Cat Fight in the Dog House

"In de meantime," Keys spits back at her. Snow's verbal dodging infuriates her and draws her in closer. "In de meantime you are a weak alpha, trying to be somet'ing you are not, and I am looking out for de pack.

"'Cuz if you doan stop trying t' be somet'ing you are not, you will get us all killed."

"I do not pretend," says Snow, matter-of-factly, getting right up in Keys' face. "I am Snow, alpha of Los Sangrientos. You'll find I'm stronger than you think. Back off and get out of my way."

Snow bumps into and through Keys, forcing past her.

For a tense moment it looks like Keys might actually strike out as the alpha stares her down, but the tension drains from her the moment Snow shoves past her. Snow was acting like a strong alpha again, and that made Keys' world right, regardless of other issues pressing on her. She wipes the blood from her throat with her fingers and licks them. Personal shit could wait until their territory was more secure.

"You ain't Hefe, but he never had t' deal with nothing like dis" she says in a soft yet firm voice, the accusation gone. "Don't try to be him, don't try to lead like him. Be like you. Lead like you.

"You de one who know de most about de spirits, Primera, but no one 'spects you t' have all the answers at once. Hefe would have asked you de same tings and den told you to find out, 'cuz you de one who know how to find out. Only difference now is dat you de one making all the decisions, and no one gonna let you go off alone to tink about it while someone else take charge.

"You tinking you need to do it all yourself. Stop. Alphas lead, but dey doan lead de scouts on every trail. Dey command dem. Tell us what t' look for, an we find de answers so you can tell us just how deep de shit we're in is and how you're gonna get us outta it."

Snow turns when Keys' tone changes. Her intense emerald eyes consider the dark-haired, caramel skinned girl, scrutinizing her body language and vocal intonations. She glowers and shoots daggers at the Irraka as Keys finishes talking.

"You idiot!" Snow shouts, admonishing the omega as she storms toward her. "I was inches from ripping your throat out! Damn it!"

"You could have just said that in the first place, you know," she continues, relaxing a bit and shaking her head. "Man, Keys. If you got something on your mind you can just say it. You don't gotta be all tough and in my face about it."

Even now Snow was agitated, but she was slowly calming down. She takes a deep breath. "Are we good? Are we sisters again?"

Keys' grin spread across her face as the Snow Storm starts. This was what Keys had been pushing for; this strength in understanding what she had been doing wrong, the knowledge of what to do to fix it, and the fire to get it done.

"BC would write me de best legacy any omega could ever hope for, if I die inspiring my alpha! So no chance I be soft on you, Primera. I gotta be mean or you doan get tuff. If I try to be sweetness and all, you'll get all weepy, and den you'll hate yourself for being weepy in front of me, which will make you angry and mopey, and den not'ing will get done. And den how do I explain to de B-Boys why deir alpha's crying? Mal-makak would never understand."

"Seriously, I ain't you, I ain't gotta do what you gotta do here. I sure as hell doan wanna be alpha," a brief flash of sadness crosses her face when she admits to it, though; her father's family had made it clear often enough that not only her mixed blood but her lack of ambition made her unwelcome in the family. "Dey say de scenery never changes from de back of de pack. Papa said no one ever tinks about what else you can see from back here." Keys looks into her pack sister's green eyes, and the shadow of Keys' pain from losing her father and the changes that occurred so quickly after that is visible there. Something more, something in the way Keys' eye scan Snow's for the briefest moment reveals a different pain, but it's hidden almost as quickly as it rises.

"We'll always be sistahs," she says softly, "but not like b'fore. Can't never be like before. Too much is changed now. Between you and de pack... 'tween you and me. We got our places, and you at de top now. You can't be distracted playing games wit' me no more." She leans forward and presses a light kiss on the corner of Snow's mouth, and Snow can sense a hint of the blood that Keys had licked from her fingers lingers in the smell and taste of her kiss. When she pulls away her cocky smirk is back in place.

"But yeah, we're good. I doan tink I wanna spar no more, tho," she says, putting her hands to her throat like she's trying to keep her arteries from spurting. "You get mean when you're angry."

"Sorry 'bout that," Snow says. "But you get mean when you're trying to be helpful."

She pauses and sighs. "I want you to know I'm not trying to be Juan-Vidal," she says. "I would never try to be him. He taught me too well for that. He spent four years helping me to become who I've become. You know I wasn't always like I am now. I would never dishonor him by forgetting everything he taught me."

"When he..." and then she hesitated and took a moment to swallow down the sadness that welled up inside her throat and threatened to burst out of her. "When he...fell...I don't know...something inside me clicked. I knew the pack needed me. I didn't think. I didn't worry. I didn't stop to wonder what he would do. I just acted. I knew what I had to do."

Snow smiled sadly and reached down to take Keys' hands, squeezing them tightly. "What I'm trying to say is that I am being me. This is me. I promise."

"Anyway, I told you," says Snow, droping Keys' left hand and placing the tips of her freed fingers on her lips where Keys had kissed her, "I'm stronger than you think."

Keys nods understanding of Snow's explanation, but looks away when Snow gets choked up, knowing after all the years they'd been pack-sisters that Snow doesn't like anyone seeing her get like that. Besides, if she looks at her then, she'll reveal the conflict she still feels over what Snow seems to think was a smooth transition of power. She wants to get away from the constant reference to her father's death so Keys snorts disbelievingly at Snow's self-assessment.

"I think you are stronger dan you tink you are, Primera. Dat's why you in dis pack to begin wit'. But you still be new at dis, so I won't tell de B-Boys dat you were wrong dis time," she finishes magnanimously. "You can show your appreciation for my generosity and your own generous nature by taking me out to brunch...."

"Pack-sister."

Snow nods and smiles--something she does more and more rarely these days. She smiles to acknowledge Keys' affirmation of their sisterhood and to agree that they could go get brunch together. But most of all she smiled because Keys' didn't seem to have gotten the full meaning of her words. She was strong...strong enough to handle quite a few distractions in her life.

"You're always thinking of food," says Snow. "Come on, let's get something to eat."

---Scene End---