Author's Note: Hey guys, because of a great review I got today, I decided I wanted to sit down and work on this fic today, and this was what I got, so I hope you like it!!

Btw- for anyone who wants placement; the location in this chapter is based around the city and pack of wolves in episodes 5 and 6. The abandoned city with the pack of wolves living like dogs and slaving for humans. Memorable moments to jog your memories; shirtless Kiba, and Tsume picks up Kiba and runs. XD (hope that helps!)

Yelling and the sound of a whip being cracked seemed to attack her ears. A few pained whines were heard before more cracking of the whip and human yells; machinery ground to halt and the yells grew louder and angrier. Grudgingly back in the world of consciousness, the young woman cracked open her eyes, blinking at the light of day. Strong arms held her frame close to a muscled chest.

Moving her head ever so slightly to the left, Karasuke let her eyes focus on the source of all the noise. They were in some sort of defunct train station, standing on an elevated platform, with a large group of people on the level below. This group of people were the ones shouting – shouting at a group of dogs that were harnessed to some kind of machinery, hauling it around. But the apparatus didn't move an inch as she looked down; one elderly dog had collapsed on the ground, its breathing shallow. One of the humans cracked his whip and raised it high, ready to strike the dying dog … only it wasn't a dog; it was a wolf.

The whip came down, hard; one pained yelp and the elderly life was over. She couldn't help it; the teenager started and looked away, turning her gaze into the muscled chest. Golden eyes immediately looked down at the sudden movement in his arms.

"C'mon guys, let's get out of here."

It was obvious by the tone of his voice that Tsume was disgusted with what they'd just seen; that was no way for a wolf to live, or die for that matter. Snow was falling again; nothing new there, but the wind whistled slightly, a noise she recognised; they were in a city of some sort.

Walking further away from that station, towards some abandoned dwellings they'd spotted upon entering this near-vacated city, Tsume looked back down to the teenager in his arms; she'd been out for almost four hours now, before coming to at the station.

"You okay, Karasuke?"

"Yeah … owww, no!"

Her voice was muffled against his chest, shaking her head pitifully and curling her toes. She had been fine, until shaking her head and initiating a major headache. Grumbling audibly, the girl clutched her head in her hands, feeling a bump on the right side of her temple. Oh, why did her head always hurt so much? Why not a leg, or an arm instead?

"What hit me?"

"The ground, pretty hard I'll admit … damn, I'm hungry!"

All she could do was laugh; that was definitely Hige answering her and what made it worse was the growl her own stomach emitted at the thought of food, followed by Toboe's and Tsume's aswell. Come to think of it, the young woman couldn't remember when she'd last eaten … maybe it was at Claire's base, about two days ago, but she couldn't be sure for certain. Tsume's footsteps slowed on the pavement as they approached one of the old buildings; it had about three walls, and half a roof, but it was shelter.

"Can you walk?"

"Yup, thanks Tsume …"

Karasuke faltered on her feet a little as the normally-gruff thief lowered her back to the ground, keeping a steadying hand heavy on her shoulder. Thinking it better not to fall and hit her head yet again, Karasuke groaned and sat down on the ground, back against one of the remaining walls; at least if she did pass out again, there wasn't far to fall.

"Porky and I will go find some food, you and Toboe stay put."

The pup nodded, as did Karasuke, with a small voice in the back of her head pointing out how none of the guys had told her where Kiba was yet. He was probably already on Cheza's trail, following the truck to Orkham's city. But, maybe she wasn't in the truck. The young woman's mind was only coming together in fragments at the moment, remembering bits and pieces … oh God, she'd kissed him! And he'd kissed her back, or was that what she wanted to remember? Oh, how crap could her memory possibly be? With a rush of panic, the girl came to the realisation that she couldn't remember anything prior to waking up in Tsume's arms and watching the old wolf die; only mere snippets of fleeting moments.

"Ugh!"

"Karasuke, you alright?"

Toboe was suddenly sitting beside her, his hazel/amber eyes looking at her, full of worry. She'd already forgotten that Tsume had told him to stay aswell; was her memory that bad? What if she'd only dreamt of kissing Kiba whilst unconscious? Had they only just been jumped by Jaguara's troops after meeting Blue? What about the Keep and the weeks spent alone with Kiba? It was all a lie. With want of a better action, the teen screwed her eyes shut and began to rock back a forth a little; pictures were starting to become a little clearer in her mind. Double doors and a baby's silver rattle. A yellowed picture and the shell of a mother. Ruse and Mama … Kaori and the locket. The locket!

With a slight gasp of remembrance, Karasuke stopped rocking and surreptitiously traced the back pocket of her jeans with her right hand; it was there! And it was only as she breathed a sigh of relief, that the teenager realised what she was wearing; Kiba's jacket … so, maybe it hadn't been imagined.

"I … I'm fine, Toboe."

She looked sideways at the youngest of their pack and flashed a smile, genuinely happy of the silver locket in her possession. Thoughts returning to more immediate problems, the girl noticed the pup shivering and stood up, having taken notice of the dry leaves and twigs lying about. It was getting dark outside, the day drawing into dusk as the snow fell a little heavier than earlier.

"Toboe, I need you to find me two stones, but one has to be a kinda grey colour and sharp at the edges, kay?"

The boy immediately nodded his head and stood up, glad to be able to help in some aspect. Smiling happily, the youth exited the meagre dwelling and began looking for the needed stones. Throwing her hair over one shoulder, Karasuke gathered up some old fragments of bricks that must have fallen from the roof at some time, shaping them in a circle in the centre of the old room. The twigs and leaves were next to be gathered up and placed inside the makeshift circle, finding a few larger pieces of wood outside, the teenager placed them to the side for use later on.

It was a while before Toboe returned with a stone in each hand, looking unsure as he placed them on the ground by her and sat down, curious. Karasuke looked to the stones and smiled widely; one was a grey colour and the side was slate-thin and sharp, the other was just a normal stone. She had doubted their chances of finding a flint stone around these parts, but the pup had done it.

"Toboe, you're brilliant, you know that?!"

The youngster laughed as Karasuke threw her arms around his thin neck, obviously happy with his find. Laughing along with her, the pup suddenly felt guilty about his thoughts back in the holding cell at Darcia's. He'd blamed her for invading the pack and seemingly stealing the others from him, but the truth was that she had her own problems to deal with; he'd seen the doubt in her emerald eyes as she'd rocked back and forth, and could have sworn that, for the fleetest of seconds, she hadn't even recognised him.

One strike; a few sparks and a mumbled swear.

Two strikes; a few more sparks and little smouldering.

Three strikes and the sparks caught the twigs and leaves, building up enough to place the heavier pieces of wood on the flames. They had fire and heat, and it felt good! Smiling proudly as she slipped the flint stone into an empty pocket, Karasuke rubbed her hands together and held them close to the flames. A noise at the collapsed doorway of the old dwelling made both her and Toboe look around, but it wasn't their guys who stood there; three young men, or more exactly, three young wolves watched them amusedly.

"Whattya know, a new girl round these parts?"

"Gets kinda old when Cole's the only one around, and she's Zari's gal."

Karasuke was on her feet, instinctively standing in front of Toboe. The three advanced from the old doorway and started a circling regime, as though moving in for the kill. God she hoped they only came to inspect the newcomers and piss off again, but that hope was soon laid to rest by the admiring look in the young males' eyes as they circled.

"What's your name, baby doll?"

"None of your business now leave!"

She couldn't help but grimace as the seemingly leader of the trio referred to her as such; what kind of name was that? Karasuke gulped slightly as she extended a hand towards the place where a door should have been and stood strong, or at least tried to. Toboe was nervous behind her and she was getting edgy aswell. The old gang in Orkham's city had been cool because she'd known the guys there; the same with the guys in the pack, but these were strangers and didn't seem all that interested in friendship at the moment.

"Don't be like that, baby doll; you're all alone here with the puppy; I just want to be your companion for a little, that's all."

"Back off!"

One step too close for comfort, and she'd forcibly shoved the youth in the chest, causing him to back-track a few steps away. He was the youngest of them, probably about the same age as herself, but the other two were mid to late twenties. The admiration in his eyes deftly faded to annoyance as he started forward again, this time with the others catching hold of Toboe as the younger one advanced further. Not knowing what to do, Karasuke took equal steps backwards, retreating as fast as he approached. The flames danced on the darkening walls and allowed for her to see the smile on the male's face. Before she knew it, the wall was at her back; nowhere to retreat to … hands on her hips, territorial and wanting, lusting. Running out of options, the teenager reverted to something Claire had taught her years ago; the spit hit him straight in the eye. Her left leg rose up at a savage pace, aimed for right between his two, but was prevented as he took one small step back out of her range. Had it been a human, the youth would have retreated a step or two to wipe the saliva from his vision, but this was a wolf and instinct had taken hold.

"Karasuke!"

There were two Toboes being held by four men as another two loomed over her. Confused as her vision swam in and out of focus, the seventeen-year-old blinked until only one Toboe looked on in fright, held by two males, and the same guy as before had her pinned against the wall. Her jaw ached and was already swollen from the punch; he did no appreciate the attempt at escape.

"Karasuke, hmmm? Pretty name, baby doll."

Before she could formulate a snappy retort, abrasive, chapped lips crashed into hers as one hand held both of hers above her head by the wrists, the other roaming its way under Kiba's jacket and down her side. One of his legs forced its way between hers and the girl had to fight back vomit as she could have sworn she felt a bulge in his groin area pressing against her inner thigh.

"Hands off of her!"

His uncaring lips were suddenly and mercifully removed as someone yanked the strange youth off of her and threw him a few feet away, a furious voice being heard as strong arms caught her frame, her feet giving way beneath her, with shock taking hold. Karasuke found her vision blurry again, but not because of a punch this time; because she was crying. Her eyes darted around their shelter; Tsume and Hige had the other two wolves by their throats as the strangers' leader made a hasty exit, his nose spurting blood. The other two soon followed, each marred with crimson spilling from some newly-delivered wound.

If Tsume and Hige had been the ones to deal with those two, then who had saved her? The blurry vision semi-focused on the face in front of her; light green eyes and dark, messy brown hair.

"Kiba, you're okay!"

Whether she had noticed it or not, Karasuke had convinced herself of the worst case scenario when he'd been missing for so long, but here he was, saving her yet again, and all she could do was wrap her arms tightly around his strong neck in relief and gratitude.

"Are you okay?"

"What about Toboe, where is he? They had him caught and-"

Strong arms shook her firmly as the worried irises hardened in intensity. Kiba placed his face an inch or two from hers, hands cupping her face to make her stare at him and get the question across.

"Toboe is fine. Are you?"

He removed his right hand from her swollen left jaw line as she shook her head weakly, a few tears breaking free.

"No …"

This time it was him to hug her, not tightly or in relief as she had, but in protection. He'd only just followed their scents to this city and run into Tsume and Hige out hunting. Thinking it better to help them with finding food, Kiba had aided in the capture of two large hares, and a decently-sized rabbit. The three had been walking back when they'd heard Toboe shouting Karasuke's name. They'd made it to the old dwelling to find the three invaders.

"Well, we found food if it helps?"

Karasuke couldn't help but laugh into Kiba's chest as she heard Hige's helpless voice. Truth was he wanted the food, a fact that caused all five of them to laugh.

A/n- Please let me know what you thought, guys! And again; thansk a million for taking the time to read my fic, it means the wold to me!! XxxxxxxxxxX