running and when he gave chase, even stranger things started to happen. On the way he encountered a tricky fox, a group of hostile wolverines and the raven – the same raven from his dreams. All seemed to be pushing him one way or another, eventually leading him to Aleu. He arrived just in time to fight a bear off of her, but it wasn't long after that a group of four wolves attacked them, trying to drive them away before being called off by their elderly leader.

Stranger still was the revelation that the elderly wolf, named Nava, already knew they were coming. He claimed to have sent for them to aid them with a problem of theirs. The caribou that fed them had moved on, leaving them with little food for the coming winter. His proposal was to follow the caribou to where they'd gone, across the great body of water along their shores. He was met with resistance from another wolf named Niju, who insisted that they stay in the land that was rightfully theirs. The argument went back and forth, with even Aleu siding with Nava, but Balto didn't want to get involved. He knew from experience that any dispute with wolves involving food could get nasty, and it didn't help that he didn't know how they would cross the water in the first place. He wanted to stay neutral, but Nava told them they would be led to the caribou by 'The one who is wolf but does not know.' Suddenly all eyes were on him, and despite his attempts to counter them, even he was starting to wonder if this was somehow connected to the dreams he'd been having for almost a year and a half now.

The dreams always featured a pack of mysterious wolves, and he had to admit that a few of the wolves in this pack resembled the ones from his dream. In his dreams, he would run along a never-ending expanse of ice while a raven flew overhead. The ice would collapse around him, creating danger at every turn, but he would press on until he found them; the wolves with glowing eyes. For some reason, he always held back when he saw them. Some force was drawing him towards them, but he would resist and the dream would collapse around him. It was the same thing again and again for over a year, but recently something new started to happen.

The day before he set off to find Aleu, he had a different dream. This time he heard a soothing voice call to him and tell him about the animals that would guide him along the way. The trickster fox, the fearsome wolverine, the insightful bear, and the caribou, full of life. He returned to the mysterious ice field, but this time he was pursuing a herd of caribou while the ice collapsed around him. As if that wasn't strange enough, he encountered all the animals the voice had mentioned on his journey to find Aleu... except the caribou.

'This is all getting really spooky. The things from my dreams are starting to appear while I'm awake. The only thing keeping me from thinking I'm going nuts is that fact that Aleu has seen the raven too, but that only raises more questions,' he thought. 'This is almost as spooky as when I met that Mias fellow,' he recalled, remembering the time over a year ago when he'd encountered a wolf who turned out to be much more than that. Balto wasn't usually one to believe in ghosts or things like that, but after what he'd seen with Mias… he had no idea what to think, but recent events were coming together to form a bigger picture than before.

'If that's the case and these spirit things are real, what does that mean for me? Am I supposed to help this pack? I can feel for their plight, but I don't know what I can do for them. Besides, I have family of my own to look after and that takes priority,' he thought, looking over his shoulder for a moment. He expected to find Aleu lying nearby but she was missing, making his heart jump. He bolted to his feet and immediately started sniffing for her trail. 'I just can't get a break with you, can I?' Rounding a corner, he spotted her in the distance, sitting on a rock outcropping on the shore with Nava, the alpha of this pack. His first instinct was to go over and scold her for running off, but he knew that would only lead to another one of their arguments over his protectiveness of her. He'd gotten sick of going back and forth without end, and seeing that there was no harm in her being in Nava's company, he let it go.

Retreating behind the rock, he lay down and looked back on his time with her. He'd always been so worried about her well-being, but in a way, that was what led them to this. 'I was so concerned about how she'd handle her wolf side that I held the truth from her. Unfortunately, when it came out, it came in the worst way possible and she ran away because of it. I wanted to wait for the right time… but I guess I waited too late,' he thought. 'I only wanted to keep her safe, but she always wanted to go off on some sort of new adventure and explore. She wanted to be more independent; I guess I should have taken that as a sign that there was more wolf in her than I thought. She wanted to run wild and free… and she does look genuinely happy here,' he reflected, remembering how she seemed at peace when she was standing on the shore earlier today, enjoying the salty spray from the incoming waves.

'Happy or not, I can't just leave her here alone. This is no place for a pup like her. This pack is already in a crisis and I don't want her to get caught up in it, especially with someone like that Niju character hanging around.' There was no denying that he didn't trust Niju, and that, coupled with his past experiences with wolves in crisis meant that he wanted to get out of there quickly. 'The last time I tried to help wolves it blew up in my face,' he thought, recalling the incident with Tikani and his pack and noting the parallels between past and present. 'I tried to help Tikani sort out a way to share the caribou in his territory with some dogs, but that ended up falling apart around me. It left his mate dead, and he tried to exact revenge on Jenna and I,' he continued, remembering those dark days when Tikani had pursued them relentlessly. It was the closest he'd been to losing his mate… and his pups too, including Aleu. 'There are so many ways this could go wrong, and I couldn't bear it if I lost my daughter through all of this. I have to get home… even if it means leaving strangers in need.'

He paused at that last thought because of how poorly it sat with him. 'I know it sounds selfish, but should I just leave them in order to get my daughter home safely? After all, I owe nothing to these wolves, and I'm sure they could find a way to cope… but could I live with the idea that I just left them without even trying?' Standing back up, he started to pace as he tried to work out what would be best. 'The last time I tried to help strangers, it almost led to me losing everything I hold dear… but I guess it did work out in the end,' he admitted, remembering that he'd managed to work with some other wolves to expose Tikani's madness and oust him from the pack. In return, the new leader allowed the sled team to share their territory, and there was peace in Nome. Better yet, he hadn't seen any trace of Tikani since, not even while wandering the wilderness in his search for Aleu.

'I could help them… but what about Jenna and my friends back home? They're probably worried about me right now and I hate seeing that, especially with Jenna. I hate being away from my love and I don't want her to think I'm abandoning her for a pack of strangers. I hoped to be gone for no more than a few days.' He closed his eyes and imagined her, sitting by the window and waiting for him to return to her. He took comfort in the fact that she would faithfully stand vigil until he returned, even when it looked like all hope had been lost. 'She waited for me during the serum run, so she'll always wait for me as long as it takes... but should I keep her waiting to help this pack? She might understand if I was doing it to help others in need, but if I were to, that just brings me back to the first problem - how would I find the caribou in the first place?'

He stopped his pacing and realized that on the way here, he hadn't found any trace of caribou herds. He had no direction to follow, no goal in mind, and was facing a long, drawn out challenge if he did decide to search, both from the wild and within from Niju. 'If I can't be of any help to them, maybe it would be best if I headed home instead of wasting my time here. That would mean leaving this pack behind to potentially starve… but this could be a challenge that I won't be able to handle. Then again, I don't think I've ever backed down from a good cause. After all, I went to find the medicine to help the town, even though more than a few of them would rather kick at me.'

As he thought back, he realized that despite the attitudes of the town back then, he still went out to help them. Most of the residents were strangers to him then, and he still helped them. 'You know, other than that one bad thing with Tikani - which wasn't completely my fault anyways - every time I've gone out to help others, I have always succeeded. I was able to find the team and get them home in the worst of conditions. I just had to follow the right path, that's all,' he thought, starting to grin in confidence. However, that confidence took a dent when a new thought entered his head. 'Wait… that time I had a clear path to follow. Out here, I don't know where to