Morningside Cuesta different now; better than

Day gave a slow nod. That was as good a way to put it as anything. "Yeah. Things fall apart. People, they fall apart," he said, giving Dawn a small, sad smile. "So, to re-cap - I loved Adeline. And back then, somewhere in there, I met your mother, and I loved her, too. And it helped, because I loved your mother with good love. I took care of her, and believed she'd take care of me, and we worked together to care for you and Sunny. We fought, sometimes, but it was never too bad. And then, one day, we never saw her again. You know that part," he murmured, watching Dawn closely to see how this part affected her. He gave it a moment to sink in before moving on. "What you don't know is - right before your mom left, Addie left, too. She wanted to explore, so she went away all winter - and I was angry."

He let out a heavy sigh. "She left, and then your mother left, and I was angry about both things, but mostly, I was angry at Addie. I was angry that she'd take herself away from me, and angry that she would put herself in danger, and I was furious because she left without coming to me, and saying a real goodbye.

"I was so angry that, when there was an intruder on the borders, I used more force than necessary. I ended a life, and even though I found out afterward that it had been the right thing to do, I wasn't sure at the time. I let my anger lead me to doing that, instead of my love for my pack.

"I was so angry that, when Chaska left to be with the wolf he loved, I wouldn't let him back into the pack. He came back, and I was mad at him for leaving, and I helped Steady to decide that he should be sent away, even though Chaska was our friend. Even though he was just doing what he thought was right.

"I was so angry that I let you and Sunny be raised by Krypton and the rest of the pack, instead of giving you the attention I should have. I chose to march around and growl and pace instead of being there when you needed me."

He shook his head. "And you know what, Dawn? I never learned. I never moved past that. One day, Addie just came back, and I forgot about being angry and I went right back to loving her, and that, I think, is when my good love for her turned into bad love. Because I was scared that she would leave me again, and I just kept thinking, I would do anything to keep her happy - but what I really meant was, I would do anything to keep her happy to be around me. And she was young, Dawn, and I'm old. D'ya know how... how you learned from me? And from Krypton? Addie is like that. She learned things from me, but the things I was teaching her were... were that she always had to be around me. And that... that our friendship was more important than her happiness. That what I wanted was more important than what she wanted," he said, his voice a bit choked. "I didn't mean to - I thought that I was doing the right thing, and being good to her. But my actions were telling the truth. My bad love was showing her what was really in my heart."

He looked at Dawn. "I was selfish, Dawn. Addie... Addie was scared to come with us. She wanted to stay with her dad, and when I went to tell her I was going away, I meant to let her. But I let my selfish love rule me, and I asked her to come. And my selfish love made her feel like, if she didn't do it, I would stop loving her."

He swallowed back some of his emotions, trying to loosen the knot in his throat. "I hurt her very badly, Dawn. My bad love twisted us both up, and I've been seeing it for months. But I kept telling myself that I would do better, that I would love her better. But when you let your love turn into something that ugly, sometimes... sometimes it isn't that simple."