Sun Mote Copse Palm Trees in the Snow

Wraen's reflections were quite introspective, and Elwood found himself considering the parallels between her leadership journey and his own. He had never intended to be a leader, but it had been a natural progression once he joined the Redhawks and he had learned much along the way. There were things he would go back and tell his younger self, if he had the chance, and perhaps decisions that he would have made differently. While there wasn't anything that either of them could do to truly change the past, they could take what they had gleaned and apply it to their lives going forward; Wraen seemed to be well on her way.

"Leadership is hard, and sometimes it just comes down to making the best decision that you can with what you have -- even if, looking back, you would change things," he said with a thoughtful nod of his head. She had asked more specifically about his own time as Alpha, and he smiled as he considered his response. "I think I could say the same as you -- sometimes it's hard to believe that I'm the same wolf as I was all those years ago. Of course, there were plenty of issues that Fin and I had to deal with when we were in charge, some bigger than others," he said, thinking of the small skirmishes as well as the most difficult obstacle they had encountered, which was likely the war with Blackfeather. "But I think we did what we could with what we had, and tried to keep the best interests of the pack at heart," he surmised.