imagined.”

“And why is this always up to me?” I snapped.

“Because you are the only one that can.” She smiled. “You are the only one that listens.”

“I should really stop paying attention.” I grumbled, throwing my head back to stare up at the sky helplessly. “What is this task anyways?” I was met with silence. Michelo was gone.

I almost tried to tell myself I had imagined the whole thing. Akiak and I had just been discussing our mutual aversion to the old wolf, maybe I had cracked my head on the way down from the ridge and hallucinated. I wondered too if Michelo had given Akiak the same talking to. Maybe she’d said it to all the wolves in the pack.

Maybe Michelo secretly had a really sadistic sense of humor and was waiting behind a tree just out of sight, watching me freak out over her fake prophesy.

That wouldn’t explain how she knew about the serum run, however…

I shook my head. She was a senile old wolf, end of story. Fate had called on me once already, and I had done my part. It wasn’t my fault it had gone on and ruined everything, and it definitely wasn’t my job to fix it.

By the time I had arrived back at the den, I had convinced myself that I had definitely not spoken to Michelo and she was still insane. As I turned the corner, I nearly jumped to see her lying in her customary spot just outside the cave entrance. I don’t know why I was surprised, hadn’t I just told myself I hadn’t met her in the forest?

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Balto.” Sakari stated as she joined me, looking amused.

“Was she there the whole time?” I asked, ignoring her comment.

She followed my gaze. “Who, Michelo? Probably. I don’t know. Why?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. I’m just going crazy.”

Sakari laughed. She thought I was joking. “You ready for the hunt tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure.” I said distractedly.

Again, she misinterpreted my expression. “You’ll do great.” She nudged my shoulder as she walked past to find her usual sleeping spot.

I was slower to follow. Akiak had already settled in on the other side of his sister and looked up when I approached. He was surprisingly better at reading my face. “What’s up?”

“Does Michelo ever say things to you?” I asked vaguely, feeling stupid even as I said it.

Akiak rolled his eyes. “All the time. Don’t listen to her.”

I gave a small smile and a nod in thanks and curled up on the opposite side of Sakari. I had barely gotten comfortable when I felt her paw poking me in the back.

“Why are you all the way over there? I’m cold over here.”

“You are not,” I scoffed, crawling closer to her anyways. Just about the only thing that could get a wolf cold was something like, oh say, falling in a frozen river, but Sakari was still on her mission to teach me how real wolves acted, which apparently involved a lot of cuddling. I wasn’t much for it, but had to admit it was warmer, and it made Sakari feel better. She often acted as though I would run off at any moment. Why it bothered her so much, I’m not sure. I had barely met her, and she was clinging to me like we were old friends. I’d never had anyone treat me like that before. It was kind of nice.

My run in with Michelo, or whatever it was, didn’t even cross my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

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