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When the sun began setting beneath the trees that night, the pack had finally finished the home.

At least, the exterior was finished. The interior would something to work on for the next few days.

Building beds was a priority not just for Hemming and Calder, who wanted a soft place to continue their courting in a more intimate way, but also the rest of the pack was yearning for a soft place to sleep that wasn't the cold ground.

Calder was already collecting what was required to build four frames to hold the mattress that would need to be created. For now, the bed would be simple and only use around twelve pieces of wood or log. The mattress would have to be made from items that the rest of the pack would bring back from the trip.

Calder was sure he could build comfortable enough padding with the absurd amount of furs that the pack was in possession of.

He had been planning to go hunt for the Reindeer later in the night, while the pack was sleeping.

It would take most of the night to stalk, kill, and butcher the animal, but Calder rarely slept through the night anymore; being something that was not all human left him not needing to eat or sleep as much anymore. Though, he did need an extra amount of water than what he used to.

He assumed that Hemming would notice if he left, so he was going to tell his mate that he was going to continue working to make the wood better fit for furniture use.

He hated to lie, but he doubted that Hemming would be too mad if he was doing something to contribute to their courtship more.

Calder ate supper quietly besides the occasional laughter when one of the pack made a funny comment or two.

When the sun finally got low enough, Calder stated that he was going to go work on some trees while the pack slept.

No one said much, only stated for him to be careful and come home if it became too dark for him to see the axe. Calder agreed with a smile before taking the axe and setting off into the woods.

The forest was thicker the farther he went west, the trees becoming more deciduous than coniferous, the smell of animals becoming more pronounced than it was in the area that the pack had claimed.

Calder found tracks in the mud easily, the snow had melted and left behind wet soil and regrowing grass. He could barely smell the scent of deer, maybe roe or fallow.

He had spent one of the days during the last fortnight to focus on trying to hone in on certain scents, with the help of the pack and Hemming of course.

Calder prided himself in what all he could smell when he though about it. He had first though it was only for the ocean, but soon he was smelling pine needles and rabbits.

Presently, there was a heavy scent of deer, but not quite the cold and musty stench of an Elk or Reindeer.

Calder frowned and continued to try and find just a hint of a larger animal within the forest.

It was a decent amount of walking when he finally caught the scent of a singular stag Elk.

Calder sighed lowly and focused on the scent, tracking the smell as far as he could. The axe feeling ever present within his grasp.

As the scent got stronger, Calders heart beat faster with the thrill of the hunt. 

It did not take long for Calder to come onto the animal, the wind blowing both his own and the Elks scent away from the area.

The stag was standing peacefully within an area of trees that held thick growing clover, the sun shining through the trees and lighting up the green forest.

Calder stilled his movements and stood just out of sight and smell, knowing that if he threw the axe just the right way, it would lodge perfectly behind the Elks shoulder, hitting and stopping the heart.

While the Elk was facing away from him, head leaning down in order to grasp at green foliage, Calder took the moment to come out from the tree quietly.

He took a silent but deep breath, aimed, and then threw as hard as he could towards the spot needed to kill.

The Elk startled once the axe hit, but did not even get a chance to run at such a direct hit. With a buck and a painful huff, the great animal was down. Calder sighed and stepped out to walk towards the Elk, kneeling and placing a hand to the still warm fur.

"You did well. Thank you." He whispered before reaching for the axe and yanking it free.

He did not wait long before using the axe once more to slice crudely into the Elks abdomen and reach into the body in order to pull the unwanted innards out to leave for the scavengers.

When he finished, the Elk was empty and his hands were coated in sticky blood.

Calder grabbed the large expanse of antlers and began dragging the Elk back the way he came.

The sun had set and by the time he was only halfway back, he was relying on the scent of pack and the sea to find his way back home.

He could see that the fire was lit within the house, but could hear no speaking or laughing that suggested the pack was still awake.

Calder stayed far enough from the house so that he would not wake anyone and snatched a rope to string up the Elk onto a branch.

He used the axe to decapitate the Elk before actually lifting the Elk to its place hanging from the branch by its back legs, letting blood drain onto the soil.

Calder had first used the blade of the axe to skin the animal, but after he got frustrated at the bluntness, he threw it to the side and instead used his nails and fingers to separate the lining of muscle from flesh.

He had reached maybe halfway across the large rib cage before the door to the house opened and he froze.

Calder held his hands still as they stuck deeply under the fur coat of the Elk as he looked towards the door, finding Lagina shutting the door quietly and walking towards him. Lagina not being shifted, he noticed.

"The scent of blood woke me. If you wished to keep this a secret you might have had better luck further away from home." She said quietly with a grin as she crossed her arms.

Calder sighed quietly and grimaced as he slowly continued to rip at connective tissue.

"Are you the only one awake? This was supposed to be a gift for Hemming." Calder asked hopefully.

Lagina nodded and leaned against the tree that the animal was hanging from.

"I have the most blood sensitive nose. I would not expect the others to wake from just a smell." Lagina explained and evaluated at the Elk. "A good kill."

"I should hope so, I had to travel a fair distance to find it." Calder huffed and kept his hands moving against muscle.

"Hemming will love a gift such as this. Showing you can provide is an important thing to show to a mate or wife; though, I suppose you'll be his husband."

Calder smiled softly and sent a grateful look to Lagina. He had hoped this would be a good gift.

"Would- would you like to help?" Calder asked with a nod to the bleeding carcass.

Lagina furrowed her brows and glanced, what Calder would call, nervously towards the house.

"It is your courting gift. Would you not like to do it yourself?"

Calder smiled, pulling his bloodied hands from beneath the Elks skin.

"You are pack. I believe Hemming would be glad knowing we can help each other when need be; even if it is in secret and a gift for him."

Lagina smiled softly, the first time that Calder had seen it when not from a joke while around the fire.

"I can fetch water to clean the meat and our hands." Lagina said before walking away and fetching the pail they had fashioned a week ago.

Calder smiled and continued his work, hands slippery and air thick with the scent of blood.

Lagina came back quickly and set the water down nearby prior to coming to work on the other side of the Elks ribcage; such a large animal would have taken Calder all night without the help of another.

It was silent for a bit before Calder finally asked Lagina how she joined the pack.

She had been wary at first, but only because it was clearly not a good memory. Calder stated that she did not have to tell him, but she only shook her head and started to tell her tale.

Lagina said she had lived with humans until she was fifteen summers. She had not known she was an Ulfhednar, and it took her shifting for the first time to find out about her lineage.

The village she had lived at was large, and participated in the beliefs that woman were nothing more than carriers for male heirs. She had been sold at thirteen summers to an Earl who had raped her; this was nothing new to Calder. Women were often raped where he had grown up, not that it was not a horrible thing.

Lagina also said she had been pregnant, and unfortunately lost the child, but was not saddened by it. It was losing the babe that made her shift, and therefore grow the courage to leave the village.

She stayed as a wolf and lived as a wolf for many years until Hemming found her in her twentieth summer; her wolf recognized he was an alpha and stayed with him.

Calder was sympathetic to her story, but could tell that she had moved past it. She was stronger and healthier; something that Calder understood when he had been away from his mother for more than one day.

The pack had helped him feel the love he had lacked in his childhood and partially into his adulthood. Both him and Lagina were better because of the family that they had made, not born or sold into.

All while him and Lagina had talked, they had also been very easily butchering the Elk.

The hide was laid across the edge of the pig pen, and the more precious cuts of meat were placed into the pail of water until Calder could hang them to dry or smoke in the morning. The others were laid out on the skin part of a spare fur.

The Elk was nothing but bone and unwanted bits such as the hooves and head, though the bones would be cleaned and kept to be used for tools. The antlers were being kept so that Calder could fashion a comb from the wider areas.

The sun was rising by the time they had laid all the cleaned bones out on the ground in a pile and Lagina had used rope and a tree to begin stretching the pelt.

Calder had sawed off a portion of antler to start carving and was leaning his back against the pig pen when the door to the house opened.

Calder let out a sigh when it only was Nadir, staring at both him and Lagina confusedly.

Nadir quietly walked over to Calder with furrowed brows as he eyed the pile of meat laid out on the tanned side of a fur; salt thrown lazily across the top pieces to keep it fresh in some way.

"Did Lagina hunt last night?" Nadir questioned.

"No, uh, I did. It is my second courting gift to Hemming. Is he awake yet?" Calder grinned and squinted as an orange sun began peaking from behind the waves.

Nadir shook his head and crossed his arms, breath coming out in foggy puffs in the cold morning air.

"Good; do you have a knife that is sharp enough to carve antler? Or one at all? I was afraid if I went in the house then Hemming would wake." Calder huffed a laugh and sent a hopeful look to Nadir.

Nadir grinned gently and pulled a small blade from his side, metal and definitely sharp enough for Calders needs.

"Thank you, I was hoping to finish it by the time he woke, but I realize that is probably unfeasible and I will have to tell him the Elk was female." Calder smirked, taking the knife and immediately setting to work at carving away the antler velvet and pedicels.

"What are you making?" Nadir asked, looking back to Calder from where he had been watching Lagina wet down the pelt.

"A comb. Though, I am not that skilled at carving so I assume there will be some broken teeth by the time it is done." Calder chuckled.

"It is better to carve the outline of the design before making the bigger changes." Nadir supplied, reaching for a smaller saw before sitting down next to Calder. "Make the larger cuts with this so you do not waste time in carving such large areas."

Calder accepted the saw after he had set down the knife, figuring how thin he would make the comb before beginning to saw away a sheet of bone on both sides.

With Nadirs advice, he had shaved away the antler to make a rough shape of a comb, only missing the teeth and perhaps a design if Calder wanted.

They were interrupted by the door opening again, this time, Calder was not so lucky with any more time.

"Goodmorning, Wolf."

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