said, after Marcus had suggested it once again, “One, she doesn’t have much experience and two, she’s probably better off hauling cargo around. Besides, she also seems to have a bit of a temper,” The temper that Jonathan had noticed was the result of the other dog’s constant harassment of her. Despite Amak’s urgings, she would often get into tussles with the other dogs when they started picking on her, with the worst being Steele. Steele had already started out with an over-sized ego, but then something happened that year that inflated it to titanic proportions. He had been promoted to lead dog. Being the lead of his team made him think he was invincible and he enjoyed exercising his power on anyone he could. He would not easily forget his last scuffle with Sonya and had stepped up his efforts to harass her. To ensure the odds would be in his favor, he would also bring a few dogs from his team and use their greater numbers to surround her.

Sonya hated being ganged up by so many dogs at once, and would always assume a defensive pose whenever they had her cornered. The insults would start flying, one thing would lead to another and it would end up with either Sonya being attacked, or Sonya running away while they laughed cruelly, “That’s right wolfdog, get out of here! Get out of this town and never come back!” Steele would shout at her. Sonya hated it all. The dogs wouldn’t give her a chance to fit in and her owner had put in her in a dead end position. All she wanted was to be able to run with a team like Amak did. She wanted to belong with them, but no one would give her a chance. No one wanted a half wolf on their team.

“Good riddance to that half-breed scrub dog,” some dogs would say.

“Yeah, this way we won’t have that wolf turn on us when we’re out on the trail,” another would reply.

----------

Today was like most days; Sonya was out helping Marcus shuttle packages from one end of town to another, driven to run as hard as she could. Her speed had once again allowed them to finish their work quickly. She dashed through the town, pulling Marcus along at lightning speed. This was one of the few times where she felt free. There were no dogs picking on her and she could run as fast as she could. Unfortunately, White Mountain was a small town, so these moments would only last for a minute or two before they would reach their destination and have to stop. Still, she yearned to run out of the town, leading a team through the wilderness. However, her fantasy would be cut short when another man walked around the corner and right into their path. Marcus saw him too and the both of them slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop right at his feet.

“Hey, careful there,” the man said in a gravelly voice. Judging from his clothing, he was a musher too.

“Sorry about that. I guess we were going a little too fast,” Marcus replied.

“You’re right about that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one dog go that quickly,” the man replied as he knelt down to take a closer look at Sonya, “And I’ve been in dog racing for years. What’s your name kid?”

“Marcus. Marcus Vance.”

“Vance? You mean you’re Jonathan Vance’s son?” the man asked.

“Yes, and I’m going to be a dog racer like him when I’m older,” Marcus replied.

“Well you certainly have the spirit already,” he replied, “But can your dog back your claims up?”

“Of course she can! Sonya is always running ahead of time and she could probably beat most of the dogs in this town!” he replied.

“Heh, that sounds like a challenge,” the man replied, “What would you say to a one on one race kid? We take only one dog each, go out from the town to the tree line and back, with the first one back being the winner. Then we’ll see just how good you are.”

“I accept,” Marcus replied, and Sonya’s heart rose. She would actually get a chance to race another dog. Maybe this would finally show the others what she was capable of.

“Perfect, I’ll just get Steele hooked up and we’ll go out,” he replied. The mention of Steele caused her euphoria to crash. Out of all the dogs in town, she would have to race her worst enemy.

“This could end up being a complete disaster,” she thought, “But if I win, maybe it’ll finally show everyone what I’m capable of. Maybe Steele will finally shut up too.”

The man got Steele hooked up to his sled while Marcus positioned himself beside him. Sonya and Steele glanced at each other, each one looking uncomfortable about this, ”Is this some kind of joke?” Steele asked, “I mean, I have better things to do with my time than to race a lowly scrub dog.”

“Well sorry for interrupting your time admiring yourself in the mirror,” Sonya shot back, causing Steele to growl at her. Finally, the two racers had finished preparing and each got onto the backs of their sleds.

“Okay kid, ready to go?” the man asked, and Marcus nodded in reply, “Alright then, three, two, one, GO!” he called and the two sleds shot off through the town.

At first, Steele’s owner was going easy on Marcus, thinking him to be just an inexperienced kid. However, Sonya was driven to beat her rival and was starting to pull ahead of him. Soon, she wasn’t just pulling ahead; she was peeling away from them. Never the type to be one-upped, Steele stepped into a higher gear. As they left the town, Steele was neck and neck with her. It was obvious just how evenly matched the two dogs were, as they were running side-by-side for the majority of the race. They reached the edge of the tree line and circled around to return to the town.

Throughout the race, Steele had been running full speed, trying to gain an advantage over Sonya. However, he had used up so much energy that he was starting to tire at the end. He tried to keep running, but soon he started to lag behind her. Sonya had kept her speed steady, avoiding extra spurts while waiting for the return trip to speed up. It was a trick that Amak had told her and it, combined with her endurance gave her an edge in that race. Steele had exhausted himself trying to overtake Sonya while she conserved her energy. Finally, they pulled into town, with Sonya well ahead. As she pulled to a stop, her head buzzed with what had happened. She had won. She had beaten Steele at his own game.

She was completely elated. This had been her first chance at racing and she had beaten an experienced lead dog. Not even in her dreams had she thought this possible, “Ha! I won Steele!” she said, “So, do you still think I’m a useless, slow, good for nothing half-breed?”

“You just got lucky,” he replied, panting, “There’s no way a mutt like you would beat me in a real race.”

“Marcus, there you are,” she heard a voice call. It was Jonathan, coming to see his son.

“Dad! Dad! I won!” he excitedly replied.

“You won? What did you win?”

“What he means,” the other man continued, “Is that your son managed to beat my prized lead dog Jonathan.”

“Marcus….. you beat Gunnar?” Jonathan replied.

“Yeah, I did. Wait, how do you know him?” Marcus asked.

“Oh, we go a bit of a ways back,” Jonathan replied, “Marcus, this is Gunnar Kassen. I suppose you could call us racing rivals. For the past few years I’ve tried to beat him in dog racing, but he always manages to slip ahead.”

“Well, I don’t mean to brag, but yeah, I have always managed to beat you Jonathan. Maybe you should have your kid run the race next year for you?” he joked.

“Haha, very funny,” Jonathan replied, “But I can’t believe it. Sonya actually beat Steele.”

“She sure did,” Gunnar continued, “Your kid’s dog certainly is something else. I know a racing dog when I see one and that Sonya is definitely racing material.”

“Racing material…” he replied with a look of pure surprise, “I never thought she’d have it in her. I always thought I could tell a racing dog from a cargo dog, but after this….”

“You know it’s never to late to start her out on racing, ” Gunnar said, “After all, you’re going to need all you can get if you want to beat me next year.”

“I suppose I will,” Jonathan replied.

----------

A couple of days later, Jonathan had made his decision. Sonya would be added to his team and he would train her over the next year to get her, along with the rest of the team ready for the next Trans-Alaskan Derby. While Sonya was glad to finally be a part of the team, the rest of them weren’t as keen.

“Amak, are you sure we should let Sonya run with us?” Jake asked, "I mean, she's just a freight dog."

“She's more than just a freight dog,” he replied, “She’s just as capable as any of us and we’re going to need every dog we can get for next year’s race.”

“A race? What race?” Sonya asked.

“There’s a big race that’s held every year called the Trans-Alaskan Derby,” Bruno replied, “It’s the biggest race of the year, with the grand prize being the golden collar.”

“The last race was a few weeks ago and lets just say it didn’t go as well as we had hoped,” Amak continued.

“Amak has had his eyes on that