Kitten - True Mates (Rougefork pack #1) [Completed]

Chapter 1

Cillian was looking out of the window of his office in the pack house at the outskirts of Rougefork city. It had been a hot summer day, but now thunder clouds were darkening the sky. Even through the heavy rain outside, he could see the yard and training grounds and the vast forest which spread out behind it. It was late in the evening and he had once again been tied up with office work the whole day. 

Being the president of the National Shifter Council had its perks but it came also with several downsides. One of them was having literally so little free time that he could count on one hand the free days he had taken in the last half a year. Ever since taking over his father's position as alpha of one of the largest shifter clans in the country and also as the head of the National Shifter Council seven months ago, life had been hectic. He was stretched thin between council meetings, alpha duties and running his own company. Tiredly Cillian rubbed his face and the short stubble of a beard that started to grow, since he had forgotten to shave for the last three days.

Next week, he was once again heading out of Rougefork to visit two clans. Both were wolf shifter packs. One he visited on behalf of the council, the other because they had requested assistance from his own pack. The council president was expected to visit other shifter communities once in a while to strengthen alliances and give support when needed. Ever since he was a child, his parents had been heading out of town on Council business several times a year. He knew it came with the job - a job he had agreed to take over as his father had started to feel his age slowly catching up with him. 

Being the farsighted, responsible man that his father was known to be, Henry Tanner had decided that it was best for Cillian to take over and stay in the background as his son's advisor. This was a good time to hand over responsibilities as there was still five years left before the new council elections would come up - it gave Cillian time to establish himself as a political leader and would hopefully ensure that the next elections would again be in favor of the Rougefork pack's alpha.

Cillian's father had held the Council presidency for the last 35 years. Cillian admired his father greatly. He had led the shifter community and also their pack with wisdom and clarity. His father had relentlessly worked on making the shifter community more equal, open-minded and progressive. Cillian was proud to continue his father's work. But this still didn't stop him from feeling overworked at times.

At the beginning of the week he was heading to the Silverlines pack, a smaller wolf shifter pack with only about hundred members. Rougefork was on friendly terms with them. Their alpha had been a strong and well-respected man, as far as Cillian had heard from his father's explanations, albeit not politically active. Silverlines pack had not been represented in the Council and thus held no real political power. Alpha Jack had chosen to keep his pack out of political decisions and to live a rather secluded life. Unfortunately, he had passed away over two years ago, leaving his second mate Luna Cecile in charge. 

Cillian was sure that Silverlines would not have been on the Council's radar, if not for some anonymous source - most likely someone from the pack - had provided them with some hints that the leadership in the pack was askew. As shifters were very hierarchal beings, a clan without a proper leader was dangerous. Mostly because it became vulnerable to internal fights and also to attacks from rogues but also a risk of exposure to humans was there and that was to be avoided.

Cillian knew that a pack could be successfully run by a luna, even if it was more difficult without the authority of a born alpha. A luna needed to work a lot more to keep the pack stable and safe. But from what the source told Luna Cecile had failed to lead her pack and things were only kept running because of the guidance from the pack's beta. The Council had decided that it was necessary to see the situation firsthand in order to make a decision about the pack's future before things got out of control. Cillian sighed, knowing it would not be a pleasant visit. Apparently, Luna Cecile had two daughters from her first mate, whom she currently tried to mate off to anyone with alpha blood, hoping to secure their place in the pack. Maybe she was realizing that her time as luna was coming to an end, Cillian mused.