The sun had begun to set and Steele said he knew where a safe cave was. The two dogs stepped into the cave and curled up far apart. Polaris once again missed Ginger.

            The next morning, Steele helped Polaris find the scraps of a caribou carcass for breakfast. It tasted awful, but it was better than nothing.

            “This is life in the wild,” Steele said. “Still want to run away?”

            “What do you care?” Polaris said.

            “I just don’t want another dog to have to live like me,” Steele said.

            “OK…” Polaris said.

            After enough questioning, Steele revealed he had a crush on another dog back in Nome. She didn’t like him, though.

            “I can’t really blame her,” Steele said. “I wasn’t the nicest dog. Still, it hurt that we’d never be together.”

            Polaris sighed. She knew that feeling.

            She knew that feeling, she finally admitted to herself. Out here in the wild, she could think more clearly and consider things it didn’t even feel safe thinking about back in town.

            Polaris stopped in her tracks.

            “You OK?” Steele said.

            “Yeah,” Polaris said. “I just realized, I can’t go back to the kennel.”

            “Why not?” Steele said, sounding a little angry.

            “Because I don’t want to lose the girl of my dreams like you did!”

            Polaris gasped. The secret was out. She didn’t know how Steele would react, but he just looked sad.

            Polaris ran off into the woods, trying to get away from the stranger she had just spilled her secret to.

            Polaris had not gone far when she heard a growl. The scent hit her nose a moment later.

            “Bear!” she cried.

            She spun around to find a huge grizzly bear. Polaris put her ears down and snarled. She leapt at the bear’s face, but it through her to the ground.

            Just then, Steele leapt in front of her and snarled at the bear. The bear swung at him, but its paw went right through him. Polaris wasn’t sure she had seen it right until Steele’s eyes went pure blue and began to glow.

            The bear turned and ran in fear.

            “What the…?” Polaris said.

            Steele turned and his eyes went back to normal.

            “You OK?” Steele said.

            “You…you…” Polaris babbled. “You’re a ghost, aren’t you?”

            Steele looked away.

            “You are!” Polaris said.

            “OK, I am,” Steele said. “But I want to help you?”
            “Why?” Polaris demanded, still too shocked to be scared.

            “Because…I didn’t live a good life,” he said. “I died in a violent accident. I’m not at peace. I thought if I could help other dogs now, I could find peace and move on.”

            Polaris just stared at Steele.

            “You all right?” he said.

            “Oh, I just found out ghosts are real, as is an afterlife,” Polaris said. “No big deal.”

            “Right,” Steele said.

            They sat in awkward silence until Polaris finally said,

            “You really want to help me? Then teach me to survive in the wild.”

            “All right,” Steele said. “First, you should know that I’m not the only supernatural creature out here. There are animal spirits that I honestly don’t know that much about. There’s a wolf and a fox and a bear and some wolverines.”

            “Greaaaat,” Polaris said. “Spirits. And how are they different from ghosts?”

            “They’re not really dead,” Steele said. “They’re…magic.”

            “Magic,” Polaris repeated. “OK! Why not? While I let that sink in, why don’t you teach me something else?”

            “OK,” Steele said. “Let’s talk about scavenging…”
            The next three days, Steele taught Polaris how to survive in the wild. At the end of the third day, Polaris snuck back into Nome.

            “Haven’t been here in a long time,” Steele said. “How I used to race down these streets! All the girls would smile at me…”

            “Hey, Steele,” Polaris said. “I need to be alone for this.”

            Steele nodded.

            “I’ll meet you tomorrow morning,” Polaris said.

            “Good luck,” Steele said.

            Polaris went to the kennel and scratched on the door.

            Ginger opened the door.

            “Polaris?”

            “Ginger, come with me,” she said. “I have something to tell you.”

            Ginger followed Polaris to the edge of town.

            “Where have you been?” Ginger asked. “I was worried sick!”

            “I quit,” Polaris said. “I’m a wild dog now.”

            “You’re kidding!” Ginger said. “Why?”

            “Because I hate my job, and I don’t like the team—except for you. Ginger…”

            “Yes?” Ginger said.

            “I…”

            “What?”

            “I love you!” Polaris blurted.

            Ginger stared at her for a moment, then said,

            “I love you, too.”

            “You know we can’t stay at the kennel and be in a relationship,” Polaris said. “Runaway with me and we can be wild dogs!”

            “But how do you know how to survive?” Ginger asked.

            “I met a dog who lives out there and he taught me how to survive,” Polaris

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