Big Salmon Lake Endless phone calls and dreaming about you

Finally Fennec spilled all the beans. Bronco left — Eljay didn't know that Bronco was the father of Killdeer, well, not until about halfway through the entire story anyway — and at first it confused him that Fennec cared so much about whether Bronco was here or there, since she always seemed so aloof and detached from home herself, going and coming where the winds blew her. It was different with kids, it seemed.

Towhee was self-absorbed through it all, it seemed, and only cared about Reyes. It didn't surprise Eljay — it was one of the things that had driven him to leave in the end, he just couldn't handle not being prioritised and he didn't have the backbone to make himself be prioritised — and he wasn't sure what to say about it. He didn't want to be mean or even tell Fennec that he felt the same way. Maybe Fennec was just upset now, and it'd pass over in time.

Instead he waited too long with answering, and Fennec'd already gotten to the last part of the story. Bronco had returned, and he was different now. By now Eljay had connected the presumable dots of Bronco being Killdeer's father, though he wasn't sure what it all meant. Different how? Eljay did not ask, though. He instead remained silent for some time before he eventually said, I know it can be hard. I know that some of the wolves in y— in our family, they can be focused on themselves and not those around them. It was strange somehow, to call them family now. But they were. Eljay still felt a pang of regret that he had never told Towhee good-bye, but he knew that she would've forced him to stay. And now it was too late, now it was so long ago that it would be awkward to see her again. He knew he couldn't postpone it forever. But just, he wanted to postpone it at least for another little bit. Just for now.

... They do care, though. He hoped they did; needed to believe they did, maybe, even if he'd been so out of touch with them and they with him. He knew Fennec was tough and could fend for herself, but he could not help but offer nonetheless: If you ever need to talk about anything, you're always welcome at Brecheliant, you know.