right back over the edge.

[Anselm de le Poer]

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-- The fires that tore apart all of the other packs had only made Inferni stronger. In the chaos, the wolves had scattered and formed new alliances, seemingly settling wherever the tide threw them. To Anselm, this meant one of two things: their old ties and commitments meant nothing to them or their leadership had failed. Either result was viewed as a weakness. Despite the pandemonium, Gabriel had kept order and lead his group more or less together. Upon arrival, he'd staked claimed to the most strategic territory on the southern half of the peninsula and gained a powerful ally at once, all while the wolves were still sitting on their thumbs and crying. Even now, the other packs continued to dissolve and spring up elsewhere, maybe with half the former members here and the other half there. Anselm could not understand this behaviour for his life. With his wolf-rich heritage, he had a strong pack instinct despite his preference for being left alone. What they had weren't what he would call packs--they were more like random membership clubs. Everyone that mattered in Inferni, even if they turned up missing, inevitably made their way back. They were a family; not a mishmash of random drifters. Ultimately, for Anselm it had little to do with species: it had everything to do with sense. Where the others failed Inferni would always reign supreme. Her compliment did not go unnoticed, though he simply nodded in response. Usually, he reacted to compliments and criticisms alike--with a big fuck you, why do I care what you think at all? This, though, was spoken from the mouth of a heroine--the woman who'd dared to stand up to her oppressors and lead the 'yotes to victory. What could have stopped the wolves from crushing their smaller relatives other than the outright fear she'd instilled? It was a strange thought--he was here talking to her so comfortably now. Then again, they had ties that bound them. If he could guess, they only seemed to be growing stronger by the minute. "Mm; Gabe mentioned tensions with some of the neighbouring packs. "I'd like to get a sense of their numbers so we know exactly what we're dealing with. How many males, females, adults, children." These were things he usually just did automatically and discussed with nobody: to Gabriel he reported the results. Now, though, he was curious if the grey woman might have other ideas for what he could investigate. "All of that I can accomplish just by lying low and looking around. Maybe I'll even find some subordinates with loose tongues for further detail." Anselm knew enough not to fuck with leaders--they were usually much more suspicious. The trick was finding someone who knew enough to be useful but didn't know enough to be wary.

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