Nicholai's eyes left Aurele's figurine to meet with Steven's gaze. His mouth was a straight line, an although the color of his irises were cold, his own gaze was not. He learned quickly that a Magee was to be respected regardless of nationality. Personally, Nicholai did not like Americans very much to begin with, but the way the man presented himself and carried his mate was rather impressive. He lowered his gaze in reverence before he spoke to Steven regarding his absent leader.

"I do not know," responded Nicholai, pondering Volk's whereabouts himself. "I would expect my liege to be present, especially at this point. I suspect he may still be washing. I apologize on his behalf for his tardiness."

Hail tapped his finger on the wooden chair he sat on as Rachelle comfortably sat on the arm of it holding her baby bump.
With a sly grin his eyes laced with annoyance he spoke in an unimpressed mannor "Your alpha, Russian, is probably off co-noodling with that dreadful blonde english woman, how pitiful. As a Magee he should be here before thinking of his sex drive, but that isn't my problem" his teeth were sharp with mischief as Rachelle rolled her eyes at him too used such a scene.

"Hurry it up would you?" she spoke pulling a hand through her ginger curly hair, Hail gave her a dissatisfied look before sighing and flashing each of the wolves present within the room intimidating vibes from his eyes alone as he inspected them.
"Lets get this... buisness... meeting over with shall we? Who cares if the Russian isn't here, its his own fault if he misses something worthwhile" something about his tone was unsettling as though it held a deeper meaning.

"Our wolves are being killed or something right? So this thing was called to sort out the problem" he spoke with little care for his murdered pack mates "So, does anyone have any leads as to what it is or is this just something trival"

If he didn't know any better, Nicholai would have snarled at the man, but he was fully aware how such retaliation would disappoint his Magee. Instead, a low and barely audible growl rumbled in his throat while his sharp eyes fell to the ground. Who did this man think he was, anyway? Nothing but a French royal brat, if you could even say such a thing, and his Magee was just as superior as he. Though the man exuded dark power, he wasn't nearly as brawny as Volk. He snorted, the corner of his lip slightly curling into a smirk as he pondered this.

"With all due respect, my liege," he began, his crystalline eyes still cast to the floor. "Should my superior be with the Englishwoman as you suspect, it is in light of his allegiance to his homeland; for having an English alpha as a mate, that of which he has gone long without, will surely establish an alliance. England is a more reliable country than most to befriend anyhow."

And aren't you an advocate for empowerment? he thought to himself bitterly. Or is that only in regards to yourself?

His emphasis on the word reliable would without a doubt evoke a few gasps and perhaps tarnish his reputation in the eyes of the Frenchman, but if it be for the preservation of his leader's dignity, then Nicholai would have it no other way. He had an unwavering loyalty to the man, which wasn't very surprising for an alpha. But learning of the man's history produced a strong respect for Volk that he almost viewed him as a Russian hero.

He retreated into his silent state once again, listening to the brash man and his words of little wisdom. He seemed without compassion for the entire situation, but Nicholai had no room to judge anyway. Instead, he averted his gaze to Aurele, who didn't appear to even acknowledge his existence.

Steven and Cordelia

Steven nodded to the Russian wolf to acknowledge and thank him, but quickly turned his eyes to the magee from France, bristling slightly and baring his teeth. He did not like the way the other wolf looked at him, and he stood even straighter, if that was possible. There was something in the way he spoke that set Steven at odds, and from the tension running through Cordelia's body, she agreed.

Cordelia positively beamed at the Russian wolf when he told off the magee. She wasn' happy with the situation, but that was admirable, for an alpha to stand up to a magee, even a magee from another country, like this. Steven's reaction was less obvious, a slight crinkling around his eyes, but he'd always been the subtler of the two. He also hoped that the Russian didn't speak to him like that. He wouldn't stand for it, not one bit, but he couldn't help taking enjoyment in the French wolf's problems. Now, though, both American wolves turned back to the problem at hand.

"Picked off like sheep," she said, and Steven didn't react to her odd statement. Taking it in stride, he said, "We've lost multiple wolves, all from different packs. We haven't found any pattern to the disappearances, and we've found nothing... particularly unusual in each individual case, besides the fact that it keeps happening over and over again. A singe disappearance might not be cause for alarm, but on this scale..." he shrugged.

Aurele

Most of her attention was trained on her magee, trying to read his body language, to tell what he might do next. Her eyes flickered quickly to the new wolf, the Russian, and she might have glanced back, noticing that he had been looking at her, but there was protocol to be observed. Watching the American magee through veiled eyes, she studied the tones of his voice, measuring how the other wolves might react, and most importantly, how Hail would. Her allegiance must first be to him, despite anything. Looking back at Nicholai she gt a better whiff of his scent, cold and wild and, unfortunately, very much like Russian food.

She stiffened noticeably when Hail and Rachelle spoke, turning her attention almost solely to them. When Hail spoke about the possible whereabouts of the Russian magee, she winced slightly and looked at Nicholai out of the corner of her eye. His low growl barely registered, and her eyes flicked back to Hail, before she fully looked at him, trying to warn him with her eyes, to convey the danger of speaking to ail in any way that might make the magee angry. When he spoke, Aurele bit her lip, and she glanced back and forth between the two males. Looking at Nicholai, she noticed with a start that he was looking at her. Glancing away for a second, she half-listened to Hail, watching the Russian discreetly. Hopefully Hail would not notice, nor any of the other wolves. Meeting his gaze, she tried to keep her worry hidden.

Olivia and Nathaniel grinned slightly as well when the russian alpha spoke, noting to give his courage some respect if they ever met him in less frightening times, before a less frightening french magee. They were also quite pleased with the pseudo-compliment to their country. Olivia made a mental note to get one of those "congratulations" cards as a joke, so she could leave it where Liala could find it, before turning her attention back to the conversation at hand. They were discussing the dissapearances that had been occurring as of late. Nathaniel straghtened up a little more, stepping forward slightly.
"We've lost a good few wolves over home as well. We've been trying to find a pattern, and we've been encouraging wolves to only go out in twos and threes. Sadly, some of the newer people take the 'lone wolf' imagery to stupid places." Nathaniel stated. Olivia kept her glancing watch on the other wolves in the room, briefly noting that Aurelle and the russian alpha kept glancing at each other.

Liala smiled up at Volk and nuzzled into him playfully. "I have to get back to my group. I'm sure your team is missing you as well. Join us when your ready?" She kissed his lips tenderly before slipping away from him and walking out of the room. She made her way to where the large gathering was still in her bathing suit. She was dry now so what did she care, one more thing she was without was her hat and sunglasses. She had little care if anyone recognized her at this point. She would be leaving with Volk and living in the Russian countryside anyway. She flipped her beautiful long blonde hair over her shoulder leaning in the doorway her arms crossed over her chest. "Well, Well, well. Isn't it so nice to see everyone playing nice?" She walked over to her group and gave them all affectionate kisses. "Hello Kittens." She always called them that, it was just the cutest thing she had thought up years ago and it just stuck. She turned to the rest of them her intense eyes scanning over the group. She wouldn't be surprised if the ones she had met earlier didn't exactly recognize her. She was in a designer swim suit, her makeup was perfect, her hair was a little fluffy from air drying but still looked like golden silk. She smiled at them, all except for Hail. She didn't care for him much.

Liala looked over at Nicholai a big smile on her perfect features. "It is especially nice to meet you. I'm Liala. I already know your Nicholai, Moscow's alpha. No need for further introductions, I'm sure we can get to know each other plenty once we are all out of this powder keg." Liala spoke without fear and quite strong for such a weak looking woman. She didn't fear Magee's and she especially didn't fear Hail. She viewed him like she viewed all powerful brats. They were dangerous like a kid with his dads gun. She leaned on the wall and listened to the group.

Aurele

Interesting, Aurele thought. Though she looked completely different, this was obviously the strangely dressed female she had seen earlier, her scent betrayed her. I suppose the english are crazy. I can't imagine why she would change so drastically, unless she has bipolar disorder or something. She felt a brief ripple down her spine. There was something that Aurele didn't quite like about this woman. It may be the way she spoke to Hail. Though Aurele didn't exactly love or really like her magee, she had a deep respect for the heirarchy of the werewolves. She didn't really remember anything from her human life, so perhaps those who had grown up human saw it differently, but she couldn't imagine functioning without the order it imposed. She doubted it was because of Monsuier Black, since Olivia seemed comfortable with him, but acted respectful now. With a shrug, Aurele dissmissed her internal mussings, turning to a more important thought.

She took half a step forward, adressing Hail primarily, though she made eye contact with most everyone in the room, lingering a second on Nicholai. "Perhaps we should all formally introduce ourselves?" she asked, aware of her heavy accent when compared to Liala's. "Though we may know of each other, it would be more...civil, perhaps?" She went no further, unwilling to introduce herself before Hail. Aurele was always careful around wolves with higher ranks than her, in case they reacted strangely. There was a reason they held those ranks, and she didn't want to be squashed like a bug by any of them.

As the scantily clothed English woman approached him, Nicholai fought the urge to cringe slightly. He was a tad shocked at her choice of dress, especially since she was presenting herself before the high council and representing her city. Nevertheless, he outstretched his hand and mustered a smile, shaking her hand and trying his best not to stare at her nearly bare figure. Indeed the woman was beautiful, and her body was the stuff of men's dreams, but something about the way she flaunted it so carelessly sort of nauseated him.

"The pleasure is all mine, madam," said Nicholai, feigning his enthusiasm. He leaned close to her ear and then whispered, "I don't mean to speak out of line, but this is a meeting called by the highest authorities in the world. Out of respect for your superiors, I think you should cover up a bit... And the entire room is paved in silver."

When the woman walked away, Nicholai returned to his silence, mentally cursing his Magee and the fact that the nasty Frenchman may have been right about Liala after all. A small sigh escaped through his nostrils and he massaged his temples with his fingers in exasperation. Nicholai himself was beginning to grow impatient and irritated by his leader's absence. He could feel the tension in the room growing thicker and almost tangible as the time stretched by.

Liala smiled sweetly. "Seriously didn't mean any disrespect. I just came back from swimming and I just didn't have time to run up to my room and change. But please, I would be happy to go and change into something more suitable to make everyone more comfortable." She had almost forgot how formal Russians were. Silly her. She might have to tone it down a few notches. Sighing slightly she walked out of the room and up the stairs. She really didn't feel like she needed to cover up. It wasn't like her bathing suit was scandalous or anything. Not to mention just the attitude in the room in general was boring she she had already lost interest. None the less she changed into a pair of jeans and a T shirt. She walked back down the stairs and into the room flipping her hair over and tying it into a ponytail. She was going to make a snide comment but decided that for everyone's sake she would just calm down and watch what was going on. She walked over and sat with her group trying to pretend that all this was productive.

Olivia smiled quietly at Liala when she came in, making sure none of the other wolves spotted it. She and Nathaniel knew a little about Liala, thus they were very easygoing about the outfit. Olivia turned her eyes back to the front straight, schooling her face perfectly back into the very image of professionalism. Nathaniel let Olivia do the greeting to Liala for the pair of them, as he was fairly convinced he didn't trust this french magee, thus he didn't move his eyes from him. He'd silently hoped that the rumours he'd heard about this wolf in particular were at least a bit exagerrated, but it wasn't really looking that way. Damn.

Hail stayed silent the moment he saw the russian move in agitation to his insulting words towards his Magee. He was almost expecting the alpha to growl and run into an attack the way his hostile body language was displaying restraint as his eyes quickly hit the ground. Hail was somewhat dissapointed that nothing happened before he heard the man speak words that sent tingles through out his body.

As the Russian Alpha finished his sentence it may have been hard to see amongst the entry of the blonde female from england's display of distracting words if not her entire image, but Hail's lips twitched. They neither pulled into a smile or a frown but twitched as though it was something he couldn't help, however his eyes watched his hand as he tapped his finger on the arm of the chair non-chantly just as his dear obedient Aurele suggested something he guessed to be logical.

However the moment she had also finished speaked he did one of the strangest of things and burst out into laughter laced with a thick heaviness of mockery and clearly faked to the best of his ability. He sat there in his chair at the top of the table laughing as it lowered to something sinister almost before he quietened completely his gaze remaining on his hand the whole time.

"My name is Hail Fitzroy." He spoke then slowly stood from his seat his gaze following his hand before suddenly faster than any normal human eye could see he lifted his head to stare striaght at the Russian Alpha with malice a cruel grin widening on his face.
Within moments Hail rushed forward towards the mere Russian Alpha grabbing his neck like a child would a toy only with much greater strength as his grip tightened greatly unmistakably an Magee's as he pushed the Alpha's back against the silver coated wall violently.
Lowering his voice to a darkened tone he whispered to the Magee despite knowing with a werewolves ears everybody would be able to hear it. "Anyone who has ever crossed me as not lived another day, that includes doubting me, back chatting to me, being 'cocky' or rude with me and most of all" he pushed his mouth to the Alphas ear so that his breath could be felt on the Russian's skin "saying things they really 'shouldn't say".
Making a single laugh with an unimpressed attitude Hail then released the Alpha's neck glancing at everyone in the room for a moment before smiling polietly as though nothing was wrong. He then did the unexpected and bowed one arm across his chest still with a smile for a moment before rising again. "Forgive me for interupting the disscussion, please, continue" he nodded his head walking back to the chair nochantly sitting back down beside his mate Rachelle. "Aurelle, why don't you go next?" he said referring to her suggestion about introducing everyone as though he had just done so normally.

***

Rachelle knew what was coming before it happened, Hail was an eccentric in her mind and she had known him long enough to be able to predict his reactions to most things. So when he grabbed the Russian's Alpha's neck speaking in a whisper fully intended for everyone to hear she could only sit on the arm of the chair and watch.
Rachelle didn't always aprove of Hail's methods, infact she prefered to take the quiet undetected way around things, Hail was far more brash and open about his abnormal 'likes'.
She normally would have encouraged him and smiled at his behaviour were it not for the gift that lay in her stomach at that moment intime, above anything despite being her mate Hail came second to her child. Rachelle was desperete for this child to live and would not have Hail ruin that by making enemies so soon in such a secluded place.
She had to keep her wits about her.

**

Faythe stayed within the kitchen knowing it was probably the best place to stay, she had smelled the rabbits blood just as everyone else had done, it was sweet to her in terms of her wolf's hunger, however with her human mind it puzzled her and made her cringe. She wasn't fond of killing, she tried to avoid doing it as a wolf as much as possible but most of the time her instincts took over in a hunt.
As she picked at the sandwich Olivia had made her she sighed looking around the empty kitchen, was this what her stay here was going to be like? Wasn't she brought here in order to calm down the Magee's tendencies to get angry, it was a common occurance amongst wolves with power. Being an Omega meant she could calm it, though that was probably the only useful thing she could do as a person, or wolf, whatever she was.
Maybe she should go and participate in the meeting afterall? She may know something, anything that could help with finding out what these dissapearences are, though she doubted it. Then again, she could the immense aura of power coming from the room below her feet as though the wolves were right next to her and that was under silver, she feared to think of what standing near them would be like. Nathanial still made her shudder despite being her own Magee.

There was no reaction from Nicholai as he was pressed against the wall, not a wince or painful hiss as the flesh of his neck and back sizzled; no squirming, no fight to break free. It was much like watching two dogs; one large and the other a small, mangy cur, yapping away at the latter as if it posed some sort of threat, while the other just watched. In truth, Nicholai was unimpressed with Hail's abusive tactics (as was just about everyone in the room); he had been raised in such environments, and was therefore trained not to react to them. There was no denying the fury that brewed within him, however, and it was quite clear by the pheromonal scent radiating from his flesh that he was enraged.

When Nicholai was released, he fixed his wrinkled clothing, a smirk playing at his lips while he watched the man walk away as though he had accomplished something worthwhile. A soft chuckle escaped through his nostrils as he dusted himself off, attempting to preserve whatever dignity he had left. His cold eyes shifted over all of the onlookers, and none of them expressed any sign of surprise. Nicholai himself wasn't exactly shocked at the man's actions, either.

"So that is how you became a Magee," Nicholai hissed, an impish grin on his features though he was unamused. "Crawling your way to the top like the sniveling little whelp that you are... Bullying others so they will simply cower out of your way; a modern day French Hitler, another Stalin-" He began clapping mockingly. "Bravo! I applaud your endeavor. But keep in mind the reason that the reign of these tyrants came to a very bitter end..."

"That is enough, Vladislav," came a silky voice laden with a telltale Russian lilt.

The image that followed after this voice was that of Natalia Gorbachev, the country's beloved omega. She entered the room with an arm coiled through one of Volk's, her face straightened in a neutral state. They both stepped with grace and a dominant sense of regality, though Natalia's movement was a bit more timid in nature. She turned to Hail, the icy quality in her bright blue irises matching that of his own. The corners of her mouth twitched so quickly that if one had blinked, they surely would have missed the rare occurrence. She was very well aware of his disdain for the omega kind, and the gravity in her stare quietly revealed that the feelings were mutual.

"Good evening, Madame Fitzroy," she continued, though her eyes were still locked on Hail. "I sincerely apologize for the tardiness of Lord Volk and myself. European airlines are certainly unreliable."

She released her hold of Volk upon reaching Nicholai, placing her skinny fingers on his forearm and feeling him quivering with rage. The tension that had been circulating throughout his entire figure suddenly expelled itself, a physical change manifesting as relaxed posture. A sigh escaped through his nostrils and his eyes cast to the floor, clearly indicating his guilt for retaliating. It was unlike him - unlike anyone trained under the authority of Volk, for that matter - to react so impulsively. Though her gaze was fixated intently upon him, her presence brought a peaceful air to the atmosphere between the three Russians.

"Though with good reason behind them, your assumptions of my Magee are incorrect, Monsieur Fitzroy," she stated, her voice monotonous but oozing tranquility. "He was kindly escorting me from the airport. Now, we don't want to idle this meeting any longer than we already have. Shall we begin?"

Aurele

So that was an omega. She had to say she was impressed, both by the woman, and by Nicholai. Acting as though nothing odd had happened, she stepped out from behnd Hail. "My name is Aurele Iseult," she said softly. Her eyes slid over to Hail, but shifted back to the others quickly. "It is...ah, a pleasure to meet you all." She carefully kept her voice neutral, but she doubted anyone was fooled. She didn't want to be here, stuck so close to Volk, but at least some ofthe wolves looked interesting. She couldn't help smiling slightly at the russians. She was particularly impressed with their omega, and the alpha was rather...intriguing.

Steven and Cordelia

He nearly started forward when the Frenchman grabbed the russian alpha, a low snarl starting in his throat, but Cordelia placed a placating hand on his cheek, her deep brown eyes watching closely. Her nostrils flared slightly, and Steven copied her, absorbing the scents coming from each wolf in the room. He was impressed by the russian's bravery, but as the alpha adressed the magee, he opened him mouth to interfere, exhaling a sigh of relief when the others from Russia walked in. Watching intently, the two Americans remained silent, curious.

Wehn the French Alpha, who introduced herself as Aurele, finished speaking, Steven smiled slightly. "Yes, lets try to be civil," he said. "I am Steven Friederike, the magee of America, and this is my mate, Cordelia. Hopefully we can finish this soon." He nodded to the other magees, cordially to Volk and Nathaniel, less so to Hail.

"Hello," Cordelia said softly, smiling at all of them.

Nathaniel and Olivia stepped forward as well, about to shout something along the lines of "what the hell, man?!". They were halted by the realisation that the russian wasn't even flinching, and a sense that the man had something to say when Hail was finished. They stood still, but the sense of them looking daggers at the french magee could probably be felt across the room. They also made note to respect the russian alpha greatly when they next met, as they listened to the speech the man made. The two other russians entered, one smelling more than strong enough for a magee, and the other. Nathaniel leaned down slightly.
"Omega?" He asked Olivia, quietly that he was fairly sure no one but her would hear.
"Must be." Was the prompt answer. They both straightened up, eyes following around with the introductions. Nathaniel nodded back to Steven, smiling slightly. He'd seen that the american had been about to step forward as well, and was rather thankful that it appeared that Hail was the exception, not the rule. He straightened up further, lifting his head so as to make sure he was heard. Olivia straigthened up too, going from parade rest to full attention.
"I'm Nathaniel Black. The British magee." He stated, before looking around to Olivia, who quickly picked up the message.
"I am Olivia Harold. British beta." Olivia continued, before dropping into a curtsy, the way she'd been taught by her tutors when she was young. They both looked back to the front, suspiciously at Hail, but cordially at the other wolves.

The three Russians stood quietly and observed each of the wolves closely, almost as though they were inspecting them. Nicholai retained an inquisitive look, while Natalia watched with mild curiosity and Volk with careful, slightly defensive caution. When their eyes passed over the Fitzroy couple, both Volk and Nicholai seemed to grimace simultaneously while a very tentative crinkling of the nose was evoked in Natalia. The alpha's features softened dramatically when he listened to the American Magee speak. He nodded at him in thanks, notifying him of his gratitude for his wanting to defend him against the Frenchman, though he knew the American was less than impressed with his disrespectful words.

"As you all may already know by now," began Volk, his posture kingly and proud, though his demeanor collected. "I am Volk, Magee of Russia."

Natalia briefly scanned each of the faces in the room, her own emotionless yet tranquil. Her rosebud lips were pursed into a tight straight line, though her eyes seemed to glisten with the faint hint of delight. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, and she stayed quite still, with only her head on a slow swivel. She took a few moments before she spoke, preferring to be introduced by someone else, but it seemed like today the Russians were acting out of character and she would be no exception.

"My name is Natalia Gorbachev," said she, her speech eloquent despite its heavy accent. "I am the Russian omega. It is a pleasure, and I do hope we can establish a camaraderie of sorts. Infighting cannot possibly bring us any closer to identifying whatever is plaguing our kind."

After words as assertive yet sincere as hers, Nicholai wanted to do nothing more than disappear. His cheeks flushed to a slight pink, as he usually was not so outspoken before a crowd, but now his reputation with the council would perceive otherwise. His eyes remained on the ground for several seconds before languidly over each of them, just as his superiors had done.

"I am Nicholai Vladislav," he stated, his tone soft and his words a bit rushed. "I am the alpha of Moscow. It is a great privilege to make each of your acquaintances."

Liala sighed. "Liala, Alpha of England. I think I have already met most of you." She stood there running her fingers through her hair, this was frustrating, being stuck in a room and not making any progress other then meek introductions. "So now that most of us are here and introduced, can we get some business done?" Maybe Liala was a little to blunt for her own good but most of the people here were younger then her and though her appearance betrayed it, not as well trained. Liala looked like a primped and polished weak woman that should have no talent outside of the bedroom but that was simply not true. She enjoyed it though, the way people dismissed her and looked upon her as if she was some fragile thing to be placed neatly on the shelf next to the rest of the porcelain dolls. It made it so much sweeter when she fucked up their whole world. Liala was not as strong as a magee, she was a woman and by their design, women were the physically weaker sex. But what she lacked in strength she made up with in skill and agility.

"I am very curious to hear everyone's thoughts on the disappearances."

Steven and Cordelia

Steven acknowledged each wolf to introduce themselves with a slight nod, making it a point to make eye contact with each one, the corners of his mouth crinkling slightly up, the only hint of a smile. When the blonde woman from England, Liala, introduced herself and asked what they thought, he sighed silently.

"The problem is that we know very little. The lack of information is what is so alarming. We have no clues, no suspects...as I said before, we've lost several wolves, from different packs, all over my territory. I do want this resolved as quickly as possible. I am...eager to resolve this, and am willing to cooperate." The last was said blandly, but his eyes flicked briefly over to Hail, eyes narrowed.

Nathaniel straightened up to speak.
"Like I said before, we've lost wolves too. We've been trying to get them to travel in twos and threes in hopes of giving them a better chanc when this... Thing attacks again, but alot of our wolves don't like the idea for whatever reason." He explained. Olivia stepped forward a bit to speak also, as they'd practiced before coming here.
"Also, some of the groups have encountered it. None yet have managed to survive." She added, ending with a regretful shake of her head. It felt horrible that she could recall almost all the wolves that had been attacked from times they'd had to talk to Nathaniel, and she knew Nathaniel felt the same thing. The difference was that Nathaniel had come from a background serving in both the world wars, thus he had a much longer list of people fallen which he'd known, and a much different philosophy on such things. Nathaniel knew that many wolves, though he wasn't sure about the group present, feared they would be next. Not he, because he believed that if you were going to die, there wasn't anything to do about it, accept face it with dignity.