Will Derek Be the Next Wolf Alpha?

[Itsy-Cat]

Jim doesn't suffer fools gladly either but he is alpha of the cat clan.  Being alpha is the only path to the council and I think Derek will want that enough to put up with clan politics eventually.

Seems like everyone assumes Jennifer will be gone.  Anyone think she will stay alpha and just find a male to partner (not necessarily mate) with?

I don't see Jennifer staying the Alpha female unless the next Alpha male wants her to stay in that position.  I have two reasons for that which may or may not be true as we get to know her better.  1) She has a hot temper and hair trigger seen in her behavior with Kate, Aunt Bea, and Jim.  Too hot and hair trigger to be a good leader without Daniel or another to help her control it.  Yes, that doesn't stop a shapeshifter from becoming and remaining an Alpha, but it means they have to be tougher as more people will get angry with her and want to get rid of her if she behaves unfairly over and over because she's pissed.  2) She did not fight her way to her current position and there are a lot of wolves.  How many in a row could she take before she's toppled?

Hmmm, I wonder if Curran can or has controlled things like how often someone can be challenged in a day/week/month or who can do it?  After just re-reading the Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series where Bran would keep this sort of thing under control, I would assume that Curran could, but does he?  Would he for Derek?  For Jennifer?

Since there's always supposed to be an Alpha male and an Alpha female for each clan, I don't think that the competition for the Alpha male postion would really affect Jennifer's position, unless the new alpha male was mated.
(e.g. Since both Jennifer and Derek are now single, it's possible that if Derek does become the alpha male, Jennifer could still be the alpha female, assuming other females didn't challenge her. At least, that's how I understand it?  )

It might be difficult if a new unmated male took the wolf alpha male postion, Jennifer kept her position, and then the alphas disagreed on stuff though. (e.g. Jennifer thinking her opinion should matter more since she's been alpha for longer, and the new alpha male thinking his opinion should matter more because he's a better fighter or something. How would they resolve that?)
(Mated pairs, I think, would be more motivated to find a way to resolve conflicts/disagreements, but what if they're not mated and it isn't clear who's authority is more important etc? Would they resolve it with a fight normally? If so, since Jennifer's pregnant at the moment, resolving it with a fight wouldn't really work right now.) 


I think we might be getting a bit off topic though.
With Derek, I still don't think he'll become the wolf alpha male (yet), I think he'll probably keep working for Kate for a while.


(btw, we also talked about what would happen to Jennifer in another thread: http://www.ilona-andrews.com/forum/index.php?topic=1094.0  )

[dingo baby]

@ Itsy-Cat

The idea that Jennifer remain Alpha Female and Derek becoming the Alpha Male is viable, IMO. Remember that Jim's cousin (?) was the Alpha Female as he wasn't mated before he finally brought Dali dinner (separated by plastic and tinfoil so his meat didn't touch her vegetarian meal.) Also, Aunt B's mate was human and Raphael was the Alpha Male. It doesn't seem a requirement for the Alpha male and female to be mated to rule as set by precedent.

[dsolo]

Good point, Itsy Cat.  I had forgotten about Aunt Bea's human husband.  Jennifer could probably stay on as Alpha female for a while, since Derek is probably not close to being mated (keeping fingers crossed for Julie at some future point).  Jennifer can actually be reasonable, as some of her interactions with Kate have proven.  She's also a good fighter (look at what she did after Daniel died).  In Curran POV 2, he made the statement that he allows the Alphas to run their clans.  Daniel apparently became Alpha by consensus after the previous Alpha died.  He wasn't challenged, but he had already proven himself fighting prior to becoming Alpha.  After the events of the past few books, the Pack has suffered some serious losses.  Curran may discourage a lot of challenges at this time.  Derek is ambitious, so I think he would want to be Alpha, and be on the Council.  He has shown loyalty, discipline and analytical ability.  It seems to me like you have to grow up fast in the Pack, and Derek is very mature.  Plus, as someone pointed out, he's been outside of the normal wolf pack structure, since he was working directly for Curran.  That could be a plus, as he won't belong to any particular clique or faction.  Politically, wolves need to have someone that Curran trusts representing their interests.  The Bouda clan has already got a deal with the Consort, so the wolves really need some kind of counterbalancing clout.  Of course, it's Ilona and Andrew's world, and I could be way off base.  Can't wait to find out.

[Chelle]

let's try this again - i gave up yesterday due to laptop keyboards not being exactly typer-friendly.

I have to agree with dsolo when pointing out that Curran was insanely young to be the Beast Lord.  Yes, he's a special case in that his blood line is ancient and the wild form of his beast has been extinct for a few million years or so.  Still, he's also part human and a 15 y/o boy is still a 15 y/o boy.  He stepped up when no one else seemed willing to do so and grew into the part as was needed.

Now, Derek isn't 15.  He's still young and, out of 500+ wolves, there would be some older members who would cop a 'tude about a 'kid' being in charge.  On the other hand, he's been part of Curran's most trusted circle and he's got natural talent.  If need be, Derek would step up and grow into the job as was needed.  The question becomes if he feels he's ready for the job.  Unlike Curran, he has the luxury of being one of 500+ wolves.  There's bound to be someone else qualified for the job, like the current Beta, who can run things while he gets a little more life experience under his pelt.

So I would say that Derek could be the next Wolf Alpha, in that I do believe he could do the job if it was needed of him.  I just don't know if he will given the chance to dedicate a little more time to honing his personal skills.  It probably wouldn't hurt to have a mate first, too.  Not required, but definitely a plus and could be seen by the other wolves as a sign of maturity and willingness to commit.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Curran didn't take him aside and discuss it with him, asking him to give it a little more time. I get the feeling that Alphas my not have the longest shelf-life.  It probably wouldn't be a long wait.

[kstrick]

I have an oddball theory that Derek won't be the Wolf Alpha because he really isn't part of Clan Wolf. If anything I would say his first allegiance is to Curran and Kate, who I think make their own little 'clan' with Julie and Andrea. They are part of the Pack (Andrea sorta is), but not tied to a specific clan. Julie is obviously Kate's ward and while Andrea is a bouda, she is not part of Clan Bouda (according to the Gunmetal Magic snippet anyway). Originally I also included Ascanio in Kate's 'clan' because I thought when Aunt B gave him to her he was no longer part of Clan Bouda, but again in the GM snippet, it said that he was still part of Clan Bouda.

Anyway, I think Derek could be Wolf Alpha if he wanted to, but I don't think he will want to unless some things change. Maybe if he took a mate? 

[JimsTigress]

I think that Derek has a good position in Currans inner circle. He is not ready to be alpha wolf. I think he has a lot more to learn. He is a skilled fighter and I think one day he could become alpha wolf but he would have a lot of other wolves to go thru. I see him working at Cutting Edge and guarding Kate for a long time. I agree with Curran that in about 30 years he would be able to challenge Jim as head of Security!  (side note JIM IS AWESOME AND SUPER HOT!!) 

[glenflet]

@ Itsy-Cat

The idea that Jennifer remain Alpha Female and Derek becoming the Alpha Male is viable, IMO. Remember that Jim's cousin (?) was the Alpha Female as he wasn't mated before he finally brought Dali dinner (separated by plastic and tinfoil so his meat didn't touch her vegetarian meal.) Also, Aunt B's mate was human and Raphael was the Alpha Male. It doesn't seem a requirement for the Alpha male and female to be mated to rule as set by precedent.

However both those examples the other alpha is a relative, it is probably the closest appropriate relative. Being relative's would also mean their more likely to work out a disagreement by discussion than fighting then two that aren't related so more stable.

I have an oddball theory that Derek won't be the Wolf Alpha because he really isn't part of Clan Wolf. If anything I would say his first allegiance is to Curran and Kate, who I think make their own little 'clan' with Julie and Andrea. They are part of the Pack (Andrea sorta is), but not tied to a specific clan. Julie is obviously Kate's ward and while Andrea is a bouda, she is not part of Clan Bouda (according to the Gunmetal Magic snippet anyway). Originally I also included Ascanio in Kate's 'clan' because I thought when Aunt B gave him to her he was no longer part of Clan Bouda, but again in the GM snippet, it said that he was still part of Clan Bouda.

Anyway, I think Derek could be Wolf Alpha if he wanted to, but I don't think he will want to unless some things change. Maybe if he took a mate? 

I would agree with that, also Derek's allegiance to Curran is related to, Curran being Derek's roll-model/father-figure rather than Curran's strength, so he wouldn't make a good wolf alpha if something were to happen to incapacitate Curran, as he would still support him.

[Sands-wp]

I think Curran has been grooming Derek for big things for years. He knows he is alpa material but could he be preparing a replacement for the Beast lord in case anything should happen to him? If so, then maybe it is time Derek should accept more responsibility - they know the showdown with Roland will happen soon.
I do think Derek will want to be Alpha - at 19 he will think there is nothing he can't do! But I like the idea that Curran will speak to him and tell him he's not ready.
Then maybe in a while the next alpha pair will prove to be inept and Derek will have to step in.