Blacktail Deer Plateau the dolls

At Lasher's warm welcome, Dante felt tension he hadn't even realized he had been holding onto dissipate. Thoroughly relieved, he smiled. "Thanks," he responded quietly, not all that accustomed to receiving congratulations. It went far too closely with praise, another thing that he wasn't so comfortable with taking.

The chocolate male's next question came seemingly out of the blue, but followed so closely with his previous train of thought that Dante did not think it out of place. He did think for a moment, though. He was never one to answer rashly and in the cases of passing his own judgement on another he was especially cautious of misspeaking.

"I am not sure yet, having not spoken with her much," he answered truthfully. He thought back to his most recent encounter, the one with Bones and Ira on the border. "I believe her to be harsh in judgement and rash in action, but I do not believe she wishes ill for the pack, nor those within it." That was about as much as he could say right now. He could see her love of power, and even her selfish nature, but happily so far neither had threatened the well being of the pack.

And if the time came when that was not true, he would... what? Leave? No... and this answer surprised him. It was likely that he would challenge, and if that was seen as a rank challenge, so be it. The realization that he would be willing to fight for the pack he had grown to love so much put him ill at ease. He hoped with all his heart that the time would not come, for he had little desire to ever see that side of himself again. He highly doubted that Peregrine would allow it to get to that point either, and that thought served to settle his nerves.