"I don't think I've ever really had that," he says after a moment of consideration. Alek doesn't talk about these things as a general rule, but it's different with Cora, for reasons that go beyond her being a wolf. "Doing something just because I like it."

He swims because it tires him out. He runs because it keeps him from thinking. His mother did always say he thinks too much.

Alek smirks then, almost like he's brushing off something that is otherwise revealing. "Unless eating counts."