“I would like to think I know what sort of man Rook Lyall is, yes.” But he keeps his secrets, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered. Kept things from Quil. He often wondered if he was the cause of the breakdown between the leading pair then. Perhaps it was simply the straw that broke the caribou’s back. There was a young son to care for, a new pack to handle, Borden’s death, Cinder’s disappearance and-- The man sighed and shook his head. These dark thoughts were not one to share with a visitor.
“As you said, Rook’s heart is a puissant thing. It is all or nothing – and it is usually all. Rook’s happiness is paramount, and should this flame burn itself out…” Veho trailed off, mouth twisted as he stared at his counterpart from Renegade’s Reach. “I asked one thing of him when he recruited me to Grizzly Hollow, before this was anything other than a friendship. I asked him not to tether me.” The grimace morphed back into a tired smile, something glinting in pale, moonlit eyes. “And though it seems I have bond myself to these wolves and these forests, I made this choice. But if Rook seeks to move on, if he can no longer find happiness here, with me, than it is my oath to see that he finds it elsewhere. Love is not a selfish thing. If you love it, you let it go. If it comes back to you, it is yours. I will not hold what wishes to be free.”