or north. For the moment, he was using the scent trails of the two teams ahead of them for guidance, but he knew he couldn't rely on them forever. There was the chance that they could pass them and take the lead, along with the chance that the other teams could stray off the path. He couldn't get caught in a false trail, so it would end up being a game of whether or not to trust the signs in front of him.

There was almost no sound in the mountain pass until about half an hour into their journey, when something caught his ears. "Hold on, what's that?" he said, perking his ears up to catch the sound.

"What is it?" Star asked.

"Hang on, its-" Balto said, focusing on the noise until it made his stomach jump. It was the barking and yelps of dogs in distress. 'No, it can't be. Please don't let it happen again,' he thought as he dashed forward to follow the noise. "C'mon, it's this way!" he called, taking them down a new pathway. Despite their musher's attempts to get them to turn around, the team refused, charging towards the cries for help. Applying the brakes didn't help, because the dogs just pulled against them. 'Please don't let it be another attack,' Balto pleaded. 'I can handle it if they're just caught in a ditch or got hurt in a fall, but if it's yet another attack… then we're not even safe in the daytime.'

The path gave way to a clearing, surrounded by hills on all sides. Kassen finally stomped on the brake hard enough to wrench them to a halt, but they were now close enough to see the scene before them. On the other side of the depression was another team, and at a glance it looked like two of the dogs were simply fighting with each other. Fights between sled dogs were not unheard of, but a second look revealed that one of the attackers was not a dog at all. It wore no collar, and was much larger than any of the other dogs. It was clearly not one of the team, and even though they were at a distance, they could tell it was a wolf.

After days of chasing, questions and false trails, they finally got a good look at the cause of all their grief over the course of the race. The wolf had jet-black fur, confirming previous descriptions, and was definitely stronger. Balto's theory had been right - this wolf was definitely a loner, it's strong body honed in order to survive without the aid of a pack. It exchanged blows with the dog it was grappling with, the two of them on their hind legs as they locked onto each other with their jaws, each was putting up their best fight. The wolf had the dog's neck locked in its teeth, and the lack of air was starting to weaken it. Soon the dog fell as well, joining another comrade on the ground who had probably been taken out on the first surprise attack.

The rest of the team was still fighting against their harnesses, some trying to charge at the wolf, with others trying to flee. The wolf continued its assault on the dog he'd knocked over, obviously intent on finishing it off, but it didn't count on one thing. The team's musher was still present, and was not about to let his dogs fall if he couldn't do anything about it. The attack had happened so fast, that by the time he'd gotten into his supplies to find something to defend himself with, the second dog had already been felled. Just as the wolf tried to rip out its throat, the human pulled the thick club from the cargo bed. In one motion, he struck a hard blow across its head, knocking it off.

Through all this, Balto and the team were barking their heads off, straining against their harnesses in an attempt to charge forward. They wanted to help the stricken team, but the foot on the brake held them back. The wolf was dazed by the blow, but was quick to recover. Snarling, it turned its attention right on the human. The man reared up for another strike, but that only gave the wolf an opening to lunge and sink its fangs into his forearm. Sharp teeth pierced right through his coat and into his skin, causing him to cry out in pain as the jaws threatened to crush his bones. The wolf had locked onto the arm with the club, rendering the man unable to strike back with it. His only option was to punch at the wolf with his free hand, but that had little effect. The wolf's greater power meant it could pull the man down with it, and soon the two were rolling around the snow, the man trying to get the beast off him.

It was obvious this wolf was much bolder than average, but even when a wolf did turn on a human it was only when provoked. Instead, this wolf was attacking first, making it far more dangerous than expected. The attack on the human finally snapped Kassen out of his daze, and he started to rummage through his own supplies. Despite their wishes, he was not about to let his own dogs loose for fear they might get hurt, or run off and never return. Fortunately, he was a little more prepared than the man with just a club. It took him only a minute to pull out the silver revolver, already loaded, and cock the hammer. The way the wolf and the other man were rolling meant it would be too risky to aim for the wolf, so his first shot was aimed high. It went off into the air, the thunderous crack echoing across the hills around them.

While the wolf obviously had no fear of dogs, men or clubs, it bolted up at the sound of the gunshot, releasing the man from his hold. It's head snapped towards them, and briefly locked gazes with Balto. From the distance, he could tell the wolf was snarling at him, a gesture he returned as Kassen took aim. The gaze lasted only a second, before the wolf turned tail and ran from the gun pointed at it. The second shot just missed it, sending a spray of snow up behind it, but just before it turned a corner, a third shot was fired. This one managed to graze the target, not enough to harm it, but still enough to sting its hindquarters before it disappeared down another valley. The danger had passed, so now their attention could turn to the injured team. The brake was released and Balto trotted forward, wanting to know more behind this latest attack.

"Hey, shouldn't we be trying to track that wolf down?" Kaltag asked. "If we went after it now, we could probably chase it down and end this once and for all."

"We might not be able to with a fully loaded sled behind us," Bato replied. "We'd need to be out of the harness to have any hope of chasing it. Right now we should focus on the hurt. They need the help more than we need to catch this wolf," he explained as they came up alongside the team. The dog whom had grappled with the wolf was slowly getting up while his teammates tried to rouse the other one who'd been knocked out in the attack.

"Here, let me help you out there," Gunnar said as he got off the sled and extended his arm to the other man.

"Thanks. It's good thing you came otherwise I don't know what would've happened," the man said, cradling his injured arm.

"You can thank Balto for that one - I guess he heard your dogs and decided to come to the rescue," Gunnar said, patting Balto's head. "Yeah, that's a good boy."

"And not a moment too soon. It all happened so quickly. One second we're running along the trail, and then bam! It jumps right on top of my team and tears through them before I can react. The dogs are one thing, but coming after me? I just hope that thing isn't rabid!"

"Well here, let me look at your arm," Gunnar offered, and the man pulled up his sleeve to examine the wound. "It's not too deep, and I'm not seeing any foam or anything else. It looks like your coat took most of the teeth," he said, noting how the sleeve was now in tatters. "Having something that strong bite ya is sure to smart for a while, but it could have been a lot worse. Still, I'm no professional, so you probably should get that looked after by a doc."

"I know… the team needs some care too… so much for the race."

"Hey, just be glad you got out of here with your life," Kassen offered him, "There's always next year."

The man nodded in agreement, before starting to look over his team. While the men had been talking, Balto was quick to ask the dogs what they saw, which turned out to be nothing more than what their musher did. The wolf came from nowhere and was able to dispatch them quickly before being scared off. They were beaten, but not broken; however they would still have to turn back to get medical attention for their human. It wasn't as bad as other attacks, but it still meant that there was another team that had to pull out of the race because of them.

As they started to limp home, Balto's attention could now turn back to the race. Their musher didn't know everything they knew, so his main concern was getting back on the road and making up for the time they lost. The order was given and they bolted forward, their energy hiding the fact that they were all troubled by the attack. Along the road, Balto could smell faint traces of blood, which came from the small red dots in the snow. The trail gave him a boost; they now had an easy way to track the assailant and find it. He wasn't going to let another attack happen again. The team felt his pull through the harness and joined in, each eager to end the threat to their fellow sled dogs.

However, the wishes of his dogs went unnoticed by their musher. He knew the path he wanted to follow, but that path would not be the one the assailant took. That fact would become evident when they stopped at a fork in the road, and Balto took a sniff. "C'mon, Haw boy!" he called, ordering them to the