at the door to the shed when he arrived. "Come in, Balto," he heard Jenna say from inside.

"You know you can just come in, don't you?" she said with a giggle as Balto entered the shed. "You don't have to let me know you're outside first."

Balto smiled. "I would never intrude on you like that, Jenna," he said as he lay down next to her.

"It's not an intrusion. I love you Balto, I want to see you every day more than anything." Jenna nuzzled his face, then kissed him for a long time. They finally parted, and Balto opened his eyes. "I love you too, Jenna," he said quietly.

They lay together for a while just enjoying each other's company, and after a while Balto finally spoke. "Jenna, I'd like to show you something today, if you have time."

Jenna nodded. "What is it?"

"It's a special place," Balto said with a smile. "I found it when I was younger, when I was still exploring the forest and the mountain areas around Nome. I've never shown it to anybody, not even Boris. But I want to take you there."

Jenna smiled warmly at him. "I'd love to see it."

Balto grinned. "Good. It was my special place, but I want it to be our special place. When do you want to leave?"

"How about right now? Rosy won't mind if I'm gone for a while, she knows I'll be with you anyway."

Balto nodded and got up. He went to the door and nudged it open. "After you."

They left the town and Balto lead Jenna into the foothills and up the side of a small mountain. After an hour or so they made it to a clearing on the top. It was wide and flat, with a panoramic view of the forest below them, the mountains in the distance and the ocean to the west. Jenna walked to the edge of the cliff and gasped as she took in the beauty of the scene before her.

Balto stood behind her and smiled as he watched her take in the view. "Balto, it's beautiful!" she said.

"And now that you're here... it's perfect," he replied. She turned back to look at him and he was smitten by her beauty, framed by the gorgeous view of the forest and mountains behind her. "So what do you say, want to make this our spot?"

"Of course I do, it's beautiful here!" Jenna exclaimed as she came back to nuzzle him. "Thank you for sharing this with me."

The two of them lay down next to each other at the edge of the plateau and just enjoyed each other's company as they felt the breeze blow through their fur. It was so peaceful there, and the treetops swayed gently back and forth as the sun warmed them. They stayed there all afternoon before deciding to go back home, even though Jenna felt like she could stay there all night. It was so calm and serene there, and it was nice to get out of town every now and then.

The two of them went back to Nome side by side, as the sun began to slowly set over the ocean to the west. As they walked, Jenna got an idea. She began to formulate a plan, but she wanted to keep it to herself until the time was right. When they arrived at Jenna's shed, Balto walked her back inside. "Would you like to stay for a while?" Jenna asked.

"I'd love to, as long as you're sure you're not tired of me hanging around all the time," Balto said with a grin.

Jenna smiled. "I wouldn't ask you to stay if I was tired of seeing you."

The two of them lay down together and rested. They talked about their new special place and how pretty it was there, and Jenna decided it was time to put her plan into motion. "So Balto... what do you think about going back there, say tomorrow? Maybe in the afternoon?" she said innocently.

"That's fine with me, but we won't have much time there if we go in the afternoon, we'll have to come back before it gets too late."

'If we stay there a little later that will be all right. I've been out late before, and as long as Rosy knows I'm with you it'll be fine," Jenna said, and nuzzled him. "So what do you think...?"

"Yeah, I'd love to go back there with you. I'll come by tomorrow afternoon to get you, okay?" he said as he stood up to leave.

"That sounds great. I can't wait to see you again." She stood up and kissed him deeply before he could leave. "See you tomorrow..."

Balto stood there surprised by Jenna's sudden passionate kiss. After a few moments he regained his senses and noticed she was grinning at him. This wasn't her normal smile, this was something new... and he suddenly had the uncomfortable feeling that he was her prey. "Uh... yeah, I'll... see you tomorrow," he said as he walked backwards out of the shed.

After he closed the door and left for his boat, Jenna giggled to herself. "Oh, he is so cute when he's embarrassed," she thought.

The next day, Balto arrived at Jenna's house in the mid afternoon. It was another warm day, and he was looking forward to going up to his favorite spot with Jenna again. He scratched on the door to let Jenna know he was there.

"Come in, Balto," came her voice from inside the shed. Balto opened the door and walked into the shed, and he was suddenly pounced by a blur of red and white. Jenna knocked him over onto his back and stood over him, grinning like she had been last night. "I missed you," she said, and kissed him. "Are you ready to go?"

Balto stared at her in confusion, not knowing quite what to say. "I... yeah, I'm ready to go. And I missed you too," he said carefully.

She allowed him to get up, and she nuzzled him. "Good. I love you, Balto," she said with a smile, looking more like her normal self this time.

"I love you too, Jenna," he said as he returned her nuzzle. The two of them left Nome again, headed back up to their special place, the one place Jenna knew they would be alone and wouldn't be interrupted. When they arrived, they both lay down near the edge of the cliff to rest and take in the view.

The sun had started its descent down towards the sea, and Balto and Jenna were happy to simply sit and watch it slowly set. The sky began to darken and turn different shades of orange and red, and Jenna snuggled close to Balto and lay her head on his neck.

She looked up at him, and he smiled and leaned down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and kissed him, thinking about how perfect everything was right at that moment. The sun dropped below the horizon and the moon rose above the mountains to the east, casting its silvery light across Balto and Jenna, and she knew it was time.

"Balto...?" she asked pensively.

He turned to look at her. "Hmm?" She was momentarily taken aback by how handsome he looked in the moonlight, with the moon illuminating his coat and casting pale shadows across his face.

"Thank you for bringing me here again tonight. It's beautiful at night, too."

"You know, I've never been here at night before, I had always gone back home before nightfall. It really is beautiful here at night," he said, looking out across the forest.

"There... was another reason I wanted you to bring me here tonight, besides just wanting to be here again," she continued.

"Another reason? What was it?" Balto asked, curious.

"Balto..." she began slowly, and managed to work up a smile. "You know I love you more than anything. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives, and I hope you feel the same way about me."

"Jenna... of course I do." He leaned down to kiss her again. "If I could be with you for the rest of my life, that would make me the happiest dog on earth."

Jenna nodded. She was nervous, and she was beginning to breathe a bit harder. "So then... how would you feel about..." she took a deep breath, exhaled, and looked Balto in the eyes. "About starting a family? With me?"

"A - a family?" The question had caught Balto off guard, and he didn't have a response. "You mean... pups? Our pups?"

Jenna nodded and leaned forward to nuzzle him. "Yes, Balto... our very own pups. Yours and mine."

Balto began to feel like a heavy weight was beginning to crush him. "I... Jenna–" he began to panic as he realized why she wanted to come up to this place, at night, alone with him. She wanted to start a family tonight.

"Jenna, I... I don't think I can," Balto stammered. He got up and backed away from Jenna, breathing hard. "I wouldn't be a good father, I don't know how to be a father. And the pups would be part wolf! I can't - I can't do that to them. Not after what happened to me. They would be rejected by everybody, they would have to live outside town, and I wouldn't know how to take care of them! I couldn't live with myself if... if..."

Balto was fully panicking now. "I just... I just can't, I can't do it. Too much would go wrong, and I don't know what I'm doing, and... and..."

He stopped as he looked up at Jenna. She was crying. Tears were streaming down her face as she closed her eyes, unable to look at Balto.

"Oh no.... Jenna, no, please... don't cry, please don't cry. I love you, I love you so much. Please..." Balto began to walk towards her when she put up a paw to stop him.

"Don't," she sobbed. "Please, just... don't."

Balto stopped where he was, desperately wanting to nuzzle her, to feel her body against his again. "Jenna, please," he whined.