Again, I only own OCs.

Also, warning, bloodshed. Not much, don't get me wrong, just… going to warn you.

Eli H. Lee

-Day 4 of being lost for the team

He didn't expect the bear. None of them had.

Tony had to needed to "go answer nature's call" and had gotten lost in the evening light, which had caused for the team to later split up to look for him. Ayanna and the twins went with Rogers and the musher had Steele, Alpha, Tupit, and Tenino go with him.

Their musher already had been knocked out, while Tenino went to get the rest of the team. The three males remaining kept the bear confused so that it wouldn't do any other damage to their human. Tupit kept barking, running around as both Alpha and Steele made their own attacks. It wasn't long though until the bear's size proved useful for the bear itself.

Steele hoped that Tupit was only unconscious from the blow, though the scars across his front thigh made him unsure.

"Steele, try getting's his neck! I'll try and get his legs!"

"Front or back!?"

"Back!"

Steele quickly ran up onto a cliff that the bear had previously used to ambush them, jumping onto its back, quickly snapping at its neck. The thick fur prevented his teeth from getting at the skin or its jugular. He held on to, hearing Alpha biting at the bear's hind legs as well, and hoping that Tenino would get the others quickly. A yelp ('Never knew Alpha could yelp that high' Steele thought) as the bear turned around caused the malamute to panic, and being slammed into the cliff and later swiped at caused him to rib out a bunch of the thick brown bear fur.

He tried to get up, turning in pain, only to see Ayanna getting thrown in the opposite direction, new bleeding scars from the bear's claws now below her left eye and back left leg. Alpha, who had gotten back on his feet, and now with the help with the rest of the team, were trying to tackle the bear as Rogers trying to aim correctly at the bear and avoid hitting the dogs.

Ayanna's figure in the background tried to get up, only to fall back into the snow.

Steele's eyes narrowed, now starting to see red as he ran/limped towards the bear, teeth bared.

Everything then went blank.

…

Steele's eyes opened slower, his right shoulder, his snout, and pretty much his whole body all felt like it was on fire. He also felt something right next to him. Looking around, the malamute saw the giant bear carcass nearby, full of wounds and deep scars, and a bullet hole in its head. Rogers and the musher were both awake, the latter having wrappings around his leg. The twins were asleep by the fire in whatever new camp the humans built for the night, with Tony with them. Tenino was wide awake, shaking as he watched over a probably still unconscious Tupit, who now had wound wrappings around where Steele had seen his scars. Alpha was sitting up straight, his ears alert, though the malamute couldn't see if his eyes were open from the angle he laid in. Out of all of the dogs, Alpha probably got the most scars/wounds from the bear, Steele noted, seeing the wound wrappings around his leader's hind legs and front right leg. Coal, Salina, and Tony had gotten the least worse, having very little scars at all.

Probably due to their size. He thought.

Tenino had a mangled ear and Steele noticed a small bald, slightly bleeding part on the tip of the husky's tail, indicating that the bear had tried to bite his tail off.

Rogers, due to his gun most likely, looked like he had no wounds at all. He also had probably been the one that tried to patch up all of them.

Steele then looked around for Ayanna before feeling whatever was next to him move. Looking aside, the black and white canine sighed in relief at the sight of her there. She was clearly asleep, he knew this for sure due to experience. She's alive, thank goodness… Everyone is. Not without some battle scars. The Rogers kid is perfectly fine. Physically, yes. Mentally, he has to deal with the fact that it was his idea to go on this trip. He has guilt to deal with all of this. He deserve that guilt! If it wasn't for him, we'd be back home. Ayanna and I would be talking, just as usual, probably even explore the woods maybe. The rest of the team wouldn't have to be here, no one would have been hurt, and What about you and Ayanna exploring the woods? Uh…err…

"Steele?"

Steele hadn't noticed that he had moved while in his thoughts, which had caused Ayanna to open her eyes. The malamute looked at the she-wolf for a second before smiling at her. She returned the smile before adjusting her head in his black fur.

"So, vhen were you going to let us know secret?" Alpha's voice caught Steele by surprised after Ayanna had went back to sleep. "Don't be surprise. Zenino and I heard Rogers boy tell musher after musher ask vhy he didn't let him help heal Ayanna."

Steele's ears lowered as he looked over to Ayanna. The she-wolf still had her blue-green eyes closed, the position of how she was resting against him letting Steele to see that her ribbon was now missing. He sighed and looked to his other side, knowing well that Alpha was looking over at them. "Probably never, if I had it my way. It'd just be something I would keep from everyone else. After all, she wasn't going to tell the entire town anytime soon about, it was just between us."

"And zis 'family problem' she had zhat kept you late back in Nome?"

"Her son. And that's all I'm telling, alright?" Steele snapped, his eyes glaring up at Alpha. The canine had gone over to them, his expression not being very readable. Silence loomed over them for a while, the rest of the group around them slowly going to the slumber as well.

Alpha himself even laid down, his eyes focused on the fire. "I promised her zat I vould be there for our pups," he said, catching Steele's attention. The malamute stayed quiet for a moment before opening his mouth, only for Alpha to begin talking again. "It does not help zat everyone else on team too has somezhing back home. Mostly owners and families. And on team, we all suppose to look out for each ozher. And we do, not alvays in right way, but we do. Even Ayanna, though she is no dog."

"She's more than a dog, she's…" Steele started to blunt out, though quickly becoming quiet before he could continue. Alpha raised an eyebrow, but judging by the smirk he later gave, the team leader had probably that just like the rest had for a while. Steele looked away for a moment. I'm not supposed to care about her. I mean, especially with the whole wolf thing and all. But you do. Very much. Karma, after all, is both cruel and rewarding. Sounds more like fate to me. That too. Funny to think of this huh? Not to me. Because right at this moment, fate is being very, very cruel. Steele turned to look at Ayanna's sleep face, causing a smile to appear one his face. And oh so rewarding.

If you really thought I was going to kill off Ayanna, you must be crazy.

So, what do you think is going to happen next to our beloved friends!? Huh? Please review if you want to share your opinion!