A rabbit dangles between his teeth, blood that soaks his dark fur still warm, dripping onto the ground, scarcely trailing.  The head of the hare sways back and forth while Ukko trots toward the Alpha’s den.  @Scarlett had been there the last few days, since the cougar attack, and he didn’t quite have the cougar to come to her.  He didn’t know enough about healing—moss simply wouldn’t fix this—so the boy had his shaky trust in Reek’s paws to get the woman back to good health.

Reek’s scent is heavy nearby, though the absence of Saena’s unsettles him, he decides he’s only focusing on his friend.  Several feet from the opening, once he’s seen it, he drops the kill at his paws and carefully sits down on his haunches.  The alpha doesn’t seem to be by, leaving Scarlett to rest, and he’s hesitant to speak up.  He simply offers a quiet chuff, one she might not hear if sleeping.

Ukko is there a few minutes before he picks up on any sign of life.  Scarlett shouts a frightened demand and he cringes in response.  His ears tuck against his skull and he worries, for a moment, that Reek might show up.  He doesn’t care to see the other wolf after the other day and has since spent his time avoiding the other.  An uneasiness settled inside himself and if it weren’t for the connections he’d made here, the fact this place felt like home, he isn’t so sure he’d stick around.  It is, after all, why he’d left his former pack.  It didn’t feel right for him, even if he’d been born there, and he worried Phoenix Maplewood might become the same thing.

He shakes his head as he thinks about Scarlett and what she might be feeling.  Even if he doubts Reek, Ukko isn’t the one with the healing powers.  He hasn’t seen them in action but he wouldn’t know what to do. The rabbit at his feet begins to soak into the snow, melting beneath the warmth of blood, and he nudges it a few times with his nose closer to the mouth of the den. If she could catch wind of the meal, perhaps she’d come around, but he’d leave it for her if she didn’t really want the company.  Ukko whines, resting his head against his paws in the meantime.

It takes several minutes before Ukko notices anything coming from inside the den. She could have fallen asleep or is staying quiet so whomever is outside would leave. He won't force her to interact with him, nor would he blame her. He'd move the kill as close as he could to the den and leave. Whether or not he'd feel comfortable visiting again would be played out later but a soft chuff roots him quickly to the ground. He whines again and inches forward. Cold. The sound strangles in his throat as he remains on the cool ground. Scarlett might be inviting him in but it's not her den and after running into Reek the other day, he's unsure about being caught in his den. Even his scent nearby might cause an uproar and he doesn't want to put himself out anymore than he already is.

Ukko knows he can't leave his friend, though, and he quickly scans the area for signs of the alpha. With not immediate hint, he slowly picks himself up and grips the rabbit between his teeth to crawl into the small place. The rabbit plops down in front of the woman and, very carefully, the male lowers back to the ground and curls against the side most exposed to the element. He noses gently into her fur--a spot without any wounds--and murmurs nothing into her skin. Ukko nestles close with his large body and thickened fur, resting his head close to her to give her as much body heat as he can offer.

He can feel her shivering as he leans in close to the woman but after a few minutes, she begins to settle.  She doesn’t go ofter the kill and he doesn’t force her, letting her do as she wished for the time being.  He doesn’t know the tracking of her progress or when she ate last and she wanted to believe Reek is taking care of her like he should but he doesn’t linger long on the thought.  The scent of his leader is enough to make him angry but he bites it back and tries to keep up close to Scarlett.

She whines and he tries to quietly shhh her but it does little and she’s soon yelping, causing the dark wolf to jump with a start.  Ukko whines again, pressing his nose against a soft on her cheek and trailing his nose until he finds a spot torn from skin.  He licks against her skin, trying to soothe her as much as he can but the boy remains at a loss to help.

Scarlett pulls away from him, going as far as to sit up out of his touch.  His ears fall back and he’s worried his done something to offend her when she quietly croaks out an explanation.  Ukko whimpers and puts his head on the ground in a silent apology.  He’d only wanted to help, wanted to soothe the wounds across her body.  Looking at her hurt him and he feels a sickness in his stomach that he hadn’t been able to get out there soon enough.  She shouldn’t have been outside the pack on her own, anyway.

The rabbit goes ignored, for the time being, and she eventually speaks up.  Ukko wants to shuffle back to her, wrap around her once more to keep her warm, but he remains on the ground—afraid he’ll hurt her again.

“Of course,” he tells her with a nod.  He hadn’t seen her children since first meeting Sesi and Desna. Nanook still hasn’t come across his path but, with his new goal in mind, he’ll temporarily forget his struggle with the leadership and seek out her children.

Acid licked at the back of his throat. Ukko shakes his head to dispute the very words Scarlett gave him. He didn’t want them; he wouldn’t take them. “No,” he objects, turning his nose to nudge into her but he pulls back. “You’ll get better. It’ll heal.”

Ukko's voice trails off into a whimper and rests his head on the ground nearest Scarlett. He longs to touch her, resisting the urge should he cause her pain, but he needs to keep her grounded, to understand that this is not the end. Just a few more days and things would pick up, to fight the infection her woulds could cause. Reek could do this, he’s the healer, he’s supposed to know what to do, but in his newfound frustration, Ukko does nothing.

It isn’t okay, he pleads in silence, orange eyes casting upward, watching the grim over her face. Her eyes are not as bright as they day he met her, his heart wrapping around the woman when she’d been so kind to him. He doesn’t even know a fraction of her life and what she has against her. A breath wisps from his jaws, deflating his chest. 

He wouldn’t accept it, wouldn’t let Scarlett go. It would work out, she’d get better and be stronger than she was before. “I know,” he murmurs, though their acceptance of the situation weighs entirely different than each others.