Under normal circumstances, it was not appropriate for Iris to hug another man like she did with Joel, but she had never seen him so down and she did it out of pure instinct, the only thing in her mind was; how to comfort this young warrior.
Joel looked devastated, coupled with him having to move out of this room, it meant there was no hope for his legs and it was confirmed.
In his entire life, he only dreamed of how to be a great warrior and defend his pack from their enemies, even if he had to die, he wanted to die like his father, who died in the battlefield.
Probably, it would have been actually better if he did die when he was in the mountains along with the other young warriors, instead of becoming a burden to this pack.