parted, revealing his flashing fangs. She was past screaming by then, as he opened his jaws, and sank them into her exposed neck.

He held her in that position for several minutes, her warm blood flowing down his chest, staining his fur and jacket crimson. He watched as her eyes began to glaze over, still wide with terror. Finally, he dropped her to the floor. He looked down at her, covered in blood, before he dropped back down to four legs.

"Next time...listen to what your told" he sniggered.

He caught sight of himself in a cracked piece of ice. His whole front was drenched in blood. He smirked.

"Oops. Looks like I made a mess" he laughed. He licked up as much of the copper tasting liquid as he could. He felt warm inside.

He sniggered as he looked at Molly's limp form "Let that be a lesson, courtesy of Frost"

He smiled, then padded out of the alley. He looked up at the twinkling lights above, their light reflecting in his eyes.

"Next stop...Nome" he said aloud. He grinned as he padded away through the snow, Molly's lifeless eyes staring back at him.

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Balto padded through Nome, the snow crunching underfoot. As he padded past the post masters for the third time, he paused and glanced up at the clock. It showed 2:30.

"They're late" he said aloud.

He glanced away from the clock face and stared down the street. Koid and the team were expected back today, after a week long trip, but they were late. And Kodi was never late.

"I'm just nervous, thats all," he continued aloud. "Maybe they got held up for a while"

Nodding his head, he resumed padding his circuit round the building. He looked up as the postmaster stepped outside.

"No luck yet boy?" he walked down the steps leading up to the building. Balto barked in reply. The man smiled, knelt down and patted Balto on the head.

"No worries. I'm sure they'll be here shortly. Kodi's never let us down yet has it Balto?"

Balto lifted his head and licked the mans hand. He chuckled, and patted Balto one last time before walking back inside.

"He's right. Kodi's never not made a delivery, so there's no need to worry" Balto thought. Fairbanks was pretty far off, nearly seven hundred miles, but the team had made it there and back within the week on time before. But still, he couldn't shake off the nagging feeling in his head that kept him pacing back and forth along the same worn area of snow.

That feeling hadn't stopped ever since he had got back home. After the Zanik conflict, he and Jenna had come back to Nome along with Dingo, Kodi and Dusty, but leaving behind Saba. She was back at Aleu's cave with Chris, her new mate. Although she hadn't known, Chris was a double agent for the Zaniks, and had been planning to assassinate Aleu and allow Grant to assume control of the clan. Fortunately, he had come around to the right side, and killed Grant before he could take over. After that, the Zaniks had accepted Aleu as their new leader, and Saba had decided to remain in the cave with Chris and form their own family. The thought made Balto smile. He would be a grandpa sooner or later.

He paused again and glanced up at the clock. It now said 2:43. His brow furrowed.

"What's taking them so long? Kodi's usually right on time"

He hated feeling like this. Ever since he had got back to town he had been feeling on edge. And that had been over a month ago. He had tried to put it to one side, but it always crept back no matter how hard he tried. He was worried about Saba, and how she was coping at the cave. He was worried for his friends Chester and Stacy, raising their pups in a wolf environment. He was worried about what other unpleasantness was about to rear it head when he least expected it. And God knows he had seen enough of that recently.

His head snapped up as he heard the sound of distant barking. He broke into a wide grin as a sled-team came into view, and coupled to the front was...

"Kodi!" he barked, before jumping aside as the sled pulled up opposite the postmasters. Making sure there were no cars approaching, Balto hurried over as the musher started unhooking the panting dogs.

"Hey Dad" Kodi smiled as his harness was unhooked. Balto smiled in relief.

"Your late" he remarked. Kodi smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah. We got held up for a while in town. Extra mail that we hadn't been expecting slowed us down a bit. How late are we exactly?"

Balto checked the clock "About an hour" he said. Kodi sighed.

"Not our best then, huh?"

Balto smiled "At least you got here safely. I was getting worried"

"Dad, you gotta quit worrying. We made it, that''s all that matters" Kodi replied. Balto sighed.

"I know, its just...I'm worried"

Kodi smiled softly "About Saba?"

"Not just Saba. All of you. With everything that's happened in the last few months, I can't help but worry. I mean, we were luckly to get out alive last time, and I couldn't bare the thought of it happening again" Balto's ears drooped slightly. Kodi lay a paw on his father's shoulder.

"Dad, it won't. Grant is dead, he's not coming back. Your right, we were lucky last time, but we made it through didn't we?"

Balto nodded. Kodi smiled.

"So there's no need to worry. Besides, I can't have you worrying yourself to death every time we're a few minutes late" he chuckled. Balto smiled.

"Thanks Kodi"

Balto looked towards the sled, which was weighed down by several large sacks of mail. He raised his eyebrows.

"No wonder you were late. That lot must of weighed a tonne!" he remarked. Kodi chuckled.

"Your telling me? I was the one who had to pull it all!"

Balto smirked "Starting to feel your age?"

Kodi huffed "Hardly"

Balto chuckled "So, hows Dusty?" he asked. Kodi smiled.

"She's okay. I think she'll be back on the team by next week. I've missed her, and with all the trips we've been on in the last month I've not been home for a long enough amount of time"

"But this was the last trip for a while?" Balto asked.

Kodi nodded his head "Yep. I was going to go over to the house now. Want to join me?"

"I can't," Balto replied. "Your mother and I are planning on going for a walk tonight"

Kodi raised an eyebrow slyly "Alone?"

Balto tapped him playfully "Don't get any ideas. It's just a nice quite walk that we'll both enjoy. Nothing more"

"Whatever you say Dad" Kodi replied, a sly smirk on his face.

As the two canines padded down the street, they didn't notice one of the mail bags give an ominous lurch, before a sharp claw pierced through the material, and slowly dragged itself against the fabric...

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Not much later in the day, Dingo padded out of the boiler room where a few moments ago he had been chatting with Lance. After he was a good distance away, he looked back at the door which was slightly ajar. As if on cue, Lance stuck his nose outside. A few seconds later, Dingo watched as a female malamute padded up to the door, and nuzzled Lance. A second alter, both of them disappeared inside the boiler room.

Dingo chuckled to himself. Although Lance was trying to be careful, he wasn't fooling anyone. Dingo knew that Lance had had feeling for his sister Saba. He had told him himself when they had gotten back to town. He had felt sorry for Lance, and wished that something would cheer him up soon. And apparently, it had.

It was obvious that Lance and the malamute, who's name was Joyce, were in love. Dingo had accidently caught them both locked in a passionate kiss a few nights before, but he hadn't let on. He'd keep that a secret, for now.

This thought in his head, Dingo padded away down the street. He would pop by his mothers house first, and then catch up with Kodi later.

His train of thought was cut off sharply as he heard a sharp clattering sound. Turning his head, he heard further scuffling sounds coming from the alley behind the butchers. Intrigued, he padded closer. Although it was early afternoon, the alley was dark, meaning he had to squint his eyes to make anything out. Another scuffing sound caught his atttention, and one of the upturned bins lurched sideways.

"What the...?" Dingo said aloud, as the bin shook again, this time spilling its contents out onto the floor. The stench of rotting meat caused him to wrinkle his nose up.

"Must be a...stray cat or something" he said, trying not to throw up as the overpowering smell came to his nostrils. Shaking his head, he made to turn around, but what he saw next caused him to stop in mid step.

Out of the upturned bin, covered in dried blood and rotting meat, emerged a scrawny pup. As Dingo watched, the pup staggered on his legs, trembling as he got his balance. He was gray with lighter markings round his paws and chest, and his bright amber eyes shone through the darkness of the alley. Dingo was taken aback at the amazing likeness the pup had to his Dad.

The pup suddenly looked up and noticed Dingo for the first time. With a whimper, the pup backed away warily.

"Hey, its okay little guy. I won't hurt you" Dingo said calmly, taking a careful step forward so as not to frighten the little pup.

The pup frowned "Who are you? What do you want?" the pup demanded, his amber eyes staring at Dingo with suspicion.

"I'm Dingo. What's your name?" Dingo asked, taking another slight step forwards.

"Why do you want to know?" the pup replied, never taking his eyes off Dingo