Author's Note; So sorry about the wait with this- had some things to do in my life away from the computer, but here's the latest chapter and I really hope you guys like it. So please let me know!! XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Umm, this chapter has been re-posted due to a light revising of annoying typos on my behalf; so I want to thank "j.sakurachan1" for her help in spotting these. Thanks huni, XxxxxxxxxxX

As the snow-laden wind buffeted her left side, Karasuke felt her balance cast slightly awry as she leaned to her right, feeling pain emanate from her injured leg once more. They'd been walking for hours at this stage- the first hour or so had been easy as it'd been child's play to find the deep tracks from the armoured vehicles in the snow…but then the falling flakes had taken their toll and the tracks had soon disappeared in the fresh coating of snow, making their objective a whole lot harder. Kiba had only relinquished her weight from his shoulders upon her convincing him she could walk perfectly fine, despite limping slightly- it had surprised her to find him so protective, but she supposed a leader needed to be. The teenager felt herself collide with the young man alongside her as the wind howled wanly, whistling across the tundra-reminiscint landscape around them. And although she smirked slightly and attempted to lighten the mood with a playful wink, Karasuke still felt a burden as Kiba's arm was felt on her shoulder, steadying her as they continued to walk along, feet sinking almost a foot down into the layer of fresh, dusty snow.

As the falling flakes began to ease off, a slight sparkle caught the attention of Kiba's green eyes. Only now noticing that his arm was still resting across her shoulders, rather comfortably, the young man hastily recalled his limb whilst keeping his gaze on the tarnished locket, not even thinking before his mouth had allowed the words to pass.

"Are there any photos in it?"

"Huh?"

It was cute, the way her emerald irises seemed to dance when looking up at him, her mind having been miles away when hearing the question. The seventeen-year-old forcefully masked a smirk via inclining his head towards the off-coloured pendant. Following his gaze, Karasuke laughed lightly and traced her fingers down the length of the chain until she grasped the locket, her nails expertly opening the miniscule lock that held the two sides of the locket together. A light click was heard as two halves came apart, one of them plain gold, but the other held a small photograph encased behind a tiny glass panel.

"It's of my family, see- Mama, Pops, me and Ruse…"

She indicated each different person by tapping her nail beneath each one…two adults, one of which he most certainly recognised, and two little children- both about the same age; the little boy with hazel hair and dark brown irises and then the girl…smiling from ear to ear and her grin a picture of impishness.

"You were cute."

"Are you trying to say I'm not cute anymore?"

"No- th…that's not…I- I didn't mea-"

"Cool it, Kiba; I'm only joking with you, boy."

Karasuke was laughing openly as she closed the locket and slipped it beneath the collar of her top- boys just seemed to put their foot in their mouth all too easily and she had to admit it was doubly amusing when the boy was supposed to be the leader of the pack she was now in. Having shared what background information she had with the Alpha male, the teenager now realized how little she knew of the hazel-haired youth. Toboe had told her of his time as a pet and the tale of his silver bracelets and the accidental killing of the old lady. The pup was a bit overly-keen when it came to new people; he had become accustomed to her within her second day in the pack…Tsume's story had been coincidentally a lot like her own and she'd taken delight in hearing of the many robberies he'd played a part in- although he sometimes came off as gruff, the man was kind once he knew you and had time to figure you out. Hige…Hige had been the first one to talk to her, even before joining the small pack and she was glad of that- he was happy go lucky to his very core, stomach-orientated and a bit of a flirt…but what Karasuke found a bit strange was Hige's own back-story: he remembered being in the city where he'd encountered Kiba, Tsume and Toboe, but he couldn't recall anything beyond that- when she ventured to ask, Hige stated he had no idea where he'd got his collar- only that he'd had it as long as he could recall…that was three out of four pasts she knew of.

"So, what about you?"

"Me?"

"Mmmm hmm…"

Karasuke took a small stumble as she hit an unexpectadly deep patch of snow and found herself knee-deep in freezing white flakes, losing her balance and falling backwards slightly, landing quite squarely on her butt. But what made it all the funnier was the way Kiba walked a few more steps ahead before noticing her lack beside him. Karasuke stayed where she was, folding her arms across her chest as she waited for him to look back. The youth glanced back over his shoulder, only to be met by the sight of the girl sitting rather proudly, knee-deep in the snow, waiting for him to notice. Unable to stop himself, Kiba let loose a laugh as he walked back and outstretched a hand to her.

"Are you planning on coming?"

"No, Mr. Leader; I think I'll stay here for a while and freeze my ass off…"

"C'mon Karasu-"

Kiba was cut off as he bent down to help her up, only to have his arm unexpectedly grabbed and jerked downwards, dragging him down into the snow head-first as she bent over doubled up with laughter. Seeing him trying to right himself, Karasuke stood quickly, eager to appear innocent of her little trick.

"Oh no you don't!"

"Kiba, don't you dare!"

Even as she shouted, Karasuke was cut off by her own laugh as she felt his strong arm around her waist, dragging her back down into the snow; landing with a soft crunching noise from the flakes beneath her. Still laughing, she turned to her right and crawled a bit, only to hear him laughing out loud- a noise that seemed to catch the girl off-guard due to lack of hearing it…but then it stopped abruptly- causing her to look back with slight worry. Kiba was lying in the snow, and he wasn't moving either.

"Kiba? Don't kid me around…Kiba?"

Now she was almost over his form and, unnoticed by herself, Karasuke was worried…until she saw the smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth; this worry dissipated in an instant as she realized she'd been played.

"You mongrel!"

"Bitch…"

"Can't argue with you on that one…"

The laughing was back as the snow began to fall yet again…and yet, in that same instant, the young woman realized how close she was to Kiba- too close as she felt his breath on her cheeks, kneeling over him. The young leader seemed to realize this at the same time as his light green eyes darted off to the side in an attempt to stop staring at her blushing cheeks. Getting to her feet, Karasuke briskly walked away a few steps, brushing snow flakes from her burgundy tresses to occupy herself as Kiba stood. She shivered in the cold as she faced away from him, speaking as she did so.

"The next town shouldn't be too far, but I think we should try to beat this blizzard there before we freeze to death…"

Almost as though to emphasize her words, Karasuke ran her hands up and down her shoulders, trying to get rid of the annoying goosebumps that had sprung to life as she heard Kiba's feet crunching the snow behind her as he walked closer, before his deep voice was heard.

"Agreed."

When he passed and walked a few steps ahead, the young man wore only his jeans and white shirt; no customary dark jacket…Though she tried her hardest to hide it, Karasuke allowed her smile to grow, knowing only the back of his head would see it as she revelled in the warmth of the jacket he'd placed around her shoulders, slipping her hands through the sleeves that were a couple of inches too long for her smaller frame as she spoke lowly.

"Thanks…"

"What?"

"I said hurry up, leader…"

And with that, a rather large snowball collided with the back of Kiba's head.

"I hate Nobles…"

"I'm sure they love you, wolf scum…"

"Tsume!"

Toboe and Hige had to act fast to obstruct their comrade's intended path to Quent Yaiden. Two hours they'd been here, and in those two hours, Quent and Tsume had been at each other's throats quite constantly…so much so that Tsume had almost let slip of Karasuke…only for Blue to snap at him.

It was strange to think Blue sat in her corner, speaking with Hige…and her former master hadn't the slightest idea that she was so close to him. That human, with the blond hair, had been noticeably more at peace since one of the guards had escorted a woman to their holding cell- she apparently being his wife and the two were now in their own corner. Cheza had been separated from them upon arriving here.

Here- Darcia's Keep…that had been something unexpected as it had been Jaguara's troops to apprehend them. One thing was for sure- if that woman found out her own troops had double-crossed her and given the Flower Maiden to Darcia The Third…well, she wouldn't be in a good mood for long.

"What d'you think happened Kiba and….ummm…Karasuke?"

Toboe glanced over towards Quent as he lowly whispered the name, aware of the close proximities they were now in with another Yaiden. Tsume shrugged as he sat heavily on the ground, back against the bars of the cell- in yet another foul mood as he eyed the humans with utmost contempt.

"I just hope they get here quickly."

"You think they'll come?"

A bitter chuckle escaped the white-haired of the duo, though he meant his words in earnest.

"Trust me, pup- he'll come and she'll be following…if not for us, then for her."

Toboe looked to where Tsume was nodding- towards the corner to their left where Hige and Blue had stopped talking and the young Latino-looking woman was close to sleep; her head comfortably resting upon the shoulder of Porky…

A/n- Well, please let me know what you thought of this chapter guys!! Thanks for reading again!! XxxxxxxxxxxxX