doggy all tied up?" he taunted, but she only growled in reply. "That's too bad for you, but it makes my job a whole lot easier." The wolf snapped at her, and she jumped back. She avoided his bite, but doing so while still caught to the lines caused her to fall over, letting the wolf jump on an easy target.

"NO!" Spitz bellowed, forgetting his current foe and focusing on helping his sister. Spitz jumped away and charged full steam at the wolf on top of Kari, slamming his full weight into him and knocking him off his sibling. "Now you're in for it pal!" he growled and continued his attack. The wolf he had fought with earlier had chased after him, and it was soon two wolves on Spitz. Seeing her brother in trouble, Kari continued biting at the line, finally cutting herself loose and allowing her to even the odds. There were two wolves and two dogs in that fray, but the rest of the dogs charged in to defend their team-mates, followed by the other wolves. Soon there was only a large mob of biting and scratching canines, each trying so hard to fight the other, with neither side able to get a clear advantage. There was so much confusion that at some points, Spitz didn't know whether he was biting friend or foe. All he knew was that he had to keep going to stay alive.

Finally, the chaos ended when they all heard a thundering boom ring through the woods. Both sides recognized it as the human's rifle, and the wolves knew they would have to escape quickly or face death at the human's hand. "This isn't over you dogs!" one of the wolves cried out before darting away. The human cocked another round into the chamber and fired a second time. He managed to nick one of the wolves in the thigh, but it kept running, and soon there was no trace of them. The team was dazed and scared out of their wits, but none of them were seriously hurt.

"Is everyone okay?" Spitz asked, and they all nodded. Their owner checked each of them over, finding no serious harm. He harnessed the team and prepared to leave; he had found a caribou and would need to bring the team over to transport it home.

"As I was about to say before we were… rudely interrupted," Kari said. "I think you're over-generalizing things when it comes to Balto and the fact that he's half wolf."

"Over-generalizing?" Spitz replied incredulously. "Didn't you see those wolves attack us a few minutes ago? You're lucky I was able to tackle that wolf off of you!"

"I did see them, but Balto isn't as bad as them," Kari replied. "He may have had some troubles with Steele, but he'd never hurt any of us. In fact, I'd say that he's trying to give wolves a good name."

"Heh, some good name," Spitz thought. "I don't see that half breed out here helping us deal with those crazy wolves."

---

Chapter 1: Unexpected Visitors

In the town of Nome, a female husky sat patiently while her human girl got her coat and boots on so that they could go for their walk. "Alright Jenna, ready to go out girl?" the young girl asked, and her husky barked happily in reply.

"Hold on Rosy, you still need to wear a hat out there," her father put in before placing a furred musher's hat on top of her head. The hat was one or two sizes too big for her, so it fell over her eyes before she pushed it up to where it would fit better. It may have been the middle of a bright sunny day, but it was still late February. The temperature was still well below freezing and it would be a couple more months before spring would bring warmer temperatures. "Now you're ready to go out. Is the last member of your little party ready too?" her father asked.

"Let me check," she replied, before opening the door a crack. "Yep, he is."

"Okay then. Let's go," he said before he opened the door, revealing a large, slightly scruffy brown canine on the front porch. He wagged his tail happily at them while watching them expectantly with his amber eyes.

"C'mon Balto, let's go for a walk," Rosy said, giving him a quick hug and a few rubs behind his ears. He returned this by giving her a few licks on the cheek before nuzzling Jenna, giving her ear a few licks as well.

"Balto, that really tickles," Jenna giggled.

"I know; why else do you think I do it?" he chuckled in reply. While the dogs could understand the humans, it didn't work the other way around. To the two people standing with them, it seemed as though the dogs were simply happy to see each other. While the older man didn't greet Balto as enthusiastically as Rosy and Jenna did, he still gave him a couple pats on the head before they set off on their walk.

"Oh, dad... thanks again for this," Rosy said.

"You're welcome," he replied. The reason that Rosy was thanking him was because it had taken quite a bit of convincing to get her father to allow Balto to join them on their daily walks.

Rosy had been one of the children who had fallen ill during the diphtheria epidemic, and Balto's efforts to return the medicine only strengthened the love she already had for him. While some who had previously shunned Balto had been won over, some, including Rosie's parents, were still wary of him due to his wolf half. Despite Balto's great deed, they were reluctant to follow the wishes of their daughter, who wanted to take Balto into their home right away. Rosy was very upset that her parents wouldn't take in her four-legged hero, but she eventually managed to work out a compromise with them. While Balto still couldn't be let into their home, she could still go with him on walks or play with him outside as long as at least one of her parents was with them to supervise the stray half-breed. For all involved it was enough. Rosy would get to play with her hero, Jenna would regularly get to see the one that she loved, and Balto would get to have at least part of his day as an accepted dog.

"See, I told you they just needed some time to get used to you," Jenna said as they walked down the street. "Though I still think that they should take you in and make you part of the family."

"Yeah, but I don't mind having some time to roam around on my own. There's still a part of me that wants to run free in the wild. After spending so much time suppressing it, it actually feels good to let it out," he said. The part of him that he was talking about was his wolf side, and it was the events of the serum run that made him accept that part of him. He had reconciled his wolf side and his dog side, allowing them to coexist and work with each other. This brought him a greater sense of peace within himself, and it was all thanks to an encounter with a mysterious white wolf...

Their walk continued, with them occasionally stopping to chat with other residents. They passed by the butcher shop, where the son of the owner slipped a few stray pieces of ham away to give to Balto and Jenna as a treat. Next was the hardware store, where the owner was taking apart several wooden items. Balto recognized them as small coffins, which had been prepared in the event that the team didn't return with the medicine. Thanks to him, those coffins weren't needed. Judging by the cheerful tune he whistled, the shop owner was taking great pleasure in yanking the nails out and pulling the lumber apart before putting it in a pile to be reused for something else. Soon after, they passed by a bearded man accompanied by a tan Chinook. The dog in question was named Kaltag, and he greeted Balto and Jenna warmly while the humans did the same with each other. Kaltag had served as a great friend for Balto over the past couple of weeks, helping him adjust to living as an accepted dog.

They didn't stay long, but the other man did reach out and gave Balto a quick pat on the head before quickly going back to his business. It was a quick action, but it was a pleasant surprise to Balto, as previously that man had suspected that Balto had done something to Steele when he didn't return. That was mostly due to Steele being banished from town for sabotaging Balto's efforts, with him ending up in White Mountain a few days later. In a twist of fate, Steele's owner decided to sell Steele the previous week after his recent disappointments, handing him off to an old friend in that town. Despite what he had done to him, Balto hoped that Steele was doing well in White Mountain, wondering what kind of story would surround his days as an average sled dog.

Turning down another street, they saw two small pups playing in the snow while their mother watched over them from the porch of her home. Balto and Jenna paused for a moment to watch them, remembering the fun times they'd had together when they were that small. That was before Rosy's father found out about his wolf half and kicked him out, starting his life as an outcast. "Oh, to be that age again," Balto lamented after they left.

"I know… but I've always thought that I'd have as much fun watching my own pups play like that as well," Jenna replied, gazing at him with a smile.

"Hm… that would be something," Balto said, catching onto her not-so-subtle subtle hint. Jenna chuckled, and soon they heard the sound of multiple dogs barking in the distance. This caught Balto's attention as he instantly recognized the sound as that of a sled team returning to town. The team was coming up their street, before stopping a few yards ahead of them. While Balto still lived as a stray, he had always held some fascination towards sled teams. This was probably due to his