I go on too many dates, but I can't make 'em stay

For a moment while she waited, she entertained the notion that Cara might have left the pack. That would have been simultaneously a blessing and a curse, for although Ptarmigan wanted little to do with the yearling who thought herself queen, she required her. There was a chance the white female wouldn't cooperate, but her and her companions would deal with that if it arose.

Cara was prompt enough that Ptarmigan didn't begin to feel slighted, not that she would have anyway. She was somewhat laid-back in that regard. Still, she stared directly into the other's face, noting the smear of blood where an errant paw had picked open a scab. She had many of those, herself, though they were more easily hidden in the tangles of her black coat.

“So you are still here,” she noted, watching Cara carefully from where she stood in the river. “Good. I have need of you. The wolves here trust you, and I need them to trust me, too. To do that, they must see you lead.” Not as Alpha, though, not so long as Ptarmigan lived. “So you will be my Beta female, alongside this pack's current Beta male.”