It seemed the pack resided further into the forest, which boded well for Ciel's throbbing paws. If this what winter was usually like, he was looking forward to spring already. This sucked!

Pleased to get some blood rushing into his pawpads again, Ciel would keep pace with the other boy once they got moving. Not like it was difficult, being similar heights and all. Glancing at the boy, maybe not as subtley as it thought, it seemed they really were similar in everything but coats. If Ciel didn't know any better, Skoll, as he'd just learned, could be a half-sibling. He even had one of Gaius' blue eyes.

At least their last names didn't match. The thought was almost enough to calm the uncomfortable clench of its gut. Ciel had always been the black sheep of his family (as far as he knew), so seeing someone who looked like he belonged set off the hangups he'd shoved into the back of his mind.

Which was exactly what he was going to do about this, scrambling for a change in subject so he had something else to focus on. "How many wolves live with you?" Ciel asked, internally cringing. He didn't really care, but he was too scatterbrained from getting placed in a strange world to think of something better to ask.