Alpha listened, his tail swaying behind him gently, slowly as ever. He was always thoughtful with the heavy weight on it, even from near-birth knowing that it contained a sharp edge that could hurt. Perhaps in his chrysalis he had touched it, curled up in on himself, or perhaps he simply knew from how easy it was to break free. Whatever the reason, it kept his posture slow and deliberate.

"Not to be rude, but I don't think I'd trust taking medicine from anyone simply claiming to be a healer for something as simple as a few bad habits and nervous ticks," he retorted, glancing towards Omega. The child was, as far as he cared, well enough. He could walk, he could breath, and as long as he would eat when he was fed he would be good enough. The lesser boy just had to survive, that was all that was required of him. "If it becomes a problem, then I suppose I'll be quick to ask you first." He shut up after that, quickly focusing on the much more important (at least, to him) matter of Eridanus.

A forest. The thought thrilled him-- though the idea of many other gembounds did not. He did not want competition in his hunting grounds, but anything had to be better than this dusty, lifeless tunnel. Aside from the fungus, there was no sniff of prey to be snatched up that he could tell.

... According to Priest, however, he was one of three Leaders. It seemed like a poor choice, having that many leaders, especially for only four guardians, but perhaps there were civilian likes and such? The canine's ears twitched as he listened to the numbat's warning, feeling particularly set at unease by the words.

"If anyone so much as thinks about hurting Omega, they'll have to get through me first," Alpha snarled, turning his nose to press to his charge's forehead. The growl broke into a gentle, reassuring murmur, "No one will hurt us ever again." It was a promise, an oath made with blood yet unshed. He wasn't afraid to fight, nor could he afford to be. If what this rodent said was true, then he was more than ready.

He kept his snout close to Omega as his eyes shot back to the numbat. "... I suppose we will see you around then. I need to check out this Eridanus myself. Let your fellow leaders know of us and grant us safe passage, and I will see to it that we don't cause any undue problems." It wasn't really a threat-- hell, half the words out of the pup's mouth were too big for him to really even grasp the meaning of. He was saying things with an air of importance, something a kid might say if they were playing pretend and they were supposed to be some sort of knight or king-- but he didn't really have the world knowledge, only a distant, hazy memory of what it might have been like once to be an alpha wolf.