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I need to get back to camp. I calm down and start walking. I wag my tail, pretending my fit never happened. I speed up and walk in on the camp awake. "What did I miss?" I ask. I nuzzle Aekkiaros softly and sit down.

Luna growled as she stomped her paws on her bedding. She really didn't like the idea of wolves going off on their own to find a herb that might not even exsist. With a half-hearted sigh, she readjusted the dead leaf in her fur. She went outside and layed down on her favorite rock, gazing up at the sky.

The sun beat down on my black and white fur, making me relax more than intended, for I jumped when Nightingale nosed me. "What did I miss?" She asked, blinking warmly at me. For some reason, Nightingale's commanding presence often frightened me, but I tried my hardest to be happy and unafraid around her. But I try my best to avoid her. I sprang to my paws. "Uhm, hi, your Majesty! You've missed nothing, of course! I was just, uh, just going to go for a dip in the nearest pond! Yeah, that's right. I might hunt, too." I was so used to being alone, that sometimes other wolves' appearance made me fret fearfully. I was just about to bounce away when my Alpha's call stopped me in my tracks.

Luna went over to Nightingale. "I just wanted to let you know I was going on a hunt." She quickly readjusted the dead leaf in her fur and sprang into the forest.

Nightingale summoned me back as soon as I started stalking swiftly away. "Aekkiaros, get back over here. I need to talk to you. Look. I DO trust you, but you seem off. Did you get enough sleep?" My Alpha Female asks. "And do not call me your majesty. I am not ten yet. If you must, call me Alpha." I bow my head as I near her, hearing her words. "Yes, Alpha. May I call you Ma'am?" Nightingale looks at me quizzically but does not reply. "Yes, I had enough sleep," Although I had nightmares about Klondike killing Honey again, for the fifth night in a row. Perhaps you can be that gentle--NOT STERN--Alpha sometime, and I'll open up to you why I was a loner. I finish inside my mind, lifting my head from the bow. "Did you, Alpha? Did you get enough sleep?" I ask, my piercing light pink eyes eying her every movement almost judgementally.

"I got sleep." I gently avoid that it was not enough. "It is a stressful time for us all. And If I need to step down, I want to make sure you can step up. You can go back to what you were doing. I just wanted to make sure." I say. If she calls me ma'am.

"S-step down..? You mean, like, retire, Alpha?" I look at Nightingale in shock and dismay. She can't step down! How will I run the pack without her? The thought makes me dizzy with fear. Still shaken from my Alpha's words, I turn around and call over my shoulder. "Y-yes, Alpha, thank you. I'll go off, now.." I glance back, my eyes dark and watery with worry. Nightingale cannot die, and I cannot lead. There's no way that's possibly going to happen. Plus, I'm not the only Beta, right? Maybe I could ask some other wolf to take my place, but that would sound like I don't know what I am doing, and that makes me queasy with humiliation.

"Not retire, I just need a break, yell at some water. Tear up something. Just for a few days." I call after her as Aekkiaros walks away. I lay down and stare at the sky. I just told Aekkiaros that she is the acting alpha. Is she really ready?

I stop walking in my tracks and gaze at the ground. Just for a few days. How...how will I lead this pack? My heart races with ambition and excitement, but my mind searches for all of the possible answers--why does Nightingale need to take a break? Does she not know about my past? How does she know that I am capable and ready to lead this pack? Although the pack members are cooperative, they are still difficult because you have to memorize all of their personalities so that you know what missions to send them on. I feel that I will fail miserably, so I turn around to speak to Nightingale but a sudden thought struck me. What if Nightingale is not okay inside? I push the thought away--She told me that she was fine, so why worry now? Plus, my Alpha hasn't spoken an untrue word in her life. Right..?