Making himself scarce seemed like his only good option at the moment. Tensions were higher than ever within the ranks and Wraith felt responsible for a good deal of it. Where better to spend his time than one of the only places within Relic Lore that he had found made him feel welcome simply for being in its proximity. While the northerner would usually have preferred the tall peaks and ridges of the neighboring mountain, the recent meeting left a sour taste in his mouth. He cared not for the scents that would remind him of what took place within the cavern. No, he would far rather lose himself in the midst of the thick forest.

Exhausted from all his recent hunting - a distraction to keep him from his worries - and the worsening struggles with sleep, Wraith lay within the rotted out hollow of a long dead tree to catch fits of sleep that felt far from restful. His head pounded, making true sleep hard to come by.

Of course, approaching pawsteps determined he'd not get that sleep he so desperately needed. Stifling a yawn, Wraith's dark ears pinned forward to catch the pattern of footfalls. With the wind blowing the wrong way, it was difficult to tell just who was approaching by scent. However, Wraith was fairly certain he knew just who it was who'd come tracking him down.

The brute wagged his tail in slow, cautious greeting when @Morganna came into sight. He waited until she approached to lean forward and lick at her chin in greeting. "What brings you out this way, my lady?" he asked, thought Wraith needn't have bothered. He knew the what. Just not the why.

Wraith shifted his weight over to allow @Morganna the room to lay beside him. When she began to groom at the thick fur along his back, he lay his head across her paws in companionable silence. "I didn't mean to worry you," he murmured gently. He'd only needed the time and space he couldn't seem to find while within pack territory. The constant tension wasn't something the male was used to, and Wraith hoped he wouldn't have to grow accustomed its presence.

Apparently she was weary of it all as well. The northerner was quiet as she spoke, breathing even and calm. He had to wonder at her mind-reading capabilities. But as the Kael male thought on it, he realized what it was that made her so perceptive today.

@Craw. She must have spoken to him.

"I'm not going anywhere," he murmured, hoping to reassure Morganna. The last thing he would do was leave her in the midst of so much trouble. While he didn't care to be around it, he'd be damned if he let her deal with it on her own. Besides, he wouldn't leave Craw, either. Wraith had never connected with another wolf so thoroughly before. He'd be a fool to cut ties so strong just to wander alone again.

Lacking his usual animation, Wraith lifted his head off her forelegs to bathe her head directly between her ears. "I've known no other meaning to the word pack besides family. It has been a harsh learning curve coming here. I won't lie on that. But if you've a mind to make it just that, my heart is with you on it. All that I am," Wraith promised.

Wraith listened, ever the patient ear for her. But when @Morganna deemed to talk around the subject, his bathing tongue retracted and he nipped her forehead with annoyance. "Stop coddling me like a pup. You wouldn't bring up whatever it is that's going on if you didn't want to talk it out. Be straight with me, Morganna. I deserve that, at least. Say your piece, or don't. But no more talking around things." The northerner was a straight-forward man used to straight forward answers and a straight-forward life. Since joining Willow Ridge, the only thing that had been straight-forward was hunting and taking down a pair of boars that thought to cause trouble for them.

Was the only time the wolves of Willow Ridge could get along during life and death situations? In his head, Wraith scoffed. No, there were life and death situations every day with all the rising tensions.

Sighing, Wraith lowered his head back onto her paws. "Don't leave me in the dark." She could take the meaning any way she cared to, for there were plenty of instances during which he was left unawares, including what it was that was between them. If he were only a means to an end, he wanted to hear it from her. If there was more going on, he wanted to hear that as well. But being left to flounder on his own was clearly not working out for the miserable wolf.

"Morganna," Wraith murmured patiently, turning to allow her better access to his neck. The action soothed him as much as it did her. "No one in there would feel safe discussing their rank unless they were willing to challenge @Skoll for his right then and there," he pointed out. While he could understand the intention, Wraith had imagined the meeting to go far differently. More like a call to arms. As a pack. As a united front against a common enemy. Ah, but things rarely went as planned, did they?

As for @Hecate, Wraith couldn't even say he knew the wolf well enough to have noticed his superior's scent upon her. He'd been so busy trying to avoid judgement that he'd been missing out on the inner workings of the pack. "Do you want him gone?" Wraith wondered idly. It was hard to tell with Morganna sometimes, but Wraith's whole grasp on the Willow Ridge Pack seemed as fleeting as a summer wind in the Highlands, so he supposed anything was possible. "What is it exactly that you want?" Could she envision it? If she could, then perhaps he could start to as well and have a better idea of how life would change in the near future. "What future do you want for your little ones?"