Maybe that's part of why Cougar's been resisting too, even if he doesn't say it loudly. If he says yes to Jake and agrees, then he has a tie that brings him back to a person who could lose him. Now, if he dies, then people will be sad, but they can all move on. It wouldn't be the same. Still, is that how he wants to live? Forever dodging intimacy because of his own selfish thoughts.

It's easier to just focus on hunting, sometimes, being out in the wilderness, but that's also not a life. "Maybe I will have to learn to change. Maybe that is what love is. Changing yourself to love the person."