Prologue
Jenna paced the floor in front of the door. Kodi and Tovah had gone to run around the sled trails outside of Nome, and she was beginning to worry about them. A blizzard was brewing on the horizion, and they had been out for most of the day.
Balto sat by the fire as he watched her with equal unease. “I’m sure they’ll be fine, Jen. Kodi knows those trails as well as I do, maybe even better. Tovah and Kodi will come home just fine.”
They heard clawing on the door, and Balto hurried over and opened the door. A blast of icy wind slammed into him, and he bent his head and braced himself. “Kodi! Hurry up, it’s beginning to storm.”
Kodi stumbled in and shook the snow out of his rust red and white fur. “Dad, Tovah and I were on the trail racing when all of a sudden the storm blew in. I lost sight of her because she was ahead of me, and I hoped she had come back here.”
He looked hopefully at them, but knew that Tovah was still out there when Jenna cried out. “Oh, I knew this would happen one of these days! We have to go and find her! She’s only a year old, how will she survive a blizzard?”
Balto looked out at the raging blizzard through the window. Though his mind said the same thing as Jenna, there would be no way anyone could go through such a storm, this late in the day. His heart told him they would have to wait. With a deep sigh he went and laid down in the living room. “Kodi, you’re going to stay the night here. When morning comes, we both are going out to find her.”
Chapter1
Sitka fought through the blinding snow as he sank chest deep in a snow drift. Why now of all times had he left the pack and struck out on his own? Stupid, stupid, stupid! I should have waited until tomorrow when the weather would have been clear. Now I don’t even know where any shelter is around here. I’ll probably freeze to death before I begin to form my own pack.
He tilted his nose away from the wind to see if it was possible to smell his way around. He had just gone only a little way when he caught a scent that didn’t belong. A wolf? I thought this was unoccupied territory. He sifted through the shallow snow drift, and unearthed a young comatose female. Her chest rose and fell faintly, but other then that it seemed she was dead. What am I to do? I can’t find any shelter! Sitka began to panic, though he didn’t show it. He raised his head and peered through the swirling storm as well as he could. The wind died for a fraction of a second, and he could see a medium sized cave right in front of him, only five meters away. He grabbed the female by her scruff and dragged her through the snow until he reached the cave.
Now that the wind was outside the cave and not in his ears, Sitka’s ears felt hollow. He dragged the wolf towards the back of the cave, where it was warmest, and laid himself on top of her to warm her up. (Not that he himself was very warm anyway, but he couldn’t bear the thought of rescuing someone only to have them die.)
The first thing he thought of as he laid on her was just how very small she was. She couldn’t be a wolf, or she would be taller and not so willowy. Coyote perhaps? No, she’s taller then they are, and much nicer looking (and smelling) then they. What on earth was she? He looked curiously at her, and then thought of a new possibility. Maybe she’s a hybrid. That would explain her size, shape, and leg markings as being dog like, and it would explain why everything else looks rather wolf like.
He felt her move slightly beneath him, and he got off her and curled himself around her instead. It wouldn’t be nice to have her wake up and get the wrong idea about him.
Chapter 2
Tovah felt terrible as she slowly woke up. Everything seemed to spin dizzily all around her, and she couldn’t make sense of what was going on. All she wanted right now was Balto or Jenna to be beside her and explain what happened. She uttered a low moan as the painfulness of the cold set in. “Ugh... What happened?"
Tovah opened her eyes again and saw her vision had cleared up. She looked up at the form that was curled up beside her and gasped in terror. Despite the fact she wasn’t completely thawed she streaked away to the farthest wall from the stranger. “Who are you?”
Sitka slowly padded up to her. “Don’t fear me, I won’t hurt you.”
“How should I know that?” She asked suspiciously. It wasn't too often she awoke to a complete stranger curled up around her after all.
Sitka tried to speak in a calming tone at the bristling female. “You will have to trust me. I’m the one who found you in the snow, and I had to warm you some way.” He looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry if you took it the wrong way.”
Tovah still huddled in a ball, shivering as the pain of the cold set in, though now she relaxed a little. “When did you find me?”
“About an hour ago. You were like an icicle you were that cold.”
“I’m still freezing." She looked out at the storm. "I hope Kodi got out ok.”
Sitka caught the worried look she had after she said that. “Who’s Kodi?”
“Oh, my brother. He and I were on a sled trail, racing, when the blizzard suddenly blew in out of nowhere. I got lost, and I suppose I must have fallen asleep in the storm.”
Her body began to tremble from the cold, and though she shrank away and gave Sitka a dirty look when he came near her, she didn't try to stop Sitka when he curled around her. She began to feel better physically once she warmed up, though she still kept a wary eye on the male. “So, how come we’re all alone in here? Where’s your pack?”
Sitka sighed. “I had to leave my pack. My Father said that our clan was growing too numerous, and since I’m the oldest brother I had to leave and form my own pack. I just left yesterday evening.” He grinned a little, and it put Tovah in mind of her Father’s grin. “It was by sheer luck that I stumbled upon you, and the Creator was kind enough to make the wind die down a bit so I could see this cave. So I guess this is where I’ll be staying for now.” He looked curiously at her. “This is unoccupied, isn’t it?”
Tovah yawned. The warmth of Sitka’s body made her feel tired, though she tried to shake it away. “It used to be my Uncle Kemo’s cave when he lived alone, but four years ago he became leader of Great clan. I suppose that no one lives here. At least, when I was younger Papa would take me and my siblings here to play.”
Sitka nodded, relieved. At last he had found a place of refuge. He frowned as he looked at the weather. “Guess we’ll be here at least a day or two.” He said, looking at the worsening storm. The thought made his forehead crease in worry.
Tovah tried to fight off the tidal waves of fatigue. “I’m tired.” She said in a low voice, hoping now the wolf would go to the opposite side of the cave. “I’m warm enough now.”
Sitka didn’t budge. She was still freezing cold to the touch. “Liar.”
Tovah huffed a sigh. “Am not! I just want to go to sleep… alone.”
Sitka was offended. “I’m not going to hurt you, you know! I’m trying to help you.” He paused, and after feeling her tense and look away did he figure it. “You don’t think I’m the type to take advantage of you, do you?”
She looked away. Though she herself had never gone through a thing like that, she couldn’t stop thinking of her Mother when she was a teen, who had a narrow escape of her own. It seemed to run through the family line, because her sister Saba had escaped from a similar incident as well. Tovah was always afraid deep down that she could be next. “Maybe.” She relented.
“I would never do such a thing.” Sitka said in a serious, yet soft voice. “Do you really know so little of our own kind? ‘Honor’ is the first word we learn! I am not one to steal another’s dignity.”
Tovah laid her head down with a moan. It was obvious she was losing the argument, and the battle to stay awake as well. “Please…”
Sitka sighed. It was obvious she was going to stay awake until he moved, yet he knew she was too weak to be left alone. She could very easily become ill. “I’ll make you a deal. Tonight you sleep whether or not I’m next to you. If the storm continues till the next night, I will stay far away from you. Deal?”
“Deal.” Tovah said through the fog of sleepiness that overcame her. Soon her body relaxed and her breathing slowed down to an even pace, and though Sitka had much to think of, he laid his head on her shoulder and fell asleep as well.
Chapter 3
Sitka woke up and yawned. He looked beside him and saw that Tovah was still asleep, with her muzzle buried in the soft shagginess of his chest. He almost smiled. She reminded him of his little sister, Rain, when she was a tiny thing of three weeks. Now Rain was almost a year old, and he knew that he would see very little of her now he was moved out. He nudged Tovah awake. “You feeling any better?”
She groggily raised her head. “Yeah.” She said after a few moments of confusion. She yawned and got up. Her heart sank a little when she saw the storm howling outside, as strong as ever. “Well, so much for getting breakfast and finding my way back home.”
“Don’t worry.” Sitka came over and sat next to her. “It smells as if it’ll die down soon, maybe by noon or
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