Change, adapt, overcome

Their call for the pack went out and no more than a moment after the howl echoed into silence he spotted his daughter bounded toward them. He chuckled, smiling in a way only his children could make him smile. He leaned down to kiss the top of Darika's head before motioning for her to go have a seat, sitting up and looking out to watch the other pack members walk in. His sister and brother in law, half-sister, nieces and nephews, daughter and son all slowly filtered in, filling the space in front of them. When Ikigai came to join him on the stone platform, he gave her a loving smile and dipped his head down to kiss her cheek, unable to resist giving her a bit of affection despite the serious demeanor he was trying to portray to the pack. Once he saw that Dominus came trailing up from the rear, he gave a nod to Avacyn and his niece started out the meeting.

He sat at her side as she explained the emerging issue that was The Syndicate and went into her thought process behind the change that would make him King. He kept his gaze shifting across the crowd as she spoke, taking in their reactions. He knew this change would impact some more than others, but he did hope that they would take his niece's reasons well and understand that this shift in power was only intended to be for the benefit of the pack as a whole. Once Avacyn finished he looked her way, meeting her gaze with a small smile, retuning her nod before shifting his attention back to the crowd. "Thank you, Avacyn... I know that this will be a surprise to most of you, but I am excited for this new path forward for Elysium. The pack's current laws will not change much from how you currently know them to be. The majority of the changes are specific to the structure of our ranks and putting more focus onto our fighters."

"Avacyn will be my second in command as the Mendacium Matriarch to ensure that we are balancing our needs as a pack and a family. While Avacyn will not have the same power she once had as an alpha, she will still be a close advisor for me and can be my voice when I am not present. My wife Ikigai shall be my Queen and will continue to be my main advisor on pack diplomacy initiatives until we have a new Emissary. Saracyn shall keep his rank as Commander and will be the head of all of our fighters and the main point of contact for anything involving the pack's defenses. Next, is our pack's Heir. I have thought long and hard about this decision and I have decided that my daughter, Darika Kintsugi Mendacium, shall be my heir and Elysium's next Queen." He gave Kintsugi a smile before he went on to add, "Unlike the heir to the Matriarch, this position can be challenged for by any Mendacium should they think themselves better suited for the role, but I am confident that my daughter will be able to step into this position one day and do it well."

"Lastly, there is the heir to Avacyn's position of Matriarch. This position is specific to a female Mendacium and is someone hand chosen by the current Matriarch. For this position, Fever Mendacium has been chosen. To distinguish this position from the pack's Heiress, we wanted a new title as unique as this role and I've been told that Fever has chosen the title of Volhv." He glanced behind Avacyn to where Fever was sitting in the fur of her tail, smirking a bit at the silliness of pups. "These ranks and these wolves will make up my Council. I know this is not a job I can do alone and it will take many wolves and many opinions to guide us in the right direction. However, I know it is not realistic to expect all of you to meet with me constantly to go over these matters so these wolves will act as all of your voices in these decisions to help us make well rounded decisions for our future."

This was probably more speaking than he had done in most of his life, but there was a lot of information to share so he knew it had to be done. "As for the rest of our ranks, I have decided to vacate a majority of the higher, earned ranks. I want to be able to see your skills and desire to serve the pack for myself so I encourage you all to approach me about any position that you might feel you would be the best fit for. The ranks that are currently available are the Lieutenant, which is a new rank that will be the individual responsible for training our fighters, the Emissary, the Predator, and the Wayfinder. The only two positions that I have preselected individuals for based on Avacyn's recommendations are Mariah Mendacium as our new Physician and Fiametta Mendaicum as our Tactician to give her a chance to continue her work in that space now that she has returned to us."

He looked to each of his nieces with a nod of acknowledgement before he made one more sweeping look across the crowd. "My hope is to encourage you all to have pride in your pack and to make Elysium a force to be reconned with among all of the packs across Boreas and Auster. However, I can not do that without participation from each and every one of you. I am counting on you to bring your best to the pack and make Elysium into the pack I know it can be." He dipped his head to them all as he added, "Thank you. If there are any questions feel free to approach me to have a word privately. Otherwise, you are dismissed."

"Deimos Mendacium"