before giving way to another sheer drop, “Sonya, what are you doing out here?” Jake asked.

“Oh, I thought I might drop in on you guys,” she replied, earning a chuckle from a couple of the dogs, “What happened here? Do you guys need any help?”

“We don’t need your help,” Steele growled. He had sat himself down a short distance away, not making any effort to do anything about their situation, “Why don’t you run along back to your pack wolfdog?”

Sonya chose to ignore his last comment, “Jake, what happened?”

“Well, on the return trip earlier today, Steele got lost in the storm, so we ended up leaving the trail, following a ravine until we got to the ledge above us,” Jake started, “Suddenly, the snow beneath us collapsed and we fell, just like you did a minute ago. However, not everyone had as soft a landing as you did,” he said and motioned his head to the left. She looked over and what she saw made her heart sink. Propped up against a rock was Marcus. He was unconscious and shivering from the cold, while his leg stuck out at an odd angle - he had broken it in the fall, “He came down hard on his leg and it cracked right in two,” Jake continued, "He couldn't direct us after the fall, so all we could do was wait and hope someone would find us." Sonya came up to Marcus and licked his face to try to get some sort of response from him. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw her sitting beside him.

“Sonya? I-I guess you d-did follow m-me,” he said weakly, his teeth chattering. He slowly put his arm around her and hugged her close to him, “I w-want to go h-home girl. I-I just want t-to go home,” he stuttered and then cried out from the pain in his leg. Soon, his eyes closed and he was silent; he had passed out again. He was alive, but he needed medical attention soon. Sonya gave his face a quick nuzzle before getting to work.

Looking around, she saw that the ledge they were on continued along the mountainside to the north and the south. The south path would be their way home, “Alright, I want everyone to listen up! We need to get Marcus home and we need to do it quickly. You three-“ Sonya said, facing Bruno, Tom and Felix, “I need you to help Marcus get into the bed of the sled. Make sure you’re careful with his injured leg. Everyone else, I want you to get strapped up and ready to leave,” she proceeded to pick up the lead harness but a large, white paw quickly stomped it down.

“Just what do you think you’re doing wolfdog,” Steele sneered as he glared at her, “That harness is for the lead dog only!”

Sonya growled at him and tried to get the harness free, but his paw held it firmly down, “Steele, I don’t have time for this. We need to get Marcus home now!” she snapped. She continued to try to pull the harness free, so Steele shoved her away with his shoulder. Sonya quickly got herself back up, glaring at Steele. She had hoped to avoid another confrontation, but if she had to beat him down in order to get Marcus and the team home safely, then she wouldn’t hesitate to do so, “Steele, we have to get him home soon,” she said, “I can help you, you just need to follow me.”

“I’m not about to take any orders from a mutt like you! I don’t know about the rest of your dogs, but I actually have a shred of dignity,” Steele sneered.

“I don’t give a grizzly’s ass about your dignity! Marcus is hurt and he needs our help! I can do this with or without you. It’s your choice,” she said, but Steele gave no reply, “Fine, have it your way. You can be left behind…. again.”

The mere mention of being left behind, just like when his old team had abandoned him set Steele off. Snarling, he launched himself at Sonya, knocking her to the ground. Before she could recover, he grabbed the scruff of her neck and threw her to the side, with her stopping only feet away from the cliff. He charged in for another attack, but in a flash, she lashed back, sinking her fangs into his thick neck. Twisting her body, she managed to pull him down to the ground as well. They both quickly got up, but Sonya was the first act, ramming her head directly into his. The hard impact made Steele see stars as he stumbled back, not knowing that he was straying towards the cliff until his rear legs slid off it. Steele desperately held onto the edge with his front legs, but he could feel himself starting to slip as Sonya came up to him.

As she stared down at him, dangling off the cliff, all she could think of was what he had done to her. How he had hurt her, how he had made her life miserable. She wanted to strike back at him for what he had done to her...... and what he had done to Amak.

----------

Three Years Ago

Ever since Amak had given him his little talking-to, Steele had been a little more subdued around him and the rest of the team, something that they all enjoyed greatly. Then the news came that Sonya had been dreaming of: Steele’s owner was moving to Nome and taking his team with him. Finally, she would be free of him. She eagerly counted down the days until he would be gone, with each passing day making her happier and happier.

With only two days to go, she walked down the moonlit streets, humming to herself. However, as she passed an abandoned cabin, she heard a commotion coming from inside it. It sounded like multiple dogs and she faintly recognized one of them as Amak. Curious, she poked her head inside and gasped at the sight before her. On one side of the building was Steele and his entire team, snarling and bristling. On the other side was Amak, pressed up against the wall with another creature, who looked completely terrified. This creature was a wolf, white as snow and with bright golden eyes. Sonya recognized her as the same wolf that she had seen with Amak before their last race. Amak had put himself directly between the wolf and Steele, obviously to protect her.

“Well well Amak, what’s wrong here with this picture?’ Steele sneered.

“You all leave her alone!” Amak barked, causing them to laugh cruelly at him.

“Oh Amak, you of all dogs should know that wolves aren’t welcome in this town,” Steele said.

“But she has no where else to go,” Amak replied, “Please, it won’t be for very long.”

Sonya knew that Amak and the wolf were vastly outnumbered, so she burst through the doors, surprising everyone inside, “What’s going on?”

“No, Sonya don’t. Get out of here,” he said, but she paid no attention. She was determined to help her lead dog and her best friend.

“Steele, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Well Sonya, it seems like your pal Amak seems to enjoy things on the wild side, if you get my drift,” Steele sneered, causing Amak to snarl at him, “Oh, did I hit a nerve there? I guess your wolfy friend must have had more of an influence on you than I thought.”

“So what if I am with a wolf?” Amak replied, “You guys never got this upset when I was sticking up for Sonya and she’s half wolf.”

“That’s true, but in order for there to be any half-wolves, a wolf and a dog have to come together,” Steele said, “There’s more than enough of those mutts running around our towns, so if you want to keep yourself and your sweetheart safe, you’ll get out of here.”

“NO!” Sonya screamed and tried to lunge at Steele, but two of the dogs on his team caught her and held her down before she could reach them, “You can’t do this! Let me go!” she yelled as she struggled to break free.

“C’mon, lets get that wolf!” a stocky malamute called out but Amak reared up, knocking him down. However, that was only one dog and two more started to advance on the wolf, who snarled at them. Amak tried chasing them away, but that allowed the first malamute to get up. They were completely surrounded, and Amak was running out of options.

“Steele, stop this!” he called out, but his plea was only met by cruel laughter. Steele was taking much pleasure in seeing his rival in such a tight spot.

“No way lobo lover. This town isn’t big enough for wolves,” he sneered. His team was getting closer, and Sonya couldn’t break free to back him up. Suddenly, the wolf tried to lunge at one of the dogs in a bid to escape, but instantly, four dogs were on her, biting and scratching at her. Amak jumped in to pull them off her, but there were too many for him to fight off. Sonya continued to struggle but her captors held firm. Finally, Steele barked to call the attackers off. They retreated and he approached Amak, who shakily got up from the attack, “I’m sorry it has to be this way Amak, but you know the rules. We can’t have wolves and their spawn running around town.”

“Steele, please, don’t hurt her. You can do what you want to me, but don’t hurt her,” he said. Sonya could tell by his expression that he was desperate. Never before had she seen a husky like him look so scared, or so defeated. Steele smirked at seeing him in this situation. He had finally found a way to defeat him.

“Alright Amak, we won’t hurt her,” he said, “But you have to get out of this town with that fleabag. You can run around in the wild all you want. In my eyes, you’re not a sled dog anymore.”

“NO!” she screamed, but Amak had already made his decision.

“…Alright, I’ll go. Just let me say goodbye