Redhawk Caldera Magic is costly. You take what you didn't earn, but you pay for it.

No explosion, but there was a definite refusal to accept his terms. They were at an impasse.

Towhee moved beyond the denial and began to berate him for his focus on rank; that wasn't it, the title meant nothing to Reyes in truth. It was the perception it would create among the children as they learned of pack structure, and what sorts of questions might arise from them.

Don't you want to prove you're not going to attack a child again? There it was; the true fear of Towhee's, the insinuation that Reyes could not be trusted. She hadn't moved on from that singular event even with his repeated apologies and dismissal from the Caldera.

They never trusted me to begin with, he shot back, and then with a grimace, looked away from her. I'm not a Redhawk, remember. But Reyes tried to keep his own focus on the children, keep himself level. The last thing he wanted was to lose his cool and give Towhee more ammunition.

It isn't about the rank, Towhee. Its about our children growing up with one parent in power, and one treated as less that dirt, for no good reason. They'll have questions about why. They'll see the rest of your family treating me like shit and you really think that won't affect them?

He looked at her again - more so for her own benefit when it came to reading his lips.

Brecheliant has children too. I haven't done any harm to them. Besides, I apologized to you after what happened with Caracal. He's okay, right? The last time he'd visited he'd tried to get information from Tierra, but that hadn't worked out. Nobody would tell him anything.

It was one moment Towhee. One stupid, random accident. You're going to hold that over my head for life? You're determined to keep our family broken after I've done everything in my power to fix things? Everything besides accept this deal.