"You really didn't need to come all the way here to get me. How much time do we have?" I ask Dallas city's Alpha.

He grins and replies, "Not enough time for you to wash the scent of that pup off you. I decided that this was too important to risk you ignoring my phone call."

I don't like Axel. Not in the slightest. He's become like an arrogant older brother that I never asked for. He's just as overbearing and manipulative as my sister and I already have enough of her in my life.

Regardless, I head inside and rush over to a pile of my clean clothes on the floor. The room is nearly pitch black apart from the crack of light seeping through the partially closed door. So, I grab a couple of shirts and slacks without trying to determine the colors or styles. Considering how rarely Axel wears clothes, I doubt he'll care about what I grab for him.

I don't waste any time getting out because the other Alpha's presence outside of my den is irritating every one of my senses and I can't allow him to get comfortable here. Moments later, we're dressed and bounding through the town in the forms of golden retrievers. It's much less conspicuous to travel that way since the humans still think we can only turn into wolves.

We come to a large crowd of people surrounding a government building. Men and women stand divided into two sides on the street level facing the stand. Many are holding signs that I have trouble reading as I push past their legs. All I know is that they're arguing with each other. As I push fully through the crowd and begin climbing the steps to city hall, a wave of cold white power washes over me and my body locks tight.

I lose control of my body and helplessly observe as my body shifts into that of a fully-grown wolf. From the corner of my eye, I see Axel make the same transformation. This tells us that the queen is already here and she doesn't want us showing weakness. She's granting us too much power for us to be anything less than our best.

An icy mist begins leaking through the open doors of city hall and wafting down the steps. Seconds later, three white wolves appear from the doorway and descend the steps on either side. They're the other Alphas and I know my place is beside them now, so I move to perch on the steps and look down at the crowd of people gathered.

"Howl my children," a voice like pure magic whispers from somewhere close behind me. More power floods my veins and I howl into the morning sky. The crowd silences instantly as five enormous wolves howl in unison. They are scared, but they should be. I am hardly in control of myself at this point and they are beginning to look like prey. I just hope the cameras don't end up recording a tragedy today.

"Quite a powerful demonstration, Lady Luminaria. As I've said inside, the people are just voicing their uncertainty. They mean no disrespect," the mayor of Viridian tries to ease the new tension in the air. I can see on his face that he's worried the queen will order us to kill everyone for making so much noise.

The queens voice was almost overwhelming. This was the reason Alpha werewolves normally wouldn't step foot near a Royal Lycan. Their presence automatically hijacked our senses. "Yes, Arthur. I recall your previous statement. You should also recall that I said nothing of my acceptance."

The queen turned to face the crowd of people and cameras silently watching her.

In a voice that rippled with power and authority, she declared, "Your ruling council has declared my people citizens of your domain. We are now under your protection, just as the people of Viridian are under mine.

"With this new declaration of coexistence, all shapeshifters born in this territory are under equal protection of law." She seemed to pull an official document from the mist that swirled around her body. No one could explain where or how the queen's chilling mist worked, but it only made her seem more untouchable.

After hearing her words, some of the people in the crowds found their voices again.

"This is an outrage!"

"You can't expect us to protect them!"

"Send those monsters to hell!"

One half of the crowd was clearly against the union of our species. Looking at their faces, I couldn't recognize a single one and I knew what that meant. These were people that had come to Viridian just to protest and complain. They were trouble seekers and conflict starters. Their words were nothing but hate and they knew it. Too bad for them, the queen did not have the patience that a human politician would for them.

"Silence Mortals!" her voice boomed with the resonance of a hundred grown women. Without thinking, I rose on my hind legs and grew to my maximum height. I stood on the steps of City hall as an eight-foot-tall beast and clutched at the sky for a moment. My vision narrowed and my sight filled with light.

To echo her command I roared into the air with all of my power. The fire in my core rose through my lips and burst into the air in a plume of flames. Beside me on the steps, the air trembled at the sound of the other four Alphas' roars.

Not for the first time in my life, my body did not feel like my own. As the crowd quickly silenced and some of the faint-hearted fled, the queen concluded her speech. The Mayor was allowed to say a few words that my weakened mind could barely comprehend. But it didn't matter what he said, since the point was clear. Shapeshifters are here to stay.

Lady Luminaria is quite something isn't she?