Balto woke up with Jenna at his side. Her back was toward him and was barely brushing up against his face. He smiled and was grateful that the night before was not a dream. He brushed his face against hers and sighed with joy. Her fur was soft and war as it always was. She stirred in her sleep and then she faced him. She was still asleep. Balto smiled and licked her nose gently. She opened her eyes slowly and yawned.

         She sighed with joy and nuzzled Balto’s face. Her dark brown stared at him and made him blush a bit. She brushed her face against his and grinned.

“Morning.” She sighed looking tired.

Balto smiled and replied, “Morning.”

        She stood up and made her way to the deck. Balto fallowed her out. The air was breezy and cold. The sun was covered by clouds and barely made any light. Most of the ocean was covered in ice and the sand was covered by snow. Not the best sight in the world.

        Jenna shivered and whimpered as she chatted her teeth. She wasn’t wearing her bandanna which was down stairs. He quickly got it and brought it up to her and put around her neck. She nuzzled him and Balto smiled and nuzzle back.

“The last time I did that, you were running off alone and almost freezing to death.” She said.

“I’m here now.” He said and he licked a tear that had formed on her face. She looked at him.

“The thought of losing you is-is.” She tried to choke out.

“Hey.” He said softly, “Let’s not think about that now. We’re here together now. Just you and…”

“Balto!” the goose waddled down and made his way up to the new couple. Balto fought back a growl of irritation.

“What is it now, Boris?” Balto said coldly. Jenna stood awkwardly at Balto’s side.

“I vas just sveeping the dech; Jeeze boychik, you shed like eh cat!” the goose bellowed. Jenna giggled next to him and put her paw next to his. He felt himself blush and shot back

“I don’t shed as much as you lose feathers!” Balto joked, “Boris, is that a bald spot on your head.” Jenna giggled more and Boris laughed too. He waddled away after the comment and Jenna and Balto were alone again.

      He smiled and said, “Come on. Let’s take you home, we don’t want Rosy’s dad getting suspicious, do we?”

She smiled and took lead of the way back to Nome. Balto jumped off the boat and landed next to her. She giggled to herself again and they made their way back to Nome.

***

     Jenna walked steadily with her new mate and wondered what would happen if Rosy’s dad did find out. She would be in so much trouble and Balto would literally get shot. The image of Balto’s death made her shudder.

        Jenna leaned on his shoulder and licked his collarbone. He smiled and the top of her head. They made their way in the little town and quietly snuck into her house. She lied in bed and told Balto, “I’ll see you later then?”

He smiled and licked her nose and left the room. She then pretended to be asleep and waited for Rosy’s dad to give her breakfast.

***

       Jenna ate and left the shed as if nothing happened the night before. She walked in the center of the rode and then she heard Dixie, her little friend, walking up to her.

“Morning, Jenn!” she said. She was quite short compared to the other dogs.

“Morning Dixie;” Jenna said and then noticed her shiny collar that was used to attract Steele, “Aren’t you going to take that thing off. I mean, he’s not here anymore.” She didn’t use the term ‘exiled’ because she knew her best friend liked him.

“No.” she said, “This isn’t to attract Steele anymore.”

        Jenna looked at her with a curious look, “Who’s it for then? Surely not Dusk…”

“Of course not; I don’t really like cripples anyway.” She replied coldly, “This is to attract Star.”

      Star was a mini-husky who was on the sled team with Balto. He was actually around her size.

“Star; when did that happen?” Jenna asked laughing to herself.

“At the big thing for Balto, I noticed how cute he looked.” She said dreamily, “Anyway, what about you and Balto?”

       Jenna blushed and smiled at the thought of Balto being her mate. She told her about her and Balto being mates and Dixie shrieked with excitement.

“Oh congratz!” She said, “So are you expecting puppies?”

       Jenna was taken aback from the comment. Puppies, she thought. What if she did have his puppies? She shrugged and answered, “I don’t know to tell you the truth.”

Dixie rolled her eyes and said, “Well, have fun with Balto then. Now where is Star anyway?” she asked herself as she left.

        Puppies? She thought again. The more she thought about, the more she grew excited about it. She would have a family with Balto. But she didn’t know if she would have puppies. She would have to wait and see what happens.

***

          Over the next few weeks, there were a lot of changes happening in Nome: Kaltag finally got Meria as a mate; Star took Dixie on their first date the night before; and Mika had Dusk’s pups. But the biggest change of all was happening inside of Jenna.

         Jenna lie in her bed and saw how much her stomach had grown. She felt a puppy kick and smiled. She then felt ashamed because she hadn’t told Balto yet; she only told Dixie and Sylvie her two best friends. She was scared at what Balto would thin. Would he behave differently because of how big she was and eventually stop loving her? Or would he be ashamed that she waited till the middle of her pregnancy to tell him the truth of why she had gotten big? All of this ran through her head until finally she decided to try and tell him of what is really going on with her.

        She got up and walked out of her shed. It was spring finally and it was the middle of March. Her due date was assumed to be April 5. She looked into a puddle and saw her stomach and thought to herself I can’t wait to get my figure back!

        She saw Meria, who was also carrying pups but were not due until the end of April. Meria just rolled her eyes and kept walking. Jenna sighed and saw Balto standing with Kaltag and Nikki, a little chubby brown husky who was also on the sled team. She wasn’t going to tell him right in front of his teammates. She sighed again and made her way to Dixie’s house. On the way, Balto must have seen her and he ran up and gave her a big lick on the cheek. She giggled and looked down. Balto didn’t really notice her stomach, most likely he as blinded by love.

      She skipped the trip to Dixie’s and just said, “Er, Balto. Can you come with me to the beach? I need to talk to you.”

He looked confused and said, “Of course.” He kept his head down all the way to the beach for some reason. She didn’t know why.

     On the beach, Balto kept his head low and didn’t make eye contact.

“I need to tell you something-’’ she started but Balto interrupted

“Don’t tell me I know.” He said not making looking up. “You want us to break-up, right?”

       Jenna stared in disbelief, was he serious? “Of course not!” she said.

Balto looked up, “Then why did you bring me down here, then?”

       Jenna then looked up and licked his nose, “first thing is that no matter what, I love you. Second, I am… pregnant. With your pups.”

      He stared at her and said nothing. His eyes said nothing about his emotions. He got all cheerful and nuzzled her, “That’s great!” she sighed in relief.

“When are they coming?” he asked, looking cheerful.

“April fifth. I’m five weeks into this.” She said.

Balto nuzzled her face again and then looked down again.

“This shouldn’t have happened.” He said unexpectedly

“Why?! What’s wrong?” she asked shaken.

He didn’t answer her question, “I shouldn’t be the father. You deserve a pure bred mate not me. Because of me, they’ll all be part wolf.”

Is this what it’s about?  Jenna thought to herself, “So. They will be a forth wolf. Odds are they’ll have dog features.”

Balto didn’t meet her gaze, “What will Rosy’s dad say when he finds out that I fathered these pups.”

“He’ll have to get over it and if he doesn’t… I’ll run away with you.” She said. Balto finally looked at her.

“Jenna, I couldn’t ask you to do that. You have a life here not out there.” He said

“I don’t care; I love you and my life is with you.” She said. She nuzzled his face and gave him a quick lick on the cheek. He made a