Bramblepoint devotion and desire

As Rannoch and Cypress both stepped down from their platform to deal with Redshank, Rian remained. Though he supported both Rannoch and Cypress, he felt no need to add his own demands for supplication to the pair of them. He'd brought the youngest of them into the fold, but it didn't mean he was responsible for anything he might do. That was all on him—either he would learn to respect his leaders, or find himself back at square one.

Instead he busied himself with committing each face to memory. He swept his gaze over the gathered with a dawning realization that they were, in fact, a pack and this was reality. And, to his utter surprise, no one seemed upset to be here. No one seemed as if they didn't belong. Even Redshank, with his attitude, belonged. Rian sucked in a breath and smiled feeling, for the first time, what it meant to be a part of a pack.