say goodbye before I do,” he said, defeated.

Steele nodded, calling the two dogs holding Sonya off. Once she was free, her first thought was to lunge for Steele’s throat, but Amak held her back, “Sonya don’t, it won’t change anything,” he said sadly.

“But you can’t leave Amak, you can’t.”

“I don’t have much choice here. It’s the only way I can keep her safe,” he said, indicating to the wolf.

“But why? Why her?”

“She’s very important to me, and I’m important to her. Right now, she needs me.”

“I need you too,” she said, trying to hold back her tears.

“Sonya, you’ve come a long way since I found you. You’ve grown up so much,” he said and now it was his turn to start holding back tears, “But you’re a real sled dog now. You’re one of the team, and I know you’ll do fine without me. You’re tough - no matter what you’ll always make it through.”

“But what about the rest of the team? Who will lead them?” she asked.

“You will,” he replied. Using his paw he managed to loosen his collar - the same silver-studded collar he had won only a couple weeks before - and pulled it off his neck before putting it over Sonya’s shoulders.

“Me? But I can’t…... I don’t know if I’m ready,” she said.

“Trust me, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think you were,” he replied, “You have what it takes to lead and I’m sure the others will follow you.”

Finally, Sonya broke down crying while Amak nuzzled her to comfort her, “I don’t want you to go,” she sobbed, “I won’t let them do this. I'll make him pay for this.”

“No Sonya, it won't change anything. You can't change the past. Taking revenge won't undo what has already been done. It never has and in most cases has only led to more hurt," he replied, "I know you're going to miss me, but I want you to know this: I have always thought of you as my baby and I always will. You’ll always be my little baby,” Sonya couldn’t take any more of this and ran out of the building. The one dog who had always been there for her would now be gone. She howled in anguish for the loss of her lead dog. He had been like a father to her and now he was gone. For the second time in her life she had been orphaned, all because of the rampant hatred towards wolves.

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Present Day

That day had been the worst day of her life since her parents had been killed. Amak had been forced into leaving, but even after Steele’s team had moved away, he had never returned. Sonya had searched for him for days, but she found no trace of him. Ever since, the expression on Amak’s face as he faced Steele’s team had burned itself into Sonya’s memory. It was the only time she had seen anyone look so scared.

Three years later, she watched as Steele held on for his life, wearing the same expression of terror that Amak had worn. After all this time, she had finally been able to push him down to the level he had pushed Amak to. Part of her was screaming to finish him off, but she held back. As much as she hated Steele, she remembered that Amak had never wanted her to be consumed by her anger.

"You can't change the past. Taking revenge won't undo what has already been done."

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Chapter 8: An Unlikely Ally

For Steele, each second struggling over the ledge felt like an eternity. This was one of the few times in his life that he had ever felt true fear. Sonya could easily push him over the ledge and send him to his death, but she just stood there. The seconds painfully ticked by, with Steele anticipating her strike, “Come on, if you’re going to do it, do it and get it over with,” he thought.

However, the strike never came. As much as she hated him, she could not bring herself to knock him over. The debate raged in her; one side wanted to get rid of him once and for all, while the other side felt like that was going too far. He may have done so many horrible things, but killing was a terrible thing as well. Besides, it wouldn’t fix Marcus’s broken leg or prevent them from crashing.

“You should be more careful with the fights you pick, because you may end up getting someone you care about caught in the crossfire.”

Amak’s words rang in her head, and she realized how true they were. All this time she had been feuding with Steele, but in doing so, she had caused herself to be left behind, with Steele taking her place. Had she not attacked him, she would have led the team home by now. Instead, they had kept on fighting, and Marcus was the one who had been caught in the crossfire this time. She had caused this and she would have to be the one to fix this.

“It’s never too late to give someone another chance. You may find it better than fighting.”

Steele’s grip was weakening and he felt himself start to slide off the ledge. Seeing this, Sonya dashed towards him and grabbed his collar in her jaws, pulling back to halt his fall, “Help me over here!” she called out and two other dogs came up to help her pull the larger husky back onto the ledge. Once he was safe, he stood up on shaking legs, surprised with what she had done. Even after everything he had done to her, she still saved his life.

“You know, you sure have caused a lot of trouble for me today,” she said, “But I suppose I also had a part in this trouble too.”

“Sonya…. why?” he asked.

“Why did I save you? Because, unlike you, I know that acting out of spite doesn’t just hurt the one you’re targeting,” she replied, “Besides, what we were doing before wasn’t working, so I’m trying this. Marcus isn’t going to get home if we keep fighting like this. Do you want to do something good for a change?” she asked.

“….. Yes.”

“Then help me get him home. Can you do that? Can you run under the command of a half-wolf?”

Steele thought it over. He had never liked the idea of taking orders from half-breeds, but it was either this, or get left behind in the cold, “Alright, I’ll follow you.”

“Good. Now, since there aren’t enough harnesses for all of us, I’ll lead the way ahead of the sled,” she replied, “You can lead the team. Just keep watching my tail and you’ll be fine.”

“Wait, since we fell down that ledge, we can’t simply go back the way we came,” he said, “How will we get home?”

“Well, you guys went to the north of the trail, so if we go south…” she said, indicating towards the path on her left which hugged the mountainside, “…we should find the trail.” With that, they set to work. The other dogs had finished putting Marcus in the cargo bed and Steele pulled the lead harness over himself, while Sonya stood free in front of him, “Is everyone ready?” she called out and everyone replied yes, “Then mush!” she said as she bolted off, with the rest of the team dashing to follow her.

The first few minutes of their journey were straightforward, but soon the path they were on started to slope to the side, towards the open chasm. The dogs had no trouble walking along the slope, but the sled was different matter. The heavy weight of it wanted to slide down the hill, while the dogs pulling it wanted to stay on course. The wheel dogs were trying their best to keep it moving straight, but soon the dead weight of it became too much for them. Their legs gave out and the sled slid down, pulling the rest of the team with it.

They dug their heels into the deep snow to slow down, but it had little effect. It was only when a rock caught on the side of the runners did their fall stop. Sonya looked back to see what had happened and gasped when she saw the sled teetering on the steep hill. If it titled too far, then anything unsecured would roll out the side and tumble down the hill. Unfortunately, there was something in the sled that wasn’t tied down: Marcus. Sonya watched in horror as his limp form started to roll out of the side. She dashed down the hill screaming, desperate to catch her friend, but the team had slid too far away from her. She wasn’t going to make it in time.

Steele had been focused on trying to pull the sled back up, but was alerted by Sonya’s screaming that there was other trouble. Looking back, he too saw Marcus start to roll out of the sled. Knowing that Sonya was too far away, he sprang into action. In one quick motion, he unclipped himself from the harness and half ran, half slid down the hill. Jumping onto the sled, he grabbed hold Marcus’s coat sleeve in his jaws just as he had left the cargo bed.

He had caught him, but he wasn’t out of trouble yet. Marcus’s dead weight was pulling Steele down and the husky would only have a few seconds before he was dragged away with him. Fortunately, his actions would buy the crucial seconds needed for Sonya to get down there and help pull him back. The two dogs strained to lift the heavy teen into the sled, and after much pulling and yanking, while being careful to not bump his leg too much, they got him secured back in the sled.

Knowing they had to get off the mountainside quickly, Steele returned to the lead, got in his harness and slowly, but carefully, the team started to pull themselves back up the hill. Sonya went ahead and called out, “Hey! The path is more level over here. You can take