horrible day... "Hey Jack!" Kami called. "I'll race you to the rocks ahead!" She took off running and Jack smiled. He thought back to when he'd met Kami what seemed like decades ago, but was really only about four years past. Since then he'd realized that he'd only been half a soul without her. She made him complete, gave him purpose... as the sole survivors of their clan they also carried hope for the Highland Clan. They'd learned of the news only days after departing their home by the ocean for the shelter of the mountains in the interior of the great state of Alaska. Kami was expecting. This thought filled Jack with joy, because for the last four years he and Kami had tried to have children, and they had failed... but now it as going to happen, he was going to be a father. He looked back up from his reverie to see Kami almost three hundred yards ahead of him. Having climbed the rock pile, she now stood on top of it and howled triumphantly. Jack smiled. "Where does she get her energy?" He asked himself. When the Highland Clan had been all but wiped out Jack had almost lost hope. ...but now he realized that as long as he had Kami, the world could turn out alright after all... A single shot pierced the silence of the forest, and Kami's howl caught in her throat as she tumbled off the back of the pile of rocks. For a moment Jack just stood there, stunned, unable to believe what had just happened... ...then he was moving, and moving fast, running toward his mate. "That did not just happen..." He thought. "Kami fell, that's all... she'll be getting up and laughing when I round this corner. She has to..." ...but as Jack rounded the corner, reality slammed into him like a freight train, demolishing any thoughts of hope he might have had. Kami lay on the ground. She tried to stand, but had little luck in this effort, so she made it up on her forelegs and drug herself over to Jack's side. He looked at her dumbstruck. ...at the blood that covered her side... ...the look on her face... ...at the pain in her eyes... He knelt down beside her, his mind still not fully comprehending that he and his mate's time had suddenly been cut drastically short. Kami laid her head on his shoulder as a tear ran down her face. "I'm... I'm so sorry... sweetheart." She said. "This... this is my fault... I should have been more careful." Jack shook his head and nuzzled her, unable to speak. "I... I love you Jack." She said. Jack found his voice then and tears started to fill his eyes as he realized what was happening. "Oh.. oh God... I... I love you too Kami, so very, very much." Kami started to cry then, and Jack couldn't help himself... he cried with her. "...Jack... please... hold me." Kami said. Jack nodded and Kami leaned heavily on his shoulder, burying her face into his fur. Jack wrapped his forelegs around her and held her. Kami joined Aniu in paradise almost two hours later. Jack's mind snapped back to the present as he finished the story and he hung his head. "...wow." Dash said. "That's awful... I'm really sorry buddy." Jack nodded. "...but she's with Aniu now, and... well, it might sound cold, but I don't think there's any point in killing yourself over things you can't change." Dash nodded, remembering his reaction after Shasta's death. "So what have you done since?" Jack asked. "I found another mate." Kodi said. "...about a year ago." "Really?" Jack said. "I can't bear the thought of being as close to someone as I was to her... I just, I can't risk losing someone that close again... I don't think I would survive." "I didn't like the idea at first either, in fact I thought that I would be abandoning Shasta if I did... but I eventually realized that she wouldn't have wanted me to grieve forever, Shasta would have wanted me to move on." Jack nodded, then shook his head. "I see the logic in what you are saying Dash, but I don't think I'll ever be able to follow it." "...give it time." Dash said. "...eventually the hurt will subside." "...so there's no instant wonder cure for a broken heart, huh?" Jack said, a half smile creeping onto his face. "...'fraid not." Dash said with a sigh. "I guess time is the only healer there... but, would you really want her passing to not hurt?" A confused look crossed Jack's mind. "What do you mean by that Dash?" Dash stopped walking. "Well... the reason it hurts so bad to lose her was because the two of you were so close... but... well, even though it hurts to lose her... isn't it worth it to have shared life's experiences with her?" Jack nodded. "I see what you mean, and I guess... well, when you put it that way... it makes sense." Dash sighed. "...look... I'm always around the cave, if you ever need to talk to anyone..." Jack smiled. "Thanks Dash, I really do appreciate it." "You're welcome." Dash said. "I know I needed to talk to someone... anyone after... after Shasta..." "That her name?" Jack asked. Dash nodded. "Yeah." "It's a pretty name." Jack said. Dash's eyes took on a faraway look as he slipped into the past... "...yeah... a pretty name for a beautiful wolf." Dash smiled slightly. "...course if June heard me say that..." "That's your new mate isn't it?" Jack asked. Dash nodded. "We both lost our mates to Shade and Steele... and I guess something brought us together." Jack nodded. "Has it helped?" Dash sighed. "...sort of." He said. "I mean... I'll never be able to forget Shasta... but I'm happier than I was when I was alone, and I don't think of it often... I... I almost killed myself when I lost her." Jack nodded. "I did too." Dash smiled. "Jack, we're almost to the cave, if you want to meet Aleu..." Dash caught himself. "... I mean, Saba, our Alpha, I'll take you to see her. "Thank you very much Dash." Jack said. "...not a problem." Dash said. As they exited the dense forest Jack saw the cave, and the two wolves walked toward it. CHAPTER 6 Shanaea and Tiembe were having a great time. They’d both been released from Doc’s the day before and Shanaea had spent all day yesterday showing him around. Everyone seemed to accept him and Shanaea was glad. She wanted him to stick around. In the few days they’d spent together she’d become quite attached to the young dog. Thins morning the two of them had left town early and set out for the hills. Now, many hours later, they were as far from Nome as Shanaea had ever been. Shanaea ducked as Tiembe leapt at her, but she didn’t duck quite low enough, and he collided with her shoulder, sending her sprawling to the snow. The two of them rolled down the hull until finally, when they stopped, Tiembe was on top of her. Tiembe didn’t understand exactly what happened to him then. A strange feeling came over him as he stared down into her blue eyes. Though he couldn’t remember ever making the decision to do so, he suddenly found his head alongside hers, his nose rubbing gently across her cheek. Shanaea closed her eyes and nuzzled him back. After a few moments, just as unconsciously as it had begun, the moment was over, and Tiembe was again staring into her eyes. Shanaea smiled and Tiembe smiled back. He stepped off of her and Shanaea climbed to her paws. She walked over and nuzzled him again. The smile was still on her face and Tiembe was confused b the unfamiliar feelings that were coursing through him now. “…what is it?” He asked. “…what is what?” Shanaea asked. “You look like you’re going to burst.” Tiembe said. “…don’t you feel it too?” Shanaea asked. “I feel something.” Tiembe said. “I don’t know quite what though… I’ve never felt like this before.” Shanaea looked right at him and for that brief moment Tiembe felt that she saw past his face and to his very soul. It seemed to him that her gaze cut through all his personal armor. The layers and layers that he’d built up for himself fell apart under her ice blue eyes. Though he knew that she couldn’t possibly read his mind, he felt she could see him for all he was, that she could see what he’d done. Even more confusing to Tiembe that this feeling was the next… ...he was afraid. Fear coursed through his veins. Fear that she would somehow know about his past. Now, this was not unusual. He always felt afraid when his deeds were uncovered. What was unusual, and the fact that confused him the most, was what he was afraid of. He wasn’t afraid of having to leave Nome, nor was he afraid of the town’s probable reprisal. He was afraid that if this female found out about his past she would leave him alone once more. “Tiembe…” Shanaea said. She stopped and hesitated. “What Shanaea?” Tiembe asked. Shanaea looked down and then looked back up at him. “Tiembe… I think I’m falling in love with you.” “Is that what this feeling is?” Tiembe thought. …could it be love?” His mother had told him about love, but she’d never mentioned the icy fear he felt right now. Then again, he didn’t remember much about his mother… or what had happened to her. One day she was just gone… and Tiembe never saw her again. “I… I think I’m falling in love with you too Shanaea.” He said. “…you can call me Shay.” Shanaea said, smiling again. “So, you going to be sticking around?” Tiembe smiled back at her, and the two of them started walking through the forest again. “Yeah I think so.” Tiembe said. “I really like Nome, seems like a good bunch of dogs.” Shanaea nodded. “Yeah, they are.” The two walked through the snow covered forest in silence for a few minutes. Shanaea looked up just in time to see the northern lights split the evening sky, blanketing the orange glow with a wave of color. “We’d better be heading back,” Shanaea said. “It’s going to be dark soon, and we’re a long way from home.” Tiembe smiled. “Why not just spend the night out here?” Shanaea sighed. “Tiembe… if I tell you this, you’ve

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