Bearclaw Valley goodness is eternally difficult

@Aventus <3

his forays to and fro the den remained infrequent. merrick had busied himself with protection of land and kith, committing to longer patrols and interactions with his packmates. the pursuit of violence most often called him away from home, and like a peter pan prince hitched to a wife he barely saw around the castle, merrick was happy to take up the call.
but today he had returned triumphant with a dead serpent, which he swung quite vigorously.
this time he did not sneak; he came directly to the den and stared around for the small wolves. he had not yet accepted that they belonged to him; he preferred to think of them as a consequence for all his victories. and so merrick was happy to pay the piper, mostly because his life had not changed in many ways — save the most severe of them all.
it was for her he had brought the snake; he wanted to make amends, was desperate for it but only where he would not lose face. a blink; his eye had moved to focus on some spot of movement at the densite, latched to it like a raptor's flared nostril.