Chapter 6: The Council

In a dimly lit room, an austere looking group of individuals sat surrounding a long rectangular dining table. Collectively known as The Council of Elders or The Council in short, they are responsible for providing leadership and guidance to the werewolf community and generally act as both the legislative & judicial branch and policy making body. The council is known for meting out harsh punishment for infractions one of which is total exclusion which one can argue is a fate worse than death especially for werewolves who have a pack mentality. This is why Rhyland who seemed to be thriving even as a social pariah in the werewolf community is such a hot topic for debate for the council. On the one hand, they were in awe of the young man's tenacity and will to survive; on the other, their pride would not let them take in a wolf who would not yield to their laws.

Being a council member is more or less an indefinite role. Each council member is the head of a clan or family and are also high ranking members of human society involved in different areas of business and the government.

There are seven families in total.

The Furies, The White Fangs, The Shadow Walkers, The Bone Breakers, The Silver Moon, The Stargazers and The Royals.

The current head and all the previous heads of the council came from The Royals, the largest and strongest of all the clans.

Rhyland's father, Ivan Darling, was the head of the Council for more than four decades before he was deposed by his brother Rhal Darling. This was the first time in the history it has ever happened that a leader had been deposed much less by someone from the same family. In actuality, Rhal Darling had been slowly gathering the support of the other clans and had managed to convince them to call for an emergency council meeting whereby Ivan Darling was voted out of office 5 to 1. Rhal was subsequently voted in as the new head of the Council and has been in office for the past two decades.

Unfortunately, the only one who voted for Ivan Darling was Nikolai Kaminski, the father of Natasha Kaminski and Rhyland's childhood friend. Nikolai was the only one who remained loyal to Ivan who believed in remaining hidden and keeping the peace between vampires and werewolves. Ivan was a pacifist and believed that the existence of werewolves should be kept a secret from the humans. It was his fervent belief that it would do no good to antagonize the humans who significantly outnumber the Lycans. As a result, werewolves have always lived in the shadows hidden from sight.

On the other hand, Rhal believes that werewolves are superior beings to both humans and vampires. He wants to bring the vampires who are responsible for his daughter's death to justice and be able to coexist freely with humans. In fact, Rhal has fully integrated into human society and is even engaged in weapons dealing with the top constituents of the British government. In his mind, Ivan is too weak minded and is unable to lead the werewolves to greater heights.

And this appeared to be the case because as a result of his removal from office, Ivan Darling's health slowly began to deteriorate until he passed away a decade later. And his wife Elena Mueller, suffering from the shame and disbelief of her husband's deposition and shock of his death, entered into seclusion. Thus, leaving their son Rhyland darling to be raised by their relatives and the help. The pair were unaware that Rhyland was later excluded by the same people who were supposed to care for him.

...…

Rhyland barely made it to dinner on time. He had been so preoccupied with thoughts of a certain someone's scent that he nearly lost track of time.

Rhyland fixed his tie as he glanced at himself in the mirror. Perfect. He might as well look good. He knew there's no other purpose to this dinner other than to make an example of the previous leadership. Every month he has to sit down with The Council and pretend to be the meek obedient Lycan follower. Rhyland tried to tamp down his impatience as he waited for his mother to come down from the second floor of the manor.

A few minutes later a pale woman who doesn't look a day over 40 came floating down the stairs.

"Rhyland, darling… I'm sorry I made you wait. Have you grown taller since I last met you?"

"Mother…"

"You're looking more and more like your father each day. You two have the same amber eyes." Elena Mueller commented with slightly glazed eyes.

"He misses you by the way. You should come see us more often. Remember when he used to take you out hunting?" She reminisced as she lightly touched her son's cheek.

"Mother, father is gone." Rhyland explained calmly.

"You silly boy, I was just with your father earlier. You really like to joke around." Elena burst out into a peal of laughter.

Rhyland gritted his teeth. He knows his mother is too far gone into her delusions. So instead of engaging her into conversation, he replied,

"We best get going or we'll be late.

"Alright, let's go.