Otter Creek Does it hurt to feel so high?

The coywolf shifted automatically to accommodate the other wolf, making himself into as comfortable a pillow as he could manage. He couldn't make sense of Etienne's unwillingness to put things out in the open. Dusty Rose had always been taught to ask for the things he wanted, and often, those things were easily given to him. He could not really imagine Etienne telling someone that he loved them and that wolf not being thrilled about it — even though he, personally, was disinterested in being told he was loved by anyone in that particular way. He was an outlier, wasn't he?

"When you're vulnerable with someone, you give 'em the chance to hurt you real bad," he said, looking up at the canopy, "but you also give 'em the chance not to. And sometimes it's healing, I think, to see that there are hurt places in others just the same as there are in you. 'Cause it's easy to think you're all alone in it. Just you and all the things snarled up inside you."

He sighed.

"You oughta give him that chance to hurt you, if you love him," he said quietly. "If he's doin' it already without even knowing. Maybe he feels alone, too."