Balto: Frost

Balto123


Summary: Following on from the Zanik war and the death of Grant, Balto hopes that finally the shadow of 'The Pack' has been extinguished. But he is in for a sickening surprise when the murders start again. Carver's brother has arrived, and he's out for revenge. And the first dog on his list...is Dingo.

Note: Follows on from 'Return Threat'. Set three months after said story. The characters Frost, Heather, Elliot, Chester, Louis, Stacy, Lance, Molly, Jewel, Lorenzo, Max, Vance, Trixxy, Bad Wolf and the events of this story are copyright 2006 by Matt Robinson. The other characters are copyright by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

Rating: PG-13 for violent content and occasional swearing.

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Prologue:

Molly was walking through the streets of Fairbanks. As she was walking, she remembered the events of that night.

"Just think," she thought. "I came out tonight expecting a good time. And all I got was a load of randy sled dogs"

She shivered in revulsion as she remembered how their eyes had been glued on her all night in the dog barn. She knew exactly what they had been thinking, but she had blew them all off.

"None of them were good enough. They were just a bunch of uncivilised mongrels" she said aloud, anger creeping into her tone.

She breathed a deep sigh and surveyed her surroundings. It had been snowing heavily for the past week, and all around her was covered in a thick layer of the white stuff.

"Oh well, it wasn't as if I wanted a late night anyway" she muttered bitterly, reacting as a large snowflake landed on her muzzle, which she wiped off with her paw.

"Why can't I meet a dream dog? Why do I always end up with loser wheel mutts?" she sighed dreamily, the image of her perfect dog imprinted on her mind. Molly was a dog who only wanted the best, and more often then not the best wasn't good enough.

With a last dreamy sigh, she began walking in the direction that would lead to her home.

Just then, her ears twitched. She perked her head up, and in the distance she could make out a muffled conversation between two dogs a few buildings down. From what she could gather, both sounded male, and whatever they were talking about it was heated.

Intrigued, Molly padded closer, grateful that the thick snow underfoot muffled her approach. As she got closer, she could make out two shadows imprinted against a nearby wall the two dogs were stood near. In the darkness, she couldn't make anything out.

One of the voices perked up, anger evident in its tone. Molly strained to make out as much as she could.

"...and if you think I'm gonna continue with all this you must be crazier than I thought you were!"

The other voice replied, quieter, but much angrier.

"Just remember who your talking too pally! I don't take too kindly to your tone!"

The first voice broke into a snigger "You sound more and more like Grant everyday. You even said 'pally'!"

Molly took a defensive step back as the second voice snarled in reply.

"Don't-change-the-subject Lorenzo!" he replied, in a clipped angry tone.

"Or what? What are you gonna do?" the first voice, Lorenzo, remarked in a smug voice.

Molly began to feel nervous. This converation was starting to turn uglier by the second.

She saw the shadows shimmer, and both disappeared out of sight. Molly strained to hear anymore of the coversation, but only the faint howl of the wind came to her ears. She smiled faintly.

"Ah well, at least that killed a few minutes"

She turned away, but a sudden noise caused her to spin back round. A sound of splintering wood, and a small yelp of pain.

Molly perked her ears up, hoping to make out anything more. But as the silence contined, she began to feel nervous. Finally, her already curious nature got the better of her, and she padded towards the building the heated discussion had taken place a few moments before-hand.

As she rounded a slight corner, she could make out amongst the piles of rubbish spilling from overflowing bins a single figure through the faint mist. As she padded even closer, she realised she was looking at a brown German Shepard. The walls cast eerie shadows as she approached him.

"Pardon me, but..." she began, but her voice caught in her throat as he looked up at her. In the dim light, she could tell that he was incredibly good looking.

He raised an eyebrow at her "Is there a problem?" he asked.

Molly just stared at him. He was about her age, maybe younger, with all the youthful qualities of a pup in his face. He also had the brownest eyes she had ever seen in her life, and the way they sparkled at her made her feel weak at the knees.

"I...uh...I was just...em..." she stammered. He broke into a smile that made her melt. As he padded closer, she realised he was wearing a leather jacket that fitted over most of his body, and a bright gold tag twinkled from the end of a velvet collar round his neck.

"Are you all right?" he asked. She nodded dumbly.

"I just...I thought I heard something back here. Arguing" she replied. For a brief second, she thought she noticed a flash of anger cross his face, but it was just for a brief second.

"Ah, yes. Guilty as charged I'm afraid" he replied casually, still wearing hs warm smile. Molly smiled back.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what was it about?" she asked. He sighed.

"I've just fallen out with a friend of mine. He just left"

Molly noticed a thin line of blood running from one of his paws, staining the snow underfoot. He noticed and looked down.

"Ah, nuts!" he muttered and raised his paw up. Molly noticed that the pad had been split, blood slowly seeping from the tear.

"How did that happen?" she asked concerned. He frowned in annoyance.

"I must have stepped on something. It's nothing" he shook his paw, a few drips of blood flying into the air.

"Are you sure? It looks quite painful" Molly remarked. He smiled.

"I've got a high pain tolerance. It'll be fine"

Molly nodded "Okay. Erm...do you...do you have a name?"

He looked up surprised, then smiled at her "Yeah. I'm Drake"

Molly smiled "Nice name. I'm Molly"

"Nicer name" he replied, and Molly felt herself blush. Something she had never done before.

"So...you live here?" she asked, hoping to avoid sounding as embarrassed as she felt. But her stomach was turning in knots.

Drake nodded "Yeah, but I'm thinking of moving on. I don't like staying in the same place for too long"

"Why's that?" she asked. Drake shrugged.

"I guess you could say I...enjoy travel" he broke into another of his warm smiles, and Molly felt her knee's shake.

"Well...how about spending a night on the town? Maybe I could...help change your mind" Molly smiled. Dake raised an eyebrow

"Are you coming onto me?"

Molly regained some of her compossure, and smiled slyly at him "That depends. You interested?"

Drake winked at her "Very"

He padded up to her, and she was surprised at how much heat was radiating from his fur. His jacket brushed against her, and she shivered as the smooth material touched her fur.

"So...where do you want to go?" he asked, a sly smirk tugging against his lips.

"Anywhere you want. I don't mind" she replied, trying to sound as sexy as possible. It never failed with all the other dogs who had made a pass at her.

Just then, a sharp creak caught her attention. She span round, and realised it was coming from the alley they had just walked out of.

"What was that?" she asked aloud. Drake frowned.

"I'll go check. I won't be long"

Molly watched as he padded back into the alley, but her curiosity once again got the better of her, and she silently padded after him.

As she watched him, she suddenly noticed something poking out of the shadows ahead of her, which Drake was standing over. She strained her eyes to make out what it was.

What she saw made her want to throw up.

On the floor, the snow stained bright crimson, was the body of a dog. It was mauled beyong belief, its limbs twisted into awkward positions. But that wasn't all. In the dogs back were several wooden posts, which the dog had been skewered to the wall with. Molly realised with a sickening lurch that the dog must have been impaled to the wall with incredible force.

She couldn't help it. She let out a scream.

Drake looked up sharply from within the shadows, and Molly's blood ran cold as his eyes glared back at her with an intense fire. As she watched, Drake seemed to rise up in height, his eyes still burning at her.

Molly let out a terrified squeak as he loomed out of the shadows, and she realised the reason why he had appeared to grow in height.

He was walking on his back legs.

She felt the incredible urge to run, but she collapsed to the floor with a yelp, too terrified to move as he walked up to her.

"I told you...to wait" he growled, his teeth flashing. They were razor sharp.

Molly yelped as Drake picked her up with an immense strength, and pinned her against the wall. His claws dug into her shoulders.

"You know what makes me sick of you lot? You never listen!" he snarled, before belting her viciously round the face. Molly tasted blood as it flowed into her mouth.

"Please....don't hurt me" she sobbed. She yelped in pain as he dug his claws harder into her skin.

She began to shiver as his lips parted, revealing his