Blacktail Deer Plateau Yeah, my trap going techno

I'm not 100% sure of the outcome of my thread with Caiaphas (it's still underway) but I figured it was reasonable to assume some minor injuries.

A few days after the fight, Junior returned to the plateau, looking a little worse for wear. Under different circumstances, she might have called attention to her injuries, summoning her aunt to help her tend them and her Alpha to point out what happened when she tried to interact with the Nereides. But a sense of shame compelled her to return under cover of night and find a hollow tree to curl up inside. She didn't want to talk to anyone about her fight with Caiaphas, so she laid low for several days, letting her wounds knit and become significantly less obvious.

Finally, she emerged on a frosty November morning. Her lip was still a mess and she bore a few scratches here and there, though nothing she couldn't explain away as part of her Warrior and Outrider duties. Feeling ravenous, she sought one of the pack's caches and ate two whole rabbits before stopping herself. Stuffed, the juvenile wandered the plateau with no particular purpose in mind.

Dante seemed to have a habit of running into Junior at less than ideal times for the poor juvenile. This time he was following up on a trace of scent, stalking it through the territory to see where it led. The trail had run cold, though, only a couple of yards back when he spotted Junior. Pausing, he considered going on about his business, but he wasn't having much luck anyway.

"Junior, hey!" He called, trotting over to where she was walking. He noted he new cuts and looked at her curiously. "Rough week?" They didn't look serious or worrying, but he wondered if they were something he needed to know about.

I'm assuming the pack generally knows about the Lasher/Blue Willow arrangement...

When a familiar voice called her name, Junior felt a thrill run through her, followed by a wash of trepidation. Dante's presence was at once welcome and unwelcome. She turned to face him, struggling against an urge to cover her face. Her ears fell back slightly at his question and she shook her head dismissively.

"I'm fine," she said, formally deciding against telling him about her run-in with the Nereides female. "I'm just going through my ugly duckling stage, I guess," she joked. It was hard to make light of this, yet Junior didn't have many options. "I'm going to be a beautiful black swan one day, you know." Heh.

"Hey," she said in the next beat, "can I ask you something? Sorry, it's kind of random. But what with Lasher and Aunt Willow... I've had pups on the brain. Um..." Junior paused, thinking of how to word her query. "Is it usual to let, like, subordinates breed? Isn't it normally the Alphas that breed? Do you... do you intend to take a mate and have pups?"

Dante nodded. "I've no doubt," he said, midly amused and yet not really knowing how to respond. If he'd had an awkward phase, he hadn't taken the time to notice, so dealing with teens and their insecurities wasn't on the top of his skill list. Or, you know, on there at all.

Nor did he know, really, how to respond to her next question. It was completely out of the blue, though he could hardly profess to know what was going through her head at any given moment.

"I guess it isn't usual, though Blue is hardly a subordinate." She could have been queen had she chosen it. "As to the other part, well... taking a mate is something that can't be done lightly. And right now, I have other things to deal with." He didn't say the other, more obvious reason. He presumed she could figure that one out herself.

Fair enough, she thought when Dante pointed out Blue Willow's status in the pack. She couldn't argue with that, though it caused half a dozen additional questions to start cropping up in her head.

Satisfied with his answers—and particularly heartened by his disinterest in taking a mate right now—she asked, "Like what? And how come Aunt Willow isn't Alpha? Is it because the space is sort of reserved for your mate, if and when you take one?"

Dante shook his head. "Not necessarily. Only if my mate were to earn the place should I take one. And Blue Willow felt that being Alpha may get in the way of her capabilities as healer. So she chose to remain as Beta." He wasn't about to elevate based on mateship as Peregrine had with Fox, for he hadn't agreed with that decision at the time and still did not. It was his right, true, but not the choice Dante would have made at the time.

"Why? Would you rather have her at the helm?" he followed with, tone playfully teasing. Dante wasn't quite sure yet that he wouldn't rather she have taken the role still, but those were sentiments he was no longer at liberty to voice. Perhaps at the proper time, but to show doubt was to display some weakness and he would choose his moments wisely.

Junior appreciated that Dante would not just promote his mate, should that day come. Her father had done that. Junior hadn't thought much of it at the time because she had been so young. But it had started right around then: the ruination of her family as Fox took over everything, particularly her father, like some sort of horrible cancer...

"Yeah," the teenager said, then realized what Dante had asked and hastily added, "Wait, not instead of you, though. I think you two should be Alphas together, that's all. Then she'd still have plenty of time to dedicate to being a Healer," Junior opined, though even she would admit she didn't know much about how all that worked.

"How old do you have to be to be a leader?" the juvenile wondered next. She was just full of questions today, wasn't she? She had never aspired for leadership for herself—really, the thought had never really crossed her mind, even as the Alphas' daughter—but she was curious nonetheless. "And, like, what's the other criteria to be an Alpha or Beta?"

Dante was about to play mock-affront when she hastily amended her words, so he instead hid a smile and continued to listen. He agreed with her one hundred percent and had proposed this as well, or at least felt the offer had been implied. He wondered, though, if after what had happened she wasn't saving the position for his mate should he choose to take one. He would not expect her to submit to his mate without that respect already being present, though, and if she ever changed her mind the spot was hers. At least until another rose to fill it who was worthy.

"I wonder if she isn't happier where she is. I'm not one to argue if that is the case, and it certainly seems like it." He thought a moment on her next questions. "Depends on the pack, I assume, but here I would guess at least a year or more. It is less about age and more that those in the pack trust your judgement. And I am betting it is rare that they would trust one younger than that. The other, well, I'm still figuring that out." He chuckled. "I wouldn't claim to be an authority on it, but it seems you fill whatever role is needed. Counselor, protector, hunter, even healer if you have the knowledge. If your pack needs you, you are either there for them or you know who to call."

Mind fading this with your next post? :) <3

"Maybe," Junior replied vaguely. "Maybe she's secretly a bum!" she joked, which was entirely untrue. "Or maybe she would rather be second in line when it comes to responsibilities and stuff..." That actually made some kind of sense. The idea of being in charge of everyone and everything was intimidating. In fact, Junior found the idea quite unwelcome herself, though she conversely liked the thought of power (as did most teenagers). Her aunt had perhaps struck the perfect balance.

"Do you have any other leaders in mind?" she pressed next, then hastily added, "Tell me to shut up if I'm being too nosy..." She canted her head and favored Dante with an impishly sheepish smile, eyes sparkling with the inquisitiveness of youth. Hopefully he wouldn't mind answering that inquiry or the two dozen more that followed in the course of their conversation.

A fade of sorts <3

Dante almost snorted at Junior's remark of Blue being a bum. Nothing could be further from the truth to him. He wasn't sure he agreed with the second either, though it seemed closer to the truth. It wasn't so outlandish at least.

He hadn't given too much thought to other leaders, though he did have at least one in mind. He didn't want to give up the game however before a decision had been made. If he was to appoint someone he wanted them to be the first to know. "Perhaps, though I have to think on it a little more. You'll know soon enough I'm sure if I act on it." He said with a smile. He didn't mind her questions, in fact he rather welcomed them. Mostly because he never really felt badly for not being able to answer them. He was sure she'd ask more as they continued speaking and he'd answer those that he could. Those he couldn't, well, he was sure she'd understand that.