much more to this than what they could smell. After a hard thought, she came to a decision.

“Let’s go.”

She started easily in the direction of the scents’ origin being mindful of the potential dangers that lay ahead. The tan leader and the rest of the group started as well and soon joined Ceuni at her side.

They hadn’t gone but maybe a quarter of a mile when the two leaders got low and slowed their pace to that of a cautious crawl. The other wolves followed suit and the group continued on for another hundred yards. Only one line of trees left to go. Ceuni and the tan leader halted the party and bellied their way through the trees, stopping just a few feet before they would be out in the open. From this position they peeked out at a site that they wouldn’t soon forget. Without taking the time to fully observe he scene they called for the all clear and disappeared from the sight of the pack.

The pack soon strolled through the trees with high ambitions that were quickly dashed. They gazed morbidly at the horrid scene before them. There were the mauled and bloody bodies of six dogs scattered around an unattended sled, while the human musher lay dead a short distance from it. Mixed in the churned and dirty snow was what appeared to be buckets of blood soaked in all around the entire area, discharged shells from the broken rifle that fired them, and tuft upon tuft of mixed fur flung about the place. The twelve wolves gazed silently around them with one word left unspoken in their minds. Grizzly.

After a few moments spent in a silent gawk the wolves went about the pointless task of checking for survivors. Ceuni, the tan leader, and four other wolves dispersed to check for any signs of life. The tan leader and the four others had no trouble in determining the status of the dogs they inspected. Ceuni on the other hand had it different. As she approached her chosen dog she was better able to take in his features. She tool in the thinning brown and tan fur and large paws, the darker goggles around his closed eyes, but most incredible was the long lean build that this particular canine possessed. It much resembled that of her own, but was slightly different in a way. She found him devilishly handsome, and slightly dangerous due to his husky features, but with a gentle face that told of an easy going personality. Such a shame he had to go like this.

Although… he didn’t have any major injuries that were visible to the naked eye. It was possible that he survived; but he lay perfectly still on his side, and who knows how long he’d been here. She moved around behind him and found the problem; she could clearly see that his back was broken just above his rear hips. She moved sadly around again to his front and took one last long…

Wait! What was that?

Ceuni watched more carefully this time and…

Yes, there it was again! Just the slightest rise in the hybrid’s chest.

“We have a survivor.”

Chapter 5

She had run so fast that by now she was running off the fumes of pure desperation. She didn't know how far she had gone or how much further she needed to go. All she knew was that she had to find Balto.

Harv's trampled and bloody trail led up a slippery hill where a thin layer of snow remained in places only because it had been left undisturbed and Jenna fought the crumbling slope until she finally crested the hill. Here she paused to catch her breath and ran here gaze over the land beneath her. She scanned the area and saw where Harv's trail of paw prints led off to the right and disappeared through a thick line of trees. That was where she was to go. Jenna took a moment more for a breather then took off down the hill, stumbling every so often until she was on level ground. She steered right and picked up the trial again, following it for about an eighth of a mile until she was almost at the treeline.

There she stopped, taking in for the first time in the life the horrible smell of death. Never before had she smelt something so foul and it damn near made her sick. There was a lot of indecision weighing on her mind now. Should she press forward and face whatever horror lay ahead in the unknown?, or turn back and accept what Harv had told her.

“Harv.”

Wow, she couldn't believe she had just left him there bleeding to death in front of her house like that. She hoped now that he was able to find help. (Unfortunately not. Harv passed away just a minute or two after Jenna left.)

The answer became quite clear to Jenna. Balto was somewhere on the other side of those trees and she had to help him.

Holding her breath Jenna started weaving her way through the tangle of trees. Five yards later she came upon the last couple of branches before the open trail on the other side. Here she stopped for a moment, closed her eyes tight, and pushed her way through. Slowly she pried her lids open and looked down right at a crushed and mangled body. She choked and covered her mouth with her paw, quickly turning away with tears in her eyes. She had only caught a quick glimpse of it, but she saw enough to make her vomit, sending her breakfast out onto the snow in three consecutive recalls. Jenna regained herself and turned back to the clearing, this time taking in fully the gruesome fates of the team.

The tears in her eyes brimmed and began to slowly roll down her cheeks and she felt her stomach lurching up into her throat once again. She took in a long breath through her mouth and held it (all these recalls probably weren't good for the pups anyhow) until she was certain she was okay, then mustered up enough courage to venture out onto the trail. She gazed desperately around at the scattered bodies, looking over each unrecognizable form carefully, but the one she sought just wasn't anywhere to be found. Where could he possibly be?

It made her shudder to to think about, but she knew that the only way she could ever locate him now was by scent. She put her nose to the wind and took in a quick sniff, nearly choking on the foul smell. She waited until her body calmed and tried again, this time with better results. Through all the rot and strange, unfamiliar scents she managed to pick out the one she was after. She followed the scent past the trampled snow, the crater that was left by an impact, another impact, and finally came to where Balto's freshish scent was the strongest. But again there were those strange scents recently made gathered around that spot, along with strange paw prints that had milled about for some time and then went off in the other direction.

How odd. What could have happened here? Whatever it was it happened only a short time ago, max of twenty minutes or less. She put her nose in the direction that the paw prints led and... yes, Balto's scent! He could be alive after all! But why would he go with total strangers instead of coming home? That question would just have to be answered later. All she thought about now was finding her mate.

There were a dozen wolves sliding quickly across the waking earth, the muscular brown wolf in the middle stepping carefully so as to not drop the wounded wolf dog he had sprawled across his back. They knew that time was against them and to make matters worse, they couldn't go the speed they wanted to through fear of worsening the unconscious wolf dog's condition. They weren't but about a quarter mile from where they called home, but they had no idea just how much longer the injured hybrid could hold on. As to why they were taking him in the first place? It could be that they saw him as a threat to their pack due to his half breed pedigree and wanted intel, it could be that they knew and respected him (not likely) but the most probable answer was justified through Ceuni. Ever since she found this strange hybrid she couldn't take her eyes off of him. She ran right along side the brown wolf and kept a careful eye for any signs of distress. To all who noticed it would seem quite clear that their hunt leader had some feelings for this strange half breed.

After a few more long minutes, the tan hunt leader let off a howl signaling their arrival, then let out one in a shorter and different note. The rest of the pack, a few pups, some omegas, and finally the alpha pair appeared over the horizon and began making their way hurriedly over to the hunting party, the alpha pair shoving their way to the front. Ceuni and the tan hunt leader instructed the carrier to follow them over to the approaching alphas.

“Who is hurt?” Questioned the gray backed alpha male.

“We found him in the wreckage of a grizzly attack,” Ceuni replied just as the carrier arrived behind her.

The alpha pair ran their eyes curiously over the unconscious half breed, trying to decide the best course of action. He was a real danger to their pack if he had an allegiance to humans, but then again, Ceuni was usually a really good judge in character. Their daughter had yet to falsely judge a single wolf, pack mate or stranger. The two alphas looked over at each other and silently debated what they were going to do. After a few precious moments the white alpha female spoke.

“What are his injuries?”

“His back is broken just above his rear hips, but his spinal chord seems to be intact. He has a few cuts on his body and is possibly hypothermic,” Ceuni responded quickly.

“Take him to the medical den and find Arnya,” the male alpha