Permafrost Hollows you cannot swallow a life that large

sometimes i wonder if wolves really know what goes into being an alpha, wintersbane considers, going off of her mentioning that she knew of previous alphas that hadn't thought ahead. i think sometimes they just look at the power and nothing else. it's not just about being the big boss and everyone having to answer to them. all the final decisions fall on the alpha, they are responsible for the lives of every single wolf in their pack and their decisions could affect the pack for better or for worse. sure, they get the praise when things are good but it's the times of turbulence when an alpha's true measure is tested. and thus far he hasn't been overly impressed by what he's seen when it came to alpha's. it was hard for him to be loyal when the alpha takes a back seat to everything, or when it seemed like they just wanted the power and nothing else.

and i think that when someone better to lead comes along, they're too wrapped up in pride or the power to admit that they should take a step back. would it be easy, if that ever came to be for wintersbane? hell no. pride was a bitter pill and it didn't go down smooth; but wintersbane liked to think that he'd be able to put the vartija first, even if that meant stepping down for someone else to do his job better than him.

but, he draws on a breath, steering the conversation from his strong ideas about how an alpha should be to the original topic of the taiga and the possibility of future overpopulation. it doesn't seem like the taiga is a favourite region to settle so maybe we'll get lucky and never face the impending consequences of overpopulation. he could only hope that that remained the case but ultimately time would tell.