The Conquering was always peaceful.

Ji'Heiv was a creative and persuasive Alpha. But by no means did she lack the domineering strength to lay to waste any Alpha, who thought challenging her to keep their position, was a bright idea.

Even still, with swift moves and powerful precision, the challenging Alpha was demoted to a regular member of a pack once belonging to him and once under his own rule.

With each pack's conquering, Ji'Heiv and her entourage, consisting of three male Alpha's who would follow her to the ends of the earth, would move on into another pack's territory to commence The Conquering there. It was a campaign the young female Alpha started since she came into age. She had trained under her Alpha father and Alpha mother. She learned the goodwill of her pack, and when it was time to take her place, she determined that she would not be settling for a generic Alpha role within her home grounds.

So she challenged every Alpha that would qualify to next lead her home pack. She challenged and felled every male that came against her. Some she made enemies out of, but others, she created a strong circle of unified Alpha males that would serve and protect one who did not need service or protection.

With The Conquering of her home pack, she moved forward, exercising her reign on unsuspecting packs and bringing fort an unexpected goodwill to members of the conquered packs they had been missing before, under the previous rule.

That was her way of life.

It had been such a way for almost six years, but now something new was requested of her. Something she knew would soon become a problem she needed to handle.

"You are going to have to settle down soon. You're nearing your 25th senescence. This is a very important time in your life," Biga, her second in command, spoke to her. He was always reminding her of the duties that followed her outside of the successful reign of individual packs.

"I am well aware of the approaching senescence. How could I forget, Biga?" She found herself looking away from the strength of the dark skinned male. It was a lovely day out, the wind soothing as it blew through the short strands of her cropped hair, and the lone braid hanging near her right ear.

"I know you did not, Head Alpha. But there must be someone within any one of these packs that are worthy to do you such a service?" He continued on in his persuasion. He had met many different ranked males in the conquered packs that would fall all over themselves to serve their new Head Alpha, as her mate.

"I won't focus on that right now. I thank you for your constant reminders, but there is our campaign still at hand. The village of wolves near the East end waterfall is the biggest we have ran across. Do you think a pack of forty nine, led by one wolf, will be a simple feat?" She looked to Biga again, watching the wind blow through the straight hair of his black beard.

He took a calloused hand and rubbed it over his bald head, "Hiru is still running surveillance. I know he will have an entrance by time he comes back, and all the details on their mighty leader as well."

"You don't seem so sure, though your words are strong," she shrugged a slender shoulder, eyeing him for a response.

"I am worried, I will admit that. The last thing I want, is for this strong imperium you have achieved, to end without an heir."

"It won't happen, Biga. Worry no more," she put a reassuring hand on his firm shoulder, giving it a stern squeeze. "We will conquer this village, and I will work on settling down soon after. I promise."

It was all she would give him, as she walked passed him and down from the raised hill they were standing on. Her 25th senescence was something she actively tried not to think about, but it was something she knew she couldn't avoid.

The fact that she was the imperium Head Alpha, and a female, lead to a dilemma she couldn't avoid. In order to have an heir, it was required for her to settle down, find a mate, and work on becoming impregnated before her 25th senescence.

That would also mean she would willingly subject herself to vulnerability, to anyone rising and trying to overthrow her rule, to the possibility of her pregnancy being a difficult one.

She didn't want to risk it, but she knew she had too.

"Lau," she called to the third Alpha that made up their tight circle of leaders. "We leave right before dawn. I need you to rendezvous with Hiru before we make our entrance, then Biga and I will follow you in."

The slanky, long haired blonde, nodded his head in understanding before shifting and running into the dense forest.

It was always the four of them that commenced The Conquering. Once the plan was executed successfully, sometimes members of other packs would move to the newly conquered one. These traveling members would help implement the rule Ji'Hiev created, and soothe the newly conquered wolves into a reign that would possibly be much different than the one they were used to.

They always waited until dawn to enter, but she preferred the early risers of any pack to witness the downfall of their leader, and the inauguration of the new one. It's what made The Conquering so peaceful, every time. The shock value afforded her by being a female taking down an established male Alpha, and the menacing snarls of Biga, Hiru, and Lau, kept any other threat at bay.

As was ritual for her, she rubbed the peach colored war paint across her sunkissed skin. Her cheeks, forehead, and chin getting two stripes each with the paint. It was an effectual look, that set the fur of her mossy brown wolf apart, and gave more pizzazz to her feminine human frame.

Hiru usually spent his time telling her she didn't need such useless decorations, that her skill and presence was threatening enough, even if her appearance was not.

That was not something she took as a compliment.

The muscle she accumulated through hard work were sinewy, instead of thick and meaty. Her face was filled with features she needed to downplay by frowning and giving herself hard lines, in order to seem intimidating. The natural, dark arch of her eyebrows, the slender sculpture of her cheekbones, the rounded slope of her nose, and full lips of all gathered together to make her look as menacing-less as possible.

It was only when she showed her teeth did anyone take her as a real threat. The unnatural point of her canines, whether in wolf or human form, always took everyone by surprise. There were only a few that had such phenomenal teeth, and those few always proved to be the strongest of their kind, no matter their ranking.

"It's time to move out," Biga announced, removing his tunic and shifting into his black wolf soon after.

"After you," she smirked, following his lead.

A/N: So let's try something new! I want to engage all readers of this new story, including my silent readers. Some speak by subbing, a rare few speak by subbing and upvoting, and those who comment know that they speak to me and I always speak back. However, if you see in the comments that someone has said something you agree with and you are not a person who comments, PLEASE exercise your right to hit the upvote arrow and like these comments people are taking their time out to write, to someone who took their time out to write a whole story. I would love to see my commentators get the recognition they deserve, cause I really appreciate their quality of comments. If anyone would be so kind and do that, I would really love to see it!

Sorry for the long note lol I hope you all enjoyed this introduction of the original characters and our female lead for this story! As usual, I would love to talk to you all in the comments! Let me know what you expect to happen!

Ji'Heiv (Gee - HAy - Eev)