calm them down.

“Wait. I’ve got something for you guys. You like surprises, right?” At the tone of his voice the pups turned to him, tails wagging. “But first, you have to go in there.” Dusty jerked his head toward the cave.

Ever-trusting Robin immediately scampered into it, and her two siblings tagged along. Pretty soon the threesome were rolling around on the ground, growling and chewing on each other. Dusty shook his head. “Shhh. Quiet.”

They looked at him. Gail curled up on the ground, and Robin hung over her back. Silver lay on his back pawing at the air, but flipped himself over when Dusty gave him a Look.

“Okay,” Dusty said in a hushed voice, “Now to make this work, you have to listen for a minute. Just listen.” Three wide-eyed stares met hiss own. He made sure they were all really paying attention before saying, “When I was a pup, my mom would sing a song to me every night. It’s called ‘Reach for the Light.’ ”

Dusty reached deep down inside himself for the tune and the words. He really had to dig and scrape to bring back memories of his past, of his mother, his father, Nome itself. A pang of homesickness suddenly made him choke up until he could hardly breathe, but even as his heart was rubbed raw and sore with memories, he made sure the song flowed clear and true for the pups.

“ ‘Deep in the night, the winds blow cold,

And in a heartbeat, the fear takes hold,

Deep in the storm, there’s a place that’s soft and still,

Where the road waits to be taken, if you only will,

The voices inside you can lead you so astray,

Believe in what you dream,

Don’t turn away, don’t you turn away,

Reach for the light,

You might touch the sky,

Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,

Reach for the light,

To capture a star,

Come out of the darkness and find out who you are

Somewhere in time, the truth shines through,

And the spirit knows what it has to do,

Somewhere in you, there’s a power with no name,

It can rise to meet the moment and burn like a flame,

And you can be stronger than anything you know,

Hold on to what you see,

Don’t let it go, don’t you let it go,

Reach for the light,

You might touch the sky,

Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,

Reach for the light,

To capture a star,

Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are

There’s no turning back now,

Your destiny is calling,

Listen to the thunder roll,

And let your heart break free,

Reach for the light,

You might touch the sky,

Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,

Reach for the light,

To capture a star,

Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are…

Yes, reach for the light…’ ”

The last notes died away, and Dusty smiled when he saw all three of the pups were asleep. Silver cracked one eye open for a second, but he closed it quickly and was soon as fast asleep as his two dreaming sisters.

Kira padded up to Dusty’s side. “Amazing. I’ve never seen them fall asleep so fast. Dusty, you are something else.”

Dusty beamed and led her outside so they wouldn’t disturb the pups. “That song always worked for me when I was small,” he told her, lying down in the muddy snow. Kira nodded slowly, lying down next to him with a thoughtful expression on her face. Dusty was quiet and let her think for a minute. He could tell there was something on her mind.

“We have to take the pups back to Nome,” she said finally.

“Take them back?” Dusty was floored. “W-What do you mean, take them back?”

“Exactly what I said,” Kira replied firmly, her eyes narrowing, “Oh, Dusty, can’t you see? It’s like we’re hiding out here. And the pups are bound to ask about who their father is. We have to go back. For the pups.”

“Kira, you’ve got to think this through!” Dusty exclaimed, “There’s no reason for us to go back to Nome! We’re fine out here. We’ve been fine for three months! And you and the pups couldn’t make the journey! You’re hurt, and the kids are too young!” He scraped his paw down the snow in front of him. “And why in the world did you choose now to want to go back?”

Kira looked down at the snow. “Let’s just say it’s been long enough for Lucas to forget about me, or think I’m dead. I have some…unfinished business to take up with him.” She looked at Dusty with determination, yet a flicker of sorrow burned in her eyes. “You don’t have to come.”

Immediately Dusty felt ashamed.

“I won’t ever leave you, Kira,” he said firmly, surprised at the passion in his voice. He saw Kira fidget uncomfortably and look away, and almost instantly he felt his face flame. The one thing he wanted more than anything was for Kira to be his mate, but he knew Lucas’ act had hurt Kira for life. It would be hard for her to be close to a male again. Dusty ached at the thought of it, but he knew that he should hold Kira’s desires high above his own. She wanted to be left alone. He would bow to her wishes, however harsh they were on him.

“Then we leave tomorrow,” Kira proclaimed briskly, getting up and limping away as purposefully as she could. Dusty jumped up to help when Kira started to fall, but she caught herself with a frustrated growl, and after a few deep breaths she continued on her way. “Hopefully, we leave tomorrow,” she added, flinching painfully as her body creaked with every step she took.

Dusty watched her go with worry filling his red-brown eyes. He knew she wasn’t well enough to travel, but he would never be able to convince her to stop her plans. He could hold back a wolf, yet he couldn’t fight back Kira’s stubbornness. Dusty shook his head and smiled wryly at the irony.

Ragged breathing and hard choking sliced through Dusty’s dreams. He rolled over, and froze when he saw Kira lying on her side as if pinned to the cold ground by poison darts. Her tongue slopped out of her mouth, and her stare was wild-eyed as she whimpered and coughed. Except for her head, she couldn’t move.

Dusty sprang up and brought his face close to hers. “Kira, what’s going on?! Can you move? What’s happening?!”

She rubbed her head up and down in the dirt, her eyes twitching. She coughed something into the air, but Dusty couldn’t hear her words. He leaned down until the tip of his soft ear brushed her nose. “What?” he whispered.

“Get…the pups!” she hacked, “Get…to…Nome! Leave me here! I’m…finished!”

Dusty stared at her in shock. “No,” he said softly, and couldn’t stop himself from tenderly licking Kira’s face. “I promised I wouldn’t leave you.”

A huge jolt from Kira’s body sent him pedaling backwards, alarmed. Kira shot him a glare. “GO!” she shouted, and suddenly it was as if her body locked up on itself. She froze as if encased in ice. The only clue that she wasn’t dead was her breathing, fast and shallow like the anxious lapping of a rapid-churned stream. And even her breathing, after awhile, thinned so only a small ribbon of air threaded through her body and in and out of her dry mouth. The up-and-down movement of her sides barely hinted she was alive.

Dusty didn’t know the pups were awake until he felt a tiny tap on his leg. He looked down, and saw Robin looking up at him with anxious blue eyes.

“Mama…?” she whispered.

Silver and Gail were pouncing on their mother, whining and whimpering. Dusty abruptly pushed them away. He couldn’t bear the sight of the pups touching their mother’s dying body. He couldn’t bear anything.

Dusty tried to take a deep breath. His chest was too tight. He felt sick. His head was spinning. He had to get out of here. He had to get the pups out of here. He didn’t want to leave Kira to die, but…

‘Darn it!’ Dusty thought angrily. He would respect Kira’s dying wishes if he had to take his own life.

Dusty nudged the young ones out of the cave, and for a moment he was frozen in disgust at what greeted him.

It was a beautiful morning. The sky blushed a pale pink from the sunrise, brightening to a faint blue overhead. The sun shone like a lantern’s golden flame, and the snow was tinted warm, mellow golds as it draped over the tundra.

It felt so wrong.

There should have been howling winds and a sky black as night, mirroring the storm rising to its peak in Dusty’s heart. He barely heard the pups’ protest as he loaded the two girls onto his back and pushed Silver along beside. To block out the pain, Dusty conjured up a mental image of tiny Nome and focused on that and nothing else. He would make it there. God willing, he and the pups would make it.

Brenner the wolf watched curiously from behind a large snowdrift the unexpected sight of Dusty leaving the cave with the three pups in tow, but with Kira nowhere to be seen. He had been watching the dogs for as long as they had lived in the cave, and he admired that they had survived even though they were domesticated. He had watched Dusty and Kira’s conversation the day before, and though he hadn’t been able to hear them, he had sensed something was amiss. That’s why he had come early: to find out what was happening.

He grunted in surprise, wondering why the mother of the pups wasn’t going on this journey. Brenner watched as Dusty and the three young ones disappeared behind a snowy hill, and as soon as