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She was unable to stand watching the others fight, though tensions were high enough that she herself was growling but stifling the instinct to attack as the others had. She trembled once before snarling and leaping forward on aching yet strong legs. Her teeth flashed left and right, slashing deep into bodies on either side of her head before growling quietly in the back of her throat.

"Stop this at once! Act your age, and not like foolish pups, full of hormones and envy."

When she spoke, the other wolves hesitated, stepping back from her as though in fear. Shame had clear set in as her voice rung out, laden with contempt for them. They had their ears laid back and their heads dropped down as slowly, hair by hair, their hackles slowly fell smooth down their backs once again. With the two bodies becoming colder by the moment and wolves suddenly weakening with the blood spilling from various, though thankfully small wounds, Cryo stepped into the gaping hole left by the slain Alpha.

She glared at the embarrassed, cowed wolves; a growl rumbling her chest before her voice once again rang out, containing all the depths of anger, disappointment and grudging responsibility.

"You are all shaming yourselves! Not one of you is capable of being Alpha; none of you have the heart and soul needed. Just ask my pack, they shall tell you the rules of being the leader." She was beginning to pace to and fro, her own hackles lifted slightly as she rumbled the growl into the faces of the three lone males. "You are willing to die for your pack. You live, hunt and breathe the others. They are your brothers, your sisters and your mates. You do not fight over petty things; especially not in front of strange wolves!"

The last words were a howl, her voice surging up as she poured all her frustration and anger into the discordant sound. She was happy to let her pack join in, their voices joining to an oddly tuneful cacophony of sound which surprisingly relaxed her. Her anger let loose and given voice, Cryo turned her eyes on the leaderless pack, her head tipping to the side before she widened her stance slightly.

"So...what say all you? Will you join with us? Be a part of the Snow-hunters and the branch-horn killers?"

The wolves clustered together in front of her, all but one with heads held lower than her own and tails draped almost pathetically between back-legs which trembled with fear. She had roused the fear inside them, reminded them of the power and majesty a true wolf was able to hold inside them for use at vital times- namely this, and stopping an unnecessary fight.

The single wolf who didn't have his head down was the darkest grey lone male. He was stood off to the side, away from what remained from his pack but remarkably unmarked. The silvery grey and tanned males stood behind him, frozen in a submissive tableau that appeared faked. The tan had his jaws locked around the front leg of the silver, and the silver was sinking teeth into his shoulder until gum kissed blood-soaked fur.

The faintest sounds of pain spilled from the two before Cryo bounded forwards and knocked them apart, snarling at them both when they reacted to the pain. She was aware of warmth at her hip, protecting her as the limping, pain filled males tried to rag on her body even more than it had been. Worn by the hunt and blood loss, Cryo would have fallen before their teeth long before control could have been sought for and won.

The flashing dark grey male spun past her, dealing blows with both teeth and rather oddly, with his paws as well. He was quicker than her, not much taller and he found it much easier to deal with them. By the time Cryo sat, overwhelmed with pain and more small cuts draining her energy, both males had been separated, one to Shil and the other to Skylar.

When he turned to her with concern in his golden eyes, she shook her head and growled softly. Standing was more of a struggle than it should have been, but a few hasty mouthfuls of snow replenished her strength enough for her to stand with greater confidence. Her voice shook only slightly as she spoke, her legs straightened beneath her body.

"Break up the new wolves, keep the mated ones together. I'll take this one and the other two shall be split between the rest of you. We will return to our kills and feast before returning to my summer den. We have things to discuss."

With the ominous words lingering behind her, Cryo shook her head and ignored the pangs of pain making her want to just sleep. She needed to feed then rest, but before the final step would be the plans for these new wolves- wolves she wasn't anticipating and could easily have done without. As soon as she began to move, her every step she took was harder, her mind becoming fogged as her head drooped.

She was fighting off unconsciousness before they neared the branch-horn carcass. Birds had swarmed it, but that never stopped the wolves from charging back over and feasting again. Cryo was left alone to feed though, the others away from her by more than she could lunge. She growled quietly when feeding, just a constant reminder to the pack that she was the leader.

The meat refuelled her, though she was still tired. She left the carcass, moving to the side so the others could swarm around it and she could clean her wounds in relative peace. She wasn't alone for long enough, the male wolf trotting to her side and tilting his head down at her. Even the wrinkling of her lips when she snarled at him didn't stop the curiosity in his eyes when he spoke.

"Why did you take us in? We all thought you would kill us, I thought you'd kill my brothers for sure. They had no right attacking you; they should have known a lot better. We were raised to never lay teeth on a female."

Cryo stayed silent, letting the healing agents on her tongue sooth the damaged, sore flesh. She shuddered occasionally due to the pain; grateful for her black coat masking the wounds though the delicate noses of everything even faintly predator-like would have been able to scent the blood hiding beneath the dense winter-fur. Shaking her coat after cleaning herself thoroughly, she stood, staring up slightly at the dark-coated male.

"I accepted you all into the pack because I'm not some blood-thirsty monster. You all needed a real leader and a real pack to learn from. We aren't the most conventional of packs, you shall see that, but we are a family of sorts. You'll get to know my Beta and her intended mate when we return to the den. They will be the only others to lead a hunt, so remember to stay in control of your baser instincts."

When he looked at her, confusion in those golden eyes, she sighed. Her chest heaved with the force of the air expelling through her nostrils and she shook her head at him.

"Look, wolf, what's your name?" She waited, but he stood in silence, just watching her as she grew more and more wary. Just as she was about to snap at him, he stopped, growling softly before shaking his head.

"My name is Jaxyn. The second wolf killed was our uncle, he was my father. I just never saw a pack as large as yours and with no male to help guide you. Father exiled our mother when she stopped bearing pups, but that was unusual, even for us." He betrayed his concern and parentage without a hesitation, his ears kept perked despite the rather cold way that she was looking at him.

"Look, Jaxyn. My pack, my concern, and now you are all part of it, too. When we meet at the den, we'll decide what to do with the other two-"

"You mean with my brothers."

"What to do with your brothers." Cryo could feel Jaxyn's eyes on her, amusement and concern at war before the branch dropped and she realised what he had said. "Those two idiots are your brothers?!"

He flinched as she shouted, the wolves on the carcass lifting their heads anxiously. She growled at him, standing and limping off now that her limbs had stiffened again. She wasn't impressed with him; in fact she couldn't be further from it. He followed at her side, the grey of his coat meshing with the black of her own. Though she was angered by his confession, she wasn't scared of him.

They stopped moving, still in the view of the others but at the same time far enough away that her voice no longer carried. Her teeth were bared while she spoke, her ears pinned back against her skull as she uttered the softest sound of anger she was capable of. She was trembling while growling her rage becoming tangible before she fixed her eyes on his with her teeth covered slowly by her lips.

"You should have told me that before I split you all up. You were lying to me, just by not telling me about what was happening. I would have never brought you with me to feed in that case. You should have stayed with your stupid kin, to face judgement for the crimes of attacking an Alpha who hadn't just allowed you all to stay, but a female. You may have defended me, but if your brothers are put to death, what will you do?" Cryo halted there, her head tilted to the side as she uttered that final question.

Jaxyn was silent for a few moments before his head tilted the opposite way and he growled quietly into the silence between them. His fur, sprinkled liberally with silver and black, even the smallest white patch on his chest lifted slightly when he sighed. She dropped the gaze she had with him, steeling herself for disappointment. She was often disappointed, spending her summer alone and then before this year, learning how to be a ruler. She set herself stern; her head lifted a little before he spoke.

"Lady Cryo, you are far more of an Alpha than any I've seen before. Your life here has been easier than mine. We were raised without the bonds of love, as exists between you and your sister. If they are to die, then I will be the one to break their necks or defeat them in combat. I can see myself staying with you for a long time. Your pack will be my home; your rule will be my law. I will protect you and your pack, hunt for you, keep safe the weak and guide the young, if you will accept me. There is no reason for you to trust me, but for the admiration I hold in my heart and the depths of my soul."

Cryo flicked an ear just once before shuddering all over, though before she could speak, Jaxyn lifted his head in soft song. No words were held in the sound, though purity ran through the sound. Cryo was drawn to the howl, throwing her head back and letting her own soul sing in harmony with his own. She was left to sing alone, the wolves in the forest and not far from her singing out their own little roles in the pack.

Come what may, Cryo and Jaxyn's fates were forever intertwined, locked together that day by a spark their pack saw before they did. No challenges were made, for who could challenge the pack led by the Lady of the dark and the Lord of the mist, the eventual Alpha with a spirit as bright as his mate and the one needed for more than just company. Together, they faced many challenges- their pack always together in the winter-time, when ritual and love brought them all together.