Something had changed in him since that talk with @Risaela, as though a loose gear had shifted and clicked into place, sparking life back into parts of him that before had laid dormant. It was clear why: for the first time in far too long, he wasn't just Cancer, stumbling along and trying but ultimately alone. He was part of a family, and it didn't matter if that only included the two of them. It was more than himself and his baggage, something new and promising, and dammit, this time, he wasn't going to fuck it up.
Part of that meant being a relation Risaela could be proud of, where before he just settled for not totally embarrassing her. Cancer moved with a bit of purpose now, held his head a bit higher. He wanted his role back, maybe even something more than a hunter. And when it came to passing Deacon by, well...
He didn't know much about the other man, other than his girlfriend had taken off and left their kid with him, or something like that. He'd been with the Rye wolves longer though, naturally held a place higher up on the hierarchy than Cancer for this reason alone, and so the blue eyed wolf had always kept his head down around him. Now, though? Did the misplaced Archer have any ambition in him, anything to strive for other than his daughter's survival? The man was in front of him now, minding his own, but something visceral within Cancer urged him to test that strenuous divisor between them.
Maybe he was better suited a little higher up on the ladder. If not? At least he would know something more about this man than him being just another body in this pack. Either would be helpful in integrating Cancer further into this pack.
Cancer pointedly raised his head and tail both, blue eyes locked upon Deacon's amber as he walked. The other wolf could tolerate this display and cede to the scruffy male being the more dominant creature between them, or assert himself.