Heron Lake Plateau Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse

I've been wanting more threads with these awesome Blackthorn kiddos! <3

It had been three days, and yet the reality still hadn't quite set in yet. I can't possibly be the alpha, she found herself frequently thinking. She wondered how the rest of the pack felt about it. She assumed everyone knew about it, and since nobody was storming out of the pack in a rage, she figured they must not disapprove too much. She wondered how many of them even knew who she was. She'd always been a little bit of a hermit, generally preferring to keep to herself with her plants and medicines. Now she'd been thrust abruptly into the spotlight, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

On one hand, it was an opportunity to provide the pack with some calm, stable leadership that they'd perhaps missed since Finley and Elwood had stepped down. The last few months had been really hectic, and while not all of it was Towhee's fault, she had gotten a great deal of the blame simply because she was the one in charge when the metaphorical feces hit the fan. Now, they were out here by themselves in the middle of nowhere, with no other packs in sight, at this rather serene location, and the milder months of spring and summer were upon them. She didn't anticipate them getting into trouble anytime soon, so all she really had to do was keep a steady hand on the wheel and keep the little Redhawk bus to hell on the road. ...Right?

On the other hand, the whole thing simply terrified her. She wasn't the most confident or authoritative wolf, and she wondered how many might try to use that to take advantage of her. Titmouse had already given it his best shot -- a situation she was still furious about -- and a side of her had emerged that rarely ever saw the light of day. She wondered how often that would happen now that she was in charge.

Pushing these negative thoughts aside, she focused herself on the task at hand: patrolling her territory and getting to know the lay of the land a little better. Not only because she was alpha now, but also because she would always be, first and foremost, a healer. She wanted to mentally mark some of the best spots where she might find medicinal plants as the season grew warmer and more greenery filled in. Moving along the edge of the lake, she noticed quite a few plants of interest that she wanted to experiment with. As she leaned down to sniff at a particularly bright green clump of moss, a movement of bright silver caught her eye and she glanced up to find that it was one of Aunt Finley's girls, Fiadh.

She smiled at the young she-wolf, wagging her tail good-naturedly and feeling a warm swell of affection for her. As she walked toward her, the healer was struck by how lovely her sterling fur shone in the sunlight, and fleeting images of when she'd been just a fuzzy, wiggly little potato flashed through her memory. "Hi there!" she said to the girl when they were within conversational range, a big smile brightening Raven's face. "Whatcha up to?"