Sun Mote Copse Is It Easy to Be Young

Dad, that's not enough for me, was possibly the worst that Eljay had ever heard anyone say. It'd been pretty bad when he had to be told that his mother was gone, not once but multiple times. It'd been really bad when he talked to others about Wiffle's passing, which still struck him every day and had cracked his heart for ever. But to hear his own son say that not only did he no longer need his father or sister or pack, but he also needed more than that... It further tore at the seams of his patched up, bruised and broken heart.

In essence, what Elfie said was -- you're not enough for me -- and that was the hardest thing the father had ever had to process. Eljay's face fell, the hurt displayed clearly on his face as it always was; not because he wanted to, but because he could not hide it.

There were a lot of things he wanted to say. A lot of 'but's that might convince Elfie to stay. A lot of guilt tripping -- not consciously, perhaps, but it would -- about how his sister needed him, how his pack needed him. A lot more pleading and a lot more about how it wasn't safe out there. But Eljay knew that it wouldn't help, and it would only further fracture both his own heart as well as his connection to his son.

Eljay sucked in the feelings he was feeling and all of the words he wanted to say. The fear, the pain, the anger, the tears. He took it all back in and said: Okay. I hope it will do you good. This was what Elfie needed, and while Eljay wanted to strap him down to this pack, to this copse, because it was unsafe outside, he knew that he simply could not. All he could do was hope that Elfie would be alright out there.