Not Strong Enough

Elections

I stood in front of the mirror again, examining myself. I needed today to be perfect. It was the day of the elections. It would officially mark the start of my reign. I was nervous as hell, but I needed to be calm and collected, and exude confidence- like I knew what I was doing. That was what I was trying to practise by standing in front of the mirror.

"Hey Alpha, got a minute?" Josh poked his head from the side of the door.

I smiled, running my hands over my dress. It was a traditional dress of the pack, worn by the Luna to important meetings. But I had ha a few modifications made, and so far, I was happy with it.

"For you, I have all the time in the world. What's up?" I asked, curious.

"I just needed to go over the last final details with you. Finer points so today can go smoothly. We don't eant any last minute hitches messing this up, now, do we? Anyway, first, Dan and his cronies have publically boycotted the elections. They have said they want no part in it, and it is all but a sham. What do you want done with them?"

I thought for a moment, "Dan isn't really that important. I don't care what he does or doesn't do. Besides, the whole point of the elections is that the pack members should get the freedom to choose their own leaders in a democratic way. That means we allow Dan to not take part in it if he wishes. What about his father though?"

"I am not sure. Do you want me to call and confirm?" Josh asked.

"He is an important elder of the pack. His not coming will put a sizeable impact. Get him on the phone, I will invite him personally."

"Sounds good," Josh replied, "Another thing, what about the attack?"

I frowned. "What about it?"

"Well the pack wants to know what happened. You haven't really given out the details or anything. Do you want to address the issue? Or you wanna let it slide?"

"You think I should?"

Josh stared at me. "Isn't it obvious? You are Alpha now, Claire Bear. That is a huge responsibility, and it's high time you start giving importance to the post. An attempt on the life of an Alpha is no common thing, and people should find out what it means to mess with you. As a ruler, fear is something you need to use and instil in the minds of the people."

I nodded agreeing with him, "I was thinking along the same lines, actually. I will make the announcements tonight. The ones involved will be hanged."

"And Dan?"

"What about him?"

"He was the one behind the attacks. What are you going to do to him?"

"He wasn't there that night. Besides, there is no hard evidence to prove it was him. I am gonna let him slide this time. Knowing him, he will strike again; we will deal with him then."

Josh nodded, satisfied.

"You know Leo is competing too, for a post in the council, right?"

"Yeah. We discussed it."

"He is a pretty popular candidate right now. Too many girls are going to vote for him."

I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"How was the date, by the way?"

"It was-" I stopped, as memories of Gabriel surfaced. I still do not know what I feel about it. "-okay. Not great. Leo is hot and everything, but-"

"-He isn't Gabriel." Josh supplied.

"Well, technically yeah." My shoulders sagged, "Mother Nature has decided that I should be with Gabriel, so that pretty much crosses every other guy out of the equation, right? No matter how hot or good looking they are."