Hushed Willows invincible

It was strange, but Pepper hadn't expected the truth to be so readily available. Stark had never been that close to her, and she had never really cared about what happened to him — she had been over the moon when he left — but as he admitted the truth to her, cushioning his many troubles in fact instead of hiding in denial, Pepper concluded that he had changed. Maybe only a little, but it was enough. He had grown up somewhat since he'd left them — Hogan, herself, and the others of their pack — and a part of her was almost envious of that.

It sounds like it was doomed from the start. That's not on you. He hadn't been the one to gather these people together and make a family out of them, by the sounds of it. He had just stumbled upon a problem and, in true Stark fashion, thought himself strong enough (or maybe smart enough) not to get caught up in it. A missing Alpha, then two disgruntled families, and two leaders out of commission? Not his fault. What makes you think its your job to fix it? What if its just time to let this place fall apart? According to Pepper, that's where Stark's strength had always been. She was being a little selfish now in thinking of home, and of all the changes that occurred because of this dark man's arrival to it, but Pepper's goal was to reunite with Hogan and helping Stark was only a stepping stone to that.

And maybe she deserved a little retribution.

All the same, Pepper was serious as she addressed him, and was careful with how she worded things. It was not her nature to abandon those in need either; the fact that Stark and herself were on the same side now, more or less, was throwing her for a bit of a loop. It isn't your fault that things are happening this way. It sounds like the people that came before you couldn't handle the pressure, so like a storm they tore through here, and you're left to pick up the pieces. That's unfair to everyone, and the longer you stay here the more it'll eat at you. If they moved they'd all be happier — she didn't have to spell that out — and there would be a better chance of finding Hogan out there in the wilderness, not cooped up in this secretive little place.