fight for our lives and the land that should rightfully be ours,” Sirius continued, “Does everyone remember the battle plan? I’ll go through it again. The other pack leader is for me and me alone to fight. Sage and Kiowa, you’re to come around and attack from the back. Aniu, stay near me and take the wolves on the east side. Lakota, you’re to stay here. Are we clear?”

I nodded along with everyone else. The Eagle Pass leader roared over our conversation: “Come out and fight, Sirius, with your puny little pack! Are you sure your wolves won’t desert you?”

“Alright; let’s go,” Sirius said gravely, and I slipped after him out of the trees.

As soon as the rival leader saw us, he charged forward with his nine wolves. Sage and Kiowa split up and disappeared among the greenery again. Sirius howled as he ran to meet his rival with myself flanking him.

The battle exploded into bloodshed when we met in the center of the field. Sirius knocked the other leader to the ground. I felt a claw rip into my jaw, and I spun around to chop the wolf in the face with my left hind leg. Another wolf hurled himself at me and closed his teeth around my shoulder. I tried to throw him off, but he remained firmly attached no matter how hard I shook him. I finally turned and bit him on the muzzle. His grip loosened as my mouth filled with blood. I banged him against the ground until he was unconscious, but two wolves had taken notice of me, and one slid onto me and pressed me to the earth in a most awkward position. I tried to fight him off, but he was like an iron bar pinning me down. I watched helplessly as his teeth inched up my body and finally cut deep welts into my throat. I choked, and my vision grew dim as he sawed into my neck-

WHAM! Sage smashed him to the reddening grass. “Get up now and thank me later!” Sage yelled at me. I pulled myself up, but a blow intended for my rescuer hit me in the back of the head. I froze, then slumped forward as I whirled into blackness.

I awoke a long time afterwards, wondering why I felt like death. My eyes drifted over my wounded body after I discovered I couldn’t lift my head.

I was lying on my back in a trampled field where blood lay scattered across the grass like dew. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach over and over, and felt even sicker when I saw the white fur on my chest and front legs was drenched in scarlet-striped vomit. Cuts and scratches stitched across me, and when I looked around I saw only a few dead bodies that did not look or smell familiar. My pack had left me for dead. I didn’t blame them. I was dying.

I sighed and closed my eyes for the final time, and I felt my spirit slowly lifting up and floating away from my body. I soared up past the cerulean sky and into a cloud of black that swirled and unfurled around me like fog. I looked around in confusion. Was this heaven? Or had I been sent to the Other Place?

Suddenly a warm light brightened my vision, and out of the fog stepped my father, ringed in a radiant golden glow. I gasped as my mother appeared beside her mate, haloed in her own ethereal light. Snow Paws came forward next with Seminole beside her, and a silent sigh of mixed regret and relief breathed out of me when Nanuq trotted out of the dark and stood next to the couple. So Nanuq was dead, too.

My sigh turned only to relief when I saw my stolen baby girl and Balto weren’t among the dead.

Then all heads turned to a lone figure padding out of the blackness. He threw his head back and grinned at me as the soft light surrounding him bathed his handsome face.

I cried out and flew to him, crushing him into me and kissing him for the longest, sweetest moment. Now it truly was heaven, with my loved ones around me and Scout by my side.

I slid my lips away from his a moment too soon, and Scout stepped back to study me. I hung my head and curled up to him, and as he rubbed his chin over my head I whimpered in sorrow and pleasure. “I’m sorry,” I whispered shakily, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I tried to forget you.”

“I know,” he said quietly, “…It’s OK, Aniu. I forgive you.” I tipped my head back to look at him. He grinned clownishly, making the angelic radiance around him look out of place. “What do you know? All dogs and wolves go to heaven.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Well, yeah,” Scout said with a thoughtful frown, “At least, I haven’t seen or heard of any canines evil enough to go to the fiery pit. Who knows? It may not even be a fiery pit. I know this wasn’t my idea of what heaven would be like.” He gestured around to the black clouds and eerie silence. I smiled up at him and huddled into his side. I didn’t want to say anything that would make him uncomfortable, but I knew that he knew that I thought any place where he was was heavenly enough.

Scout suddenly walked away and sat down with a sorrowful sigh. Dismayed, I hurried after him. “What’s the matter, Scout?”

“Aniu, we’ve both made a real mess of things down on Earth.” He swiped his paw across the black cloud at his feet to reveal Earth with its pristine greens and blues. The black cloud blew away in a scatter of coal-colored dust.

I focused on Alaska, and suddenly Balto’s adult face filled my vision. He lay on the deck of a beached boat with a grumpy-looking goose yelling something at him. I almost wept for joy. Balto was alright.

The picture in my mind’s eye shifted to Sirius lying in a defeated stance at the mouth of the cave. Kiowa was standing over him and actually saying something for once, but he shook his head and motioned for her to go away. My heart was slashed to ribbons when I saw Lakota between Sirius’ paws, shaking as he cried silently.

The image changed again to a stunning brown-gray wolf-dog with white draped over her shoulders and white paws. She pinned Roan and Soran to the ground, her eyes flashing fire. “She’s alive!” I cried, “Our daughter’s still alive!”

The picture faded, and I saw Scout staring at me anxiously. “What did you see?”

That stopped me cold. “You didn’t see anything?”

Scout shook his head. “It’s like this. I can only see beings I saw when I was alive. I’ve been watching you from here ever since I died, and the only reason I know what our son looks like is because he was with you so much. What’s his name?”

“Balto,” I murmured.

“Balto.” Scout savored the feel of the name on his lips. “And, as you can see, I can’t hear anything either. Don’t ask me why. I still don’t understand how this whole watching-from-heaven thing works.”

“Scout, I had a girl pup, too,” I said, “But she was stolen when she was born. By Roan and Soran.”

“Those low-lying, no-good, thieving…” Scout muttered words I had only heard once or twice before. He looked up at me. “Aniu, do you see what I’m getting at? We’ve made mistakes. I convinced you to have pups with me, and because of our backgrounds mixing our daughter is kidnapped, and our son has no family around him. You left a second mate and another son to mourn for you. But, I can’t fix anything.”

Truth was dawning on me, but I wanted it to go back under the horizon. Scout wanted to find our daughter, assure Balto that he wasn’t alone, and relieve Sirius and Lakota of their grief that had come about because I had tried to forget my past and family by becoming a part of their family. But Scout had no way of detecting Balto or our daughter because he hadn’t seen them while he was alive. And it was my responsibility to make up for my error and stop Sirius and Lakota’s grieving for me, a mate and mother.

Scout continued persistently. “You can, though. You saw where Balto and our daughter are, and you know where your second mate is. You can fix things on Earth by becoming a spirit there. Just a warning, though: once you leave heaven in spirit form, it’ll be more difficult to get back. If you come and go many times, each time it’ll be harder to get back. You could get trapped on Earth. But…”

“I have to do this,” I said, “My family deserves it.”

“Are you sure?” Scout asked tentatively, “I don’t mean to sound like I’m forcing you into this…”

I pushed my head under his chin, lifting his head. “Yes, you do. But it’s something I have to do.”

“…When will I be able to see you again?” he asked. His low voice vibrated the voice box pressed against my temple. I closed my eyes to relish the pleasant thrumming against me, and felt something inside me crack as I realized he was saying the same words he had uttered when we had decided to ignore each other to try and win back the respect of the pack. Now we were avoiding each other again, separated by two worlds both heavenly and earthly, but the only thing we were trying to win was the happiness of our family.

“I’ll come back every night to see you,” I replied, “No matter how hard the journey is, I’ll always make it back.” I could feel his worry, but I needed to do this. I nuzzled him for the final time and poised to plummet to Earth.

“Aniu.” He said my name tenderly, almost sensually.

I turned back to him and looked into his clear brown eyes. “Scout?”

Scout’s eyes closed until they were soft slits, and he pressed his mouth to mine, kissing me warm and wet. My surprise and relent caused me to fall into him, and for a single minute there was nothing but us.

I knew I