A few of the older alphas shifted in their seats at her words and others looked away.
Ann kept going though, she was sick to death of dealing with the same things over and over again.
"When the councils hunted witches, they didn't just kill the ones who signed pacts with the Daemons, they hunted healers who would not swear fealty and wished to remain free. They drove out engineers who could strengthen bridges with a few words. They silenced trackers who could have found missing children in harsh terrain with ease. We have lost talents that we will never be able to replace because the fear of cowards shouted louder than common sense and decency. Those bloodlines were either eradicated or they disappeared underground and kept working anyway. Some ended up at Eromaug's feet because we shut every door they could have walked through here. They wanted to live without hiding and whether we want to accept it or not, he offered it, regardless of how disgusting the solution was. Really, it was no different than what our kind did to them, and that failure rests solely with us."
The Alpha's were not entirely united in their agreement but she could see that she had the majority in the room on board now.
"So we roll out the red carpets and act like none of this happened." The Alpha of Gold Oaks sneered.
"No," Ann responded instantly, her voice hard. "We set strict rules and we enforce them. We hold a united front on all behavior, from everyone, not just a single species or race. A Lycan who threatens a wolf answers to me. A wolf who spits in a refugee's food answers to me. An Alpha or Luna who goes against a direct order, answers to me. The standard is the standard. I will not bend it to soothe ego's and fit the current narrative. It will remain the same regardless of your memory."
"Your examples about wolves is fair, but the one about Lycans is not. We have fresh blood spilled in our camps because of them."
Ann nodded once.
"I am not asking you to forget your dead. I am asking you to fight the enemy in front of you. Right now that enemy is the Lycan King and Ely's coven. If you hit a Lycan who stands in our ranks with the same fury you hold for your dead, you let the Lycan King split us without even lifting a blade.. They do not want his leadership or his evil any more than you do. They too, have lost their own families to his brutality. If anything, you should be trying to find common ground.."
"I love this version of you Queenie. Look at you holding this room by their throats," Maeve said, darkly satisfied. "Keep the pressure up and don't let them drift to their old stories. Drag them to the present and make them look at it."
Ann turned to the side and smiled softly.
"If you want an example that you can hold and not just a speech. Fine. You all know Lexi."
Some nodded and some went stiff, the ones who had a problem with mixed bloods did not hide it well.
"Lexi is human born, witch born, and daemon kissed," Ann said with a smile. "You have seen her work. You have seen her fight and push our scouts into positions that kept your patrols alive when Eromaug was confronted only a few months ago. You have seen her pull information out of sources your elders never got near. She is my Second. She is the reason some of you are alive today. If your first instinct is to spit when I say her name, then you better damn well swallow it because I will not tolerate bigotry or racism of any kind in my kingdom. Am I clear?"
"Lexi is not like the others though! She..."
"Lexi is exactly like the others," Ann hissed, "She is a person whose choices matter more than her blood. She was raised in an orphanage because it was too dangerous for her father to raise her after her mother had been murdered. She suffered prejudice throughout her life, even at my side. She could have given in to jealousy or pride, but she saw our friendship for what it was…us. Individuals just trying to get through from day to day living. And when it came to Eromaug, she could have hidden with the Enclave and taken pay for silence, worked on secret problems with them, she could have turned against us, but instead she chose us. Her father, a Daemon Lord, chose us. That is the difference. Choice, not the blood or the kingdom that you're born into."
The Luna of Ethereum spoke again, a little softer this time and all trace of anger gone from her voice. If anything, she sounded tired.
"What is it that you want from us exactly, MY Queen? Names are good, speeches are fine but practically, what do you want us here for?"
Ann lifted a hand and Eva slid a set of folders to the edge of the table. Coral moved quickly with the little group of Omega's helping to hand them down the line as they simultaneously refilled drinks and refilled plates with snacks.
Inside the folders were three pages each. Patrol rotations. Supply lanes. Complaint channels with strict timelines and named officers, as well as a short paragraph that stated in plain language what would not be tolerated and what the penalty would be.
"We standardize everything," Ann said. "You will use these patrol rotations across the inner ring so we do not have gaps where you assume another pack is watching a wall. You will run these supply lanes and not invent new ones because you are bored. You will send complaints through the named officers and you will get a response within twenty-four hours. You will post the code of conduct in your mess tents and you will enforce it. That goes for wolves, Lycans, and any witch blood working under our banner."
Rowan flipped through his folder. "If we catch a Lycan provoking a fight."
"You detain," Ann said. "You call for a Dark Moon guard and a Lycan officer from the refugee corps. You do not let your pack members mete out their own justice behind a cook tent. The same goes if it is a wolf starting it. No more quiet beatings that you pretend are in the name of training."
"And you're going to check every bruise are you?"
"If I have to," Ann said. "Or Adam will. You can choose which you prefer."