"Your father would have been proud you'd gotten yourself to a pack, and to family. That you were doing your best to be found and come back home."
Sanguine Cove hadn't been ideal, but it had been immensely better than being utterly alone in the wilds, of becoming so lost she'd never been recovered. His head rested again down on her shoulders, heavily this time. Eros was exhausted of trying to swim amongst so many indomitable currents. Sinking sounded so very peaceful, but where would that leave the remarkable, innocent girl he'd been given charge of? His heart still hammered, as though he were actually treading water, desperately searching for a lifeboat, even if all it had was room for Ally.
He couldn't give up without knowing she would be okay.
"When Seph died, it felt a lot like this. Everything changed all at once, including everyone I-we knew. It felt like, the whole world was falling apart."
This was worse, so much worse, but Eros wouldn't share that facet of the truth.
"Time never stops though, and... yeah... it got... easier."
Why did that feel so wrong in his mouth? The lies got more fluid as he went on, but the taste of grave dirt remained on his tongue.
"Because, good still comes. We lost someone we loved, but that didn't leave us loveless. You and your brother came along, and so did your aunts and uncles. We had family come home and new friends join us, and every moment big and small that comes with simply being together. We don't have everyone with us that we want, but we're never alone. Wolves need one another, and being together, that's what soothes the hurt."
Cruel, how alone he really felt, regardless of how many others relied on him. He wished he had something he believed in to share with her, but he was trying to pour from an emptied cup. Platitude was all he had left.