Rising Sun Valley A few levels up

Saena bobbed her head, a simultaneous agreement and thanks. She thought she was a pretty wise leader. She was definitely young and probably made mistakes that older wolves saw right through, but in her eyes, she was a good enough leader. She'd so far managed not to crack under the pressure of leading. She'd made some bad calls, and was bound to make more of them—hell, she was already starting to wonder if chasing off one of the surrounding packs that Scarlett mentioned wasn't a bad idea—but in the end, she and hers had pulled through. She couldn't help giving herself an invisible pat on the back.

She didn't spend long on it, though, because Scarlett then launched into an explanation of her situation. Saena had expected a brief answer, a "yes" or "no" with maybe the slightest elaboration. Instead, she seemingly got Scarlett's life story. It was overwhelming and far outside what she'd even wanted to know, so while she tried to pay attention, she most certainly zoned out more than once, so that the story sounded more like: friend leads the pack, womp womp womp, mate sucks at hunting, puppies, insert space-out here, friend who leads is gone... It was at about this point that Saena sharpened her focus and paid closer attention.

It seemed Scarlett was left with the reins of the pack but didn't feel confident in her ability to do it. Saena couldn't empathize with the feeling; since becoming an adult she'd been ambitious. Nervousness about leading had never factored in, though it should've. "Isn't it your pack?" she pointed out, skeptical of any wolf who claimed they weren't good enough. "You obviously led it once before, unless your friend freely gives out breeding rights to men other than himself." That was unlikely, thought Saena. "Besides, if it's your pack, isn't he the one doing it wrong? You sorta set the rules, y'know."