Lost Creek Hollow don't you weep and don't you worry

He knew bits and pieces of what went on in the day to day, if only for the fact that Harlyn still reined him in on it. His isolation from the pack only went so far, as he was not foolish enough to extend it to his children, and definitely not their mother. It had surely cost him something along the way, though he had no idea to what extent. In his mind, he certainly still headed up the pack, though it was of no doubt on the other hand that they probably did not feel the same. Where he had been prevalent in what happened in the day to day, he was no longer.

And very much in the same way, he felt the weight Harlyn carried settle onto him. Mordecai did not know Shikoba well, but what he did know of her was positive. She had carried a fire within her that had propelled her within their ranks, and she had earned her place. But he had not interacted with her at length in some time, barring any passing greetings or interactions that had come into light when she had come by.

His own head hung though and heavily; such news stirred an uncomfortable tension that was no doubt palpable. Silence overtook him as it was wont to do in recent times and his gaze hastily shifted to the dimly lit trees in twilight and their yet to fully bud leaves. Those little nodes were there all the same and even he knew he could ignore the passage of time and all that it was inclined to do. "That goddamned cat," he growled in quiet tones. It was enough to make him grit his own teeth without thought.