With silence, Wraith allowed Craw the time to think out his response. The question was already asked and there was no taking it back, but the northerner's mouth twisted regretfully as it seemed a hard one to answer for his friend. He should have simply kept his mouth shut for the pale furred male's benefit. When finally Craw spoke, the brute lay down at his side to listen with rapt attention.

Wraith gave a rumble of understanding as Craw explained more what sent him this way. Nothing pulled him South. Rather he'd been pushed from the North. It was the same story that resounded in Wraith's own heart. Empathetically, the wolf reached over to lick Craw's paw in understanding. The one thing that differed between the pair was that Craw had refused to die and Wraith had been too guilty to die. Giving up would have been too easy for the kind of death he felt he deserved at the time when he left his own homelands. His friend had given him something to live for, though the ghosts of his past were still very much present in his day to day life.

When a similar question was posed towards himself, Wraith took a similar amount of time to contemplate in silence. Finally, he shook his head. "There's not much left for me to go back to," he murmured quietly. "I killed my family." He said it boldly, stating it as plainly as he could manage. It was the truth he'd been running from since he left his home.

"My father entrusted a pack hunt to me," he began, nearly whispering as if his old man would have a chance of hearing and passing judgement upon him for his crimes. "I'd led a few before that, of course, but never so many. Prey was scarce, the weather harsh." He knew he need not expound on that; Craw understood well the harsh world of the North. Winter in these southern lands were nothing in comparison. "It came down to a choice as it always does. Take the harsher, faster path to success or the safer one with less chance of finding anything. I wanted to help my family," Wraith implored, begging for his friend to understand. "I chose wrong. There was a bridge of sorts along the mountain path. I could scent the damned sheep on the other side. I knew they were there."

Wraith lowered his head to his paws on a pained whine. "It was my little sister's scream I heard first. She'd begged to go with me on the hunt. She wasn't too young for it, but I hadn't wanted to risk her on such a journey in the first place. I never had been able to disappoint her. 'Til then, at least." Wraith's mouth twisted in a humorless smile while a darkness resided in his amber eyes. "She tells me so every night. The rest of them as well. Even ghosts can't forgive me. I can't possible expect the ones left behind to do what ghosts cannot." And even more, the brute couldn't forgive himself.

"No, there's nothing I left behind that I can return to," he concluded.

The words, their genuine meaning, clenched at Wraith's heart. He almost laughed, feeling like a whimpering pup in need of coddling. But @Craw didn't make it like that. He was simply there, a quiet comfort where before there had been none. There was no telling him to buck up or forget it, no uncomfortable shifting or trying to talk around the subject. That was Craw; always willing to face things head on. It was part of what the northerner admired about him.

Wraith remained silent, though the pale wolf at his side didn't seem to expect him to say more. He'd said more than enough for one night with regards to his lost family. More than he'd ever thought he'd say, if he were honest with himself.

Whatever Wraith was expecting from Craw, it hadn't been what came next. The black male raised his head off his paws to look at his friend, eyes softening empathetically. How easily he could imagine it, picture the life before that shaped the male at his side now. It wouldn't have been an easy one. It wasn't based on what he was hearing. Wraith said nothing as Craw silenced himself, fighting for control. By now, he'd spent enough time around him to recognize it. He only waited.

He waited only a moment. "You need only ask it of me," Wraith murmured.
"If you need help with that business, you need only ask."

Wraith couldn't help but smile at @Craw, trusting that he wouldn't have said such a thing had he not meant it. The brute was convinced now that no matter their challenges, together, they could overcome them and come out stronger for it in the end. He turned into the spider-faced male's touch, constantly reaffirming their bond. When Craw mentioned the way in which they first met, Wraith laughed heartily, the anxieties and overwhelming sadness dissipating just like that. His friend had a talent for making things right, it seemed.

"You weren't grateful that day," he recalled with amusement.

Surprisingly, the wolf's thoughts didn't turn to the reason he was running so recklessly. They might have yesterday, but not in this moment. Instead, he thought of the companionship built on their journey to this place and every moment since that proved Craw to be a true friend. His first, Wraith realized, who wasn't related by blood in some manner.

Lapsing into that easy, comfortable silence that came naturally between them, Wraith took a deep breath and looked on into the darkness of the forest around them. And finally, "Thank you Craw. For bringing me here. For trusting me, befriending me. For everything."

And just like that, there was nothing else to be said. Wraith continued to marvel at the ease of his friendship with @Craw. For a wolf familiar only with the closeness of family, the white male had become that so easily. A brother. He bared no semblance in coat or personality, held not Kael blood in his veins, but he was a brother all the same. Trusted and beloved. And now he'd laid out his worries and concerns, his ghosts and past at Craw's paws and he'd not tread upon them as he'd feared. Instead, he'd listened and responded with empathy for his loss. Together, they had shared a great number of things and Wraith knew he'd not soon forget it. This brotherhood was something he'd fight for against any threat, no matter the consequences.

When Craw settled beside him, Wraith took to quietly grooming his fur. The northerner was beginning to realize it was an odd behavior in Willow Ridge. While he still didn't understand how pack bonds could exist without such behavior, he doubted Craw would mind and continued without stress. If the male had a problem with it, he'd say. In that, Wraith could trust. In him, he could trust.

Once he was done, he settled his head across Craw's neck. Rather than an action of dominance, it was done simply to provide more contact and protection from the cold as neither of them were interested in going back to the den. Soon enough, he fell asleep as they were.