His heart ached for Zelda and all she'd been through, romance-wise, in such a short life. She was in love but Hyrule left and since then, she'd never mated. He didn't want his niece to be alone for the rest of her life. She deserved better. She was such a pure soul. He wanted all the best for her. Looking around him, he was starting to see that someone else wanted better for her, too. He would definitely need to meet this Lazarus and make sure he had good intentions for Zelda. He wanted an adoring mate and loving children for Zelda. He wanted a bright future as Alpha of Taviora and all the admiration she could handle. When she said that it was Lazarus' yard too, Dexter couldn't help himself. He lifted a brow, his lips twitching with humor. "He lives with you in your den? How...modern of you." He knew that's not what she meant, or at least that's what he was hoping, so he wanted to get a little laugh out of her reaction. And as if she knew what he would say, Zelda was quick to say it wasn't like that and her flustered attitude only had him chuckling. He shook his head in amusement. "Suuure, it's not. I am totally convinced." Sarcasm dripped thickly off of his words as he grinned at her.

Then she answered another thing for him. She admitted that they were imprints. Dexter's eyes widened for a second as that sunk in. But then he nodded. He may never understand what it's like to imprint since he couldn't, he had seen enough in his years to know the effect it could have on a pair of wolves. It was almost fated for them to be together, then. Maybe that was best. He would have liked to think the male was just courting Zelda because he had come to know her personality and love it but he knew just being imprints didn't guarantee love either. He'd seen wolves walk away from their imprints and let their hearts choose another. It wasn't uncommon. He wanted to think Lazarus found Zelda and then continued to seek her out because both his heart and his soul wanted to be close to her. At least that's what he would keep telling himself unless he found out otherwise. He nodded at her question. "Yeah, I'm sure Zeltzin has figured it out by now, or at least suspects. She's pretty smart, sometimes." He said the last part teasingly, the twinkle in his eyes saying as much. His face softened then.

"I'm glad for you, Zelda. From what I'm seeing, he wants only the best for you and that's all I want too. I hope it works out how you want it to." There, that was his serious face. She asked that he keep it between them and he brought his paw up, pretending to cross his chest. "Cross my heart. Your secret's safe with me, niece." He said with a wink. Then she told him he wasn't a monster but she knew where the boys got it from. He chuckled, his brows lifted as he feigned a look of astonishment. "It had to be their mother, I'm sure. Tuari is quite the prankster. Don't let her silence fool you. It's always the quiet ones." He smirked afterward, only love in his eyes as he spoke of his mate. He wouldn't trade her or her pranks for the world. But then, they had to talk about serious stuff. He told her he didn't recognize the challenge call and she nodded, saying she couldn't expect him to know them all. He shrugged. Of course not. Then she said she would give the Alpha time or go there herself unless Shem went. She said he had motivation as of late and Dexter lifted a brow. "Oh? Did something happen?" He didn't know if he needed to be concerned or not.

He didn't know this Shem as well as he'd like but as family and pack, he was automatically under Dexter's protection, as far as he was concerned. Then Zelda threw him a curve ball, saying he could be good as her adviser. Dexter snorted at first, thinking it a good joke, before he saw her sober expression. He scowled, ears flicking back and forth as his tail flicked. "You would actually take advise from me?" He shifted his weight. She actually wanted to give him the rank. He knew she was waiting on an answer. Finally he exhaled. "Well, I guess if you're serious about this, then I would be honored. I would defend you no matter what and I'd never let you make a bad decision. That would make me a terrible uncle." He smirked, before it became a genuine smile. "If you would take me, I will be your Advisor."