brother sister too, do what you must do -- don't trust people you meet

Caiaphas did not miss the threatening shimmer of reined-in tears, nor did she miss the wavering of his gaze. Her words were grave -- and they were harsh -- she had half expected his reaction. But what she had not expected was the question: why?

She didn't want Larus to leave, not now. For her own selfish reasons, she had become quite attached to his presence. To her, the small child was like a delightful pet -- she had no interest in losing him any time soon. And so, she lied.

"Because you weren't good enough for them." She answered simply, her voice curt -- knowing the boy would be crestfallen, she expanded on her words. "I ran into one of your packmates last week. Her name was Danica." She paused to see if any flicker of recognition passed through his wavering eyes. "I told her that the Sound had found an abandoned puppy. She smelled kind of familiar, like you did when I found you. They were going to drown you and your siblings in the sea since the planned cat attack didn't kill you outright, and angry that I had found out the crimes that they committed, Danica attacked me." She bowed her head, showing a bald spot where Junior had scathed skin from her skull -- beguilingly, she presented that wound as if affirmation to Danica's attack. It was likely Larus wouldn't know she was lying -- but in time, she imagined if she kept with the trickery he would soon get wind of it.