Pale blue eyes watched as the moon dipped to it's lowest point, from the perspective of the wolf, just shy of kissing the horizon, then it started to raise back up. It wasn't quite yet the time of year for the long night, and the sun's short sprint into the sky would begin in just a few hours. Z'hel sat atop a snow drift, far from the grove that housed the entrance to his den, scanning the landscape.
His wolf had been restless the last few days and he couldn't figure out why, it was an unusually stirring, not unlike the feeling when he sees someone in danger- but different. Unique yet familiar. Perhaps some hunter had decided to try and bag more game before the long night settled in, when hunting would be scarce, and gotten themselves in trouble? How had the werewolf sensed it if that were the case? And why couldn't he find them?
The white wolf picked a direction and started out, nose to the air as he, thankful for the thick fur of his hide as the wind sharpened then died all together, casting the wintry landscape in silence. He'd need to return to his den and sleep at some point soon- he'd been wandering for several sunrises now, and he knew that soon his energy was going to wane.
The sky was beginning to lighten as he finally caught the scent of treated furs, his head perked up and he looked in the direction of the nearest settlements he knew about. Why was someone out here so far off? And why didn't they have any sled dogs with them? Something wasn't right about this, but it was more than clear, someone was likely in grave danger. This far away from shelter, without a means to get back to safety relatively quickly, it was the least Z'hel could do to track them down and make sure they'd be alright. It took roughly ten minutes to follow the scent trail, the person's physical trail long having been swallowed by the shifting snow, it ended a mount, someone was buried under the snow here and Z'hel wasted now time digging them out.
A woman, he could tell that much, and not a native- natives wouldn't be out here like this. Her furs had the stiff, brittle feel of wet furs that had frozen. And as he rolled her over, he could see mild frostbite all over her face, probably more under her furs. It didn't take long to decide what he should do. If she stayed out here, she was going to die, taking her to a settlement might see her get help, but that was much farther away than his den. The werewolf gently pulled her from the snow, cradling her in one arm, pulling her against his chest.
"I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I'm taking you somewhere warm and safe. No harm shall befall you while you're in my care." came the low rumble of his voice. Who was this person and what were they doing so far out here? Foreigners usually didn't travel far past that town by the bay- and certainly not this deep into the tundra. Z'hel supposed it didn't really matter, whoever she was, she was in need of help, and he felt his inner wolf settle most of the way once she was in his arms. She'd been who his nature was restless to find apparently, she wasn't out of danger entirely yet so there wasn't any time to waste trying to figure out why. Using one of his strong arms to carry her, he began to run for his den.
The sun was at it's highest point in the sky by time the small grove of trees came into view, today was a short day, probably only two hours of sunlight left, but it didn't bother him any. What did bother him is that she hadn't woken up at all on the trip back, and what was worse is that the tip of her nose was starting to blue. He didn't waste any time slipping into his den, a cave at the heart of the crop of trees, shaking the snow off the both of them as they stepped into a fur rug. They didn't stop there, they moved further back, his large paws gently working down the stone carved steps of what had once been a decently steep sloping floor before splitting off in two directions. One led to his den proper, the other towards his immediate destination.
The second path curved deeper, heading below the earth. As they went deeper, the air started to warm. The path opened to into a large domed room, stalagmites and stalactites all around, the room itself bathed in the soft shifting light of the pool on the far side of the room. The water within glowed not only with light but magic. prisms of blues and greens, oranges and reds, yellows and purples danced along the walls, shining through the steam that lifted off the surface of the water. Z'hel had been about to set her in the water but thought better of it at the last minute. The water was near scalding and she was almost frozen. Instead he set her down near the water, letting the warm air of the room fill her nose as he went up to his den, returning a moment later with an armful of furs, he set about making a sort of nest of furs before going back up and returning with a thick blanket of many furs stitched together.
Next he moved back over to the woman, his claws gently working under the soaked parka, which was starting to thaw- and ripping it open. Getting her cold and damp body out of it before tossing it aside, she was so cold that he natural scent seemed muted- yet something about it made him stir, his inner wolf practically howling with excitement- and Z'hel was surprised to find his tail wagging, then all at once the signals clicked into place. She was his mate. He started to move her to the nest of furs he'd made, his wolf rationalizing that there was more than one way to warm her up when he reigned himself back in. His mate wasn't yet safe from her time in the cold, and even then- she was beautiful but she was very thin, she'd known hunger too often and if he let himself go now, fulfilling the desires set into motion by catching that scent before she'd even yet recovered from the biting cold- he could very well hurt her.
The thought caused his wolf to recoil and Z'hel reigned himself in further. The clothes underneath her parka were soaked and freezing too, so with an apologetic whine, he tore those as well. Baring her before he wrapped her in thick furs of the blanket, making sure the softest furs were around her. He then pulled her to his chest and wrapped himself around her, settling down in the nest of furs in the warmth of hotspring's chamber. "Come on back to me, the cold can't touch you here..."
