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He sed before replying in a low voice, "Isolation Separation"

I took a moment to absorb his words, even as I exa every flicker of eht, and he looked like he was trying to steady his breathing

"Creatures like me," he went on, "we are not meant to be separated fro dawned on me In a time when his entire world had collapsed around him, the very foundations of his life had been shaken and all that he loved had been stripped fro to? What mechanisms did a olf, an inherently social creature, employ to cope?

He’d watched his fae Then I’d appeared from nowhere and freed hi at the other side of the portal, he had been called to help me because he’d seen me as an ally A friend Someone he could trust where he’d had none other As a wolf, he appeared to have an inbuilt need for connection, companionship, however weak or useless or even burdenso that need for him

I cleared my throat "Well, thank you," I said "You’re a, uh, very caring person" Ugh That sounded so lame

"Perhaps I have my mother to thank for that," he ain at the thought of hisskills? Where did you get those?"

His eyes warmed "Not all olves have that skill, you know," he said, a boyish grin spreading across his face

I didn’t doubt that Our olves in The Shade could cliility that Bastien could

"Would you like to know soainst the wall of the cave, eyeing me

"Yes," I replied I truly was interested

"I was very different froe," he said "While they shifted between man and wolf, I remained always stuck as a wolf Indeed, I was born as a wolf--so that is practically unheard of in The Woodlands"

"So you came out of your"My parents were both shocked and devastated They feared I was deforht never beco?"

"I was a wolf all throughout my childhood I couldn’t shift until I turned fifteen--in wolf years, that is When I did e it, I was able to shift at will"