Author's Note: Hi everyone!! I tried to make up for the poor quality of the last chapter with this one, so I hope it worked! There'll be more of the pack in the next chapter I promise; I just needed to get this bit out of the way first. Anyways, thanks again for taking the time to read my fic guys; you know it means the world to me!! XxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Damn, that's one creepy castle."

Only the whipping wind answered Karasuke as she smirked to herself; obviously he still wasn't talking to her. She couldn't help but stifle a laugh as Kiba shot her a glare that was icy enough to compete with the snow falling around them. With a grin, the teen decided to try her luck again.

"Still mad, huh?"

Now she was outright laughing at his temper. Okay, so they could have been a few miles ahead of schedule by now if she'd woken him up on time, but it had been the longest that the lad had slept since she'd joined the pack, so when she had awoken that morning, embarrassingly leaning against him while he remained in a deep sleep, Karasuke had decided to be considerate. He'd only slept an extra hour or two, but that had been enough to set Kiba in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

They could have headed off at sunrise and been at the Keep already, with Cheza in their possession and back running with Hige, Tsume and Toboe. She'd been reminded of this for the last couple of hours as they'd waded through the snow in utter silence - any attempt at a conversation was shut down by Kiba's angered glare. For the first three or four miles, Karasuke had remained silent and feigned guilt, but that had become boring after a while and she'd taken to talking loudly and generally trying to annoy him.

"Oh c'mon Kiba; we're here now!"

Exasperated, the girl threw her arms up into the air; boys were impossible! With gritted teeth, the leader of the small pack began scaling the moderate cliff-face below the Keep; once at the top, it would be a simple task to infiltrate the castle and find Cheza. Glancing back, Kiba took note of Karasuke's seeming hesitation at following him.

With a grimace, the former thief discovered that there was no other way up to the Keep without climbing. Swearing lightly, she sized-up the snow-covered cliff. Sure, it may have been of moderate height for Kiba or even the other three guys in the pack had they been there, but to her it was huge. Okay, so maybe heights weren't one of her strong points …

"You coming or staying down there?"

Narrowing her eyes down to an evil glare, Karasuke shot a look up at Kiba -after hours of boredom, now he decides to talk to her. Looking up at the cliff again, the girl swore under her breath and moved towards it, very slowly beginning to climb it. If only that smug idiot above knew how much she hated him right at that moment.

It was kind of scary; how quick the ground seemed to distance itself from her feet despite the snail-like speed at which the teen advanced. With curiosity gaining the better of her, Karasuke dared shoot a glance down at the ground, now a good hundred metres below, a strong gust of wind deciding to buffet her just at that moment.

"Ahhh!"

Upon hearing her cry out, Kiba looked back down; he was about two or three feet from the top of the cliff by now and Karasuke was only about half-way up. The anger of that morning seemed to dissipate in an instant as he eyed her. She was genuinely terrified; her body flattened against the rock face. Guilt immediately flared to life.

Just reach up for a hold, then lift a foot - one after the other, just keep going … see; that was all to it and yet the young woman was frozen to the spot, her body paralyzed. Her jeans were ripped, her hoody threadbare and unbearably thin as the snow swirled around and raised goosebumps on her skin, shivering ensuing. A loud crack resonated around as she felt her foot shift somewhat.

"Karasuke, don't move!"

Shit! She wasn't standing on rock at all - it was an outcrop made of ice and now it was coming away from the cliff-face. Kiba found himself to be retracing his steps as fast as possible. He was almost there. For some odd reason his heart felt as though it were up in his mouth, skipping a beat as he saw the panic in her emerald eyes as the thin ice terrace suddenly gave way, allowing the petrified girl to let loose a cry of terror as she became momentarily weightless and began to fall. The last few steps seemed to disappear as Kiba reached to grab her.

His hand gripped her shoulder; more so, his jaws closed around her shoulder and held her tight as he braced himself against the edge of the terrace. Karasuke gasped as she felt the wolf's teeth gripping her. He wasn't biting hard, just enough to hold her in place. Gratitude flooded the teenager as she registered she was no longer falling, but foolishly cast a glance at the ground below.

"Please don't let me go, Kiba …"

By now, her voice was only a hoarse whisper; her vocal chords constricted with fright. A few seconds later and she was sitting on the remains of the terrace, no longer dangling hundreds of feet above the ground. Without thinking, Karasuke wrapped her arms around Kiba's neck and hugged the youth. She'd neglected to wake him, annoyed him for hours upon hours, cursed him and shot him evil eyes and he'd just saved her life.

"Karasuke, you're okay … shhh…"

It was only then that Kiba noticed that Karasuke was actually crying. This was only the second time he'd ever seen her do this and yet it seemed much more poignant this time as they sat far above the ground. With a hand lightly on her head as she continued crying, Kiba slowly pulled them both back from the edge of the remaining terrace, pinning his back to the rock face. His heart was racing as though he were still rushing back down the cliff-face. The young man had no clue how he'd managed to get back down to her in time, his mind repetitively replaying the rush. The only thing his mind could think of was what he would have done had she fallen … That feeling was back, he one he'd been feeling for weeks now; that he would die before she would, that he would have thrown himself off of that cliff if it had meant saving her and yet he didn't understand it in the slightest; why did he care about her so much?

"I'm sorry …"

"It's okay. You're safe."

For a split-second, all seemed fine until Kiba realized his hand had swept her dark red hair back from her face and they were very close indeed. Karasuke hastily looked away as a blush consumed her cheeks, clashing with her hair colour. Over the last week or so since it had just been them, her interests had shifted somewhat. Initially, it had been purely for the prospect of Paradise, then this whole 'key' thing with Cheza, but now Karasuke blushed deeper as she realized how much she'd come to depend on Kiba. More than depend; she'd only felt remotely like this once before in Orkham's city about a year or so ago when she'd fell for a guy, but he turned out to be an undercover teen commissioned by the police force to try and taker her in. But it was different with Kiba somehow - she knew that the pack leader was a genuine type, but she'd never felt anything this strong before; it was exciting in a way, but she was no fool - he had enough on his plate with Cheza and the pack, and the search for Paradise without a noisy and boisterous girl crushing on him. She was the daughter of the man trying to kill him and had managed to separate him totally from the Flower Maiden. Karasuke knew she was nothing but trouble and was under no illusions about just that, so why would he even be interested in her? With a feigned smirk hiding her disappointed thoughts, she allowing Kiba to pull her to her feet. And in doing so, caught a quick glimpse over the edge of the swirling snow beneath them, causing her to start back.

"Take it easy … look, you stay in front of me and I'll stay on the outside in case you slip, okay?"

Karasuke nodded her head as Kiba placed a hand on her shoulder and lightly steered her to the rock face again, standing right behind her. Noticing the goosebumps on her skin, he paused for a second.

"Here."

"But what about-"

"I'll be fine; it's starting to look better on you anyway."

"Thanks Kiba."

The young ex-thief smiled her thanks as she slipped her arms into the now-familiar sleeves of the overly-big jacket. She felt guilty about the effect the cold had on her when he could withstand it with only a white t-shirt. Karasuke blinked as she registered she was moving and much faster than before. The small terrace soon receded beneath her feet. Once or twice she slipped and thought she would fall again, but each time he would let her lean back against his chest and brace her until she got her footing back and continued upwards again. Before she knew it they were both sitting on the snow at the top, safely away from the dge of the cliff.

"Wasn't so hard, was it?"

Before she knew it, Karasuke had shot him her evil eyes again as he started laughing, lying back on the snow and catching his breath. With an air of indignance, the seventeen-year-old rolled up the sleeve of the tattered jacket and scooped up a large handful of snow, compacting it into a ball and letting it fly.

"I nearly died and you're laughing!"

A rival snowball was his response, hitting her in the side of the head. Karasuke blinked for a second as she registered that he'd thrown one back - normally Kiba called her childish and refused to participate in throwing snowballs, especially when she'd messed around with Hige and Toboe, maybe even getting Tsume to join in.

"You okay?"

His hand was on her shoulder. It was only then that the young woman realized she'd been spaced out for a few minutes, her mind lost in the memories of messing around with the other three; she missed the banter of Toboe, the food discussions of Hige and the gang talk of Tsume … but once they got the guys back, there would also be Blue to deal with aswell. She looked up to see him staring at her with concern. She knew what he was thinking - she'd told him of falling in the crowd because Cheza had been hurt, and now he was most likely wondering if this spacing-out had anything to do with Cheza. Karasuke shook her head and, as she saw him relax, flashed a grin and yanked on his arm, dragging Kiba down into the snow and masterfully straddling his stomach and pinning his arms with her knees - she'd done it hundreds of time; it was the best way to break up fights between the older boys in the gang. She'd pin one lad and Kirin would get the other.

"Now, Mr. Leader … what about you, huh? You know where I come from, and everyone else, but you never say anything about your past!"

His light green eyes diverted immediately as she asked the question and demanded an answer - it was almost like an automatic reaction at this stage. He didn't like these questions - the guys never asked and that made things easier in the pack, until she'd come along. And for some reason he didn't really mind telling her, for some reason he didn't mind her sitting on him the way she was or being in such close proximity.

"When I was a pup my pack were killed when Jaguara's troops set fire to the forest we lived in, a Shaman found me and raised me."

Shit, that was more than she'd bargained for. If she'd had the ability to kick herself right then, Karasuke Yaiden would have done so in an instant; no wonder he didn't talk about it. At least Pops was still alive; none of his family were.

"Kiba, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine."

He locked his gaze with her in order to reassure his words. The girl gave something akin to an impish grin as she shrugged her shoulders. She looked so endearing in that ill-fitting jacket that it made him smile, an action which in turn caused Karasuke laugh lightly. And there he had that feeling again - that impulse that told him no other man or wolf should have her, that he would always look after her and catch her if she fell. Casting a fleeting glance at the awaiting Keep, Kiba knew he wouldn't get a chance to be this open when all of the pack were reunited. She seemed to have an effect on him that made him somewhat more … open? No, that wasn't quite the word … expressive, that was it; she seemed to make him more expressive.

"Kiba, what're you doing?"

Nervousness tinted her voice as she asked the question, but it was nothing compared to the confusion that seemed to dance within Kiba's light green eyes.

"I … I don't know …"

A knot formed in her stomach as Karasuke felt his hand light upon her cheek; her own hand automatically coming up to rest on his as she looked down to him, confusion now evident in her deep emerald eyes. This confusion was forgotten as she locked gazes with his own eyes - a plethora of acceptance. Her hand seemed so small on his, but it was warm; seemed that the jacket had come in useful.

She didn't know why she did it, but as soon her lips touched his, Karasuke immediately blushed so deep she felt her cheeks burn. She looked away, outraged at herself, and made to stand from where she was still sitting on his chest. The girl made it half-way before a hand encircled her wrist and stopped her from leaving, pulling her slight weight back down to sit on his chest, only this time Kiba sat up somewhat to meet her.

His hand was on her cheek again, half into her hair and the seventeen-year-old girl responded by linking her arms around his strong neck and returning the kiss as the snow continued to swirl around.

"Something wrong?"

Kiba had stopped walking through the snow as he'd felt his hand being tugged backwards; Karasuke had stopped walking and her hand was somewhat hanging in limbo before her where it was intertwined with his own.

"Cheza's definitely inside, but …"

"What?"

Those emerald eyes were filled with almost painful confusion as the girl thought back through her memory. There was something about this place.

"I've been here before, I know it …"

And there it was like a light bulb appearing over the head of an inspired individual ; that dream, with the husband and wife, the little girl and the house servant in the garden.

A/n- So please let me know what you thought of it guys and thanks again for taking the time to read it!! XxxxxxxxxxX