doing out here, love? I was coming to see the pups when-"

"Theyre gone! I woke up to check on them and they were gone!" Jenna yelled. Balto went immedietly into serious mode.

"Were they kidnapped? Was there any evidence? Glass, pawprints, anything?" Balto asked calmly.

"No! There is a broken window in the basement.....and I put them down there......Oh! Balto, its all my fault! I put them down there!" Jenna cried.

"No! Its not your fault! We need to go find them. Lets go!"

Balto and Jenna ran off toward Jenna's house to check more thoroughly when they ran into a terrified Star.

"B-Balto! Come on! Bad news in the boiler room!" Star scrambled off to the boiler room, Jenna and Balto hot on his trail. When theyarrived, there was a huge crowd. Kaltag rushed everyone out of the room, leaving a pool of blood in their place. Puppy blood.

Jenna flung herself upon her heap of lifeless pups, sobbing uncontrollably. Balto fell on his side in agony. His PUPS! Dead! His heart was wrenching in pain. He pulled himself together and stood shakily. Jenna lifted herself off of the bloody heap, her beautiful, glossy fur stained red. She ran over and buried her face in Balto's thick, soft fur, and wept more. Seeing her so broken made Balto's heart drop, and he fell to the floor. They stayed on the bloody floor weeping together over their poor defenseless pups who never really had a chance to live. Balto stood up, and Jenna followed, both of their faces stained with blood and tears, and nuzzled.

"Jenna, crying isnt going to solve this. We need to ask Darkwind to get him and a few of his wolf buddies to help sniff out this murderer, or even murderers. Lets go." Balto and Jenna raced toward the woods that Darkwind usually hunted in. When they reached him, they requested his help, and he accepted. He told them that he and his buddies would be by the boiler room at dawn, and to meet them there. Jenna and Balto broke off and went to their homes. Both had much trouble sleeping. They both had horrible nightmares about the terrible, torturous deaths of their poor puppies.

At dawn, Balto and Jenna met Darkwind at the boiler room as planned, and the 4 wolves began their search. Jenna and Balto went and talked to people to see if they had seen anything suspicious. Noone had seen a thing the night before, so they were relying on Darkwind and is buddies to find the culprit.

Later that night, Jenna and Balto were walking the streets of Nome when they were stopped by Darkwind and his posse.

"Did you find them?' Balto and Jenna asked in chorus.

"No, but we did find this." The 6 canines ran to a dark alley. Darkwind pointed Balto to a dark corner, and Jenna followed. They crept closer, and found Nikki, Kaltag, and Star's mangled bodies thrown into the corner. Both were so shocked that Darkwind had to nudge them back to their senses. Another bloody crime scene. Who was this homicidal being who was out to get those in Nome? It didnt make sense.

Darkwind and his wolf friends went home, and Balto stayed at Jenna's so they could try to put this puzzle together.

"Well, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star definatly dont look like puppies, so the perpatrator isnt just after pups," Jenna stated.

"Yeah. So what connections do those three have with our pups?" Balto thought aloud.

"Maybe their after dogs? Our pups look more like dogs than wolves........" Jenna pointed out.

"No, no. You can tell a mixed breed from a purebred. I wonder......" Balto's voice carried off.

"What?" Jenna asked tensley.

"Well, I dont want to scare you, but I think these murders may be linked back to us. The murderer is killing those closest to us. Our puppies, our friends...." Jenna gasped at the point Balto made. Both were ravaged with terror.

When they woke the next morning, they stayed inside all day, terrified of finding more friends murdered or being killed themselves. They finally crept out after dark, and started smellind around themselves.

They got close to the woods and began to discuss where they were going next when they heard vicious growling deep in the woods. They followed the sound until they found a bloody, bruised, but still alive Darkwind staggering his way toward them.

"Darkwind! What happened!" Jenna screamed in horror.

"I............was attacked.........." Darkwind collapsed at their feet. Jenna found a few of his pack members and told them to take him to Dorrell, a canine vet in Nome. Balto called her over, and they followed a trail of bloody pawprints, alot of pawprints, toward a cliff. At a dead end, they didnt know where to turn to.

"Now I've got you right where I want you!"

Balto and Jenna swung around, only to be face to face with Steele and 4 more canines behind him.

"Steele! What are you doing here! Wait.........STEELE! YOU ARE THE MURDERER!" Jenna yelled in a mix of anger and terror.

"Guilty as charged. But It doesnt matter. Noone will know because there will be noone to testify....." Steele said smugly.

Balto and Jenna looked at each other, knowing these were their final hours, and excanged a passionate glance.

"Aww, love. I should know, since this is my family......" Steele crooned. Balto growled. He prepared himself and leapt onto Steele's back, biting into the thick flesh on the back of his neck. Steele gave a slight whine, then a rumbling growl. He flipped himself over, then quickly got up, leaving a body-slammed balto cringing in the snow. Jenna gave a fierce growl and attacked Steele gracefully but effectively. She got a holf of his softer, gore sensitive flesh lower on his neck, then twisted and pulled as if playing with a dog toy, leaving a blood-gushing gap in her place. Steele gave a yelp in agony, and Natasha grabbed Jenna by the tail and threw her. Jenna staggered to her feet to clean Steele's blood off of her face when Natasha rammed into her side with full force. Jenna flew and hit a tree. Then Steele's three strong children got in the mix.

It was looking very grim for Balto and Jenna. They were outnumbered. With Jenna out cold, Balto had to fight on his own. He grabbed the smallest of Steeles children and flung her high in the air, and then the other two yearlings attacked him viciously. Jenna wobbled to her feet and jumped into the dogpile, using all of her strength to pull the half wolves off of her love. Steele noticed this and grabbed her small leg with the bite force of a hyena. He heard the sound of cracking bone and gave a sinister chuckle. Jenna cried out in pain,  and Steele threw her. She was inches from falling off of the cliff. Balto broke away from the mob and was caught by surprise when Natasha grabbed his neck. She hit his spinal cord and paralyzed him. She threw him and he landed next to Jenna. Steele laughed. He walked over to them and stood over them in supereority.

"Noone messes with Steele. This is what you get." He put one paw on each of the two dogs.

"And I will never be caught......" He pushed and they fell. They fell through the air, bloody, bruised, and beaten, and landed, Balto on top of Jenna. Jenna lifted her head weakly and and licked Balto on the cheek. Her head dropped in total abscence of energy.

"I will love you forever........." Balto whispered.

"Always......." Jenna returned.

And they were dead.