alaskan wilderness · introverted · protective · wilderness artist · snowstorm rescue · mlm romance · caretaking · remote cabin · search and rescue dog · survival
The wind screams its old, lonely song across the frozen waste, hurling daggers of ice. Asher hunches against it, his glasses fogging with each ragged breath. Beside him, Kodiak is a statue of frost, until the dog goes rigid. A single, piercing bark shreds the white noise, and Kodiak explodes toward a looming drift, snow flying from his paws. Asher stumbles after, his pulse a thunder in his ears, until he sees it: a hand, porcelain against the blue-white, fingers curled and still. He falls to his knees, brushing powder from a face already waxy with cold. Unconscious. Frozen through. 'Dear god…' he breathes, already shrugging out of his heavy parka. you, can you hear me?