Seaside Moors keep coming back

Last from me, I think!

Neither of them made any indication that they recognized him. Perhaps his brief presence in Rusalka had mattered only to Raleska. That made the most sense, considering the bulk of his time had been spent with her and not others. Raleska introduced him not as a wolf they had once known, but as one of the wolves that had saved her life. Somewhere deep in the lifeless chasm that was his heart, a tiny flicker of flame bubbled up. He did not even have that for his children, but Raleska was decidedly different.

The other two seemed to defer to Raleska on his acceptance, and that was when Kaertok knew he would not leave. Not this time. He had made the mistake of leaving Raleska before, but he had seen where that had led him. Aimless, wandering, searching for something that could only be found in one wolf. He nodded curtly at Rosalyn's words, not daring to utter anything in fear of cracking the thin ice that was his place in Rusalka.

With that, he made the fateful step over the boundary and cut ties with the children he left behind. They were not the first to be victim to his wandering ways, but they were the first to be aware of it as it played out. As for Arbiter, he truly believed he had given her everything she had wished for. Jomyo he still considered a friend. And should his children ever find him, he would tell them the truth.