The Silver Guardian Bk. 02 Ch. 05

The days leading up to the next alliance meeting were busy for everyone at the O'Connor Pack. Even though Dante and Lily were no longer officially part of this Pack, it was still their home for now, and it had been their first Pack, so they pitched in with the work as well. Dante helped a lot with increasing the Pack's security and with taking the necessary measures for hosting nearly thirty additional wolves on their lands, which included all the Alphas and many of the top Betas for each Pack that would be attending. They planned to keep these meetings as short as possible, since each Pack would be without their leadership (though certainly not defenseless) for a few days each time they held these monthly planning sessions. Lily worked with her Mother to help organize where everyone would be staying during their visit. There was only so much extra room in the Manor House, so many of the extra members of each Pack's retinue would be staying in the homes of wolves who lived in the Compound.

One issue needing to be addressed was getting such a large number of wolves to the O'Connor Compound inconspicuously. The easiest approach of course would be to send a guide to Glacier Airport to lead everyone in, but that was out of the question: Viktor Petrov almost certainly had assigned some of his own wolves to keep an eye out for any goings on around the O'Connor Pack, and the report of a large procession of vehicles being led in from the airport would be a dead giveaway to what was going on. So instead, Dante had given directions for how to get to certain rendezvous points near the Pack grounds, and Ben and Sarah as well as some of the other Pack Enforcers and Senior Wolves would meet each visiting Pack's caravan (which would only be a van or two) in the mountains and guide them in to avoid attracting Viktor's attention. It took meticulous coordination and ate up a large amount of Dante and Lily's time, as well as Odin and Victoria's. There was a reason that each meeting was held in a different Pack's territory, and that was simply because it was such a large undertaking to maintain both secrecy and security. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that since the three blows Dante and Lily had recently dealt to Viktor's plans and to his forces, that Viktor would be paying attention to at least the O'Connor Pack.

The first setback had been that all the wolves he'd sent in to attack the meeting the Crater Moon Pack had been hosting had disappeared without a trace.

Then a few weeks later his entire drug cartel in Philadelphia had been wiped out, including one of his most capable senior lieutenants.

And more recently Dante, Lily and the Hellhounds had executed and replaced Alpha Bruce and Madame Alpha Tammy of the Great Lakes Pack, with the result that a Pack once loyal to Viktor was now allied with Dante and Lily. It wasn't known how many details Viktor knew about these events, but ever since Dante had appeared on the scene Viktor had been experiencing setbacks, and of the many things one could validly accuse Viktor of, stupidity wasn't one of them. He was certain to be furious and not only wish to accelerate his plans, but also to seek revenge. Dante and Lily had to be especially careful to protect themselves and their allies.

Dante did encounter one enjoyable distraction during this time. The second day after Dante and Lily had returned to the Compound and were staying in their suite again, a very large package was delivered for Dante: nearly the size of a full-grown man. It took some effort, but eventually it was wrangled into their suite and the office within. A note was attached to it, which Dante opened and read first.

Our Alpha King,

For a millennium we had awaited you and your Great Love Lily to return to us. It took so very long, but it was truly worth the wait. We can't describe how proud we are about who our Alpha King and Alpha Queen are, and we feel indescribably blessed that you are the ones to return and lead us all. We noticed during our time in Philadelphia how much you enjoyed smoking a fine cigar, and you even made mention that you'd need to get a humidor and stock it for yourself when you returned home. We felt we could do this for you, giving you a gift to thank you for returning to us, and to congratulate you on your ascension to the Throne and to thank you for your leadership of your Pack and our kind.

Respectfully,

Astrid Eriksdotter, Hilde Olsdotter, Brynhild Johansdotter and Freydis Andersdotter

Dante was grinning from ear to ear at their thoughtfulness, and in excitement at what must be inside. He carefully cut away the packaging to find a massive and beautiful cabinet humidor. It was a Gerber Monolith humidor from Germany, done in Makassar Ebony wood with a glass top, and it would hold nearly a thousand cigars. It was electronically humidified, so it was zero maintenance and it was the most beautiful humidor he had ever seen.

A little while later Lily walked into their office and saw Dante setting it up.

"What's that and where did it come from?"

Dante turned around and smiled widely at her.

"This is a custom humidor from Germany for cigars. Our Hellhounds surprised me with it today as a gift for finding us after all this time, and our ascending to the Throne. I'm sure in the near future you may receive something special from them as well, but this was their thoughtful gift to me. Now I can place a rather large order and stock it for when I wish to sneak away for a cigar."

Lily smiled and started laughing at her mate's exuberance and his giddiness over the adult toy.

"Well enjoy baby, when I'm not pregnant I may have to join you and see if I like an occasional cigar as well. When you see them next, you'll have to thank them for such a thoughtful gift. Starting soon, I'm sure we'll begin seeing many boxes showing up filled with cigars for you to entrust to your new humidor."

Dante agreed, and returned to setting up his humidor. When he'd finished, he got onto his computers and pulled up multiple cigar sites on his monitors, so he could start ordering like crazy. When he was done, he had dozens of boxes on the way, and was very excited.

Soon enough dinnertime rolled around, so Lily collected her distracted mate and they went down to the dining hall. Dante saw the four Hellhounds sitting at the table and immediately went over and gave each of them a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, thanking them for their surprise today. All the ladies blushed from their Alpha's affections, but they were quite pleased at how much their gift clearly meant to him. Dinner was a delicious meal of pork roast with roasted potatoes and vegetables, and fresh baked garlic bread. It was a big hit with everyone.

Dante and Lily retired to their suite for the evening where they made love slowly and lovingly for a very long time before they finally sent each other over the edge for the last time that night, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

***

Wednesday afternoon arrived, and the various Alphas and their entourages showed up throughout the rest of the day. First to arrive were Alpha Lisette and her mate Raphael, since they had the shortest journey. Dante and Lily, and Odin and Victoria were there to greet them and welcome them back to the O'Connor Pack. Lisette and Raphael hugged them all before Lisette spoke.

"Odin and Victoria, it is so good to see you again, and it's always a pleasure to visit with you and your Pack. I see your Alpha Heirs are with you again. It's so good to see you again Dante and Lily, even though it's only been a month. I hope your recruitment trip was fruitful."

Dante and Lily smiled while Odin and Victoria grinned at each other before Dante spoke.

"It was very fruitful; however, Lily and I have undergone a change in status. We are now Alphas in our own right, and no longer Alpha Heirs."

Lisette was shocked and turned to Odin and Victoria.

"You stepped down?! And Dante and Lily are Alphas of the O'Connor pack now?!

Odin and Victoria laughed politely before Odin answered.

"Not exactly. Lily and Dante are Alphas of their own Pack now, so at least officially, they're no longer members of the O'Connor Pack."

Lisette was even more confused now and turned back to Dante and Lily before Lily placed her hand on Lisette's arm and smiled at her.

"Yes, we are leading our own Pack now, one in Germany. A lot has changed in a very short time. I promise Alpha Lisette, we will explain everything once the rest of our allies arrive."

***

Similar exchanges were had with the Yellowstone Pack and the Crater of the Moon Pack Alphas, with similar promises that complete answers would be given once everyone had arrived.

Over the course of the afternoon Alpha Dakota and Madame Alpha Aponi of the Kootenai Pack arrived with their entourage, Alpha Mary of the Thunder Basin Pack and her entourage arrived, Alpha Cain and Madame Alpha Jessica of the Great Lakes Pack and their retinue arrived, and finally Alpha Giovanni and his mate Madame Alpha Sophia and their entourage, including their daughter Maria, arrived at last. All eight Packs were finally in attendance, and they were catching up with old friends as well as meeting some new Packs and Alphas. They had doubled their numbers in just a month, so they were growing quickly.

Even though Dante and Lily were to lead the meetings, Odin and Victoria were hosting them, so they stepped aside and let Odin and Victoria organize the evening. Odin and Victoria had decided upon a short cocktail hour for a meet and greet, so the new members could get acquainted with each other and the rest of the alliance before dinner was served. Dante was sipping his favorite Four Roses bourbon while Lily settled for Sprite, since it was caffeine free. They made their way around the room chatting and catching up with everyone.

Mary was in fine spirits and was a great favorite of the Royal Couple.

"Y'all got some nice digs here cowboy, how'd the rest of your trip go?"

Lily and Dante chuckled before he responded to her question.

"It was quite busy, as well as throwing us some surprises. We'll have a lot to discuss at the meeting tomorrow, but I can sum it up with a few attacks both giving and receiving, a great motorcycle ride, and even an execution. It was memorable and productive, but also a bit of a pain in the ass."

Mary laughed and slapped Dante on the back, "Well, I bet it was nice at least to give a good ol' boot tip to Viktor's pea-sized testicles!"

Lily grinned at her, "It was nice finally to be able to go on the offensive."

"Well, it don't look like there'll be any dancing girls or hunky cowboys this time, but I suspect we'll get a bit more accomplished on this visit. I'll catch y'all around and we'll talk again," said Mary.

Lily and Dante headed over to speak with Gio, Sophia and Maria. Gio opened the conversation.

"It's only been a couple weeks, but it's good to see you both again, my friends. Thank you again for the help with our little 'rodent' problem. I suspect our allies will be quite pleased with the results, once they hear them. We've been busy back in Philly using the information we got from Carlos, and in a lesser way from Ivan, to start shutting down the drug trade and even a lot of the other organized crime. It's even better that it's been fairly profitable as well."

Dante and Lily were pleased to hear of progress for their friends in an area that had troubled them for a long time. Lily hugged the three Italian Americans.

"That's great news, we're so glad to hear that, and we're so pleased for you guys and your Pack! We were glad to help, as it was a tremendous triumph and information source for us as well. And besides all of that, we also had a wonderful visit with you. I can't wait for the weather to warm up, so Dante and I can go out for a ride; I got hooked on bikes after riding with Dante that day."

Maria smiled as did the others, "It's easy to get addicted to them, and I'm glad to see you caught the bug. I'm sure you'll be able to get some seat time in soon, once spring hits fully here. It's still rather cool in Philly as well, but already we're getting a few days that are nice enough to head out now and again."

Dante leaned in conspiratorially to Gio, "I'll have to show you my new humidor sometime before you leave. Astrid and our Hellhounds surprised me with it last week, and I'm in the process of stocking it. A few boxes have already come in, so we can have a cigar after dinner, along with anyone that wants to join us."

Gio grinned and nodded his head in agreement. They chatted for a while longer before each heading off in different directions to continue socializing.

They caught up with Cain and his mate Jessica, who were still very busy getting their Pack back up and running, but they said things were going well and the extra wolves that had arrived were a huge help. They didn't know if the wolves would be joining their Pack in the long run or not, but for now everyone was content to leave things as they now were.

Dakota and Aponi were getting along great with the other Alphas, and had been pleased to be invited to join the alliance during these early stages. They were much more reserved than most wolves and tended to hang back a bit, but they were already beginning to come out of their shells as the evening wore on. They were very pleasant to speak with, but for now there wasn't a whole lot for them to talk about without getting into what would be covered in tomorrow morning's meeting.

Alpha Thomas and his mate Rebecca, as well as Alpha Jerome and his mate Beatrice, were excited to hear there had been concrete progress made against Viktor, and they were anxious to hear the details the next morning. Thomas and Rebecca also had information to share: they had ferreted out the leak in their Crater Moon Pack that had made possible the attack during the meeting they'd hosted last month. Madame Alpha Rebecca looked positively wolfish in her promise to share all the dirt during tomorrow's meeting about getting that intel.

The cocktail hour went for a while longer before Abigail came in and announced that dinner was served. Odin and Victoria had seen to it that this evening's meal would be attended only by their allies and their entourages, save for a few of the Senior Betas and Enforcers from their own O'Connor Pack, so that it could be a more private and intimate meal. Abigail, with Victoria's blessing, had gone all out, and she served up flame grilled massive Porterhouse steaks with garlic twice baked potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, hearth baked rosemary ciabatta bread, and red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. Not to mention all the beer and wine that everyone could hope to drink. Odin and Victoria always treated their Pack well, and they continued that practice with their allies as thanks for making the trip and for uniting with them against their common enemy.

Abigail was presented with a standing ovation when she brought out the dessert, which caused her to blush profusely before she gave a small curtsy and thanked everyone for their meaningful praise.

After dinner, Victoria and Lily invited any of the women who wished, to join them in Victoria's office for drinks and a relaxing evening, though anyone who wished to was welcome to retire for the night. All of the women decided to join them, so the ladies departed for their evening.

Odin and Dante had planned a similar evening to the one that Dante had enjoyed with Gio just a short while ago. Dante had gotten several boxes of cigars delivered so far, though nowhere close to the amount he'd ordered, and he was opening his humidor to anyone who wished to partake. The men headed off to a small conference room where several air purifiers had been installed so that they could smoke inside where it was warm, without earning the ire of Odin's mate Victoria or Head of House Mary for stinking up a room in the Manor House. Scotch, bourbon, whiskey, beer, brandy, and several other libations were available, and Dante had brought down a box of Black Label Trading Company Morphine cigars to help take the hurt away (morphine, hurt...see what I did there lol?) that the majority of Alphas and those others present decided to enjoy. Gio especially enjoyed the treat, and commented to Dante that he hadn't been exposed to this brand before, and would have to obtain some for himself. Dante made a mental note to surprise his friend and have a few boxes from their different lines sent to Gio. Everyone had a great time and took the opportunity to let some of the stress go and enjoy a few simple pleasures for the night, before things got serious tomorrow.

It was getting late, so once the cigars and drinks were finished, they cleaned up and headed back to their suites to retire for the night.

Dante and Lily returned to their suite at nearly the same time, and Lily joined Dante in the shower to rinse off the tobacco smell as well as to share some good clean fun before they headed to bed and fell asleep for the night, both of them quite satisfied and content.

***

The next morning after a hearty breakfast, everyone met in one of the largest conference rooms, large enough to seat everyone comfortably, and which included several large screens where information could be displayed during the meeting. Odin had locked down the compound and put the Pack and his warriors, including the reaction teams that Dante and Ben had organized and trained, on their highest alert to prevent an attack such as the recent one at the Crater Moon meeting from recurring during this meeting. Dante and Lily sat at the head of the long conference table while everyone gathered, then Lily stood to start the meeting off. Her voice rang out to everyone gathered.

"Thank you all for making the journey here. This will be one of the busiest and most productive meetings we will have for some time I believe, as much has changed and much has been achieved recently. Before we begin on what we accomplished on our recruitment trip, as well as the new information we have acquired, Dante and I need to announce a change in our status that has come to light very recently."

Dante picked up where Lily left off and motioned for Astrid and the Hellhounds to step forward and present themselves.

"Some of you will already know what I am about to say, but for those of you that don't, please bear with us and hold any questions until we are finished."

Dante paused to assure himself of silent agreement from everyone present.

"When the last of the Royal Bloodline was murdered and our race split into factions nearly a millennium ago, it was thought that the Royal Pack had perished with them. That however was untrue, and knowing from the Prophesy that one day the bloodline would return, the Royal Pack concealed themselves in the shadows of time and obscurity and waited, gathering resources for their King and Queen's eventual return. Shortly before Lily and I left on our most recent trip Astrid, Brynhild, Hilde and Freydis arrived here at the O'Connor Compound, and after confirming that Lily and I were the Silver Guardian and his Great Love, Astrid revealed that the Royal Pack, also known as the Order of Fenrir, still existed and had been awaiting our return and our leadership for ten centuries. With great humility we accepted them into our service and we are now acknowledged to be Alpha King and Alpha Queen of the lost Royal Pack, the Order of Fenrir. Astrid and these other three formidable women are now serving as our personal guard, with the title of Hellhounds of our Pack.

I have been crowned Alpha King Dante Silvrash the Silver King and Silver Guardian, while Lily has been crowned Alpha Queen Lily Silvrash the Emerald Queen and my Great Love. It is a tremendous responsibility, but one that Luna herself has fated for us. Lily and I have accepted this calling. We intend to lead our race and cleanse the darkness from it as our Mistress Luna demands, and we are starting right here in North America. We are no longer the Alpha Heirs of the O'Connor Pack, nor are we members of their Pack any longer, although we are closely allied with them. Michael O'Connor, Lily's brother and Odin and Victoria's son, has stepped up and has been named Alpha Heir, and he will begin his training and duties in earnest when he returns from university in a few months.