“Kodiak, what are you doing here?” Jenna asked, glad to see her son. “Um, I just wanted to introduce my friend, Emily” Kodi replied as he moved his head in Emily’s direction. “Hi, I’m Emily” she replied in a shy but respectful tone. “I’m Jenna, Kodi’s mom, and this is his father, Balto” Jenna replied as she looked at Balto. “I heard about what you did, Mr. Balto,” Emily replied “That was a great thing you did.” Balto smiled and nodded. “Thank you,” Balto replied “I just wanted to help Nome, that’s all.” “It’s still incredible, Mr. Balto” Emily replied back. “Please, just call me Balto” he replied in a friendly tone. “Okay…Balto” Emily replied shyly. Emily turned to Jenna. “I don’t want to be disrespectful, but Kodi said you were pregnant, is that true?” Emily asked nervously. Jenna nodded and smiled. “Yes, it is,” Jenna replied “and don’t worry, you’re not being disrespectful at all.” Emily smiled as her nervousness began to fade away. “Thank you, um, do you prefer Mrs. Jenna or just Jenna?” Emily asked. “You can just call me Jenna” she said as she let out a friendly laugh. “Okay, I will remember that” Emily replied. “You’re on the visiting team from Anchorage?” Balto asked. “How do you know?” Emily asked as her nervousness suddenly came back. “Your collar” Balto replied. Emily then looked down and realized that her collar said “Anchorage” on it. “It’s okay,” Balto replied “it’s not a problem with us. Besides, the competition is on friendly terms, right?” Emily thought about what she felt, and then realized that her musher and Hunter did not share the same friendly sentiments she had. “Yes, sir” Emily replied. “Well, we better get going,” said Kodi “I wanted to introduce Emily to my team.” “Ok, it was nice to meet you, Emily” said Jenna. “It was nice to meet you guys, too” Emily replied. As Kodi and Emily left, Jenna and Balto looked at each other. “You saw the look on Kodi’s face, too?” Balto asked his mate. “I did,” Jenna replied “our boy has a crush.”

Chapter 7: Meeting the Team

     “This is where my owner and my team lives” Kodi said as he pointed out a house with a shed next to it. “Let’s go inside so I can introduce you to my teammates” said Kodi. Emily became nervous. “Your team is okay with talking with an opponent?” Emily asked. “It’s a friendly competiton,” said Kodi “my team won’t bite.” “Alright then” said Emily. The two dogs then walked into the shed and saw the rest of Kodi’s team resting.

     “Hey guys” said Kodi. “Hey, kid, where have you been?” Kirby asked. “I was just showing Emily around town,” said Kodi “uh, guys, this is Emily. Emily, my team, and you already know Laura.” Emily smiled nervously “please don’t let them see the Anchorage tag on my collar” she thought to herself. “So, you’re one of the Anchorage dogs, huh?” Dusty asked. “Oh no, they saw it” Emily thought to herself. “Um, yes” Emily said quietly. “You ready for the race?” Dusty asked. Emily was surprised by Dusty’s friendly attitude. “I um…yes” Emily replied quietly. “Good luck, you’re gonna need it” said Kirby. Laura then gave Kirby a disapproving look and slapped her paw on his head. “Ow! What did I say?” Kirby shouted. Emily laughed. “Does this happen often?” Emily asked Kodi quietly. “Yeah, especially to Kirby over there” Kodi said as he pointed at Kirby. “I wish you guys good luck as well” Emily said in response to Kirby. “Oh, um, thank you” said Kirby as he stared back at Laura. “So you’ve been a sled dog for a while, or is this your first run?” Dusty asked. “I’ve been a sled dog for more than a year, now” Emily replied. “You seem calm for someone who’s talking to her competition” Ralph asked. “Baby!” Dusty said to Ralph. “I’m just sayin’” said Ralph. “Actually, I’m feeling a bit nervous around you guys,” Emily said nervously “I know I’m from the other team, but I wanted to meet you guys and say hello anyway.” “That’s really nice of you” said Laura. “Still gonna win the race” Kirby whispered to himself. Laura overhead Kirby and proceeded to slap him on the head a second time. “Ow! What did I do this time?” said Kirby as the rest of the team laughed.

     Kodi’s owner and musher John then entered the room. “Hey guys, how you doing?” John asked enthusiastically as he went over to pet his dogs. He then looked over and noticed Emily next to Kodi. “Hi there!” John said in a friendly tone. He then looked at the Anchorage tag on Emily’s collar, and then noticed her name stamped on the other side. “You’re from the visiting team, huh, Emily?” he asked happily. Emily began to cringe as John said this. “It’s okay, girl, don’t be scared” said John. He then patted Emily on the head. Emily smiled and let out a friendly bark. Kodi smiled at Emily’s response. “You seem to have found a friend in Kodi here, huh?” John asked. Kodi blushed as the rest of the team began to laugh quietly. “Any dog is welcome to my place, just remember to wipe off your feet” John laughed. “Well, I gotta go take care of some stuff, you guys behave.” The team nodded as John walked back into the house. “I actually should go, too” said Emily. “Okay, see you later?” Kodi asked. “Definitely” Emily said happily. As Emily walked away, Kirby began to sing. “Kodi and Emily sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, ow!” Kirby sang has he got hit in the head once more by Laura. “Stop doing that!” Kirby shouted.

Chapter 8: Separation

     As Emily entered the cabin where her team was staying, she was suddenly stopped by a large figure. “Where have you been?” the figure asked. “I’ve just been around town, Hunter” said Emily as she tried to hide the fact that she had been with Kodi all day. Hunter gave Emily an ominous stare. “You’ve been hanging around with that kid from the other team, haven’t you?” Hunter asked angrily. Emily tried not to look at Hunter directly. “Answer me!” Hunter growled. “Fine, I was, but I just wanted to see the town, and Kodi offered me a tour” Emily said, hiding her interest in Kodi. “Whatever,” Hunter growled “you’re not hanging out with him tomorrow, understand?” Emily cringed at this thought; she had made plans with Kodi. What was she supposed to do? “Understand?!” Hunter growled. Emily had no choice; she liked Kodi a lot. But she didn’t want Hunter to go after Kodi, either. “Fine” Emily replied bluntly. “Good” Hunter said as he left to go into the other room. Emily looked at the ground, and thought about Kodi. Kodi had been one of the first dogs to treat her so nicely in a long time. For years, she had been talked down to and abused. But Kodi had been so nice to her…the last dogs to treat her so nicely were her parents. Emily then went to sleep, with Kodi deep in her thoughts.

     While Emily didn’t admit to it, she actually really did like Kodi, not to mention his family and friends. They had all been so nice to her, something she hadn’t received in a long time. Something about Kodi made Emily feel particularly happy. She didn’t know what it was: his looks, his personality, the way he moved, or maybe even all of them combined. What she didn’t know was that Kodi felt the same way.

     As Emily woke up the next morning, she continued to think about Kodi. “This isn’t fair” Emily thought to herself. “Kodi, why can’t I be with you?” she asked herself. She then thought back to when she was first adopted and taken away from her parents. She hadn’t seen them in years, and she knew she probably wouldn’t see them again. And just when she finally met someone who treated her nicely, she got yanked away again.

     Suddenly, Emily heard a voice coming from the other room. She recognized the voice as that of her owner, Carlson. She noticed that he was placing various tools into a bag. “I’m not going to lose to a bunch of mail delivery mutts,” Carlson thought aloud “if I have to stop them personally, I will.” Emily then realized that Carlson was trying to sabotage the race in his favor. She had to tell Kodi, even if Hunter said not to talk to him. As Emily rushed to the door, she was stopped by Hunter. “Where are you going?” Hunter asked suspiciously. “I, um, just wanted to get some fresh air…” Emily said nervously. “No, you were gonna see that Kodi mutt again!” Hunter said accusingly. Emily looked at the floor. She had always been afraid of Hunter, but now she was downright terrified of him. “I’m watching you…” Hunter growled. Emily then walked away from the door and back into the