back. I want… no I need you to come back. I need your help."

"No you don't; the day has already been saved and you're the one in charge now. You already have things nicely squared away in your life, like your good friend Spitz," Balto said, "You don't need me anymore, so why should I come back?"

"You should come back because we're on the same team," Kaltag replied, "A team is supposed to stick together."

"I'm not a part of your team," Balto said, "You and your owner made that clear. Besides, wolves are inexperienced and don't make good sled dogs."

"Look, being a team isn't just sledding together and running races," Kaltag said, "You can think of someone as a teammate simply because you trust them; that's why I'm saying you're a part of my team."

"Oh, so now you trust me," Balto said snidely.

"I always have!" Kaltag exclaimed

"Really? If you did, you'd have been backing me up instead of just joining in the laughter with Spitz," Balto snapped.

"You're right; I should have. I didn't back you up then and I'm sorry about it," Kaltag replied.

"Is that all you came to say; that you're sorry?" Balto asked flatly.

"No, it isn't. You see, you're not the only one needing a little backup right now," Kaltag continued, "Balto, I'm going to honest with you; I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing in terms of being a leader, and while you don't have much experience either, you sure did a heck of a lot better job during the serum run than I'm doing right now. If the attitude of the town is going to be changed, I can't do it alone. Please Balto, I need your help on this. I want to change things, but I'm not sure if I know how," Balto thought this over; while he still had some misgivings about returning to the town, Kaltag did raise a few good points. They had promised to try to start over with each other, and while some of Steele's influence did linger in the Chinook, Kaltag didn't want to let that control him. Plus, there was one thing that made Kaltag vastly different than his predecessor; he was here asking for his help, "Please Balto, I'm asking you to give me another chance."

"It's the truth Balto," Jenna put in, "He may not be perfect, but he still wants to try."

"I – I don't know," Balto replied.

"Why not?" Kaltag said.

"It's – it's just - I don't expect you to understand it; you've never had to deal with what I've gone through over the past couple of days," Balto said.

"That's where you're wrong Balto," Kaltag replied, "I know full well what's it like to feel betrayed by those you trusted."

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

One year earlier

Once the celebration from the last race ended, life settled back into its normal routine, but Kaltag was still bitter about how Steele had taken credit for his idea. Steele had shown that he could do a complete personality reversal when the situation called for it, and that led Kaltag to start distrusting his lead dog. However, he wasn't quite ready to share his feelings with his other two friends; he didn't want any news of his attitude to leak out and make its way to Steele. Fortunately, Kaltag did have an outlet to vent his frustration – Balto. After the race, the group went right back to taunting Balto as usual, but something was different about the wolfdog now. For the past few weeks, Balto had started to act much more aggressive than usual, meaning that they had to step up their game as well. No longer content with simply shouting after Balto, Steele had them actively seeking him out to fight him. Kaltag felt his strongest whenever he was with his group of friends, and venting out on Balto allowed him to temporarily forget how Steele treated him. However, Steele would rather stay back while the other three went after Balto. He felt like he didn't need to get his paws dirty, so he ran the show from the sidelines. This pattern continued, with them unaware that Balto's anger was slowly building to a breaking point.

It was a day like most others in that Steele and his trio were running through town, chasing after the wolfdog that they saw as nothing more than a nuisance. They turned into an alley that had a dead end, and Balto turned to face them as they approached, "Alright guys, lets do what we do best with wolves," Steele growled as he sent his trio in front to gang up on Balto. Even without the strength of their lead, they were still three on one, giving them the advantage. However, Balto didn't flinch, instead baring his teeth at them.

"Hey Steele, why don't you fight like a real dog and face me yourself, without your friends?" Balto growled. Nikki, Kaltag and Star just laughed at this. They expected Steele to ignore him, but their lead had other plans.

"Alright wolf, you want me, here I am. You three hang back, I'll be finished with him soon," he said, surprising them. They had been looking forward to knocking Balto around, but they trusted the judgment of their leader, and left the alley.

"Do you think we should stay as backup?" Star asked as they walked down the street.

"Nah, our boss can take care of himself," Kaltag replied, "Besides, he told us to let him take on Balto, so we'll let him."

"And if he can't take care of himself?" Star asked.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Kaltag reassured him, "Though it would mean that I wouldn't have to deal with Steele's ego again," he thought.

"Hey Kaltag, I'd bet you a bone that Balto will last five minutes against Steele," Nikki said.

"Oh really? That's pretty optimistic Nikki. I'd only give Balto three minutes," Kaltag replied, causing the three of them to burst out laughing.

"What are you three laughing about now?" a voice asked a short distance away. They turned and saw that it was Jenna.

"Oh, we're just guessing how long Balto will last up against Steele," Nikki replied.

"Yeah, that half-wolf actually had the guts to challenge Steele one on one," Kaltag continued, "I gotta admit, that's the pluckiest, the boldest, the most daring-"

"He's no cat, that's for sure!" Star cut in, before quickly receiving a blow from Kaltag.

"He what!" Jenna cried out, "And you're just going to let this happen?"

"Uh, yeah," Kaltag replied, "Someone's got to show that wolfdog that he's not welcome." However, Jenna didn't listen to his last statement, as she had darted off to find Balto and Steele and intervene.

"Hey, what's gotten her all upset?" Star asked.

"If it's about Balto, then I don't know why she even cares. C'mon, lets go wait for Steele back home," he said and the trio followed him to their owners home. They expected to see Steele appear at any time, returning triumphant, followed by another one of his long-winded stories of heroism, "I wonder what Steele will make up this time around; the last story involved levitation, so I wonder how he'll top that," Kaltag thought as the minutes started to drag on… and on. After almost an hour, they finally saw him start to round the corner, but he did not look like a returning hero. The trio gasped when they saw that he was covered in bite wounds, including a gash on his neck. He was barely limping along as his injuries had drained most of his strength. Finally, he collapsed near the entrance of the yard, and the three of them rushed to his side.

"Boss, what in the world happened to you?" Kaltag asked.

"It was… that wolfdog… he sure is a lot tougher than he looks," Steele gasped.

"Star, get help quickly!" Kaltag cried out, and the smaller husky dashed towards the front door, barking his head off to get the attention of the humans.

"I always said… I always said that wolfdog was dangerous. I knew that it would only be a matter of time before he did something like this," Steele said, "For a moment, I actually thought he was going to kill me, but then he ran off before he could finish the job. However, I wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't run off! Why did you ditch me out there?" Steele snapped, catching Nikki and Kaltag by surprise.

"Hey, we were only doing what you said boss," Kaltag replied, "You told us that you wanted to face him one on one, so we let you. It's not our fault that Balto beat you up!"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses," Steele spat, "You left me alone with that wolfdog, and look what happened! I hope you're happy about this; I won't be running for a while."

Before Kaltag could launch another protest, Star had returned with their owner, who was shocked to see his lead in such a mess, "Holy hell! What happened to you Steele?" he cried out while Steele whimpered in pain. He bent over to pick him up and carried him inside to give him better care, leaving behind a very incensed Kaltag. They had been ordered away, and Balto was the one who had gone berserk and attacked, and yet Steele was acting like it was their fault. Once again, Steele had done a complete reversal of his personality to push the blame away from himself.

"I don't believe that two-timing dog," Nikki said, "We did as we were told, and yet we still got yelled at."

"Yeah, none of us knew that Balto could be that strong," Star continued.

"If you win, it won't be your victory, it will be his alone, but if you don't win, it will be your loss, not his. That's the way Steele runs things."

"Ugh, this is how he's always