Blacktail Deer Plateau Colorado calls to me

Under Caiaphas, things had been better. The coywolf disappeared when Nieve was still very young, but even she could recognize that things hadn't been the same since then. Raleska was no longer Beta. Illidan was no longer Alpha. Aningan had stepped into the role that an outsider sought to usurp... and had done nothing with the title.

The idea of leaving Rusalka felt wrong to Nieve, but the pack itself had felt more wrong for some time. In her opinion, they lacked leadership and they lacked camaraderie, two things that she felt made a pack strong. Without either of those elements, what was the point of calling themselves a pack?

I don't think things will get better here before then. I want them to, but... everything was better before, she admitted, a strangely melancholy thought coming from the optimist that was Nieve. But it was true. If she was being realistic, then nothing was likely to change. She was in favour of leaving sooner, no matter how hard it tugged upon her heartstrings to do so. I once told mama I'd like to live somewhere with a big river and lots of big trees, but not as many cliffs as the sound. She pursed her lips, then said, I think I'd still like that.