The Marian he had dumped had not been the vibrant she-wolf he had fallen for. She had not been the lively, bold, outspoken girl he had taken into his heart, and into his bed.
After the battle, she had lost her shine, her light. She became dull in her manner, in her speech. They had had to sneak around to meet.
He had even let other she-wolves touch him before going to see her, on purpose. And she never said anything, never called him out.
He continued making promises to her even as he purposefully kept away, and she had not challenged him in any way.
His real, original Marian would never have let anything like that slide.
She had changed, and he had lost interest.
==========
But, upon her return, right from their first exchange, he had finally seen the girl he had known for almost t
