"I don't believe so," he had answered in regards to Attica's experience with those lesser canines. However, Sven wasn't naive enough not to acknowledge that his sister was old enough by now to have run ins and adventures he'd yet to hear about. The elder sibling, while protective, also wasn't in the business of outlining each and every boogeyman in the world that Attica would need to watch for, so he couldn't recall if he'd ever specifically warned her about coyotes before. She knew enough that the world as a whole was dangerous.
Then came the answer that Sven had waited for too long to hear. While his eyes and wriggling nose attempted to stay on trail, catching half a print here and the boundary of a scent cone there, his ears were finely tuned toward his superior's words. That Renier had wanted the position even before it had been handed to him was somewhat surprising to the boy who subconsciously only considered Archers the rightful crown bearers. But then, Angier had been a Lyall, and despite Sven's great qualms with the man and his leadership, he had never considered displacing the man until his father and then Nicolo had done so.
He had to wonder, which had Elettra herself preferred? Given the proximity of her death, the thought was cimmerian and he swiftly forgot it.
But these were all good things to hear, weren't they? Renier hadn't been stuck with the position, he had wanted it and still seemed to. He wouldn't roll over for the next wolf, sought what was in the pack's best interest... if only Sven possessed clairvoyance and could confirm that these things were not only true now, but would hold out no matter what the future threw at the Ridge. That was the issue, what the boy could not get over. He'd had faith in other wolves before, thought the mountains they faced perfectly climbable, and yet despite all their bravado they had walked away from the challenges instead.
Renier had already left once, to chase after a woman who had selfishly torn the pack apart and specifically abandoned him in the same fell swoop. He was only here now because she had rejected him, raised up Craw in the place he had wanted instead. Sven wanted to believe that wolves could change, that one mistake did not define them, that passions could be rearranged. He hadn't seen it before, however; only the opposite.
Then the alpha turned the question back on Sven, which the boy admittedly, and foolishly, hadn't been prepared for. He had to think a moment, and that was when he noticed the coyote's sparse tracks veering sharply, each dig of the snow by its smaller paws now clear and fresh. It had been here just recently, and taken off after something, if not from them. Sven picked up the pace and followed the lead.
"I wish it would stop changing. I've never even seen someone take a rank, I've just seen them get passed around because they're tired of the responsibility. I mean, Nonna deserved her retirement and Angier couldn't lead blind, but the rest of it..."
No one had yet to earn it. Maybe Sven was fooling himself in thinking that climbing the ranks, taking what he wanted was the same thing as that, but really it was all the boy could think of. And he certainly didn't feel there was time to wait around until the pack nominated him for it. Especially given history, it was likely that would take far longer than it might have for, say, Niles, and certainly Ravenna. But should he tell Renier of his aims? It felt sneaky, hiding it, but what if he was discouraged, seen as a threat? Perceived to have the same spineless 'ambition' as his father? There was risk either way, and Sven found keeping it quiet more comforting.
He could spare a little bit of the truth, though.
"I never wanted it as a kid," he told him. Despite all his father's talk of how superior their lineage was, of what all they deserved because of their name, Sven had never imagined himself sitting atop that thrown. His faith, in fact, had been in Skoll, for the longest time, and he would be his supporter, his enforcer. That, of course, had all gone up in smoke.
"I think maybe one day I might have to, though. If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself, and all that."
Sex: Male
![[Image: ps_sig_by_becuffin-dc2lwrc.png]](https://orig00.deviantart.net/18f8/f/2018/039/c/3/ps_sig_by_becuffin-dc2lwrc.png)
