Private Finished Chance meetings of a near reflection

Damn it, Tasha was right. That did make her something like a great-great aunt. Another older relative with claims to power over her - her favorite.

Still, Malina felt for Tasha. She didn't bear good news about the pack.

"I don't know what happened to your father, but he's not in charge anymore. I believe his brother took power after him, and he wasn't very good at it, I'm told. As for the fate of the pack - I think a good analogy would be, it ended up like the Holy Roman Empire. We still have what I could call our core, which is the pack I came from. That is like our Germany, in this analogy. But then there are bits and pieces which have become packs of their own or have merged with other packs. So... It's hard to say if your old pack really even exists anymore. The closest thing is the pack I left. And they're in Germany again, last I checked."

Malina raised her eyebrows a little, at that bit about it 'all starting with her.' Werewolf packs were normally like this, weren't they? Schisms and merges and all that every few centuries. It was a bit self-centered of Tasha to make this all about her, wasn't it?

But then again, Tasha was an Alpha.

Now it was time for Malina to talk about herself. "Well... let's start with the summary, I guess. My father was the alpha when I left, and he's probably been in charge for my whole life, if nobody's beaten him out yet. I set out on my own in the 90s, and I came here back in the aughts after some idiots attacked me and my hospital visit got those Starlight scouts asking questions. I decided to come here for a degree and a change of scenery. Now I'm a forest ranger. I live at the far end of the agricultural district."

Plenty of things Tasha could ask to hear more about, if she wanted. Or she could just go on about herself, which seemed more likely from Malina's perspective.

Malina downed the rest of her beer and ordered something stronger.

"Well, I used to be a man. Most people don't remember that sort of thing was becoming more accepted in Germany, before the Nazis moved in. Even with that, and with many of them knowing people who had done something similar, my family started treating me as a liability. My father acted like I was a blemish on his reputation, and as we all know, the most important part of this is his feelings and how it affects him. And he used to talk about how I would never be a suitable successor to him now that I was a woman, and —" Malina was getting worked up about it. She swore in an unusual dialect of German and started working on her next drink once she got it.

"I thought everyone would get over it, like some of my older cousins said, but I spent fifty years being harassed and getting into fights about it. Won most of them, too. It wouldn't have gone on so long if it weren't for my father. Eventually I decided it wasn't worth the trouble anymore."

Malina nodded. There were some definite parallels between their stories - the younger werewolf had to admit that much. Though it pained her somewhat to relate to an alpha, or to remember a time when she still looked up to one. She slowed down her drinking - she would be content to let what she'd already taken in have its effect on her.

Tasha said she wished she could have been there for her, and before Malina could even process that, a bitter laugh escaped her lips. "If you say so." Words like those were just air - if Malina had learned nothing else, she had learned this much.

Malina thought about it.

She didn't trust Tasha. That said, on some level, she knew she wasn't really giving the alpha-woman a fair chance.

"...It's been a long time since I've spent the full moon with another werewolf. Or another Olcan." It was actually a tempting offer. She missed that feeling - being with the others on the full moon. Each full moon since she left had made her soul ache. "I'll have to think on it," she decided.

"I'd like to head a little more about you, though," Malina said. "To start, do you actually do anything for work, here? Or are you just coasting off old investments at this point?" Some of the really old werewolves, Malina knew, only worked by choice. They had enough money that they could live off the interest if they chose.