You can take it afterwards because the game is free-form and Lone Wolf is no exception to this. Consider being tired of running with four companions and scaling down to three - Lone Wolf is your friend in that case even while progressed in the game. Is it a silly choice? Sure. But it is up to you, the player, to figure that out for yourself.
Just like late Lone Wolf is subpar, choosing Pet Pal very late in the game is a similar example of a talent choice that has little to no benefit, or going for Stench on a character that serves as the front of the party... no need to change the game, you as a player need to learn this through playing.
Last edited by Vayra; 09/07/14 06:08 PM.