confidence in finding her true place in life overshadowed her internal confusion and slight anger of the word’s usage from the she-wolf.

 

"I am . . .” She raised her head high, topping it off with an empowered grin of acceptance. “I am Aleu, the first-born child of Balto. It's my destiny to lead you to the caribou that live across the water.” Her bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle from the reflected light that bounced off of the icy surfaces. “I am the ‘one who is wolf, and does not know’." As if to ignore the female's comments on her being born as a pet, she looked back at where she had taken that leap of faith only minutes ago and saw him.

 

I'm okay, Papa . . . You can go back to Mom now without worrying about me so much . . . Her thoughts turned into a joyous howl, in which the rest of the Clan joined her in harmonious unity . . . all except for the one female who sat in rage.

 

Who does that part-wolf think she is anyway? She thought, soon placing her paws over her ears, trying to drown out the sounds of her fellow pack-mates. Hmph! No matter how wild she looks, she's just as much of a house pet as her father. Her dark eyes turned to the howling form of the light brown quarter-wolf as the gray she-wolf let out a scoff. Typical tame-born, she is. She's in no condition to be the alpha of the Kawa. Especially since she's only a yearling . . . she has no real experience as a leader! Let alone as a real wolf!

 

She is the one that will lead us to our doom, not Balto. Niju was right . . . Her eyes glanced back at the sight of their former home and she saw a large dark figure watching from one of the rocky cliffs. She lit up with hope at the sight of him and joined the chorus of howls – her cries were loud and piercing, but she was hopeful that the navy-black male would reply back . . .

 

He didn’t look back at all. His head and tail were lowered as he walked back underneath the stony arch that led into their Clan’s now-former gathering ground, ignoring the more jubilant voices of his fellow pack-mates. The dark male was now a loner, forever separated from the safety of his fellow Kawa.

 

The female dark one lowered her ears in sadness, but she looked up, swearing to the sky at that moment . . . I will not serve that tame-born leader. Never! Niju, I am faithful only to you! Oh, if only I had the time to tell you . . . how I really felt about you . . . about us . . .

 

She closed her eyes, remembering that moment when Niju’s own allies had left him to follow Balto’s leadership across the sea. She stood beside him until the end, until one of the others grabbed her away when the ice began to crack, forming the ice bridge. She tried to refuse – she secretly longed to remain by his side, even if it was for the unorthodox purpose of stealing the food of other Clans to stay alive – but to no avail; the wolves blocked her within the safety of the iceberg, allowing her no chance to turn back to her beloved.

 

“Riza?”

 

A sudden female voice shook her from her recollection. The sound was clear now, for the Clan’s singing has finally ended for the moment. She opened her eyes and turned to the direction of the voice on her right. It was another light gray female with white markings only around her striking eyes and down her nose to her belly and ending at the tip of her tail. She looked to be about the same age as the darker one, but her actions showed to act more like a frisky, young wolf pup. She spoke up again. “Riza, are you alright?”

 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, Lorna,” She composed herself as she again gave the destined alpha a glare.

 

“You hate Aleu, don’t you, Riza?” Lorna smiled as she sat beside the other wolf. One hit.

 

“And you miss your darling Niju too, eh?” she added, mocking a lovey-dovey tone as she said it. The second hit.

 

“Plus, you wish that you and Niju were chosen to be Kawa alphas by Nava, right?” With that final comment, Lorna had hit the bulls-eye.

 

“Lorna,” Riza touched the female’s nose with her own, staring at her eye-to-eye. “Have you ever thought of yourself as being annoying?”

 

“Hmm,” The light gray looked up in thought, then quickly looked back at her. “No. No, not really. Why do you ask, Riza?”

 

“Because,” Riza stood up and pushed her away with a show of force, but not enough strength to injure her. “Because, my little twin sister, you’re annoying me right now!”

 

Lorna landed on a sleeping pack-mate with dark brown fur; the collision caused the resting wolf to wake up and growl at the young gray, who quickly leaped up in the air in shock. "Eep! Sorry, sorry!" she apologized suddenly to the darker wolf, lowering her head in a bowing gesture. The furious wolf, still lying on the ground, flipped his body away from the silver-gray and returned back to his sleep. Lorna, after bowing over fifty times, turned back around to her sister. “Sorry, Riza. I guess I’m so excited to be finally able to hunt again! Ah, I’ve missed it for a while!”

 

“You’re not the only one!” Nuk walked up to Lorna, joining her for a quick nuzzle of friendship. “I’ve missed hunting too. I can just smell that fresh meat from here!” He lifted his wide nose up into the air and took a large breath, slowly exhaling it with a smile. “Ah, food! Glorious food!”

 

Sumac and Yak overheard their friend’s joy and walked over to them, joining their conversation and laughter. The trio’s departure gave Aleu some much needed time alone to rest and recover. The new leader had collapsed onto the ice, resting her head on her large beige paws and showing exhaustion from the long swim and life-changing experience that had just occurred to her. She let out a sigh as she closed her eyes, immersing her thoughts in the words that she had just heard in the past few moments . . .

 

“Aniu told me that it would be the one who is wolf but does not know. I believed it was you, but I was wrong. It is your daughter.”

 

She smiled as she remembered the last words she was able to hear Nava say. She never knew that she was actually the one Aniu had called, for she too made the same mistake about her father as well. I thought Papa was who they wanted . . . he’s much older than me and more respected than I am, but . . . this isn’t where he has to be. He still has Mom and the others to worry about. She giggled quietly as she thought about a certain feathered babysitter. I’m sure Uncle Boris is terribly worried about his safety, so I bet he’ll never let him out of his sight after he gets home! She sighed and continued to concentrate. I hope Nava and Papa are okay now, and I just hope I can live up to everyone’s intentions . . .

 

“Aren’t you just a tame-born?”

 

The sharp-tongued remark from the dark-pawed female caused her to worry the most as it cut through her mind like a butcher’s knife. She had always longing to be free of her father’s protective and watchful eye, and now she had achieved it on her own in his presence. She was glad that her father had let her go, but now it seemed that she had to make the remainder of the pack respect her differences on her own . . . especially now that she was their new alpha.

 

Tame-born . . . is that all that I am to them? She wondered, still gazing at the image of the female’s angered face in her mind’s eye. Sure, I was born from a husky and lived in a town, but I’m not meant for that world. Papa is, though . . . he’s a sled dog, and so are my brothers and sisters. They don’t seem to have that wild spirit in them like I do . . .

 

A slight tear formed in her eyes as a flashback of her childhood flickered through her mind. It was a moment from over a year ago – the day before adoption day when she first had hope to feel the love of a human family. Aleu could feel the warmth of the pre-summer sun against her fur, as if she were back inside her pup-sized body. The smell of the fresh water by her father’s boat-side home seeped into her nostrils as it blew into the wind. She could see five tiny figures scampering on the golden ground as their laughter fueled their innocent energy: her two sisters, Yukon and Saba; and her three brothers – Denali, Kodiak, and Dingo. All six of them were all playing with her on the beachside, scooping up sand with their paws and tossing it into each other’s faces. She never liked the feel of the tiny, grainy rocks on her fur, so she would try her hardest to avoid the attacking sand piles by darting, running from them, and sometimes even attacking back as her protective father and their babysitting gander watched on.

 

Then she ran up to a short wooden pole that shot straight out of the sand. The mousy-colored pup leaped up to it, not realizing that her siblings had followed close behind her. As she stood there, something went through her body almost instinctively . . . her nose seemed to angle upward as a high-pitched howl slipped through her throat and into the air. Her right forepaw left the safety of the top base of the pole as her cry continued to fill the atmosphere, much to the shock of her father. She could feel the presence of her five burgundy siblings surround her, but it didn’t matter . . . she felt something that she never understood until now.

 

She felt wild and free.

 

She was now able to speak the tongue of her native ancestors without fear, now that their native voices and language became clearer to her. She could hear the song perfectly, listening to the lyrics of her childhood melody.

 

Here I am – this is me

 

I come into this world so wild and free

 

Here I am – so young and strong

 

Right here in the place where I belong  

 

However, she never got to complete her song, for either her father,

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