nose, and he turned with a smile. But why waste my time on your little ones when I can drop by my own children, and more specifically the female who made them! Laughing softly, he made his way further down the street until he came to a warm little shack against a house on the edge of town. He quietly snuck inside and grinned.

There in front of him Jenna lay curled up with her back to him. It would be so easy to kill her right now, he thought, but I’ll play with her first. He put a paw on her shoulder and she sighed, slowly lifting her head.

“Balto, it’s late, what-” She stopped when she recognized who stood before her. “Kale…”

“Hi, Jenna,” he said with a wicked smile, “Miss me?”

“What are you doing here, Kale!” she demanded.

“I came back to see you… and our pups.”

“Isn’t that a coincidence?” growled a voice from behind him. Kale turned in surprise.

Balto stood in the doorway, accompanied by three young huskies; two were red and white like Jenna, and the other was black like Kale.

“Who are they?” Kale inquired arrogantly, indicating the young huskies.

“Some father you are, Kale,” Balto said dryly, walking around Kale to stand beside Jenna, “You can’t even recognize your own children. May I introduce Jake, Carla, and Lyle.” He gestured to the two red and white huskies before putting his paw on the shoulder of the black one.

Kale stared in disbelief for a moment, but quickly regained his witty attitude.

“Well haven’t you all grown up quickly,” he said softly, turning to face Balto and Jenna, “I suppose they don’t even know who I am?”

“Wrong, Kale,” Jenna replied, “We’ve told them all about you.”

“And since they were both Jenna’s pups and yours,” Balto continued, “We’re going to let them choose who they want to accept as their guardian or guardians.” He stepped away and gestured to the three young huskies. “Children…”

For a long moment, no one moved. Then, the three aged pups looked at Balto and Jenna, and then slowly padded toward Kale, who smiled triumphantly.

“That’s right, kids, come to daddy,” he said.

To his surprise, Jake belted him across the muzzle and walked over to Balto and Jenna. Carla slapped him hard across his face, her claws digging into his fur and drawing blood. As he stumbled backward, Lyle padded up to him and stopped.

“Well,” Kale coughed, “at least someone here has a brain in their head.”

Lyle turned and rear on his front legs, catching Kale in the face with both his back legs. Kale flew out the door and into a pair of trashcans, which collapsed on him in a terrific clamor. Lyle padded out and spat on him before rejoining his family. Just then, Kodi and Doc came rushing around the corner.

“Mom, Dad, are…you alright?” Kodi asked, panting hard.

“We’re fine,” Balto assured him, “but I wouldn’t say the same for him.” He gestured to Kale, who lay mostly buried beneath a pile of refuse. Doc padded up to him and listened for breathing, but detected nothing. Clearing away the debris, he found the cause.

“Kale’s dead,” Doc declared, “Some one broke his neck!”

Carla and Jake looked at Lyle, who stepped forward with bowed head.

“That was my fault,” he admitted, “but I just couldn’t forgive him for what he did to our mother!”

“Well I can’t say I blame you,” Doc replied, “I’ll forgive you just this once, seeing how Kale would have faced the same fate had he been caught and tried. He was banished, after all.”

“Thank you, Doc.”

The next morning, Jenna woke beside Balto. Now that Kale’s gone, she thought, maybe we’ll have some peace in Nome...

The End