shift his body to the side. The shadow clamped down where Mr. Drago’s hand was seconds before. Instead of getting a mouthful of flesh, the shadow latched onto the bag of mail.

With a lour riiiiipp, the mailbag came loose, and fell to the ground, skidding across the snow.

Mr. Drago knew he ran the risk of being fired, but he didn’t stop. “Heeya! Come on, Blitz! Faster, boy!”

Envelopes trailed behind the sled. They fluttered in the air, just like snowflakes falling to the ground carelessly. The mailbag, and everything in it, was gone.

The shadow didn’t follow as soon as the bag fell off. As if on cue, the other two shadows on either side of the sled growled one last time, then broke off and dissipated into the dense forest.

None of the members of the team could’ve been any more relieved when Blitz burst through the tree line, and into the open snow. There were a few cheers that arose from the other dogs, and there were also a few whines.

“Where’s the mail bag? Is Mr. Drago hurt? Should we stop? What the heck were those things?”

Ambyr and Haywire exchanged looks. They looked up ahead and sighed as they caught sight of a familiar town in the distance.

“I’m telling you, we were attacked!!” Shouted Mr. Drago, pounding his fist on the counter. Leaning on the window from outside the post office, Haywire flinched. No one had ever seen their musher so enraged before. “What did you expect me to do?”

The muffled voice of the postmaster came to, but even though his words were blurred, it was obvious his tone wasn’t sharing any of the same enthusiasm Mr. Drago was. Mr. Drago paced the room, as if thinking.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think...I think it might’ve been wolves.”

The dogs gasped, and saw the postmaster’s eyes grow wide. He then shook his head worriedly. Mr. Drago stormed into the back room and disappeared. After a few seconds, the postmaster followed.

Blitz, Ambyr, and Haywire lowered themselves from the windowsill.

“...It’s a curse, isn’t it?’ said Haywire.

“What?” said Ambyr.

“This morning you shouted ‘Wolves’ in Blitz’s ear. You cursed us.”

Ambyr rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Like I would’ve wanted this to happen either.”

Blitz thought a while. Without saying a word, he started walking off.

“Hey, where ya going?” called Haywire after him.

“Blitz didn’t turn around. “I’m, uh, going to lay down a while...try to think.”

Haywire cocked his head. “Okay...don’t hurt yourself!”

A few minutes after Blitz left, Ambyr suddenly yawned. “You know, getting some rest after all this isn’t such a bad idea after all.” She got up and turned around. “I’m going too. Are you coming?”

Haywire shrugged. “I got nothing better to do.”

When Ambyr and Haywire creaked open the door to their boiler room, Blitz was already fast asleep. Haywire quietly walked over to him and nudged him on the head as he wined. “He’s in my spot.”

Ambyr got to her usual corner and lay down, yawning again. “There’s always outside.” She lay her head on the floor, and her rhythmic breathing soon began.

Haywire moved away from Blitz to another spot and curled up in a ball. Before long, all three of them were engaged in a blissful slumber...well, almost blissful.

 

Drifter saw the mail team return, petrified expressions of shock were all on their faces. He remembered seeing Ambyr, how for the first time, she seemed to be thinking about something other than her job.

Word spreads quickly among the small town of Nome. Keeping close to the gossip, he overheard everything that happened.

Drifter wasn’t normally a worrier (What does he have to worry about?), but it troubled him greatly to hear that a group of wolves would attack an innocent mail team just for the heck of it.

 

Unless, of course...

 

It was like someone came up and kicked Drifter, very hard, in the stomach. The air in his lungs was wringed out of his body, and his mind swirled in a tornado of confused thoughts and fears. Not hesitating for a second longer, Drifter bolted to the place where he knew he’d find the three. Oh, God, please, no!! No, no, no!! He kept thinking to himself.

Drifter got to the boiler room from the other side of town in less than ten seconds. Realizing it’d be foolish to just come bursting in there, he ground to a halt in front of the door. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he quietly pushed the door open. It slid apart to reveal Haywire, Blitz, and Ambyr sleeping soundly, as if oblivious to everything that was going on...or what Drifter thought was going on.

He breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, and turned to leave, but just as he was about to close the door behind him, a deep voice pierced through the other side of the room. “Don’t worry, they’re all here.”

Drifter spun around, and opened the door again. He couldn’t see who spoke, because the other end of the boiler room was cloaked in darkness, but it wasn’t like he didn’t know who was talking. Drifter growled. “I figured you might be behind this. Why aren’t I surprised?”

A figure materialized from the shadows. It stepped one paw in the light...then another. It glared back at Drifter with unwavering eyes. “Wolves have an amazing ability to cheat death – just like you did.”

Drifter’s growl grew louder, and he lowered his head to the ground. “I’m no wolf, Tonrar.”

The shadow named Tonrar stepped fully into the light and smirked. “...And I thought that little tumble you had over the waterfall would NEEEVER teach you anything!” He returned the growl.

“How’d you survive the fire?”

“The same way you survived the fall. Did you really think I’d let you and your little girlfriend get away and live happily ever after?”

Drifter glared at him.

Tonrar smiled. “Oh, yes. I know.” He glided over quickly and stealthily to Ambyr’s sleeping body and looked down at her. Drifter’s growl became a snarl. He was about to bark loudly and wake everyone up, but Tonrar silently retracted a razor-sharp claw and held it at her throat, as if sensing his thoughts. “Don’t even think about it, Drifter. I’d rather we save this fight for later.”

He continued to snarl and glare. “What do you want?”

“I want what any angry wolf would want – revenge. You and your girlfriend, along with the rest of these pitiful mutts, will get it soon, I promise.”

“Leave them out of this.”

“Oh, but this involves much more than just you and me. We share a bloodline, remember?” He looked down and happily enjoyed the moment as he waved his clawed finger around. “A very...special...bloodline.”

Drifter scowled. “I never wanted any part of it...NEVER!!”

Tonrar threateningly stroked his claw against Ambyr’s cheek. “You can hate me all you want, Drifter, but you can’t deny your heritage!”

Drifter looked around, hoping to find any means of distraction. “...Where’s Iqniq and Yakone?”

Tonrar blinked. “They’re around.” Seeing the look on Drifter’s face, he chuckled. “Yes, they made it too. We had a real nice run-in with your friends earlier today.”

Drifter snarled a little louder, careful not to wake the others. “If you hurt any of them, I swear, I’ll –“

“You’ll what? Kill me? Don’t make me laugh, Drifter.” He twiddled the claw in Ambyr’s face and laughed lightly.

Drifter was seething with an uncontrollable rage. He didn’t know what unknown force kept him from leaping on top of Tonrar, and ripping him to shreds.

As if sensing his thoughts again, Tonrar withdrew his claw. “Don’t worry, old friend...we’ll both get our chances.” He laughed louder this time, and stepped back into the dark. The shadows swallowed him up, but his evil laugh still lingered in the room. It echoed everywhere, bouncing off the walls and repeating itself painfully after every word.

Tonrar was nowhere in sight.

Drifter loosened his muscles and relaxed a bit. He strode over to Ambyr, still unaware of what just happened. He stared down at her gentle face, heaving in and out peacefully. It’s come back to haunt me, thought Drifter. With an uneasy sigh, he pawed lightly at her head a couple of times. She stirred for a moment, and her eyes fluttered open. “...Drifter what’re you doing here?”

Drifter walked over and woke up Blitz and Haywire also. They groaned and twisted, but grudgingly rose to their feet, rubbing their eyes with their paws.

“...Drifter? ...What’s going on,” Haywire yawned.

 

Drifter lowered his ears and looked down at the ground. “I...have something to tell you guys.” He gazed up at their eyes. “...and you’re not gonna like me for it.”

 

Ambyr, Blitz, and Haywire all looked at one another, confused, as they each prepared themselves for the worst.

 

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 10: SETTLE THE SCORE

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