he thought, remembering how she had come to him when he was being attacked by a grizzly bear.

"What should I do? Should I stay here, or go back to her?" he thought, and sat down on the snow, "Both sides have their ups and downs, but which is more worth it? Which side is better for someone like me?"

While Balto was off thinking, Anya waited for him until she started to hear the sound of paws running through the snow. Looking to the side, she saw Maska and three others dashing through the snow. However, the rest of the pack wasn't with them, so it wasn't for the hunt, "What's going on here?" she thought, before turning to follow them.

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

By now, Kaltag had finished telling his story from his first run in the Trans-Alaskan Derby, leaving Jenna with a new sense of understanding about Kaltag. He had managed to make the call that Steele could not, but that only led the husky to take credit for his idea. As they continued their search, she realized that he wasn't someone who bowed down out of fear, but that he was someone who had been pushed into a corner by an uncaring lead dog, "Kaltag, I'm sorry I called you a coward. You were just trying to make the best of a bad situation," she said as they walked through the woods.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry I yelled at you. You didn't deserve that," he replied, "But now you know what I had to put up with, and what happened when I tried to go against Steele," he continued, and she nodded. He put his nose back to the ground and sniffed, "I can sill smell Balto's trail, but… hang on, it's mixed in with a bunch of others. They all smell like… wolves."

"Wolves? Is Balto okay?" she asked.

"Well, it seems as though he's traveling with the wolves, so I'd say so," Kaltag replied, "Though, I can't tell if he's traveling as a friend or as a prisoner. However, it's relatively fresh - he can't be far off now."

"Really? Balto! Where are you!" Jenna cried out, but she was quickly shushed by Kaltag.

"Watch it Jenna! You can't go shouting around the woods like that," Kaltag snapped, "We don't want to attract the attention of any of the wolves around here."

"Why not?" Jenna replied, "If Balto is around here, then we have to try something."

"I know, but I don't want to have to deal with anyone that might see us as intruders," Kaltag said, "I may not know everything about wolves, but I do know that they can be very territorial."

"But what if Balto is with the wolves? Are you saying that you'll ignore the opportunity to find him because it would mean having to deal with some territorial wolves?" Jenna asked.

"Look, I just don't want to get in any trouble with them," he said.

"But if we ignore this, we'd be turning our backs on him," Jenna said, "He took a big risk to try to find you in during the serum run; probably a bigger risk than we're taking now. He stuck his neck out for you and this is how you're going to repay him?"

"Jenna, stop and think for a moment; we're in unfamiliar territory and we don't know how far there is to go," Kaltag said.

"No, I can't… we've come so far… BALTO!" she screamed out.

"Jenna will you stop - LOOK OUT!" he yelled as he saw something come dashing over the hill. There was no mistaking it; it was a wolf, and it was only seconds away. He tried turning around to evade it, but when he did, he saw that three others had flanked them, cutting off their escape. Panic coursed through him, as he had always feared a confrontation with wolves. Soon they were completely surrounded, and the large brown wolf approached them.

"You're a little out of your territory, dog," the largest wolf growled, "You'd better have a good reason for coming here. Otherwise I'd advise that you leave."

Kaltag's first instinct was to cut hiss losses and run. The wolves were giving him a chance to leave, and if it meant saving his skin, he'd take it, "That would save myself, but what about Balto? Should I take the chance to try to find him? So much could go wrong… but maybe Jenna has a point… Balto didn't back down when he wanted to help us, and I should do the same," he thought as he summed up his courage, "We're not leaving here," Kaltag replied, causing the flanking wolves to scowl, "We're looking for a friend and we're not leaving until we know he's okay." Jenna couldn't help but grin at Kaltag's newfound courage; it may have been delayed but it was better late than never.

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

Chapter 9: Mending Fences

"Are you sure you want to be so quick to say that?" the alpha wolf asked as Kaltag stared him down, "After all, this is our territory, so we have the advantage."

"I am sure, but I promise you I'm not here for a fight," Kaltag replied, "What's your name?"

"My name is Maska," he replied, "And you are?"

"I'm Kaltag and this is Jenna," Kaltag said, "Look, I know we're not exactly invited here, but we wouldn't be here if it wasn't important. We're looking for a friend of ours; he a wolfdog named-"

"Balto," Maska finished, "Yes, I know who he is. He came to us earlier today."

"Is he alright? Where is he?" Jenna asked.

"He's perfectly fine; in fact I'd say that he's settling in quite well here," Maska replied, before another wolf emerged from the bushes, "Anya? What are you doing here?" Maska asked.

"I came to see what all the commotion was about," she replied, "Who are these dogs?"

"This is Kaltag and Jenna," Maska replied, "They came here looking for Balto. You were just with him right?"

"Yes; I'm sure I can bring him to you," she said.

"Thank you," Jenna replied, "You don't know how much that means to us."

"So this is the Jenna that Balto was talking about. I'm sure that they'll be happy to see each other... but what if he doesn't want to go back? How will she take it?" Anya thought.

"However, we can't guarantee that he'll come back with you. He seemed very disgruntled with how some of the dogs had treated him," Maska said, "I think he mentioned you by name Kaltag, but it wasn't in the most flattering light. We'll take you to him, but you'll have to convince him to go with you."

Kaltag felt a pang of guilt at this. He knew that he had a hand in how Balto felt right now, but he had come this far in trying to make things right. He and Jenna followed Anya and Maska through the woods until they found Balto sitting in a clearing, lost in thought. When he heard them approach, he turned, but scowled when he saw that Kaltag was with them. Kaltag knew he shouldn't push his luck, so he sat down a few feet away, letting Jenna make the first move. "Balto!" she cried out as she dashed towards him. His scowl faded when he saw her, and she rushed over to nuzzle him, which he returned with his own.

"Jenna, what are you doing out here?" he asked.

"We came to find you," she replied, "Please Balto, I want you to come home. You don't have to live out here like this."

"I don't know Jenna," Balto replied, "I don't know if I would be able to fit in with the town like you do."

"But what about me?" Jenna asked, "Don't you want to be with me?"

"I do Jenna, and we still can meet. I can still come and visit you," he replied.

"But having to wait for you to come wouldn't be the same," Jenna replied, "It wouldn't be the same as having you only a few minutes away."

"That's the thing; I'd always have to be a few minutes away. I'd never be able to be right beside you. I know it may be tougher, but you said yourself that I should find a place where I belonged, and I think I have found it," he said.

"But I want to be with you," she said, as tears started to form in her eyes, "Is there any other way? Maybe I could stay here with you?'

"I'd like that, but you know you can't ignore your human family," he replied, "Rosy would be pretty upset if you ran away from home."

Jenna knew that he was right, but the thought of Balto being farther away still stabbed at her. She nuzzled into his chest and tried to think of some way, any way to convince him to come home, but nothing good came up, "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this Balto?" she asked, "After all, you don't know much about the life of wolves."

"I may not know much, but they've offered to teach me," Balto replied, "They're still going to give me a chance, the chance I was never given by the dogs in town." Tears started to fall down Jenna's muzzle as she heard this, and Balto softly licked them away, "I'll always have a place in my heart for you," he said, "We'll still see each other, but here, I won't have to deal with dogs like him," he finished, indicating towards Kaltag.

"I know, but it wouldn't be the same," she thought. As Kaltag heard their exchange, he could only feel for her, as Balto had been one of the most important things in her life.

"Well Kaltag, do you have something to say, or are you just going to sit there like you always do?" Balto asked coldly. The chinook had come this far, and he wasn't ready to give up without trying.

"As a matter of fact I do," he replied as he approached him, "You know, Jenna isn't the only one that wants you back. I want… no