Author's Note; Sorry about the long wait guys: I only just got back from a two-week holiday and I had no computer or writing material with me. Anyways, I'm trying to make my chapters longer overall so I hope this one is okay and like I said I'm sorry for the wait and I hope this chappie makes up for it a bit!! XxxxxxxxxX

The snoring came low and soft from the sleeping form in the adjacent corner as she inched closer, and then whispered lowly into the her ex-husband's ear, finally having realized why that picture had stuck in her mind for so long. The small little child had reminded her of someone…a young woman to be exact.

"Hubb…that girl who was responsible for all the robberies-"

"Karasuke? She's Quent's daughter…"

The name had come to his tongue naturally: in his mind only one name coincided with the word robbery. As he spoke, ex-Inspector inclined his head slightly at the sleeping older man- it had been bothering him for a while now- why did Quent believe his little girl to be dead for years when the child was now a teenager, renowned for her gang activity and infamous police-evading?

"She can't be his daughter: Darcia has a picture, it's old, but she's in it; only a little child…but it's definitely her."

Hubb shook his head- for as long as he'd known, Karasuke had been a resident of that small city; he now knew of her history in Kyrios, but nothing of a Noble background- the teen hated the Nobles and anyone associated with them, a fact she displayed openly whilst in the city of Lord Orkham. A few more minutes of thoughtful silence passed before Hubb spoke again- this time his voice deep with thought, laced with seriousness.

"I…I think she's a wol-"

A low growl from the opposite side of the cell caused the blond to stop short, not feeling the safest as the white-haired man kept a watchful eye on him…or maybe that eye was a bit more threatening than it was watchful: either way, it served in keeping the ex-Inspector rather quiet as the white-haired man spoke threateningly.

"If she wanted the old guy to know she was alive, she'd have told him. Karasuke has nothing to do with you now. Mention her name to him and it'll be me you have to answer to!"

Toboe eyed Tsume as he jerked a thumb at his own chest whilst talking lowly to the blond man. The youth was surprised by the ferocity in the older wolf's words- it seemed as though Karasuke had assimilated rather well with her pack-mates. With a sinking heart, Toboe supposed Tsume would feel closer to Karasuke because of their similar pasts…but he'd known the ex-thief longer. What right did she have to take his friend from him? The young wolf had warmed to the girl initially, but why were they behind bars and Cheza captured when she was out there running freely with Kiba? Kiba- why hadn't their leader escaped with Cheza? Only weeks ago he would have taken the pink-haired girl to safety without a second thought, but something had changed drastically in those weeks; Karasuke had arrived in their pack. She was pretty, she could fight well and was used to living amongst males…everything he wasn't- Toboe cast a glance at his own hands and took note of his trademark silver bracelets: he'd never be able to compete with the new arrival- he'd been raised as a pet, taught never to fight others. He was uncannily aloof and not the bravest when it came to battles…Kiba, Hige and Tsume had learned to adapt to a female in the pack but he couldn't. He blamed Kiba for tripping her pursuer back in the city…he blamed Hige for accepting her offer of food and shelter…he blamed himself for being so naïve not to notice she was a wolf. But Toboe blamed Tsume most of all: blamed him for warming up to Karasuke and forgetting about him. Why couldn't Tsume see how Karasuke was deliberately becoming the centre of attention? Anger rose within the pup towards the wolf he looked up to. She was stealing away the only family he'd ever had and she had to be stopped.

Tsume blinked with surprise as Toboe suddenly got to his feet and, without a single word, walked to other side of the cell and leaned against the bars. His back was purposefully facing both Tsume and Hige. It would have been facing Kiba too, had he been there instead of saving her.

People unintentionally bumped into one another as they idly pushed their way through the crowded streets. The pair had managed to trail the armoured vehicles to this populace…admittedly with a bit of difficulty as the blizzard had reached its climax and seeing your own feet beneath you had become an achievement in itself. Then more trouble had ensued as the scent trail had weakened substantially when they'd closed in on the city- it was one of Jaguara's territories and she had a notorious habit of enveloping her towns and cities with so many different scents it became impossible to single one particular smell out, and that was the next hurdle to be countered- they'd managed to make it to the edge of the city and now had no scent trail or any other leads try following as the blizzard had obliterated any tracks: dead end.

This City was bigger than the last- maybe three or four times larger…and yet with that daunting size came a flicker of hope for the former thief-leader as she spotted a few familiar traits sported by various people in the crowd. With a smirk of recognition, Karasuke hastened her pace, pulling ahead of Kiba and approaching a youth, a little older than her.

"You run with Claire?"

"Depends whose asking…"

It was a brown-haired girl of about twenty or so that turned upon hearing the query, lightning-fast in her attitude-laced rebuttal whilst running a distasteful blue gaze up and down the shorter girl as a young man walked up behind her. All the while, Karasuke's green eyes took in the other female's appearance: scruffy, but with a grubby yellow bandana tied loosely around her neck. Another girl stood close-by…another yellow bandana around her neck. Young women sifting through the crowd also sported the same trademark as they masterfully extracted wallets and purses from the unknowing people around them. With her ears picking up on the telltale sound of armour clinking, Karasuke returned her attention to the taller girl and spoke seriously.

"My gang run with the little ones."

"Karasuke Yaiden?"

Kiba watched as the older girl's expression changed in severity and softened to slight surprise; he'd been lost at Karasuke's words, but apparently this young woman understood completely. He'd also heard the approaching guards at the same time and was thankful as, after a few hushed words between them, the brunette girl nodded her head lightly and began walking away from them. With a serious look on her normally playful face, Karasuke turned and grabbed his arm, yanking him into the crowd after her; there was no joking and no smart comment from the teen- just an abnormal silence that seemed a bit unnerving.

The bustling bodies closed in around them in less than a second. Kiba couldn't help but thank the heavens he wasn't claustrophobic, but it did little to help- another few minutes amongst the crushing mob and he would be. He'd been raised in the wilderness and had no clue about cities this big: it seemed as though too many people occupied this area of land. How could there be enough air here for all of them? All of a sudden, the bustling seemed to intensify sevenfold as the brunette girl stopped briefly ahead of them and reigned in a couple of the bandana-sporting girls around her. A few seconds later and the girls had dispersed, each one shouting and causing a commotion as they openly mugged the people in the crowd. Just as the pack-leader thought the very air in his lungs would be squeezed out by the crushing crowd, Karasuke pulled him sharply forward and the genius of the girl thieves could be seen- they'd caused a commotion in their open-mugging and were clogging up the street, occupying the attention of the guards who had rounded the corner- distracting them (and their wolf-scanners) from the two wolves that had just entered the city.

The crowd moved on and engulfed them yet again. Karasuke's hand was forced from his arm by the pushing of the people eager to get away from the pick-pockets and the ill-tempered guards. For an almost terrifying moment, the world seemed to speed up as bodies rushed past and Jaguara's guards drew ever closer until Kiba's feet took control and found a staggering path through the rush, but his green eyes found no sight of his newest pack-member, until they were cast downward…and the guards appeared no more than ten feet away in the bustle.

"Karasuke-"

Anything further was cut short by the impending guards and the brunette girl coming back to through the crowd towards them.

"We need to move it like now! Our girls are pulling out before they're arrested, c'mon!"

By the time she'd finished half-shouting at him, Karasuke had managed to regain her footing somewhat, only to be caught off-guard as she was yanked away from the crowd by a hand wrapping around hers. A few seconds of avoiding collisions and falling to the ground in the near-stampede and they were out of the street and down an alley. The brown-haired girl led them as quickly as she could: down one alley, across a smaller street and through several more little passageways until the noise of the guards and city-dwellers had all but disappeared.

"What happened you?"

"I tripped over someone's foot."

He didn't believe her one bit and Karasuke knew it by the look in his eyes, but what else could she say? It would seem a bit far-fetched to announce she'd fallen to the ground for no apparent reason in the midst of a panicked crowd. She'd tell him the truth once they were clear of this city, but for now…she'd tripped over a person's foot and that was all to be told. And what right did he have to question her anyway? By all right, she should ask Kiba why he was still holding her hand in his…then again, maybe she'd ask him later: she didn't want to offend him or anything and besides- it wasn't doing any harm. With a slight smirk, Karasuke noticed how her mind ran through all these excuses to keep the contact and she returned the grip of his hand.

It was just because he was running, that was all. As the thief kept a few metres ahead of him, Kiba used his longer legs to keep up- he had no idea where they were going or why, but it was better than Jaguara's men catching them. The youth kept his head low as he ran: it was just because he was running. That was why his face was a little coloured and his breathing a hitched in his throat for a second- because of exertion…not because her smaller hand had just tightened around his. He was running after all.

A/n- Well, I hope you guys liked it. Sorry about the wait again and please let me know what you thought!! C yas!! XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX