Heron Lake Plateau she's tore up plenty, but she'll fly true

The idea appealed to her, of course, but it had already crossed her mind and been discarded out of hand. "I can't. Aunt Finley and Uncle Elwood are the Betas and I'd never unseat them," Towhee rejoined. "You know, the rank doesn't really make a damn difference to me. When I walk away from this conversation, I'm going to do exactly the same thing I was going to do anyway. I'm going to keep guarding and patrolling like it's my job, because it is my job, no matter my title." She shrugged yet again.

"I'll talk to them about all of this, though, and I'll make sure to include the part where I blackmailed you into it," Towhee said, managing a wan smile. "Things may be a bit bumpy at first but I think we'll all adjust at the end of the day." Colt wasn't here to see his dreams come true but surely Tegan would enjoy watching Towhee's fall from power. Perhaps they could even reconcile. And maybe Fiadh would go back to liking her now that she was no longer in charge of ranks. The thought was relieving, honestly.

So she hadn't been a good Alpha. So what? Raven and Quixote would take over and now Towhee was free to excel at the things she was good at: defending her family—which would soon include several more pups, hopefully—and their home. Yes, she really believed this had worked out best for everyone.