With the meeting over and the last few wolves trickling away Valentine decided it was time. He waited until silence reigned and he was certain that only Evangeline and himself occupied the clearing. Her words and the way they'd been delivered had stung. Of course he knew that Evangeline was impulsive and lived and felt in the moment, and that while that may have been how she'd felt right then it didn't necessarily embody how she felt about him in general. He'd taken her words and he'd moved on. Business had demanded it. Sighing, Valentine made his way across the clearing. Quietly he seated himself beside her. He said nothing for a few moments as he tried to find the right words. The situation was complicated all around. He wasn't angry with her and her words certainly didn't reflect how he really felt. Finally he asked, "Evangeline do you know why I got onto you for yelling in the meeting?" He had to start somewhere. May as well start with the part about him loving her less than Rhythm and work his way back to the heart of the matter.

Head on her paws, Evangeline continued to sulk as the rest of the pack filtered out of the clearing. She considered slinking off as soon as her father finished speaking, but she had the feeling Sirius would be expecting her to go patrol, or worse, Rhythm waiting to drag her off for a stupid lesson, and she wasn't anywhere near the mood to be around anyone right now. She missed Seraphim's presence - he'd gone, too, probably to meet his (much cooler, she was certain) mentor. A shadow fell over her, and her daddy set himself down to sit beside her. Lip quivering, she turned her head away against her opposite foreleg, not ready yet to look at him. They were mutually silent for a bit before her daddy asked, in his deep voice, if she knew why he'd got onto her in the meeting. Sniffling, she pressed her face more strongly into her foreleg, but answered in a quiet voice muffled by her leg. "Cuz I called Rhythm a traitor. Wuz just telling the truth though." Her quavery voice was defensive, and she hid a fresh upwelling of tears against her foreleg. It wasn't fair at all. This was all Rhythm's fault. ""

Evangeline made a point not to look at him and Valentine chose not to push it. Instead he let his gaze rest somewhere in the distance and occasionally stole sideways glances in her direction to gauge her reaction. Obviously she was -understandably- still upset. What he was trying to determine was where exactly she fell on the unhappy side of the emotional scale. Her answer didn't surprise him in the least. It also wasn't true. While 'traitorous' was a fair label for Rhythm's actions that wasn't why he'd gotten on to her. Rhythm was perfectly capable of defending her honor and Evangeline was old enough to take responsibility for her words. Their grievances were their own - unless they were in a meeting. Gatherings of any kind were his domain and he demanded respect be shone in them. "That's not why," he said gently. "I got onto you because you disrespected not only me, but the pack. Meetings are times to be respectful and interrupting it like that was unfair for everyone involved. " Valentine stole a glance in his daughter's direction. "The choice to like or dislike Rhythm is yours; I'm not going to try to change your mind, but I demand professional conduct from my wolves in situations such as this and even though you are my daughter you are not an exception." If anything she was held to a higher standard.

For a time she still hid her face from him, but his gentle words finally drew her wet gaze to slowly meet his, silent as he spoke. What he said made... a lot of sense, and she wanted to curl up in shame. She would never ever have wanted to seem disrespectful of her daddy or the pack he had built. She just hadnt thought before she had opened her big mouth. And now he was disappointed and angry. Her lip quivered again. "I'm sorry, Daddy," she said, her voice far more quiet and subdued than it had been... basically ever. "I didnt mean to disrespect you. I was just so mad ..." But she stopped before she said anything more, wary of saying anything further about what, exactly, had made her so mad. She didnt know if he would be mad if she brought it up again... if he would think she was question in his decisions... but she really just didnt understand, and the anger and hurt still lurked there beneath the shame and tears.