The full crowd moved to places near the roaring bonfire. Even though they were towards the back of the crowd, the werewolves parted without a word to allow Harry and Remus to pass to the front. They watched as the two Marauders passed and then closed ranks behind them.
On reaching the front, Harry saw five men and four women standing there in a slightly curved arc with their backs to the fire. From the left, Harry recognized Dyfed and Marisol. Next to them was Ian with an attractive strawberry blonde woman Harry hadn't met. He assumed she was the Alpha female of his pack and probably Colleen's mother. However, unlike the teen she-wolf this woman had a very placid, almost regal, expression. Next were two pairs of couples that it was safe to say were the Pack leaders of two of the remaining Packs.
One couple wore biker leathers that bore a patch indicated they were members of the "Brotherhood". Remus had mentioned the core of the biker club consisted entirely of Muggles and Muggleborn werewolves and maintained close ties with both the mundane and magical criminal worlds in the London area. The only way to typically enter their Pack was to be a normal member of the club and impress them with your loyalty, ruthlessness, and commitment to the club. When an opening in the Pack occurred, the Pack would invite their top candidates out for a moonlit ride. The survivor joined the Pack. Occasionally, a werewolf with valuable skills to the Pack would be admitted, but that was rare. The Brotherhood was often competitors in the criminal world to the Greybacks but also allies against the moderate beliefs of Ian and Dyfed. The male was known as 'Mac' with little else known about him before joining the club. The woman (who was actually scarier looking in her leathers, tattoos, and piercings) was called Queenie but Remus said she was really Shelia Brown and had been an Auror before being turned during the war. As a former Auror, she was one of the few ever admitted directly into the Pack without having to prove themselves in the club first.
The final couple reminded Harry something of the Malfoys. Both Alphas wore high-end clothing that stood out in this crowd. And they looked like a matched set of models escaped from one of those Lands End catalogues Petunia used to receive in the post. Both were fairly tall, about 6 feet tall, with blonde hair, perfect skin, and brilliantly white teeth. One would almost think they were the stereotypical Veela if not for the predatory ruthless aura Harry could feel from here. Oliver and Claire Westen were in fact siblings born and raised as werewolves. Their Pack, called Alba by outsiders but simply the Westens by the Pack themselves, operated a 'retreat and conference centre near The Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands that catered to corporations and political events. While not involved in the criminal world like the Greybacks or the Brotherhood, the Westens consisted mostly of 'born' werewolves and tended to look down on the "ungifted" humans - be they Muggle or Wizard - as prey. In short they were the werewolf version of Pureblood Death Eaters. Fake bookings left the area clear of their paying customers so prevent their becoming their prey during full moons. Rumour was they would occasionally invite some 'prize winners' to stay at the retreat at those times for the Pack to hunt.
Finally there was the sole man standing alone - Fenrir Greyback. A big, man with matted grey hair and whiskers, his wild yellowed eyes, pointed teeth, and unkempt appearance gave him the air of a fanatic. He wore an old set of robes that seemed too tight for his size. Idly, Harry wondered if the werewolf simply stole the robes from the body of a victim. Fenrir stood alone because he refused to allow anyone to stand near him in power in his Pack. According to Remus, the Greybacks consisted almost entirely of male werewolves of magical origin. A few females were kept in subjected roles mostly to cater to the whims of Fenrir. The Greyback Pack members were the only werewolves at the Gathering exclusively wearing wizarding robes. Widely seen as the strongest werewolf, it was fortunate that the Packs would not follow a single Alpha or Magical Britain would have faced the full onslaught of the Wolves of Albion in the last war and not just the Greybacks and the occasional Alba or Brotherhood Pack member.
So, these were the Alphas that led the werewolves of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland: two seemingly decent blokes, a criminal, a 'specie-ist', and a psychopath.
Brilliant.
.....
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