Queen of the Lycan, Karina Espinosa [accelerated reader books .TXT] 📗

Lucas, who was sitting in the front row on the left side, cleared his throat. “No complaints, Your Majesty,” he replied. “You’re as gracious as you are beautiful.”

Gag me now.

I grinned. “I hope that was a compliment.”

“Of course.” He bowed slightly in his seat. “Thank you for taking the time to see us. We know your schedule is very hectic. Especially now that you’ve assumed the throne—”

“Are you the spokesperson for both summits?” I interrupted his pleasantries and raised a brow, looking at both sides of the room. From the looks of it, the American Summit was to my right and the European Summit was to my left. But was Lucas speaking for them both?

“N-No,” he stammered, clearly taken aback by my question. “I speak for the European Summit.”

An alpha in the front row on the right raised his hand. “I speak for the American Summit, Your Majesty,” he declared. “My name is Grayson. I’m the Alpha of the Canadian Pack.” Grayson was a middle-aged man, maybe a bit older than Alexander. Salt and pepper hair, but it looked good. He was definitely a silver fox. The guy looked like he spent a lot of time at the gym. He appeared tall, but I couldn’t really tell from his sitting position.

“Canada, huh?” I mused. “I remember when the Toronto Pack hired the fae to kidnap me.”

Back when I ran away to L.A. as a lone wolf and then came back to New York City, several packs around North America tried to capture me once they found out I was the illegitimate daughter of the Lycan King. All for a shot at the throne. It was a very dark time and a period I hated thinking about.

Grayson had the decency to look away. “That was an unfortunate event that I hope we can move past.”

“I’m sure we can work something out,” I replied cryptically. “Now, tell me, what is it that the Summits would like to discuss?”

Lucas leaned forward. “As I was trying to say, Your Majesty, we know your schedule is hectic, but since we’re all here for the various events happening in Sheunta Village—”

“You mean my coronation and mating ceremony?” I interrupted again, knowing I was getting under his skin.

Lucas nodded with a tight expression. “Yes, for those. We would like to take advantage of our time here to discuss a few of our grievances with you.”

My eyes widened exaggeratedly, and I placed a hand mockingly on my chest. “Grievances? My, oh my, what could possibly be the problem?”

I heard an undisguised snort from the right side of the room, but I kept my gaze riveted on Lucas. I knew it came from Charles, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of entertaining his outburst.

Lucas pressed his lips together in a tight line and paused for a moment before responding. He obviously didn’t enjoy my sarcasm. Surprisingly, he wasn’t the one who answered.

“We want to discuss the lunas,” Grayson declared loudly, his voice penetrating the stillness like the crack of a whip. I slowly slid my gaze his way and tilted my head, wondering if he was trying to establish dominance by pitching his voice that way.

Ranulf growled beside me but I held up a hand to stop him. “And what do you want to discuss about the lunas? Let’s not beat around the bush, please. Get to the point, gentlemen. My patience only goes so far.”

“We must set some boundaries,” Grayson stated as if it should be obvious. “King Alexander’s law is too broad. We need to be more specific on what they can and cannot do … along with what is still required of them.”

I placed my arms on the throne’s armrests and clutched it for dear life to keep my temper at bay. I couldn’t have an outburst. Not there and not then. And definitely not in my position. I was Queen now, and that meant I had to act a certain way, whether I liked it or not. However, that didn’t mean I had to let them spout nonsense, either. I needed to hit them with a political punch instead of a physical one.

Although I really wanted it to be my fist.

My eyes trailed around the room and took in the various expressions playing on the faces of the assembled alphas. It was obvious they were all on the same page, to some extent. I made a note to get to know these alphas better so I could find out exactly where they stood.

“Is that right …?” My eyes fell back on Grayson, who was staring me down defiantly. Ballsy. “Let me ask you this … where do you think I stand on this petition?”

“I think you’re reasonable, Your Majesty, and you’ll do what’s best for our people,” Grayson stated matter-of-factly.

“Your Majesty, please, if you’ll allow us to explain, maybe you can see—”

Lucas tried to smooth over Grayson’s bull-in-a-china-shop approach, but I wasn’t falling for his tactics. The Italian Alpha was a smooth talker who was used to having ladies fall at his feet. I was entirely the wrong audience for that level of bullshit.

“Is your concern the birthrate?” I raised a brow, remembering the excuse Bernard gave me right before I left New York City and he challenged Jackson for the Alpha position of the Brooklyn Pack. He said he wanted to take over and get the pack back to how things used to be, which included getting the lunas ‘in line’ since the birthrates of the Lycan had decreased since they gained their freedom. The entire idea was disgusting.

“It’s one of our concerns,” Lucas agreed with a nod. “Our numbers are low, which is a very real concern. But perhaps more concerning is the fact that a luna in America became a captain in her pack. Those positions shouldn’t be handed out to lunas.”

I was revolted to hear everyone’s grumbles of agreement. My hands tightened further on the armrests and I took a couple deep, calming breaths to