Acacia jumped where she stood as she spun to see the girl from last night now leaning against a counter top, her voice almost racing as she bombarded the now startled girl, "What happened? I smell blood.....Is the Ulfric alright? Was one of the pack members injured by the hunter?". Merely standing there as she processed all the questions she'd shaken her head and turned back to the last few pieces of bread now sizzling upon the black fry pan.

"Uhm, I don't know what happened, the Ulfric, from what I heard a little earlier..." she started off speaking, she'd eaves dropped in what she could before getting up to make the household's breakfast, "Is downstairs with the hunter's, and I think they found two dead bodies in the woods, that's why he is downstairs..." she thought over what she said for a moment, hoping she'd pieced what she'd heard together properly.

As she pulled the past two pieces onto the pile already gathered off to the side she'd turn the stove off and move to the sink to rinse the hot pan with cold water, she left it sitting there for someone else to clean before gathering up three plates and piling on at least 3 pieces for each human and 4 for the Ulfric if he was still down stairs. "Uhm, Do you mind maybe carrying a plate? I just want to take something for the humans to eat" she asked softly as she collected two white polished plates from the bench and turned to Vashti.

Before long she'd start making her way to the kitchen exit and if Vashti chose not to help, that was fine, she could always return for the third plate barely noticing she had grabbed one for a human and the one for the Ulfric.

Fuck! He's caught me. What to do? What to do? I can't tell him the whole truth. Last time I told someone I was a werewolf hunter I couldn't see clearly for a week. Stupid old lady with pepper spray. Think, Ryan. Think! Aha! "Alright, to tell you the truth, this is my first time hunting. I didn't know anything about a license or whatever else you need. But, I haven't killed anything yet. I promise. I can even show you where I crashed my car if you want." Ryan responded, a bit worriedly. He hadn't lied at all this time, but his previous one could be getting him in a lot of trouble. Man, if I get in trouble for something someone else did... I'd probably... Do nothing about it, 'cause I'd probably be in prison. Nooo, I don't want to go to prison. Bad thing happen to people like me when they go to prison. I'm not meant to go there. Ryan's stomach then growled again, even louder than before. "So, uh, you got any food? Oh! And the girl, you didn't say anything about her," Ryan said, his mood quickly changing from fear to excitement.

Vashti tilted her head at the other girl's response, a quiet yet fierce growl piercing up her throat. Two wolves dead....just after a hunter decided to show up...

Standing up she crossed her arms and fumed for a moment, before actually hearing Acacia's request for help. Looking down at her Vashti blinked. Food? Taken to the human that could have done all this?

She was amazed for a second; staring with wide eyes at the smaller girl. But then clearing her thoughts with a shake of her head and a deep breath, Vashti nodded quietly, "I'll be down in a moment...."

She needed to take a minute or two to dampen the fire of hatred in her gut.....and to put on some proper clothing....
Looking down Vashti took notice of her bare legs and blinked; reaching down to tug her long shirt below her knees. She couldn't go waltzing around in a human's presence dressed like this.

Glancing around Vashti watched Acacia leave.
To go back upstairs to her bedroom would take too long. If she went outside to one of the nearby clothing cabinets she could nab a pair of jeans from there.....

Agreeing to herself Vashti moved to stalk out the kitchen door; heading out towards one of the exiting doors to a deck, where she knew of one cabinet.

Sasha

The house was waking up around her, but Sasha found that her pace had slowed considerably as she wove through the large and winding halls of the house. Eventually she heard Markus's voice, drifting up from below, mixed with the less familiar tones of the hunters. She debated going downstairs, but Sasha headed to the kitchen first. She passed Acacia and the new werewolf, Vashti. Not particularly concerned with them, the enforcer went in and started digging around in the fridge.

[Edited.]

James smiled at the Geri's name....Sam...
He took a moment to reach up and run a hand through his hair; blue eyes resting on the woman before him. The way she spoke, in that stern and stoick way, made him want to chuckle.

At her words though he went through with it; releasing the quietest of laughs, "I'm only as tame as the situation calls, Sam. When a family finds two strays out in the cold, do they welcome the docile one into their home? Or the aggressive?"

Shrugging he stepped foreword towards Sam and the door; eyes still on her. His gaze held a rather calm tone, despite the thoughts in his mind. He wondered why her dark eyes caused such a feeling of self awareness in his soul....

Shoving these things to the side he made a small sigh, "Very few times have I found something worthy of my.....aggression.....You saw one of those times last night; when I came across the dead bodies of your fellow pack members...."

The Woods, a fair way from the pack house

The morning was quiet, a slight breeze cooled the warm rays of the sun as it peeked out from behind the trees. In a clearing sat a lone figure of a wolf, it sat facing the rising sun, its head held high to catch every smell and sound of the new day. Its ears twitched one way as the caw of crows from deeper in the forest reverberated through the dense tree pack, even overcoming the muffle of the snow, and then twitched another way as the creaking of an overloaded sapling bending to the weight of the snow. It was peace, it was near serenity, it was.... the sound of crunching foot falls coming his way. Slowly the wolf stood and crept towards the treeline, slowly moving its way through the trees by keeping one always near its side and probing outwards with its noes to find the next one. It was slow work, but it was silent and the best he could do without using sound to help him locate the trees.

Still he made progress towards the sound of the snow crunching foot falls. They began to sound familiar as he neared, and the smell that finally overcame the snow confirmed his suspicions. Smiling internally he sat and waited for the other to get closer before reaching out his thoughts. "You can stop prowling around now Marrec. You've found me, or I've found you, or we've found each-other. Ether way you coming out here means and end to my sabbatical, how... delightful!" As he spoke Emil couldn't help but let his smile out, his tongue lolling out to the side slightly. "So what does our illustrious leader require of me?"

Acacia nodded lightly as she heard Vashti mention she'd be down in a moment, lowly under her breath she'd speak to herself, "I hope she doesn't take too long," hoping it was low enough not to be heard by Vashti herself. Turning down the corridor from the kitchen she'd head towards the basement door and knock lightly.

"I have food, is it alright if I bring it down for the guests?" she'd ask in a raised voice for the Ulfric who she could hear and smell below. Barely waiting too long she'd nudge the door open and begin her descent, stopping part way down to wait for Vashti along with a response.

For those below the only thing currently visible would be the lower half of her legs and those fluffy, rabbit slippers she had wrapped around her feet. She huffed lightly and glanced up towards the basement entrance then back down towards the sound of the interrogation, she figured the Ulfric and the humans would be hungry, so she had brought the food without permission.

William retracted his arm, the Ulfric not accepting his offering of drink. He studied the Ulfric's face for any sign of what his intentions might be. Being alone in a basement with a guy who had a meat tenderize in one hand was in no way an appealing idea to the hunter. They would either discuss what he had told him further, or the Ulfric would try to kill him right there and the. The flask went back into his coat as the hunter sat there listening to Ryan explain himself, and then switch topics to the younger girl he saw earlier on the porch. "I'd hate to break that news to him. William thought with an amused smile. "Not only could you be rejected, you could be mauled to death by a pack of hungry dogs."

He listened silently, though his attention shifted back towards the stairs as he heard the door open once more. He could see what looked like tiny rabbit slippers step down towards them then stop halfway. The voice had mentioned she brought food for the guests. "I'm surprised anyone in this house even considers us guest at this rate." William thought, glancing around at his surroundings, noting the fact he had been locked in a basement for the night, and now face to face with someone hellbent for answers. The hunter glanced back towards the stairs for a moment, and then turned to face the Ulfric once more. "I say we send Ryan here upstairs so he can eat, and maybe get his head checked out finally. You and I can have a bit of breakfast if that is of course alright with you, and i'll tell you what you want to know." William stated, adjusting his hat back onto his head.

Vashti rushed back into the house with a new pair of fresh jeans in her hands. After a quick dart to the nearest deck she had plucked a pair from it's drawers, then headed back inside to take Acacia's food down to the others in the basement.

Coming through the sliding doors she hobbled along while hurrying to tug the pants on. While hopping on one foot however, her balance faltered, and Vashti came tumbling down onto the kitchen floor.

The loud bang echoed through that section of the house as she lay there with a quiet groan of pain. She swore she had felt the earth shake under her weight.

Eventually, the girl picked herself up off the kitchen tiles and finished donning her jeans. Her face was screwed into a tight frown as she grabbed the last plate of French toast, before rushing off following Acacia's fresh scent trail.

Vashti soon stumbled across an open basement door, which she heard various voices emanating from. Sucking in a breath, she closed her eyes and huffed to herself, "Don't rip his throat out....."

Then, smearing a fake smile on her face she stepped downwards, "Acacia?"

Sam

"I'm only as tame as the situation calls, Sam. When a family finds two strays out in the cold, do they welcome the docile one into their home? Or the aggressive?"

Susprise flitted across the Geri's face at the other werewolf's response, not having expected the frankness nor the depth of reasoning. Sam had a tendency to expect little to nothing from others, often taking on the brunt of any task due to that distrust. She never did so with any ill thoughts towards others, but simply felt more secure in never counting on others. Common sense often seemed absent, which led to her presuming little else of value was present the majority of the time.

She was considering offering James some diluted apology, since she wasn't a woman easily capable of deep, sincere and tear-filled apologies or similar nonsense, but allowed the words to die unsaid when he stepped closer. She was above average height for a woman, but James' proximity caused her to lift her chin for a better visual of his eyes, intrigued by his behavior in spite of herself.

"Very few times have I found something worthy of my.....aggression.....You saw one of those times last night; when I came across the dead bodies of your fellow pack members...."

“Fair enough,” she murmured thoughtfully, pleased by the empathy that had led him to nearly confront two other werewolves at once. Finding herself feeling tense and nervous with James watching her so intently, Sam flashed him a grin before pulling the sliding door open, stepping inside, and sweeping a hand towards the interior.

“This is our home. Welcome... and don't mind the ill manners you'll surely see,” she mentioned rather dryly. She glanced around quickly to make sure there wasn't anything too absurd happening in the immediate area. Satisfied, Sam gave James a light push in the direction of the kitchen, determined to find food before someone swept her away into pack business.

With deep intent Markus listened to Ryan and nodded as he spoke. “I see… I hope you understand I may confiscate your weapons for a bit.” He stood up and turned towards the door watching as it opened and with a sigh reached up running a hand through his hair. “Why can’t I interrogate people without interruption.” he mumbled to himself. “Bring down the food for me and William here. Then take Ryan back up with you so he can eat breakfast and maybe get something to patch his head up.” Markus moved to a chair and plopped down in it. “And Ryan if you keep flirting with Ace. I’ll make sure you regret it.” He didn’t say anything more as he stared at William from across the room. If eyes could shoot lasers William would be a melted puddle of person.

He tapped the meat tenderizer on his leg and took a deep breath and picked up his cup of coffee taking a sip. He then pulled out his cellphone and turned on music that played loudly throughout the house so that once it was just Markus and William downstairs if something did happen all they’d be able to hear upstairs was the music. Very loudly and suddenly Credence Clearwater Revival came on. ‘I see the bad moon arising, I see trouble on the way, I see earthquakes and lightnin, I see those bad times today.’ Markus started humming along as he waited for the basement to clear out.

Marrec

On his way out, Marrec had scruffed one of the younger werewolves that was often hiding just out of sight and told them to clean up Ted and Susanna before placing them in the large spare freezer where, admittedly, deer carcasses and such were often strung up. With so many pack members, it was good to have a plethora of food on hand at any given time.

He was getting a little tired of searching for the Bolverk, despite knowing he was closing in, when the other's voice came upon him. Turning in the direction of Emil, Marrec couldn't help but utter a sigh of relief.

"You can stop prowling around now Marrec. You've found me, or I've found you, or we've found each-other. Ether way you coming out here means an end to my sabbatical, how... delightful! So what does our illustrious leader require of me?"

“I'm not prowling around so much as stumbling, given the lack of sleep,” he started, voice slightly disgruntled in tone. “I'm not really sure what Markus wants from you, since it concerns a pair of hunters. I guess your field of punishment has just expanded, Emil, and you'll have to be far more gentle with such delicate creatures. Sounds like it'll be fun.” Although his tone was light, Marrec had never really decided whether he agreed with the idea of a Bolverk or punishing werewolves like they had been bad little puppies who had peed in the house, but he knew the issue was never so simple and such punishments could, perhaps, result in lives saved. With such a perplexed point of view, he had decided to just accept things until he no longer found them acceptable – it made life easier.

“Although they might be dead by now... I guess we'll have to go see,” he added, grinning suddenly when he recalled the Ulfric toting a meat tenderizing tool.

Quickly started down the stairs again after she was told to hand over the food and take the auburn haired human back up. She'd move towards the Ulfric as he placed himself within a chair and extended an arm as she offered him the plate with four slices of french toast and smiled lightly, "I hope you enjoy some breakfast, you can't interrogate on an empty stomach," she'd speak gently. When he took the plate she'd eventually move towards the hunter, 'William', and offer him the second plate offering the same light smile though not as bright as it had been.

Before long she'd look towards the younger male, 'Ryan', and gestured towards the stairs with a partial tilt of her head, "Come on, We've got your food here, but we'll move upstairs and leave the big boys alone." she glanced back at the Ulfric before moving to guide Ryan out and quickly shoo'd Vashti to hurry along as well when the music suddenly started blaring throughout the entire building.

"We don't want to be down here while they talk," she'd state to Vashti, before continuing up and heading for the kitchen, she hoped someone shut the door behind them as she offered before passing Vashti to take the plate if she wanted to go off in another direction, after all, she felt a bit more responsible for the man she knew a little better than the strange werewolf.

James smiled back to Sam's quick grin and followed her through the entryway doors. She spoke as they walked foreword, "This is our home. Welcome....and don't mind the ill manners you will surely see."

At this he chuckled, "Nothing much bothers me Samantha."

Gazing in awe at the building's interior he was surprised when the woman pointed him in the direction of a nearby doorway. Obeying and walking in that direction, he found himself entering a large kitchen.

A big grin coming to his face he smelled the after scent of a recently cooked meal....French toast to be exact.

Emil's ears perked up as he heared Merrec talk about the hunters. Hunters were new, as normally they were dead long before they would get to his grip, but as the Hati spoke Emil's anticipation grew, even if the gentleness that would not break the humans would take some restraint.

“Although they might be dead by now... I guess we'll have to go see,”

Emil huffed as he stood "That would certainly be far less entertaining, though not unexpected. Wait here a moment will you, I have to fetch some things."

With that Emil turned and disappeared into the woods, tracing a path that he had walked many a times to a small hollow tree. Inside was stashed a small bundle of fabric, which was tied with string that was looped at the top for easy mouth-borne transportation. He slowly sniffed the package, ensuring it was what he was meant to be picking up and not an unfriendly hibernating badger. Satisfied he picked it up and turned to make his way back to where Marrec was waiting, retracing his steps slowly by finding them in the soft snow and waling in them as cloesly as possible as to minimize the chance of getting lost. "Sorry my friend, had to collect my clothing. Didn't want it to stay and mold out here. As a side note, why don't you lead the way, as I'm afraid all my paths have been covered in snow, and I left my walking cane at home." He swayed slightly as he waited to get underway, his gaze slightly to the right of Merrec.

After a moment his smile died and his face seemed to darken as a thought rolled through his mind, and colored his expression "So, how many did they get?" he asked as he swayed his tone more serious than before. "Did the hunters get anyone?"

Yes! Dodged that bullet. Ryan's thoughts were filled with triumph. "Sure. I'm not gong to go shooting everyone up, but if that makes you feel better, as long as you give them back eventually, I'm fine with that." When he heard Acacia's voice, he looked away from Markus and at the stairs where he could see her bunny slippers. Aw, that's kinda cute. When the bearded man said that Ryan could finally get out of the cramped basement, the young hunter had to hide his excitement. He turned to Acacia and followed her up the steps and out of the basement, quietly singing along to Bad Moon Rising, not knowing the irony in the song choice. "I see the bad moon arising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightning. I see those bad times today," he whispered at a almost inaudible volume.

Nearing the kitchen, Ryan decided to completely ignoring Markus' threat about flirting, and tried to strike up another conversation with the mysterious, and pretty, red haired girl. "Good to finally get out of their, felt like something out of Silence of the Lambs. So, your... uh, whatever he is, called you Ace, right? Pretty strange name for a girl," he said in a teasing tone. "So, what's up with this place? Everyone's been giving me cryptic answers and dodging the question when I asked before." At the sight of food though, he immediately shouted, "Ooh, French toast."

"Anna!"

Blood. Blood everywhere. Why was it always blood? She could remember there being other things there that day but it was always the blood she remembered. A knife. Her knife. Covered in blood. Whose blood?

Anna shot bolt upright in bed, her forest-green eyes almost as wild as her hair as she peeked around, checking for any intruders. Sweat covered her body, soaking into the sheets. That was the second nightmare in two days which wasn't a good sign at all. Plus this new one had been increasingly violent and brought up guilt that she had tried to hide away. Leaning forward, she briefly planted her face in her hands before she shook herself free and made a poor attempt to tame the mess of her hair.

Leaning over, she checked the clock - 7:00 am. Good, she wasn't late for what she had planned. Breaking free of the warm quilt, she climbed into the cold air of the room and made her way to the bathroom. After a quick shower, she dressed into the winter furs that she had purchased before coming up to Odessa. Black overcoat, tights, boots, hat and a red scarf. Odd choice of clothing because she would stand out very clearly but she had a persona created and her poor choice of clothing which looked more aesthetically pleasing than actually useful, would help her with that. Once she was finished dressing, she lifted her camera case and idly swung it over her shoulder so the actual case was resting at her hip.

The town was virtually empty at this time so no one noticed an oddly-dressed white haired girl leaving town and heading upwards into the mountains and the wilderness. The climb itself took quite a while considering she didn't know the terrain but eventually, the large Pack house entered her vision. Pulling her camera from her case, she took a few quick shots of the house before advancing further. She needed to know her way around it so she tried to get shots from multiple angles.

Eventually, she came to a line of trees that opened up to a clearing that extended the entire way to the house. She would be spotted if she moved any further so she knelt down, taking a few in-depth pictures of the massive cabin before she placed her expensive camera away and made to move back down to where she came from.

Vashti was a quarter of the way down the stairs when Acacia turned back and she heard they were to return to the kitchen with.....wait....there was another hunter?

Face lowering into a scowl she prepared for whatever human might appear from the basement; whether it be William or the recent addition.
But, as Acacia passed her and an unfamiliar voice wavered up, she blinked.

A young man followed close behind the ginger haired female, talking easily and calmly. It was almost as if.....

Vashti tilted her head up and raised her eyes. Her thoughts were almost in a soft laugh. He doesn't even know who or what we are....

Turning she followed the two back up the stairs and back to the kitchen; setting her plate of toast on the counter before standing back and watching them.

After a moment she grimaced when she realized the young boy was trying to hit on Ace; she could see the look in his eyes and hear it in his voice. Great.

Sitting down in a chair not far away Vashti kept watch on the two. She said nothing.......the recent developments weighed too heavily on her mind. Death was an awful thing.....always would be. There was no way around it and no way to fix it.

Aldo had not been able to stand sitting in the same room as a couple dead wolves as he thought he'd be able to, and he was also sickened by the idea of someone cooking up breakfast close by. It was kind of lucky that he'd managed to make it to the toilet, and there wasn't that much vomit, but it was never a pleasant experience. He really needed to work on the squeamishness, although he wasn't usually this bad. He supposed that seeing pack members slaughtered so cruelly and dumped lifeless on the floor just drew the line for him.

He finished puking, rinsed his mouth thoroughly with water and then mouth wash, scowling at the sting of alcohol in his mouth, and took the opportunity to quickly dry himself off from after the hot tub. The toilet flushed louder than he'd hoped it would, and Aldo walked out again with the towel around his waist. He threw a quick glare at the human standing near the kitchen and mentioning Silence of the Lambs before walking out and finding a spare bedroom, which he raided for clothes.

Aldo came back out in jeans and a T-shirt and looked around for Vashti. He kind of wanted to apologize for such a horrible first day spent at the pack house, and promise her that it usually wasn't so hectic. He slipped into the kitchen, partially because the pleasant food smell masked that of the carcasses, and found her. It was too crowded for him but he made himself stay. He opened his mouth....and found himself too shy to say anything to her. He shuffled into a corner and looked at the ground.

Vashti put her chin in one hand and stared at the floor as she thought on the situation. Back in her old pack, she had seen how the death of a fellow member effected the group. She remembered the pain of it.....

Sitting up and stretching her back Vashti was surprised when Aldo appeared through the kitchen doors; eyes falling on her and standing there for a moment in silence. He looked as though he wanted to speak to her....but instead went to the off corner of the room alone.

Vashti smiled weakly at this.....he obviously already knew about the dead pack members.

Standing up from her chair in silence, she walked over to him and gave him an encouraging smile. She said nothing of the recently departed; there was no need to go through the "I'm sorry for your loss" crap that sometimes only made the pain worse.

Nodding to him she spoke gently, "You hungry?"

She realized though that it was a stupid thing to ask.....she herself felt too sick to eat at a time like this.