'What?' She knew, deep down.
'That he must leave us soon. That his place is with the pack, his real kindred. They need him now as much as we do. I think that only his shoulder—-'
'It's not TRUE.' She sat down on the floor, a forlorn bundle in a world made suddenly colder. 'He wouldn't leave us like this.' She tried to rationalize, arguing with whom she did not know. 'You're not able to hunt.'
'No, but I will be soon, with as much chance as he. And you can live on sebreum.'
'But Alaska,' she insisted (the name she had given the pup).
'He knows I will not let her starve. I'm sorry, Sylviana. But his place is with his own kind.'
'It's not fair.' Her eyes would not stop filling.
Kalus picked up the fur she had discarded, and gently replaced it around her shoulders. He put his hand on her head shyly, feeling unworthy, and unable to do more. But beneath his breath he made this vow.
'So long as there is life inside me, you will never be alone.'
He moved away, unable to face the apparition of Winter's resistance to his life and to his dreams. To love so deeply, and with so little hope…..