Alpha's love
War council

Aria had been up all night training after the rest of the alpha's had come in. She had wanted to get one more training practice in before the war council, knowing that she wouldn't have another chance before the battle. She thanked the moon goddess that none of the alphas had broken out in a fight, and that the visiting packs were sticking to their given spaces.

Wiping the sweat from her face she let the energy ball that she was holding in the sky drop to the ground and seep into the dirt. Cain pushed himself off of his spot, leaning on a tree and gave a brisk nod of his head.

"You can go clean up and eat something before the war council Alpha Aria, it's in an hour." Aria nodded her head before turning and hurrying back to the pack house, stepping over sleeping pack members as she went. She still wasn't used to all the pack members that were laying scattered around her property, and in her house. Children lay with their mothers, and mates lay cuddled together sleeping soundly. A few grumbled as Aria stirred them from their sleep but quickly shut up when they realized it was their alpha.

Moving inside she was surprised by warm arms that enveloped her. She let out a soft sigh as Marcus nuzzled into her neck. "I missed you, A," he murmured into her neck. She turned in his arms and gave him a quick kiss before turning towards the kitchen. Several women were already up and bustling around the kitchen preparing food for the pack members. Aria grabbed a breakfast burrito off the counter before turning and leaning back into Marcus. Several of the alphas were already making their way into the pack house as well as Aria's pack members were stirring. She had met every Alpha that had come in last night, asking them to be in her pack house at nine that morning for a war council. She could see that most of them were already filing into the house, taking some food before filing off to go look after their packs.

Alpha Smith came up to her and Marcus, sending her a grin before reaching around her and grabbing an apple. His arm brushed hers and Marcus let out a low growl before tightening his embrace on her. Alpha Smith smirked at him before turning his gaze to Aria.

"Alpha Aria, lovely morning. I heard you up late last night practicing your skills. I am looking forward to seeing your powers again, I must say." Marcus's growl grew louder and Aria turned and kissed her mate deeply before turning back to Alpha Smith.

"Alpha Smith, I must say that you seem awfully interested in someone who has a mate. Let me remind you that you are here on business and that I have a mate whom I love. If you are trying to make problems I'm asking you to stop." Alpha Smith's smile vanished as he took in Aria's position in her mates arm and her tone.

"I understand you concern alpha but I assure you that I am merely intrigued by your alpha status. After all, not only do you have powers but you are also the first female alpha." With that he turned and walked away from them, leaving Marcus hugging Aria to him protectively. Aria shook off the encounter with Alpha Smith and glanced up at the clock seeing that it was time for the War council.

Aria's office was full of Alpha's when she arrived. Most were trying their best to ignore each other. A few of them were standing around talking to each other, arms crossed, and eyes wary. I smell testosteroneeee, Milean sang in her head as Aria took a deep breath knowing that 25 other alphas in the same vicinity was risky. Striding towards the head of the room where her office sat. All of the alpha's turned towards her as she sank into her chair, nodding at the other alphas who in turn sat as well.

To accompany all of the alphas, Aria had moved a large oak table into the center of her spacious office and placed exactly 25 seats around the table. To her surprise, none of the alphas seemed to mind who sat at the head of the table, or that Aria was sitting in her office chair which she had pulled to the front of the desk.

"I hope that all of you have settled in nicely. Of course, the setup will only last for a little while longer. Our intel tells us that the rogues are a little under 100 miles. My spies in the cities have been tracking them since Alpha Smith was kind enough to tell of their location, and we know that they are traveling quickly in wolf form." Aria examined the room, making polite eye contact with each Alpha before moving on, making sure that they understood she was an equal to them, but not a threat to their position. Aria continued, "I am grateful for each of you for traveling here. I cannot promise that you will not lose pack members tomorrow, but with our numbers we are hopeful that we will be able to take out the rogues with no problem. However, we saw only one group of rouges, it is more than likely that they broke up their army to avoid detection. We should prepare for the worst, and that means having a solid plan." The alpha's nodded their head in agreement, their faces solemn. The room was quiet for a few moments and then, one by one, each of the alpha's began voicing their concerns, and their ideas for a plan. A few fights broke out, but Aria's peacemaker, Jazz, was quick to calm down the alpha's, before the war meeting resumed.

After countless hours of debating, arguing, and agreeing, the 27 alphas including Aria and Marcus had come to a solid plan, and a back up plan. By the time the rest of the plan was solidified the sun was setting and the alpha's were quick to disperse the room, headed to check in on their packs and get food. Aria gave a sigh as she sank into her office seat, pondering what she must do tommorow. She had yet to replace out her full capabilities, although with the training and what had happened a few nights ago, she was confident that she could take out a few dozen rogues at one time. The moon goddess had picked her for a reason, and she wasn't about to let down all of the packs who had traveled here to help her. The touch of a calloused hand upon her leg, made her give a content sigh. "Marcus....do you want to stay the night? Just so that you are here and ready tomorrow?" Aria added the last sentence on quickly as Marcus smirked down at her,

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. With us being freshly marked still, we might not get much sleep." His smirk grew bigger as a faint blush colored her cheeks. "I suppose I just thought that it was a given that I would stay here. My young and elderly are already hidden away with yours several miles from here, where they will be safe, and my pack is already camping here." Aria's eyebrows shot up,

"I didn't know that you moved your pack here? I supposed there was no need for them to stay, seeing as how other packs are camped on your property as well. There is no risk that the army will sneak up on us, but...." Aria trailed off, she was going to say, what if they replace our young? She knew that there was no chance of that happening, seeing as how they were hidden away in a large city over three hours away but she couldn't help but worry. Sure, they had a solid plan, 2,000 wolves, her powers, along with the moon goddess on their side, but that didn't help to ease her worries. Men and women would die tomorrow, mates would be left mateless, mothers would lose their children, acts of war never ended without losses. Marcus kissed her mark lightly,

"Stop worrying until tomorrow Aria. You need to eat and sleep and worrying like you are is only going to tire you." Before she could protest he scooped her up bridal style, and carried her from her office. She scowled at him the whole way, secretly enjoying the warmth and comfort that her Mate's arms provided, as he carried her into her room. "I'm getting us some food, you stay here." He ordered her before bounding out of the room. A part of her Alpha side snarled as he ordered her to stay, but Milean quickly shut it down, yipping with joy as Aria sank back against the headboard. She felt her eyes closing on their own accord, the tiredness of the day slipping over her. Just as she was on the brink of sleep, she felt warm arms wrap around her as the bed shifted and Marcus dipped his chin onto her shoulder, pulling her close. She quickly slipped off into sleep moments after, relishing in her mates closeness as she fell asleep.