his head and walked out of the Old Mill.

Gemeni was laying in the floor of the old mill, thinking of what Balto had told her. It was unreal, Drake… dead? It didn’t seem possible.

She’d spoken to her mate only hours before, and it seemed impossible to her that she would never speak to him again.

A stream of fresh tears coursed down her cheeks, joining many others in the fur of her face as she sighed and closed her eyes.

“Mom?” A voice said.

Gemeni opened her eyes and stared in shock at what she saw.

“Jason!” She said.

Jason had a worried look on his face and he stepped forward. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Gemeni stood and walked slowly over to her son. “Where were you?” She asked.

Jason sighed. “I went to Ramsey’s, but on the way home I met this girl… I only meant to talk to her for a minute, but…”

He sighed.

“… I… I lost track of time… I’m sorry if I worried you.”

Gemeni would have been furious at her son had this been under normal circumstances… the circumstances, however, were anything but normal.

“Is that what you’re upset about?” Jason asked.

Gemeni shook her head. “Jason… come here son.”

The young husky walked over to his mother.

“Sit here beside me.” She said.

He did.

“How do I tell him this?” Gemeni thought to herself.

“You know your father went out to look for that thief at the butcher’s…”

Jason nodded, but remained silent.

Gemeni felt more tears come to her eyes, but resolved to hold them off until she was finished speaking.

“Your father found him, and tracked him to an old cabin at the edge of the town… Balto saw him… when your father tried to arrest the dog, he resisted and started a fight.

Your father was winning, but… but then the dog’s owner stepped out of the cabin, and he… he… he shot him.”

Jason’s mouth dropped open. “Well… is he alright?”

Gemeni shook her head slowly.

She couldn’t help it any longer, and her eyes began to fill with tears. Her next sentence was hardly necessary, for Jason already knew in his heart what had happened.

“Jason… he’s… he’s dead.”

Though he had known in his heart, actually hearing it was enough shock to Jason that he stood and backpedaled a few times.

“…dead?” he said.

He looked at the floor, tears coming to his own eyes now.

“Son… come… come here.” Gemeni said.

Jason walked slowly over to his mother and she laid her head on his shoulder.

At first, Jason had thought that she meant to comfort him, but as she sagged against him, Jason realized that it was she who was seeking support.

He’d always thought of his mother as a strong dog, both spiritually and physically, but now, she felt frail and vulnerable.

Jason laid his head on his mother’s shoulder.

“Something about this doesn’t sound right…” Jason thought. “…but… but why would mom lie to me?”

Chapter 5:

A small gray rabbit made its way through the forest.

The trees towered over the small rabbit.

He knew nothing of the world beyond the forest floor. He’d never seen a town, never even seen a human before.

The rabbit hopped up a small, snow-covered hill. As it reached the top, a large red wolf, of a type the dog had never seen before, leapt on top of him.

The wolf rolled over on top of the rabbit, and within seconds, had the much smaller creature’s throat in its jaws.

The rabbit’s heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would burst out of his chest.

The red wolf sighed and let go of the rabbit. “No!” a new voice said, as the rabbit quickly righted itself and started to spring away.

In less time than it took the rabbit to blink, the other wolf was on top of him. This one didn’t relent, and soon, Dolo stood, the now dead rabbit hanging from his jaws.

He walked over to the red wolf.

“Jenna, you’re getting good at tracking them, but we’ve got to get you past this inability to follow through and kill them. You don’t kill, you don’t eat, and if you don’t eat, you starve.

Jenna sighed. “I know; I’m sorry.”

Dolo smiled. “It’s alright. We’ve got three rabbits now, one more and we’ll have a descent dinner, you’ve still got one more chance today, and as many as it takes afterward.”

Jenna laid down next to the spruce tree she had been standing under.

She sighed.

“I don’t know Dolo, maybe I’m just not cut out for life out here in the wild. Maybe… maybe you should just leave me here. I’m being far too much trouble.”

Dolo walked over to her. “I’ll not let you give up on this. You can overcome, come on, we’ll do it together, I promise.”

Jenna nodded and stood up.

The two started walking down the hill.

“You remember where the cave is?” Dolo asked.

Jenna nodded.

“Show me.” Dolo said.

Jenna stopped, a confused look on her face.

Dolo turned and walked behind her.

“Go on, lead the way. I’ll follow you. Keep an eye out for the signs I told you about, we still need one more rabbit, else one of us will go to bed a little hungry tonight.”

Jenna sighed. Tracking the rabbit wouldn’t be too bad, after all, she’d found this one hadn’t she? The part that worried her was actually being able to find the cave.

“I hope I can remember where it is.” Jenna thought. “I’d hate to get us lost…”

Almost as if he had been reading her thoughts, Dolo smiled. “You know where it is, just follow your instincts. Even though you are a dog, you have them, the same as me, you’ve just learned to ignore them, embrace them. The wind and rocks will talk to you, they will lead the way, you have only to smell, to listen and follow their directions.”

Jenna nodded, turned and sighed. “Listen to my instincts.” She thought.

Jenna closed her eyes and sniffed the air.

To her great surprise, the smells that filled her sensory system yielded information like they never had before.

She naturally had a great sense of smell, all dogs do, but this was different, she could smell the miniscule hairs that they had dropped from their bodies hours before as they’d journeyed out here in the forest, among many other things that told her that the cave was to the west, how far she didn’t know, but at least she had a direction.

Jenna looked back at Dolo and smiled, then jerked her head over her shoulder.

She turned around, and headed off to the right, toward a small lake.

Dolo smiled and followed.

That same afternoon all the dogs were gathered in the old mill. Balto had called an impromptu town meeting.

All of the dogs were talking amongst themselves. The topic of conversation was what exactly the meeting was about.

Presently, Balto stood from his place at the front of the crowd and walked up in front of them.

“If I could have your attention please.” Balto said.

He waited a few moments for the talking to die down, and then continued. “I’m sure you’re all wondering what exactly you’re doing here today. I know this meeting was unplanned, and appreciate everyone’s attendance.”

He sighed. “The purpose of this meeting is two fold, first, to pass on some bad news that may not have circulated throughout the town yet.

Last night, Drake pursued a thief from the butcher’s to it’s home. There, I saw him, as he tried to apprehend the thief, and the dog resisted.

Moments after the fight began, the thief’s owner stepped outside, and seeing his dog in trouble, shot Drake once, killing him instantly.”

A sudden gasp ran throughout the room as the death of one of their closest friends hit home.

“I know that Drake and I weren’t exactly on good terms of late, but rest assured that I feel his loss the same as all of you… he was my friend.”

Balto paused. “ …of course…” He said, turning to Gemeni, who was seated in the front row. “…our thoughts and sympathies go out to Gemeni, and his children. Know that we do not take for granted his sacrifice. Drake died making sure we were all safe. It is because of his sacrifice, and other’s before him, that Nome has been a safe place to live, and to raise our families. You have our eternal thanks for his service to us as a community.”

Gemeni nodded. “Thank-you Balto.”

Balto nodded at her and turned. “This brings us to the second part of the reason for this meeting… with Drake gone, we need to select a new keeper of the law. This volunteer will journey to Applegate to meet and train with their keeper of the law, Shep. Once that is complete, they will come back here and assume their duties. Do I have any volunteers?”

No one stepped forward.

“Come on guys.” Balto said. “This is a rather important job in our community.”

Astarre stepped forward.

“I nominate Blaize.” She said, turning to him and smiling. “I think he would make a