This had been a tough decision for me. It had been even more difficult actually watching them leave, and begging my paws not to follow. Mom and Mum had gone, and I wasn’t sure about Los or Mana. For the first time I felt well and truly alone. All my life I had felt like the odd one out, like my siblings were close and I wasn’t tough enough to be part of the gang. At times I had even felt like Mum didn’t think I was as fit to be called strong. But now the reality of what being alone really was sunk in. I did my best to shake off the feeling and remember that this was my chance to prove them all wrong, to show them that I had a different sort of strength. I might not be all brawn like Los or Mum, but I had long lean legs and I could run faster than any of them – well, most of the time. But I had been practicing my hunting, and it was the skill that I brought to the table.

Having not ever really known Tesseract, the thought of a new alpha did not really disturb me. Instead, it made me nervous. This was an opportunity to start fresh and prove my worth. So when I had heard his call, summoning the remnants of the pack to him, I hadn’t gone straight towards him. I was along the shoreline, near the southern corner where sand began to give way to rocks. I remembered the incident from my first winter when I had almost fallen into the icy torrent of waters below. Mum had saved me that day, but I no longer needed saving. I had stayed behind when the rest of my family had left, and I could take care of myself. I would prove that to the alpha, and myself, today.

I jogged along the shoreline where sand and rocks mingled, casual and carefree. There were plenty of birds all around, squawking and making their obnoxious noises. I turned my ears backwards against the raucous sounds. Hunting birds was not easy, but the thing about them was that they were prideful prey and I had learned that if they didn’t think I was a threat they became overly confident. So I moved along with my head lifted as if I hadn’t a care in the world, but all the while I watched out of the corner of my eye for the perfect target. My first lunge left my jaws clicking on empty air, but I brushed it off as a feigned attempt and kept moving, letting the birds relax once more from the upheaval. I was a little disappointed and knew I didn’t have much time left to waste. If I was too late to the pack gathering bringing a fresh kill along might not really do much to help my image. I turned back the way I had come from, and as I pivoted I lunged again, this time trapping the leg of a sea gull between my teeth. His wings flapped vigorously, swatting me in the face but I yanked backwards and pulled him to the ground where I promptly pushed a paw into his chest. Releasing my hold on his leg my jaws flashed to his neck and snapped it. Pride welled in my chest and I delicately picked up the bird, hardly a mark upon him and no blood drawn. It was the perfect prize to offer to my new alpha.

I took off at a lope, hoping the meeting was not yet well under way and that I would cross the distance quickly. When I spotted the large dune and saw the form of at least one wolf beyond it, I suddenly stopped and set the bird down. Drawing my paws over my ears and face, I tried to smooth out the fur and rid myself of any feathers that might have gotten caught there during the bird’s short-lived struggle. Unfortunately I did not realize that a single white feather protruded from behind my ear to the side, but hopefully it looked intentional.

Picking the bird up once more I trotted around the dune with ears forward, doing my best to exude the confidence I wanted to show. A new ruler meant a new hierarchy, and I meant to find myself a place high amongst it. Of course, when I was met by the sight of another wolf standing before the evident new alpha with a seal pup in her jaws my stomach dropped. I did not pay close enough attention to realize she’d not killed the thing herself or that it was at least a few hours dead; I was just devastated that my bird would pale in comparison to the seal. My ears pulled back for a moment in embarrassment, but then I took a deep breath through my nostrils and lifted them once more. I lowered my head enough to be respectful, yet keep the gull from dragging in the sand. Approaching the new leader, I sought his gaze before placing the bird at his paws. Backing up a few steps and glancing sideways at the black and white female who had brought the seal, I stopped when I stood among the other wolves present. “I am Alcmene,” I said, introducing myself with an additional nod of my head. Now I could only hope that he was pleased with what I had brought him, and that my goals and intentions within the pack were self-evident; even if my bird wasn’t as good as what the girl who stood so close to him had presented.