely an Alpha wolf. But it's always hard for others to look past that you're a pretty girl and see it."

"Like you?" I asked. Lola didn't answer.

"I choose Lola to be my Gamma." I decided. Nix looked stunned. Gamma Endo was furious.

"I object! Lola is just a girl!"

"Like me?" I challenged the older Gamma. I saw Harvey wince a little at that. I probably overstepped. The older Gamma growled. His wolf was strong and experienced. It was a wolf who had fought many rogues for many years.

"If I can have two Betas, I don't see why I can't have three Gammas." I said. I gave Nix a pointed look.

"Brother," it was Edna who spoke, "If the Alpha can be a girl, why can't a Gamma be a girl too?"

"I stepped down and handed you the Gamma position, even though I had the stronger wolf, and I do not regret it."

"After my mate died, there were many times you shielded and provided for Lola and me, and for that we will always be grateful."

"But besides taking the minutes, I also facilitate negotiations, arrange all the pack legal affairs, schedule the rosters, track the pack daily expenses, and many of the Gamma tasks. I've trained Lola to do the same, and I believe that my daughter will be able to fulfill her responsibilities as one of the new Gammas."

"It's a change from our tradition at Morning Light, but perhaps it is a change for the better—" Gamma Endo's bitter laughter rang jarringly throughout the room.

"What next, sister? Should we send women out to battle? In peacetime, it's all fine and dandy; women can be warriors too. But are we ready to send our women into the battlefield?"

"When a man dies in battle, it is to his honor. But you must know how these rogues will deal disgracefully with the women they find."

"Have you forgotten what they did to our mother, Edna?" There was a poignant pause.

"Will you really put Lola in that position?" I remembered what my dad said to me a long time ago after a particularly rough meeting: "Sometimes it's important to remember that everyone wants the best for the pack. Wolves are loyal and protective. If their hackles are raised, it's because their foundation is being threatened." At the time, Dad sounded more like he was verbalizing his own personal takeaway, and I hadn't thought much of it. But at this moment, I understood Gamma Endo a little bit more.

He was protecting his family the way he knew how. And he had a point. I've heard this argument before, although not so vividly presented. But when the Black Forest Pack inaugurated female warriors, my dad had brushed it off as just for show. They would never really send those young girls out to a real battlefield. Sure, they line up in parade and march and run and patrol. But if those girls had to go out on the front line, my dad shook his head—their parents would cry.

I had argued with him then: the parents would cry whether it's a son or a daughter. But now, hearing it from Gamma Endo, I had to ask myself: would I ever send Lola out to the front line? Beautiful, strong Lola whose handwriting is cursive and thinks with a musical hum? I must have wished for gender equality on a daily basis for as long as I could remember, but now I see it as it was: an ideal with no simple solution to attain. Nothing in this world was equal.

For I know, out there were those far more evil and depraved than I'd ever imagined. The gears of war were turning, and eventually we must fight to defend our pack. How could I allow girls like Lola out on the battlefield and doom her to the same fate as her grandmother? On the other hand, if I didn't, wouldn't I be trapping her to a life always bound beneath her full potential? But these could not be the only two options in the world.

Surely girls like Lola and I could possibly find our way through life as ourselves, without dooming ourselves to the hands of evil men, or tying ourselves down to the small, protected confines of what our family could offer us.

"I choose to follow Sam and serve as her Gamma." It was Lola who eventually spoke. I nodded and then said, "Perhaps this might sound foolhardy, and we all blunder in our youth, but Lola and I, we want to forge our own path. The world is vastly different from what it used to be, and there are many more options than before. Please stand back and let us try it our way for now." Beta Lucas nodded.

"I say we let these young ladies show us what they've got." Gamma Endo sighed.

"Why are we letting children run us around with pretty words?" But he sat back.

"Nix, follow the princess and your cousin. Someone has to watch out for them." We won. I grinned at Nix.

"Does your dad mean watch out for the helpless girls, or watch out that the girls don't kick your butt?" Nix's smile was all charm.

"Princess, you can kick my butt anytime you want." I heard Lola huff. Lizzy was rolling her eyes across the table from me. It was my good Beta who wiped Nix's smile off his face.

"Unfortunately for you, I will do the butt kicking. And Nix," Harvey's voice was low and even, "your butt is on the line."

"Well, then it's settled? These are our next generation leaders?" Gamma Harry was keen to move on with the meeting. My notes in case all the passionate, long-winded speeches made you fall asleep: Sam is the Alpha:) Night Leaf Beta - Ben Night Leaf Gamma - Jonah Morning Light Beta - Harvey Morning Light Gammas - Lola and Nix And I found out that Lola's email was lolapop! I wish my email was this cute!