help you with your stupid plan.”

Steele’s neutral expression stayed on, but it seemed more artificial than anything now.

“Lies?” He chuckled a little, sweeping one huge white paw over the ground. “You’ve got it all wrong, Chase. I have never lied about my situation to any of the street dogs, and I’m not going to start with a high-class lady such as yourself.”

“Cut the flattery and get to the point,” Chase snapped, unmoved and more than slightly annoyed. She hated the sickly, sweetened, sugary way his words had started to sound. He seemed slightly surprised but went on.

“Well. The truth is, I have been a street dog all these years. I have been exiled to these alleys because of a severe misunderstanding, and deceit on the part of the dog who is now my enemy. I have been hidden here all these years, not wanting to face the jeers and laughs that I would receive in town, but now I have come up with the perfect revenge, this army.” He looked intently down into her face. “You can help me with this, Chase. Your strong personality is needed to make my army stronger than ever. Imagine the power, the control over all these dogs even weaker than yourself.”

Chase couldn’t help imagining it, and the thought was tempting. She had never been able to control anything in her life: why she had a crippled leg, the jeers of the other dogs, her wolf heritage. Now here was something she could direct and take control of. It called out to her, like a warm spot near the fireplace after spending hours out in the cold…“Any recollection of someone called Balto?” she blurted.

A blazing blue spark of some sort lit in Steele’s eye, and a wide grin spread across his face. “Balto? Oh, yeah, yeah, Balto! One of my better friends, though he disappeared when I was exiled here. I wonder what he’s up to these days?” After seeming to ponder the question for a few seconds, he gazed down at her thoughtfully. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Chase muttered, not sure whether to trust this guy or not. He seemed self-centered and too flattering with his words, and he did laugh over others’ weaknesses, but maybe that was just part of his personality. He could be getting revenge for some unfair trick done to him; then again, he could be getting back for something he deserved. She cocked her head slightly as she studied him. Usually she could figure dogs out, but Steele was way too complicated. “What was the thing that happened that got you exiled?”

“Commander!” a gruff voice yelled. Steele got up and strode away, swaggering, and called over his shoulder.

“I’ve got to get back now, Chase, but think about what I said. Think about it.” Chase was left on her own again.

Her eyes studied the large army in front of her. Steele was tempting her, just like he had the alley dogs. Somehow he knew she had always wanted to be in control instead of a weakling pushed to the side, always wanted to have power over her emotions and self-worth. The street dogs had given in to temptation; would it be so bad if she did?

A sharp voice far over to her left made her perk up her ears and turn to see one of the commandants questioning Ketch. Steele joined then, and Chase slid to the wall and crept closer, all the better to hear.

“Sir, is it true you sent this soldier on an errand that concerned going beyond our borders?” the commandant, a strong white Samoyed, asked.

“No,” Steele said grumpily, “I never sent him on any sort of errand. The only time any of these dogs go out of the alleyway is the selected few at night. Don’t you know that, commandant?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, remember it next time!” Steele snarled.

The commandant turned to Ketch again and hooked a paw onto Ketch’s shoulder. “All disobedience must be punished. How many hits, Commander?”

“Five hits,” Steele said, sitting down to watch the show, “No, make it ten. He’s caused trouble for me before; he still needs to learn his lesson. Pound it into him so he doesn’t forget.”

The Samoyed commandant started to push Ketch roughly towards the stone wall, but the brown mutt struggled and managed to tear himself away from the commandant’s grasp. His hazel eyes flicked around desperately as he stumbled toward the exit, but all the other commandants stopped what they were doing and pounded their way towards the escapee. In almost no time at all Ketch was pinned down and blocked off; he was just shy of the exit.

The Samoyed commandant grabbed him up in his teeth and dragged him by the ear to throw him against the gray stone wall. Ketch gasped out a small yelp when he crashed into the stone, then slid to the ground and was silent, his back to the other dogs. Steele came over and inspected Ketch, then resettled himself in the same spot.

“Ten hits,” he said again coolly, though the fiery glint in his eye suggested he would add on another zero to the number if Ketch tried anything else.

The Samoyed tramped over to stand over Ketch and raised his right front paw into the air…and brought it down. Ketch yelped again when the claws dug into his back, leaving four thin trails of dribbling red. The claws slipped out and were raised high again for the next blow. Chase made her decision.

“Commander!” she yelled.

Steele swung around to face her. “Yes…?” he said delicately.

Chase marched up to him and looked him right in the eye. “New commandant Chase reporting for duty,” she said.

That eerie grin slid across Steele’s face again as he nodded deeply to her, satisfied, but then he returned his attention to the torture at the wall. Two more yelps escaped Ketch’s throat as the commandant’s nails dragged in and slid out.

‘And now, for my first act as a commandant,’ Chase thought, and took a few steps nearer to the Samoyed commandant. “STOP!” The large white dog paid her no heed and delivered an extra hard blow, making Ketch cry out, as if to spite her. “I said STOP!” Chase growled angrily.

“You heard my second-in-command,” Steele snapped, “Obey her as you would me!”

But Chase barely heard what Steele said. She barreled into the Samoyed and bowled him over, and quickly ran over and leaned down at Ketch’s side. He was wheezing and breathing hard, blood and sweat mixing in his brown fur. “Just in case you’re wondering, I don’t know why I’m doing this,” she whispered to him, leaning over and inspecting his wounds, “Are you okay?”

“That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard,” Ketch mumbled, struggling to get up but finding he couldn’t. Chase silently helped him to his feet. When he could stand on his own and catch his breath, Ketch solemnly dipped his head to Chase. “Thank you, ma’am. I owe you.”

Chase snorted. “You call me CHASE, remember?”

“You’re going to have to talk to the Commander about that,” Ketch replied, and shuffled away before Chase could demand an explanation. She stared after Ketch before turning to find the white Samoyed dusting himself off and glaring fire at her. She held his gaze, and he was the first to break off the connection to complain huffily to Steele.

“That was only seven hits, sir. You said yourself that punishments should not turn idle.”

“We’ll let him go this time, Talos. There’s bound to be a next time, knowing him, and you’ll be able to give him the last three hits then,” Steele reassured. His blue eyes flicked over to Chase. “And now for our leading lady, who is pretty much clueless to what’s going on.”

“Leading lady?” she spat, “All I want to know is what’s happening! Did you say I’m your second-in-command?...Well, I’m not! I never signed up for anything like that!”

“I’m the one that gives the titles, not you,” Steele told her, “You have been moved up a rank from commandant to second-in-command without being with us for even a day. You should feel honored.”

But Chase felt anything but honored. She angrily looked from Steele’s smug face to Talos’, but found no sympathy or respect.

“You know why I’ve decided to make you my second-in-command?” Steele asked, though he answered it himself. “You’re tough enough to handle these dogs. You would be worthless if you weren’t so determined to stay tough. From now on, you’ll be known as the Second Commander.” He loped over and brushed the tip of his tail down her forehead as if knighting her. Now Chase knew she was almost totally in control of something, but something didn’t feel right…but she wasn’t about to give up the feeling of control for anything. Except for Steele, she was finally in charge. It felt strangely good, and sent anxious shivers down her back.

A few days later Chase had learned most of the tricks of the trade: how to put up a good fight when she had to physically fight with the street dogs to make them stronger, how to make the other commandants obey her by glaring some of the most hateful glares she had ever done, and how to handle Steele. All of these jobs were hard, but none so difficult as the last. She was forced to be Steele’s council and listen when he rambled on and on, sometimes about his army, other times about himself.

Chase wasn’t sure what she thought of Steele. He was self-centered and cruel, but he had also given her control over the dogs. Despite his fur coloring, he was not all black and white; everything about him was a