Foreword

Much like the story that follows, this introduction will be brief. In the time between writing "Protecting Their Own" and the upcoming follow-up story, I decided to take a step sideways and work on a couple of smaller projects. This is one of those side projects, and it ties in with my second story "A Second Chance". The end of that story had Steele forced onto a new sled team, no longer the champion lead dog. Now, he runs under a wolfdog named Sonya, and while they agreed to a sort of truce, there is still going to be some tension between them, because Steele is not one to change easily. This story acts as a small peek in what has happened since, to see how they fare with each other on a typical day (hence the title).

I'd like to make a quick note to thank Silwer-Paw for beta reading this story. Even though it's a short one, I still want to ensure the quality of it. Oh, one more thing. I'd recommend that you read "A Second Chance" beforehand, just so you know the story behind the characters and why Steele is in this predicament in the first place. That's all I have to say, and I hope this tidbit tides you over until my next big story.

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An Average Day

Two months - that was how long it had been since his life was turned around. For two months, she and he were forced to live and work together. For two months, they buried their past and put away what they thought of each other in the interest of keeping the peace. For two months, he lived and worked like an average sled dog, instead of living like a champion. 'Two months and counting… you'd better get used to it Steele. Your blaze of glory has burnt out,' the husky thought as he rolled over in his doze. Two months ago, Steele had been on top of the world as the lead dog of a championship team, having won the Trans-Alaskan Derby - four times in a row. He had friends, status and power; everything he wanted. 'Well, maybe not everything.' Despite his fame, there was one thing that always eluded him - the affection of a female husky named Jenna, whom he tried to court for a year and a half. At first he thought she was simply shy, or playing hard to get, but in the past two months, he realized that it was because she never liked him. She was interested in someone else…

"Balto… " he growled softly. Balto was the name of a stray wolfdog that he knew from his glory days in Nome. Wolves were one of the things that Steele despised, and he loved making the half-breed squirm. After all, he was a champ, while Balto was a chump. He wanted Balto to know his place in the order of things, and picking on him served as a little fun too. Everything was going so well right up to his last big run. He was picked to lead the team that would deliver medicine to children that had fallen ill in Nome, which would serve as a great follow up to his latest win in The Derby. Unfortunately, a severe storm blew in on the return journey, worse than anything he had ever gone through before, but he thought he could handle it if he kept on moving forward. That meant charging ahead into the storm – and right off the trail he was to follow, getting himself and his team lost in a mountain pass. Even when he started to question his direction, he pushed them forward and right off a cliff. They crashed onto a ledge below, and their musher was flung out of the sled and knocked unconscious.

To someone whom victory always came easily, this was a devastating blow. Never had Steele been so hopelessly lost, and for the first time in his life he didn't know what to do. Hours passed, but out of the blue, he appeared, but he was the last creature he wanted to see. Balto came to them and offered to lead the way home, but he wasn't about to let a mutt like him take his team. He attacked Balto, and on one of his lunges he caught the bandanna he was wearing and tried to pull Balto down. However, the knot came undone and Steele stumbled back, falling right off the ledge. He was bruised from slamming into rocks, but that was nothing compared to the blow he felt when he saw his own team let Balto take charge and run the race. He wasn't going to let any wolfdog take his glory, so he sabotaged the marks Balto left, adding false pathways. While the team got lost again, he followed the true path home with a compelling story already cooked up. He made it seem like the team had all died horribly and gained instant sympathy when he returned alone. To him, victory meant attention, so the reception he got on his return was his victory, even though the medicine had not been delivered. He was sure that he'd finally gotten rid of that pesky wolfdog, but then a sound that would haunt his dreams rang out in the night. It was a wolf's howl; none other than Balto's. His foe managed to find a way home, delivering the medicine and sealing Steele's fate as public enemy number one.

Once the town learned the truth, they turned on him. His friends, his fans, even Jenna were against him, siding with Balto. He suspected that Jenna had a soft spot for Balto, as she always told him off when he picked on him, but he never expected his closest friends to turn against him. He was sent away disgraced, with his trophy collar stripped off his neck. He wandered the wilderness for days before finally stumbling into White Mountain. He had lost everything, all because of one half-breed. "Balto… you took everything from me… you wolf…"

"You're doing it again Steele… some would see it as a little unhealthy," a nagging voice said, cutting through his half-sleeping state.

He groaned when he heard the voice. "Why do you care Sonya?" he grumbled.

"Even I sometimes ask myself that," she replied. "It's probably because you're on my team and I have to. C'mon, it's time to get up." Steele opened one eye and saw the one who had pulled him out of his doze. Sonya's grey and white coat made her look like any other sled dog on the block, but when he looked at her face, he had to stifle a growl. Her amber eyes were that of a wolf, and every time he saw them he was bitterly reminded of what had happened with Balto. He shut his eye and rolled away, but she persisted. "How could you have been Alaska's champion if you weren't a morning dog? Didn't you have to get up early to run your races?" she asked as she went over to rouse the other members of the team. They slept in a small barn that had been set aside by their owner for everyone except Sonya. She had the privilege of sleeping in the house with her owners because of her status as lead dog of the team. That was a privilege Steele had enjoyed with his owner as well, until the aftermath of the serum run. After failing to return, along with other mistakes that his owner interpreted as weakness on his part, Steele was sold to one of the men he knew in White Mountain. No longer was he lead dog of a champion team; now he was just another sled dog in the north.

While at first he hated the idea of being sold to someone else, he'd found some small sliver lining. Free from his duties as the lead dog of a champion team, he could sleep in on most days. Unfortunately, Sonya seemed intent on ruining his sleep-in today. "Could you give it a rest? I don't think we're going out today," he grumbled.

"Actually, we might be. Marcus is getting his cast off today," she replied. Marcus was the name of one of Sonya's owners. He may have been seventeen, but she still sometimes referred to him as 'her kid' due to her being adopted when Marcus was a younger boy. Steele's ears perked up at the mention of his cast, mostly because of his part in giving it to the young man. Shortly after he had been sold, Steele was sent to lead Marcus on his first solo trip to Koyuk and back. Looking back, that run seemed downright spooky because of how eerily similar it was to the incident with Balto. He got lost on the return trip and Marcus was injured in a crash, breaking his leg. However, the similarities would end soon after Sonya arrived. After a brief scuffle, they finally decided to put their differences aside simply to get Marcus home. Soon after, Sonya decided to cut a deal with him. To avoid her wrath earlier, Steele lied about the circumstance that brought him to White Mountain, but she found out his secret when his owner came to sell him to Jonathan. 'Gee, thanks a lot Kaltag you blabbermouth.' They agreed that she wouldn't kick him out of town for lying to her about what he did. In return, he would be a lot more civil towards her. That trip had been the climax of a long-running feud between them that had arisen for many of the same reasons that he had his confrontations with Balto. For years, he had thought himself to be above her, because like Balto, Sonya was half-wolf as well. He thought he'd never see her again after he moved from White Mountain to Nome, but fate had pushed them together again. Former enemies became teammates thanks to that deal.

"Don't be like this, I need everyone up. C'mon," she said, coming back to him and pulling on the scruff of his neck with her teeth. Steele didn't have to do much to resist, as his hefty bulk made him too heavy for her to pick up herself. Since their deal prevented him from being outright hostile towards her, he found other ways to get under her skin. Passive resistance had become his favored method over the past two months. He wasn't the top dog anymore, so he didn't have the luxury of power or friends to aid him in his pursuits. So, he resorted to more subtle civil disobedience and small pranks to cause trouble. She grunted in annoyance and he smiled lightly.