Natania's teeth snapped down on the rabbit's spine, killing it instantly. She closed her eyes, she was aching with hunger, but there were wolves in the pack who needed it more. It had been two days since she'd last eaten, a month and a half since the pack ceremony. She had been giving her rations to other hungry wolves in the pack, wolves that were sick, or otherwise couldn't hunt for themselves.

"I thought I'd find you out here." Natania's head shot up as Leah padded over, the blue wolf nuzzled her chin and Natania purred with affection. "Do you spend every free moment hunting nowadays?"

Natania dropped her rabbit. "Yes," she rumbled, then looked away. "I'm sorry if you feel neglected." She hadn't found time for the two of them to be alone in a few days. They'd made a point to go for a hunt, run or curl up with a movie at least every couple days, if not more often, since that first date.

On one of their more recent dates, Leah had had her sit still first as a wolf, then in her human guise, while Leah drew them. The result had been a finely detailed drawing of Natania's human half with her arms wrapped around her wolf self like a beloved family pet. She'd loved it. That picture lived on Natania's bedside table where she could see it everyday.

It had been a surprise how much Leah had changed after Nat's confession. She still talked back and was generally troublesome where orders were concerned, but it came across to Natania as more rebellious amusement than distrust as it had previously. Leah was a kind soul with a protective streak as deep as Natania's. Natania learned Leah loved movies that were based on popular YA books, had weekly game nights with her family that she wouldn't miss for anything, her favourite prey was rabbit, and she tried to draw something, even just a quick sketch, every day. To keep in practice she had said. Natania cherished every small piece of information she could discover about the blue wolf.

As much as she would have loved to hunt together, Leah's family had been assigned patrol duty for the last week, exhausting work, and Natania didn't want to add more to their plate. "The pack needs food," Natania said with a sigh.

Leah shushed her and pressed against her side. "Why would I feel neglected by you taking care of the pack? Though, you can lay off my family, you've given us plenty," Leah said, amused.

Natania snorted, she had dropped off a lot of prey to Leah's house. She didn't want them to go hungry. She had done the same for Sara and Branson, depositing prey each morning before she hunted for the others.

"You need to take care of yourself too," Leah murmured. "I can see you losing weight."

Natania shrugged, but her stomach rumbled loudly. She grimaced.

"Why don't you eat that?" Leah said, nudging the rabbit with her nose.

"It's for Sam, he's sick," Natania replied, twitching her ears. "The omegas don't get rations from the stock, they need food."

"You need food too Nat, you hunt four times as much as anyone else. I'm worried." Leah nuzzled her chin. "Please eat."

Natania shook her head as a desperate howl pierced the air. Her head shot up and she howled back, letting the wolf know she had heard, and was nearby.

"It's Carson!" a wolf shouted through the bond, "He's fallen, I can't get to him. We need help."

Natania glanced at Leah. "Run back to camp, bring rope and a harness, and drop this off." Natania shoved the rabbit at Leah and took off.

"Nat wait!" Leah yelled but Natania shook her head and snapped, "go."

Even as her second, Leah couldn't disobey a real, direct order. With a snarl she snatched up the rabbit and ran back towards camp.

Natania followed the direction the howl had come from, then slid to a stop. Deborah, Natania vaguely recognized Malachi's mother, was crouched and peeking over the edge of a steep cliff. "Get back from the edge," Natania snapped, then crept forward on her belly to peek over the edge herself.

Deborah stumbled backwards. "We were going to pick up the load from the truck, I told him to slow down, but he was going too fast and slipped off the edge," she explained in a rush.

"Is there a way down?" Natania asked, glancing around. He had fallen into a steep pit it looked like, the cliffs sagging downwards on all sides. It was a steep fall.

"Not when you can't see the ground," Deborah answered.

Natania growled. She would have to climb down in her human form and hope there were enough places to grip. She shifted forms, immediately regretting it as the bitter cold froze her skin. Her human form wasn't equipped for winter, only wearing a slim T-shirt and jeans.

"Wait, what are you doing? You can't go down there! You'll fall! It's only Carson!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Natania snarled and the other wolf flinched. "I won't let him die." She brushed the snow away from the edge then lowered herself down, searching the cliffside for a foothold. "Leah will be here soon with a harness and some rope, secure it and throw the end down to me," she said, her teeth starting to chatter.

She was going to get frostbite if she wasn't quick. She lowered herself carefully, ensuring she always had at least three holds before grabbing the next. It was slow going and she could feel her hands and feet going numb. When she was about halfway down, she reached out for Carson's mind, trying to assess how deep the snow was at the bottom, and how badly injured he was.

She clung to the cliff as her vision blurred and searing pain spread across her limbs. Natania was thrown back into her own body. "He has a head injury," she called up to Deborah. "And two of his legs are broken." Natania breathed through clenched teeth while the pain ravaged her. It wasn't her pain, she told herself, pushing it back and resuming her slow descent.

As she reached the last quarter of the climb, she jumped, shifting in midair and landing as a wolf. Thankfully she landed in a deep pit of snow, sinking down harmlessly, instead of on a hidden rock. She snarled as her hands and feet were assaulted with pins and needles, the rapid warming causing her fingers and toes to ache. It wouldn't last forever, each time she shifted she would lose more and more body heat, and she was too hungry to keep warming herself.

"What the hell are you doing Nat?" Leah's head poked over the cliff.

"Saving his life," she growled. Natania padded over to Carson and curled up around him while she waited for them to throw down the rope. He was ice cold.

The harness fell with a thump beside her and Natania shifted again to secure it. "Why are you not wearing winter gear!" Leah snarled. Natania waved her away and went to work tightening the harness. Her fingers were numb and turning purple by the time she was able to shift again.

"Pull him up," she ordered. "Carefully."

Inch by inch, the wolves up top slowly dragged Carson up the cliff.

"What the hell are you doing?" Another voice snarled down at her.

Natania rolled her eyes at her father. "Saving his damn life."

"By jumping into a pit?" he snapped.

"He couldn't exactly secure himself," Natania snarled back.

"Then you send someone else! Or leave him to his fate."

Natania growled and turned her back to him. She would never leave a packmate to die, and she couldn't risk someone else getting stuck trying to save him. "Be careful," she snapped as she heard Carson's body slam against the cliff. "This is all for nothing if you kill him by smushing him into the cliff."

There was some too quiet to make out muttering, but they raised him up more slowly.

The rope, minus harness, thumped down beside Natania again and she stared at it. She was going to need to shift to put that on herself. She couldn't secure it as a wolf, and she couldn't tie it tight enough to switch forms.

Teeth chattering, she secured the rope around herself as much as she could, trying to ignore the cold burn in the tips of her fingers and toes. "Pull me up," she said.

The ride up felt like it took ages as she shivered, rope digging into uncomfortable places. She undid the rope as she crested the top of the cliff and shifted, trying to reclaim some semblance of warmth. Her stomach yowled in protest. Leah ran to her side, pressing up against Natania to try and share some of her body heat.

Alistair padded over and snarled at her. "Next time, you leave him to die."

"Not a ch-chance," Natania growled through chattering teeth.

"You stupid fool," he snarled, then turned to Leah, "take her home and warm her up."

"I will also yell at her for being stupid," Leah agreed, earning a frown from Natania.

Alistair snorted with approval then turned his back on them and padded over to Carson "Get this idiot to Elise," he spat.

Natania shakingly got to her feet, leaning heavily on Leah. They walked for a few minutes, Natania was still shaking with the cold. "Can you run?" Leah asked. "It'll warm you up faster."

Natania glanced down at her aching paws, blackness covered at least two toes on each foot and she shook her head. "Frostbite," she said. It wouldn't spread while she was in her wolf form, but she needed to warm up to heal it.

"That's gonna hurt like a bitch to heal," Leah said with a frown. "Why are you not wearing winter gear?"

"Did no-not expect to be in the snow as a pe-people," she answered between shivers. Her paws were numb except for the shooting bits of pain every step. She leaned into Leah.

"My house is closer," Leah said, "We'll get you warmed up and then I'll take you home." Natania was too exhausted and hungry to argue. Her stomach yowled loudly and Leah frowned. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Tw-two d-d-days," she admitted.

Leah froze midstep. "You've been feeding my family, but letting yourself starve?" Natania had never heard her sound so angry before. She huffed out a laugh. "That is not even remotely funny," Leah snarled. "How dare you."

Natania huffed. "I'm f-fine."

"When you're not freezing to death," Leah's voice was quiet but full of menace, "we are going to talk about this."

Natania breathed in her scent then let out a shaky breath. "Okay."

As they approached Leah's house, Leah yowled, "Mom!"

Naomi poked her head out the dog door. She started coming over to them, but Leah yelled at her to make a fire. Naomi paused, then resumed her jog over. "There's already one. What happened?"

"Idiot jumped into a pit to freeze to death without any winter clothes," Leah snarled.

"Carson would have died," Natania growled back.

"Next time, let him." Natania knew she didn't mean that, but a growl still worked its way through her throat. Leah bared her teeth. "At least wear some damn mittens."

Natania paused outside the door. "Gonna soak your floor," she said weakly, then shook out of her pelt. She was only half successful as her paws protested the motion.

"Stop that, you're going to make yourself more cold. Don't worry about the floor. Get inside." Leah pushed her from behind. Natania stumbled into the house, letting out a relieved breath as warmth returned to her bones. "Beside the fire. Now." Leah practically shoved Natania into the living room.

She collapsed beside the fire, still trembling, and Leah laid down beside her. Naomi hesitated for a minute, watching them with concern, then laid down on Natania's other side, sandwiching her between them. Gradually the feeling returned to her limbs. Natania shifted around so she was laying like a sphynx before releasing her shadows to her frostbitten extremities.

She snarled softly as colour returned to her toes, bringing a fresh wave of tingling, burning pain. It felt like she'd dipped her toes in acid. When it was done, she sheathed and unsheathed her claws a few times to ensure everything was good. "Thank you," she said to Naomi and Leah. "I'm okay now." Natania tried to get to her feet but her stomach seized in a vicious cramp and she slipped back down.

"You still need to eat," Leah snapped. "Don't move."

Naomi got to her paws and frowned at them. "You haven't eaten?"

"For at least two days," Leah said, her voice thick with fury.

Naomi glanced at the door. "But..." Leah cut her off before she finished speaking.

"I know," she said with a glare at Natania.

Natania laughed breathlessly. Leah was clearly still mad about the food.

Naomi went to the kitchen, returning with one of the rabbits Natania had caught the previous day and dropped it in front of her muzzle. "Eat," Naomi said gently.

"I'm okay," Natania protested, then winced as her stomach contradicted her.

"Eat," Leah growled. "I will help you hunt for the others once you've recovered."

Natania closed her eyes. She was too tired to keep arguing. She accepted the rabbit. As soon as her teeth sank into it she snapped, devouring it in seconds like the ravenous beast she was.

Leah licked her behind the ears. "Thank you."

Naomi looked between them, head tilted in thought. "Why don't you take her upstairs to sleep for a bit?"

Leah nodded and nudged Natania to her feet. "Thank you," Natania murmured. Leah led the way upstairs. "Shift," Leah ordered, doing the same.

Natania obeyed her request then sat on the bed when Leah gestured her to do so. Leah examined her hands to make sure there was no more sign of frostbite. "Don't ever make me worry like that again," Leah ordered. Leah lightly pushed Natania so she was lying on the bed, then laid beside her, wrapping the blanket over the both of them.

"I couldn't just leave him there to die," Natania said.

"And what if you had died?" Leah murmured. "You're not allowed to leave us."

"I won't die."

"You're not invincible." Leah cupped her face with one hand, shifting around so she could look her in the eye. "Promise me you won't be so reckless again."

"I've done way more reckless things and survived," Natania argued.

Leah touched their foreheads together, shaking her head. "Don't remind me," she murmured, then leaned down and pressed her lips against Natania's. Leah kissed her desperately, like it was the last chance she'd ever get.

Natania froze, then hesitantly kissed her back. She had never been kissed before and she felt clumsy.

When Leah broke away she was breathing hard. "I'm sorry," she said, brushing a stray hair from Natania's forehead.

"For what?" Natania caught Leah's hand and kissed it. "I'm not complaining," she murmured, cheeks flushed.

Leah sat up, dropping one leg to the ground so she was half dangling off the bed. "For not giving you a chance. For always thinking the worst of you. For disrespecting you at every turn."

Natania sat up and wrapped her arms around Leah, leaning her head on her shoulder. "You don't need to apologize for any of that." Natania kissed her neck. "I know you had your reasons."

Leah leaned against her, tilting her head in invitation. "I treated you like you were your father." Natania grazed her neck with her teeth and Leah shuddered. "If I had just talked to you that day in elementary school, it probably would have saved me years of trouble."

Natania shifted around so they were facing each other again. "The past is the past," she said. "I wish I could have made your childhood easier." Leah leaned forward and Natania kissed her gently before continuing, "but I also like that you don't trip over yourself for me. You've taught me to think of things differently, to react calmer." Natania smiled sadly. "Obviously, I still have a temper, I'm still working on that, but you're the reason I can keep a level head in most situations."

Leah put a hand on her chest and pushed her back onto the pillows. "Just shut up," she said with a purr and kissed her again.