ago."

"That doesn't answer my question. How do you know about my family?"

"A little birdy told me… a little, black birdy," he replied cheekily. Balto paused as it dawned on him that this wolf definitely knew more than he was letting on. "Now, are you sure you don't want my help? After all, you came out here for guidance."

"But I don't know you."

"You don't know the raven either and yet you're chasing it down like your life depended on it," Mias retorted. "Let me ask you this: If you wanted advice, who would you rather talk to? Some spirit thing you don't fully believe in, or someone real, someone tangible… someone who won't pull you along on a crazy chase."

While Balto was more willing to trust the more natural Mias over the supernatural raven, he still hesitated. This was something that he really didn't want to get out if he could avoid it, and there was still the fact that he didn't know Mias all that well. As if reading his mind again, Mias added, "C'mon, it's just you, me and the rocks. This won't get out if you don't want it to. I'm no stranger to keeping secrets myself."

Thinking for a moment, Balto realized that he'd already shared his concerns about his pups with most of his own friends, all of whom were sympathetic. His dreams on the other hand were something that he had only shared with a few, and he would keep it that way as long as he could. 'Then again, Mias seems to know quite a bit about that raven. He knows something he's not telling me… but if I'm going to get answers from him, I'd better offer him something in return.' "Okay, I'll bite. There is something I'm wondering if I should tell my pups about," he started, explaining his struggle over whether or not to tell his pups about their true heritage. He told Mias about how he didn't want to bring his pups into the world of pain and anger that he'd gone through…

"Get out of here wolfdog. Why don't you run back to your pack?"

"That's right, run away you mutt! Run away and never come back!"

"You're too wolfy for a dog town, but you're too doggy for a wolf pack. You don't belong anywhere half-breed!"

"I don't want that to happen to my pups," Balto summed up. "I know that most of Nome has come around because of my great deed, but my pups might not get same benefit. To someone else, they won't be the part-wolf who saved the town, they'll just be part wolf and they might ridicule them for that. I don't want them to go through what I had to. It led to me doing some… things I'm not proud of," he finished, remembering a time where he'd almost killed Steele in a fit of rage, something he always saw as one of his greatest moral failures.

Mias had listened quietly to his story, sitting down and taking everything in. "Well, the good news is that you can't be accused of being a weak liar," Mias started. "It's perfectly understandable to want to protect your pups from something that caused you so much pain. You don't want to burden them with something that they can only appreciate when they're much older and have a greater understanding of the world. This could be another one of those things you don't tell your young ones before they're ready for it, like... where puppies come from."

"Yeah, that's true," Balto replied, before a new revelation came to him. "Hang on, are you saying that I can just wait for the time to tell them?"

"Well, maybe not in those exact words... but it does sound like a good compromise, doesn't it?"

"Yeah... but it might also delay the problem," Balto added. "What if they still feel different because I tell them?"

"Then you might have to take that risk because it's better than the alternative," Mias urged. "With something like this you can't hide it from them forever. It's who they are and they deserve to know the truth. You shouldn't keep that from them because if they find out too late, they might feel betrayed that you kept it from them for so long… or they might find out in the worst way possible," Mias said, his expression becoming more depressed. "It's best if they hear it from you because you definitely don't want to be caught in a lie. That's what happened to me… and I'll never be able to go back because of it."

"What happened?" Balto asked, hoping to get some more insight into who Mias was.

"Well I-" Mias started, but paused, as if contemplating something, before a smile formed on his muzzle. "Actually, instead of just telling you, how about I show you?"

This caught Balto by surprise, but before he could ask further, the wolf's eyes started to glow a bright yellow. He gasped when he saw that the glow was the same glow as the wolves from his dreams, but before he could react, it felt as though all the energy was being drained from him. It was like he'd run a race for sixteen hours straight, causing his legs to wobble underneath him. His eyes started to droop, and all he wanted to do was lie down and rest. Whatever Mias did affected him so quickly that he was out before he felt himself hit the ground.

----------

"I tried talking to Sami about it, but I think she figured out what I was really getting on to," Mias told him.

"Hm, sorry what?" Balto said. It felt like his mind had wandered off, so he'd missed some of what Mias was trying to tell him. 'I probably should have paid more attention. It feels like I missed most of the conversation.''

"You know, the whole thing with Mayak?" Mias replied. "I've been telling her stories about our past to try to impress her for my brother, but she's already caught on to what I was doing."

"Oh yes, that. Well, she always was a sharp one," Balto replied as his memory was jogged. Somehow, he was able to instantly understand what Mias was talking about, as though he'd been with him for as long as he could remember. Mayak was the alpha male of the pack, while Sami was alpha female. Those positions meant that it was expected for them to become mates, but Sami was hesitant, leading Mias to play matchmaker for them. As far as Balto knew, he was a part of this pack, and knew Mias quite well. He quickly forgot his earlier confusion and continued the conversation as if it had been going on for hours. "So how did she take it when she found out your ulterior motive?" he asked. "'Cause you know how females can get when they find out you're fibbing to them."

Mias chuckled a little. "Yeah, but she wasn't upset. She was actually impressed that I was trying to do something so nice for my little brother… but she's still not interested in him."

"Why?"

"Various reasons: she doesn't like his attitude, and she's still mad at him for ousting the previous alpha of the pack. He was the one she was really sweet on and it doesn't help that Mayak isn't the most outgoing."

"That's true," he agreed.

"Don't take this the wrong way; I love my brother more than anyone else and in spite of his faults I still want to help him… but even I'm starting to feel like this endeavor is doomed to fail," he said, his ears falling a little. "They're so different from each other and I don't want to push Sami into something she doesn't want to be a part of. She deserves someone who can appreciate her spirit, her kind smile… her gentle laugh…"

"Is there anything else about her you appreciate?" Balto teased, chuckling a little.

Mias stopped dead in his tracks, and his reserved posture made him look like someone being interrogated. "It's not like that… we're just friends, nothing more."

"Uh huh, sure," Balto said flatly, making it evident he didn't believe Mias. "That's how it always starts."

They paused for a moment, with Mias trying to avoid his knowing gaze, before admitting, "She does seem to like my storytelling quite a bit…"

----------

"Well, I tried my best, but in the end it was Sami's decision," Mias told him. Once again Balto's mind was a little fuzzy on the details, as if part of the story was missing.

"Hm, sorry?" Balto asked. 'Darnit, there I go not paying attention again. Why is it so easy for me to lose focus today?'

"Don't you remember what I told you a week ago?"

"Um, you were trying to help Mayak and Sami get together, but she caught on to your plan," Balto replied, saying the first thing that came to his mind. The past week seemed to have gone by so quickly that everything between that last talk and the present barely registered in his mind.

"Yes, but now I don't have to worry about it anymore because she finally turned him down. Case closed."

"Huh, you actually sound relieved about it," Balto mused.

"Well, when you think about it, they might not have been that great together. Like I said earlier, he's more introverted while she's more of a free spirit. Those differences might cause trouble down the road," Mias explained. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm meeting with her tonight and I don't need you being a fifth leg around here."

"Ah, of course… you want to be alone on your date," Balto teased again.