Moonspear mighty lonely on my own in the city

Tehama hadn't intended to mislead them as to her aptitude, and was not by nature a braggart.  She meant to be fair in her moderate assessment of her hunting skills, and in other realms she held an intermediate knowledge at best.  She might by some measures be considered a jack of many trades and master of none.  That would happen when one's education was truncated and life upended by natural distaster.  Scouting, guardian, diplomacy--these were a leader's core competencies; fighting, a necessity among wolves for fundamental reasons of survival.  Her attempts at healing and navigation were at a novice's ability level, and the woman wouldn't hesitate to defer to someone more experienced in such matters if there were anyone more experienced.  She dwelled for a moment upon thoughts of her father, who had indeed been the pack's most adept at setting broken bones, ushering pups into the world, finding the right herbs and plants to treat an ailment.  She regretted not learning from him when she could.

The lady shook her head faintly, almost imperceptibly, to clear away the sadness those thoughts had settled onto her.  In the present moment, she heard Keres pose another question, while Bronco and the yet-unnamed adult and adolescent remained silent still.  Not yet certain what the dynamics were between each of them, Te supposed she would answer frankly to the greyscale woman's query and await any further questions from the remainder of the pack wolves afterwards.  "I am not suited to the life of a loner," she said, wondering if her too-thin frame didn't already attest to the veracity of that statement.  "I was raised to succeed my mother in leading our pack, but fate had other plans.  So we had to start again and integrate ourselves with our neighboring pack.  It was a change, to go from leading to following.  Humbling, but successful."  The female hesitated, wondering if she had already rambled on too long, but chose to try and anticipate the question she thought would come next.  If it went well, why leave? "I chose to leave this past spring.  My mother found a new mate, and was raising a new litter.  I needed to find my own future and it wasn't in a calm meadowed valley.  I miss the mountains."

It was true; the scents that clung to each of them were practically intoxicating, so strong did they compel her to recall her earliest memories of exploring Mount Mirror.  Moonspear was not the same, was unique in its own way, but Tehama desperately wanted once again to be that little tawny pup leaping from crag to crag, mimicking the bighorn sheep.  And it meant throwing her lot in with these wolves, who seemed level-headed, physically capable, strong in number, and family oriented.  It was better than Te could have hoped for.