When I awoke, I was so warm and comfortable, then everything came rushing back in. I ran my fingers through Daria's feathery soft undercoat, curling my toes in satisfaction. I buried my face in her belly fur and inhaled her scent deeply. I couldn't stop my smile. I looked up to an amused looking wolf face just above mine. I noticed the sun deep on the horizon from the cave entrance as she yawned big enough to swallow me whole. Then she noticed the sun too and leapt to her feet, only my speed and agility stopped me from being unceremoniously dumped onto the cave floor. I stood beside her as she whimpered. My hand absently dug into her pelt to rest my fingers against her skin. I nodded. “Yes, we've lost most of the day. We need to end this before sunset.” We took a minute to examine the mining outpost from our new vantage point, I knew her wolf eyes were as sharp as mine and could see everything just as clearly as me. I gathered that there seemed to be a rotating search party as we saw one group arriving and another one leaving. Marcus was there, walking in and out of the lodge to give orders.
