Heron Lake Plateau i can see a shitfaced brother that i covered for what must've been the last ten years

feeling her answer was unusually long-wilded, caiaphas fell silent with a quiet sweep of her gaze. towhee managed an introduction, revealing it was not she that was the alpha, but the onyx pelted female that up until then, caiaphas had noted was rather fondly studying the children. she kept her head low, canting it in raven's general direction as the introductions finished.

and then the she-wolf moved to make her leave, though not before caiaphas puzzled over the peculiar motion towhee made with her limbs. it did not occur to her the she-wolf was deaf, so she thought it some clandestine message relayed to her kin alone. she watched the warrior's departure bemusedly, though her ears were pulled towards raven in polite yet tired interest.

in truth the notion of loyalty was not a foreign concept to caiaphas: she was loyal to many things - herself, mostly.. but she had been loyal to the sound, to the ancient moss-rimed halls of the groto; she had been loyal to nereides until they had abandoned her, to kierkegaard. yet the interests in which her loyalties sat were not randomly chosen -- the wretch had always been selective in the things in which she saw her devotion tethered. oddly, loyalty had been the one thing caiaphas had never required of others; in the nereides, she had been a rather untraditional leader. in saltwinter, she had extended her home simply so that strangers could survive. even in grimnismal, the grotto had bore witness to her ability to collect riff-raff, miscreants and vagabonds without strings attached.

her gaze fluttered, and for a moment it seemed she was weighing raven's words. better to be honest, cold and as cutting as that blade could be. sure, she could gush oh, i promise to be loyal! i promise!! pinky swear promise! just as she had seen dozens of wolves do before her; they had been liars. thieves of circumstance and usurpers of her trust. she would not be those wolves. "i do not know you - what if i promise loyalty, and you or your packmates try to hurt my children? then i would be a liar." she explained baldly, though her tone was quiet. "that being said, my intention is not to leave as soon as it is convenient. my children need a home, not just a shelter in place. a place to grow, safe, with other children - a life. a childhood. give them that, and you will have earned my eternal debt -- and loyalty."