Ares had been able to guess a lot of the things that I had been through, and he understood why certain things were difficult for me because of that.
I had never considered the idea that he might be affected by the loss of his parents, and I felt rather stupid for that now because it was obvious that losing both parents so unexpectedly would be difficult for him, particularly given the circumstances. He didn’t really know what had happened to them, and he never would; it had left him with fears and hang-ups that I had never noticed before. That was probably part of the reason he was so happy I had been able to come back to stay with the rest of the pack; he was OK with me traveling alone until he saw the mountains again and was reminded of what he had lost. He was proud of how awe-inspiri
