anyhow. Dusty wanted to race across the whole tundra, running like she was on fire until she found Kodi. Unfortunately, Aleu held her back, stopping every now and again to tell some story about Kodi and her as young siblings, or her past, or her current family life. Dusty had to remind her again and again to keep moving.

Aleu was once again rambling on about some story that featured Kodi and a pine tree, and that had no point whatsoever. Annoyed, Dusty gritted her teeth and spun around. “Sorry, but do you ever SHUT UP?”

Aleu’s gaze was stunned, then hurt. “Sorry, Dusty. I just haven’t seen you in awhile. Flint and the pups, and Linder and Quicksilver and I just moved here a few days ago, and-”

“Yes, you already told me that,” Dusty said irritably, “Look, Aleu. It’s not that your stories aren’t fascinating, but I just want to find Kodi!”

“Do you think it’s any less fascinating listening to you talk about Kodi all the time?” Aleu retorted, “ ‘I want to find Kodi!’ ‘Where’s Kodi? I can’t find Kodi!’ Kodi, Kodi, Kodi. Hmph!”

That was a cut to Dusty’s pride. “You’re his sister!” she yelled, “How can you not be as worried about him as I am??”

“Well, for one thing,” Aleu said with a sly grin, “I’m not obsessed with him. Two, I know it’s perfectly safe out here. We’re not that far from town.”

“I am not obsessed!” Dusty cried, frustrated that she was being so obvious. A bolt of confusion hit her. Obvious about what? And why did she care what others thought, all of a sudden?

“Okay, okay,” Aleu admonished, “You’re in love, then. Same difference. Doesn’t matter.”

Dusty was about to shoot something back, when she looked closely at Aleu’s face. Aleu’s yellow eyes glowed, making her look as if she were a creature from a distant world. ‘Eerie,’ Dusty thought out of the blue. That was the only word to describe the sight before her.

“What?” Aleu asked.

Dusty didn’t know what to say without the words sounding rude. “Uh…your eyes.”

“My eyes?” Aleu blinked a few times, then seemed to remember. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I don’t even think about how weird it must look to dogs. But if my eyes are glowing, I think that’s an indicator that we should head back.”

“Head back? No,” Dusty said fiercely, “Kodi’s still out there. You think he can survive the night alone?”

“I told you, it’s perfectly safe out there,” Aleu reassured her, “Kodi knows all the spots he can go to shelter from cold and storms. There might even be some food out there, from when we buried snacks under the snow when we were pups. Besides, Kodi is Kodi. He can handle pretty much anything.”

Dusty suddenly felt distressed at the thought that Kodi would have to spend the night alone…She shook herself, and, despite all her protests, she yawned.

“And you’re tired,” Aleu said with a knowing smile, “C’mon. If we haven’t found Kodi by now, we’ll need daylight to search some more. You can come back tomorrow.”

Dusty was too exhausted to argue. Aleu was still talking, but the words rolled off Dusty’s brain without a single nerve registering them. Dusty simply followed Aleu’s paws as they trekked back through the snow.

They retraced their steps, and soon Dusty could feel the dim light from Nome on her face. She looked up to see Aleu turn her back to the light and saunter into a darkened little cave in the hills. Dusty padded curiously after her, and stopped rigidly at the sweetest sight she had ever seen.

Aleu was tenderly nuzzling her mate in the half-light as their four pups jumped on and around them with joyful cries. Dusty felt an ache in her chest, a wanting to have the happiness Aleu had found…

She shook the feeling off again, but this time it was harder to push away. She wondered if she was becoming one of those silly romantics who gush and sigh over the stupidest things. She hoped not. She would hate herself if she did.

“Where were you all this time?” Aleu’s mate murmured, “I sent Quicksilver and Linder out to find you a few minutes ago. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Flint,” Aleu told him, “I just ran into a friend. She was looking for Kodi, my brother. Flint, this is Dusty. Dusty, Flint.”

Flint nodded to Dusty with an understanding smile, and Dusty grinned back, knowing Aleu had the perfect mate.

Dusty looked down to see the brown-gray and black pup staring up at her.

“Why aren’t you a wolf?” He sniffed delicately. “You don’t smell like one. You smell like a dog.” He said the last word with such disgust that Dusty almost took a step back in surprise.

“Shade!” Aleu said reproachfully.

“You tell her, Dirt!” the red, white, black, and brown-gray female pup giggled.

When the two pups couldn’t stop laughing, Aleu got the firmest, my-way-or-the-highway look on her face Dusty had ever seen. If Dusty had been given that look when she was a pup, she would have cowered in the corner, whimpering for mercy.

“Shade and Ruska!” Aleu yelled.

Brother and sister fell silent.

While Aleu nudged them to the side for some low verbal discipline, Flint stepped in with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Those two are always making trouble. We’ve been trying to teach them some manners, but it hasn’t seemed to have taken any affect. You weren’t offended, were you?”

“No, not at all,” Dusty assured him, “I mean, Shade’s right. I’m not a wolf. Why should I be offended by the truth?”

“You’d be surprised at how many people are,” Flint said quietly. His black and white fur rippled gently as he turned to his two other children. “You’ve just met Shade, our second-oldest and the only boy, and Ruska, our youngest. This is Remus, our oldest pup, and Shaila, our middle pup.”

“Nice to meet you,” Remus said in her reserved way. Dusty marveled at how the pup could look exactly like her father and still act so different.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Dusty replied, and got a tentative smile in return.

Shaila sidled timidly up to Dusty, and quickly looked down at her paws every time she glanced into Dusty’s face. “Were you looking for Kodi?” she asked softly, her head down.

“Um, yes,” Dusty said, surprised that the pup had been listening enough to know, “Why?”

Shaila gazed upwards, then flicked her eyes back down. “I’ve seen him.”

Every cell in Dusty’s body leaped with hope. “When? Today? Where? I-”

“Not today.” Shaila shook her head. “Other days. He comes in with the mail team. He laughs with his friends. He takes care of his family.” This time Shaila held her gaze steady on Dusty’s face. The red mark in the middle of her white forehead, to Dusty, seemed to resemble a third eye. “He would be a good mate. For you, I mean. And I know you like him a lot.”

Dusty stared at Shaila in wonder. “You really think he would be a good choice?” It felt silly to depend on an answer from a mere pup, but any reassurance was a comfort to Dusty right then.

Shaila nodded.

Two wolves walked abruptly into the cave, a silver male following a silver and white female. The female shook snow out of her coat, proclaiming, “I’m a feline if it isn’t thirty below out there!”

“You’ll survive,” the male remarked placidly, “In fact, you already have.”

“Haven’t you ever heard of complaining as being good for the soul?” she pouted, then turned to Dusty. “Well! If you don’t look just like Aleu!”

“Guys, guys,” Aleu called, “I’m sorry you had to go out there and almost freeze yourselves looking for me. I just got caught up with a friend. Dusty, this is Linder.” Dusty and the silver and white female wolf exchanged greetings. “And this is Quicksilver.” Again, same polite conversation, but between Dusty and the silver male.

“And now you’ve met the whole Northern Lights pack.” Flint smiled.

“Northern Lights pack?” Dusty asked quizzically.

“Strange name, I know,” Flint said, “Aleu named us.” He pushed Aleu forward to tell the tale behind the name, and Aleu resisted, laughing.

“Why do I always have to tell the story?”

“Because it’s your mother, your past, your choice,” Flint told her. Aleu pretended to be annoyed, and proceeded to tell the story behind the pack name.

That tale led to more stories, of which Dusty listened to with much more interest than she had had of Aleu’s earlier ramblings. She learned of Aleu’s pack life, the love story of Aleu and Flint, the escape, the dead pup, and so much more. Dusty gazed in awe at Remus when she heard of the pup’s visions, and nearly cried when Flint told of the death of his white son. That story led to other stories, some by Linder that made Dusty laugh, and some by Quicksilver that made Dusty think. All in all, it was one of the most wonderful evenings Dusty had ever had.

But it wasn’t just the stories that silenced her in wonder. She marveled at the tenderness Aleu and Flint gave each other, especially when Flint told of their dead pup. His voice had gotten husky, and trailed off, and Aleu had quietly finished the story for him. Then she nuzzled him, with some tears of