Fox's Glade silver basilisk

Of course, she had to confirm with sour humor, If it was an old pack, I could appreciate the loyalty to a long-term leader.  But why strangers stepped in line behind someone who will be a hindrance in the winter, I will never know.  She was surprised the pack had lasted as long as it had so far, but there was still time for the reality of winter to strike some sense into those there.  If they came knocking, Treason wasn't sure if she'd want to let any of them in.

No, he took her words a different way than the literal way she'd meant, so Treason shook her head slightly,
He matters because he is now the only one I have to answer to.  And before, when I expressed my misgivings, he was the one who moved to amend them, else you wouldn't have met me at the borders that day.  Treason wasn't the type to stay someplace she wasn't wanted.  Nothing if not practical, she'd already been looking for other options in case the worst happened, but when she spoke and asked for respect, Terance had delivered power to her instead.  In comparison to Stigmata, perhaps she'd been fortunate, but as long as she could continue to have her fellow leader's ear on things, Treason didn't think there would be any problems.

The other meaning did give her pause, watching him to see what he thought of what had been said.  She'd left the door open there on purpose, as if daring him to throw in his two cents.  In her mind, the jury was still out on whether Terance was even an option for future plans.  How badly had Seabreeze damaged him?  What did Treason herself even want?  There was still time to decide and she could afford to be cautious -- even if she was now old enough to bear pups, there were still months before the world would even allow it to be an option.

And as for his warning?  Well, at least for the short term it wasn't going to be much of a problem.  So many wolves weren't worth her bother or her trust.  Sure, she'd deal with them, but to give them enough weight that betrayal would do more than make her give them a disappointed look?  Much farther down the line.  Right now the rest of them aren't exactly in the position to be doing any ousting.  If it happens in the future, so it goes, but right now I'm not in the same place you were.  Being a leader meant that it'd be a mistake on their part to do anything against her, and she'd probably enjoy watching it explode in their faces.  What could underlings possibly do that would be of any threat?  She walked a Machiavellian line that let her be a devil and a threat, but quite useful enough that she doubted any coup would find many followers.

Could she trade one of the Bearclaw wolves for him, though? It would make conversations more interesting.