Blood Lust

Lone Wolf_fanwriter

Chapter One

Kodi padded through Nome, using alleyways and other shortcuts to his advantage. As he passed by his mother’s house, he stopped to think. It had been more than a week since his father, Balto, had finally returned with Jenna and her new pups. The very thought made him quiver slightly. Her pups were hers, but not Balto’s. They belonged, or rather used to belong to, a black husky named Kale, who had visited almost two months earlier. Tricking Jenna with talk of their long past relationship, he had tempted her into sleeping together one night in the boiler room, with disastrous consequences. Were it not for luck and Balto’s own compassion for her, she and Balto would have surely split. Now, however, they were back in Nome, happy and content. Kodi shook his head and smiled. He’d never understand how his father had made it work again.

The new light from the moon reminded him of where he was going. Less than half an hour ago, his team had pulled in from a delayed mail run, but that was not what was on his mind. Tonight, his thoughts rested on Dusty. Having been gone so much in the past few weeks, he wanted, and needed, time alone with her, and tonight would be perfect.

He padded up to a house three buildings down from his parents’ home and walked around to the shed in the back. Gently nosing the door open, he went inside. Looking around, he smiled and sighed. So much for our time together tonight. Near the pups’ basket, where his three children lay dreaming, Dusty had also fallen asleep. Oh well, he thought, there’s always tomorrow. He padded over beside her and lay down.

The next morning, he woke to a kiss and Dusty’s voice.

“Good morning, Kodi. When did you get in?”

“A bit later than I expected, sorry.”

“You could have woken me up.”

“I could have,” he replied, “but you looked like a sleeping angel. I didn’t want to.” Dusty smiled and nuzzled him.

“What about tonight, then.”

“It sounds fine to me. We aren’t going on another run for a day or two.”

“Great.” Dusty stood up, and it was then that Kodi noticed the pups were gone. Before he could speak, Dusty answered his question. “The kids are out playing with their friends today anyway.”

“Isn’t there a meeting today?”

“Oh, I completely forgot! Come on, Kodi, they might not have started yet.”

Not much later, as Doc wrapped up the weekly town meeting, Kodi tried hard to listen. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help but notice one brown female sitting in the corner. Though she was further from Doc than anyone else, she seemed to be paying much more attention than Kodi. Suddenly, she looked his way and smiled. Kodi turned away, slightly embarrassed. After another glance at the new female, he turned to Dusty.

“Dusty, have you-”

“Shh, Kodi, I can’t hear him!” she whispered, her eyes still fixed on Doc. Kodi sighed and once again tried to pay attention to what Doc was saying.

“Now that that’s settled, I believe the meeting is adjourned.” Kodi sighed. Finally! He turned to Dusty, who was standing up to leave.

“Dusty, have you seen her before?” he said, nodding towards the mysterious brown female, still sitting in the corner.

“No, not around here.” She looked at the female for a moment. “Why don’t you go see if she’s alright, maybe introduce yourself to her?”

“I’ll do that.” He padded over to her. “Hey, are you-” He stopped in mid sentence when she spun around to face him. In her eyes, he saw a fire, and it surprised him, but a moment later it vanished and her expression lightened.

“I’m sorry,” she said sweetly, “I…I thought you were someone else.” Kodi stared for a second, but shook off his surprise and said,

“Well, you’ve been sitting back here for a while. Are you new in town?”

“As a matter of fact I am.” She stood and followed him towards the door.

“I’m Kodi.”

“Jade,” she replied as Dusty walked over to meet them.

“Jade,” Kodi said, “This is my mate Dusty. Dusty, this is Jade. She’s new here.”

“Hello Jade,” Dusty replied, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Just then, Dingo walked in.

“Hey everybody.” He spotted Jade and smiled. “Well, well, who do we have here?”

“This is Jade,” Kodi said.

“Oh, pardon me for not introducing myself. My name’s Dingo,” he replied,

“I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“She’s new here,” said Dusty, “Why don’t you show her around, Dingo?”

“Yes, I’d love a guided tour,” Jade said, “The last time I tried to find my way through a new town by myself, I almost got lost.” Dingo looked shocked.

“Me?”

“Yeah,” Kodi added, “If I started showing a pretty new female around it wouldn’t look right.” He stepped beside Dusty. “But you’re still a loner, if you know what I mean.” Dingo swallowed hard, but managed a nervous smile.

“I’ll…see you guys later, I guess.”

“Good bye, Dingo,” chorused Dusty and Kodi.

“Okay,” Dingo said, “where should we begin your guided tour through Nome?” His eyes fell on a small house on the edge of town that was more than familiar. As they walked closer, a female just as familiar slipped through the front door. She smiled and met them on the porch. “Um, Jade, meet my mom.”

“Pleased to meet you, Jade, I’m Jenna.”

“Hello.” Jenna looked back at Dingo.

“A little early in the day for your first date, hmm?” Dingo blushed.

“Mom please, I’m just showing her around.”

“Well then I won’t keep you. Go on. It was nice meeting you, Jade.” Dingo smiled back at her as he walked away with Jade right beside him. His smile faded as he glanced over at Jade. What do I do now? I’ve never…Shut up! Start a conversation.

“So uh, where did you move from?”

“Fairbanks.”

“Really? My dad’s been in Fairbanks for about a week. Maybe you’ve seen him?”

“I might have,” Jade replied, remembering what she could from the past week, “What does he look like?”

“Oh, he’s brown, kind of like you, and…well, he’s part-wolf.”

“Really? That’s odd. I don’t think I’ve seen him before.” As the walked on in relative silence, she thought, that was him! She smiled despite herself. I hope he’s still alive… Dingo looked over at her nervously, but then smiled as an idea popped into his head.

“Hey, would you like to skip the tour and go down to the ocean?”

“That would be great. No offense, but the tour was getting a little boring.”

“Well, I think you’ll like what you see next.” They stepped to the crest of a hill overlooking the beach and Jade gasped.

“It’s beautiful!” Dingo laughed.

“I thought you’d like it.” Jade leapt down into the sand and looked back at him as he walked down meet her.

“Come on, Dingo, I’ll race you to that clump of seaweed.”

“But there’s seaweed everywhere,” Dingo replied, laughing.

“Exactly.”

Later, Kodi spotted Dingo headed home and caught up with him.

“So…?” he said.

“So what?” Dingo replied.

“How’d it go?”

“Oh, just fine.”

“Where’s Jade? Did you walk her home already?”

“No,” said Dingo, looking down as they walked, “she said she’d be fine. Anyway, I need some time to think.”

“What is it?” said Kodi, “You know I’m your brother. I can help if you need it.”

“No, I don’t need help. It’s just….I think I’m falling for her.”

Chapter Two

Jenna padded alone down the street. The pups were still sleeping, for good reason. Jenna smiled as she saw the sun peeking over the trees. She was on her way to the telegraph office to see if they had any news that might explain Balto’s longer stay. There’s nothing to be worried about, she thought, they might have decided to stay for another day. She nodded, trying to assure herself that nothing was wrong. When am I going to stop worrying so much? She thought for a moment and sighed. Because I’m usually right.

Meanwhile, many miles away in Fairbanks, Russell stopped next to his plane and looked around.

“Now where is he?” he said to himself, “Balto!” No barked reply. No sound of paws in the snow. Russell shook his head. He climbed onto the wing and looked in the cockpit. Not there. “Hmm, if I were a dog where would I be?” He started back towards the house that he and Balto had stayed in, but he hadn’t taken twenty steps when he saw very distinct paw prints in the snow. He bent down for a closer look. They were huge. Only one dog he knew had feet that big.

“Bingo.” He followed the tracks to where they stopped a few steps away from a small barn. Shaking his head, Russell went inside and looked around. “Balto! Where are you,