Chapter One

Outside, huge gusts of wind blew, giving the surrounding areas a mighty chill. In a rather spacey shed, Jenna was in a corner, licking little miniature wolf/dog-like forms. Balto, who was sitting nearby, wagged his tail slightly to show his pleasure. The puppies were trying to get as much milk as they possibly could, and were yelping in protest whenever another sibling had pushed them away to get a drink. Balto laid his head down next to Jenna’s box, where she and the puppies were. He let his tongue hang out as he dozed off.

Meanwhile, Jenna was looking at her puppies with satisfaction. There were five; two creams, three reddish (like Jenna). Their eyes hadn’t opened, so she would only be able to tell them apart by scent, not looks.

An hour later, Balto awoke, and, shaking his head, he got up. He glanced at Jenna and the puppies. They were asleep; Jenna curled up slightly; the pups snuggled close against her warm body. Balto smiled to himself as he jumped onto a bench in the shed. The bench was situated right below the window, so he was able to peep through. The snowstorm had, by then, stopped. His heart fluttered with joy as he raced out of the dog-door (A/N: just pretend there is a dog door in the shed) and into the snowy world outside.

Before Balto could get far, however, he stopped dead in his tracks. His family. He turned back without hesitation, heading back to the shed. He was never really interested in what he called “family affairs”, as much as he was part of the family. He never knew what he could do for the puppies until they grew old enough to be played “rough” with, which meant tackling, biting and stuff like that. He had thought of talking to Jenna about such things, but never got the chance to. When he did get a chance, however, he thought she would get mad at him if he asked, for she believed that bringing up children were both parents’ responsibilities, not just one’s alone.

Balto re-entered the shed and flopped down on his belly. Jenna was still asleep. She stirred a little after half-an-hour, and woke up after forty-five minutes or so. She smiled happily at Balto. Her puppies lay sleeping by her side. A cream one kicked out, indicating that it was probably dreaming. Balto grinned upon seeing this. He nosed the puppy gently and it soon relaxed.

“Why are you still here?” Jenna asked incredulously.

“Well, I thought I’d just stay here a while…” Balto began.

“You know you don’t have to,” Jenna smiled.

“Oh, but I don’t mind,” Balto replied.

“Okay, then,” Jenna said, then continued, “How’s everyone else?”

“You mean Boris, Muk, and Luk?” Balto asked.

“Yes.”

“They’re doing great. Luk has learnt to say a few words, like ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.”

“Really? That’s great!”

“It is,” Balto agreed. By now, Balto and Jenna had run out of things to talk about, and so Balto’s mind drifted off to Aleu. Aleu had been one of his favourite children. She looked so much like him (except for the eyes), but yet she was different. She wanted to be “wild”, and free. She got her wish about a year after she was born. She led a wolf pack across the water, and was now (hopefully) leading a happy life there.

“Balto,” a calm voice said, striking his thoughts.

“Huh? Wha-?” Balto jumped.

“Are you all right?” the reddish Husky asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” Balto replied hastily, not wanting to worry Jenna.

“You’re thinking of Aleu, aren’t you?” Jenna got up and nuzzled him, the puppies now at another side of the box.

“Yes, I just kinda… I kinda miss her…” Balto sighed.

“I do too,” Jenna said.

Chapter Two

“Daddy!” a cream-coloured, blue-eyed puppy bounded towards Balto.

“Hey there, Bandit,” Balto laughed, too lazy to get up.

“Where’s Bane?” Bandit asked, referring to his cream-coloured, green- eyed brother.

“I don’t know; why don’t you go find him?” Balto nosed him to the left.

“Okay,” Bandit scurried off, nose to the ground, to find Bane.

The puppies were almost four weeks old now, and Balto played with them more than he did when they were younger. Bane was the largest of all the puppies, and seemed to be the “bully”. Balto was quite sure that Rosy would keep and train him to be a sled dog, but he never really knew what was going on in a human’s mind. Bane had a tail which hung down, but he had trained himself to make it rise high to show his “dominance”. Bandit was the most naughty, and most playful puppy. He had lots of energy, and, according to Balto, was “bouncing off the walls”. It took a lot to keep up with that cream coloured, blue-eyed, tail-curved-over-like-a-Husky pup! When he asked Balto why he had blue eyes while his parents didn’t, Balto replied, “Your grandmother had blue eyes.” Then there were the three, Jenna- looking puppies, Acacia, Nikhe (pronounced Nigh-kay), and Arianna. Acacia had the same kind, brown eyes that her father (Balto) had. Her tail was curved, like a Husky. Both Nikhe and Arianna had green eyes and a tail that hung down. The only way they could be told apart was that on the tip of Arianna’s tail was a patch of white. Sometimes Nikhe, the second fiercest next to Bane, would tease Bandit about his fur colour. Nikhe never teased Bane, for fear of getting punished (which meant getting a biting or two from Bane, which hurt a lot), and so poor Bandit was his victim. The two girls, Acacia and Arianna, were both spared the “torture” of being teased and beaten, which meant that they had the advantage of teasing Bane and Nikhe. They never teased Bandit, as they believed he had had enough teasing and beatings from his two brothers.

Balto yawned and shook himself. He felt stiff, as he hadn’t really been walking for days. He just walked a little, but not too much. He had just been lazing around the shed, watching the puppies while Jenna was out on a trip in the forest with Rosy and her family. The puppies and Balto had enough food, for Rosy had filled all of the puppies’ food and water dishes before she left (They didn’t share the same food and water bowls, especially since Bane was so protective of his own stuff. However, luckily, Bane did not steal from others.). They were running low on food and water, now, as it was the sixth day that Jenna, Rosy, and her family had left. Balto decided to get food from the butcher; he could always beg for some scraps there.

So Balto set off to the butcher’s. The butcher frowned when he saw Balto; he didn’t like it when dogs, or hybrids, begged for scraps. He seemed to think for a minute, and then gave Balto two chunks of meat. He said, “Now don’t expect this much next time, Balto. I heard Rosy say Jenna’s husband – you – have five puppies to care for!” (Don’t ask me how Rosy knows that Balto is Jenna’s husband…)

Balto then returned to the shed, carrying the two chunks of meat in his mouth. Bane was there, and jumped up to get the meat. He had never tasted meat before, but he could smell it, and he knew it was good. He growled and jumped up again. Balto raised his head a little higher, just so that Bane couldn’t get to the meat. Balto then warned Bane off with a growl. Bane retreated, but not totally. He sat a few feet away from Balto, getting ready to pounce once the meat touched the ground. Balto gave Bane the “evil eye” – just to warn Bane the punishment in store for him if he dared jump to the meat before Balto gave him his portion. Bane growled in resentment, but stepped back even more to show he wasn’t going to pounce once the meat touched the ground; instead, he would wait for his portion.

Satisfied, Balto carefully put the meat down. By then, the other puppies were in the shed, back from their play day. The sun was soon setting, and the moon would be rising soon. Balto tore off chunks of meat and placed them into each of the puppies’ bowl. Bane, who decided to be good for once, kept his silent promise to Balto and waited, like the others, for his portion. When it came, he sniffed at it suspiciously before diving in. Bandit didn’t want to touch it. He was convinced there was something wrong with the meat after scenting its strange scent, but Balto coaxed him into eating it.

After managing to get the puppies to eat the tasty meal (which was pretty easy – Balto only really had to coax Bandit, and coax Bane a little), Balto settled down and started nibbling on his. He was soon done. The puppies, too, were done with the meal. They were now thirsty, and being extremely whiny. Balto smiled to himself, and then cleared his voice, saying, “Follow Daddy. Follow whatever I do, okay?”

“Okay!” a few puppies yelled in reply. He only didn’t get an answer from Bane and Nikhe, but he shrugged it off and continued anyway. He first thrust his mouth into the snow, letting his mouth fill up with snow, which melted in a few seconds. All of the puppies followed suit, even Bane and Nikhe. They were soon full of water, and grateful to their father, who had taught them this “skill”.

“Come now,” Balto said. “Let’s go for a moonlight walk.”

“Wow, really?” asked Acacia. Balto nodded in reply.

“COOL!” Bandit exclaimed, his tail wagging in the air. He was immediately pinned down by Bane who snarled in his face, saying, “I’m the only one who gets to say ‘cool’.”

“Get off me,” Bandit growled, but the only response he received was a quick, sharp nip on his hindquarters, and Bane’s snarl. Bandit tried to push Bane off but to no avail. Bane, finally getting tired of Bandit’s attitude, got off him. But before he did that, he snarled once more and bit Bandit hard on the muzzle. Bandit yelped, and blood started flowing down his muzzle.

Balto, who was in the front and unaware of the fight, came over to see what the fuss was about. The puppies had crowded round Bandit, who was still yelping from the stinging pain of the bite. Balto knew at once who had caused all this. He looked sternly and fiercely at Bane before lowering his head to help Bandit. Balto knew that the scar would most likely stay with Bandit forever, and, knowing