Offers
She was dozing in her cave-den, her head under her wing and tailfins. A long nap or just restful laying there was very welcome after the fighting, near-death of a packmate, and her flight to speak to Lone-Tree-Pack. In that middle between sleeping and being awake, almost-sleep-visions flew in her thoughts. Most of the almost-sleep-visions were not good ones though. They involved pain, failure, humiliation, and hurt, but the almost-sleep-visions were too unclear to remember well.
She heard wings outside her cave-den as someone touched down. Blinking away the sleepiness, she groaned and got to her paws to meet whoever this was. Had something happened with the little stinging-tail hunter-kin or egg?
Grr, what went wrong now?
Oddly, the light wing strolling into her cave was not someone she would have expected. It was none of her friends, the Firsts of the pack roles, or Alpha.
It was Second-Fighter, her friend's mate. This was the first time he had ever come to visit her at her cave, which made it a pleasant surprise.
"Second-Fighter, are you well?"
He grumbled and sat down across from her, "I am well enough."
"Is something bad happening?" she asked.
He growled and looked away from her, "Yes, I made a mistake in the fighting. I do not like making mistakes."
He must have been referring to the accident in the fight with the stinging-tail hunter-kin when he accidentally almost got First-Fighter hurt.
"Do not think much about it. We all make mistakes. No one got hurt badly because of that," she purred in reassurance.
"True, no one was hurt. We are very fortunate about that. I need to talk to you alone."
She yawned and lay her head on her paws, "Sure. What about?"
He shrugged, "About the pack and the future."
"What do you mean?"
"Your friend told me what you said to her. You wanted a mate and egg, but no male in the pack was willing to do that for you because of the pack's old ceremonies."
"True, but there is nothing I can do about that," she shrugged.
He glanced back at the mouth of her cave and lowered his voice to a whisper, "She wanted me to talk to you because we trust you. You must have heard that there are those in the pack who are not happy with our Alpha."
All that she could remember was some grumbling among the Fighters and the She-Far-Fliers, but she could have missed other signs of frustration.
"I have heard some whispers," she yawned.
"Some might even want a new Alpha," he added.
That changed everything and made this talk far more important. Any mention of power-places in the pack made the discussion one to be attentive to. Her exhaustion was instantly gone as she got to her paws and stared at him. His gaze was narrowed and intense.
"They might," she whispered, wanting to hear more to figure out what he truly meant.
He purred and visibly relaxed, "Of course, there are some, like First-Fighter and Oldest-Knower, who are loyal to Alpha. They are a problem to making needed changes happen."
"What are you saying? No twisted-talking. We are alone here."
He paused, "There might be enough in the pack who want a new Alpha soon: a strong Alpha who will fight for the pack against Others and who does not care about twisted ceremonies. An Alpha like I would be."
There was the admission. He was planning to become the new Alpha. That transition of Alphas was a detail she had never asked about or cared to learn about. All she knew was that the last such change of power had been very painful for the pack and had spilled much life-water, even though it was good and necessary in the end.
"When might this change in Alpha happen?" she whispered.
Oddly, he grumbled and looked away, "It would have already happened except for an accident, but there will be another chance. Soon."
"What else?" she whispered.
He chuckled while pacing, "My mate wanted me to talk to you about that. You certainly know that the Alpha of the pack is special. He can have as many mates as he wants and can keep."
It was so clear what he was going to offer, and she was not sure what to think about it yet. More information was needed first before she could decide. Still, there was a faint whispering inside saying that this offer was very twisted and not good.
"So, if the pack needed a new Alpha and if you were to step up to serve the pack in that way, what would you do? Why do I need to know this?" she prodded.
He smirked and huffed in approval, "In return for loyalty and helping keep my rule as Alpha, you would be my Second-Mate, not very different from First-Mate to be honest. I would give you the eggs that you want."
"You would do that for me even thought I am not... a pure light wing?" she gasped, surprised despite everything else about the offer.
"I do not care about that old custom. Even if you cannot make eggs because of what you are, I do not care since I will have more mates. We can still be together for fun. Your friend tells me that I am good at satisfying her. You also saved me long ago, so I want to do this for you," he said, adding a seductive purr.
She started pacing while considering all that she had learned. There was so much to think about in that offer which came so suddenly.
Purely for herself, it was a good offer and strong... not a pairing but a... trading of favors? He said that he did not care about her being different and would be willing to make eggs with her. That was basically what she wanted and hoped for. True, he would not be hers only as a life-mate, but if the choice was this or nothing? Was it better to have some good of what she wanted or none?
On the other paw, the good, liver-warmed pairs she remembered among the pack truly cared about their mate, as far as she could tell. It did not sound like he cared about very much about her. She and her life-warmth were not his goals. What were his goals?
He wanted power and to be the Alpha. He would use her to get and keep that place, and in using her would also give her something that she wanted. Was that a trade to make? How to even decide on such a twisted situation?
She glanced over at him and saw that he was staring at her. What was that look in his eyes as he got to his paws and approached her?
"You look like you need some convincing. How about I give you the egg now?" he purred.
"We do not need to..."
"I was not asking," he softly growled.
Just like his mention of replacing Alpha, those words changed everything.
His eyes looked like a hunter gazing at prey. There was a hunger and need in them that was... a look she had never seen before and did not like at all. Being alone with him now felt like a very bad situation. He had just admitted that he did not care what she wanted. He would even try to force-mate her if he wanted, which he certainly did.
There was no doubt of that when he walked alongside her, nuzzling and touching her in places no one ever had before.
Shock that everything was happening so quickly. Motionless and frozen, caught between two options as thought almost failed.
Resist and fight, or let him do it and maybe get an egg from him, even if she did not want him anymore and did not approve of what he was planning for the pack. How to decide if...
There was a weight on her back as he started climbing on her and...
No!
She jumped forward out of his grasp, spun around on him as he dropped down to his paws, and stared at him in shock while trying to hide the fear and the feeling of wrongness at his threat.
What little interest there had been in the offer was completely gone. Someone who thought of no one but himself and would try to force a female did not deserve to be an Alpha. What Red saw in him was maybe nothing except his ambition. Red had always wanted to rise in status too, maybe by attaching herself to one who was rising on his own.
Second-Fighter looked confused and frustrated, in more ways than one, and even angry. There had to be a way to get out of this. He was between her and the mouth of the cave, so trying to flee might not work, her cave was too far from the pack for a cry of fear to be heard, and fighting him had no lift since she was not as strong a fighter as him. He would not care about her wants. How could she stop him while saying what he wanted to hear? He wanted his plan to stay secret and probably only thought that Alphas were...
"Wait, we cannot do anything right now because... because Alpha is expecting me very soon."
"What?" he blinked in surprise.
Hating that she had to do this, she purred as fondly as she could, "Alpha and I have been together in secret as part of my being in the pack."
"Have you?"
"He wanted to try with me since I am different from a light wing, but he is not good enough at it, not for me anyway," she said.
He growled with apparent amusement and approached to nuzzle her neck. She also returned a faint nuzzling, just to pretend her interest while not letting him walk around her. He was not going back there again!
"Not surprising of him. He is weak in his liver and not a true Fighter. He got lucky long ago in his fight with the last Alpha!"
This was good. He was not thinking about her anymore. Now to get him thinking about waiting.
"True, but he is expecting me soon. We cannot do anything now, or he will know about you by smelling you on me. Wait until later so he cannot know anything."
"Good thinking. I can wait a little more," he grunted in agreement.
She did not shiver when he stepped beside her, stroked her flanks with his tail, and purred into her ear.
"You made the right decision," he breathed.
"Yes, I know I did," she purred, looking down at the ground.
He licked her neck, spun around, and was gone from her cave.
She stared at the mouth of the cave.
He did not come back.
She stared, checking with life-fire sight to be sure that she was alone. There was no one there.
Only when she was sure that he was gone did she let the shaking and the chill come over her, though she did not look away from the cave mouth. She slowly backed away from the cave mouth until she bumped against the rear of her cave-den.
That was not how showing wanting was supposed to happen at all! Forcing and pressuring was an absolute sign of wrongness and rot in the liver!
Her breath slowly stilled while she stared ahead. This was the time to think and plan what to do next. She got to her paws and started pacing, never looking away from the cave mouth.
What did she missed? Why had he not killed Alpha yet? The previous change of power involved killing the Alpha, so it was likely that this one would. What would happen to Alpha's two mates and his fledgling? The male fledgling would probably be killed as a possible threat to Second's new status. At best, the fledgling and two mates would be thrown out of the pack and named Packless.
Threatening the young of the Alpha was completely wrong and rotted! Only a monster would do that!
Oldest-Knower would not be needed either, even though many in the pack respected her. Her death could be made to look like death of age. None would suspect an accident which...
She gasped at an obvious realization of something she saw happen firstpaw at the fight in the stinging-tail hunter's nest. Second-Fighter had accidentally pushed First-Fighter into the way of one of the hunter's attacks. Second-Fighter freely said that First-Fighter was loyal to Alpha, which was appropriate since Alpha was First-Fighter's sire-father.
Red and Second-Fighter both had places of power and influence in the She-Far-Fliers and the Fighters. They had both been saying bad things about Alpha: criticisms which were vague enough that they could be true and accepted if enough packmates thought that others agreed with them and had the same thoughts.
They are trying to twist the pack's thinking against Alpha!
So many of Red's actions over the last few life-making cycles looked different now. Red suggested that Second-Fighter come to her just now to mate her just to get influence! Red had always wanted to gain power and had no objection to using her femaleness to get what she wanted. Red and Second-Fighter were a good match for each other, and they could not be allowed to become the Alpha pair.
She growled at herself in frustration, seeing now that she should have asked how many supporters Second-Fighter and Red truly had. It was probably not very many who were willing to raise claws and flame against Alpha. What if there were many?
There was one way she could find out. She could try to feel life-fires a little more while asking each packmate what they think about Alpha. If the other's life-fire shies away from hers or feels darker, either of those would be a sign that they doubt Alpha. However, that would not reveal whether they were willing to attack or take action.
He was a good Alpha to the pack. He could be threatening and had rock-head problems because of the past, but he was good to his mates, listened to Oldest-Knower, tried to make decisions that helped the pack, and gave her a chance to be mostly accepted in the pack. He was a good Alpha who should keep his place.
There was no time to test everyone in the pack.
She flamed before herself, jumped into the fire, and faded from view before taking flight. There were only a few packmates she could truly trust right now: Alpha, Oldest-Knower, and First-Fighter. Yellow, Green, and Blue were probably trustworthy, but they had no power. Only those with power could make a difference.
But this still hurt so much. Why had Red, the closest of the fledglings to her, been so rotted in her liver? How had her friend been so false, and how had she not seen that rot in her friend?
Alpha was on the ledge where the pack rested. He was talking with one of the Far-Fliers; it was not important who.
She circled unseen while waiting for the Far-Flier to leave. Then she winged closer when the male flew off.
'Alpha! It is Skadi! Fly to Oldest-Knower!'
Hearing her thought-voice, he visibly started in surprise and took flight a few wingbeats later. She glided down and touched down on the ledge while Oldest-Knower woke up from one of her many naps when Alpha landed.
"Skadi? Where are you?" he rumbled.
"Into the cave, both of you," she answered from hiding.
She let her fade fall away once she was within Oldest-Knower's cave and hidden from view.
"What is it, Skadi?" Oldest-Knower asked after lying down.
"Alpha, I learned about a plan to kill you and take your place as Alpha."
Alpha froze, his tail going still. Both his and Oldest-Knower's eyes narrowed.
"What?" he growled.
"Second-Fighter just offered to... mate me and name me one of his mates if I would support him as a new Alpha."
"Did he hurt you?" he snarled.
"No, but you can smell my neck. He licked me and touched me there," she whispered and stepped closer to him.
He sniffed at her neck and growled, "That is his scent."
"He and First-She-Far-Flier have been saying bad things about you to make you look like a weak Alpha."
"What have they been saying?" he asked, visibly surprised.
"That you are giving away too much to Lone-Tree-Pack and not defending this pack against them in trading. That you send others to fight for you, and that you will not fight for the pack. That you are a weak Alpha."
He looked like she had struck him in the face with this information.
"And I might have seen Second-Fighter try to get First-Fighter killed in an accident. First-Fighter can tell you about that and what they were saying," she hastily added.
"I did not know about... any of that," he grumbled.
He started pacing, refusing to look at her or Oldest-Knower.
"Why did you tell us this?" Oldest-Knower asked her after a pause.
She glanced at Alpha, "Because you are a good Alpha and do not deserve to be killed, and because breaking the peace in the pack would be wrong and would hurt many. Second-Fighter must not be Alpha. He is dangerous."
Alpha stared out the cave for many wingbeats and hung his head, "I believe you. What you said flies with other small things I have heard, now that I know what they mean. I thought that the pack would respect me because I respect them and killed the rotted Alpha long ago. Did I do something wrong?"
Oldest-Knower got to her paws and gently shoved him, "No. Being an Alpha is to put a mark on your wings. Others will always want to take that place."
He and Oldest-Knower faced her.
"Do you know how many agree with them?" he asked.
"No, but I do not think many agree yet," she answered.
"We have no way of knowing how many," he clarified.
She considered her words carefully, "None that will let us know now. But I have an idea if you both want to hear it."
"Please tell us," he said.
"Second-Fighter and First-She-Far-Flier want to be an Alpha pair. So let them be one in the new range the pack took."
They both blinked in confusion, so she continued, "Make a pack-split. Let them and anyone who wants to leave follow them and make a new pack. That will take them out of this pack without you naming them Packless. You would give them no reason to want you dead while also looking like you are helping them. It will also stop Second-Fighter and First-She-Far-Flier from having any power in this pack. All would happen without any life-water being spilled or any fighting."
Alpha and Oldest-Knower considered the plan, both of them grumbling as they thought about it. She did not like it either since those who were plotting to hurt the pack would not be punished for it, but it was the best plan she could think of in the time flying from her cave to here.
It was not fair or justice, but it meant the least suffering and death for everyone.
Alpha snorted, "I do not like it, but I know I have rock-head problems."
Oldest-Knower grumbled, "We both know that about you. This idea might be the best for the pack. If some do not want you and will not live under you, they should leave. The Alpha must do what is best for the pack."
He sighed and closed his eyes, "Best for the pack, true. I should go find First-Fighter and some others I trust. Then, I do not know what is next, but things will have to change in this pack."
He paused spun and faced her, though he looked either frustrated or confused, "Thank you for telling me this."
Then he was gone also after vanishing in a flash of fire, leaving only her and Oldest-Knower on the ledge.
She spun on the elder light wing and nosed closer to her, "May I talk to you, female to female?"
"Always."
She settled down at Oldest-Knower's side, trying to not break down or think too much about what she saw and almost suffered. It was all so vivid and far too real even now. No male had ever threatened her in such a way.
"Second-Fighter came to my cave to talk, as I said. He also offered to mate me, but he also wanted to force me."
"Did he hurt you?" Oldest-Knower growled.
"No. I lied to him and said that I had to meet Alpha to be... with him. I also said that I would be with Second after Alpha. I cannot go back to my cave and be safe there."
Oldest-Knower stretched out a wing over her back, "No, you are staying here with me. No one will threaten you up here."
"Thank you. Why would they do this?" she wearily asked, resting her head on her paws.
The elder light wing's tail tapped at her side until she heavily groaned.
"Both of them came from sires and dams who were hurt by the last Alpha. Bad enough mistakes by sires and dams leave hurt-marks on the young's life-fires, and those marks rarely go away. Maybe they were not raised well or felt powerless when they were young, so now they want to take power even if doing so means hurting others."
What Oldest-Knower said had lift as far as she could see. She had not learned much about the fledglings' sires and dams, except for the interactions with First-Fighter, and the few bonding meetings and shared waking-cycles the fledglings, their sires and dams, and she had enjoyed. But Red had mentioned something about her sire and dam being weak. They certainly avoided interacting with the other groups of sires and dams. There was something different, maybe twisted, about them.
It was possible she might never know what happened to make Red and Second-Fighter so hungry for power and control.
"Maybe so. Will this hurt the pack much?" she whined.
"What you suggested, the pack-split, might hurt, but far less than the fighting that would otherwise happen. You made the right choice," Oldest-Knower purred.
Warmed with that reassurance, she curled up and lay down to rest in safety. Sleep was not possible though. Her thoughts were flying far too fast and confused.
Her own memories of meeting the fledglings, playing with them, bonding with them, and learning what they liked now felt fouled. All those waking-cycles of playing and talking had passed without her seeing the rotted thinking that was there in one of them. If she had missed that in one of them, what had she missed in the others?
Even her other friends were not the same anymore. They had their own mates and places in the pack. Their life-flights did not have big places for her anymore, not as they did in the past. That they and she had drifted apart was either her fault or theirs. Blaming them was just a way of saying that she had no control over the outcome. That meant that she probably had not been a good enough friend to them. She had surely driven them away or somehow failed them and made them not want to be around her.
What did I do wrong?
Despite being in the middle of a pack that had accepted her for three life-making cycles, she was almost completely alone and unwanted in any good way.
But at least Oldest-Knower's wing over her back helped her not think about recent events. She had no doubt that she could safely rest here and now.
She dove down to the group-sleeping caves while keeping her watch out for Second-Fighter. Not seeing him anywhere nearby, she found the pair from Lone-Tree-Pack. They had left that pack because they were not high enough in their pack-orders to ever have much hope of egg-making. They were the only pair from their pack who had accepted the offer to live in the new range, and Alpha had given them approval to live here until then, though these two were not part of Ice-Water-Pack and had to do their own hunting.
She thought they deserved to know what they would be accepting if everything happened as she hoped it would.
"Will you please follow me?" she asked them.
They purred in agreement and followed her down from the ledge and onto the ice where they could speak freely.
"Skadi, what is it?" the female asked.
They had not taken new names yet since leaving behind their old pack-roles.
"You both know that I try to make peace between the packs."
"Yes," the male answered.
"I wanted to warn you both that going to the new range might not be good for you."
They barked in surprise and worry.
"Why not?" the male warbled.
She continued, "Because I know who the Alpha pair will be. You do not want them as your Alpha pair. The Alpha male will be dangerous."
"They all are. That is not new to us," the female huffed.
She lowered her voice and leaned forward, "He tried to force-mate me after saying that he wanted to take more females for himself."
The pair recoiled, their eyes narrowing and ears going back.
"I stopped him, but he is very dangerous. His mate is also twisted in planning and tricking others. I suggest you stay and join this pack after others leave with the new Alpha pair that will be. You will be safer here. Our Alpha is not rotted and twisted."
The male shuffled on his paws, "I and my mate left Lone-Tree-Pack because we would never be in the egg-making group. Can we do that in this pack?" he asked.
His mate sadly hummed and nuzzled his neck, "I was a Mushroom-Grower, and he was a low-number Far-Flier. We are smaller than others in that pack. We want an egg very much, but we do not want to name ourselves Packless either."
She hummed in thought and gently nudged the female light wing.
"You could become a Plant-Grower for us, and your mate could be a Far-Flier, Prey-Hunter, or Fish-Hunter. I would recommend Fish-Hunter because there are fewer of those in this pack, and you could be sooner in the male egg-making order."
"Fish hunting is dangerous, yes?" he warily asked.
"Only if you swim to the deeper waters. Most do not need to swim there unless they want to rise very high in the order. I could teach you the good waters to swim in for hunting. And even if you were this pack's last Fish-Hunter, you would still be an egg-making male in... three life-making cycles. The other Fish-Hunters, except for two of them, have hatchlings or fledglings already."
The pair whispered to each other and nuzzled noses before returning to her, clearly having decided on something.
"Then we will join this pack," the female said.
"We thank you for warning us," the male added.
"Good. Keep this a secret. You did not hear this warning from me," she purred.
They both purred in agreement and then flew off. Alpha would certainly let them in the pack, especially since he now knew what might happen otherwise. The fewer went with Red and Second-Fighter, the weaker their future pack would be.
She flew back to Oldest-Knower's ledge, just to be safe.
Almost the entire pack was gathered together. The pair that flew from Lone-Tree-Pack were present. Even the Sitters and the hatchlings had been brought from the warm range. Only a couple Sitters remained behind with the egg and the hunter-kin hatchling. A few Far-Fliers were gliding above to keep watch, but almost everyone was present down on the ice or nearby.
She was sitting at Oldest-Knower's side near the Sitters. She was far away from the Fighters, Far-Fliers, and She-Far-Fliers, just on the off-paw chance that any fighting were to happen.
Alpha stood tall and roared, ending the many conversations as a hush fell over all. She noticed that he had First-Fighter and several other large males gathered close to him; those were certainly the ones he knew best and trusted.
"Pack! You all know that our Fighters and She-Far-Fliers took a new range for the pack! Now we will fill it with some from our pack! First, we must speak well of two of our own! Second-Fighter, First-She-Far-Flier, step forward!"
She smirked that both of those two looked confused and surprised at first that they were called out by name before the whole pack.
You did not plan on this, did you?
"You have both shown that you are strong flight-leaders for your groups! The pack in that range will need strong leaders! As Alpha of this pack, I name you the Alpha pair of the new pack that will be!"
Gasps and muttering followed that along with pointing of paws. Second-Fighter and Red did not visibly react at first.
"You are not part of this pack anymore because you have your own pack! Also, any others who want to leave this pack and join the new pack may do so now without being named Packless! I would have the two packs always be close as we are kin now. How many will fly with them and fill the range with a new pack?"
No one initially moved, as if waiting for someone else to make the first move. Then they started to move. Two Young-Watchers, Three She-Far-Fliers, Two Fighters, Two Plant-Growers, One Fish-Hunter, and two Ground-Prey-Hunters. The pair from Lone-Tree-Pack did not move.
She was pleased to notice that Blue, Green, and Yellow did not go with. All combined, there were are ten and four in the new pack. There were more leaving than she hoped but also fewer than she feared.
"They will fly to their new range soon! We should speak our good words to those who are leaving us!"
Alpha stepped down and folded his wings, concluding the ceremony as muttering spread through the entire pack.
She watched from afar as the pair from Lone-Tree-Pack respectfully approached Alpha, surely to speak to him about joining the pack. Her suspicion was confirmed when Alpha rested his chin on both their shoulders wingbeats later in a gesture of approval.
He would probably ignore the lengthy pack-joining ceremony, or will do the faster one for them. She could speak to him later if there was any need though.
Oldest-Knower approached, nudged her shoulder, and gestured her away to speak freely.
"What is it?" she asked Oldest-Knower once they were on their own.
"Alpha said he will talk to Second-Fighter and tell him that if anything bad happens to you, he will know that Second ordered it. You should be safe to live in your cave after this."
"Good."
She hoped that it would be that simple, that the past could be forgotten and ignored, but it felt like it would not be. A part of her might always remember being threatened in her own cave. Hopefully not though.
"I suggested that the pair from Lone-Tree-Pack join our pack instead of the future pack."
Oldest-Knower huffed in approval, "Good. We will welcome them as long as they work, which they will."
She saw someone weaving their way through the crowd toward her, so she hopped to her paws and went to greet her. She held in the snarl, wanting to get some answers before showing her anger.
"Skadi, how are you?" Red cheerfully asked.
What was hiding behind those eyes? She had never truly tried to touch life-fires and liver-thoughts with any of her friends. She had preferred to trust them and get to know them through experiences and time in shared-flights.
That had not worked well at all.
"I am well now. Do you want to talk on our own?" she calmly answered.
"Yes, I do."
They walked a short distance away from everyone but still in sight.
"He told me what you said. You tricked me, saying that you and Alpha were not joining!" Red chuckled.
"I lied."
Red smirked, "Yes, you did. I did not think you could do that. But why did you not come with to the new pack? You could change your mind."
"I lied to Second."
"What?"
It was much easier to keep the anger hidden underneath and repressed now, almost as if that anger was permanently buried within. She had practiced a lot since her first talks with Oldest-Knower. Suppress emotion and feeling, hide it inside, and use it sparingly like wood to toss on a small fire.
"I never joined with Alpha, and I know what you tried to do to me."
Red looked truly confused and even warbled in surprise, "Skadi, what are you saying?"
"You tried to push Blue to mate me when I was asleep long ago. I know why you did that. You wanted me out of the way and no threat to you."
Something flashed in Red's eyes for a single wingbeat. That look was too quick to tell what it was.
"So what game were you playing?" Red asked in a voice that was a little different, with a faint threat in it.
If only such threats would hold wind against her.
"You used me almost from the first time we met. Why? Did I wrong you somehow?"
Red shrugged, "Since we are speaking freely now and I am an Alpha, yes, I was using you to learn more and rise the pack-order. That is normal. What is the problem with that?"
"What is the problem with wanting to kill a good Alpha who helps the pack? What is the problem with using others as... things to chew on and throw them away when they are chewed on and not needed anymore?" she growled.
Red rolled her eyes and leaned closer, "Ha! You are older than me, but I understand more about how life truly is. The place of Alphas is the best place because it has power. The pack only is to serve the Alphas."
"False. The Alphas serve the pack."
"And that is what those who are not Alphas must be told to think. Life is a game. You win, get power and keep power, or you lose and have nothing. Any time you gain power, someone else loses power. I and my mate won the game. We have a pack and power. What do you have?"
Honor? Integrity? Loyalty? Some vague sense that she did the best thing? Best for whom? Prevented suffering? Did any of that benefit her?
She was not sure what to say.
"My point exactly," Red continued, "you have nothing. No hope of a mate or egg and no way to rise the pack-order. And you were also wrong earlier when you said that I would use you and throw you away. I did want you to accept the offer and be another mate to him. We could have shared power as his favored mates. Enjoying him together would have been fun."
"I would never want that false interest or let a male use me like that," she growled softly.
Red rolled her eyes and looked almost disappointed, strangely enough, "Let me give you some life advice. You are not reaching out to take power when you could. You are only making yourself weaker by using everything you can about yourself. It is easy to get power over males, if you know what to do."
She snarled at how wrong that sounded, even if there was some truth that mating could be used in that wrong way. Red certainly used her body like that, and Second-Fighter had been planning to use mating for similar reasons.
"Since we are giving life advice, let me tell you that your mate tried to force-mate me. He only did not because I tricked him."
"Well done. See, you have it in you after all. Males are easy to trick," Red chuckled.
That is what Red thought about what happened? That it was just a game to her? Did she not even care that he almost forced her?
She calmly exhaled, "I do not know what you see in him except a way to rise the pack-order, but what do you think will happen to you when he does not need you anymore? When he has other mates he claims as his own? What happens if you say something he does not like or if he just does not need you anymore?"
"He would not hurt me like that. We understand each other. He was only trying to persuade you," Red objected.
She stepped away from Red while being glad that she could see a little wariness in Red's gaze. Maybe that was a spark of doubt.
"Tell yourself that. You might even believe it. You said that you won the game because you are Alphas now. I suggested to Alpha that he make this pack-split so there is no fighting and dying. We did not know how many of the pack would follow you and Second. You are only an Alpha because I allowed it," she finished with a whisper.
The mixed anger, confusion, and surprise on Red's face was all she needed to see. She turned tail on her and calmly walked back to the rest of the pack as the conversations continued. She did not glance back over her tail; she was not afraid of any type of attack on her, not now in the open where everyone could see.
But she did not care to mingle or speak with anyone who was leaving. Everything was peaceful and calm with no open violence.
So few of them, the normal light wings, even had an idea how much was lurking under the surface of peace in the pack. For them, this was a new ceremony that could be followed when a pack is too big or finds a new and good range that needs filling. They would never know that violence against their own had barely been avoided. How had that been avoided?
The stinging-tail hunter-kin that would have killed First-Fighter had stumbled and not killed him. His death would have left Alpha with less protection. The two other Fighters who followed Second would probably have helped him kill Alpha somehow, maybe with the disloyal She-Far-Fliers helping. Maybe they would have asked Alpha to go help them on a flight somewhere, only for there to be an accident. She could not know anymore what the plan had been.
She was too weary to do much of anything now. Abandoning herself to sleep was all that mattered, so she took flight and flew for her cave.
While there was a lot of good, since there was no open fighting, this outcome also felt very false and wrong. Those who were planning to kill and take power got power anyway without needing to kill. They played a game that she had not been playing.
And they did win, regardless of how they got there. Well, they won if winning was the same as getting more power. Influencing others and plotting got them more power and a pack of their own. That did not feel good or how life should be, but that was how life truly was. Life was not fair, and she had to learn to live in the world that was.
Red's hurtful words were so true.
She had done what she thought was right by turning down Red's and Second-Fighter's offer, so why did it feel like she had lost and gained nothing from doing what was good and best for everyone else?
"Skadi! Are you there?" an indistinct voice called out.
She blearily woke up on her sleeping-rock, got up, and stretched, slightly wary of who that voice was. All she could tell was that it was a male.
"Who is it?"
"Alpha! May I enter your den?"
He asked before entering her den. Second-Fighter had just trotted in without any care or respect.
"Yes! Please!"
He strolled inside and sat down just inside the mouth of her cave. He looked around in apparent approval as she approached him.
"This is a good cave," he purred.
"It reminds me of the one I hatched and fledged in. Good memories."
He grumbled, "I would not want to remember the one I hatched and fledged in. Not good memories. The new pack has flown away, and I told Second-Fighter that any hurts against you I would blame on him and punish him for. He and I made an understanding that you are not to touched by him or any in his pack no matter where you are."
That was very reassuring. For his own good, Second-Fighter would certainly want to avoid breaking that agreement.
"Thank you, Alpha."
"I also agreed to let the pair from Lone-Tree-Pack join us. He will talk to First-Fish-Hunter, and she will talk to First-Plant-Grower about pack-roles."
"Good."
He stared at the wall of her cave, "I still do not know what I did wrong to turn others against me."
"Nothing. Others will be rotted. You cannot help that."
"Maybe not, but I will change this pack so that I am never threatened again!" he growled.
That was good of him. Preventing challenge and dissent would help keep the peace in the pack and prevent death and fighting.
He sighed while looking at his paws, "I want to do something for you. One, you could take back your old place as leader of the She-Far-Fliers who are still here. Second-She-Far-Flier asked if you wanted to lead them again. Do you want that?"
Part of her wanted that opportunity. Giving up that place of power and influence to Red had proven to be a mistake the first time and was something she had been tricked by Red into doing. On the other paw, Second-She-Far-Flier appeared to have good thinking as a leader and had not followed with those leaving the pack. There was no need to take back that role as flight-leader anymore.
Further, she herself had nothing truly to gain from taking back that role or even being part of it. She was not going to impress any males here, and even the idea of them showing her attention or interest felt somehow fouled after what she saw from Second-Fighter.
"No, I do not want that role. Second-She-Far-Flier can have it and be the First."
"I will tell her. The other offer I have is more twisted, almost, after what just happened with the pack and with you and Second-Fighter."
"What is it?"
He shuffled on his paws until he finally looked up at her, "I heard the truth from Oldest-Knower. Second threatened you. You asked me before if I would try to make an egg with you, and I said that I would not because you remind me of my lost fledgling. Maybe you do still remind me of her in some ways, but you are not her or my life-water kin. I would be willing to do that for you, if you still want it."
He did nothing threatening or tempting. Neither did he look hungry or taken with wanting. No, this was only a fair offer. He was apparently willing to ignore that custom of not mixing with a different kin, probably out of gratitude to her for saving his life and place as Alpha.
What to make of that offer? There was no reason to doubt that he would be respectful to her while doing everything he had to do to make an egg.
But that did not change her thoughts from last time. Making an egg and having a hatchling without its sire-father in its life was wrong and bad for the little one. Sharing a mate with other females was not a life-way she wanted. Maybe Alpha's pair of mates did not care about that mate-sharing, for whatever their reasons may be, but she was not like them. They were free to live how they wished.
On the other paw, he was good to both of them. Further, he was kind and warm as a sire-father to his current fledgling. However, the idea of a male being with her for any reason was not something she wanted to think about at all. Second-Fighter had fouled that interest for now. Maybe she would want that attention much later, but not at the moment.
She bent her head toward him with a soft purr, "Is there not a... problem doing that for me? What about your two mates? What do they think?"
His tail tapped at his side, "I am good to them, and they have my liver, in their own ways. One of them was hurt by the last Alpha, and they know that I will not hurt them or neglect them or the young I have with them. I have not been with anyone other than them. You and me would be making an egg only. Unless you wanted to be a Third-Mate of mine. I could allow that, even if customs would be more of a problem."
That was another type of offer. It did not change that she still had a problem with the idea of mate-sharing, but she was sure that he was being genuine in the offer. Or maybe he was only trying to secure loyalty in another way. Maybe he was trying to trick her, though far more warmly and kindly than Red and Second-Fighter had.
She sighed, "My thanks for the offer. I thought much about wanting an egg, and I do not want an egg or hatchling. I also do not want to be an Alpha-Mate. I am… happy enough with my life-flight as it is."
"Very well. Know that you have the offer from me, if you ever change your thoughts."
"I am very sure I will not, but I will let you know."
He purred to her and left her alone in her cave. She bounded back to the still-warm sleeping-rocks and curled up on them to return to sleep.
So much had happened to the pack in the last few waking-cycles, almost all for the better. The peace in the pack had been saved as had several lives. She had important roles in all the good that happened and the suffering avoided.
All for the pack. For others.
Always for everyone else.