anything unless I bump right into it," she thought. 

Unfortunately, she was about to find out how true her words were when she walked right into the side of a full-grown bull moose. It was hard to tell who was more surprised: Aniu for suddenly finding something, or the moose, who realized that there was a predator right beside him. Moose were known for their nasty tempers and this one was no exception; it definitely did not like the idea of having a wolf so close to him. Aniu tried backing off, but the moose swung its head to club her with its deadly antlers. It continued to swing at her and charged, trying to do as much damage to her as possible. However, the poor visibility, combined with the fact that a wolf is much more nimble meant that its charges were often off. She knew that she couldn't take the moose on her own, so she snarled at it, to try to bluff it into backing off. Unfortunately, that only seemed to make it angrier, and it continued to swing at her.

Aniu tried darting away, but every time she'd dash in one direction, the moose would charge to cut her off. In desperation, she snapped right at the moose's long face, but that would prove to be a big mistake. Snapping at it brought her close enough for the moose to swing its heavy antlers at her, slamming into her side and sending her flying. Pain shot through her, first from the impact, and again when she crashed into the ground. Stars danced in front of her eyes while the moose, satisfied that he had subdued her, ran off. She lay on the ground and tried to get up, but the pain in her chest was too much and she fell right back down. Her vision started to dim at the sides and she could feel herself start to black out from the pain. She needed help, and in desperation, she howled out, hoping that any member of her pack was close enough to hear her. She held her howl for as long as she could, but soon her injuries overcame her and she slumped to the ground, out cold.

Fortunately, her howl would not go unheard. Someone did hear her call for help, but it was not someone from her own pack. In fact, her rescuer wasn't even another wolf… 

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

Aniu slowly came to, aching all over and with a slight ringing in her ears. She noticed that she wasn't out in the forest anymore. Instead, she was in a small cave. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she heard another creature shuffling about behind her. She sniffed the air to try to figure out who it was, but it wasn't anyone she recognized. The scent was similar to a wolf's, but there was something else about it… something familiar. 

"I'm glad to see you're awake. Not everyone can say they got hit by a moose and live to tell the tale," a voice said behind her.

Aniu turned her head around and saw who was with her. It was a dog – the same brown dog that she had exchanged glances with earlier, "A dog… oh no," she thought as panic shot through her. She remembered how Mayak had said that huskies would attack wolves instantly, along with Atka's warning. She jumped up in order to put more distance between her and him, but pain shot through her chest as she did, causing her to stumble back and fall back down to the ground.

"Hey, hey, take it easy there. You took a pretty hard hit to the chest and you need to rest," he said, and noticed the nervous look on her face, "What's wrong? What is it?"

"Stay back!" she cried out as she tried to crawl away from him, "Leave me alone!"

"No, don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," he said.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked.

"Because I was the one who brought you here," he replied, "I brought you here so that you would be safe and out of the storm."

Despite his words, Aniu wasn't sure how to react to this dog. She had heard so many bad things about them, but despite having her weak and cornered in the cave, he sat down where he was, not making any move to approach her. As she thought about it, she realized that this dog could have killed her while she was knocked out, but instead he had brought her someplace sheltered. He may even have saved her life. 

While he was sitting, she could see more of the details that she had missed when she saw him from a distance. His general appearance and build was very similar to a wolf's, but there were some subtle differences as well. He appeared a little more compact, and his muzzle was shorter and broader than hers. In addition to his brown pelt and white underside, his paws were slightly smaller, his tail curled towards his back, and his eyes were bright blue, instead of a wolf's yellow-gold eyes. There was one other thing that set him apart - he had some sort of collar around his neck, which held a small ring around the front.

"Now, do you still want me to stay back, or can I come over there and check over your injuries?" he asked. Aniu thought for a moment, and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She nodded and allowed him to approach, keeping a watchful eye on him in case he tried anything.

"Hmm, none of the bones seem to be broken, but any impact like that is sure to smart for a few days," he said as he passed his paw over her chest, "How is your breathing?" he asked.

"A little sore, but it's not severe," she replied, "How did you find me?"

"I heard you howling for help," he said, "At first I thought it was another husky dog in trouble. I had no idea that I was coming to the rescue of a wolf."

"Husky?" she asked, confused about the term.

"That's the name of my breed - the Siberian Husky. As I was saying, when I heard the howl I went out to look and found you in a heap with moose tracks all around. You were still alive, but the storm was still raging, so I dragged you here for shelter," he replied.

"Where exactly is here?" she asked.

"This cave is about a five minute walk north from the cabin where my owner is staying," he replied, "I thought it would be best to put you up here so that the others won't catch you."

Instantly, more questions started buzzing around her head. Here, a husky dog was saving her – a creature that Mayak said would have attacked her without a second thought. Could he have been wrong? He had made it sound like the dogs would be very cruel, but this one was being so kind towards her. Were all of the dogs like him, or would they be closer to Mayak's description and attack wolves on sight? That would explain why this dog would want to keep her away from the other dogs, but what made this one different? What made him act so kindly towards wolves?

"Well, everything seems to check out," he said after he finished looking her over, "Now all you need is to get some more rest."

"But I have so many more questions for you," she replied.

"I thought you would, but right now you need to rest. I'll gladly answer any questions you have in the morning," he said.

"Can't I at least know your name?" she asked, "You do have a name right?"

The husky gave a small chuckle at this, "Okay, my name is Amak," he said smiling, "What's yours?"

"Aniu. Thank you for coming to help me Amak," she replied.

"It's nice to meet you Aniu, and you're welcome," he finished, before she lay down to go back to sleep. As she drifted off, she started to think that Mayak may have been wrong about dogs after all.

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Chapter 2: A Second Opinion

When Aniu woke up the next morning, she found that a present had been delivered to her in the night: a piece of meat. Naturally, she sniffed it to make sure it was okay before biting into it. Since her pack hadn't found any caribou to eat in a couple of days, she was quite hungry and made quick work of it.

"Heh, I guess I now know where the phrase 'wolfing it down' comes from," a voice said behind her. She turned and saw that it was only Amak.

"Thank you for the meat. Where did you get it?" she asked.

"I nicked it from my human's storage while he was sleeping, " he replied, "I'm not exactly sure what wolves like to eat, so I hope it was to your liking."

"It was, thank you, but won't you get in trouble for stealing?" she asked.

"Naw, no one saw me and he's used to us taking the odd piece here and there. As long as there's enough for him, we're okay," he replied, "Now, if I remember correctly, last night you wanted to ask me some questions. Well, what do you want to know?"

Aniu did have many questions for him, but there were so many of them that she had a hard time clearing out which one should be asked first. However, there was one pressing question that would prove whether or not she would be able to trust him, "I have to know; if you knew I was a wolf, why did you help me?" she asked.

"It's simple, I helped you because you were in trouble," he replied, "Is that so strange?" 

"A little; I've heard so many bad things about dogs," she said, "I was told that they would attack wolves instantly."

He paused for a moment before replying, "Ahh, so that's why you were so nervous around me last night. Well, I can assure you that I don't mean you any harm Aniu."

"Are all the dogs like you?" she asked.

At this, his face fell, "I'm not going to lie to