there was no escaping the fact that her mother was now gone.

“MOMMA!”

----------

Present Day

“Momma!” Sonya cried as she was shocked out of her dream. Six years later, the memory of her mother’s death still remained, burned into her memory. She had given her life in order to deliver her daughter to safety, but it could have just as easily been another one of her siblings that had been saved. It was pure luck that she was the one that survived.

Those few memories were all of her family that she had managed to hold on to over the years - everything else had disappeared with time. She knew what her mother looked like, but she could never recover a full image of her father. The flash of big grey paws in front of her were the best she could get. She didn’t even know if her parents had given her a name themselves; Sonya was what Amak’s family had named her when they took her in.

She stood up, letting her blanket fall off her back and stretched herself out before stepping out of the small shed that she slept in. This shed was the same one that her mother had taken her to; the same one that Amak had lived in years ago. Sonya would quickly learn that Amak was an old friend of Sierra’s and that they had both been on the same dog team, under the ownership of a man named Jonathan Vance. They had been very close friends, even when Sierra had been banished for being mates with a wolf. It was because of that friendship that Sierra had entrusted her daughter to him over anyone else. Amak had raised her from a small pup, and he was as much of a father to her as the wolf that she could only remember flashes of.

Jonathan had found her the following morning, still whimpering over her mother’s body. Taking pity on the lone pup, he took her into his home, adopting her as his latest dog. However, he had never made the connection between Sonya and Sierra, nor that he now had a half-wolf in his possession. Jonathan was a well-traveled man who would always have a story to tell to his two children, Marcus and Maddie. These stories came about from his job, which was delivering cargo to the many towns of Alaska. The cargo was often food and other supplies that were vital to the residents of the Alaskan bush. Delivering them often took a day or two, but it was a profession that paid well. However, Jonathan had other interests than being a simple delivery boy. His true passion was dog racing, which was probably true with more than half of the residents of Alaska. Marcus in particular was fascinated by his father’s stories and they had led the seventeen year old to aspire to be a sled dog champion himself.

That was one thing that she and Marcus shared; both of their aspirations came from one of their parents. He wanted to be a racing musher like his father, while she wanted to be a racing dog like her mother. However, both would have to start out small. When Marcus started out sledding in his early teens, he was only allowed to do some odd jobs around town. He would deliver packages between the various businesses and have Sonya help him by pulling the cargo on thier sled. As they got more experienced, they would be allowed out of the town and could go back and forth between the Inuit camp a dozen miles away, picking up the surplus meat that the hunters wanted to sell and delivering it to the town’s butcher.

For the first couple of years, that was all she could do. It was also during these early years that she got a first-hand taste of what it meant to be a half-wolf in a dog’s town. While the humans remained ignorant of her breeding, the dogs had been able to figure it out when they learned of her relation to Sierra. Every one of them had a deep-seated hatred for wolves and wolf-hybrids and it showed. It was because of that hate that her mother had been banished, forced to live with her mate’s pack. It was also because of that hate that Sonya was the target of ridicule for the first few years of her life. It was hard, but after helping her team out of a tight spot of few years ago, she proved to everyone that she was a capable sled dog. So capable in fact, that after the incident that had resulted in Amak being forced to leave, she was promoted to the lead dog of the team.

She had been promoted over everyone else simply because she was the best for the job. She had an excellent sense of direction and was able to sniff out the trail even in bad weather. These talents had come from her half-wolf breeding, but that was something that Jonathan had never figured out. He simply thought that she was an incredibly smart dog.

After being promoted to the lead of the team her runs with Marcus became less frequent as Jonathan would use her as the lead on his team, leaving Marcus to use another as a substitute. While she did love the thrill of leading an entire team through the wilderness, she also enjoyed the one on one time she would get with Marcus. He was one of the first humans she formed a strong bond with and always loved spending time with him. Marcus too enjoyed having Sonya lead the way, as she was his first dog, something people rarely forget.

After years of gaining experience with short trips, Marcus was itching at the chance to go out on a longer run. His father too knew that the time would come when his son would have to go out on his own, but he had been reluctant to allow him. Sledding alone in the wild was not for the faint of heart.

She trotted up to her home, scratching at the door to be let in. Once in, she ate up her morning kibble while the family ate their breakfast. At first, their chatter was the usual stuff; who had won the most recent baseball game, who had passed through the town and how the stocks were faring. Nothing of much interest to a dog like Sonya.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you that I have to make a run into Koyuk this Friday,” Jonathan started.

“What are you delivering then?” his wife Ellie asked.

“The mail shipment. Their usual mailman fell ill with the flu so I volunteered to take his place.”

It was now that Marcus would ask the question he had been waiting to ask, “Uh, dad. You know how earlier I was asking when I could go out on longer runs?”

“Yes…”

“Well, I was wondering, could I take the mail shipment to Koyuk for you?” he asked.

Jonathan stared at him for a moment, “You?”

“Yeah. You said yourself last week that I’m going to be getting old enough to go on longer runs soon, so why not now?”

“I don’t know… you’ve never been so far from home before.”

“Oh come on, I’ve got to have a chance sometime. Why can’t I try something new? Besides, Sonya’s always looked after you when you’ve gone out, so I’ll be just fine with her.”

Jonathan thought it over for a moment. He was a little wary about sending his son out alone for a trip that would probably take a couple of days. However, Marcus did have a point; he would have to learn what it was like sometime, “Alright, but I don’t want you to try anything risky. Stick to the trail okay? I don’t want you getting lost.”

“It’s about time you let him out on his own,” Sonya thought, “Considering how well I do my job with him, I’m surprised you didn’t let him go out earlier.”

“I will, thanks,” Marcus replied, “Speaking of lost things, have they found any trace Steele yet?” Sonya stopped eating mid-chew, “Since when has Steele been missing?”

“I’m afraid not Marcus and I’m not sure that they ever will,” he replied, “Steele went missing in a blizzard and he probably won’t be found at all.”

“I heard that his owner put out a message asking if anyone had seen him pass through the towns,” Ellie continued, "Didn't you know him from a few years back?"

“Yes, I did know Gunnar, and that sounds like something he'd do. He always favored Steele,” Jonathan replied, “All things considered, he's lucky that he was able to get back and complete the serum run in time.”

“How did he get home?” Maddie asked.

“Now this is where it gets interesting,” Jonathan continued, “Apparently some stray half wolf came across the team, put himself in the harness and led them home. I think the townsfolk called him ‘Balto’ or something like that.”

“And they all lived happily ever after,” Marcus finished.

This development surprised Sonya, “Wait, Steele didn’t mention anything about being lost. Then again, he isn't the type to admit failure. Him getting lost would explain why he is here, but how would he get lost in the first place?” she thought, “What does this ‘serum run’ have to do with it all? Still, a wolfdog like me led them home? Wow, if I ever meet this Balto guy I’m gonna give him all the bones I’ve hidden away,” Knowing that the others would want to hear about this, she scratched at the door to be let out and set off along the town’s streets.

White Mountain was a small, quiet town that was used mainly as a stopover for mail and other supplies heading to other towns and villages in the Alaskan bush. Sonya had always enjoyed the cozy feel it had to it - the camaraderie between the people was similar to the bond between the members of a sled team.

When she made it to the store’s boiler room, she saw that there was already a group of dogs there. Most were from her own team; in addition to Jake, there was Bruno and Misha, the team dogs and the wheel dogs Tom and Felix. There were others from the town that she didn’t