presence sooner or later, so she let out a howl to try to get their attention. After a short pause, she heard a reply as all four of them howled back. They were dead ahead, so she ran towards them, needing only a few more minutes to find them. Mayak was the first to meet her, "Aniu, where have you been?" he snapped.

"Trying to find you," she replied. Now she would see if her story would hold, "I was injured by a moose during that storm and I had to wait a few days to recover. It took me some more time to track down the caribou in order to find you guys."

"Are you sure there isn't anything else?" asked Faro. 

"Why would there be?" she asked.

"Well, it's just that after the storm, we looked around for you," Mayak continued, "The winds had scattered most of your scent, but there were still traces. In one spot, we found traces of your scent along with another; a dog's scent to be exact. Can you shed any light on this?"

"Um, no. I didn't meet any dogs. It could have been there, but not when I was there," she replied, growing a little nervous.

"Well, you were curious about them before. Maybe you found one?" Atka suggested.

"Nope. It's not like I would try to be friends with them, after what I've heard from you," she said, trying to steer the conversation away from anything related to Amak.

"Good. I'd hate for you to fall prey to their lies," Mayak growled.

"Oh Mayak, if only you knew how kind they could be. If you could put your bitterness behind you, you would see much more than a threat," she thought. "I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can, but I don't want to lose you again," Mayak said, this time much softer, "Actually, Aniu, there's something I want to ask you." 

"What is it?" she asked.

"Could you three leave us alone for a moment?" he said to the others. They moved away, leaving just the two of them in the area, "Alright, this is something I don't want them to hear yet, but Aniu, I've been thinking. You and I, we make a great pair, don't you think?"

"Well, we do work together quite well……"

"I'm not just talking about hunting together. I mean us, together," he said.

"What are you getting at?"

"Aniu, how would you feel if this year we became… mates?" he asked.

This was definitely a shock for her. Normally, this wouldn't be much of a problem, as it is customary in a wolf pack for the alpha male to become mates with the alpha female. However, in this case, there was a complication. Just minutes ago, she had professed her love for Amak. However, Mayak knew nothing of the husky. She had to keep her love for Amak a secret from him, but she couldn't simply turn her back on the one she loved in order to keep her cover. Besides, Mayak hadn't exactly done anything to impress her the way Amak did, "I… I don't know. It's all a little much," she replied.

"I know it is, but I want you to think about it," he said and came in closer to whisper in her ear, "Though, I'm sure you know that you don't have much of a choice here. I'm the alpha, so it's either me or one of those mangy dogs out there," he tried to lean in to nuzzle her, but she pulled away from him. He seemed a little surprised by her reluctance.

"I'll think about it," she said and ran off. Her face didn't show it, but she was starting to panic. Mayak wanted to be her mate, yet there was Amak. After everything Mayak had said, it was obvious that her love for Amak would be forbidden. She couldn't tell any of her pack or they might exile her... or worse. She knew that she was supposed to have a wolf mate, but the thought of being with Mayak made it feel as though she would be cheating on Amak.

"It's either me or one of those mangy dogs out there."

What did Mayak mean by that? Was he just trying to convince her to be his mate, or did he know something? Was he suspicious of her being with a husky? If he was, he didn't say anything about it, but there was something about his voice. Aniu didn't know exactly what it was, but something about it frightened her a little.

She knew that her love for Amak wouldn't be accepted by the others, but it was only now that she realized just how much trouble she would be in if she were caught. She could be exiled, or Mayak could make efforts to ensure that Aniu would be his; he might hurt Amak to stop him from being with her. However, she couldn't turn her back on Amak, not after all he had done for her and all the time they had spent together. She loved him, and there was nothing that anyone, not even Mayak, could do to change that.

 ----------

Chapter 4: Almost A Champion 

It didn't take long for Aniu to settle back into her routine with the pack, however there was something different from last time. Since they were still relatively new to the area, they would send someone out to scout around the area. By looking around their new territory, they could understand the lay of the land and the best ways to navigate around it. Aniu saw that this could serve as the perfect cover for her to sneak off and see Amak.

So, Aniu volunteered to go scouting on the day Amak was supposed to return so that she could leave to find the town called White Mountain. The time away would be good for her; not only would she get to see Amak, but she would also get some time away from Mayak. Every day since she had returned, he had been trying to spend every waking moment near her, trying to convince her to be his mate. She tried stalling him by saying she was still thinking, but she knew that tactic would only work for so long. The end of winter was coming and soon it would be her time to bear pups. She would have to either accept or deny his offer. Eventually, the day came for her to sneak off, but Mayak was being more persistent than ever.

"Aniu, let me come with you today. Some time alone would be good for us to get closer," he said.

"No Mayak, I'll be fine on my own," she snapped back.

"Oh Aniu, don't be like this. It's how it's supposed to be," he said, sidling up to her.

Aniu did not enjoy having him invade her space like this, "Mayak, if you don't leave me alone right now, my answer is a no," she barked. 

"You'd say no to me?" he muttered, his tone becoming a little more menacing, "You'd say no to the alpha male of your pack?"

Aniu knew she would have to think of something quickly; Mayak looked about ready to lose his temper. Also, if she delayed for too long, she risked missing Amak's return from the race, "Look, I just wanted you to give me some space. When I have an answer for you, you'll be the first to know. Until then, you don't have to constantly be breathing down my neck, so back off!" He considered her words, and after a short pause, he relented and allowed her to go. He turned around to join the others hunting, and she was free. Free at last to see Amak.

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

"If you want to find my home town, you have to follow this riverbed to the south. The riverbed will eventually lead to a wide open plain. The town will be smack in the middle of it, so it won't be hard to find from there," she thought as she remembered Amak's directions. Amak didn't say exactly what time he would come into town, so she raced through the forest, hoping that she hadn't missed it already. Soon, she had cleared the tree line and into a wide open plain. Just as Amak had said, the town wasn't too hard to spot in the flat, open expanse. She saw a collection of buildings similar to the cabin in the distance and continued trotting towards them.

"So this is what a human town is like," she thought as she approached the town. There wasn't much tree cover, so she had to use snow drifts to hide her approach. As she got closer, she saw that there were back alleys in between the buildings which she could use to move around the town undetected. As she entered one, she heard a commotion coming from the center of the town. She walked towards it, and every time she passed an alley that connected the one she was in to the main street, she saw people, lots of people, all looking in the same direction, waiting for something. Suddenly, she heard a loud bang above her and ducked, thinking it was gunshot. However, when she looked up, she saw that it was simply a flare in the sky. Its appearance caused the humans to cheer.

"It's the one mile marker!" one human shouted.

"They're almost here!" another cried.

She was relieved that she was not too late, but with all the humans in the way, she had no way of seeing Amak; she would have to get higher. She eventually found a tall stack of crates and climbed up them to reach the roof of one of the buildings. It was a little awkward on the sloped roof at first, but she managed to find her balance and looked down at the street below her. It ran the length of the town, and in the center was a large banner with the word "Finish" on it. All of the humans seemed to be looking to the east, so Aniu did the same. Just coming over the horizon were two small dots, moving quickly towards the town. It was the racers, and they were running with all their might to the finish line.

As they got closer, she could make out the dogs in each team, and Amak's was one of them! There