careful now, ok?” He gave her one last pat as he walked towards the kitchen.

Kaila’s eyes stayed closed even when she felt her father and mother pad over to stand beside her. She just wanted to stay like this forever, sleepy and warm and a little damp from the wet cloth. Kaila felt Balto nudge her face with his nose, and she wearily opened her eyes and sat up. She looked at Jenna, and could tell from her mother’s face that Balto had told her everything. Kaila hung her head and didn’t look up as Balto questioned her.

“Alright Kaila, we have to know. Who started the fight?”

“Hawk, Snow, and Cookie, but mainly Hawk,” Kaila replied truthfully. “It’s nothing new. They’ve made fun of me for being part wolf ever since we were pups.”

“ But you’ve never gotten into a fight like this before,” Balto said calmly, though you could tell he was trying to hold his anger in almost unsuccessfully. “What was so different about this? What did they say? What did they do?”

“You saw, Dad,” Kaila said wearily. “They, or mainly Hawk, call me wolf-dog and half-breed and hybrid. They bully me. But it’s mostly Hawk. Snow and Cookie just back him up, kind of like Kaltag, Nikki, and Star did to Steele, right?”

Balto caught his breath at this sudden mention of his past. He remembered the hurt, the anger, and the annoyance he felt as Steele and The Trio taunted him. But this wasn’t him. This was happening to his daughter. What was he supposed to do?

Kaila continued. “And I just felt-”

“Angry and annoyed, and tired of it all, so you fought back to get rid of them,” Balto finished for her, and Kaila gave him a long look. Jenna stepped in.

“Balto, there’s no need to drag this all out. Kaila, please, try not to get into any more fights. I know it’s hard, but I’ll see Hawk’s parents myself, and we’ll take care if this. Just because you look like a wolf doesn’t give him a good reason to make fun of you.”

“But it does!” Kaila burst out. “I’m different, ok? I’ve been treated different all my life, and I’ll stay different until I die! I hate it, but I have to cope.” She whirled around to face Balto. “Why did you have to be part wolf? I know I sound just like Aleu, but I wish you weren’t!”

That sudden dagger struck deep, but Kaila didn’t even pay attention to the hurt expression on her father’s face. Balto tried again. “Look, I know this is hard, but I’ve been through it. I want to help. I-” Kaila cut him off.

“I know, I know! I know you’ve been through it! You’ve said it a million times! But in case you haven’t noticed, this is about me! Not you!” She seethed with frustration, baring her teeth. “You don’t understand!”

Anger clouded her mind, and suddenly Kaila just wanted to yell and scream and tear something apart and get out all the frustration she had kept bottled up inside for so long. She lunged blindly at Balto and bit him on the cheek. Jenna gasped softly. Kaila backed away, shocked at what she’d done.

Balto watched as tiny red beads of blood slowly welled up and dripped down his cheek. His eyes turned towards Kaila, and such a frightening and horrifying expression was in them that Kaila had to look away. The full force of what she’d done hit her like a giant wave. Terrified, she bolted from the house, through the doggy door and out into the cold. “Kaila! Kaila, wait!” Jenna cried after her, but Kaila didn’t stop running. The wind whipped around the runaway wolf-dog and cold ice crystals were flung into her face. A storm was coming.

She dashed away from the house and through the town, fleeing Nome. Finally she stopped on the tundra just outside of town. Great tearing heaves flung themselves from her chest, and she sat defeatedly, gasping for air. When she could breathe easily, a tear slid down one cheek. She roughly wiped it away with the tip of her tail. What was she supposed to do? It seemed like every wolf-dog in the family had to have some kind of struggle. First Balto with the dogsled team. Then Aleu with the spirits and her wolf pack. And now her, Kaila.

Kaila felt all confused, and angry and sad, all torn up inside, like a puzzle that had been flung all over the floor and the pieces scattered everywhere. She remembered the struggle Balto and Aleu had to go through to find out ‘who they were’. Who was SHE anyway? She would never know till all those mental puzzle pieces had been put together to make her, Kaila. And it would take a lifetime to do that.

A sudden gust of wind whipped her fur into tangled, streaming wisps of brown-gray, and Kaila suddenly remembered a lullaby Jenna had sang to her every night when she was a puppy. Balto’s mother, Aniu, had sang it to Balto, and since Balto wasn’t a very good singer, he had taught it to Jenna so she could sing it to their puppies. Now it was like a family tradition.

Kaila began singing very softly to herself.

‘Deep in the night, the winds blow cold,

And in a heartbeat, the fear takes hold.’

A faint glimmer of color on the hillside caught Kaila’s attention. It glinted red, then blue, then green, and suddenly Kaila realized. The colored bottles! Or the ‘polar icecaps’, as Balto liked to call them. Kaila found herself heading towards the hillside, and as she padded up the powdery slope she sang softly.

‘Deep in the storm, there’s a place that’s soft and still,

Where the road waits to be taken, if you only will,

The voices inside you can lead you so astray,

Believe in what you dream,

Don’t turn away, don’t you turn away,’

Kaila stepped towards the broken bottles and recited the words her father had said when he taught her this trick. “The sun…” she said quietly, turning the colored glass towards the lighted town of Nome. “And…to the north…”

Light shafts of blue, green, red, pink, and magenta shot up to make a cloud of shimmering waves of color. Kaila felt her heart race with so much beauty, and she sang out.

‘Reach for the light,

You might touch the sky,

Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,

Reach for the light,

To capture a star,

Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are,’

The Northern Lights danced before her eyes, and she was dazzled by their simplicity and beauty. Her yellow eyes watched the milky rainbow in front of her as if in a trance. Nothing mattered except her and the Aurora Borealis.

Frightening thoughts entered her mind for those few minutes, though. Did Jenna still love her? Did Balto still love her? Would she be able to go back home? Would Balto ever forgive her for biting him like that? Kaila tried to push these thoughts away, and focused everything she had on the Aurora.

Suddenly, through the silence she heard a soft, warm voice singing. The tune and words were familiar.

“ ‘…come out of the darkness, and find out who you are.’” A white wolf slid out from the shadows, and Kaila froze. She could feel her pulse quicken and her heart start to thump. Her mind raced in a blur of images. Why was this singing white wolf here? Was she going to eat Kaila? And how did this white wolf know that song, the song that only her family knew?

Kaila’s wolf instincts suddenly told her she was in the presence of an alpha wolf, and she sank to her belly, whimpering softly. Kaila felt the white wolf’s fur brush her side, and a voice came close to her ear. Kaila looked up to see a regal old wolf with snowy white fur, a long muzzle, and mustard yellow eyes that were wise and knowing. Kaila shrank away, but the white wolf nudged her side and said in a pleasant, round voice, “Peace, granddaughter. I will not hurt you.”

Kaila looked up. “What? You’re my…grandmother? Aniu?” The white wolf laughed softly.

“Yes, I am your grandmother, and yes, I am Aniu.” Aniu stopped and gave her a questioning look. “But who are you?”

“Well, my name’s Kaila,” Kaila said limply, “But I know you’re going to tell me that’s WHAT I am, not who I am. My dad’s told me Aleu’s story about a million times. I practically know it by heart!”

Aniu had a surprised and pleased expression on her face. “Do-”

“How did you find me?” Kaila interrupted. She knew what Aniu was going to ask, but she didn’t want to get into that too quickly.

“I heard you howl from Nome. It sounded like you needed help, so I followed it to the outside of town. Then I saw the Northern Lights up here. Your shadow looks almost exactly like a wolf’s. I knew it had to be one of my son’s children.” Aniu smiled with tenderness at her new-found granddaughter. Kaila gulped. She knew what was coming.

Aniu spoke.

“Do you wish to know WHO YOU ARE?”

Kaila stared out into the distance. “It’s not that I don’t know who I am, I just don’t know where I belong,” she said softly. “A dog lives in a town. A wolf lives in the wilderness. I’m half and half, so where do I belong?” She nodded and turned to Aniu. “No, I don’t need to know who I am, at least not right now. It’ll take me a lifetime to figure that out. I just want to know where I belong.”

Aniu nodded and began to walk away. “Then follow me.”

The blowing white snow swallowed Aniu up, and Kaila lost sight of her in the whiteness. Then a sharp, clear howl came back to her, and Kaila knew it was Aniu beckoning to her. Kaila howled back, and stepped out to be surrounded by