her. Jenna flinched, waiting for the blow. Suddenly, Steele leapt on her and clamped a paw over her muzzle.

“I have other means of persuasion,” he growled, tightening his grip. Jenna whimpered in pain. Steele smirked and released his grip. “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to use them, but you leave me no choice…” With that, he turned and left, but as he stepped out into the brisk night air, he smiled in a way that would have made even the strongest wolf shudder.

Chapter Seven

As the moon rose against the cold Artic sky, a white wolf padded out of the leader’s den and climbed to the crest of the hill in which it was nestled. Lying down, he looked to the sky and sighed. Two of the shimmering orbs seemed to shine brighter than all the rest.

“You’re up there, aren’t you?” he whispered, “You’re running with Aniu now. Well, the children are alright, and we’re safe now, but I sure wish you were here with us.” He kept looking as tears filled his eyes. “God, I miss you Vella.” Then, the wind changed, and he scented a familiar wolf behind him.

“Talking to your mate, Echo?” Cloud Runner said softly, lying down beside him, “Sometimes I see my parents in the sky. I think Aniu wants us to know our loved ones are safe and in good paws.” She looked over at Echo, who smiled despite his tears.

Suddenly, a howl broke the silence, and Cloud Runner looked up in surprise. “It can’t be…” She howled in response and then listened intently as she whispered frantically under her breath. The reply came faster than she had expected, and her breath caught in her lungs.

“There’s a large group of hostile wolves heading our way,” she said, “It’s them.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Wake them up…” she whispered. Her voice suddenly rose in determination. “Wake every single family up now!” She turned and ran from den to den, calling quickly to those inside and then moving on to the next. The last den she visited was Desai’s.

Desai was Cloud Runner’s first lieutenant, in command of the White Mountain pack’s only unit of professional fighters. Many of them were young, some only three seasons. He himself was very young for a commanding officer, being only six seasons, not far below Cloud Runner’s age.

“Quick,” she said, “gather your troops and meet me by the south border.”

“Yes, Cloud Runner,” he replied, running out into the clearing.

“Desai!” she called after him. He stopped in mid-step and looked at her over his shoulder.

“Be careful,” she said. He nodded and resumed his flight.

Desai quickly gathered his unit from the pack and lead them to the southern border, where the forest gave way to a wide clearing. He stepped up beside Cloud Runner, who was looking intently across the expanse to where the trees reclaimed the land. Among the trees, she could see what was most certainly a military band of wolves at least the size of Desai’s unit, if not larger.

“They’re being bold,” she said to Desai, “These wolves could have easily slipped in from any other direction, but they chose here. They’re trying to intimidate us. They think we’ll run.”

“Then let’s show them how wrong they are!’ he replied.

“If you need help,” Cloud Runner said, “my guards and I will be right behind you.” Desai nodded and turned to his unit, which was lined up expectantly along the edge of the tree line. He took up his position in front of them and whipped his head back in a howl.

“FOR-WARD!”

Jenna lay huddled in the corner of her cave. Though many emotions flooded her mind, the tears on her cheeks revealed the most prevalent one. Steele had tried twice to take her, but both times she had managed to keep him away, once giving him a sizable claw mark on his cheek. Her black, swollen right eye and bruised chest were her rewards for defending herself. She thought often of trying to escape somehow, but more often than not, she gave in to the hopelessness of her situation. The den let out onto a wide open clearing, so she would be easily spotted if she tried to run, and behind the den was an entire pack of wolves that would likely kill her rather than simply try to stop her. To them, she was just an unneeded object, and Steele’s opinion of her was not much higher. She sighed and set her eyes on the puddle of water collecting from a hole in the roof. Seeing her own image in the water, she wondered, if I ever get out of here, will Balto even recognize me?

Just then, she saw another face behind hers, and she closed her eyes. Why doesn’t he leave me alone?

“Well Jenna?” Steele said expectantly, “have you decided to leave your heart behind?”

“What kind of sick question is that?” she replied, “I’m not your property, Steele. You can’t control me.” No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she was forced onto her back and pinned there, with Steele glaring down at her.

“After everything I’ve offered you, Jenna, why, why do you continue to resist?”

“Because no matter what you do to me, I’ll never love you.” Steele pressed both front paws down on her throat at this remark. Jenna gasped for breath and tried in vain to push him back. Steele kept choking off her air.

“Why did you pick that wolf-dog, that half-breed, that mangy moon-howler over me?” he demanded. Jenna summoned every ounce of courage she had to look into his eyes and said in a gagged whisper,

“I guess my taste runs more toward…wolf.” Steele had had enough. He released one paw from her throat and then swung it down across her face. Jenna barely had time to scream before her body connected with the wall, where she stayed, suspended against it for a moment, before sliding to the floor. Steele walked calmly over to her unconscious form and looked down in jealousy and disgust.

“So your taste runs more toward ‘wolf,’ eh? Well then, I guess that’s what it will take to convince you.” He turned and padded away, but then looked back over his shoulder and said, “And if not, it’ll still be fun to watch.”

“Pull back!” Nemec couldn’t believe it. That order couldn’t have come from him It must be someone else talking. It had to be the other pack he was hearing. No, it was him, and he was ordering his wolves to retreat. A few of them looked at him in surprise. Then, everyone was looking at him. Wanting to avoid this awkward situation, he shouted, “Don’t just stand there! I gave you an order! Move!” There was stunned silence for a few moments, and then his call was taken up by his subordinates.

“You heard him! Fall back!”

“Pull back, it’s no good!”

“Fall back!”

Soon Nemec’s unit was in full retreat.

How did they overpower us? he thought, we outnumbered them! After a short while, Nemec turned to his troops again.

“Rest here, we’re far enough back,” he said. While his unit took a short break, one of his own officers came up to him and whispered,

“What are we going to tell Steele?”

“We’re not going to tell him. That pack is too focused on defending its own borders. He won’t notice any difference.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing, sir.” Nemec froze and turned to say something to the officer, but he had already gone back to his group.

Jenna panted and sank to her paws. There was no way she would be able to resist Steele any more. Three wolves, ignoring her cries of pain, had assaulted her all afternoon, laughing the whole time. If there was a hell, she was certain that she was in it. Her whole body ached and burned from bruises and gashes, and her mouth was desert-dry from lack of water. Even the departure of her tormentors did little to cheer her, because she was certain that Steele would not be long to follow. Choking back tears, she turned and looked at the pool of water on the floor. At least, what had been a pool of water earlier. Now she could only see her eyes in the puddle of bloody, tear-filled liquid. Reluctantly, she leaned toward it and tasted some on the end of her tongue. She quickly spat it out in disgust. Dirt would do more to ease my thirst than that, she thought.

Just then, a shadow fell across the floor, and she slowly turned her head to look. Sadera, who had been about to speak, backpedaled upon seeing the horrid condition her ‘prisoner’ was in. Jenna sighed half-heartedly and muttered,

“Where’s Steele?” Sadera didn’t seem to hear her. “Sadera?”

“Our ‘glorious leader’ is busy congratulating Colonel Nemec and his troops,” she said, her voice turning to a growl, “They’ve massacred an entire pack!”

“What!”

“It’s true! I just heard the news myself.”

“Who’s pack!”

“The leader was a female named Cloud Runner.” Jenna felt as though her heart had dropped into her stomach.

“No…” she whimpered, “not them too.”

Meanwhile, Cloud Runner, who was very much alive, was ecstatic from the victory over Steele’s troops. Even better was the casualty count: Four dead and seven wounded out of more than one hundred and fifty wolves. In the face of overwhelming odds, the single fighting unit of the White Mountain pack had beaten back the best troops that Steele had to offer.

As soon as it had been confirmed that there were no unfriendly wolves, Cloud Runner