Katja regarded him impassively as he spoke, though inwardly she sighed. She'd been right in her doubts about this boy at the challenge. He had no interest in actually joining them, would not ever be content as a member of the pack if Gaia were not. She mulled over her answer in silence for a long moment. "Boy," she finally began, not being able to recall if he'd given his name in the chaos, "I am not without sympathy for you. But I cannot accept into my pack a wolf who has no intention of being part of the community - there can be no trust there, and a pack must have trust to survive." The short speech pulled at her injured muzzle, and she stopped to swipe blood from her mouth before continuing.
"However, I am not a monster, youngling." She met his eyes steadily, speaking carefully. "I did not set out to make these children miserable. To be blunt, if having you here keeps her content I would do it even if you were useless." Coldly calculating, perhaps, and there was no avoiding it being obvious even if she had been inclined to hide her own nature, but it was true. Could she face the children Raisa had borne and tell them that she had not only claimed their siblings into her pack but she had torn Gaia away from her puppy love?
"You are welcome to stay, but it will be a conditional rank only. You are welcome to the protection of the pack and to train alongside your love and her siblings, but you will not truly be a member of Yfir. If in the future you wish to join us for more reasons than simply your captive love, you will be ranked among the community but for now you will be considered simply a temporary guest. Fair?" She raised her brows at him questioningly.
"
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