The Sentinels my soul won't take

In fact, her words did the opposite.  If she had sought to burden the pack with her troubles and begged for her place here, his own respect would have fallen considerably.  That Lasher would have taken pity and brought her here himself made sense.  He relaxed a tidge, though he still wasn't sure how he felt about her personally, so his own smile in return was uncertain.  It was hard to tell when his day had been somewhat rotten thus far if his irritation was her or simply him.  Likely him.

"I helped found it." And find it, he added silently, looking with some affection at the forest around them.  "We came from a plateau to the west and relocated here.  It was time for a new start."  He didn't mention the changing ranks - there was no point in confusing anything.  As far as Dante was concerned, from this point on, Lasher led and had always led.  He would not lie if directly asked, but would not imply otherwise either.