with your pack? That is, if they’d even want a half-breed like you,” he said before giving out a mocking impression of a howl.

His howl would be cut short by Sonya as she lunged at him, knocking him over. Steele was quick to retaliate and they both snapped at each other, trying to gain the other hand. She had taken enough of his abuse and finally had it with him. Amak jumped into the fray and tried to break them up.

“THAT”S ENOUGH!” he turned to her, “You should know better than that. You know he’s only doing it to get a reaction so don’t give him what he wants.”

“Oh, but I don’t blame her Amak. After all, she is a wolf and they are known to be temperamental,” Steele shot in.

“YOU SHUT UP!” she cried and tried to lunge at Steele again, but Amak stopped her. Steele kept on laughing at her, so Amak turned on him next.

“Oh, are you going to give me a talking-to too?” Steele asked. Amak said nothing and simply grabbed Steele’s neck in his jaws and slammed him into the ground, “Hey what are you doing?” Steele cried out.

“Well talking to you wasn’t working, so I’m trying this,” Amak replied. Steele tried to get up but Amak held him down with his paws pressing on his chest, “Listen to me, and listen to me well because I’m only going to say this once. You may be the champion now, but that doesn’t mean that the rules don’t apply to you. You will stop bullying my teammate and you stop acting like an arrogant, stuck-up ass all the time! Understand!?” Steele nodded, but he still held the scowl on his face. Amak let him up and he decided to get out of there before there was any more trouble. Seeing that the story was over, the other dogs left too, leaving only Amak and Sonya.

“Nothing’s changed,” she said, “Even after I got our team out of that blizzard, he still picks on me. What can I do?”

“There really isn’t much you can do other than tough it out,” Amak replied, “Giving him a reaction is only what he wants.”

“But he’ll still pick on me even if I don’t react to him! I've tried ignoring him but he simply follows me around,” she said, “I can’t sit and do nothing forever. Why can’t I beat him up? Why can’t I fight back? Why can’t I show him to not mess with me?”

“Because you’d get yourself in even more trouble. He has friends and if they saw you attacking him, they would fight back. You may be able to fight off one, but certainly not his whole team at once.”

“But it’s not fair!”

“I know,” Amak replied, and Sonya could see that this injustice was hurting him as much as it was hurting her, “I know it’s hard for you; heck, it’s even hard for me to watch you go through this. I know Steele is persistent, but fighting back with violence will never solve the problem once and for all. If anything, it’ll only lead to more hurt.”

There was a pause, then Sonya spoke again, “I bet Steele wouldn’t be so happy if he hadn’t won that race. We were so close… and I was the one that tripped up.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about that. You only tripped because Steele cheated, and despite that, we still managed to get second place. Considering this was your first big race that’s amazing. We got second place, even though everyone said that you were only a scrub dog, good enough for pulling freight. Even dogs on our own team were saying that you would never be a racing dog and you proved them all wrong,” There was truth in his words. Ever since that race, the dogs on their team had been acting much more civil towards Sonya. They included her in their social time and no longer pushed her towards the corner of the barn when they slept, “You got us to second place and I’m proud of you for that. I’m sure your parents would be proud of you too,” he finished.

“But my parents are gone,” she said sadly, “They would never know about this.”

“Actually, they might,” Amak said, “You know how on some nights, the aurora comes out?”

“Of course,” she replied.

“Well, I have heard a story that says that the spirits of those who have passed watch over us when the aurora shines in the night sky. If that’s the case, then I’m sure that your parents have been watching over you for a long time.”

“Really?” she said, and he nodded in reply, “Where did you hear something like that? I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of the sled dogs talk about anything like that.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Oh really? If it isn't from a dog, then it might be from his new wolf friend,” she thought, “Well, thanks for telling me that Amak. I-I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but you’ve been like a father to me. You've always been there for me and I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you for that.”

“Here’s how: Try not to get yourself into any more trouble with Steele okay?” he replied, and she nodded, “Now go on, you should be getting home,” he finished and Sonya obliged, trotting out of the boiler room and back towards the barn that held the rest of her team. She quietly tiptoed to her spot in the hay and lay herself down.

“Hey Sonya, you okay?” Jake whispered beside her, “I heard you got into another scuffle with Steele.”

“I’m fine,” she whispered back.

“Are you sure? I heard some really nasty stuff about you and your folks.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t handled before. I mean, I had to deal with you guys too,” she replied.

"That's true," he replied and paused for a moment, “Sonya, I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry for treating you the way I did before.”

“Thanks Jake,” she replied, “But why did you pick on me with the others in the first place?”

“I guess….. I’ve heard so much bad about wolves and that was all I saw in you. I didn’t take the chance to know you like Amak did, but now I feel really stupid about it because you’re such a great dog. You got us to second place in that race on your first ever try - all with that wolfy nose of yours.”

“I see…… do you think that’s why Steele hates me?” she asked, “Is it because he’s heard nothing but bad about wolves?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think he’ll ever change like you guys did?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, “With a dog like Steele, it’d take something pretty big to make him change.”

----------

Present Day

Sonya paced around her yard fuming. To keep her from attacking Steele, she had been tied to a metal stake, leaving her mobility limited. She had been there the rest of the day and the entire night. By now, the first rays of the morning sun were starting to shine above the horizon. Steele had done something very horrible and yet he was going to get away with it. He deserved to be shipped back to Nome in a tiny crate, where he would have to own up to what he had done. Instead, she had learned that he was being sold to her owner and would get to stay here, where she would have to deal with him again “Why did this have to happen? Why couldn’t he have floated away to Siberia?”

Despite this setback, Sonya had been very close to victory. She had found out Steele’s secret and could have used it against him. Instead, she had gotten into a fight with him and that ended up doing more harm than good. After attacking Steele, Jonathan had tied her up to prevent her from lunging at him again. However, it also prevented her from telling another teammate what had happened. To add insult to injury, he wouldn’t let her lead Marcus on his first trip, wanting to avoid her turning on his son (something Steele snickered at). So when it came time to leave, Marcus went with his father’s new dog - none other than Steele - leading the way. This was why she was fuming. She had been looking forward for a chance to take Marcus out on a longer run, but that chance had been stolen away from her.

“It’s not fair. Steele always gets the good breaks,” she muttered to herself, “I hope you enjoy your trip Steele, because it will be your last. I’ll make sure of that,” she finished and continued to pace. Soon, she heard the sound of snow crunching behind her and turned to see that it was Kaltag.

“Hey there Sonya, how are you holding up?” he asked.

“Fine, except for the fact that someone I care about is in the paws of someone who can’t be trusted,” she replied.

Sonya sat in the snow and Kaltag sat beside her, “Well, I guess that is a bit of a problem.”

“There is one good thing though,” she continued, “The second he comes back, I’m going to expose him as the fraud and the liar he is! He’ll be chased out of town and he'll be out of my life forever. It's what he deserves.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

“Of course I am. He deserves to be run out of town and to be made the outcast, just like how he made me the outcast.”

“Maybe you’re right…… Hey, did I ever tell you that I also used to be one of dogs who would