Arctic Roots - 7. It’s Just Politics

The bears woke to the noise of a soft knocking on their apartment door. They grabbed two big, fluffy, white robes embroidered with the Lycan Council emblem from the closet and went to see who could be knocking at this hour.

Axel opened the door to find the council’s timid tailor, standing in the hallway with a wheeled rack of garment bags and boxes of shoes.

“Good morning, sirs,” he said with a slight bow of his head. “I’m just here to deliver Beta… I’m mean Cub Adam’s meeting wardrobe.”

Axel stood to the side, and the small wolf pulled the cart into the apartment and began unzipping the bags.

“I assumed that Papa and Cub prefer to dress in a similar fashion, so I’ve gotten permission from the Supreme Alpha to forego the traditional neckties for Adam as well.”

He opened the bedroom closet door and started hanging up the new clothing. Just like Axel, Adam’s wardrobe consisted of several black, brown, and dark gray two-piece leather suits, accompanied by simple, white, banded collar linen shirts and a small collection of ankle boots in black and brown.

“What, no underwear?” Adam asked jokingly as he examined the closet full of new clothes.

“I wasn’t sure exactly what bears prefer to wear as undergarments, sir. I do apologize!”

“Hey, I was only kidding,” Adam replied, patting the timid wolf on the back. “This all looks fantastic. I hate to have to put you through all that trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all sirs!” the wolf replied. “It’s my job to make sure that every Councilmember and their Betas… and their Cubs… are properly and smartly dressed! I take great pride in my work.”

“Fantastic job as always,” Axel said. “With these leather suits I don’t even have the urge to rip off the sleeves.”

“Oh, my, no! No, no, no! Please don’t do that sirs!” the wolf cried, and Axel gave a little chuckle, reassuring him that his fashion creations would go unmodified.

As they showed the tailor back to the door, Axel left him with one final bit of information.

“For future reference, cotton jockstraps with just a little extra stretch in the pouch are the preferred bear undergarments.”

“Thank you, sir!” the tailor said, brightening his expression. “I will be sure to add that to my preference lists!”

After closing the door, Axel turned to his Cub who was still looking over his new business attire.

“What will it be today, Cub?” Axel asked. “I say we go into this first meeting looking like we mean business. Let’s go matchy-matchy and wear the black leather today.”

“Sounds good, Papa,” Adam replied. “We’re going to look so fucking hot!”

“And tell you what,” Axel added, “Just to spice things up, we’re going commando. If anyone notices the outline of our big cocks through our leather pants, we can always blame the tailor for not providing us with proper undergarments!”

“You’re so bad, Papa!” Adam said. “That’s why I love you! I’m in. Let’s get dressed. The opening session starts in two hours, that gives us time to meet the other bears for some breakfast.”

In the commissary, they met the rest of the ursine contingent at the buffet, filling their plates and bellies for the long day ahead.

“Great Gungnir!” Gunnar exclaimed as he saw the pair of nearly identical, seven-foot, muscular bears clad in matching black leather tailored suits. “Did our little tailor friend approve of those outfits?”

“Approve?” Axel exclaimed, “He made them! Custom leather suits for the biggest, baddest bears on the Council.”

“Thor’s beard,” Gunnar mumbled, looking them up and down. “You’re going to intimidate the piss out of those council wolves. I hope you’ve done your homework!”

“Nope!” Axel said with a grin, “But the Cub here sure did! He’s got everything I’ll need to know for the whole week lined up on his computer. I just have to keep an eye on the screen at my seat, and he’s going to keep feeding me everything I need to know to make me look smart all week long!”

“Damn,” Thomas said walking up at the end of the conversation and checking out the two leather-clad bears. “Is your Cub available for any temp work?”

“No need,” Adam replied. “I’ve already sent Mike and Sam all my notes and summaries and the links to my Google Docs, cross-referenced with the meeting agenda for the week.”

“Shit, son,” Thomas said with a grin, “It’s just politics.”

“Well sir, I’ve done a lot of studying in the last month, and I decided that since bears now have seats on the Council, I wanted the wolves to know that Papa and I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…”

“And we’re all out of bubblegum,” Axel said.

****

The Councilmembers walked from the commissary over to the Council Chambers as a group, followed by their Betas and Cubs. Two of the Betas had been sent to fetch various guest speakers for today’s sessions from the wing of guest suites and escort them to the Chambers for the morning session.

As they walked over, a wolf fell in line next to Adam and spoke a greeting.

“Good day, Cub Adam.”

“Oh, yes. Good day, Beta Chad. This is an exciting day.”

“Indeed,” Chad replied, “Although the Supreme Alpha selected me to be his new Beta several months ago, this is my first full Council session. It’s the first full Council session for all of us really, because the on the wolf side, our predecessor Betas are in prison, and on the bear side, this is the first full session with your additional representation.”

“I hope the bears live up to expectations,” Adam said.

“Well,” Chad said, casually eyeing the bulge in Adam’s leather pants, “I’d say that you’re already making quite an impression!”

“We’re here,” Chad said, opening the door that led to the side of the backstage area containing the Betas’ and Cubs’ workstation cubicles. There were fourteen desks total, each bearing a brass nameplate of the Beta or Cub who was to occupy it, with one desk left unmarked.

“Grand-Papa doesn’t have a Cub to help him manage things,” Adam said to Mike as they took their seats. “We’re going to have to do something about that in the future.”

“Let’s see how today goes,” Mike replied. “If it looks like he needs help, the four of us can take turns doing double-duty for both our Papa and for Grand-Papa.”

“He could always just take another Cub,” Sam said with a grin. “I’ve seen him in action, and I don’t think his two thousand plus years has slowed him down much.”

“Or,” Jacob added, “He could just appoint one of the unmated bears in Atikokan if he doesn’t feel like bringing another Cub into the werebear world right now.”

There were large video monitors hanging on the wall giving the Betas and Cubs views of the stage, the first few rows of the Gallery where the VIP guests were seated, the Gallery speaker’s podiums, and the round witness stand to the side of the Gallery under a spotlight. They could see that the dais and long curved desk on stage had been expanded in the interim from nine seats to fourteen. Supreme Alpha Taylor sat at the seat in the middle, flanked by six council members on his left and seven on his right. Adam noted that they had placed the three Canadian bears on the right and the two American bears on the left next to each other, with two wolves to the left and right of each grouping of bears.

Adam plugged his laptop into the network and logged in. He received a prompt asking him if he wished to connect virtually to Councilmember Axel’s terminal. He clicked “Yes” and the second monitor on his workstation came to life, displaying Axel’s desktop.

“Hey Papa, just testing. You reading this?” Alex typed in the messenger window.

He looked up at the big screen displaying the Councilmembers sitting behind the desk, and he saw Axel’s head turn toward his monitor. Axel reached for his keyboard.

“Yes Cub, looks like we’re all set.”

“Okay. At the beginning of each agenda item, I’m going to put the summary of the issue on your screen so you can refresh yourself quickly on it. After that, If the discussion goes in a direction where I have pertinent documentation on the subject, I’ll bring that doc up on your screen so that you can easily reference it as you ask/answer questions or debate a point.”

Axel replied with a thumbs-up emoji, and Adam grinned. They were as ready as they were going to be.

Viewing the big screens, they could see that the Gallery was nearly full, and several desks in the front rows were occupied with various pack Alphas who had appeared today to present their issues to the Council.

Supreme Alpha Taylor called the session to order, and on cue, Adam displayed the summary of the first agenda item on his Papa’s screen.

Anyone who had been attending these Lycan Council meetings over the years was accustomed to a regular pattern of activity. Since wolves are naturally inclined to defer to the highest-ranking wolf in attendance, the Supreme Alpha has always set the pace of the meetings, asked the questions, made the decisions, and delivered the verdicts. The other eight wolves on the Council were free to ask questions but were primarily there to agree with him and to vote.

Observers of today’s session immediately noticed an interesting new twist. While the five bears were polite and showed the Supreme Alpha the proper respect, they were not as inclined to immediately agree with him as the other wolf lycan councilmembers. Each bear seemed to fall quickly into a role within the Council.

Ezekiel was there to offer his millennia of experience to the discussion. If there was a problem, it was very likely that the Grand-Papa of the bears had seen it before and could offer advice as to how the same issue was rectified in the past.

Thomas and Joel were the practical and rational voices, going straight to the core of any problem and sorting out the clutter to reveal the simplest solution. The two black bears often tag-teamed each other in the debates, with one setting up an opinion and the other driving it home, helped along by their Cubs, who fed them a constant stream of supporting data via computer.

Gunnar was the moral center of the group, continuously reminding the others whether the potential actions they were discussing were meeting the ethical standards that they should be striving for and pushing the Council to raise the bar. Mike utilized a combination of Adam’s library and the Council’s written laws to provide backup whenever his Papa needed it.

Axel, to the surprise of all, was the king of debate. While most had assumed he would use his jaded attitude and coarse language to disrupt every discussion, those attributes were instead utilized as an effective means to persuade the others and to “cut through the bullshit” as he often said. Axel could sense when another member’s line of reasoning was going off the rails before they even knew it themselves and would quickly put them in their place with the proper answer that they had previously never considered. Even the Supreme Alpha was not immune to Axel’s quick assessment and take-down if the big bear felt it would bring about the best result possible.

Adam worked diligently behind the scenes all day, providing documentation that laid the groundwork for each of Axel’s oral arguments. By the end of the day, he felt tired, yet invigorated that he was able to assist his Papa in doing good works.

Before he shut down his laptop for the day, a message pinged with a meeting request. Beta Chad had sent him a meeting invite to review his document library and how he had utilized it in combination with the meeting agenda to help support his Papa in real-time. He glanced at his calendar and saw that Chad had set it up as a dinner meeting for the next evening with just the two of them, and he had reserved a suite in the guest wing as their meeting location. It struck Adam as a little unorthodox, but he thought that maybe a suite would be a more comfortable place to meet and work over dinner than a stuffy conference room. He clicked the “accept” button on the invitation, and then shut down his computer and went in search of his Papa.

“Hurry up!” Axel called to Adam as he ran down the hall to catch the group of bears heading toward the apartment wing of the complex. “There’s a bar and restaurant in town with all-you-can-eat appetizers if you get there during Happy Hour, and they have the best beer selection you’ll see in your lifetime. Let’s all get out of these monkey suits and go destroy that place’s profit margin for the night.”

“I won’t be able to have dinner with you or the rest of the bears tomorrow,” Adam replied as they navigated the hallways to their apartment. “I have a dinner meeting scheduled with Supreme Alpha Taylor’s new Beta, Chad.”

Axel raised an eyebrow at his Cub.

“Dinner meeting, huh?” he said. “I think he just wants to get in those leather pants.”

“Papa!” Adam scolded. “He wants to know about the cloud-based library system that I put together to organize everything for you this week. The old Betas left things in a mess before they all went to prison, and now he needs somebody to figure out how to turn it into a system that works. If you recall, my system did a pretty fucking good job getting your shit together today, didn’t it? I just think that Chad recognizes the potential.”

“Okay, okay, Cub,” Axel said as they got in the elevator to the sixth floor. “Where is this dinner meeting being held?”

“He reserved us a suite in the guest wing where we could have dinner and meet comfortably.” Adam said.

“Cub, I want you to repeat what you just told me inside your head, and really listen to what you’re saying this time.”

Adam’s brow furrowed in silent thought for a few seconds.

“Shit,” Adam said. “This isn’t a meeting. It’s a dinner date conveniently located in a suite with a king-sized bed. Fuck, Papa. I’m an idiot.”

“No, you’re not, Cub,” Axel said, throwing his arm around Adam’s shoulders. “Chad probably really does want to recognize you for the work that you’ve done, and he may even offer you an additional position within the Council support staff. But… he’s also definitely going to try to get in your pants. What I want you to do when that moment comes tomorrow is be aware of what his motives are. Does he want to sleep with you because he finds you attractive and wants to create a bond of friendship between the two of you that will benefit you both in the end, or does he just want to use you like a gigolo and toss you aside like something dirty afterwards. If he offers you a staff position, is it entirely merit based, or is it contingent on fucking him first? Make sure you know what those motives are before choosing to do anything. If you find him attractive as well, and want to sleep with him, I give you my permission. Don’t feel like you are cheating on me with someone else because we’ve already talked about it openly with each other. It won’t hurt our relationship one bit. No matter who you choose to play with, I’ll always love you just the same.

“But, if that wolf hurts you in any way or makes you feel like you’re something less than he is because you’re a werebear and not a wolf lycan, I will personally remove his spine and hold it in front of his eyes so that it is the last thing he ever sees on this earth. Understand?”

“Thanks Papa,” Adam said and gave Axel a tight hug. “I promise to be careful with him and I won’t do anything to cause anyone any trouble.”

“That’s all I ask, Cub,” Axel replied. “Now let’s go! By the time I get done tonight there won’t be an uneaten chicken wing left in all of Calgary!”

****

The next day’s business was a bit different, as it involved a territorial dispute between the Alphas of two neighboring wolf packs.

Each Alpha was allowed to speak prior to questioning and discussion from the Councilmembers. Axel typed a message to Adam during the testimony.

“I know there’s a law on the books about this, but I can’t remember what it’s called. Help!”

Adam did some quick checking online and typed his response.

“It’s called ‘Encroachment’. The Defendant Alpha has been clearly moving his pack closer and closer to the territorial boundary lines allowing him to gradually move farther into the Plaintiff Alpha’s territory. He’s going to try to claim adverse possession and say that since he has been the only one using the land that it is rightfully his. Go get him.”

When the Supreme Alpha asked the Council if they had any questions for the Defendant, Axel immediately spoke up and revealed the whole scheme to take possession of his neighbor’s territory bit-by-bit over the course of many years.

The Defendant Alpha wolf screamed about having to be judged by filthy bears, until the Supreme Alpha had no choice but to declare him in contempt and summarily rule against him. In the deliberations of punishment, it was again Axel who had the most sensible solution. The Council established a mile wide neutral zone along their border in which neither pack may build or hunt. The Plaintiff was allowed to keep all his original territory, and the mile wide swath that became the neutral zone was taken entirely from the Defendant’s territory. The guilty Alpha was ordered to remove any pack members and any structures, permanent or temporary, from the Plaintiff’s territory and the neutral zone immediately, or face fines and imprisonment.

When the sessions were over for the day, Beta Chad walked over to Adam’s workstation as he was getting packed up.

“Are you ready for our meeting?” Chad asked, “We can go up to our suite and relax with some drinks before dinner.”

“I should probably change into something more comfortable first,” Adam replied standing up and bending over to pick up his laptop bag. Today he and Axel had chosen to wear their charcoal gray leather suits and the white cotton jockstraps that the staff tailor had so thoughtfully left in their apartment the night before while the bears were out for dinner.

Chad ogled at the shape of Adam’s leather-clad ass as he bent over in front of him, and then at his bulging crotch when he turned around.

“Oh, no, no,” Chad replied, distracted. “Don’t change. You look amazing. I mean… you’re dressed perfectly fine for a working dinner meeting.”

“If you say so,” Adam said with a sideways grin. “Lead the way, Beta.”

When they arrived in their suite, Chad loosened his tie and walked over to the room’s bar. It had been pre-stocked with a variety of liquors.

“What’s your poison, Adam,” Chad said, selecting a bottle of bourbon for himself and pouring a glass.

“Beer please,” Adam replied. “You know how bears like their beer.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Chad replied pulling a longneck beer from a local Calgary brewery out of the mini-fridge. He twisted off the cap and handed the bottle to Adam.

They sat on the couch and Adam pulled out his laptop, preparing to show Chad his system.

“What are you doing?” Chad asked moving closer to Adam on the couch.

“I’m going to show you how my library system works so that we can discuss… whether the Council…” Adam began to falter as Chad moved close to him and shut the lid on his laptop.

“Sugar Bear,” Chad said, leaning in close, “I’ve already talked to the Supreme and he’s agreed that after your Papa’s impressive performance in yesterday’s session we want to take whatever you’ve done and make it available to the whole Council. You’ll still be Axel’s Beta, but you’ll also be the Council’s Digital Asset Manager. From now on, all computerized documents go straight to you, the Supreme will create an agenda, and you will distribute an index of all files relevant to that agenda to the rest of the Council. You will have full control over the Council’s network of servers so that we can pull your library off the cloud and put it behind our firewall where it can remain secure. After you have built the new Council’s digital library to your satisfaction, you may conduct a training session as you see fit for all Councilmembers and Betas to familiarize them with your system.

“Does all of this sound acceptable to you?”

“Well, yes!” Adam replied, “I just expected there to be more discussion involved to get you to come around to my way of thinking. So, if you’ve already decided all this, why the private dinner meeting?”

“So, you and I can get to know each other better, Sugar Bear,” Chad said and leaned in to kiss Adam forcefully on the lips.

“Stop!” Adam said, breaking the kiss and pushing Chad away. “Let me get this clear, are you saying that I have to have sex with you to get this position within the Council? If that’s the case, then you can take it and shove it up your ass sideways.”

“Adam,” Chad said in surprise, “I don’t understand you. No, you don’t have to have sex with me to get the job. The job is already yours as per the Supreme Alpha. I just find you attractive. Usually, any wolf that I find attractive would give their tail for the chance to sleep with me for even one night. I thought you would be flattered.”

“Chad,” Adam replied, “I am flattered, believe me, but I’m also not a wolf, and you can’t expect me to behave in the same manner.”

“But I thought that werebears were naturally promiscuous,” Chad said in confusion.

“Bears may often enjoy the company of their friends and acquaintances for some sexy playtime, but we aren’t whores. For us, having sex with a friend is how we bond and make our friendships grow even stronger. We do not use sex as a means to dominate others or intimidate them into giving up something in return. So, I ask you, what is your reason behind asking me to sleep with you now?”

Chad looked extremely uncomfortable at Adam’s response and moved away on the couch a couple feet.

“I apologize if I’ve handled this badly, Adam,” Chad said, turning red. “I’m accustomed to getting what I want, and I have misunderstood how to properly approach your kind. You see, I was attracted to you from the minute I saw you at the cocktail reception and dinner. I couldn’t get my mind off you, so I decided to go for an evening walk in the Council Gardens. As I walked along the paths in the dark, I looked up at the Council’s apartment wing and what do I see? I see you, naked, pressed up against the glass of your dwelling, with Axel behind you giving you a right proper fucking. All I could do was watch the two of you and stand there in the darkness, jerking off. When you came on the glass of your window, I came onto the pavement of the garden walk at the same time. I knew at that moment that I would not be satisfied until I’d taken you to bed myself.

“I thought you would readily agree. That appears to be my mistake.”

“Chad,” Adam said, touching the embarrassed wolf’s cheek, “I haven’t said ‘no’ yet. I just need to make sure that you aren’t going to just use me for pleasure and then treat me like shit in the Council afterwards. I also don’t want others to think that I’ve fucked my way into my position on the Council staff.”

“Adam, I don’t think you realize how intimidating you and your Papa are. If I treated you like shit after fucking you, I would expect nothing less than a complete and utter beating from the both of you. I respect you too much to treat you that way.”

“When I discussed this meeting with my Papa, we both suspected that you wanted to get in my leather pants,” Adam said. “He said that if you hurt me or made me feel disrespected, he was going to rip your spine from your body and show it to you as you died.”

Chad gulped and shook his head.

“Now that we’ve laid the ground rules,” Adam continued, “Why don’t you come over here and kiss me properly?”

Chad was visibly nervous after hearing what Axel planned to do if he treated Adam poorly, but he leaned back over and kissed the bear gently on the lips. Adam reached inside Chad’s shirt and started stroking his chest and pinching his nipples.

Clothing came off quickly and the foreplay intensified until Adam was laying on his back in the suite’s bedroom wearing just his white cotton jockstrap.

“Do you have to beat off to come during sex?” Chad asked as he slicked his long and thin wolf cock with a bottle of lube.

“I can come without touching myself if the top fucks me good enough,” Adam replied.

“Then leave the jockstrap on,” Chad said. “You look so fucking hot in it.”

Chad lined up the head of his cock with Adam’s hole and began to ease his way inside.

“Give it to me hard, wolf boy,” Adam said, “I can take whatever you dish out.”

Chad grinned and thrust inside Adam’s ass the rest of the way until his hips and balls slapped the bear’s ass.

“That’s a good start,” Adam said with a grin, “Now fuck me like you mean it.”

Chad howled and began pumping Adam’s ass with a frenzy that he had never experienced before. Adam’s eyes rolled back, and he was lost in the pleasurable sensation of the wolf’s cockhead banging against his prostate with each powerful thrust.

They went at it like wild animals, and soon they were each panting hard and covered in a sheen of sweat.

“This is it, Sugar Bear,” Chad exclaimed as he neared his orgasm, “I’m going to shoot my load in your big muscle ass.”

“Oh yeah, keep going, I’m almost there too,” Adam panted.

Chad gave one last mighty thrust and then he howled again as loudly as if it was the full moon as he emptied his load into the bear.

Adam let out a roaring growl at the same time, and his massive cock flexed in the stretchy white jockstrap as his semen soaked through the material and continued to leak out of the front until his intense orgasm finally subsided.

Chad collapsed on top of the big bear’s chest panting and grinning. He looked up at Adam’s face and the bear responded by planting a kiss on his lips.

“Stay here the night with me?” Chad asked.

“Since you asked so nicely, I’d love to,” Adam replied, and they rolled onto their sides in the bed with Chad’s back spooned against Adam’s chest and his nude buttocks pressed into the bear’s sticky jockstrap.

“Thank you, Sugar Bear, for everything,” Chad said as they drifted to sleep.

“My pleasure Wolfy,” Adam said. “Ask me again. Anytime.”