Hushed Willows Quixote

you weren't being the butt or holding up the thread -- i got caught up in an ic whirlpool lol and considered only that wb wouldn't care for tam's input in the conversation portion and forgot entirely about the wonderful person i was being inconsiderate of <3 sorry boo!

There was no challenge here. A warning for future path-crossing; a warning of his intentions to regain his home, and not be a subordinate within it. Tambourine's indignant shout went outwardly unacknowledged, as his eye never left Stark, but Warbone realized internally that he had already lost what small margin of favor he might've had with either wolf. Not that it mattered— his arrogance didn't account for anyone else's feelings, rubbing everyone the wrong way with his brutish demands. He had no intention of enforcing his words at that time; he himself was not prepared for it, and he had no reason to even be on the defensive as Stark appeared wholly unintended to a fight. He did not even call his pack to defend his own title as goaded. 

"As you wish," he murmured, involuntarily pulling his ears back in the rare display of an emotion other than indifference or anger. Helplessness, perhaps. "But I will never be far. And I refuse to give up on my claim here, even if you think it lost and me delusional." He truly had no claim here, which was the fact of the situation, but more than that truth was another, and that was that Warbone would rather die than live without owning the Willows he had chosen as his first and only stead in his adult life. He had finally created his dream, and now it was seemingly cradled lovingly in the perhaps capable paws of another. He could find comfort at least in the knowledge that the Keep might remain sanctuary still until he could regain his own position. Stark was probably right in saying that they didn't need saving— even if he hadn't actually considered them needing it himself until now...

"I pose only a physical threat to you. I suppose you will tell your wolves of my lingering, so do not forget to mention that. For if they wish to antagonize me of their own accord, on your behalf, then I will defend myself without prejudice." Warbone sighed, revealing a great deal of mental weight that otherwise didn't show on his face. And with a stiff nod, ignoring a desire to look down at the boy, he turned slowly and receded from the Keep's border.