sucks to be you

His words, while true, did not lift the weight from her shoulders. To fail was one thing, but they had lost a packmate in the process, one that had been new but had started to grow on her. Natural or not, the scavengers had taken from them what no wolf had accomplished and such was a heavy, disruptive weight. He was right that her leave would weaken defenses and leave the pups more at risk. This truth made her hesitate, pause, even when she felt she should relinquish the moniker and honor that came with Tartok. 

Surprisingly, more than that, it was his consistent imploring that she stay. Kroc had never found a wolf with which she belonged in any way and to have one now was foreign to her. But the bond between them had been sealed and she knew to break it was to cast even her own sense of self as abandonment was something she could never do to her aokkatti.

With a resigned and heavy sigh, the pale wolf nodded, accepting his words in her silence. She wasn't quite sure what to say so she did not say anything at all. What settled over her now was a cold and resolute determination. More than ever before, the polar bear would throw herself into her work and protect those that remained within the Spire.