Riley and Abbie snarled at each other. Their longtime rivalry was about to come to a head. The two werehyenas prepared to battle each other for the title of Mistress of the Hunt. This was a fight they've both been looking forward to and was surely going to be a spectacle for all the other werehyenas.
Selena cleared hir throat and asked, "What, if I may ask, are you two planning to accomplish with this?"
Abbie and Riley turned to give their alpha a confused look. "Uh, we're about to fight each other for Mistress of the Hunt," said Abbie.
"Ah, of course, beating the snot out of each other. That's definitely the best way to decide this, isn't it?" asked Selena sarcastically.
"Uh...isn't it?" asked Riley in confusion.
"Of course not!" snapped Selena, "The title is 'Mistress of the Hunt'! What good does knocking each other's teeth out if you can't use them to catch prey afterwards? If you want to brawl for a title, you'd want 'Lady of War'. Of course, you're going to have to compete with Kibibi for that."
Abbie and Riley hesitated at that. They've already heard how fierce a fighter Kibibi is. Not to mention the reason shi was being sent here was because shi castrated another werehyena while they were sparring. And while the two of them haven't had their balls very long, they weren't that eager to lose them. "So, how will the Mistress of the Hunt be chosen?" asked Riley.
Selena gave hir a flat look. "With a hunt," shi said as if shi was answering a stupid question, which shi was. "The Mistress of the Hunt has to be the best tracker and hunter of the pack."
"Is that all?" asked Beck, "Then anyone could make a claim for Mistress of the Hunt."
"If they have the skills enough to back it up," said Selena.
"Well, that certainly puts you out of the running," said Abbie smugly to Riley.
"Oh as if you know any more about hunting than I do," snapped Riley.
"I knew what the title actually meant," said Abbie.
Selena let out a snarl that made the two of them stop quarreling. "The position of Mistress of the Hunt will be determined with, well, a hunt. Anyone who thinks they have the skill is free to accept the challenge," she said, "However, we need to plan this hunt carefully. The last thing we want is to run into the werewolf pack before we have equal or greater numbers."
"How much more will we need?" asked Skyler.
"A good question and I will answer it when Kibibi and the others arrive," said Selena, "Until then, try to avoid being noticed by the werewolves. They're already growing suspicious and unless my pack is equal or greater than my parents, they will force me to disband the pack and make everyone human again." That made everyone take this seriously. In the short time they've been werehyenas, they've absolutely loved it and did not want to be forced to give it up.
"Now, before we continue, I think we need to go over the pack structure a bit," said Selena, "Think of a pack like a ship's crew."
"But we don't have a ship," said Ashlee.
"It's just a comparison," said Selena, "Werebeasts don't usually sail ships. Except maybe wererats."
"I bet they rob a lot of bakeries," said Cassidy with a grin.
"Why's that?" asked Brianna.
"Because they're pie-rats," said Cassidy before letting out a hyena cackle.
However, she was the only one laughing. The others were just giving her flat looks. "It's just as well that I'm going to offer the position of trickster to Asha. Because you've just put yourself out of the running," said Selena flatly.
"It was a good joke," grumbled Cassidy.
"Moving along, think of the pack like a ship and us as the crew," said Selena, "As alpha, I'm the captain. Skyler as beta would be the first mate. The various positions (shaman, Mistress of the Hunt, Lady of Wary, etc.) are the ship's officers. They have the highest authority in their respective fields. Only the alpha or beta could overturn their decisions. The deltas are the able-bodied seamen, the gunner's crew, the more experienced and valuable members of the general crew. And the gammas are the greenhorns who are still learning the ropes and answer to everyone above them."
"So what does that make me?" asked Hannah the omega.
"Cabin boy," answered Selena, "Any other questions?"
"Can there be more than one betas?" asked Beck, "You know, like crews have second and third mates?"
"Only if the pack is a large enough size," said Selena, "We're not quite as that size yet, so if you want to be beta, you'll have to challenge Skyler for it."
"What ranks to cubs have?" asked Zoey.
"They aren't fully part of the pack system until they're old enough," said Selena, "They usually have the same rank as their sires, but can work their way up."
Zoey rubbed hir belly thoughtfully. Hir cub could be born a delta, but did shi have the ambition to achieve more? Zoey didn't want to push hir cub into achieving something just to make hir mother feel more important. Well, that would be a long time from now anyways.
"Ok, any other questions or business to discuss?" asked Selena.