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[/html]He did not understand why she continued to doubt him. He had patrolled the borders for years now, and he had seen honest coyotes and well-meaning hybrids, but he had also come across lying scumbags. The foreigner had come, spewing words Hybrid had heard years ago, when Inferni had been at war with Syemv, or Aremys, or whatever the hell they'd been calling themselves. Hybrid had heard the low-throated gargling noises enough to be able to identify them as the words of the wolf pack. After Vitium had betrayed them for a Syemv wolf, there was no way Hybrid would have ever allowed them to enter Inferni. Unfortunately, this hybrid had crossed the borders and he would not retreat. If only they would listen when Hybrid demanded they back the fuck up, they wouldn't have these sorts of problems.
“You doubt me?” Hybrid demanded at last, seething that this nobody de le Poer could waltz in and start asking around. Of course he'd known the foreigner had been lying. “He joined as an escape,” Hybrid added. This time, his words were accompanied by a low growl. “I've been doing this long enough to know. And sometimes you have to do shit like that. Threaten them. My job isn't to cater to lost puppies. I protect Inferni, and if that means sometimes we have to show some teeth, I'll do it,” he added, almost as a threat. “You may care about the world out there, but my world is here. I do what I have to. My loyalty is here, and I do what I must to keep it so,” he concluded. Rikka might fancy herself to be learned, cultured, or intelligent, but Hybrid had to be the smarter of the two. He had lived in Inferni for most of his life, and when he'd left, he had been miserable. Now, he did what was demanded of him to keep the clan safe. If anything, he acted the way he did to keep coyotes like Rikka safe. Certainly, he was selfish, and many times his actions had been tinted red with his pride. But in the end, it didn't really matter, because what he was doing -- the bigger picture -- was for the members of Inferni. If Rikka couldn't understand that, perhaps she really didn't belong in Inferni. If she was going to mope around and be miserable, perhaps she should simply betray the clan again and leave. That sort of selfishness Hybrid could not tolerate. But perhaps he would have to again.