Neverwinter Forest i helped him plant his seeds and we’d mow the lawn in bad weather

If any wolf would understand some of that, it would be Mal. How many times had he been ignored or ditched in his life? A lot, pretty much. He'd stopped counting. I think for some of us, that's the way things are. Of all the wolves that have been in my life, the only ones who haven't outright abandoned me are the ones in this pack. And they should all be here for you, too. If they weren't, Mal would have a bone to pick with them.

Alarian you mean? A pause, then he continued, somewhat somber, I think it's just the way he is. He was in the pack I was born in. When I was maybe, I dunno, half a year old, my mom and dad went off looking for my sisters and left me by myself. That was when the idiots in charge decided they should totally move the pack while they were all gone. He was supposed to watch over me during the move but somewhere in the middle he was just gone. I didn't see him again until you were with him. Mal hadn't been sure he was going to tell it in the first place, but given Alarian's kind of wobbly history with Mal, it was worth mentioning, if only because it really wasn't just Phillip. This failure seemed to be all in Alarian's court. I don't know why he leaves. But I don't think it was anything you did.