without any food for the pack, I was punished for it. I was made to do menial tasks around our home and was not allowed to hunt for a week. But when my punishment was over, I resumed my normal duties as a hunter for the pack. Nilak approached me a number of times to mate with me, but I refused, to his confusion. I didn't blame him for being confused, but I had already mated with Suka, and even then I could feel the first stirrings of life within me.

I continued to sneak back to Suka's home when I could, and the two of us would just lay together under the stars, helplessly in love, my purpose for being here temporarily forgotten as my heart dictated my actions.

After a few weeks, my belly was starting to show evidence of your existence, little one. I kept to my duties without saying a thing, but the other wolves began to talk. They knew I had not mated with Nilak, and it was becoming clear that I was with child. I knew I had failed in my only task upon this plane, which was to deliver to the wolves a leader born to them and of them. I cursed my mortal form for failing me in this task; I cursed myself for being too weak to overcome my natural urges.

As the days went on and your arrival came ever closer, I worried less and less about giving the wolves a new leader and guide. It was still something that needed to be done, but my time upon this earth had tempered my priorities. As a mortal I found it increasingly difficult to maintain the perspective of a spirit, as so much of my life was dedicated to day-to-day survival. I began to accept that you were a gift all your own. Even though you would not be the one to unite the wolves and lead them as one, you would be born out of love, not duty. That small difference alone was worth everything I had endured during my time here.

Finally my time was near, and the other wolves were demanding to know who the father was. They had already determined it was nobody from our pack, and they were becoming suspicious. I would not be able to hide your pedigree from them once you were born, so I was forced to tell them everything. I told them how I fell in love with Suka and how we consummated our love, and how I was happy to bear a pup conceived out of love, despite the fact that he would only be half wolf.

My pack, the family I was born into, banished me without a second thought. I was cast out and left to fend for myself with only a week or two left before you were to come into the world. I was beginning to have trouble moving, and I knew I needed to find shelter quickly. I searched far and wide for many days until I found a small cave tucked into the base of a mountain, far away from my home. It was safe and would do for what I needed. With my last days before the birth, I hunted for as much food as I could find, and prepared for your arrival.

Then it was time, and the birth was very long and difficult. I bore the pain for many long hours until finally you arrived. I bit the cord and pushed you to my underbelly where you began to feed, and I lost consciousness from exhaustion. When I awoke I found you sleeping against me, content and warm. It was the happiest I had ever been in my short life on this earth, and I wept tears of joy to see you alive and well. You were beautiful, little one, and you still are.

Balto began to tear up again. "I love you, mother," he said quietly.

"And I love you, my son," Aniu replied with a voice that rolled over him like a warm breeze. She nuzzled his face and gently comforted him.

After a while, Balto sat up and looked at Aniu. "What happened after I was born, mother? Why was I alone in the snow when Boris found me and took me in? All these years I thought you abandoned me, at least before I knew you were Aniu."

Aniu closed her eyes. "I will tell you what happened, little one. These memories are painful to recall, but you must know the truth."

###

Chapter 3: An Angel Fallen

The first few days with you were the happiest of my life. I had managed to hunt enough food to last me a little while before giving birth, so I didn't need to leave the cave right away. But even in the cold of winter, meat only lasts so long before it goes bad, and before a week had passed I needed to hunt for more food. I built a small pocket in the back of the cave with leaves and pine needles. When I needed to hunt for food I would feed you and wait until you were asleep, then put you in the pocket and cover you with the leaves while I went out.

Survival was difficult and terrifying. Every time I left the cave, I wondered if it would be the last time I saw you. I could not take my time to hunt properly, I had to do it quickly and take what I could get. My heart would race with terror every time I came back to the cave with my kill for fear of finding you gone, or worse. But every time I came back, there you were sleeping in the leaves.

As the wolf spirit, all wolves are my children. I gave life to all of them, and each of them carries a small part of my essence. I thought I knew what it was to be a mother, and to care for your children as I did as a spirit, but I was wrong. Nothing I experienced in the spirit world compared to giving birth to a cub from my own body, and being a mother to my child. The depth of emotions I felt far surpassed anything I had anticipated, and I was finally able to better understand why my wolves were so passionate about life, and how their conflicts and separations came about. It was something I couldn't comprehend as a spirit, because passion and conflict of that nature simply does not exist in the spirit realm.

After two weeks filled with happiness and terror, worrying about whether you would still be there when I got back from hunting, you opened your eyes and began to roam around the cave. I knew I couldn't keep you hidden for much longer because you were going to start wandering around outside the cave while I was gone. I continued to wait until you were asleep to hunt, but one day when you were a month old, I came back from the hunt to find you awake and howling for me. I was overjoyed to see you safe, but it seemed that I would not be able to keep you hidden any longer.

All I could do was wait until you were asleep, then hunt in smaller sessions, and closer to the cave. I had to hunt more frequently that way, but it was all I could do. After another few weeks had passed, you were able to come with me when I hunted for us. Without having to worry about whether you were safe or not, I was able to go on longer hunting trips for better game. It was on one of these days when you and I had strayed far from our cave that our troubles began.

I was tracking a doe through the woods and getting closer to her when I smelled something familiar to the north. I was downwind and was sure I wouldn't be detected, so I moved north to see what it was, when I suddenly recognized the smell. I looked over, and in the distance I saw a large black wolf moving slowly behind the trees. It was Nilak, hunting very far from home with two other members of my former pack.

"Nilak," Aniu whispered in surprise. She was frozen, not knowing whether to run while she was still undetected, or approach him and beg forgiveness and mercy. She still wanted to rejoin her pack with her son, to see her own mother and father again, to share the joy little Balto had given her. She knew Nilak had been very attracted to her, and she decided she should take the risk, hoping to appeal to Nilak's softer side.

She moved steadily through the forest towards Nilak until he caught wind of her and snapped around.

"Aniu...?" Nilak looked at her in surprise, and then he saw Balto and his expression changed to disdain. "So, you've brought your half breed spawn with you. Have you taught him to fetch yet?"

The two other wolves with Nilak burst into laughter, and Aniu opened her mouth in shock at the hatred in Nilak's voice. "Nilak, how could you say such a thing? He is my son, and he's beautiful."

"He is an abomination," Nilak hissed, lowering his head threateningly towards Aniu. Balto yelped and scurried behind his mother's legs. "You were to bear my pups, Aniu. Instead, you ran away and mated with the first dog you saw," he spat viciously. "Not even a wolf, just a common human pet. How dare you dilute our bloodline like that, Aniu? And how dare you deny me my pups after you had promised them to me?"

The three wolves began to circle Aniu and Balto, and Aniu felt the cold chill of terror creeping into her heart. "I have no pups now because of you. I must wait another year to extend my bloodline," he said slowly and deliberately. "You have shamed me, and our entire pack by extension. We were told that if we ever saw you again, we were to kill you on sight." He looked down at Aniu's legs. "And your half breed child as well."

Aniu gasped, and the two other wolves began to growl quietly. She made one last desperate attempt to appeal to him. "Nilak, please... It's me, Aniu. Don't you remember me? We grew up together, we played together in the summer when the forest was green and peaceful. Didn't... didn't you love me, Nilak?"

Nilak stopped and a pained expression came over his face. "Yes," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "That's why it hurt so much when I found out what you had done. You had forsaken me, and it broke my heart. I was devastated when you were forced to leave, but as time passed my sadness was replaced with hatred. Hatred for what you had done, for the disgrace you brought upon our pack, and most of all, for the casual manner in which you tossed my love aside, like it was a stick that you had become bored with." Nilak was yelling now,