As had become very typical for the diminutive dame, she'd taken to tracing the pack's borders. Fallen Tree Cove was her home, and even if Des hadn't taken to many of the pack members outside of the alpha herself, she saw no reason to abandon the group or shirk her self-assigned tasks. Becoming a scout was something that she wanted…that she wanted. No one told her this was something she had to do, or even that she'd be good at it, but it wasn't stealing. It wasn't from her past, and there was something very revitalizing about that.

Perhaps more importantly, every time the wolf felt unquiet, she could put the itch in her paws to a productive project rather than larceny. Marking the borders wasn't much, she knew, but adding strength to the territory would assist the leaders and allow them a little more time with their children. A bit here and there would add up, and they might never even know it was her, but it made sense to Desideria, and it was something that kept her busy every day. Even this day, in the chilly rain, she ducked her head and tracked the very familiar trail – the call summoning her startled the femme into a jump, head shooting up.

The voice wasn't immediately recognizable. The only folk she'd expect to call her was Kajika or Namid, and it did not belong to either. Still, it was familiar enough to belong to pack, and the woman turned abruptly, following the song to the source. She froze when she realized it was Anthem who'd called for her, ears sweeping back in concern as she bobbed her head and halted several lengths away. "Do you need something?"

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"I-- What?"

August eyes like saucers, Desideria stared blankly at the pack beta, mind as barren as her expression. It had been eons since anyone apologized to her, much less for something that could easily be spun as her fault to begin with. When someone sought to cavail her relentlessly, she had an entire bucketful of excuses and insults she could throw back to sway the blame or attention on her. But a friendly interaction, much less a remorseful one, through the subordinate into a place so foreign she momentarily forgot how to speak.

And everyone knew just how much the timber wolf liked to chat.

Blinking a few times, the female shook herself out, momentarily forgetting to slither near the ground in the presence of the unpredictable Anthem. "I-- Uhm. Thank you? I think," she murmured, mind racing as she wondered what on earth a normal wolf might say in such a situation. "Don't, uh…worry about it, I guess. No harm done." After all, it wasn't as if the stone gray male had caused her physical pain. The reprimand was a lasting impression, but not one that couldn't be altered with time and effort.

Which, apparently, was something Vespertio's right paw wanted. For the second time in just a few minutes, the flabbergasted female found herself speechless, head tipping to one side as she tried to determine what to say. "…you don't…have to fix anything. I dunno, you were just doing your job, I guess. I've been…scolded before, you know?" If to illustrate her point, Des wriggled what was left of her right ear. Corporal punishment had been a favorite among the wolves of Crow's Crossing. "Just…spooked. Yeah?"

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"…oh."

Desideria tried to school her skeptical look, though to little avail. In truth, she hadn't particularly cared for Primrose either (after all, she had mouthed off to the beta, despite the difference in their rank), but it had certainly sounded, to her at least, that the stormy male was equally as displeased with her display as he was the witch's temper tantrum. With her head tipped to one side, she allowed the other wolf to continue his speech – either he was a very good actor, or he was actually feeling a bit of remorse over their prior interaction.

His offer, however, cleared up a lot in the woman's mind.

For a moment, she only sat in surprise, mind reeling as she tried to comprehend what this meant. It was a very generous offer, for sure, but-- But information (unless it was about her missing siblings) was not something the desert dame often sought out. "You don't…you don't have to do that, you know? Your life is your own. Not really looking to…intrude, I guess."

Still, even if she wasn't horribly interested in looking on at Anthem's inner workings, the offer was still appreciated, and probably had some of the effect he was looking for. Some of the tension had started to drain away from the smaller female's body and her tail gave one single hopeful wag. "How about this? How did you become beta of Fallen Tree Cove?" she asked – hopefully, that wasn't prying too deeply into his past.

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"What? They left?" she asked incredulously, eyes wide at the revelation. It seemed absolutely bizarre to her that the wolves would leave such a resource-laden home – there was fresh water, and that attracted plenty of food. The pines provided shelter, and if the forest wasn't of your taste, one could always take shelter among the rocks. The notion was mind boggling, but it seemed Anthem had no more answers than what he'd already offered. Everything was beginning to make sense, she supposed. No wonder Vespertio and Namid both held him in such high regard – in a time of need, he refused to abandon them, and stepped into a role that demanded loyalty and responsibility. Not every wolf would be willing to do as much.

Tipping her head, the scout in training gave another small nod. The question was meant to simply not offend the beta for his offer, but turned out to be much more enlightening than she ever could have realized. Perhaps this was the reason he came across so harsh when they first met, so stern with her, so fierce with upholding the laws set down by their pair of alphas. "I think…fighting isn't the only way to earn a rank, you know? Vespertio clearly thinks highly of you, and Namid spoke well of you too, when we spoke." It didn't need to be said that she was griping, but perhaps it was important for the stormy male to know that the queen did take up the helm and speak in his defense. "Being there in no one else was, I think that means you earned the position. And you do a lot to uphold it, so…"

Desideria rolled her shoulder in a shrug as she trailed off, not sure where else to go from there. "You were there when the pack needed you, so now, as it grows, it's appropriate you hold that rank. Besides, hardly seems like Primrose pulls her weight as your opposite. Haven't seed hide 'er hair of her since that night, yeah?"

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