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Oh no, you don’t Her mouth felt crawly, as if there was a busy little spider in there, bustling over her tongue Had Wolf kissed her? No, no, that was a dreaether She could feel a new flare of hysteria as her self-control tried to unravel It didn’t happen You didn’t want him, you don’t It was theout to its own kind, the way it had when she was slipping away, slowly suffocating under the snow? She remembered that bizarre moment when her mind had shimmied, stepped away, and how then she’d seen a field of snow and broken trees and rocks

And a ski pole My God, that wasn’t the bright light at the end of the tunnel I was in Wolf ’s head again He was looking for ure out where I was under the snow

That was the only explanation for why she was alive When she’d passed out for that final time, onlyout in black tendrils Because like seeks like

"What do you want from me?" Her voice quaked Leopard’s knife wobbled, and she clutched with both hands to steady it She was hunched over, very cold now, treh her parka wasdry? How could that be? Her clothes were still wet Wait, wait awet How can it--

Her gaze drifted to her right arm, and she saw, iray, rong It was also too large, the cuff loose around her wrist The coat puffed out froer and more muscular The parka actually reiven her in the Wauca, unconscious, and soaked through, back to his caotten her out of her wet clothes to keep her warm

Her eyes shot to Wolf, who reeked of sweat and boiled raccoon guts and damp iron Blood crusted half his face That rock; she reh to notice, she saw that he wore only a bulky wool sweater over which was knotted a wolf ’s skin From the streaks of amber in the fur, she knew this coas new, a replacement for the one Leopard had stolen when Spider took over the pack

She understood then: Wolf had given up his parka for her Her grimy white coat, still as spread over rocks, close to the fire

Only later would she appreciate the huge risk Wolf was taking The day into which she’d awakened was clear Judging froh trees, it ell into ed were still awake, stilltheir version of an all-nighter--should’ve clued her in on just how desperate they erous the current situation was The ed and prisoners were dead Any Changed who’d gotten away or been sory--and she was freshthe dinner bell Once Wolf and his crew had pulled her fro overwhelmed

But then Wolf had made theiven up his to save her fro to death It was exactly what Tom had done, what Chris would do in the sa his best to keep her alive, and warm

"Why?" she said to him "What do you want froot a partial anshen the Changed got ready to reen canvas combat medic’s pack She’d seen one before Her dad once stowed so just like it in the trunk of his cruiser because, by definition, all cops were firstresponders His wasn’t all that stuffed: just the barest essentials to keep a s before the EMTs arrived

This pack was azillion pockets and flaps, and loaded for bear: bandages, gauze, glucose tablets, syringes, scissors, a few dozen packets of antibiotics--even that special QuikClot gauze coiven his eyeteeth for so like this

She also knehat the pack one to such trouble to rescue her Wolf knew she had the basics down After all, he’d eaten part of her shoulder and then seen her dress the wound True, Wolf ht want herbut for him, she was also a very valuable prisoner: a caht cooodthat whenever Wolf and his creeren’t out hunting, they all burrowed deep into their bags and in every stitch of clothing Alex slept with her boots claainst her sto