around a fresh kill and they made room for her as she came up, "Aniu, it may not be any of our business, but I'm wondering how well things are going between you and Mayak?" Faro asked her.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, he has taken quite an interest in you," he said, "I'm wondering what you think about it."

"I told him that I didn't think I was ready for something like that yet," she replied, "After all, we haven't known each other very long." 

"That's true; so how did he take it?" Atka asked.

"He agreed, but I don't think he really liked the idea of waiting," she replied.

"Did he get really upset or did he just storm off?" Faro asked. 

"He got very angry and started going on and on about how I was his and no other's," she replied, "Why?"

"Uh oh, I was afraid of this," Faro muttered and the three of them started to look very worried.

"What were you worried about? Is there something that you know that you're not telling me?" she asked, "Ever since I've met you, you always changed the subject whenever I asked about him. There is something you know about why Mayak has such a short temper, and I want to know it!"

Faro looked at the other two, then at her, "Alright, I'll tell you about it, but don't mention that you know. It's something that Mayak hates."

"I'm listening," she said.

"Okay, it happened last year, when we were still in our full pack. Mayak was the alpha male and he had his eyes on the current alpha female, Sami. However, she was very resistant to his advances, and she eventually told him that she wasn't interested in him. She left him with little reason for doing so, and he spent the next little while wondering why she rejected him. Then, one night, he found out why," he said, "The reason that Sami wasn't interested in him was because she already had another."

A twinge of fear shot through Aniu. She was much like Sami, not interested in Mayak because she already had someone she loved more, "Her lover was the beta male of the pack, and also Mayak's brother Mias. When he realized this, he took as a personal betrayal, disowned his brother, and almost attacked Sami in rage. Judging by how he reacted to you, I guess he hasn't quite gotten over that. You probably reminded him too much of that painful day," he continued, "Despite that, he still had feelings for Sami, but he would have to take another blow a few weeks later, when the hunters came for us. Mayak had to watch as his brother fell to the human traps, while Sami was killed by the dogs. Since then, he just hasn't been the same, and has developed an almost pathological hatred of dogs, along with the idea of rejection as well."

"Uh-oh, if Mayak ever found out about Amak, it would hurt him in more than one way and he'd probably lose it," she thought, "I had no idea that he had been hurt that way."

"And as far as he knows, you don't," Atka urged, "Sami's rejection and her death is a very painful thing for him, so you should never bring it up."

"I won't." 

"Good, I'd hate for anything to happen to you," Faro said, "Look, if you start to get any indication that Mayak is starting to get a little unhinged, you should come to us. We've been around him longer and we may be able to deal with him.

"I will, thank you," she replied, and felt a little safer knowing that the rest of her pack could back her up if things got messy. However, she wondered if they'd be as willing if they knew that she was involved with someone else; someone whom Mayak would hate.

----------------------------

Mayak had gotten the message that she wasn't interested and had started to back off, but anytime she saw him, he would glare at her with contempt. She figured that it was simply because he was disappointed by her answer, but there was also a part of her that feared that he suspected her of something.

After a few days had passed, Aniu decided that she would go off to see Amak again. She waited until everyone else had fallen asleep, including Mayak, and crept away into the night. She remembered the way into town from last time and had no trouble reaching it. She reached his yard first, but found that he wasn't there. She sniffed around and followed his scent along the outskirts of the town to a large barn. There was light coming out from inside, possibly from a lantern, and she could hear voices coming from inside. She crept around the side and found an opening in the boards that she could peek through. There were a few lanterns in the barn, illuminating the entire room with a soft, orange light. She looked around and saw many dogs inside, including Amak. All the dogs inside listened intently as one of them told a story to the others. She adjusted her view and saw that it was Steele telling the story. 

"So there we were, neck and neck with the finish line only yards away. It seemed like Amak would win, so I thought to myself 'Steele, you can do this. You just have to believe in yourself.' I summoned all my inner strength, and pushed myself harder than I thought I could before and by some miracle, I was able to pull ahead and win the race," The other dogs 'ooohed' and 'aaahed' at this while Steele grinned and started walking around holding his head high, like he owned the place. Aniu saw that Amak was rolling his eyes before stepping up to add his two cents.

"Well, that's a very riveting tale Steele," he cut in, "But I remember that race too and there's a small part at the end that you missed."

Steele's grin changed to a scowl, "Like what?"

"Oh I don't know…" a grey and white female shot in, "How about the part where you tried to snap my feet off at the end?" 

"Uh, uh….. I don't recall ever doing anything that horrible," he replied, putting on his best good-dog face, "I would never try something like-" 

"Oh cut the crap Steele, you're no hero or superdog," she shot back, "You're nothing but a cheater and a liar. You're lucky I didn't rip you apart then!"

"Rip me apart eh? I knew it. I knew you were like that Sonya. Even though you're only half of it, you're still a wild wolf," he taunted.

"So this is the Sonya that Amak told me about," she thought as Steele continued his taunting.

"Why don't you go back and howl 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. However, 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 upper hand. Finally, 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," he 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 will 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 dejected, "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 Aniu could see that this was upsetting him as well, "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