Disclaimer: I do not own Wolfblood or any of the characters related to it.

"Jana! Aran! Go and get the pack's water supply. I'm sick of the sight of you." Alric growled, baring his teeth at Aran for a second before glaring at his daughter.

Jana tried to amend things. "But dad—"

"Now, Jana! If you two intend on staying so childish, you can do a child's job. Now go and get the water."

Jana stared at her dad for a moment, hoping he wouldn't make her go all the way to the river to fetch the water, but he wouldn't back down. He just stared her down one last time before turning to the rest of the pack.

Jana turned to Aran. "This is all your fault."

"How is it my fault!?" Aran exclaimed, following Jana as she walked off in the direction of the river. She was walking a few feet ahead of him, but he had no intention of trying to keep up with her.

"You insisted on playing that stupid game. Now my father thinks I'm still a cub."

"You are still a cub."

"I am not! I'm thirteen now!" Jana turned to Aran for a second with a face like thunder. Sometimes she wished she had the option to transform; she may just challenge Aran right now if she could. He had been acting like a child all morning and had insisted on playing chase with Jana around the entire campsite. As if it wasn't bad enough that they trampled on the pack's daily supply of meat and their weekly supply of water as they ran around, they also ended up further away from the camp and closer to the human world. The human world was forbidden.

Alric had caught up with the two of them and told them off immediately for acting so immature and reckless; the pack now had to set out and hunt for all new meat for the rest of the day and night. He had sent Jana and Aran back to camp and then, of course, to walk the two-mile trek from camp to the river.

"At least we had fun." Aran said after a few minutes of silence. They were stepping over tree roots in the ground, their anger and frustration showing in the begrudging way they were walking.

"Yeah, until my dad came along and got angry. This is all your fault."

"Stop saying that, Jana."

"No!" Jana growled, flashing her eyes at him for a second.

Aran considered threatening her back by flashing his own eyes and maybe even his more canine teeth, but he decided against it. He didn't want to lose control and he definitely didn't want to hurt Jana; that would be his worst nightmare.

"How long is this walk, anyway?" Jana questioned, exasperated, stepping over some rocks in the ground.

"I am not sure. But I do know it's far," Aran's voice was rough. "We stay away from rivers to keep us away from humans as much as possible."

Jana let out a frustrated sigh as Aran took a tentative hold of her hand to help her across the jagged rocks that were sticking out of the ground.

She very nearly slipped at one point along the way; luckily, Aran still had her hand in his and he grabbed it tight as he felt her slipping. He pulled her back up and Jana looked up at him from under her eyelashes, a small smile tugging on her lips as the bucket in her spare hand flailed around.

"Thanks." She said quietly.

Aran bowed his head, his own smile forming, before continuing walking. Their hands were still together.

Aran knew he shouldn't feel this way about Jana. He shouldn't feel so over-protective over someone else's cub. Yeah, she was a part of his pack – the pack leader's daughter, no less – but he wasn't supposed to feel such a duty to protect her. It was like something unfamiliar inside of him just came up every time he thought she may be hurt or injured; something that wasn't easy to control.

Occasionally Alric would notice this and get protective of his cub. Aran was eleven years older than Jana, and Alric didn't want either of them getting too close. He recognised that protective glint in Aran's eyes; it was the same look Alric had always given Jana's mum before she passed away. The same look he used to gave his own soulmate.
And Alric knew Jana wasn't ready for that yet. She was only thirteen.

"When I transform for the first time," Jana started as they walked along a slightly less rocky path. "I'm going to run through these woods like no one else in the pack and I'm going to hunt for the most amazing food for us. I will be a provider for everyone."

"That's great, Jana," Aran smiled, not looking directly at her. "I look forward to that day."

"You can help me. I will need your help."

"You will be fine on your own, Jana. You are a strong girl."

"Okay," she started hesitantly. "So maybe I just want your help. Does that sound better?"

Aran turned his head to look at her for a brief moment, and he bowed his head again. "It does."

A moment of silence came over them; the only sound being their feet along the path that was laden with fallen leaves and a few stray twigs.

And then Aran spoke, his voice shy and hesitant as usual.

"One day, you will make a great Alpha, Jana." He said. Again, he wasn't looking at her.… But Jana was looking at him.
My Alpha, he thought to himself. And then immediately dismissed that thought.

"Really?" Jana asked. "Why's that?"

"You are a strong Wolfblood," he said. "You know what you want; you know what is right or wrong. Even though you are only thirteen, I believe you would make a good pack leader. You know how to make decisions already. Much like your father."

"If I was pack leader, I don't think I'd lead the pack like my dad does." Jana admitted sheepishly. She shouldn't be telling Aran this; this was the kind of talk that could imply pack betrayal. Of course, she would never do that to her pack, but it sounded like it could be a possibility behind her words.

But she knew she could trust Aran. She could trust him with her life.

"Why?" Aran asked.

Jana thought for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders slowly. "My father rules out of fear. I would never rule out of fear; I would rule out of respect and loyalty."

This conversation made Aran feel slightly uncomfortable. He felt as though he was betraying his pack leader. "Well, like I said, I am sure one day you will make a great pack leader."

Smiling up at Aran, Jana squeezed his hand slightly and he held it tighter in return.

The river, when they finally got there, was surrounded by rocks; rocks with moss on them that was soaking wet and extremely slippery.

Jana and Aran had let go of each other's hands, Aran going upstream to collect the water and Jana staying midstream. As Jana bent over, bucket in hand, her foot caught on some slippery moss and she lost her balance, the side of her foot getting stuck between two small rock faces. Her ankle had twisted and been slightly caught on a piece of jagged rock.

"Ah!" Jana exclaimed as she fell, landing on her backside in a small pool of water as her bucket clattered down to the ground.

"Jana!" Aran called, ditching his wooden bucket and rushing over to Jana. "What happened!?"

"I slipped on the rock," she explained, rolling her muddy jeans up to inspect her ankle. Nothing was there to see apart from a small cut.

"What have you hurt?" Aran crouched down next to her, steadying himself on the grass verge beside him.

"My ankle."

"There is only a little cut. But you might have done something to the bone," he said, running his fingers along her skin slightly. He tried to tell himself he only wanted to do that to check for swelling. After a moment he reached down and scooped up some water from the nearby stream to pour on to the small wound. He kept splashing it for a few minutes. "Can you make it back to camp?"

Jana nodded. "I should be fine, if you help me."

"Do you need anything for the cut?" Aran's forehead was wrinkled and he looked at Jana as though something really bad had happened. He looked worried.

Giggling slightly, Jana shook her head. "I'm fine, Aran. Don't worry. It's just a little cut and some bruises."

For a moment Aran looked unconvinced, but then he put his whole hand over her ankle and brought his face dangerously close to hers. He could only look in to one eye at a time and his eyes were flicking back and forth from her left and her right eye.

"If you are sure,"

Jana nodded. "I am sure." Her voice was tiny.

And then she looked down, feeling laughter erupt in her stomach; a weird laugh that didn't seem stoppable. She barely even knew why she was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Aran asked, thoroughly confused.

She was still giggling, gasping for air in between her words. "It must have looked so funny when I fell," she said. "And now my bum is all wet!"

"I was not watching, Jana," Aran said seriously.

Jana looked at him as if she knew different.

"Okay, maybe I was. But I cannot laugh at you!"

"Yes you can! It's okay! It was funny!" Jana hit him on the arm playfully and watched as his face broke out in to a playful grin.
Subtly, he brought his hand back down to the water and soon he was splashing her with it, a grin erupting on to both of their faces.

"Hey!" Jana giggled, splashing him back. They splashed each other for a few more minutes and at one point Aran nearly fell backwards by trying to reach the water from a different little pool. "Whoa, careful, Aran." Jana smiled, grabbing his arm and steadying him.

Aran turned to her, his smile suddenly a little more serious. His eyes were glistening in a way she'd never seen before. His hair was falling in his face and she noticed that her own was too; she must have looked a mess.

But still she couldn't help but notice the way he was looking at her so…tenderly. Like she was the stars in the sky.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jana asked, her voice tiny as she looked right in to his eyes.

"No reason," Aran managed to answer, but his voice sounded slightly distant. After a minute he snapped out of his trance and grabbed her hand. "Shall we go back?"

She nodded. "But let's get the water first."

It took them a while to fetch the two buckets of water because Jana was limping and Aran had to keep an arm around her waist to steady her. Her hair smelled like lavender and fresh grass, and her whole scent was heaven for him. It made him feel at home and he had the feeling that he could be anywhere on this whole earth but as long as Jana was with him, he would always be at home.

"Your dad will not be happy when he sees you limping like this," Aran said as they walked back along the path heading towards camp. His arm was around her waist and hers was around his back, her hand resting on his far shoulder. Aran was carrying both of the buckets of water; Jana's movements as she limped would have spilled it all.

"Why not?" Jana asked, focusing on the careful footsteps she was taking.

"He will think it is my fault."

"I will tell him it's not."

"He will not believe you," Aran was staring down at the ground, an unreadable expression on his face. It was possibly a mix of frustration and worry. "He will think you are trying to protect me."

"It will be fine, Aran. Trust me. I will just tell him the truth."

Aran stayed silent for another few minutes as they walked along together. His mind was somewhere very distant; he was finding it hard to focus due to Jana's close proximity. He thought nothing un-innocent towards or about her; he only felt a deep compassion and a need to protect and help.

Jana felt the same for Aran. She felt like there was this hole inside of her that could only be filled when Aran was around. She always, always felt safe with him near; she knew he would always protect her.
Sometimes, Jana even found herself wanting to be right next to him, their hands brushing or maybe even entwined together.

Aran found the same, too.

Even when they fought or disagreed on something, there was still a fire between the two of them that could never be put out.

And they both knew that, if they were purely human, this feeling would be seen as wrong. There were eleven years between them both. It was almost unnatural.

But, for Jana and Aran, it had always been as natural as things come. From the very first moment Aran saw Jana – a tiny, tiny baby in her mother's arms with dark red hair and the prettiest eyes he'd ever seen – he had felt an overwhelming urge to be near her. Like something inside of him just would never be able to let her go or let any harm come to her.

Maybe this was because she could be his Alpha, Aran thought to himself now as they continued to make their way back to camp.

"Aran," Jana said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Jana?"

"Thanks for helping me."

"Of course," he replied. "It is my duty to protect you."

Jana felt her cheeks pricking slightly red and she looked down. Suddenly she realised how close they actually were in that moment. "It is really my dad's job to protect me."

"Your father is not here."

"But you protect me anyway."

"I am sorry," he muttered sincerely. "I will back off if I get too much for you sometimes."

"No," Jana answered immediately, tightening her grip around his shoulders. "Never leave me."

And then Aran turned his head to face her, a small but hesitant smile on his face. "I won't. I'll always stay as long as you want me to."

"Always?"

"Always."

Jana smiled, facing her head back to the path ahead of them.

The rest of the walk back was filled with laughter, smiles, talking and pieces of red hair whipping in to faces. It was just how both Jana and Aran liked it.

Jana loved Aran, and Aran loved Jana. They both knew that much.
And maybe it would never turn in to anything, and maybe they would always just stay the way they were, and maybe they wouldn't agree on everything in the future, but that love would always be there.

Nothing could ever take that away.

A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I ship Jana/Aran SOOOO hard. I can't decide if it's OTP or BROTP just yet - maybe a little bit of both? - but I just love them so much. It's obvious they love each other, whether that be in a purely friendship/family way or something more.

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this! Not many people write JanaxAran, I don't even know if anyone will read this, but I thought I'd give it a shot! Usually I'm all about Maddian, so this is something a little different :)

Please let me know what you thought if you gave this a read! :)

Love :* xxx