CHANGE COMES LIKE THE TIDE

Qanik lifted her head at the call but for a moment could not bring herself to move toward it. So much had happened these last couple seasons, the elder did not feel like she could get her balance before the next hit. Flamesong's disappearance, then his reappearance, then her encounter with the wolf during her heat, seeing Flamesong at the last meeting looking like he was twice her age rather than younger, that disastrous last meeting with its unexpected show of nepotism in the form of the Armada Roman had brought from outside the pack to be the beta, but worse the threat of war - the knowledge that Roman had been about to bring them to war on the basis of paranoia and a single wolf trespassing, that she had not seen fit to consult Qanik or even to let her know out of courtesy despite the rank Roman had given her, that Roman had so lacked trust in her that she would keep such important things from her - a war barely averted by Shay's timely arrival with news of Covari's dissolving. She was tired nearly to the point of tears, her emotions were bruised, and all she'd wanted to do since that meeting was sleep.

But she levered herself to her heavy paws to make the short trudge through the redwoods to where Roman had called. Much of the pack had already arrived, and rather than bring herself into the spotlight - the thought of which made her stomach knot up nearly painfully - she remained at the back of the pack, lingering out of their line of sight as she seated her achy body with a soft sigh. So this was what getting old felt like then.



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