always made him feel like he stuck out, and that he might not be good enough to be a great sled dog. While the other dogs scurried off to the back yard for some fun, Kaltag and Nikki stayed around the front porch, where their only company was a large, black and white husky. Kaltag didn't know the other dog's name, as there were still a few of the older dogs that he hadn't met. The husky appeared to be taking a nap, so Nikki and Kaltag thought that they could continue their talk undisturbed.

"Yeah, Zeke must think that hes the king of the world," Nikki said, "Just yesterday I heard him boasting about how he's going to be the next lead dog on the team."

"He's the most stuck up, the most self absorbed, the worst-"

"Ah, quit your griping ya pup. Zeke won't be the lead anytime soon," they heard a deep voice grumble behind them. They turned around and saw the husky they were with wasn't as asleep as they thought he was, "If you want to be good sled dogs, you should grow a spine and deal with your problems yourself."

"Well, wes could always get help from Cain," Nikki suggested, "After all, he's tried to help us out before."

At this, the older husky let out a sharp laugh, "Ha! You actually think someone like Cain will be able to help you? He's nothing but a senile old bat."

"Are you sure? Cain seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders," Kaltag said.

"You think so, eh? Let me ask you something kid; has Cain ever been able to actually stop Zeke from pushing you around?" the husky asked.

"Well, he does tell Zeke off… but he always comes back later," Kaltag admitted.

"In other words, Cain's done diddly squat for you," the older husky said, "Besides, tattling only makes you look weaker. It makes it look like you can't fight your own battles. If you want Zeke to not mess with you, you're going to have to take matters into your own paws. C'mon, we'll go right now and show Zeke what you really mean," he said before getting up. Once he was up, Kaltag could see that he had a larger collar than the standard sled dog, with gold studs placed around it. The older husky took the lead while Kaltag and Nikki followed, "What are your names, rookies?"

"I'm Kaltag, and this is Nikki," Kaltag replied.

"Well, Kaltag and Nikki, I'm Steele," the husky said, "And if you two want to be something on this team, you'll stick with me."

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

Chapter 3: Another Blow

Three Years Earlier

Kaltag and Nikki followed Steele towards the backyard, and soon they heard Spitz's voice coming from behind a snowdrift, along with another voice. As they got closer, they could tell that the conversation between them was far from friendly, "So, what's a scrawny little guy like you doing here with us sled dogs?" he taunted.

"Hey, I'm going to be a sled dog too," the other voice replied nervously.

"I've got news for you pal, only the big dogs are going to be sled dogs, not the little pups," Zeke shot back.

"I'm not a puppy!" the other voice protested, "I'm just smaller than you, that's all. If you don't stop making fun of me, I'm going to tell on you!"

However, this only caused Zeke to burst out laughing, "Oh, is baby Star going to tell his mommy on me?" he asked mockingly.

"He's doing it again," Kaltag growled, "Acting like he's superior to anyone smaller or different."

Steele noticed that Kaltag was starting to grow more aggressive as they listened to Zeke taunt another rookie, and knew that Kaltag was close to going over the edge, "Yeah, doesn't that just grind your gears, hearing him do that with no one to stop him?" he asked, and Kaltag nodded, "It's enough to make you want to knock him around and show him who's better," he continued, getting another nod from Kaltag, "Well then why don't you just let it all out? He won't stop until someone takes him down a few pegs, so you may as well do it now. Don't worry, I've got your back on this one." While Kaltag had been adverse to fighting before, the anger towards Zeke had been slowly building up, with Steele's prompting acting as the release. He wanted to bite, scratch and do whatever he could to pay back Zeke for all the taunting he had to go through. Quickly, Kaltag and Nikki jumped out from behind the drift. The other voice had been coming from a small, grey husky; Kaltag recognized him as another one of the new recruits. Zeke's head snapped up when he heard them jump in, but when he saw them, he scowled.

"Oh look, it's chatty and tubby," he sneered, "What do you two weirdos want?" However, his scowl soon turned to an expression of fear when Steele came out shortly after them, "St-Steele? What are you doing here boss?"

"Well Zeke, from what I've heard, you've been causing a little trouble for some of the rookies," Steele replied.

"No, no, I'm not causing trouble," Zeke replied. Kaltag had to admit that he was starting to enjoy watching Zeke get nervous; he was no longer the cocky guy that he hated.

"Oh yes you are Zeke. In fact, I think these two have a bit of a bone to pick with you," Steele said.

"No, no... I was joking around with them," Zeke stammered, but Steele ignored him.

"Get 'em," Steele said, and Kaltag was the first to strike. He lowered his head and charged, head-butting Zeke right in the chest. Zeke was knocked over and Nikki charged at him next. Zeke managed to dodge him, but in doing so, he turned his back on Star, who also wanted his fair share of justice after being made fun of. The smaller husky lunged and bit Zeke's tail, causing him to howl and dart away. The three rookies gave chase, with Steele following closely behind. Soon, Kaltag had caught up with Zeke and jumped on the husky's back, knocking him down. Star and Nikki were quick to join in, and soon the four pups were a blur of fur, teeth and claws. Steele stayed back, watching the scene with a fiendish grin. If there was one thing that he loved, it was pitting rookie sled dogs against each other. It was not only fun, but easy too, "Heh, maybe I should keep those two around; they'd be good for cases where I don't want to get my paws dirty, and they seem to get worked up quite easily. However, what's a little entertainment without an audience?" he thought. "Hey guys, there's a fight out here! Come quick!" he shouted, and he was soon joined by most of the dogs on the team.

They formed a circle around the fight, so that each of them could witness the rookies fight each other. Most were cheering, and some were even laughing, but Kaltag was oblivious to it all. He was more concerned with grabbing Zeke and biting his ear, despite his pleas for mercy. However, their fight would be short-lived, as their human owner soon heard the commotion coming from the yard. He was quick to arrive and shoo most of the dogs away, but he had to physically yank the other three off of Zeke by grabbing onto their collars, "That's enough you two! I can't have my greenhorns fighting each other like this!" he shouted, and they calmed down, though they still glared at each other. When their owner finally did let them go, Zeke scampered off while Kaltag, Nikki and Star stayed put. Kaltag had a few nicks and cuts from the fight, but being able to get back at Zeke had been a very potent experience. After being on the receiving end of his bullying for the past few months, it felt good to finally be on the giving end.

Their owner walked back into his house, and Steele approached them, "Well, I've got to say that you sure handled yourself well there," he started, "How did it feel to finally show him whose boss?"

To Kaltag it felt like a million different things, all of them good. For once, he felt like he had some power instead of being just another rookie, "It was the greatest, the most extraordinary, the most impressive, the most-"

"We beat him!" Star cried out, but unfortunately, he didn't know that Kaltag hated being interrupted when expressing himself. So, the smaller husky was greatly surprised when Kaltag swung his paw up and brought it crashing down on his head, knocking him down.

"Hey, why'd you do that?" Star protested.

"I don't like being interrupted," Kaltag said, as Steele started to laugh.

"Heh, I think I'm starting to like you Kal; you don't take guff from anybody. You're not so bad either Nikki," he continued, turning towards the chow, "You Chows certainly aren't a bunch of pushovers."

"Hey, what about me?" Star cut in.

"Ehh, you were okay; you at least managed to hold your own," Steele replied, "You three seem like a good bunch of dogs. How about this, any time Zeke or another dog gives you any trouble, just give me a bark and we'll all go out and get them together?" he suggested. Kaltag really liked this deal; this way, no one would dare pick on him. Steele seemed really nice too; he didn't make fun of his breeding or his habit of going on tangents.

"I'd like that. Thank you," he replied, and Steele left them. After weeks of feeling insecure about himself due to his breeding, Kaltag had finally found a way to make up for that. No longer was he the odd one out; now he could show that he was a tough dog too, worthy of being on a sled team, "Wow, if I knew that pushing back would've worked that well, I would've done it a long time ago," he thought. Nikki and Star seemed to be very excited about this new friendship as well.

"How in the world