while we're alive

The other alpha asked almost immediately about Archon, and Eligos kept his face expressionless and bland. "He was my uncle. I did not know him well." He had been, in fact, away from the pack for most of Eligos' life, first as Malleus' proxy in Abaven and later as a band leader, and later still as a member of another pack. Much of what he knew about the male had come from Malleus and Pyrrhic. Like the fact that he had died with his teeth in Eligos' father's flesh.

He simply tilted his head in Zeitgeist's direction when she spoke, and kept himself carefully neutral. "You assume that we sell only our skill as warriors. On the contrary, we offer all of our skills - as hunters, teachers, healers, and more. We trade, just as any pack does, but we simply offer to trade more than crafted goods, and unlike allies who have little to keep them from turning, we follow our contracts to the letter. Our clients know precisely what they can expect from us." He shrugged, then moved to back away, rather than rudely turning his back to the pack's alphas. "But as you say, perhaps you have no need for our services. You are, nonetheless, invited as all the packs are to Aerie's trade fair as winter turns to spring. There will be a peace treaty enforced, so you needn't worry that your pack will become victims of another." He bowed his head stiffly, and summoning the dogs with a word, left.