fire and ice

It became apparent that Hawkeye did not like the look that Crete had given her, if the growl that rumbled in the recesses of the woman’s chest was of any indication. That was ok. Likewise, Crete didn’t like that she just left the pack without a leader for days. He was allowed to have an opinion just as much as she was, after all. That was the point of being an individual. She had not been specific previously on where exactly she went for days when she left, but she stated that she never left the plateau. Still, the fact that she left the borders of the pack without any sort of leader to temporarily make decisions in her absence bothered him. Too much could happen in days - and if she just left how did anyone know to call for her? Crete couldn’t help but feel that if she told her pack about her absence that someone would try to usurp her. There were plenty of ambitious wolves in the world, and what a more perfect time than in an leader’s absence? Tyrannus had managed to eliminate most males of their family in little more than a day, the rest followed within the next few. Clearly, she was not aware of how quickly things happened and no one was going to patiently wait until she returned to play fair.

If Crete had learned anything in his short life span it was that life was never fair. If life had been fair he would be able to speak like all his other siblings. If life had been fair Tyrannus wouldn’t have let the power he was bestowed upon Aether’s death bed go to his head.

She then turned to telling him that he had no idea what it was like to lead a pack on his own. Maybe she was right. Maybe watching his parents do it for years didn’t mean bird shit. However, Crete knew enough of himself to know that he would never leave pack lands unless he had a co-leader to watch them in his absence, and that if he felt like it was too much of a burden, if he felt unsure, he would have never elected to be a leader in the first place. A leader couldn’t be unsure because that exposed vulnerability. Crete couldn’t help but think these things, knowing he should probably be ashamed of himself since both of his brothers were drooling all over her and she was his Alpha female, but those things did not erase his opinions. They were concerns he had, and what kind of Alpha was she if she couldn’t see his concerns and try to help ease them, instead of shooting back petty things at him because he’d hurt her feelings with what she read in his body language.

Hawkeye’s next words struck a severe nerve in Crete, causing shock to pull each muscle taunt as her words echoed around inside his brain. That had been low, beyond low and oozing with pettiness that Crete, in the wake of numbness felt a searing heat of pain, and beyond the pain anger. She knew nothing. Nothing about him, about Tyrannus, about their home pack. Hell, she didn’t even really know anything about his brothers. Hackles bristled as muzzle wrinkled back from his teeth, not sure what he thought of her anymore. Any respect he had held for her was more or less gone. Crete had a lot to think about in the days to come, a lot to consider, but he wasn’t so sure, at this point, that he was going to stay in Blacktail Deer Plateau. He had no idea where he’d go or how he’d get in if he did find a place to go, but those were things to think about when he was alone and brooding. Get away from me. Pupils narrowed in their pools of sea green irises, ears slicking back to his skull as his body clearly stated that this conversation was done. And if she refused then he would take his own advice and leave.

table by houkie