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Returning in as dangerous of a blizzard as the one Tuska and her team arrived at the airport in garnered a mixture of applause and shock. The storm had been so chaotic that no new planes were allowed in or out, and so the whole campus was in lock down. The company that offered the bonus for Tuska's speedy return was one of the elated ones, their equipment was offloaded with haste and checked to make sure the condition of the samples and the hard drives were okay. Once everything was confirmed to be in order, a hefty bonus was handed over, from which the lead husky distributed out to her team to their own excitement.

Of course there were quite a few that weren't happy with Tuska's return through the blizzard. Webber was one of them. On the third floor of the main communication building and set in an office, Tuska and Webber sat silently staring at each other. Webber was a tall, lean wolf that was twice Tuska's age. Despite that, he commanded much respect and was the kind of person to not take any sort of bullshit. He was also the head dispatcher, the one person that employed not just Tuska but ten other similar sled teams.

At the moment, the two had locked eyes, neither wavering, neither blinking. It was easy to tell how angry Webber was by how still he was and how little he said. Like the exact opposite of an alarm, it was when he became unnoticeable that someone should begin to be worried.

Where Webber was a tough individual, Tuska was just as strong. She stayed just as still and didn't say a word. Her will was tempered by the cold and her determination to succeed was unparalleled. The wolf eventually got up and held the woman's icy blue gaze, but as time went on, he was the first to crack and speak.

"Do you get some sort of kick out of this?" he asked, his voice deep and growling.

"I performed to what was expected of me," she retorted.

"No!" he snapped loudly, but she didn't flinch. He set both paws on his desk and leaned over it with a hard glare trained on her. "You risked your own life and the lives of your team for a bonus! I will not have that kind of recklessness be a part of my organization!" he continued to roar. Tuska snickered and rolled her eyes before she suddenly stood up from her chair.

"What are you gunna do? Fire me?" she asked with a smirk as she turned around and began for the door. She could practically hear Webber gritting his teeth in irritation.

"You keep pulling shit like this and you're going to either get you or one of your teammates killed!" he continued on.

"My team is stronger than you think, Webber," she called over her shoulder as she paused at the door. She eventually turned and glanced back at the wolf. "How about you show some recognition for my hard work?" she commented before stepping out of his office. The last thing she heard was him kicking something in frustration and muttering to himself. That was fine, because in the end she knew that she was right. This wasn't the first time he had been pissed at her, and it was going to be the last.

The airport had a dedicated housing unit that held residency for all of the sled teams, each member of which having an efficiency or studio apartment. Tuska didn't stop anywhere else, she headed right for her apartment in the hopes of finding some relaxation. When she got inside, she headed over to her dresser while stripping out of everything that she had on.

Her sled gear was strewn about on the floor, and she was naked by the time she got to her dresser. One of Arthur's shirts was pulled from the drawer and slid over her head. The article was so big that it was like a dress, the bottom hem falling over her tail and concealing her to mid thigh.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she meandered over to her wall mounted phone. She lifted it from the receiver and quickly dialed a number. As it rang, she coiled the phone's chord around her finger and stayed near the wall.

"Hello?" came a soft, female voice.

"Hey, mom," Tuska mumbled happily.

"Tuska!" she other woman laughed. "How are you?"

"I'm doing really well, yourself?" she said a bit more cheerfully.

"I'm certainly doing better," the other woman said in a half laugh. "Weren't you out on a mission recently? You didn't come back in the blizzard did you?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah, I did," Tuska confessed.

There was a pause and then a sigh on the other end "I didn't raise you to take such foolish risks, Tuska! You could get lost and hurt out there if you're not careful," her mother scolded.

"You did raise me to be brave and fearless," she countered.

"There's a fine line between fearlessness and foolishness," her mother retorted. Tuska rolled her eyes again.

"Anyway, Webber got after me enough about it, but I'm fine, and so is my team," Tuska explained.

Her mother giggled from the other end, she knew what it meant when Webber 'got after' her. "He only wants the best for you, hun," she said softly.

"I know," Tuska snickered and leaned her back against the wall. "But anyway, I got a nice bonus from an early return. I'm gunna be sending it over to your bank as soon as I can, so hopefully that will help things out."

"Oh, sweetheart," her mother sighed. "You don't have to keep working so hard to help us out, it's not fair."

"I make enough to keep me afloat here, I just want you guys to be comfortable," Tuska mumbled and stared off into the dark emptiness of her apartment. "How are you doing with the chemo?"

"It's no cakewalk," her mother chuckled. "But I've got my spirits up. The doctors say they can see progress being made, and your father always takes me out for icecream after each treatment. It's the only thing I can ever keep down afterword," she said. Tuska nodded to herself sadly.

"Use some of that money to pay the hospital, okay?" Tuska asked.

Her mother gave a groan and paused. "Fine. But you're getting enough to eat?"

Tuska laughed, "Of course, we always get our fair share of good food around here," she explained. "But uh...I'm gunna take a shower really quick, I just got in not too long ago. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"All right, have a goodnight, hun" her mother replied a bit hesitantly.

"You too. Love you."

"Love you too." Tuska hung up and paused with her paw settled on the phone. Thoughts whirled around in her mind and she seemed lethargic all of a sudden. Ever so slowly she made her way to the bathroom. She pulled the shirt from over her head and started the shower, a nice hot spray that would soak her fur and melt away the recent storm she had to get through.

It was a very nice set up, the door of the shower swung open, and within a square shaped head streamed water directly down from overhead, like rain. After testing the water's temperature and adjusting the nozzles, she stepped inside and began to soak herself. Scented shampoos and conditioners were worked into her fur, sudsing up and lathering every inch of her body. She cooed and stayed beneath the flowing droplets, letting the warmth seep into her and relax her muscles.

She didn't know how long she had been in there, but after enough time she began to feel a bit too hot and thought to finally get out. After washing away the last of the soap mixture on her body, she turned the nozzle off and stepped out. From the side she grabbed a towel and began the monotonous process of drying off her fur. As she did so she grabbed a hair dryer from her sink and flipped it on. As her fur lost its moisture she felt herself begin to fluff up. Not wanting to look like a poof ball, she resigned herself to the towel and leisurely stepped out into her living room as she fussed with her hair

She gasped and froze when she saw that there was someone suddenly in her apartment and sitting on the edge of her bed. It took her a moment, but she quickly recognized Reggie. She scowled at him from frightening her, but the friendly smile he wore on his face was something she couldn't be mad at for very long.

Read the full chapter here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/warmth-in-arctic-16448191