Alexander had lost track of just how many days and nights had passed since he’d left. He found himself wondering about Nunataq, curious of what she might be doing. Was she spending her time well? Most likely—she’d never been one to waste a day. He wondered, too, how the sisters were—were they even still alive? They’d left so long ago and no word or sighting of them had reached the pack, which made him wonder... had he left for no reason? Were his travels a waste of valuable time?

No, definitely not. No matter the outcome, at least he’d find answers at the end of all this—he hoped so, anyways.

The forest had faded away long ago, leaving him to travel across open plains. Despite his best efforts to ignore that which was necessary, he was forced to rest after finding a burrow to tuck himself away into, eyes shielded from the obnoxious rays of sunlight. And as much as it annoyed him to do so, he managed to keep himself there until the sun fell and the moon rose—at that point, he was able to abandon the burrow and continue his search, sensitive eyes spared. He stretched out his legs with a steady jog, though that jog quickly turned into a sprint as he caught sight of a hare; it was unusual seeing one out so late, not that he really cared. Food was food, no matter what time of day it was.

So he gave chase—

—but it was incredibly short-lived.

Just as he was about to lunge forward and clamp his jaws around the creature, he hit what was previously a decently sized puddle of water, but what was now ice. The hare managed to get away whilst the wolf spun out of control, unable to find his footing. The more he tried, the less he succeeded, until his legs finally just gave out from under him and left him to fall down against the ice with a sharp yelp. Shortly after, he finally stopped sliding, but the whole ordeal left him stunned and Alexander was forced to begin crawling towards true earth, rather than rise back up to his feet.

If he moved slowly enough and upheld his concentration, he found maneuvering across the slick patch to be just a tad bit easier. He was nearly back to solid ground when his focus was suddenly interrupted, however, by a feminine voice. It took a total of three seconds for him to slip yet again and slam his chest against the ice, just barely managing to pull his head up and avoid smacking his jaw down, too. Still, despite the partial save, the anger that began bubbling inside him was equivalent to the woman having slaughtered his entire family right before his eyes—and the snarl that tore across his face made that rather clear.

“I’m fine!” he shouted back, voice tense. “You’re making things worse.” Whilst it wasn’t at all fair to put that blame on her, Xan saw it in an entirely different light—and spirits help anyone that dared to try and reason with his stubborn ass.

Tuning her out, Alexander inched closer and closer to where he’d launched from; it hadn’t seemed that far when he’d jumped but now, as he crawled his way back, it felt like lifelong journey. It was well worth it in the end, though, as he made it back to an area where he could stand without worry—and he proceeded to then shake out his coat, almost as if he were trying to rid his mind of the memory. Only after that did he turn his stare towards the stranger, gaze hardened as he silently asked her, what do you want?

At that moment, he wished so desperately that his glare alone would be capable of cutting a wolf down where they stood. Rather than leaving him to wallow in the remaining shreds that were his pride, she approached him, asking more questions and making a ridiculous comment. In a matter of seconds, he was snarling and snapping his jaws in her direction, a warning given. “I said I’m fine,” he repeated through gritted teeth. “Now leave me the fuck alone before I wipe that look off your face.” With his hackles raised, he made to leave, intending to continue in the direction away from the ice.