July 1st, 2694 It is finally over. The Council has been able to establish peace between all the Packs, but it has been a long and tiring process. No one trusting another, no one willing to make a compromise, no one willing to be the first to stop the attacks. If anyone had told me when I took over from Dad that we would be at war with just about everyone around us, I probably would have been laughing my ass off. No one in their right mind would have attacked us back then, but it did happen, and sometimes it still surprises me. I know that everyone wants what I have with Lance, but within our Pack, Malik and Mara were one of the last fated couples. It took the Council about three years to come to the conclusion that fated couples were a thing of the past, but it took every other shifter a few more years, and then trouble started to stir. At first there would be a kidnapping every now and then, but it became worse when Packs started to protect their unmated females better, and eventually Packs would start attacking other Packs to take away their unmated females by force. I took in every unmated female from our allied Packs, and we are one of the few Packs that didn't lose too many females. When the first kidnappings were reported to the Council, Malik and Ivan started training their Cousins; they are all a force to be reckoned with, and they were successful in bringing some of the kidnapped females home. Dad trained the underaged youngsters to use a bow and arrow, giving them the means to help protect our Pack. At first I wasn't too sure if it was a good idea, but looking back I am glad Dad pushed the issue. He owes his life to those youngsters, and even though his injuries were so severe that he could no longer fight, he was still able to help protect our Pack. Bane took over as Alpha in the midst of all this madness, and he has done a great job in protecting our Pack, in protecting those that needed our protection. We lost a few Warriors during the first few attacks, but once we had three of our allies moving into the territory, we were able to fight off every attack without casualties. About eleven years ago there was an attack on the Palace, and within a matter of two days we lost the entire Royal Family. It was a large and well-planned attack, and I doubt anyone could have stopped it, but the outcome wasn't what some Alphas had hoped for. Princess Taliyah lost her Mates as the first wave hit the Palace, and the pain of the loss killed her within an hour; their oldest Son had taken over the Throne a few years before that attack, and without an heir the Throne would have gone to his baby Sister. But she knew that one of those Alphas would forcefully mark her, and she chose to take matters into her own hands. With her death there was no member of the Royal Bloodline left, and the Council has tried to establish a peace of some sort ever since. It was fragile during the first few years, and every once in a while an attack would rattle the fragile peace treaty, but our Pack gave every Pack hope about five years ago.Crimson, my Son's Gamma, had told Bane that he and his Lycan had found a female they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with, something that had never happened before as our other halves were still hoping for a fated Mate. Bane thought it was a fluke until Liam, his Beta, came to him a few months later with the same story. Josy talked to Crimson's Lycan and her Son's Bear to find out that Crimson and Liam were telling the truth; they told her that they felt a connection to the females and that in a few days it had grown too strong to deny. What they described reminded her of the Mate-bond she found with Mano, and she had asked Bane to call a meeting with the entire Pack. After explaining to the Pack what she suspected, two other couples came forward, and we started to document the details they provided us with. We informed the Council as soon as we could, after all it might stop these attacks once and for all. With the documentation of four couples, Elders were sent to every Pack to find out if our Pack was the only Pack with this phenomenon, and within a month they returned to the Council with about twenty other reports, from high-ranking Wolves to Omega Lycans. Bane found his Mate when we visited Silver Moon Pack; the plan was to spend two days there until his Lycan told me that he wanted to stay, and when Bane returned home three days later he brought home his Mate. Their bond is as strong as mine is with Lance; the only difference is the way they found out that they are Mates. There is a huge difference in finding your Mate these days; we no longer have to rely on the Days of the Full Moon. Bane and his Lycan had described it as a bond being forged one link at a time; in their case it took three days, while Crimson said it took his bond four days to be forged. With reports of bonds taking up to six days to be forged, the Council decided that it would be wise to wait a week before anyone would dismiss a male or female as their Mate. Future generations will grow up with another way of finding their Mate, but at least it put a stop to forceful markings. The Council also discovered why some bonds take longer to be forged, and it has everything to do with the reluctance of the Human part of a shifter, but in some cases the Animal part of a shifter stays loyal to their Human side. If a male or a female knows that his or her Mate is known to sleep around or if their personality isn't a kind or nice one, it can cause the bond to be forged slowly. I just hope that the Council will protect those that decide to reject their Mate and not allow them to be forcefully marked. I place the journal on my desk; it isn't the first time I have read them, and I doubt it will be the last time. As the future Beta of Crystal Blood Pack, I need to know our Pack's history, but it is also something that has my interest, and I have read every journal we have at least a few times over the years. Crystal Blood Pack was reinstated almost two hundred years ago, and we are the only Pack that has journals from different kinds of shifters. The Council has copies of a few entries, but we never gave them copies of the entire journals, and I doubt we will ever give it to them.My Grandfather was the first Bear shifter this Pack had; his best friend was a Leopard, and their Alpha had been paired with a Mountain Lion. I smile when I think about my Grandfather; he was a force to be reckoned with, and all his Pups and Cubs got a piece of his height. Most of the males stand at 6'5" or 6'6" while the females stopped near 6', except for my oldest Aunt. Like my Grandmother, she never got further than a height of 5'6", and most of my Nieces and Nephews have surpassed her height before they stopped growing, but none of us will dare to cross her. "Sweetheart, dinner is almost ready." I hear Mom say as she opens the door, and I get up from behind my desk. If Mom doesn't get me for a meal, I would have starved by now; I lose track of time when I am working or reading, and I am grateful that Mom makes sure I eat something during the day. "I was just done with reading Alpha Lakota's journal; I love reading about how they were raised and the difference in finding Mates nowadays." I say as I close the door behind me, and Mom smiles as she shakes her head. I follow her to the dining room, and it is a bit noisy as we approach the room, but the moment I step inside, the room goes quiet. My head snaps towards Alpha Bane, and I know I am not going to like what he just told our Pack; Dad gives me a small smile which tells me I want to kill someone in a minute. I don't say anything as I walk towards our table, and I sit down with my eyes fixed on our future Alpha; I can feel he has something to do with this. Alpha Bane tries to get my attention, but I refuse to look away from the Asshole across the table. I can sense that most of the people at the table are getting uncomfortable, and Micheal starts to squirm in his seat; I knew he had done something that would send me off the deep end. "I told the Council that you still haven't found your Mate." He finally blurts out, and I slowly get out of my seat, never taking my eyes off him. My siblings get up at the same time, and I know he will be in for a huge surprise. Alpha Bane tries again to get my attention, but again I ignore him. I keep my eyes on Micheal when I say, "Alpha Bane, I decline the position of Beta of Crystal Blood Pack. I will have my transfer papers for White Mountain Pack on your desk in an hour, and I suggest you sign them without hesitation." Micheal seems relieved to hear my words, but he pales when all my siblings state the same. Crystal Blood Pack just lost its entire Beta line in a matter of minutes, because Dad is the last one to follow my lead, and I know that no one saw it coming.