“It was a nice morning. Good run. Nice woods.”
She laughed. “Word’s already out that you found three miserable boys walking the walk of shame.”
“The walk of shame?”
“Naked through the woods because they overestimated their ability to change back,” Stephen said.
He frowned. “People will really give them a hard time about that?”
“Nah.” Stephen shook his head. “It’s just what they’re feeling. They might get a little teasing from their friends, but that’s it.”
“It’s not altogether unusual,” Hillary added. “Part of growing up. Though, they were deliberately vague when they told Jason’s mom that they were going to run out to the river and go swimming. They knew she was going to assume they meant the pack swimming spot, not that they were going to find their own spot.”
Adam shook his head. “We only got back half an hour ago, and you already know everything?”
“The joys of pack life,” Hillary laughed.
“Sounds great,” Adam said with skepticism.
Stephen smiled. “It definitely has its upsides, I promise.”
They ordered their food and Adam resumed the conversation. “Alex says there’s talk about making a new pack in Arizona.”
Hillary frowned but Stephen nodded. “He told me wolves all across the country that are in the hierarchy, or ready to join the hierarchy, will do like a self-evaluation. Take a minute to look at their situation and decide if it’s time to consider a move.”
“But, nobody from here would leave, would they?”
Stephen laughed. “It’s not all about you, Larry, no matter how much Zach tries to let you think otherwise.”
She smacked him on the back of the head. Mildly.
“Okay, I guess I can see how people would want to evaluate. But we should be good here. I don’t think anyone is coming up to a power level where they might think hierarchy, and the current hierarchy is good.”
“Yeah, that’s what Alex said. But the way he explained it to me is think about how Molly and Travis are growing in power now that they’re mated. They’re strong, but you guys are stronger, and growing as well, so it’s not an issue. But if you’d topped out, which you will eventually, and they were still growing, getting closer and closer to your power level, you’d all start to evaluate. If this was years in the future and you were older than them, you might consider retiring. If not, they would need to consider where they could go.”
Hillary pursed her lips. “Okay, I guess I can see that. They would check to see if there’s another alpha out there that is ready to retire, but doesn’t have a strong enough first to take over.”
“Exactly.”
“And the possibility of a new pack has everyone taking a look at their situations,” Adam added.
“Right.”
“I thought Myra disbanded the pack, though. Why would she do that if there was just going to be another one?”
“I think her first priority was to find healthy and safe homes for all the current wolves, get that situated. But the territory itself still needs to be covered. Neighboring packs can divide it up, but then they have a lot of acreage to keep an eye on,” Stee mused.
“Alex said nothing can happen until there’s an alpha,” Adam said.
“I wonder if Myra has to approve someone. Or the National Council?” Hillary suddenly got a big grin on her face and looked to the door. Zach walked in and headed straight for them, his gaze locked on his wife.
Adam glanced at Stephen, who rolled his eyes as the two kissed hello.
“We were just talking about what’s going to happen in Arizona. If they want to form a new pack,” Hillary told Zach. “Would Myra have to approve an alpha?”
He stole her water and considered his answer. “Myra, or Marco, if it’s after next week. If she approved an alpha, it would be pretty much up to that person to gather a pack, though I imagine because of the situation, she would be more hands-on than normal. It would depend on who it was, really.”
Hillary frowned, so Zach continued. “Say you and I decided we were done with Idaho, and we thought Molly and Travis were ready to be alphas. If we went to Myra and said we wanted to be alphas of Mesa, she would probably approve and just ask us to keep her updated on who we accepted into the pack, especially any wolves from the original Mesa pack. She might make some suggestions, or ask us to consider some particular candidates, but that would be about it.”
