Horizon Ridge say yes, say yes

He came on with the rolling fury of a bear, and Jinx did not bat an eye, even as he came so near her she felt his rage in the wind he generated. She had stood in the face of disbelief and disloyalty before, had stood down every test flung her way when she and Kaskae had taken over Shearwater Bay when their mother had left without word... So too would she weather the failed Alpha's storm. Whilst Akhlut would claim that she was disloyal and mutinous, it was Jinx's belief that she was the exact opposite; to this pack she would give her life... To Pump and Kisu and Aethon, to Dublin, even to Pied, but not to he who had done little for it. It was loyalty that made her rise up against him... But of course, when he began to spit and hiss like a cat, she remained stony, unperturbed, and did not argue that.

For she welcomed his violence. Let the self-proclaimed Lord of Light draw the blood of one of his subordinates in fury that she did not cower to him; let them see what kind of man of "light" he was. No wolf arrived to rally under her, which she didn't understand... But it took only a moment of thought. The wolves of Horizon Ridge must not only be lazy, she thought, but utterly stupid in her own opinion; none here would support her, solely because she had once had a pack, had once left them for a fortnight (on religious business, no less), and had returned to find them gone. Claiming they would have starved, as if Jinx was their sole provider; weak-willed, pathetic creatures inhabited the shore. It was the only explanation for why they would support an absent Alpha over her.

She had thought that Pied might at least step up. She was blind to the way the dappled wolf spread around rumours of her. Spread around truths, but flavoured for betrayal, with no thought to the former Alpha's feelings at all. Jinx ought to have been pissed, but overall she believed herself to be justified. Akhlut told her to leave, and she stood tall, refusing with her stance and the burn of her glare on him. She was tempted not to speak—to maintain this posture until he struck, and then to maintain it more, to prove she was not so insecure—but she decided against that.

"Your pack?" she snorted, her ears snatching back for an instant as though the thought was amusing. "I suppose your upbringing would make you believe so. However, if I recall, it is your subordinates filling the caches, tending the borders, and maintaining the pack, and without your subordinates there would be no pack at all," she reminded him, deliberately sharp and direct. "To be frank, I haven't seen you do fuck all for this pack. I haven't seen you at all, haven't spoken to you in weeks, despite having reports to give that unfortunately you haven't been around to hear." Sadly, the only other member who seemed even remotely moved to care had been squashed by an orca, and wouldn't have supported her, even though she thought Pied might.

"Now, you may think it's your pack, but it's actually yours least of all. Nobody deserves an Alpha who is scarcer than the prey in his land. And if you don't remember, I was your first follower, so as much as you think you built this pack all by yourself, you'd be an arrogant fool to believe it." No doubt he would then bring up Bon Dye and Shearwater Bay, since everybody she met, it seemed, were so quick and judgemental that she could almost predict their trains of thought, but he was a Nereides whelp, not a true Shearwater Kesuk. She certainly didn't expect him to understand her reasons, and as Jinx was learning, nobody cared about her reasons anyway. Nobody actually gave any thought to her side, because most of them had already heard the other side, and had already formed their opinions. She was bad guy numero uno, regardless what she did... She might as well earn the title. "So you will shut your mouth," she said levelly, "and remember that you have had every opportunity to prove yourself and you have failed to do so."