Balto made his decision. He pulled his head back and eased some of the pressure on the wolf's chest. He opened his eyes and graciously sucked in air as he realised he would get to live another day.

"Alright, you've proven your point… but if I ever get any hint or sign that this is some sort of trick… you will be the first one I come after," he warned, flexing the paws and allowing his claws to dig into his skin as reinforcement.

"Don't worry; if this fails then you'll be the least of my worries."

Balto released his hold on the wolf, allowing him to get up. "If we're going to be working together, I'd at least like to know who I'm dealing with."

"Atka - My name is Atka."

"Alright Atka, if you're sincere, then I'm grateful for your help," Balto said. "Not many would be willing to risk themselves for a complete stranger."

"I know, but I'm not the only one at risk. I've got a couple of my friends involved in this too."

"Where are they?" Jenna asked.

"They're back with my pack - I wanted to avoid attention by going out alone, so I'm counting on them to spread the word of what I've learned," he replied. "My hope is that if enough find out what Tikani's doing, we'll be able to stop him. They'll either depose him entirely, or if there isn't enough support, it'll at least cause enough infighting to distract them. It may mean the splitting of my pack, but if that happens then they'll be distracted long enough for you to get home safely."

"Wait, you're saying that you're planning some type of mutiny?" Balto asked.

"Pretty much. We wolves take our laws very seriously and we don't appreciate being lied to… especially by our alphas," he replied.

"I've gotta hand it to you, you've got guts," Balto complimented. "I know how hard it can be to try to stand up to a seemingly unmovable authority… especially when you feel alone against them."

"Thanks, but to be honest I had issues with this whole thing from the start," Atka replied. "Things have been really tense for the past month and it was obvious that Tikani was starting to take this really personally. He was almost obsessive about it, and he didn't seem to care when I tried to warn him about the risks. My biggest fear was that the dogs would join with Maska's pack and overwhelm us in a fight."

"If you thought he was a risk, then couldn't you have done something?" Jenna asked. "Surely others must have noticed this as well."

"You would think so, but when it comes to our pack… they trust Tikani too much. He's been a very good leader, and up until now, he was always able to make a fair decision. Add in what happened to Kisa, and you've got a pack who will follow their leader anywhere in the name of justice."

"Be honest with me; is that what you think as well?" Balto asked.

"I… I don't know what to think," he replied. "On one side, I'm still angry for Kisa. You were the one who decided to hold her in town, and she was killed even after you promised she would be safe… but on the other side… she died at the whim of a human's rifle, not the fangs of you or your dogs. Humans do have a tendency to shoot wolves on sight, regardless of what their dogs want."

"I did promise to keep her safe, but even I can't be in two places at once," Balto exlained. "I was also under pressure to bring Kari home, but her brother didn't share my patience for talking and acted on his own accord."

"Her brother caused this… it makes so much more sense…" Atka muttered to himself.

"Yeah, but now both of them are having a rough time because Tikani barred them from your territory," Balto continued. "They're finding barely enough to support themselves and soon they'll be nothing but skin and bones."

"I… I had no idea. We have game in great abundance… and if they were anyone else we'd be more than happy to share… but Tikani won't back down on this. There's a lot of animosity in wolves towards dogs. This actually isn't the first time I've had to deal with the fallout from the conflict between wolves and dogs."

"Not the first time? Care to tell us, or would that also be a long story?" Balto asked.

"It's a bit of a story, but I've got time to tell you. Is it okay if we walk while I tell you? I've been pretty tense for the past couple of days and walking helps me calm down," Atka requested. Blato nodded and the three of them started walking down the empty street while Atka collected himself. Telling the story would mean reliving one of the hardest days of his life.

"Alright, it starts out a little over three years ago. I was part of a small pack along with my two best friends and our alpha, a wolf by the name of Mayak," he started. "We were all that was left of a much larger pack after the humans came with their dogs and devastated us. We were the only ones to get away, and for a whole year, it was just the four of us."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Jenna put in.

"Thank you… there are still days that I think of the friends I lost there," he replied, holding his head low. They let him have a moment to reflect before getting back to the story. "It was the four of us until we came across a lone female, looking for a pack to join. We graciously let her in, partly because we were keen to boost our numbers, and partly because Mayak had an interest in her," he continued. "However, when he did ask her to be his mate, she seemed hesitant about it. At first, we thought she was just taking her time to decide. After all, she was new to our group and had only known Mayak for a few months. Eventually she turned him down completely, saying that she wasn't ready for something like that yet," Atka explained. "Mayak may not have liked the answer, but he was forced to let it go. What he didn't know was that there was more behind her rejection than she was letting on. You see, there were some nights where she would sneak away from us to visit a human town-"

"Let me guess - she was involved with someone in the town," Jenna cut in.

Atka smiled and nodded. "You got it spot on. Yep, it turns out that she'd fallen for one of the husky dogs from the town, a sled dog to be exact," Atka replied. "They met when she got separated from us during a storm. She was injured and he came to her aid. While she was getting her strength back they started to grow closer together, becoming friends and then lovers by the time she returned to us. She was so taken by him that she would sneak off to spend nights with him, despite the risks to herself."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Jenna said, smiling, while Balto just took this in. Already, he was putting the pieces of the story together, and was starting to get a feeling of where it was going.

"Her relationship with the husky not only explained her absences, but also her rejection of Mayak. She wasn't going to be unfaithful to the one she truly loved," Atka continued. "But, she also had to keep it a tight secret because Mayak absolutely hated dogs. He hated them with a passion and vowed to destroy any dog that crossed his path. His hatred stemmed from the events that led to our old pack's destruction, where he saw many of his friends - along with his own brother - fall victim to the humans. She managed to keep it going on for a while, but one night, her luck ran out."

Atka took in a deep breath, his expression neutral; here was the hardest part to tell. "She was with the husky one night, but Mayak saw them together and went ballistic. Not only had she been involved with a dog behind his back... she was carrying the husky's pups as well," Atka told. "On one side, you had a scared couple with pups, and on the other was an enraged wolf with a pathological hatred of dogs, ready to kill. Sound familiar?" Balto and Jenna nodded, now understanding what Atka was trying to tell them. In a few ways, their situation was similar.

"By the time we realized what was happening it was too late... one life had already been lost," Atka told. "Mayak had been knocked out, but not before he'd torn the husky's throat open. When we arrived, we found her sobbing over her love's body. It was really something, to see a wolf like her so moved by the death of a dog. Had Mayak been absent, we would have paid our respects as well, but we couldn't. He was recovering and we would have to act fast to save our friend and her pups. We told her to run and to never look back. Once she was away, we covered her trail and led Mayak in a different direction, hoping to put as much distance between them."

"It worked at first, but it was only a couple of days before Mayak found out the trail was a dud. That was the last straw - we told him that we would never hunt down one of our own, especially when they were carrying pups. He threatened to kill us, but there were three of us and one of him. Fortunately we didn't have to resort to violence to ditch him, as he was more concerned with finding her than attacking us. We never saw him again, but we didn't see her either," Atak told. "I have no idea what happened to either of them, but I hope that she made it out okay, along with her pups. After that, the three of us wandered for a few months