Firefly Glen the woodchuck song

Although he spoke haltingly, he said exactly what she'd hoped he would. Meerkat's ears tipped forward as if eager to drink in more of what he had to say on the matter, which wasn't far from the truth. He reminded her of what being a leader meant, practically speaking. It did reassure her, though not entirely. Surely stepping up into such an important role could change Atlas's whole mindset on, well, life. And to think, he'd asked her to coach him. A quiet little laugh escaped her at how absurd that seemed now.

Bronco offered a word of warning, which Meerkat pondered in silence, along with everything else. Eventually, she said, "What if he's—" She stopped mid-sentence to purse her lips and gather her thoughts. "He's a Beta now. He was already a catch before. He could take his pick of any woman in the pack, or outside of it..." And she still felt like a little girl. Now her ears twisted backward. "I know I'm pretty great," she went on to say with another little laugh, "but... I dunno." And that was the gist of it. A lot of how this might play out remained to be seen.

Because of what he'd just said, Meerkat really did wonder though. Why should she guard her heart, if nothing was going to change? Maybe he only said that because he was a good older brother, trying to spare her feelings and tell her what she wanted to hear. Would it be better if she stopped pursuing Atlas, maybe even called off their date? But how could she simply stop how she felt about him? Meerkat could control her actions, she supposed, but she couldn't simply flip a switch on her emotions.