Alula

The night you arrived, as the pack is settling down after a good meal, Alula--the alpha's mate, the beta, the-second-in-command-- approaches you. Her lively eyes shine brightly as she gazes down at you.

"Heya there Traveler! Why don't you come walk with me? I know you still have some questions about our pack traditions."

You stand up as Alula leads you outside the cave, having to crouch down as you exit the small entrance. You can tell she knows the landscape of the territory well, her worn pads having toughened up from the continuous exploration of the territory on her scout duties.

After you've walked in silence for a while she glances at you, "When our pack pups grow large enough to fend for themselves-- and are done with training, they have the option to go off on their own and leave the pack," she seemed to shrug, "Not like we can make them stay anyways-- the best we can do is make sure they're prepared to leave."

"It's always sad to see them go, though. Some of my denmates I haven't seen since they left. But I'm sure they're all okay wherever they are now." She looked a bit solemn, but then quickly bounced back, lightening the mood back up.

"What do you think of Nova so far, by the way? She's not always so uh...wordy, it's only with wolves she's never met before. First impressions matter a whole awful lot to her, I would know." She laughs.

"Hm?? You want to know more about training for pups? Well, usually when they're old enough to go into training, they get trained in a bundle of different ways. They get some scout training, some hunter training, a little bit of everything so that they know where they want to be-- some wolves have turned down the offer to become scouts y'know! So instead they get a "Senior Hunter" or "Lead Hunter" role instead, since they have already proved themselves to the pack." She continues to pad along, yawning. It was definitely getting late.

"Have you met Flare yet? She's Cyra's mother-- she came here with her before Nova even became Alpha! Flare became a scout after a while, since she juggled parenting Cyra and going on frequent hunting trips." Alula stopped in her tracks for a moment, sitting down for a small rest, encouraging you with a friendly smile to sit down with her.

"Cyra had the option to become a scout like her mother eventually, but she turned it down because it just wasn't her thing. So now she's one of our Lead Hunters. Flare isn't a scout anymore, by the way. She suffered an injury a while back after falling into a gorge, so she's our pack herbalist now."

"Oh, and before we start heading back-- we don't do dominance battles in our pack. They undermine our infrastructure, and we just settle disagreements peacefully if any come up-- they can be quite frequent with our hunters since they work together the most."

"Our alpha? Oh-- well typically they'll just step down and pass the role on to their youngest kin--ah, well kin who's an adult of course. If they die unexpectedly, typically the Beta will take over instead, since a family argument could be started over who steps up. The funny thing is-- the alpha before Nova was actually my father, but since he uh-- disappeared one day, Nova took over. The beta always has to be named within the half-moon, and she decided on me, of course. Since we were mates prior."

After a while, you both made your way back to the caves and you finally got a good rest.