Carly was shopping with Esther; a black bear mated to a pack mate called Felicity. She was also one of the unfortunate people to suffer a visit from Cain, when he was trying to find Carly. “No offense,” added Esther, quickly. Carly snickered. “None taken, I promise you, he’s calmed down now… sort of.” “Hey, you don’t have to explain, bears can be pretty aggressive about their females. If wolves are possessive, bears are aggressive.” Esther worked at Charlie’s clothes store. She had the day off, and at a loose end called on Carly for company. Esther was finding it a little tricky to integrate into pack life. Esther used to belong to a bear clan, but after being treated horrifically, she left. Easing back into that kind of group again was proving a little problematic, not to mention getting used to the dynamics of obeying an Alpha. Bear clans had leaders who were appointed, and were actually subject to impeachment, if their clan members dared, but Alphas were born. They were more like benign dictators, but truthfully, not all of them were that benign. The only way to get rid of an Alpha, who didn’t want to go, was to challenge him to a death match. It wasn’t pretty.
