held on for dear life as the bear stumbled backward off Tomohawk and fell to the ground. Aniu let go and rushed to his side.

   "Are you alright?" She nuzzled him, trying to help him up before the bear came back.

   "I'll be fine. Just get Mirra to the pack, I'll finish the bear." She looked him over and nuzzled him one last time before she went to Mirra's aid. Her terriffied face lit up at the sight of her leader coming for her.

   "Aniu!" She barked happily as she ran over to her. Like a passer by, Aniu snatched Mirra in her mouth and ran even faster to the forest. Her pack was surprised to see her still alive and with the pup in her grasp.

   "Mirra!" Streak came running through the pack to see her daughter safe and sound.

  "Moma!" Mirra and her mother embraced each other as they enjoyed a peaceful moment. A loud roar was heard from outside the forest again. Aniu and her sister ran to the edge.

   "Tomohawk!" Aniu howled, but her sisterwas holding her back.

   "Quiet diwn Aniu. Something's there." Aniu glanced around and sniffed the air. She saw a bright flash of light come fromthe other side of the meadow. Suddenly, the meadow's fighting was broken with the sound of a gun shot. Everything went quiet.

   "Tomohawk!" Aniu howled once again, slipping away from her sister's grasp.

   "Aniu!" She called running to the very edge of the meadow. Hr sister was far ahead by now. Then another gunshot pierced the air. Everyone froze. The gigaintic grizzly bear fell down, dead in the snow. Two bullets piercing its heart and head. Aniu raised her head slowly, looking over the grass. Out from behind the bears body emerged Tomohawk. He shook himself off and looked around. Seeing Aniu's white head, he barked, but she froze once again. A man holding a rifle stepped out into the meadow. He aimed across the meadow, looking for Aniu's disappeared head. She never moved an inch, but Tomohawk barked at the man and caught his attention.

   "What the? Is that the dog I'm supposed to be looking for? Let's see," He pulled out a wanted poster from his back pocket. "Sled dog missing, reward if found. Description, a farly averaged sized husky, three years of age, tanish-brown fur. Yup, that's him. Excuse me sir, I might have found your dog!" He called back to a teenager, who was covering his ears behind him.

   "Alive I hope." He came to the forest edge and spied Tomohawk out in the meadow. Pearl stood next to him and barked happily as she ran out there to him.

   "Halt, little missy!" The hunter shouted to her. Pearl stopped dead in her tracks, not only at the command, but she smelt wolves nearby. She stayed low and looked around, spying Aniu, she barked and growled at her. Tomohawk barked at Pearl aggressively.

   "Leave her alone Pearl!"

   "Why? So she can get away and steal you from me. Never!" He stepped in front of Pearl and shoved her with his paws. As she fell to the floor, he came closer. She got up and stood her ground.

   "Leave her alone." He demmanded and she backed away. He started over toward Aniu, stepping backward over her. He growled protectively at the hunter. He only kept his gun raised while Jason slowly walked over to his dog. Tomohawk seemed to calm down only a bit, he knew that if he got off of Aniu then he would shoot her with no hesitation.

   "Here boy. It's okay. It's me, Jason. Come on." Jason was now crawling torward Tomohawk. Tomohawk growled for him to back away, but he kept coming. Tomohawk had no other choice, with tears in his eyes, he bite Jason on the tip of his hand. He only jumped back in shock, but then he got up.

   "Can you move him out of the way so I can get that wolf." The hunter yelled to Jason.

   "You don't want to be moved, do you?"

   ""No" Tomohawk shook his head. The tears began to burn on his face.

   "Alright then," Jason looked back over at the hunter. "I'm not going to let you shoot this wolf! She loves my dog and he abviuously loves her back! I won't let you hurt her!" The hunter lowered his gun and walked off the meadow and back through the forest.

  "Thank You!" Tomohawk stopped growling and he barked happily at his owner's protection.

   "You're welcome! You can come here whenever you want, do you understand me. I'm goimg to give you the freedom to come her whenever you want, but you have to come back to the house for races, if you need food, you can even bring this little beauty. I love you boy. See you back at the house." With that said, He got up and took Pearl back through the forest. She tugged and growled to let her go, but Jason held on tight and teared slowly.

   "Thank You greatly, Jason." Tomohawk said to himself as he helped Aniu get up. She licked him on the cheek.

   "Thank you for protecting me and my pack," She turned to go to the forest. "Are you coming, dear?" He looked over at her and shook his head.

   "Yes. Let's go meet the rest of the family." They headed back into the forest together. Side-by-side they were greeted by the pack members.

Chapter 8: New Life

   Over time Tomohawk got to know the pack members and their children. He visited at least 5 times in one week. Aniu stayed leader the entire time. One day, she had an announcement to the pack. She walked up the "leader's rock" as the pups called it. She howled happily to get their attention. Tomohawk wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say, but he howled too. It wasn't as bad as the pups, he was only a husky.

   "Fellow pack members, I have an announcement to make. Over the past several months, are pack has grown strong. The lands are still rich with food, so my announcement is not about our sources to live. It is about what I have just discovered myself. I have gathered you all to tell you that I'm going to have pups!" The wolves howled at the sound of their beautiful leader's announcement. Pups were coming to their pack. Tomohawk came up to Aniu.

   "Are you really going to have our pups?"

   "Of course, I wouldn't lie about something like this." She licked his nose and snuggled against his warm fur. He licked her back and looked at his mate.

   "It sounds wonderful." He got the pack to howl for his mate and him. Their songs carrying through the night sky. They were heard by his own home in Nome. The team ran outside and barked amoung each other.

   "Did you hear that!? Tomohawk and Aniu are going to have pups!" They had been told by Tomohawk about Aniu and the wolf pack. They didn't seem to mind, as long as their friend was happy. Pearl sat inside at the window. She covered her ears at the sound of the wolf howls. She didn't care about Tomohawk anymore. He had growled at her, he had pushed her away, all for that witch. Jason smiled at the sound of their howls, he knew it was something good.

..........9 months later..........

    Tomohawk paced back and forth outside Aniu's cave. The medical wolf, Luna, had went in a few minutes ago to help with the birth. Aniu had been in labor for a few hours. All he could do was sit and wait. So many questions pasted through his mind; how many will there be? What will they be like? What will they look like? Boy or girl? What will there names be? Will Aniu pull through? He started to shake, he almost fainted.

   "Calm down. It's not that bad." Streak, Cloud, Mirra and Kami wondered over. Streak sat down next to him.

   "I know Streak, I'm...I'm just...so nervous. There are so many things I don't know about parenting."

   "You'll be fine. All you have to do is memorize names, likes and dislikes, and things to do. Look at me, my husband hated my pumpkins, but I pulled through. Don't be so hard on yourself." He sighed.

   "Yeah, I guess you're right. Do you know how Crest has been?" He asked, eager to know about Aniu's sister's where abouts. She had gone to start a pack on her own, with her mate Cyclone.

    "I saw her a few days ago. She wishes Aniu good luck, and she sends her regaurds. She's also going to have pups in a few months too."

   "That's wonderful. I hope we get to visit them soon." Then luna came out of the den. She looked around and saw Tomohawk.

   "You can see her now. Don't be loud though, the little ones are asleep." Tomohawk sprang up and ran inside. Aniu was huddled on some hay in the back of the den. Noticing Tomohawk, she looked up.

   "Hello dear."

   "How are they doing?" He whispered softly. He went over and sat down next to his mate. He peered over her to see two round balls of fluff. They were huddled together side-by-side, snuggling to keep warm.

   "What should we name them?"

   "I'm not sure." He spoke a little louder and they woke up. Their eyes and ears were still closed, but they could smell and speak. Little whimpers were coming from them. Tomohawk stared at them in delight and excitment.

   "Are you happy that there are only two?"

   "No, I'm happy because we have a family." He nuzzled her gentle.

   "Well, what should we name them?" She said in a gentle voice. Suddenly, one of the pups tried to howl. She was small and tanish-white. The other was a bit smaller and he barked once. His fur was Darker brown with some tan.

  "Let's name this one....Shimmer, no Star, no. Let's name her Seras. Yeah Seras." He nugged her slightly over to get some milk.

   "Alright, then let's name this one Balto." She nudged the small male aswell.

   "Balto? Why Balto?"