The Sentinels my heartbeat could tell you it's urgent

Sorry if this is somewhat hasty, it's been a busy couple of days!

Malachi glanced at the youth when she spoke to him, and he furrowed his brow. Her very questions stung his mind, and had ever since he had left his family so many seasons ago. To hear them from another made their weight press upon him. To Malachi it felt like he'd been equal coward and fool all his life - so what could he do to show these wolves he could be otherwise? Words would be empty; he could only act, but what chance did he have, when Lasher did not appear willing to give him a second chance?

The ire that seeped from the dark man beckoned the Kalderon to tuck tail and accept the fate that he had finally messed everything up. There were no second chances now - but the challenge of the youth remained a louder thought, and a forsaken determination welled inside, one he had repressed since he'd led his brother to his death back in the Vale. His family had called him a fool for following his heart, but if he could choose the path of a fool or a coward, he would take the one that didn't leave him shrinking in self-pity and fear. He was sick of what he'd become, overwhelmed with his problems and unable to live because of the mistakes that piled like boulders on his shoulders. He wasn't the man he'd thought he'd become when he had been a youth - no, he had become the very wolf he'd once sworn he'd never be.

So instead of turning away, Malachi pressed further. Though he still pressed himself close to the ground in full submission, his voice came clear and firm. "And I want to change that. I wouldn't have come back if that wasn't true." To speak thus was a fool's choice, but he had set his heart on helping this family, no matter the cost. And if Lasher would force him out, then so be it. At least he wouldn't leave a coward.