Having had an afternoon to spend with his wife, Nash had joined her in picking up their litter from his mother and helped her settle them for the evening. After promising to return and tell the kids a story if they behaved while he was gone, he slipped away to find his leader. Things were rough on the pack right now, with Al having left them. Nash felt eternally guilty; he should have been there to help him. He wished Al had called for his help. He wished a lot of things, and felt as though he'd failed his pack in allowing his friend and leader to be killed.

He'd been updating Oksana on his duties regularly; if not every day, then every other. He tried to take the time to see her and her pups as often as he could, but it wasn't as often as he would like. Thus, his visit this evening. "Sana?" he called softly as he approached her den, not wanting to disturb the pups if she'd already settled them down for the night.

It didn't take long for the crow to step into sight, clearly concerned as he approached. He let out a soft, ill-humored laugh. "As okay as it can be," he said. "Aquene and I left the kids with Mom for the afternoon and spend time just us... she's distraught of course; blames herself. I keep telling her she tried her best, but..." he trailed away, shaking his head. "I came to see how you're doing."

He didn't want to spill all of his and his wife's insecurities on the grieving widow. She had enough to deal with, and four children to raise and comfort - but not on her own. "You know mom thinks of your bunch as her grandkids as well?" he decided on.

It was a time of deep grief for the Cove; one they hadn't known for a long time - not since the matriarch Namid, Al's mother, had died. His parents had talked to him about it, told him stories about her. Now her son had joined her and the pack was mourning. Nash was no stranger to grief, but the grief of losing a dear friend was different to that of losing his own father. That these pups had lost theirs so young... would they even remember him when they grew up?

All Nash could do was offer a sad smile and nod. "I'll tell her, but... I don't know how much she'll listen. You know how she gets... but hearing it will help eventually, if we say it enough." Maybe it might convince him that he, too, was not at fault, even though he should have been there. He should have been by Al's side. If he had been, maybe his friend would still be alive.

Or maybe they'd both be dead.

Sana had carried on the conversation however, so Nash rolled with her. His ears pricked. A decision? "You know I will always support you," he said. "What have you decided?" He trusted her to lead the pack; she'd been doing a brilliant job, even in her grief. He wished there was more he could do to help her.

Nash no longer knew what to expect from day to day. Al's passing - or at least his injury - had been so unexpected, all sense of stability seemed to have bled from the pack. Between the lake's constant shrinking and the the paralleled shrinking of his pack, their home seemed almost more a prison than it ever had before. Not once did Nash think about leaving, however.

All that aside, whatever the guardian might have thought Oksana had decided, it wasn't that. He just stared at her for a long moment, processing. It wasn't until he started to speak that he realized his mouth had been hanging open. "You- you want me to lead with you?" he asked, voice cracking halfway through. "I'm- are you sure? I don't... I'm not very good at- at leading. I..."

He trailed off, mind and heart racing. If Oksana was speaking to him again, he didn't notice. There had to be someone better... but Chan was gone, and had made it clear when he'd been leading for Al before that he didn't like the job. He wouldn't come back only to be trapped like that again. Aquene was the next logical choice, as the other second, but she had her paws full with... everything she had. Leading would likely be one thing too much. Both his mother and Kajika had experience leading, but both were elderly, and everyone else was just a pup - or a yearling grieving their father.

And Nash had spent a lot of time doing things a leader might do. He'd felt inadequate before and turned out to do just fine.

"Okay." He swallowed and looked up at Sana. "Okay. I'll do it. I think Aquene would agree. I want to take care of my pack. You're all my family."

He was nervous and surprised by the offer, but once he'd agreed and Sana assured him she was sure, he felt himself settle a little, a new weight on his shoulders, but settled none the less. He was sure he'd be nervous the first little while, but if she was there to help him, and he had Aquene by his side...

Nash offered his leader a small smile. "I'll always do my best, you know that," he said. "I'm honored you trust me with this... by your confidence in me. And it was an honor. He'd grown up at this lake, spent years coming back in the hope that one day his family would return. He'd found them here at long last, and created a new pack, a new family, over the bones of the old. Now, with his friend and founding leader gone, he was being trusted with the future of that family.

There was no where else he'd rather be.