Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not. I do however, own my 'gang'.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Thank you to my reviewers.

Chapter 41

Cold… I felt cold. There wasn't a part of my body that remained untouched by the chill.

Am I dead? I don't think I'm dead if I feel cold.

I drew in a deep, ragged breath before abruptly bursting into a coughing fit. It seemed that I'd also inhaled bit of snow as I was lying on my stomach. I tried to move my limbs but was only slightly successful. My head ached as I opened my eyes and I froze.

I couldn't see a thing. Panicked welled up in my chest. Oh, God. Am I blind? My fingers were splayed and grasping as I forced my right hand into action. My elbow made an audible crack as it bent at the joint and I dragged my hand through the snow in the direction of my face. I groped blindly at my head and was relieved to discover that it was covered by the furry hood of my jacket. Pulling it away from my face, my blurry eyes adjusted to the darkness, taking in the sight of trees a short distance away.

Oh, sweet merciful sight. I can see!

Wait, where am I?

Memories of falling off the cliff flooded my mind, and I gasped weakly, "Taylor."

Where is he?

My arms trembled as I slowly raised myself up, bracing my upper body on my hands. My body stiffened with shock when I experienced a sharp pain in my right ankle. I tried to move it again and hissed in pain. It didn't feel broken, just badly sprained. Craning my neck, I searched my immediate surroundings and found him lying motionless in the snow a few meters away. With great effort, I began my slow and arduous journey, crawling toward him. All the while praying that he was still alive.

I reached out a hand and grabbed a hold of his jacket, pulling my body close to his. "Taylor?" I called in a shaking voice. He didn't respond. Is he… I couldn't even complete that thought.

He had a bloody gash on the side of his forehead, other than that there were no other injuries. I placed my hands on his chest and shook him frantically. "Taylor, wake up."

Taylor groaned but didn't open his eyes. A relieved, choked sob escaped my lips and I smiled gratefully. "You're alive." He was hurt but I wasn't sure how badly. "Everything's going to be fine. I'll get us out of this." Even as I spoke those reassuring words, a tangible wave of worry washed over my mind.

How long had we been unconscious?

Did Liz and Ryan know we were missing?

I looked up at the cliff we fell from, trying to locate the top. But my sight was hampered by various rocks, jutting out of the cliff. In addition to that, the only light I had to see by was the light of the moon. Rummaging around in my pockets, I searched for my cell phone, but the only thing I found was my apartment keys. I'd left my phone back at the cabin.

Suddenly, a howl broke through the silence and I froze. It didn't sound like it came from nearby.

Is that a wolf or a coyote?

Taylor's groan drew my attention and I decided to try his pockets. Maybe he has a phone. Aligning my body next to his, I dug my hands into his pockets and prayed for success. Disappointment weighed heavily on me when I came up empty-handed. This was bad. We were both injured with no way to contact anyone.

What are we going to do?

My shoulders slumped before I heard a deep, weary voice, "Once again, I wake up and you're trying to take advantage of me."

My head snapped up to find that Taylor was awake and smiling at me. Even in our current predicament, he was still trying to make jokes. Clumsily, I moved closer and Taylor followed my movements with dazed eyes.

I leaned over him and stroked his face lightly, mindful of the wound on his head. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better. What happened?" Taylor managed, but I heard the strained effort in his voice. His eyes rolled closed and he swallowed thickly.

"We fell off a cliff. Don't you remember?" I frowned, worrying he might have a concussion.

"Not really." Taylor seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes focused when I leaned in close to examine his injury on his head.

My stomach clenched slightly at the sight of the blood and I admonished myself. This wasn't the time to be fragile. Forcing my squeamishness aside, I continued my amateur examination of his head wound. The cut didn't look very deep, nor did it look like it was still bleeding.

A strong, icy gust of wind blew and I instinctively leaned in closer to Taylor. It wasn't snowing yet, but I knew it would sooner or later. We had no way of knowing if anyone was looking for us. Even if they were looking, would they look in the right place? We couldn't wait to be found. It would begin to snow soon and we were out in the open. Freezing to death was a very real possibility.

But which direction should we go? Climbing up the cliff was out of the question. It didn't make sense going into the trees. We could get lost and end up going in circles. No, our best chance was to stay close to the stone wall. Eventually, we would find a path that would lead us back up to the top. I wouldn't allow myself to think otherwise.

Pulling myself from my thoughts, I return my attention to Taylor who was still observing me with a dazed expression on his face. "Can you stand up, Taylor?"

"I can try. Why?" The thought alone of getting up was enough to line Taylor's face with exhaustion.

"We have to get out of here. It's going to start snowing soon and we have to find a way back to the top." As I said this, a surge of cold wind blew and I shivered. If it began to snow before we were able to find our way to the top, we would have to find shelter. But we would cross that bridge when we came to it.

The first order of business was to get Taylor on his feet. Taylor placed hands in the snow and tired to push his body upright. I helped him into sitting position and he groaned, shutting his eyes in pain. My brows knitted with worry as he sat still, waiting for the pain to subside.

After a few moments, he raised his head and I inquired, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good." He managed to ground out.

It would be easier to help Taylor on his feet if I was standing first. He watched as I struggled to my feet and bit back a scream when I placed pressure on my injured ankle. Pain radiated from my ankle, and shot up my leg as I attempted to place some weight on it. I stumbled through the pain but managed to keep myself standing.

Taylor surveyed my less than graceful ascent and questioned softly, "How badly are you hurt, Isabella?"

"I'm fine. It's just a twinge." I sought to reassure him. Taylor didn't look convinced but decided not to call me out on my lie. I was grateful for that because it allowed me to keep my optimism up. I didn't need to think about how much my head and ankle hurt, my aching joints or just how bad our situation was. As long as I didn't think about how vulnerable and cold we were, then everything would be fine.

Taylor clasped my outstretched hand and I braced myself as he gingerly climbed to his feet. In an attempt to steady Taylor, I wrapped my arms around his waist and his hands instinctively went around my shoulders, pulling me close. Taylor looked like he was on the verge of passing out again as he swayed on his feet. I couldn't help the groan that escaped my lips as Taylor's encumbrance forced me to press down on my sprained ankle.

Upon hearing my groan, Taylor gently tilted my face upwards and queried, "Just a twinge, huh?"

A wan smile flittered across my face. "Just a twinge," I reaffirmed feebly. Increasing my grip on Taylor's torso, I added, "Come on. Let's get moving."

In a measure to preserve body heat, I adjusted the hood on his head before securing my own. Taylor's hands clutched at my shoulder protectively and I huddled my body close to his, trying to warm up. With the forest on our left and the wall on our right, we began our journey. At first, we both tried our best not to lean on the each other but, in the end, we were unable to do anything else. For the most part, we traveled in silence, choosing to devote all of our waning energy toward walking. From watching countless survival shows, I knew that sweating in the snow could lead to hypothermia. With this thought in mind, I made sure we stopped every few minutes or so to rest and cool down.

Another howl tore through the wintry night and I turned my head slightly in the direction of the sound. Maybe it was just my imagination but the howl sounded closer than before. What worried me even more was the fact that the howl came from the direction we'd journeyed from.

I shifted my gaze to a disoriented Taylor who appeared not to have heard the howl at all. He seemed to be having enough problems just staying conscious. As much as he tried to keep his weight off me, it was pointless. Every so often, his head would roll forward and he would press down on me. It was all I could do to keep us upright at those times. All the times I'd observed Taylor before, I never realized just how heavy he was. And with my injured ankle, I felt every pound.

Feelings of paranoia worked their way into my mind and I began to throw anxious glances at the trees. The blowing wind made the moving tree limbs resemble claws. The darkness of the forest appeared even more menacing than before. My eyes were beginning to play tricks on me.

My mind wandered to Liz and Ryan. They had to have noticed we were missing by now, right? Were they looking for us? Looking out of the corner of his eye, Taylor noticed my distraction and sought to reassure me. "We're going to be all right."

"How do you know that?"

He smiled enigmatically. "I have a good feeling about us." Us? Was he talking about our situation or us?

"Well, does your good feeling also say if we're going in the right direction or not?" I snapped moodily.

Taylor gave me a tolerant smile and I immediately felt guilty. It wasn't his fault we were lost. He was only trying to make the best out of a crappy situation. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just that…" my voice trailed off.

"Just what?"

"I'm just so angry with myself. I put us in this position. I mean, if I hadn't decided to take that stupid walk, we wouldn't be in this mess," I admitted guiltily.

We could be sitting by a warm, cozy fireplace right now. But instead, here we are freezing our asses off in the snow, I mentally kicked myself.

Never being one to place blame, Taylor tried to assuage my self-condemnation. "Don't beat yourself up. It's not like you knew that you would fall off a cliff."

I adjusted my grip on his torso before continuing. "You know… I never thanked you."

"Thanked me for what?" His voice sounded a little winded. We would need to stop and rest soon.

"For jumping after me. I still can't believe you did that." Taylor took the brunt of the blows in the fall. I was certain that if I fell alone, I would probably be splattered all over the snow right now. Taylor had to have done something in the fall. Did he use his ability? There was no way we could have survived a fall of that height with our injuries otherwise. I owed him my life.

"I would do anything to keep you safe, Isabella."

I didn't need to see Taylor's face to know that he was giving me one of his intense gazes right now. Heat flooded my cheeks as I kept my eyes on the path ahead of us.

"Well, thanks," I murmured bashfully. Taylor Reed was the kind of guy to risk his life for someone he cared about. I felt the sensation of butterflies in my stomach but used an imaginary swatter to chase them away. Now was so not the time for those kinds of feelings.

We fell silent again for a few more minutes until Taylor insisted we stop to rest. He slid down the length of my body and I helped him into a sitting position. He leaned his head back on the wall with an exhausted sigh and closed his eyes. Wordlessly, Taylor yanked on my hand, wanting me to sit beside him but I declined. For some reason, my instincts were telling me to stand.

Every time I heard the howls, they seemed to be getting closer. Another howl echoed through the night and immediately, I knew that something was wrong. Nerves rattling, I stepped closer to the trees, peering into the creepy darkness. As I continued to stare into the blackness, there seemed to be a shadow moving through the trees. My heart leapt up in my throat and I began taking slow steps backwards.

My voice cracked as I whispered, "T-Taylor, get up. We have to go now." When I didn't hear him moving, I threw a quick glance over my shoulder.

Taylor was lying on his side in the snow. He'd passed out again.

Oh God. This is bad.

The wind whipped my fur hood off my head as my gaze returned to the trees. My eyes darted back and forth, looking for any more signs of moving shadows. It was at that instant, above the shrieking wind, I heard it.

It was the sound of growling.

My eyes widened with fear and my heart raced in my chest. I stood petrified at the sight before me. The source of the growling emerged from the obscurity of the trees, stepping forward into the light of the moon.

It was a wolf.

It wasn't the size that I'd become accustomed to dealing with, but it was large enough to do some serious damage. Another growl tore loose from the wolf's mouth as it bared its teeth as me. Its eyes were wild and feral and… hungry.

This is really bad.

A/N: You guys really made me smile with your reviews in the last chapter. I'm so glad to hear how much you all enjoy this story.

Even if I someday stop updating this story on this site, I will still complete it, so that I can get it out of my head and return to normal life as a reader.

I write this story for myself. But I keep updating for you guys. Thanks.

Coming up next: Bella is all that stands between Taylor and death on four legs.

Who will win the battle in the survival of the fittest?

There's a surprise at the end of the next chapter. Something a lot of you have been longing for. Wink!

Depending on how my writer's block goes, I'll try to update Monday.