face, and her loyalty and hope made her more a friend to him than ever. He was home.

A small yip at her elbow distracted Julie from the reunion. “Puppies!” Julie shouted, picking up a wriggling Gail and petting her puppy-soft fur. Silver and Robin hopped around her ankles, and Dusty smiled and left them to play. He was pretty sure Julie would be allowed to keep all the puppies, and eventually they would be sold to good homes. At least things would work out for the pups…hopefully.

Dusty was taken by surprise as his family came up and welcomed him back, and he was shocked to even see a tear in Chase’s eye. He commented on it, and she denied it, but afterwards she looked at him hard.

“You’ve changed a lot, Dusty. It’s scary, but in a good way.” Everyone said about the same thing as Chase.

And Copper couldn’t stop praising Dusty’s fighting. “Where did you learn to fight like that? You were great!” Copper exclaimed, “Before, Lucas would have whipped you, but now that you’ve come back from living in the wild, he didn’t stand a chance!”

“Um, thanks,” Dusty said, slightly embarrassed but proud, too.

“Hey, Dusty,” Balto said, coming up to his son from behind, “It’s…really good to have you back. We all missed you.” Dusty noticed Balto still had a shocked look in his eye, as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. Dusty imagined everyone, including him, looked like that.

“It feels good to be back. To be home. It feels great,” Dusty babbled. He observed Balto’s expression. “Are you okay, Dad?”

“What? Oh, yeah, yeah,” Balto said, shaking his head, “Things are just happening a little…fast.” Dusty followed his gaze to where a crowd stood examining Lucas’ body lying over the broken glass. “After thinking about what Lucas said, who knows how many half-brothers and sisters I have wondering around out there.”

“At least Lucas is gone,” Dusty replied, shuddering as he looked away from the dead body. He had never imagined the polar ice caps being used for violence. He would never forget the image of dark blood rolling down the glassy shards. “After Lucas abused her like that, I knew Kira wanted to be the one to get rid of him. I don’t blame her.”

Balto’s eyebrows went up. “So those are his pups?” He jerked his head at the three fluffballs prancing around Julie, and Dusty nodded. Balto shook his head in disgust. “That dog got into everything. If any of my new half-siblings are around here, I hope they’re nothing like him.” A new light came into his eye, and Dusty’s father looked at his son with favor and admiration that Dusty had never seen before. It made him feel surprised and pleased at the same time. “But how did you and Kira survive out there for so long?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” Dusty began.

“Hey, Dusty.”

He turned around to see Kira calling to him from her spot away from the crowd. Dusty turned back to his father, but he didn’t need to say a word. Balto understood.

“Maybe later,” Balto said with a wink.

Dusty smiled gratefully and ran to Kira’s side, sitting down next to her in the snow. “Hi,” he said, waiting for her to explain why she had called him over. Instead, she leaned against him.

Dusty’s ears instantly went up in alarm, and his muscles tightened nervously. He knew Kira could feel he was on edge, but she seemed to be ignoring that.

“You know, when I was stuck in the cave and didn’t have a lot to do but think, I thought about you and the pups. You’re the closest thing to a father they’ll ever have. You’re really good with them when I’m not. I just wanted to say, thanks,” Kira said quietly.

“Uh, that’s okay,” Dusty said.

Kira sat up straight and looked off into the distance. “And…” She looked up at Dusty almost shyly, and the golden light from the lantern seemed to light something inside her that warmed her usually cold gaze. “The thing is…” She suddenly licked his cheek, and he was so shocked he didn’t even protest. Kira touched her nose to his muzzle and said softly, “I love you, Dusty.”

Hot, heavenly warmth poured through Dusty’s body, and he found himself splitting into a carefree smile. He forgot about his bashfulness, he forgot about the huge crowd of dogs and people behind him, he forgot everything but the happiness of licking Kira’s face and whispering, “I love you, Kira.”

Kira’s eyes shone, and she stroked her head over Dusty’s shoulder and ruff. Dusty rubbed his head against hers, but suddenly both of them pushed off and looked away, each overcome at the same time by a wave of embarrassment at their affection.

Dusty slyly trained one eye on Kira, and lifted his head at the same time as her. They turned toward each other, both saying something, but they stopped talking as their noses touched.

Dusty’s ears slicked back in alarm, but when he saw Kira’s sparkling eyes and barely-contained smile, he relaxed and laughed. She laughed, too.

Dusty’s ears cocked up when he heard Kaila whispering in the crowd: “Hey, look!”

“Dusty’s got a girlfriend!” Chase sang out.

“ Way to go, Dusty!” Copper laughed.

Dusty noticed right away that he didn’t feel a sting at the comments. For the first time, he didn’t mind at all what anyone else was saying. Kira tucked her head under his chin, and they nuzzled.

Dusty closed his eyes with bliss. Things had changed over the past few months. He had changed. But, for the most part, it had all been for the better. He was happy. And that, Dusty realized, was all that mattered.

Balto, Jenna, Dusty, Ralph, Kirby, Doc, Kodi, and Aniu

© Universal Studios

Dusty, Kaila, Copper, Chase, Julie, Lucas, Kira, Brenner, Robin, Silver, and Gail © redwolf03