thank the gandy dancers for a path well worn

It's all good! :) And same goes to you - Caiaphas is such a great (and wonderfully unpredictable) character <3 We must definitely thread again!

What he would do if Caiaphas refused him again was an answer not even he could give. His paws did not know the blood of another, and the thought of sinking his claws into the flesh of a fellow wolf brought only sickness to his throat. Yet though his weapon would always be words, the look of the woman's unwavering form worried the boy there was nothing he could say that would ever bring Larus back into their paws again.

So when the sea maiden finally spoke her hasty reply, Malachi snatched her words with every ounce of hope he had left and stored them deep in his heart. The lie flowing so smoothly beneath her utterance fell deaf on his ears, and the boy only felt a trill of uncertain anticipation where he should have felt doubt. Her words were all he needed, and her words were all she gave, for in an instant she turned again and climbed back into the shadows of the night.