cried out in pain. Panting, she looked up at him in shock. He glared back at her.

“We’ll see about that,” he growled.

“Jenna! Jenna! Can you hear me? Jenna!” Balto struggled through the deepening snow, desperately calling out her name. His only answer was the wind; even the trees seemed to mock him, dumping heaps of snow in front of him or on top of him. Yet, he staggered on, squinting his golden eyes against the howling wind. What is going on, he thought, why would she just walk into the forest with a storm on the way? He thought for a moment and answered himself. “She wouldn’t.” Something is very wrong… He looked around, and suddenly realized that he had lost Jenna’s scent. “**** this storm!” he growled. I can’t stop, he thought, I might find her… And I might freeze to death. He padded onward, but even as he did he could feel his feet seizing up and going numb. Great, just great, he thought, cursing himself for being so stupid.

Corrok! Corrok! Balto looked up and saw a crow, no, a raven flying amid the falling snow. Despite the howling winds, the black bird circled above him. For a long moment, Balto stared at it, unwilling to believe that anything was out in this weather. But then again, he thought, so am I. As if reading his thoughts, the raven called out one last time and sped off into the trees. Balto watched it leave, and to his surprise, he saw a small den dug under the base of a tree. Grateful, he crawled inside, curled into a ball, and drifted off to sleep.

Back in Nome, well past midnight, Rosie’s mother stood from her chair at the sound of the front door closing. Rosie’s father stood just inside, brushing the snow from his coat. She walked up to him and took the lantern he carried.

“Did you find her?” Her husband sighed.

“No…” He looked down, but then his face lightened when he remembered something. “…but I think Balto’s gone after her.”

“He has? Oh… oh, I hope he’s alright.”

“I do too,” he replied, hugging his wife, “As soon as I get a chance tomorrow, I’ll keep looking. We’ll find Jenna, dear, don’t worry.”

Jenna woke to a kiss. Not one that she had expected, or even wanted, but being asleep she had no say in the mater. Her eyes flicked open and she looked up in surprise. Steele had kissed her lips. He laughed softly as she met his eyes.

“I’ve always wondered what that would feel like,” he said. Jenna just glared back at him. For a long moment, they stared at each other; Steele with a slight grin on his face, Jenna with a rekindled anger burning in her eyes. Just when the silence became unbearable, the scar-faced captain padded in and whispered something to Steele. His grin widened considerably and he got to his paws. “If you’ll excuse me, Jenna,” he said, “I have business to attend to.” He turned and padded out into the falling snow.

As she watched him go, Jenna thought about Echo and his pack. Did they discover the threat in time, or was Sadera’s strike a complete surprise? Jenna shuddered as she thought of Vella’s pups, helpless before Sadera’s murderous band. Even if she got past everyone else, she would undoubtedly have to deal with Vella. As long as she could help it, she would never let her pups be harmed. She would die to protect them. The sound of paws in the snow lifted her from her thoughts. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the guards say something to the other and then walk away. The remaining one stepped directly in front of the entrance and resumed his statue-like vigil. Jenna just lay there, staring past him into the forest. Freedom. Only a few feet away. Though the sun was already high in the sky, she sighed and drifted off to sleep.

She wasn’t sure exactly what had woken her up again. The guard still stood where he had been before she fell asleep, though the sun was just starting to sink in the sky. Jenna shook her head and laid it down again, but just as she was about to close her eyes, a startled yelp caught her attention. It might have been that the guard hadn’t heard the sound in time; or he might have just been too slow to move. In either case, he had no time to react before a brown blur slammed into him and knocked him to the ground, unconscious. Jenna looked up in surprise as her rescuer met her eyes.

“Balto? How did you find me?”

“There’s not much time to explain. Follow me!” He turned and dashed into the forest. Still bewildered at her sudden rescue, Jenna got to her paws and followed him. As the pine trees flashed by, she caught up with him. Balto turned and said, “I followed your scent. This new leader’s got a lot of guts coming into Nome to kidnap you.”

“Balto, it...it was Steele.” Balto skidded to a stop.

“Steele kidnapped you?” Jenna nodded.

“And that was his pack.”

“What?”

“I’m serious! He asked me what he thought of his pack, and then…” She swallowed. “He started hitting on me.” Balto frowned.

“It’s alright now, you’re safe. Let’s get you home,” he said, “We’ve got to get as far as we can before this storm really picks up.”

Steele’s grin faded as he listened to Sadera’s report. The storm that was supposed to cover the movement of her unit had instead halted them. Within sight of Echo’s den, they had been forced to turn around of risk being trapped in enemy territory. To make matters worse, their eagle-eyed lookout had spotted them, so they were sure to be ready for a sneak attack now. Sadera bowed her head and apologized. Steele turned and stomped off to the clearing where her unit remained, awaiting instruction. Upon his arrival, they all turned and snapped to attention, with their paws together and their heads facing straight ahead. Sadera’s second in command, the scar-faced captain, shouted above the howling wind.

“Sir, third company present and ready for assignment, sir!” Steele looked up and down the rows of wolves and nodded. At least they were ready.

“Remain here and await assignment!” Their reply was simultaneous and immediate.

“Sir, yes sir!” Steele nodded and walked away. Well, he thought, I may still have that annoying band of wolves to deal with, but maybe some time with Jenna will cheer me up. He smiled as he pictured her in his mind’s eye, curled up against the wind. She’ll need someone to keep her warm, he thought. He quickened his pace. When he first saw the guard getting to his paws, he thought that he had fallen asleep. “Don’t slack off again,” he warned him as he passed him at the den entrance, “or you’ll have a very unpleasant day.” Then, however, he noticed that the den was empty. Infuriated, he turned back to the guard and demanded, “What happened? Where is she?”

“I-I don’t know sir, somebody attacked me. Knocked me unconscious.” Steele found Jenna’s scent and scoured the area. Suddenly, his nose twitched as a new scent found its way to him. He growled and bounded back into the clearing, where Sadera and her unit remained, as ordered.

“Sadera, choose two of your best and follow me, we’ve got hunting to do.”

Chapter Eight

If one could have seen the sun, it would have been dipping below the horizon, but the clouds had moved in, blocking the sun with their deluge of snow and sleet. Beneath all of this in a forest on the outskirts of Nome, Balto and Jenna struggled forward against the wind.

“Balto,” Jenna cried, “we’ve got to get out of this.”

“It’s too late to make it to Nome,” he replied, “We’ll weather the storm at the boat!” Jenna nodded and followed him up onto the deck and into the galley of Balto’s old freighter. She shooke the snow from her fur as he swung the door shut. She was still dripping wet when he padded down into the galley. His eyes widened the slightest bit and he smiled. “You look beautiful, Jenna.”

“Is it because I’m soaking wet?” she said playfully, “Maybe we should go swimming more often then.”

“Well, given the weather outside, I don’t think that’s a very good idea.” He stepped closer. “And being wet has nothing to do with how beautiful you are.” Jenna nuzzled him.

“Let’s get some sleep.” The two curled up by the fire and fell asleep.

Thud. Balto woke to the sound of something, or someone, on the deck of his boat. Another thud. Jenna woke beside him. He turned to her and whispered,

“Stay here.” He stood and tucked the sailor’s blanket around her before padding up the stairs and out into the cold midnight air. The snow had ceased to fall, but the wind kept up, whistling through the cracks and crevices as he looked around. “Who’s there?” he demanded. His golden eyes scanned the deck and field, but there was nothing to be seen. He shook his head and turned to go back inside. “It must have been nothing,” he said as he padded back down the stairs into the galley. Jenna nodded as he lay down beside her. He nuzzled her and she leaned over to do the same, but as she did her eyes rested on the top of the stairway. She gasped and Balto followed her gaze. The figure of a canine moved silently down the stairs and stopped in the shadows beyond the fire.