him with our lives and he had been spying on us all that time. Well, as you might imagine, there was a huge fight, and we won and got the piece of territory, but Lakota hasn’t trusted anyone but his pack ever since. His heart grew hard, and he kinda shrank away from the world. You’ll have to forgive him.”

There was silence as both Sirius and Kaila thought over the story. Kaila was especially amazed at how something like that could happen. A good-hearted deed had turned into a bloody battle. No wonder Lakota was so hard and stingy!

“So…do you have the whole pack sorted out yet?” Sirius asked suddenly. Kaila started.

Sirius saw her startled expression and began to explain his pack to her.

“I have three mates,” he said. He thumped his tail three times on the ground to affirm it. “Aniu, Sage, and Kiowa. Aniu is your grandmother, as you know, Sage is the one that took the kids on a hunt, and Kiowa is the one that’s…going to have puppies.” A spark of pride lit up his eyes as he said those words. Kaila smiled and waited for him to continue. “Lakota is Aniu’s son,” ‘Lakota’s my dad’s half-brother!’ Kaila thought excitedly, “Sarai is Sage’s daughter, and we’ll soon have pups for Kiowa.” The flash of pride came back into his eyes, but disappeared when he heard a shuffling outside the cave.

“They’re back!” Kaila exclaimed, running to the entrance. Sarai, Sage, and Lakota emerged dragging half a caribou carcass into the cave. Aniu came in behind them.

“Look how much we got, Dad!” Sarai yelled. “We found this baby down by the creek!”

“C’mon, everybody, dig in!” Lakota shouted. He ignored Kaila and dove into the pile of meat, chewing vigorously and getting red blood on his muzzle.

Kaila recoiled. Raw meat. She had forgotten. How was she going to eat the next three days? Kiowa saw Kaila hesitate, and spoke up for the first time.

“Sirius, what’s Kaila going to eat? She’s a town dog. She’s used to cooked meat.”

All the wolves turned towards Kaila, and the room grew quiet. Sarai called out. “We don’t have anything else. She’s just gonna have to eat raw meat like everyone else.”

“Let her starve,” Lakota growled, and went back to eating. His muzzle was smeared with blood, and Kaila shuddered at the sight.

“Sarai’s right,” Sage said, and took a small piece of meat in her mouth, walked over to Kaila and dropped it at the wolf-dog’s feet. “Here, try it.”

Kaila stared at the slimy piece of caribou thigh, and felt nauseous at the thought of actually putting that thing in her mouth. Well, she had to try. It was now or never.

Gingerly she pawed at it, then tentatively bent down and scooped the meat into her mouth with her tongue. The juicy, slurpy taste filled her mouth and she almost choked. Ugh! How could they eat this? She was about to spit it out when her wolf side took over.

The meat suddenly tasted delicious, the rich taste of blood and flesh mixing together to form a strong, sweet flavor. Kaila chewed and swallowed, then turned to face her waiting companions.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s eat,” she said, licking her lips. Surprised expressions broke out on each pack member’s face. Even Lakota stopped eating and looked up to stare at Kaila. All was quiet in the amazed silence.

Suddenly Sarai yelled, “Alright!” and rushed over to hug Kaila. Kaila’s heart felt full as she realized Sarai was welcoming her into the pack family, at least for awhile, and accepting her as a friend. Kaila joined the pack with Sarai at her side as they all settled in to the caribou feast.

Later that night, Sarai helped Kaila scoop out a bed in the moist earth of the cave’s floor. Dirt flew in all directions, and small piles of it grew behind them. Kaila marveled at how fast Sarai could dig. In no time at all Kaila had a rounded, earthy bed just the right size for her to lay down in and stretch out.

“Thanks, Sarai,” Kaila said gratefully as Sarai backed up and lay down in the bed right next to Kaila’s.

“No problem,” Sarai said as she rolled her shoulders, trying to get comfortable. “You’ll need all the help you can get.”

Kaila started, then sat up.

“You don’t think I’ll make it out here, do you?” she said in a soft, accusing voice. Sarai cricked her tail nervously.

“To tell you the truth, Kaila, I don’t think any of us think you’ll make it. Except Aniu, of course. Even if you are part wolf, you’ve lived all your life in a town. To us you’re pretty much just a regular dog.” With that proclamation, Sarai shifted to lay on her side, facing away from Kaila.

Kaila felt her face get hot and her blood begin to simmer with anger and annoyance. Just a regular dog?! That’s all they thought of her?! Just a stupid, frolicking puppydog that wanted to have some excitement and joined the pack. Kaila fumed, and in her mind she saw images of herself doing better than any of the wolves, hunting better, tracking faster, and moving up to be the beta wolf of the pack. ‘I’ll show them,’ Kaila thought fiercely. ‘I’ll show them.’

The den grew quiet as one by one each wolf dropped off to sleep. Pretty soon, Kaila was the only one awake. She stared up at the sky through a crack in the rocky cave ceiling, and Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens, shone down upon her.

Early the next morning, Balto awoke at Jenna’s house. At first he was confused. What was he doing here? Why wasn’t he on his boat? Then the last day’s events flashed through his mind, and he groaned. Kaila.

Balto got up and stole out to get his breakfast from the butcher’s, and when he crept back in Jenna was waiting for him.

“You’ll be needing this before you go,” she said, and nuzzled him tenderly. Balto brushed his head against her bandana and breathed in her familiar scent. They had only nuzzled like this before puppies, before all these problems. He loved their pups, he knew Jenna did too, but sometimes it just got to be a little too much.

“Make it home, and make it safe,” Jenna said, then drew away. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Goodbye. I love you.”

Balto gazed into the beautiful husky’s fiery red-brown eyes, then dashed away and hurried through the town. Shouts of recognition and friendly hellos from the other town dogs greeted him as he sped through town, but he had no time to stop. He headed toward the slope where the ‘polar icecaps’ were, the last place Kaila had been before she ran off. He needed to find his daughter.

Balto caught a scent, but it was very weak. The departed snowstorm had messed with the scents of the animals that had passed by. He carefully followed Kaila’s scent, and soon another strangely familiar scent interlaced with Kaila’s. Balto stopped as he realized.

“Mother?”

He began tracking faster than ever, wondering why in the world Aniu would lead his daughter, her own granddaughter, away from home.

Kaila awoke that same morning in the pack’s cave, but unlike her father she was not confused about where she was. The facts about her whereabouts had echoed in her sleep all night long. She got up and walked over to the remains of the caribou carcass. It had been bitten and chewed and gnawed until only scraps of meat were left, and the caribou’s white bones seemed to glow in the darkness from under the raw pieces of meat. Those bones would be put to use too. Sage had showed Kaila how to crack the bones open with her teeth and eat the calcium-rich marrow inside. Kaila did this, and ate some scraps for her breakfast.

There was movement from the back of the cave. Sirius strode out from the back and bade a sleepy hello to Kaila. Kaila nodded back and watched as Sirius walked briskly to a spot just outside the cave. He sat down on his haunches and lifted his head, and howled, a deep, booming bass. The sound woke Kaila up to the refreshing coolness of the morning, and stirrings came from the back of the cave. The others were waking up.

Aniu traipsed past Kaila and joined Sirius, howling that howl Kaila knew so well, sharp and clear. Sarai joined in with her high voice, and Lakota with his medium, brassy howl. Sage’s howl was strong and sweet, like her name, and even Kiowa joined in with her high, high voice, even higher than Sarai’s. The Anvil Creek pack harmonized, and Kaila was left out of the circle of wolves surrounding Sirius.

Kaila gulped and hesitated, but a voice in her head urged her on. ‘I AM part of the pack.’ Kaila slipped between Lakota and Kiowa and picked a note slightly lower than Sarai’s. She howled the silvery note, and was surprised to find the others still went on harmonizing, and she thought she even saw Aniu smile. The pack howled together as one, and the morning hunt was ready to begin.

“Stop stepping on my paws, Lakota!”

“Ow! Hey, quit biting my tail, Sarai!”

The two yearlings quarreled loudly as the pack trekked across the tundra. Sage shushed them, and Kaila felt restless. When were they going to hunt? Of course, she didn’t know anything about hunting, but she’d rather be DOING something than just walking, walking, walking.

Sirius stopped suddenly, and Kaila heard Kiowa exclaim softly, “A moose!”

Sirius began directing silently. Kaila wasn’t sure how he did it. Something in his golden eyes told Sage and Kiowa to herd the moose toward the pack. The two streaked away, even with Kiowa and her swollen belly. The pups were due anytime now.

The two furry