take this thing back to baltimore

Ira was prompt, a trait that Jinx shared, and his arrival was greeted with a low rumble of approval from the shaman. He did not care for Ira's arrogance and seeming lack of deference, but the boy served the sylph loyally, and that was what caught the shaman's attention.

Ira was being groomed for a specific role by the Kesuk woman, the details of which Lecter did not know, or care to understand. Soon, the boy would enter the ranks of the grown wolves and perhaps vie with the madman for his own, but perhaps that time would never come.

"I grow tired of the enmity between us. You know I am not long for this world, and when I depart, you will have no challengers to your rank as Jinx's son and heir. I find you pretentious and rude, but perhaps those are characteristics that will be beneficial to Silvertip, once cultivated."

What the shaman wished was an apprentice, so that Jinx and her wolves would not be left wanting when he departed, but Ira, with his veneer of ambition and hotheadedness, would not be suitable for a role that demanded patience and quick learning.