Chapter 30

The gentle snow fall had turned into a blizzard. Walking was now impossible for Kai and Elana, the wind was strong and unrelenting. Weaving through the trees and carrying the snow forcefully. Kai had been forced to turn back into his wolf, giving his cloak to Elana. It had been far too cold for him wearing just the one layer of material. Without extra clothes he had no choice but to change. Kai had not wanted to  phase originally, even amidst the storm he wanted to remain as a human. Because Elana was not a part of the pack yet, and he was not Xiumin, he was unable to communicate with her as a wolf.

He had two reasons for not wanting to lose communication. The first was that it made it harder for him to protect Elana, he couldn't warn her of dangers or let her know travel plans. The second was that he didn't want Elana to feel alone. Because even with someone else, loneliness can creep into the mind without some form of affection, in this case, being able to share words between themselves, but Elana had been persistent. Telling Kai that if he didn't turn back into his wolf form, he would eventually freeze, die of hypothermia, and then leave her completely alone in the middle of a winter storm with no idea on how to get back to the castle. Kai was unable to argue with her, because he already couldn't feel his feet. He relented and turned back into his wolf.

When the storm got so bad that they could barely see, Kai had wondered off of the scent trail that led back the castle to find a shelter. He as a wolf, protected by his fur, would have been able to curl up, and would have been completely fine. Elana couldn't, and that was why he left their original path.  

Together they pushed their way through the storm searching for shelter. Kai keeping pressed against Elana. If he lost her in this weather Kai wasn't sure if he would be able to find her. So he stayed next to her guiding her around the forest in search of refuge. Which they eventually found in the roots of a large tree.

The tree itself was growing amongst large boulders, and the roots had formed a roof type structure over a crevice between two of the larger boulders. There wasn't much room in the space. Elana and Kai found themselves pressed against each othe