Fel trotted out of the pack clearing at noon in a brisk jog. With her slowly aging body and bulky form, speed and agility required more effort to keep up to par. The determined fae had little else to do at the moment, so she would keep her body prepared for when her services as a moral enforcer of the Alpha’s law were needed. Fel wondered when that time would come and with whom. Surely, there could be a wolf arrogant enough defy Teren openly. There was Samael, but she figured the young brute was smarter than to throw himself away in an early act of rebellion. He would, if he had a brain in that thick head of his, wait until he was stronger to challenge Satan himself. Among the rest, there were very few wolves who showed resentment towards their Alpha. Tye seemed not to trust him, judging by his tone and words when asked about his pups. It seemed peculiar. Fel, as she picked her pace up to a lope, wondered what reasons he had for his defensive stance, and if it would ever grow into a more offensive behavior.

The surrounding trees eventually gave way to a seemingly endless moor. The demon’s nostrils flared, trying to scent any wolf or other creature whose presence may be found in her proximity, while her icy eyes searched the horizon. Once convinced that no one else was there yet, she went on ahead. Fel did not wish to disturb an Erenyx wolf’s hunt, after all. Her eyes darting to the scattered rocks and flat boulders, she located her next course. With a slight smirk of amusement, she turned her path straight towards them, picking up to a sprint. The raven-black paws pummeled the ground as she raced towards a medium-sized rock, and then the low sound ceased altogether for perhaps a second. With the precision of a mountain wolf, she landed on its fairly flat top, her paws only skidding slightly with the force of her mass. Upon coming to a stop, she launched herself again and continued in a zig-zag, focusing on landing on the smaller and more uneven boulders. Her transitions between landing and launching were pleasantly fluid. On her last jump however, the landing had been messier than she wanted. Her hind paw had slid off to the side, down the slope of the rock. With her three remaining paws she caught her balance, tipping the center of her weight in the opposite direction. She huffed, not entirely satisfied with herself, but had to admit that her performance was not bad at all. Fel quickly promised herself to return tomorrow morning to drill such landings. Hopping off of her rock, she strode back in the direction from where she had come. As she walked, her muscles gave a gentle ripple to her silky onyx coat. The tall fae would walk on to other territories, searching for more exercises along the way. It honestly did not bother her whether or not she saw other wolves, or perhaps predators of other species. Some wolves could be acknowledged, some would be ignored, and others, as well as the predators, would make for a wonderful combat skills practice.

Piper was out that day away from the commonalities of pack life. Her brothers were off with her parents training, Aspen had followed along with her mother and Ciro with her father as their trainers. Her little sister, however had yet to choose a mentor. She wanted to be a caretaker, but there was a lack of those here. Sighing Piper bounces along through the tall grass. She needed a mentor too, but wanted the perfect choice. She wanted a mentor to make her the best ever, the most bestest warrior in the pack. She wanted the respect, the power and the admiration of her peers. Thinking of this and knowing she was alone made the young fae puff out her chest and curl her tail high above her back. Her parents told her many times not to do this, but she had to practice for when she was Alphess or something.

Piper strutted about the field, her tail very high and her nose in the air. Closing her eyes she envisioned the crowds of adorning fans cheering for her great acts. Smiling she pranced higher, her tail curling higher and her nose up higher.

Pow!

Piper had run into something, or someone?

Hearing a disturbance in the peace around her, Fel paused in mid-step. Her ears flicked towards the light sound of someone approaching, and she put her raised paw down firmly onto the ground below her. In silence, she swung her great head around to see the other wolf. But what she saw was not a wolf, not by her standards. It was nothing more than an apprentice-sized pup, probably one that was born in the past spring. As she watched the cocky figure move, she remembered Teren’s words. There were indeed too many heaven-sent wolves in this pack. He was absolutely right. The young age of this creature only made the offense heavier in her opinion. Still Fel stood in silence… There was no reason to move just yet. The pup was not looking where she went and seemed to be lost in another world as she briskly, unknowingly, made her way over to the Beta. The onyx demon truly wanted to teach this child her place and bury that high-reaching nose into the soil, but she resisted the temptation for now. Instead, Fel tightened her muscles and let the naive fae run into her as one would into a rock wall. She waited for her to stagger back before turning her body towards her. Fel’s own tail, a long abnormality, flew over her back in an arc of authority. Her glaring, heartless gaze fell upon the apprentice, her voice hiding traces of a growl despite its smooth texture. “That is not the way to greet your Beta, young one.”

Piper shock off her fur, wriggling her nose at the dry grass and fur that was shoved up it. Just as she was about to snap a sarcastic remark at the wolf she identified herself as the Beta. Remembering what little she knew about submitting Piper flopped herself on the ground roughly and flicked her tail under her belly. In doing so she sent a dust cloud at her face and sneezed loudly. "Sorry Beta Fel I didn't see you. Though that was hard to do seeing how big you are in person. I want to be big like you when I grow up, how did you do it?" She chattered, looking up at Fel and smiling innocently at her. "Can I be beautiful like you too when I get old?" She said, not really insulting the Beta, but instead meaning when she was an adult. Mesmerized by Fel Piper rolled over into a sitting position and lolled her tongue out. "Sorry I ran into you again, I was out hunting, or trying to. May I ask what you were doing out here? Probably cool Beta stuff right?"

Fel watched the little display, picking up her paw to avoid it being sneezed upon once she noticed the contortion of the young one’s face. She opened her jaw to make a sharp retort, wanting to say that she should keep her damn eyes open next time, but the fae continued to ramble on. Once more Fel was reminded why she did not like pups and wondered why she had even decided to have any. Ah, yes. Love. She knew now, of course, that love was simply a psychological illusion of happiness in investing oneself in another wolf. Though some argued otherwise, she saw it as one of the weakest flaws… Right alongside being cocky or proud. Fel carried herself with the authority she was given and perhaps appeared proud, but in reality she was quite calm and simply there to do her job. What the job was in particular was left for her superior to decide. There was no real pride left in her, or anything really.

From her experience, she understood that pups could be nosy and energetic. They could also be respectful and focused, or weak and meager. The latter reminded her of her daughter, quite a pathetic excuse for a wolf. Fel would have wondered if she was still alive or not, but to what use? Besides, the weak do not last in the life of a loner. Alanoth and his emotional duplicate, she presumed, were dead. Thorin perhaps survived because of his righteous spirit and strong body. Nothing was for certain though...

Fel stared down at the fae, answering in her usual tone. “My sire was the alpha of a pack in the mountains. He chose the most appropriate female, and thus I am this large. My frame is genetic, and my physique is self-kept.” Her brow then quirked, slightly confused why she was being called beautiful in the next few idiotic compilations of words that spewed out of the fae’s little maw. With an even harsher edge to her voice, Fel thought it was necessary to get something straight. “There is no such thing as beauty in a wolf. Beauty is for flowers and rainbows, and if that is what you want, I suggest you join Helidos. What you want is strength, valor, and achievement. To go into battle, to fight alongside your packmates, and to emerge either victorious… or killed with honor in combat. To do what you think is right, and face the consequences regardless of what they may be, because you believe in your actions. That is what should matter to you, not physical appearance. The luster of my fur is fading, and my skin underneath is a patchwork of scars. Nothing about me is ‘beautiful’ and I do not care for it to be.” Fel waited for the words to sink in, but the pup continued on within a few moments. She craned her neck, lowering her head down to look at the now-seated creature. “Fae, you do not hunt with your eyes closed… Think of a better lie next time.” She huffed, sending a warm stream of air into the apprentice’s face. “I was here to practice my agility. With age, it requires even more maintenance. I am always doing ‘Beta stuff’, since part of that job is to keep everything and everyone in order… By whatever means necessary.” Fel withdrew her head, glaring down at the child once more. The dark wolf lowered her haunches to sit upon the ground, flicking her lengthy banner to curl around her paws. With a calmer voice, she continued, “Well? Are you going to introduce yourself? Or should I detach your tail and carry it back to camp for your mother to identify?”

Piper listened as the older fae answered her of her questions and statements. Her mind wandered only slightly as it mostly did at her age. It focused mildly of a bee in the distance, then a cloud that was oddly shaped before she blinked rapidly and focused once again on the Beta before her. Her words about only wanting power and strength hit home for the apprentice, who wanted nothing more in her life. She wanted to rise in the ranks, make a name for herself and truly be a contributing member of the pack, or its future leader someday. Sitting a bit straighter Piper made a harder attempt to listen and pricked her ears in interest. "Oh Beta Fel I want nothing more than what you speak of. I wish to outrank my parents someday, be someone others look up to with respect. I want to be the exception of what brutes think of faes, someone not to mess with. I want to go into battle with my pack mates and come out the victor, to learn to hunt and fight and most of all hold value to myself and others." She said, her voice sounding more mature and devoid of its original puppiness. Fel continued to speak and now contradicted her of her definition of beauty. Piper had to shake her head at this. "Forgive me Beta, but I must disagree with you. To me true beauty is an aura someone gets when true respect is given. You see you hold an air about yourself that makes others notice you in a light, that's what what you beautiful to me, not a pelt void of scar of aging grey hair." She said, smiling sheepishly at the compliment she gave the Beta.

Piper was then called out on her white lie and it made her ears drop in embarrassment. True, he wasn't hunting, but instead day dreaming of fame and power, but she was still sorry for the accident. Listening further she perked at what Fel was doing, keenly interested. "Oh wow that sounds very interesting, could I tag along with you? I promise I won't bother you or anything, I'll be very quiet. I'd love to watch you in action Beta. Forgive me, my name is Piper, daughter of Magnus and Chiara ma'am." She said, mentally kicking herself for not making the introduction sooner.

Fel listened silently to what the pup had to say. It seemed that the child was in awe of her, which was a peculiar sight. From prior experience, pups either feared her or obeyed her, so this display was foreign to the older wolf. Though there was something else that caught her interest. It was a kind of fiery spirit and determination in the young fae’s words and voice that showed promise. Perhaps she would grow up to accomplish great things, if raised and trained properly. The thought lingered in her mind, dancing near the edges of her consciousness even as the child stopped and continued on the new topic. Fel simply shrugged as a response, “Your opinion is interesting, but I suppose it is valid as well.” The topic did not really matter to her anyway. Beatiful… That was what Alanoth had called her. At least this time, the word had a bit more meaning behind it and was not rooted in stupidity and weakness.

Fel watched her from her seated position. Tag along? What was this, a show? Fel huffed as the pup yammered on, raising a brow when the child was identified at last. “Chiara’s offspring then… I’ve heard a bit about you and your siblings.” She shrugged, not spending time on the subject of the Guardian. Chiara was a fine wolf and a great asset to Erenyx; there was little else needed to be said. Returning to the more interesting topic, the beta continued, “No, you may not ‘tag along’ for now. I see no point in you watching me as it would be a waste of your time. There is little to be learned in combat and other skills necessary to be a successful wolf that could be gained through observation. Though what I can offer you, I suppose, is an apprenticeship. I could train you like my mentors trained me. But may you be warned, young Piper: my training is essentially nothing less than torture until the desired results are achieved. I give no sympathy and accept no excuses. Is that understood?” Fel’s words were spoken bluntly. If the apprentice were to choose her as a mentor, Fel would treat her with the same brutality as she would anyone else, giving no allowances due to the young age. Actually, she might even have to be harsher in order to drive away the pup-like behavior she still held.