“Why here? Why would you come back here? Why can’t you leave me alone? Why can’t you leave my team alone?!”

“Oh, you think it’s all about you and your team do you? I thought I was supposed to be the one with the ego,” Steele replied coyly.

Sonya had no patience for his games, and pushed him roughly onto his back, holding him down with her paws, “Answer the question tough guy or I promise you things will get ugly very fast,” she growled.

Despite being pinned on his back Steele showed no fear or submission to her. He would never bring himself to show fear to dogs like Sonya, “My, my, you still do have your violent temper. I wonder what your old pal Amak would think if he saw you like this? He’d probably give you another one of his boring lectures. Heh, the lobo-lover always did have his head stuck in the snowdrift.”

This was more than Sonya could handle and in one sudden motion, struck a hard blow across his face with her paw, “You shut up! Amak was twice the dog you’ll ever be so how dare you say something like that!” she screamed and stormed out of the room, kicking the door closed with a loud bang. Steele remained where he was, and despite the sting from Sonya’s blow, he started to crack into a grin.

“Oh Sonya……… you always were an unstable wolfdog.”

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Chapter 1: Lost and Found

That night, Sonya’s tail twitched in her sleep. She was dreaming, but it was no ordinary dream; it was a memory. A memory that she had tried to bury, but every now and then managed to come out of her subconscious and play out in her mind. In her drowse, she murmured, “No…… don’t go…… come back…… don’t leave…… momma………”

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Six years earlier

At first, her memories were jumbled; flashes from when she was a tiny puppy. One moment, she was lying helpless, curled up against her mother with her siblings. They were in a cave, which was much warmer than the snowy forest outside. The next moment, she was taking her first, shaky steps while being encouraged by her father. She tried desperately to hold onto his image. She could remember a pair of large, dark grey paws, the cold feeling of his large nose nudging her and a large, bushy tail. She tried to remember more, but those few flashes were all that she could hold onto.

As the memories progressed, they became more coherent. She could remember tussling with her siblings and chasing a squirrel before it scampered up a tree. She could also remember her mother in more detail. Her mother had smokey fur along her back, which smoothly transitioned into a snow-white underside. In many ways, she looked like Sonya did now, except Sonya had darker grey fur, courtesy of her father.

There were others with her mother and father too; they would sometimes help her mother take care of her and her siblings. Sonya remembered noticing how different her mother seemed compared to the others. Most of the adults, along with Sonya and a couple of her siblings had golden eyes, while her mother had light brown eyes. Also, the others held their tails down towards the ground while her mother’s curled up towards her back. There was another thing that was different about her mother; she wore something around her neck. It was a strip of leather with a metal ring tied to it at the front. The ring would swing as she walked and Sonya remembered batting it around for fun.

“Hehe, she’s certainly taken an interest in your collar,” she heard a deep voice say. Without looking, she could tell it was her father's voice, “She’s already a sled dog in the making. I had a feeling she would take after you.”

“She gets things from you too you know,” her mother replied, “Just yesterday, she was trying to howl.”

“Howling? Ahh, that’s my girl,” he said and leaned down to nuzzle Sonya. She giggled and licked his muzzle with her tiny tongue. This was how it always started; she had a safe and happy life with her family as a pup, but it would soon change for the worse.

She was woken up one night by a thunderous boom before being picked up and whisked away by her mother. Outside the cave, utter chaos had broken out and the area was filled with barks and howls. Everyone was screaming and running, trying to get away from whatever terror was coming for them as the loud bangs continued.

“Sierra! You’ve got to get out of here!” her father shouted, “You’ve got to-“ another boom rang out and her father said no more. Her mother ran away from the scene, dashing through the forest with a terrified Sonya being carried in her jaws.

Sonya kept her eyes shut in fear and heard another bang behind them. Her mother fell to the ground, but she was quickly on her feet again. However, after getting up her stride was slower and had developed a growing limp. Her mother gasped in pain but she kept moving, desperate to deliver her child to safety. When Sonya did open her eyes, she saw that her mother had left the woods and was trotting towards a collection of square buildings. Every step was becoming a struggle, but she soldiered on, walking towards a small shed near one of the buildings. Finally, she collapsed only feet away from the shed and Sonya was dropped to the ground.

Sonya looked back and finally saw what had caused her mother’s distress. A small wound had been made in her side, staining her fur with red blood. Her mother slowly picked herself up and half walked, half dragged herself to the door of the shed and scratched at it.

“Amak, are you there?” she called out, her breath coming in short gasps, “Amak, it’s me. It’s Sierra,” she collapsed again as her wound took its toll on her.

The door creaked open and another dog, much like her mother came out. Where Sierra’s fur was silver, his was a dark brown, with lighter brown markings on his paws and around his sky-blue eyes. He too wore a collar with a ring around his neck.

“Sierra? What are you doing here? Don’t you know how much trouble you’d be in if anyone saw you here?” he asked.

“Amak listen, I don’t have much time,” she gasped, “You’re the only one I can trust with her.”

“Her?” he asked, and he noticed the small pup sitting behind her, shaking from the sudden ordeal she had been through, “Sierra what are you getting at? What happened to you?” he asked, looking at her wound, “That looks like a…… gunshot.”

“Hunters came for the wolves, and they thought…… I was one of them. I managed to get away…… but not before one of them took a shot at me,” Sierra's breathing was becoming shallower, making it more difficult to talk, “The others tried to scatter…… each one taking a pup…… I don’t know how many got away.”

“Sierra you need help. I’m going to get my humans to look after you,” Amak said.

“No, it’s too late for me Amak. There’s nothing you can do for me, but there is something I need you to do for her…”

“Don’t talk like that Sierra. You’re going to be just fine.”

“No, you have to listen to me!” she snapped, “Someone has to look after my little baby.... and you’re the only one I can trust. Can you do that for me?”

“Me?”

“Amak, I may have been sent away from the team, but I still think of you as my lead dog and my best friend. If there’s anyone I would trust with her it would be you.”

“But I don’t know the first thing about raising a pup! Why would you trust me?”

“Because you always stuck out for me. Even when the others harassed me and wanted to banish me for loving a wolf, you stayed by my side. You never turned your back on me and I know you wouldn’t turn your back on her just because she’s……”

“… Half wolf?” he finished, and she nodded.

Sierra looked over at Sonya, “Come here little one,” her mother called out. Sonya slowly came up to her mother’s face and could see her eyes had started to glaze over, “My child, there’s something very important I need you to do for me.”

“What is it momma?” she asked.

“I won’t lie to you. I’m too badly hurt and I won’t be with you much longer. I need you to stay with Amak. He’s a good friend of mine…… you can trust him.”

“What? But what about poppa and the others?”

“I don’t know if any of them made it. You’re safer with Amak. He’ll look after you and keep you safe. Make sure you do what he says okay? Think of him like how you think of me or poppa,” she finished, and her eyes began to close.

“No! I want to stay with you momma,” Sonya cried, but her mother did not reply. Her eyes had closed and her body no longer rose and fell with her breathing, “Momma? Momma wake up! Please wake up!” she turned towards Amak, “Why won’t she wake up?”

Amak was at a loss for words. Sierra had been his friend, but after disappearing for three months, he only got to see her for three minutes before she had succumbed to her injuries. Now he had to take care of her young daughter too.

“Momma, don’t go momma. Don’t leave me,” she said, as tears started to form in her eyes. As much as she didn’t want to believe it, there was no