(Cheese would like to know if you would throw her toy for her lol cause I don't do it enough while writing, evidently.) 

It had been snowing solidly for the past week. Preparations for the coming winter had to be pushed into overdrive, taking away much needed hours of sleep. Ranger had thankfully returned to normal the evening they'd come back from dropping Marshall off, but he'd needed a few days to regain his strength after fighting back his inner beast. The horses and other livestock didn't trust him for a few more days after that, too, leaving Walker to handle most of their tasks. 

It was now two days before he'd promised to go back to the mountain, but the sudden cold weather was making him worry. If Marshall's instincts pushed him to seek shelter in a den instead of continue to try and forage, he might not show up, even if he knows he needs help. 

"You're spacing out again, bro," Ranger said as he walked up leading one of their older mares. The younger ones had access to the heated barn if they wanted to come in, but they never took a risk with their retired older horses. The one he was leading, Spring, was a little over twenty, though her exact age wasn't known since she was originally a rescue. 

She'd had quite a spring to her step when they'd purchased her away from a butchery, so the name had been pretty much settled from then on. Her coat was a dark dappled gray, giving her quite the look compared to most of their simple brown and black horses. She was also the only horse that would ever stand her ground against Ranger during the rare moments he was in his dangerous shift form. She'd also won each of those times, too. A well-placed kick to the face was a phenomenal deterrent, even for such an aggressive predator. 

Walker looked up at his twin and smiled tiredly. He really wasn't all there, and hadn't really been for most of the week. 

"Go back inside and eat something, Runner. I don't need you passing out on me," Ranger said as he nodded toward the house they shared. 

Not having the energy to argue, Walker set down the bag of feed he'd been holding for the past ten minutes and began trudging through the thin layer of snow still on the ground. He slipped inside the house as he shrugged off his coat, hanging it up by the door before heading for the kitchen. The entire house was wood, from the walls to the floors, right down to the kitchen cabinets. The counter was a dark granite, making it easier for two men who didn't like cleaning up small bits of crumbs or spills. 

Of course, they did clean, eventually, but with the winter fast approaching, things were definitely needing done. Shaking his head, Walker opened the refrigerator and took out a few large carrots. He honestly hadn't been very hungry the whole week, but he could never say no to crunchy food. While Ranger wouldn't touch most vegetables, Walker would gladly eat them raw and not bat an eyelash. 

He settled on the sofa, his mind already beginning to wander back to the bear out in the middle of the forest. I know he's waiting for me to come back. He'll settle down here... maybe even come to like our farm enough to want to stay.

You're dreaming really big there, bro. 

I saw you text that girl who dumped you after two days. The one who you swore would ask you to merry her within two weeks, Walker replied sarcastically. Did she text you back professing her love yet? 

He could feel his brother's annoyance through their bond but he remained silent until the front door opened about an hour and a half later. The guy was covered in mud up to his knees. His boots were completely brown and about to dump at least a pound of wet dirt and feces on the floor from the freshly mucked stalls. 

"Those boots are going outside," Walker said as he sat up, eying the disgusting footwear. 

His brother didn't mind the farmyard smell at all, but he drew the line at poop in the house. He could tell that Ranger wanted to mess with him about it, but thankfully he relented and nudged the boots off outside, then stepped in and shut the door. 

"There was no love professing, but I think we're making progress," Ranger said with a lopsided smirk that normally won him all the ladies in an instant. 

"She didn't block you?" Walker questioned, making Ranger's grin widen. 

"Bingo!" 

Flopping back down onto the sofa, Walker sighed and watched as his brother began removing his clothing as he headed toward the bathroom to wash up. If he hadn't been watching he would have bet money that the guy would have dropped every single dirty item on the floor as he went. As it were, he thankfully stopped by the laundry room on his way and tossed them directly into the empty washer. 

"Mom is coming down tomorrow, by the way!" Ranger called from the bathroom, making Walker jump up from the sofa in surprise. 

"Wait, you're serious?" he yelled back, earning a maniacal laugh from his brother as the shower was started. 

Walker hurried to his room and grabbed one of his spare backpacks, then began stuffing a few changes of warm clothing into it. When he couldn't fit anymore, he went into the kitchen and got himself a reusable grocery bag and put in several packets of chicken, tuna, and whatever other small thing he could find that would have a decently-strong scent. 

By the time he was done his brother was standing in the dining room, staring at him as he dried his hair with a single towel. 

"You really should start wearing boxers or something after you shower. I know we're twins and all, but there might be other people here at some point," Walker said as Ranger looked down at his six pack and... other bits. His lips quirked up into a smile as he lifted his damp head. 

"Going to get your little bear early, hmm? Probably a good idea, since mom definitely won't let you just go waltzing out into a snowstorm after a grizzly bear," Ranger said, adding a wink as he ignored Walker's normal nagging about his lack of clothing. 

His brother knew that she wouldn't, that's why he'd told him ahead of time. 

"I owe you one, Rane," Walker said as he hurried out the door. 

Take care of yourself, Walker. Don't let your guard down, because I won't be there to save you this time. 

Walker smiled as he got his clean pair of winter boots on, then headed for his SUV. 

I'll be careful. 

He was in his vehicle and out of sight minutes later. 

Snow was already beginning to fall as he turned on his windshield wipers to low and focused on any possible invisible ice on the road. Thankfully, there weren't many people out with the continuous snowstorms, and by the time he got to the outskirts of town, traffic was rare. 

It was slow going once the storm really picked up, but he persisted until he got to the spot he marked on his phone's GPS, then pulled over to the edge of the road. His weather app said that it was getting close to ten degrees, and would probably drop further overnight. 

I can't get out of the car tonight. 

It hurt to think that he couldn't go get Marshall yet, but he knew that he'd just make things worse if he tried to go find him with minimal visibility and dropping temperatures. With his mind made up, he turned his car off and grabbed two of the extra heavy blankets he kept in the trunk, then hunkered down in the back seat. Right before he went to sleep, he opened a few of the tuna and chicken packs and tossed them towards the woods. 

I hope your nose still works enough to tell you that I'm here for you early. Have a safe night. 

He slept fitfully as the cold crept in, making him snuggle further and further into the blankets until he was practically cocooned. It was some time around two or three in the morning when a loud snort jolted him out of his groggy rest. He immediately turned on his phone's flashlight and shone it out the back side window. 

A large figure was moving around back by the forest, sniffing at the ground. Walker quickly removed the blankets on himself and opened the back door. The animal that was foraging the food packets he had thrown out earlier swung its head around and sniffed the air with a warning growl. 

That's not him. 

It was a smaller black bear. Quite a thick one, at that. 

You don't need that. Leave some for Marshall. 

Of course, the bear didn't hear him, nor care. Since it wasn't who he was waiting for, and he had no interest in interviewing a wild bear, Walker quickly moved back into the car and shut and locked the door.  

He was staring at his phone, waiting for the bear to finish eating and be on its way so that he could bait the area again, when the sound of ferocious snarling broke out down the small hill. Turning his flashlight app back on, he shined it out the window again. 

Holy crap. 

The black bear who had been eating the little packets of food was now on the ground, snarling and swatting at a much bigger bear that was attacking it. It was hard to see much from such a distance, but as he watched the fight intensify, he noticed that the attacking bear had a limp. It also wasn't attacking much from the right side, and seemed to be relying more on its left eye to aim. 

Marshall!

Without thinking, Walker hurried from the back seat of his car and immediately stumbled into a built-up snowbank on the side of the road as he tried to get closer. He'd evidently made some sort of sound of surprise, too, because soon two large, fuzzy heads were staring at him. His appearance seemed to have startled the larger bear more, because when the small one started to squirm out from underneath it, it didn't react. 

"Marshall," Walker finally said out loud as he freed himself from the foot-deep layer of snow. 

The moment he stepped out of it and onto the slick, grassy slope, he realized his mistake. Ice had coated the ground between the stalks of grass and weeds, sending him fumbling down the small hill and straight towards both massive animals. The smaller of the two bears took the opportunity with the larger bear much more focused on Walker, and finished getting itself free. Another moment later and it was high-tailing it back into the dark forest. 

He was glad that both weren't going to go after him together, though he kind of wished that the smaller bear was the current aggressor. As it were, he had to hurry to his feet as Marshall's massive brown bear hobbled toward him. It was growling and huffing, clearly interested in the situation but also possibly destressed by it. 

Had he planned on actually eating that bear? 

"I'm sorry I interrupted, and that I'm here early. There's going to be a big storm soon and I was worried that you might try to hibernate... and not make it through the winter," Walker said nervously as he fought to keep his feet from trying to back away from the encroaching bear. 

This doesn't look like it's going to end well. 

He considered trying to get back up the small embankment, but he'd felt enough of the ice coming down. Going back up, with a huge grizzly bear on his heels, wasn't going to happen. 

I don't have claws to dig into ice and snow. Or the speed to outrun him, even with his bad leg. 

Holding his hands up, he quickly tried something else. 

"Come back with me and I'll get you as much food as you want."

Normally, they didn't keep enough food on hand to feed a literal bear, but they had recently butchered one of their old steers and filled their two extra chest freezers for winter. The meat had only been in there for a day, too, so it wouldn't take too long to thaw. 

"We have about three hundred pounds of meat in the freezer. I can get you as much of it as you want."

The look on the bears face didn't change, but Walker finally gave a sigh of relief when it stopped a few feet away. 

"Come back with me, please?" 

He thought that Marshall might finally be calming down, when he suddenly gave out a loud warning roar and lunged! Walker was pinned before he had a chance to react, his back shoved into the cold snow. Marshall's jaws snapped so close to his nose that he could feel the heat from his breath. 

"L-let's talk about this!" he hurried to say as the bear leaned closer and pulled its lips back from its sharp teeth. 

Right as it was biting down toward his face Walker reached up and yanked on its ear. His eyes clenched shut at the same time teeth clamped down on his nose. Thankfully, those teeth weren't pointy, nor as large as a bear's. 

"Thank god," Walker mumbled out on a sigh. 

Marsh's naked body was splayed out over his own. The guy was moaning quietly and shivering, clearly in pain from his abrupt shift like the time it had happened while in the forest. 

"I'm sorry about this, but I don't want to be eaten today," Walker said as he carefully got himself sitting up. Marsh was reluctant to release his nose, but he gave up after a few moments as his shaking got worse. 

Walker took that time to fish the earring he'd brought from out of his pocket and slip it into the pierced spot on Marsh's ear. The boy seemed too cold to protest or resist, so once he was finished with that simple task, he carefully wrapped his arms around him and got himself standing. Cooling blood was running from several small punctures on his nose but  Walker simply wiped it off with his sleeve as they headed up the hill. 

It took a bit of effort, and two failed attempts, but he finally got them both into the back of his SUV. The second he had the back door shut he reached up to the front and slid the key into the ignition, then got the heater running full blast. When he was done with that, he returned his attention to the shifter that had curled up on the blankets before him. 

"I brought some extra clothing. Let me get you dressed, then the heater should finish taking care of that chill," he said as he rummaged through his bag for the pair of sweats he'd brought that had grown too small for himself. They would still probably be too big for Marshall, but he'd been in a hurry and definitely hadn't had the time to run to town and go shopping for him. 

Thankfully, the guy didn't fight him as he started tugging the clothes over his limbs, but he definitely didn't help, either. It took about five minutes to get him into a pair of sweatpants, sweatshirt, and socks. When he was finally done, Walker pulled one of the blankets that had fallen on the floor up, then carefully tucked it around Marshall. 

"There we go. You should be nice and toasty in no time. I'm going to get us heading back, but if you need anything, just tell me," he said as he slipped out the door, then shut it and walked around to the driver's side. 

They drove in silence for nearly an hour before he heard a quiet growl. He was about to respond to it as he glanced in the rear-view mirror, but when another quiet growl occurred, then another, he realized that Marshall wasn't trying to threaten him. He was fast asleep.