Savage Beasts - 17. A Time for Progress

“Just a few more days, sweetie,” Gunnar said into his cell phone speaking to Vera as he straightened his tie in the mirror of their suite.

“If you and your daughter and Johnny are worn out, go ahead and close for a couple of days. The middle-of-the-week business is usually slow anyway.”

“Yes, the important thing is that we’re both still alive. There’s just some more… bear business that we have to take care of in the aftermath.”

“I can’t really talk about it over the phone, but we’re dealing with a bunch of werewolf politicians trying to figure out who’s fault this all is.”

“Surprisingly, werewolf politicians seem to get to the point a lot faster than human politicians.”

“Yes, once we’re finished up here in Calgary, we just have to make a stop in Duluth for another day or two, and then we’ll be right home.”

“Okay darlin’, take care. Bye.”

Gunnar ended the call and brushed his hair again. Mike walked up behind him and kissed him on the tip of his ear.

“Thank you for the most amazing blowjob last night, Papa.”

“Is that what that was?” Thomas interrupted, coming out of his room with his tie hanging loose around his neck. “It sounded like either somebody was having a really good time, or they were being murdered. Good to see that you’re still alive, Cub.”

“At least somebody got some action last night,” Sam said, walking past his Papa and elbowing him in the ribs.

“Gunnar,” Thomas cried, “When do cubs stop being so horny and needy all the time?”

“Well, I’m no expert,” Gunnar replied, “But I think it starts wearing off after the first hundred and fifty years or so.”

“Good thing cocks don’t work like erasers, or mine would be worn down to a nub by then,” Thomas said, and all the bears had a good laugh.

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door. Gunnar opened it and it was the timid wolf who had brought them their suits the morning before.

“Pardon me bears, uh, I mean sirs…” the timid wolf said, “But since all of the Council’s Betas are now under arrest, I’ve been asked to escort you to the council chambers.

He looked at the four bears, and spotted Thomas who hadn’t yet tied his tie.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” the wolf said and scurried into the room. He tied Thomas’s tie with a few quick movements of his hands and then smoothed out his collar.

“That’s better,” he said. “Let’s go fetch the Canadian bears from next door, and then we’ll be off to the morning Council session.”

The wolf caught the Canadian contingent just in time, as Axel was shirtless and preparing to rip the sleeves off his dress shirt and suit jacket.

“No, no, no…!” the wolf exclaimed, and with a few practiced movements had Axel dressed properly and his tie knotted around his neck.

“It’s summer,” Axel grumbled as they walked down the hall to the council chambers, “If I have to wear a shirt, I always go sleeveless in the summer. I would have still worn the damn tie.”

When they entered the council chambers, it was filled to capacity again, just like the day before. The usher met them halfway down the steps through the Gallery and took them to the same seats in the front row.

At nine o’clock sharp, Supreme Alpha Taylor banged the gavel to start the morning session.

“I once again want to extend thanks to our guests the werebears for attending today,” the Supreme Alpha said. “Today will be a historic day in the chronicle of the North American Lycan Council. But first, we must finish the business started yesterday with the Council’s Beta wolves. Security, please bring in the first prisoner.”

One by one, the disgraced Betas were brought before the Council with heavy iron collars around their necks attached to chains. When they were placed on the witness stand, the chains were attached to the circular iron railing in four places to prevent any attempts at escape.

The Betas were each grilled over instances where they had answered urgent calls from various packs and other bear or feline shifters and had deemed the problem unworthy of the Council’s time. The lycan prosecution team had obviously spent the night gathering evidence, as the Betas’ phone records were presented, and individual calls for assistance that never reached the offices of the Councilmembers were now put under the microscope.

The Betas’ only defense was that they thought that they were doing what was best for their Alphas and for the Council at-large.

After all Betas had been brought forth to testify, Alpha Nelson was the last witness called to the stand.

He recounted the fateful day when two of his patrol teams each spotted four dababbi headed for either end of his town’s borders and described the emergency procedure that they had code-named “Hide and Seek” to whisk half of the pack to safety along with the pack’s Beta within the bomb shelter while the other half formed ranks to battle the threat.

He then described the battle itself, how his Enforcer tied to get his teams to perform coordinated attacks with five wolves simultaneously hitting each monster, but that they were simply shaken around like rag dolls.

Alpha Nelson stood stoically at the stand and described how wolves that he had known their entire lives, wolves that he’d witnessed being whelped and had helped to provide guidance in their rearing were ripped in half by the dababbi like cheap chew toys. He finally explained how it was only himself and his Enforcer left alive, and that Christopher had kept his monsters from killing them so that he could taunt them and explain how the massacre was retribution for banishing him from the pack 180 years before.

“If it wasn’t for the heroic actions of two of the werebears sitting here today,” Nelson said, finishing his statement, “Neither me or my Enforcer would be alive today, and without the advance warning that we received from them through Alpha Apollo, the other half of my pack would not have survived the attack either.

“My entire pack owe our very lives to these bears,” he said, “And it is time this Council showed them the respect they deserve.”

“Thank you for your statement, Alpha Nelson,” the Supreme Alpha said. “Does any of the Council wish to ask him additional questions?”

The Council all shook their heads, and the Supreme Alpha banged his gavel.

“I call for a thirty-minute recess so that we may deliberate on the appropriate verdict and sentence for our former Betas.”

As the councilmembers rose from their seats to go to the Supreme Alpha’s chambers to deliberate, the Gallery began to buzz with various pockets of lycans commenting on the proceedings.

Alpha Apollo strolled over to stand in between the desks occupied by the bear delegation.

“Apollo,” Gunnar said, “Are you sure that we’re going to be needed for the remainder of this meeting? It seems to be winding down to the verdict and sentencing.”

“I’m sure, Gunnar,” Apollo replied with a grin, “I confirmed the Supreme Alpha’s agenda for this meeting and I’m positive that you are not going to want to miss the second half of the morning session.”

“If you say so,” Thomas replied. “I’m going to go get us a round of coffees while we wait. Everybody takes theirs black, right?”

“Actually, I’d like a half-caff hazelnut soy latte with just a dash of cinnamon,” Jacob said to Thomas with a smile.

“Right,” Thomas said. “Eight large black coffees it is.”

****

Supreme Alpha Taylor called the meeting back into order with a bang of his gavel.

“Security, please bring in the accused Beta wolves.”

The nine wolves were led into the council chambers where they once were allowed to feel a sense of power and importance. Now, they were chained together by their iron collars that prevented them from shifting.

“You nine have been accused of conspiracy to manipulate the agenda of this Council and withholding vital information that has resulted in the deaths of over fifty lycans.

“Beyond those charges, you have forgotten your position and your rank. It was not your place to decide what issues were of importance to the welfare of all lycans, and not your place to attempt to be ‘the power behind the throne’ so to speak. As a result of these actions, we, the North American Lycan Council, find you all guilty.

“You are to be stripped of your current rank and prohibited from holding rank within a pack ever again. In addition, you each will serve fifty-one years in the Council’s prison, one year for each life lost in the Hacker Valley Wolf Pack. Security, please remove the convicts from the council chambers and prepare them for transport.”

A buzz of commotion filled the chamber as the nine wolves were escorted out of the side door to begin their punishment.

“Now, moving on,” the Supreme Alpha said, “Recording Secretary, is there any additional old business on today’s agenda?”

“No, Supreme Alpha,” the wolf to his left said.

“Then we will move on to new business.”

Alpha Apollo had walked up to one of the Gallery podiums at the front as the prisoners were being escorted from the chamber and he now spoke.

“Supreme Alpha Taylor, I have new business to discuss.”

“Alpha Apollo of the Chicago Area Wolf Pack is recognized,” the Supreme Alpha stated. “Please proceed, Alpha.”

“Since the founding of the North American Lycan Council,” Apollo began, “It has been treated as a ‘wolf lycans only’ club. While wolves do comprise the majority of the lycans in North America due to our ability to bear pups, we cannot continue to presume to govern over all lycans living on this continent without giving them due representation.

“The werebears invited here today have reminded this Council through their recent actions that while wolf lycans were created to be great warriors, the bear lycans were created to be the wise and noble protectors of the forests. The fact that the wolves have been so dismissive of the bears is something that we must now address and rectify.

“Supreme Alpha, I move to expand the number seats on the Lycan Council to include werebear representation.”

“We have a motion on the floor,” Supreme Alpha Taylor stated. “Is there a second?”

“I second!” Alpha Nelson shouted from his seat behind a desk at the front of the Gallery.

“I open the floor for discussion,” Supreme Alpha Taylor said.

“How many seats are we talking about here?” one of the councilmembers asked.

“Well,” Alpha Apollo replied, “There are currently eight wolves on the Council, and we happen to have eight bears here today who comprise the leadership team of the werebears who acted in response to the recent crisis…”

“No!” Another councilmember stated, “While I agree that the bears are overdue for representation, their scattered population doesn’t justify giving them the same number of seats as the wolves.”

“Of the eight bears gathered here today,” the Supreme Alpha interrupted, “How many are currently in Papa/Cub relationships?

Gunnar and Mike, Thomas and Sam, and Joel and Jacob all stood.

“I see,” the Supreme Alpha said. “It violates our constitution to have both members of a mated pair sitting on the Council at the same time, and for all intents and purposes, bear Papas and their Cubs constitute a mated pair. Would the bear Cubs be insulted if only their Papas were granted seats on the Council?”

Mike, Sam, and Jacob looked at each other, and then Mike spoke in response.

“No, Supreme Alpha. We would not be opposed to filling the equivalent role of ‘Beta’ to our Papas should they be seated.”

“So that leaves us with five bears,” Supreme Alpha Taylor assessed. “Are there any objections to expanding the number of seats by five so that from here forward the Lycan Council will consist of one Supreme Alpha, eight wolf lycan members, and five bear lycan members?”

“Yeah, I have an objection!” Axel shouted, standing up from his seat behind the Canadian bears’ desk. “Is anybody going to bother to ask the bears whether they want to be on the Council?”

“Of course!” the Supreme Alpha replied, “Your name is Axel, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Axel said.

“Axel, becoming a member of this Council would be a great honor, and would allow you to give your species proper representation. You have shown great leadership skills during the recent crisis, and so having you join the Council would be an obvious choice. What is your objection to this?”

“If I join this here outfit,” Axel said, speaking boldly to the Supreme Alpha, “Am I going to have to move to Calgary and wear a damn tie every day?”

The Supreme Alpha chuckled.

“No, Axel. Most weeks the Council meetings can be conducted by video conference. It is only during special sessions like this one where we require all Council to attend in person. Our current Councilmembers live all over the continent.”

“Well…” Axel grumbled, “What about the ties?”

Supreme Alpha Taylor smiled at the giant bear.

“I think, given the nature of bears in general, I can overlook it if they do not all wear ties within the council chambers.”

Axel opened his mouth to speak again, but the Supreme Alpha cut him off.

“But… You absolutely must wear a shirt with sleeves. Agreed?”

“Oh, fine.” Axel said, looking the Supreme Alpha in the eye. “Agreed.”

“If there is no more discussion,” Supreme Alpha Taylor said, “I call the question. It is time to vote. All in favor of expanding the number of member seats on the council from eight to thirteen to include five bear lycans say ‘Aye’!”

“Aye!” eight councilmembers said in unison.

“Opposed?” the Supreme Alpha asked followed by a few seconds of silence.

“The motion passes. Please join me in welcoming the newest members of the North American Lycan Council, Ezekiel, Joel, Axel, Gunnar and Thomas!”

The Gallery erupted with cheers, and the bears were surrounded by pack Alphas, Betas, and Enforcers offering congratulations.

“Now that the formalities are out of the way,” Supreme Alpha Taylor said, “I invite everyone to join me in the Grand Ballroom for a celebratory reception.”

“Celebratory reception?” Gunnar asked Apollo who had waded through the crowd to shake the bears’ hands, “It seems like all of this was planned in advance!”

Apollo just grinned and shook Gunnar’s hand vigorously.

“I told you that you wouldn’t want to miss this meeting, Councilman Gunnar. Taylor, Nelson, and I have had this in the works since we found out how ex-Beta Justin handled so called ‘bear problems.’ It’s long past time for you to have the proper representation, and you all have demonstrated your value to lycan communities everywhere.”

Gunnar looked over at Ezekiel. The ancient bear was sitting behind his desk with his head lowered and tears rolling down his cheeks into his beard.

“Hey there, old bear,” Gunnar said, sitting down next to him. “This is a time to be happy.”

“Oh, I am, young one,” Ezekiel replied. “I’ve lived a long life but there are always new surprises. I never thought that I would live to see the day that the bear clans could emerge from the shadows of the wolf lycans and claim equal footing within the Council, and I never expected that the first bear to become a full councilmember would be me!

“I have to thank you, Gunnar. In the last two years, you have done more to bring lycans together and elevate the status of the bears in the community than any time in the last two hundred years.”

“It was a team effort, Ezekiel,” Gunnar replied, slightly embarrassed by the old bear’s praise.

“Yes, but it was you who had the foresight to bring the team together. I am overjoyed and honored that we will be serving on the Council together.”

At that moment, Mike walked over to the two bears.

“Papa and Grand-Papa, let’s shake a leg. There’s a whole reception in your honor, and they say that there’s a big enough lunch buffet to feed a hundred bears! Let’s go!”

“Ah, Cubs!” Ezekiel said, standing with Gunnar and following the crowd to the Ballroom. “Always thinking with their stomachs!”

“If only,” Gunnar replied. “That cub of mine has another organ that does most of his thinking for him!”

“I can hear you, you know.” Mike said, leaning his head over the bears’ shoulders and giving them each a kiss on the cheek.

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way, Cub.” Gunnar replied.