Hopefully for one of the leaders of JS, though if they're too busy then it's open to anyone.

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The massive male didn’t know what he was doing here, really. Jaded Shadows had no direct connection to him. He had no family here (aside from a possible connection though one of his adopted daughters), and he had no friends within this pack either. But perhaps that was what compelled the Alpha of Storm to finally stop putting off this much-needed venture. He was now the representative of Storm, the embodiment of the welfare and goodwill of the entire noble pack. It was his duty to forge friendships on their behalf and understand the political landscape of the entire valley for their safety.



Politics. It was a word that haunted Phoenix almost every night, a concept that he needed instant mastery of despite his little to no previous experience with it. Already he had nearly bungled the fragile relationship between Storm and Inferni, though that was more the fault of their leader’s blood thirst in his mind. Phoenix was not the kind of wolf to shrug off blame (quite the opposite) but in this case he really did apportion the fault to Gabriel. He wondered if the jealous mate still held a vendetta against him for finding him sitting next to his Faolin. He could only hope that she had explained things to him. The last thing Phoenix needed at the moment was another thing to worry about.



He lingered at the borders for a few minutes, not sure if he was welcome or not. But he was here on an official capacity, for the most part. He wanted to meet the leaders of this pack since he still didn’t know who they were now that Mordulin was gone. Tayui’s scent was on the borders, but the first and last time they’d met both had been mere gammas. Had she climbed the ranks as he had? Taking a seat politely, Phoenix finally bent his head back and howled to announce his presence. As he waited for someone to respond he tried to settle the twisting of his gut. He still wasn’t used to all this.

The cold never bothered Phoenix. Even though he didn’t look it his maternal heritage was that of an arctic wolf, and his mother’s physical hardiness served him well, as did his thick dark coat. In fact he even preferred this time of year, since summer was usually unpleasantly hot for him. Perhaps he could have chosen a better day to do this, weather-wise, but he was tired of procrastinating. Besides, the weather seemed to fit the mood of his reign so far: unstable, chaotic, even gloomy. After all, he’d already lost three of his children since becoming alpha, the most recent having left to look for his sister a couple days ago. He’d nearly started a war with that lunatic Gabriel. So, yes, a storm was brewing—perhaps in more ways then one.



The small female that answered his call was not Tayui, which potentially made his job harder. Of course, this also left him with a chance to make a good first impression, something that he and Tayui were already past. He stood motionless as the female scanned him and he returned the gesture. She obviously couldn’t have usurped control of the pack by force, not that any pack around here would tolerate such a tyrannical form of leadership. Phoenix was the largest and strongest member of Storm, almost brutish in appearance, but he led his pack only because they wanted him to, not because he desired the role.



At least he could outwardly take the authoritative stance of an alpha, hold his head high and look like he knew what he was doing for those who didn’t know him better. It helped that half the pack was family now. His first adopted daughter Dierdre and her mate (and his best friend) Pilot, his own mate Iskata and his young children constituted a large fraction of Storm. “Good day t’you,” he began, perhaps a but too formally, “I’m Phoenix, th’new alpha of Storm. I heard there was a power change in Jaded Shadows as well, an’ I figured it was high time we got to know each other.”

So this was the Fatin that Phoenix heard so much about. Obviously she had been around much longer than he and had time to make a bigger impression on the lands; Phoenix’s own legacy was just getting started. His own adopted daughter had mentioned her several times as her grandmother; did that make them kin of some sort? Right now they were just two alphas, (hopefully) reestablishing whatever alliances their predecessors had. Not that Storm ever really allied itself with anyone; neutrality was the rule for the Storms of generations passed and he hoped very much to carry on that tradition. But he had yet to learn what Jaded Shadows’ (and by extension, Fatin’s) stance was on anything and such information could become useful.



When she mentioned Gabriel he flinched nervously, and the bruises he received from the other seemed to swell and ache once again. What had happened wasn’t his fault, it was all a misunderstanding on Gabriel’s part and Phoenix couldn’t be blamed for defending himself, but he doubted the madman saw it that way. All Phoenix really knew for sure at this point was that he wanted nothing to do with him or that murderous clan if he could help it.



He didn’t know quite what to say when she began proclaiming the virtues of his predecessor. Was she merely being polite, or did she genuinely respect him? Phoenix knew him better than her and at the same time he didn’t know what to think of Gibraltar. He had forged an alliance with Inferni, yes, but at the cost of one member who had been around longer than anyone. And he had run off, unceremoniously dumping the job on Phoenix at the worst conceivable moment, right before his children were born. He had once looked up to the male as his hero, but now the pedestal had crumbled. “Thank you,” he said politely, trying oh-so-hard to play the politic game and be cordial no matter what. “Mordulin was a good friend of mine. She gave me advice when I needed it, really helped me through some tough times. She’ll be missed.” That part, at least, was genuine.

Originally Phoenix had pitied Deirdre because neither of her parents had taken any interest in her. Deuce wasn’t a very good mother, true, but at least for all her ineptitude she was still trying. The same couldn’t be said for Deirdre’s deadbeat dad, who’d run off soon after her birth. Phoenix despised wolves like that, wolves who took for granted the very thing had had grown up without and pined for his entire life. The massive male hadn’t even realized that he had become Deirdre’s father, replacing Thanos, until she was already an adult. But by now she was truly a member of the family Phoenix was building… the oldest of his children, and hopefully the first of many to come.



Phoenix was not trying to be maliciously deceptive. He was merely trying to act how a good alpha should act: stoic, unshakeable, yet bold. The only thing was trying to cover up was his own self-doubt. He didn’t exactly know what was expected of him from the other alphas—obviously they had to know each other, but was there anything else? He felt as if he was back to his first days living back amongst his own kind, only this time the stakes were higher. He didn’t know how to act or what was expected of him, yet admitting his inexperience and showing vulnerability was inconceivable. Better to pretend he knew what he was doing and learn as he went.



He was surprised to hear this wolf call Mordulin mother. She seemed to lack the warmth he’d sensed from the elder alphess the night they’d first met, but then he didn’t know Fatin. He’d heard enough contradictory information about her to be unable to form a solid opinion yet. Strange that a wolfess could harbor a rapist in her pack such as Lucifer and trust him around her children, yet hold such malice towards another wolf he had accidentally hurt adolescents that had attacked him while trying to protect another wolf. Skoll was not a monster. The real villains were the ones who would attack a pack for no reason and drive them from their home. “I… well… I jus’ wanted t’meet you, I suppose,” he answered, caught off-guard from her abruptness. Perhaps in the future it would be wiser to employ Deirdre as a messenger to this pack. She was probably more welcome here than he. “If Storm an’ Jaded Shadows ever have any dealings, it would make more sense for its leaders to be familiar with each other b’forehand.” Oh, how he hated his job.

Perfection was never a virtue Phoenix claimed to have—quite the opposite was true. He was all too aware of his foibles. Any creature who thought itself perfect was deluded, possibly even insane. They were a society of flawed being trying to deal with each other’s imperfections, and sometimes those faults collided violently. Ultimately, though, a wolf (or coyote) was judged by those he (or she) associated with. Phoenix did not tolerate murderers or rapists in his company… Skoll was not the most cordial guy to hang out with, yes, but he had a sense of honor and decency. Sometimes that bullheaded sense of right and wrong got him into trouble, but he ever harmed anybody that didn’t have it coming to them already.



Phoenix remained quiet as she spoke, describing each leader in the Bleeding Souls valley. Her use of the word my in describing Phasma piqued his interest but he showed no sign of it. So this was probably where she had been tainted against his friend. What surprised Phoenix about her most was her willingness to trust the leader of Inferni over him. Phoenix had never killed any of her pack-mates, had never driven her from her home. In fact it was quite the opposite; he’d befriended and helped many members of Syemv, and after that disbanded he offered her a new home in his pack. He was beginning to feel like he couldn’t trust anybody that was not a member of his immediate family. It was not a healthy attitude to have, but when dealing with the other packs he’d found the one wolf he thought could back him up actually stabbed him in the back.



And so it came. Phoenix had been hoping to avoid this topic of discussion, but it seemed he’d been hopelessly optimistic. Skoll was his friend but he was beginning to grow weary of defending him, of having to repeat the same rhetoric over and over again. Lifting his chin defiantly, he decided to take another approach. “Excuse me… have you ever even met Skoll?” he asked. “You shouldn’t pass judgement on somebody til you’ve met ‘em. I know him t’be a decent an’ honorable wolf. Little rough ‘round the edges, yeah. Has a knack for getting’ himself in trouble, yeah. But everyone should have a chance t’tell their own side of th’story ‘fore other wolves take up arms against ‘em. ‘Specially when th’ones malignin’ (he’d been looking for an excuse to use that word since learning it) him are murderers an’ pirates themselves.”

He was beginning to see that Gibraltar had been in a no-win scenario before. But even though Skoll had deserved some form of punishment, exile was still extreme in his mind. Storm had to remain neutral in other packs’ affair, and Skoll had broken that chain. Unfortunately, neutrality also meant that they could not step in and prevent an evil if they saw one being committed. It was a burden on each alpha’s soul, but it was the lesser of two evils. Once again Phoenix remembered that life was about balance. Evil could not be prevented, just given as wide a birth as possible while trying not to make eye contact.



And of course the use of his daughter to make a point in defense of her rapist made his control slip, if just for a moment. So, they were both creatures of double standard… but where Fatin was focused merely on the physical body, Phoenix, being a psychic, concerned himself with the emotional. “You call rape a minor slip?” he said, a chuckle warbling in his voice as if it was humorous. “Deirdre ran away from home afterwards. Thought she was worthless, th’one at fault. You may be a healer of bodies, but I can look into another wolf’s soul. Her body may have been a’right, but her mind took a lot longer t’heal.” And a body was nothing without a soul for it to house.



Phoenix shook his head. This female had already made up her mind, and he had already made up his. One could not be blamed for accidentally harming children when the so-called children were trying to kill him. And going back to the lesser of two evils reference, Skoll was definitely such when compared to Inferni. “He may’ve ‘almost’ killed children as you say, but th’member of Inferni actually killed some when they decided they wanted Syemv’s land. All for a stupid house. But I can see there’s no point talkin’ ‘bout this any further. You’re mind’s made up, an’ so is mine.” Where did that leave them, then? At a standstill, certainly, but he also did not want to make an enemy out of the pack’s alpha. “I’m sorry. I didn’t come here lookin’ for a fight, but I don’t like t’hear my friends bein’ badmouthed.”

Fatin had not been present when Skoll had exiled Gibraltar, but Phoenix had. Gibraltar had not originally intended to ban Skoll, but when the older wolf began to mouth off, Gibraltar let his own emotions get the better of him as well. Both had been brash and null-headed that day, and a lot less civil to each other than Phoenix was trying to be with this self-righteous female before him. Had both wolves been a little more level-headed then Skoll might never have left Storm. Phoenix did not disagree with the punishment; he disagreed with the extremity. And he had been willing to reaccept Skoll (on certain terms, of course) only because he felt that his friend had done his time and learned a lesson.



It was a shame that no one else could see it that way or trust his judgment. Not that he could rightfully expect them to, since he was the new guy. As a Gamma and Beta, he’d been mostly an internal leader, dealing with the internal affairs within Storm while Gibraltar took care of the outside world. In hindsight he should have paid more attention and tried to take on more challenges. But he hadn’t expected to become alpha for a very long time yet. After learning to doggie-paddle in the river he’d been thrown into the ocean and told to scuba-dive. It was a miracle he hadn’t drowned already.



But Phasma… her betrayal hurt him the most. She should have come to him with her concerns. That was why he had asked her to be his gamma, to help guide using the experience she had and he lacked. Instead she had said nothing and run off to the coyotes and Fatin, telling everyone what a screw-up he was. And he was a screw-up. But all he’d wanted was to help a friend.



For this one last time, Phoenix sat patiently and listened to the woman rant on. Her disparaging remarks about his telepathy bothered him to no end. He shouldn’t have brought it up. The telepath had never (intentionally) violated someone else’s mind. He tried to use his ability to help other wolves. Instead, others like him who mishandled their abilities got him categorizes as a monster alongside them. Well, he might be a monster, but he was not the only one in Bleeding Souls. “You think I want trouble?” he asked, rolling his eyes. “All I wanted was t’help a friend a’mine out. No one is innocent in this matter here, no one. You’ve chosen th’side of one set a’monsters; I’ve chosen mine. I don’t want t’see this matter come t’conflict, but th’best I can hope for is a stalemate.” Shaking his head, Phoenix got up. “I have t’return to my pack. I came here in goodwill, looking for a friend. It seems, though, that ain’t what I found.” Nor, he hoped, had he found an enemy either. “Good day to you, ma’am. I hope that if we ever must meet again, it’s on more pleasant terms.” And then he left.