of them! There was another team, lead by a black and white dog that was following closely beside them. All the dogs on both teams looked like they were exhausted, panting heavily with their tongues rolling out, but they were still giving their all for the last stretch. Aniu wanted to let Amak know that she was there, so she let out a howl. Most of the crowd didn't notice it over their cheering and the barking of the dogs, but Amak did. He looked up at her and a huge smile came over his exhausted face. Once he knew that she was there, he seemed to gain new strength and started pulling farther ahead of the second team. He was getting closer; only a few more seconds and he would win. He would become a champion while his love watched on. 

"Go. Go Amak. GO!" she shouted.

However, the black and white dog wasn't out of tricks yet – he wanted to win just as badly as Amak did. He reared up and snapped at the legs of the dog right behind Amak - a grey and white female. She jumped away from his lunge, but stumbled on her landing. Amak was yanked back by his teammate, and that allowed the black and white dog's team to start pulling ahead. It took only a second for Amak's team to recover, but that second was all it took for the other team to take the lead from them. Amak's team kept running for the last few yards, desperate to regain their position. They were able to gain back some of their lost ground, but the damage had already been done. The other team crossed the finish first, with Amak only inches behind. He had lost, all because of one cheater.

Aniu groaned at this outcome, but despite this, she was still proud of Amak. He had done his best, and still managed to come in second. Both teams came to a stop, with some of the dogs collapsing from exhaustion. The dogs were unhooked while another human came over holding two large collars, "The first-place golden collar is awarded to Mr. Kassen and his lead dog Steele," he said and put a collar with golden studs on it around the black dog's neck, "While the runner-up silver collar is awarded to Mr. Vance and his lead dog Amak," he finished while putting the collar with the silver studs on Amak's neck. While he was doing this, Steele was strutting around the area, trying to look buff, which made all of the female dogs in the area swoon. Amak meanwhile was glaring at Steele. Finally, when the humans had left to celebrate the end of the race, Steele went down an alley while Amak followed him. Aniu climbed down from her perch to investigate and when she had gotten down to ground level, she could hear Amak's voice around a corner, along with another. She peeked around the corner and saw Amak fuming, while Steele wore an arrogant smirk on his face. 

"I don't care who you think you are! Just what gives you the right to pull a stunt like that!" Amak shouted. 

"Hey, I did what I had to in order to win," Steele scoffed. 

"But what you did was cheating!"

"Did I get caught? No. As far as the humans know, you just had a small snag."

"So you think you can just cheat your way through life?" he asked.

"If I can get away with it. Besides, my team will back me up; they always do," he replied.

"Yeah, they may back you up now, but I promise you, if you keep going the way you're going, they may not. There may come a day when you mess up so badly that neither your friends nor the humans will want to bail you out, even if you are their champion. I promise you, you'll go from champ to chump and it will all be because of your over inflated ego," he warned.

"Heh, yeah right," Steele sneered.

"Steele, where did you go?" a female voice called from the street.

"You'd better go. You wouldn't want to disappoint your adoring fans," Amak said with a hint of sarcasm. Steele scowled at him and walked away, leaving Amak behind.

"I take it this dog has a bit of a fan club," Aniu said as she came out from around the corner. Amak looked up, startled.

"Oh, Aniu, it's you," he said, "You made it." 

"Of course. I didn't want to miss your big race," she replied.

His ears drooped, "Even though I lost." 

"Amak, you only lost because of a dirty trick. I saw you out there; you were so close."

"I know. It's just…" he paused, "I wanted to win so that you'd see me as a champion, not the runner-up."

It was clear that he was disappointed with his loss, but Aniu knew just how to cheer him up, "Amak, in my eyes, you already are a champion," she said, giving him a nuzzle.

Her actions seemed to do the trick, "Thanks for that. You know what, getting second isn't so bad. It means I beat almost all of the teams; and I get this really nice collar," he said and started to show off his silver-studded collar to her. Soon, they decided to spend the day walking around the alleys. They weren't going anywhere in particular, just walking around the edge of the town while Amak told her all about the rest of the race. He told her how they had to cut through dangerous forests and across open fields, all the while trying to stay ahead of the other teams. It all seemed like quite an adventure to her.

"So there we were, in the middle of the forest and off the trail. I had no idea where to go, but there was someone on my team that did," he told.

"Who?" she asked.

"Sonya. Somehow, she was able to get a fix on another team's scent and we followed it. It turned out that she had found Steele's team, and soon enough, we burst through the brush and onto the trail, almost hitting him!" he said, "I swear, I thought Steele was going to jump right out of his harness when we appeared. I'm sure you saw the rest beyond that."

"Of course," she replied, "I saw you run your best, and you were so close to winning."

"I know. So, what about you? What have you been up to the past few days?" he asked. 

"Oh, not as much as you have," she replied, "Mostly day to day hunting. However, there is one thing…" Aniu told him all about Mayak's proposal to her, and what it would mean for her.

"So, he wants to be your mate, but…."

"I don't want to be his. I couldn't turn my back on you like that," she said, as she rubbed her head into his shoulder.

"Well, if you don't want him, why don't you simply say no?" he asked, "Wolves are allowed to say no right?" Aniu thought about it for a moment. Her parents had taught her that wolves chose each other, and every wolf has the right to say no if they're not interested. However, Mayak was one who sometimes lost it when things didn't go his way - how would he react if she turned him down? 

"I suppose I am, but it would be very unusual. It's very rare for an alpha female to reject the alpha male," she said, "It would take something very serious for that to happen."

"But it's not unheard of right?" he asked and she nodded, "Well then there's your solution. Besides, if this guy truly cared about you, then I'm sure he'd respect your choice."

"I don't know… Mayak isn't exactly the most stable wolf," she said, remembering his mood before she left.

"Hey, you shouldn't worry about it. If the worst happens, you can come straight to me and I'll help you out," he said, "If what you told me about this guy is true, then he wouldn't dare set foot in this town. You'd be safe here."

"You - you'd do that for me?" she asked.

"Of course I would. I love you, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you," he said and gave her a reassuring nuzzle.

"I love you too," she replied and they continued their walk around the town. Along their walk, Amak gave her a tour of the town's back alleys and explained some aspects of human life to her. She was able to understand most of it, but there were a few parts of it that went way over her head. Despite that, she enjoyed her time with Amak, and wanted it to last as long as possible. Soon, evening started to fall on the town, and the residents started to turn in for the night. 

"Let's see, I showed you the general store, the blacksmith, the chapel…" Amak listed, "There's one more thing I wanted to show you, but I can't put my paw on it… Ah, that's right! The butcher shop. How would a little dinner with me sound? My treat," he asked.

"I'd love that," she replied and followed him down the alley and towards the back of yet another building. As she approached, Aniu could smell the scent of meat and other seasonings.

"The great thing about any northern town," he started, "Is that the butcher knows that the dogs will want his scraps. So, he puts them out for us. That way, nothing is wasted," They reached the shop and Amak started looking inside a box lying beside the back door.

"Are you sure it's okay?" she asked. 

"It's fine. The dogs regularly visit for a snack, so nothing here is more than a few hours old. Sometimes the butcher purposely leaves some big pieces out, just for us. Ah-ha! Jackpot," Amak produced a large piece from the box and brought it to her, "Here, ladies first," he said, placing it in front of her.

"Aren't you the charmer," she