Moonspear Idle hands

Of course, Wildfire had a billion thoughts while he ranted, though she said nothing. She let Tevinter air his grievances and explain himself without interruption. It sounded like his beef lay with Charon, not Floki, and that his twin was more like collateral damage than anything else. Her ears flicked delicately as Tevinter swore copiously when talking about Charon in particular. She almost looked around herself to make sure the Alpha couldn't hear—surely he would give the subordinate the boot—but resisted the temptation. Her amber gaze remained riveted upon his face, scarred and presently twisted into an agitated grimace but still as intimately familiar as Floki's.

There was a lot to unpack here and Wildfire didn't quite know where to start. She did make a point to say, "I don't want to not talk to you, Tev. I really don't think anything you said or did will push me or Floki away on any kind of permanent basis." She gave him a pointed look. Admittedly, the relationship between he and Charon was knottier. Rather than attempt to articulate her opinion on their young Alpha's character, she approached from a different angle. "I think it's all a lot less about you than it is about Floki. I know that circumstances were beyond anyone's control but Floki was the one who was around, who stayed at the bay and then helped Charon move the pack here. I think that Charon promoting Floki was his way of recognizing and acknowledging that, not about slighting anybody else."

She paused for a long moment, gathering her thoughts, brow knitted. "There's still another Beta position open and I don't see why you couldn't have a shot at it. All you have to do is prove to Charon, Ame and the rest of the pack that you're a worthy candidate. You just need to build that intimacy and trust that Charon and Floki have." Wildfire took a breath. "And prove yourself as leader material, to them and everyone else." She knew, based on their past conversations, that he had the heart of a leader, but there was more to it than that. He wouldn't climb to the top of the ranks by fighting with the Alpha and Beta males, then avoiding everyone.

Her face softened somewhat as she gazed at him, seeing the struggle behind those all-too-familiar Caribbean eyes. "Tev, success is not a finite resource. Just because Floki's succeeding doesn't mean you can't too. Don't let him overshadow you that way. I know he doesn't want that." And perhaps because Tevinter did look so much like Floki and seeing the strife on his face was too difficult to resist, Wildfire found herself bending upward to gently lick his cheek.