Hushed Willows We all make mistakes...it's what makes us human.

Respect was earned. Age didn't entitle you to it, gender didn't, Stark didn't consider those traits enough to immediately give anyone respect. Nova's words didn't quite sit right with Stark in that regard but it he didn't feel like dealing with another outburst so he bit his tongue and said nothing instead. It seemed to him that Nova had a tendency to have a more dramatic response to things, considering how she'd responded earlier. 

"I wasn't aiming to join a pack - I'd told myself I wouldn't burden any of them during the famine." Stark explained. Finding Octavia had been a stroke of luck, specifically because he'd found that hare - he might have kept going if not for that. "The Keep was the only pack I approached, I guess you could say."