Ankyra Sound next time warn me when you're about to do something like that.

whoa who ordered this novel smh

as if being deposed was not insult enough, firefly had instated rosalyn as leader besides him. part of caiaphas -- the mature, wiser part of her -- reminded herself that she was alpha no longer, that she was no longer in control, that progress was the natural order of things (and progress, oft as not, rolled over all in the process), and that her grudge with rosalyn long-standing as it was, had been the hatchet buried deep in the necks of drageda cur..

she sighed. over, onward, upward.

in retrospect she reminded herself this was a good thing. caiaphas, possibly one of the more storied alphas of the teekons, was not a wolf fit to rule despite how many times she had done so. she cared little for titles, cared less for the propriety surrounding them, and had more than once willingly overturned the mantle to more eager wolves. let them taste the bite of leadership, and learn that it did little but make their necks target for hungrier wolves.

so why did it bother her now?

possibly because it had been so damn unexpected; firefly had bloomed once he was in rusalka. perhaps that was her crowning achievement -- not that she had ruled several packs or been a master warrior or killed in the name of her pack, but that she had fostered an environment in which subjects could grow and become their best selves.

one such subject seemed as ill-pleased about the news as caiaphas: she watched as yami passed through the trees, clearly as preoccupied in thought as she. caiaphas had to admit she had not been a good leader to yami; she had introduced the girl to the pack, and then left her to the wolves.

perhaps now was a time to make amends for that - now that she suddenly and unexpectedly had free time on her hands.

she cleared her throat as she approached, sniffing the air casually. they were close enough to the perimeter of the forest that she didn't mind patrolling, if yami was so inclined.