Blacktail Deer Plateau My shadow falls against the wall

Osprey had a point. Although the two had their differences, Saena appreciated her aunt's willingness to explore her opportunities, even if none of them came to fruition. For the most part, she was still certain she wanted to live out her days on the plateau and stand at its head like her parents had before her, but now it was more complicated. It wasn't a matter of rising and getting the respect she felt she deserved. Koda had recently proven that, no matter how hard she worked and how high she climbed in the ranks, she wasn't going to get respect from some of them. It hurt to think about, but more than anything, it made her hesitant to try; did she really want to spend the rest of her days forcing his head into the dirt just to get some respect out of him?

There was also the matter of Osprey, which Saena didn't feel all too ashamed about admitting to when she said, "no offence, and don't take this the wrong way, but if I was an Alpha here, you'd be out on your arse." She said this frankly—it was completely genuine. She was certain that her father would do the same in this situation, although the ironic reality was that Saena's views paralleled her father's mate's far more than his own. "But I'm also pretty tired of being put down by Koda all the time for being a hunter," all two times, that is, "and I don't think proving myself as a leader would change that. I'd end up doing something rash to him."

"Maybe I just wouldn't mesh well with Dante and them," she mused aloud, "I guess I just prefer order and law to their gentle way of doing things." None of this was in any way meant to insult Osprey, for Saena knew the woman was free-spirited and probably would handle things just as gently as her friends, but Saena was her (real) mother's daughter. She was selfish to an extent, and ambitious, and more unwilling to compromise on those things the older she got.