Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

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Trinity

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  I think that I was starting to get more and more used to this whole Queen thing. I no longer found myself feeling nervous before these meetings. In fact, today was the first meeting with the entire council that I had assembled. I had to wait for Dietrich to finish his trip to the covens on the coast before we could begin, so it was now closing in on the end of the month. In fact, it was just a few days until my birthday.

Heh, isn't that funny? I am a wife, a mother, a queen twice over, and blessed by three celestial beings, but I wasn't even twenty-one yet. I will be soon, though. That makes me wonder, how do all these people like being bossed around by someone like me? That's got to irk some of them, doesn't it?

Well, whatever, it is what it is. Right now I was being put into one of those dresses that Reece ordered for me, again with the assistance of someone else. He had said he hadn't ordered very many of them, but the truth is, he had actually ordered them to make two dozen of these things in various styles and designs. There were some ball gowns at the ready for when I might need them, but the rest were all just regal queen-like dresses. And with Ella and Gina helping me into them constantly, I felt like I was someone from back in the Victorian days. If I kept wearing clothes like this, I was going to need a personal retainer to dress me every day.

Ugh, I just shuddered at the thought of that. I would do anything to stop that from happening. I could accept these dresses when I was in a meeting where I needed to be official, but I wanted times when I was able to relax and be myself.

Reece had it easy for situations like this though. All he had to do was put on one of his suits and coordinate his color accents to match me. That was one thing he made certain to do even without needing the very loud and boisterous warnings from Ella and Gina. Reece was there to rule beside me, but also be my arm candy since I was the one in charge. If anything were to cause me to not be able to do my duties, they would fall on Reece, but otherwise, I was the big bad wolf around here. Hmm, maybe I should make Reece wear red more often, like a hood or something.

Now that I was dressed and my crown was in place, it was time for the meeting to get underway. I was holding this meeting in one of the small conference rooms that was near my office in the tower. 

That room had a large horseshoe shaped table that looked like an antique. It was polished to a shine with a gleaming golden design of different wolf and magic symbols inlaid into it. There were thirty-six seats around the table, which was more than we needed, but we anticipated future guest speakers or couples like Shawn and Dietrich and Analise and Reef Rivers. They each took up extra space at the table.

At the open part of the horseshoe there was a large ornate table where I would sit. This table definitely looked like it belonged in the house of royalty; the sheer amount of gold and jewels used to adorn it made it seem a tad too lavish.

Each of the council members had a large high backed chair with a dark wooden frame and rich mahogany colored leather. They looked very comfortable and luxurious. There were even two of them at my table for Noah and Vincent to sit at. Reece and I, however, had more of those throne-looking chairs that were in our offices. They were nothing compared to the real thrones that were downstairs, but they were still clearly more ornate and lavish.

By the time that we had entered the room, everyone else had already arrived and were standing next to their chairs. The moment that they saw Reece and I, they all bowed at once. It was like they had rehearsed this in our absence so they could get it just right. I was semi-used to all the bowing now, but it was still a little weird to see it happen all of a sudden. 

"You may rise." I instructed them as I took my seat, Reece sliding into his chair next to me. Everyone rose at once and took their seats in a fluid movement that seemed like a well-oiled machine.

I was now looking at the full council for the first time. There were a couple here that had never met me, but had been briefed by their counterpart. They didn't look surprised at all so that was good.

I started to look around the table at all the people that were gathered here with us. First was Riley Gray, Reece's cousin who shared his dark hair and honied complexion, but had light gray green eyes. Next to him was Rawlynne Otsana, FBI agent extraordinaire, she was still as beautiful as ever with her long brown hair and gold and brown eyes. 

Trevor Jacoby on her other side was there for the bears, his tanned skin, golden eyes and light brown hair were all lovely despite his disheveled and rugged looks. He had invited Tina Berkley, she was out of the Canadian Bear pack, and she was the Alpha's Beta. She had hair that was so light blonde that it nearly looked white, and she had bright blue eyes, that along with the pale complexion of her skin made her look like she was ethereal in her beauty. 

Landon Clayton, our friendly feline neighbor was sitting on her other side and looked intimidating with his piercing emerald green eyes, but his boyish blond hair and crooked grin that he couldn't keep off his face kept ruining it for him. Landon had invited Natalie Madison from the Pacific Northwest feline pack. She was known as their Felicitas which was the equivalent of a Luna, Natalie had pure black hair and shining golden eyes.

The Bird shifters were next and they started with Arno Darvell, the eagle shifter who had brown hair with feathers coming out of it and bright yellow eyes. Noir Steelwing, the Alpha that I had met once before, was on his other side. She had black hair with lots of different brightly-colored feathers growing throughout and intense amber colored eyes. I had learned long ago that the adult bird shifters actually grew the feathers along with their hair. It started to happen after their first shifts.

The reptiles sat on the other side of the birds, continuing the line. Nathair Adder was there with his piercing blue eyes, white lightning bolt birthmark (I had learned it wasn't a scar), and his dark green hair that he kept buzzed so short it looked black. Next to him was the komodo dragon shifter named Kayda Wyvern, she had dark hair that looked like it was brown with green highlights, and her eyes were a deep red.

The last of the shifters were next. First was Ronwin Brine, the Selkie. He had a warm brown complexion with hair and eyes to match, he was also the shortest male shifter I had ever seen  since he was a couple inches shorter than me. Analise Rivers was slender and beautiful like any mermaid should be. She had long flowing auburn hair that looked like she was in the water even when she wasn't, and there were pure, true red highlights in her hair. Her eyes were a pearly green color that were mesmerizing. Her husband, Reef Rivers, had shorter hair that was dark brown with pearly white highlights. His eyes were also green, but they were a seagreen.

Following the shiters were the magic users. Crawford was first with his graying hair, brown eyes, and wizened looks. Next to him was Leelin Ackerman (her name changed since she had been married and had a baby with Doc). She had that lovely dark purple hair and those unique orange eyes. She had also seemed to have gotten more confident since she mated with Doc.

After them were the Djinn. Rahim Zayn with his black hair and shining blue eyes that looked like he was radiating magic. His counterpart, Gaeti Adelle, couldn't have looked more different from him. She had light brown hair and eyes that both seemed to radiate light.

The Gypsy man, Razvan Ellund was next to Gaeti. He had pure white hair and purple eyes. When I met him, I asked if he looked like that when he met humans, and he politely explained that he hid his true appearance only when he needed to. Next to him was Daciana Joviak with her black hair and bright green eyes.

The genies were both wearing clothes that had to have either inspired or been inspired by the Disney movie. They were brightly-colored, revealing, and looked like they were made of silk. Lahan Naseer had light brown hair and golden eyes while Nadeen Tavay had golden hair and pink eyes.

Finally, we were reaching the council members that weren't part of my people. The first ones up were Dietrich and Shawn. Their familiar faces were a blessing at this moment. Dietrich's black hair and blue eyes that were so light they were almost white and Shawn's mix of gray and silver. I loved the two of them so much. The new vampire was Tatia Rekjavik, and she had platinum blonde hair with pure black eyes.

Athair mór was next, but I would need to call him Valerian Undine during these meetings. He was one of the most unique people here with his various shades of blue in his eyes and hair. The woman he brought in to join the council was Anastasia Lightly. She had pink hair and green eyes that seemed to have different petal-like flecks of blue and purple inside them.

That was all of them, the council in its entirety.. All twenty-six people that would meet whenever the need arose, and who were now my Grand Nobles that would live in the two towers on either side of my residential tower.