woods, her captors had led her to a clearing in front of a sheer rock face. The brown wolf called Captain had spoken briefly with the black wolf and then left. Now, as she stared back into his dark green eyes, Jenna wondered what she should say. Before she had a chance, the black wolf signaled to two silver wolves standing nearby.

“Put her with the rest of them.”

“Sir,” the wolves replied, raising a front paw to their foreheads. The black wolf did the same. Jenna watched with almost curiosity. I guess it’s their way of pledging loyalty. The two silver males led her past the leader to the entrances of two cave and pointed her inside one. Obediently, Jenna walked in. After a few steps, she looked back, but the two remained at the entrance, watching her. So she turned and padded further into the darkness. Suddenly, a new female voice startled her from the shadows.

“Rose?”

“W-What?” Jenna followed the voice until a silver female stepped out of the darkness.

“Oh, I thought you were-Who are you?”

“Jenna.”

“Well, you’re a long way from Nome, Jenna.” For a long moment, Jenna stared at the silver female.

“How did you-?”

“Know your name?” the silver female finished, “You were all he talked about.”

“Who?” said Jenna.

“Well, now that you mention it, I don’t remember his name, but he sure seemed to like you.”

“Cloud Runner, who is she?”

“Easy, Silver Snow, this is Jenna, the one that brown wolf was talking about.”

“A brown wolf?” said Jenna, hope rising in her voice, “Did he have golden eyes?”

“Yes,” Silver Snow replied almost hesitantly, “Do you…know him?”

“Know him? I love him!” said Jenna. Silver Snow and Cloud Runner looked at each other, indecision and worry on their faces. Jenna took notice. “What?”

Suddenly, the sound of muffled shouting came through the walls of the cave. There came a choked reply, followed by an agonizing scream. Jenna’s eyes widened in horror. She’d know that voice anywhere. “Balto…” she whispered.

“They’ve been…torturing him for almost a day now,” said Snow sadly, “I’m sorry Jenna, there’s nothing we can do.” Jenna collapsed to the ground, her breathing interrupted frequently by gasped sobs as her vision clouded with tears. From further back in the cave, another silver female appeared, looking at Jenna. Silver Snow explained and she bowed her head in respect for Jenna’s sorrow. Cloud Runner stepped forward and put a paw on Jenna’s shoulder to apologize again for what was happening.

Just then, her ears shot forward and she turned to see a gray male padding toward them. But his eyes were gentle when they rested on Jenna, crying on the cave floor.

“What happened?”

“You know the brown wolf they’re torturing?” Cloud Runner replied.

“Yes…”

“He’s her mate.” Cloud Runner looked sadly at Jenna, crying softly to herself. The gray wolf stood silent for a moment, then padded up beside Jenna and said,

“I’m very sorry, Miss Jenna, I can do nothing for your mate….” Jenna looked up. “But if you want to see him, I could get you in.” Jenna’s eyes face lit up.

“You could?”

“I will,” he said, “I’ll come back when they’re ready.” With that, the gray wolf turned and dashed out into the clearing. Cloud Runner watched him go and then lay down near Jenna. Silver Snow and Ice Dancer joined her. Brushing a tear away with her paw, Jenna looked at Cloud Runner.

“Who was he, the gray wolf?”

“An old friend,” Cloud Runner replied, “After Vanuk and his followers overthrew the old leader, only he was allowed to live. They killed the rest, the alpha, his mate, their pups, everyone.”

“Why were you…?” Jenna stopped herself, but Silver Snow looked her in the eye.

“We are kept here until we are needed for our…services,” she said. Jenna hardly believed what she was hearing. She turned to Cloud Runner for confirmation. Cloud Runner nodded. It was true.

“How can they...?”

“I know,” Silver Snow said, “It’s horrible and disgusting, but it’s true. To them we’re nothing more than playthings.”

A while later, a gray wolf padded into their cave and woke Jenna and the other females. Anxious for an answer, they all looked to him.

“Follow me, Jenna,” he said, “He’s waiting.” Jenna got to her paws and he led her out of the cave to another nearby. Two black wolves stepped away from the entrance and let them pass, blocking the way in once they had padded inside. Not far into the cave, Jenna and the old gray male came upon a pool of water; Balto lay nearby. He was wet from nose to tail, and shivering violently in the cool air. Jenna felt her heart skip a beat.

“Balto!” His ears perked up and he smiled as she ran up to him.

“Jenna.” The two nuzzled each other. Groaning slightly, Balto struggled to get up, but Jenna placed a paw on his back and gently pushed him back down. She then lay on top of him, shielding him as best she could from the cold. The old gray wolf turned and left.

“Jen, how did you get here?” Balto asked.

“I followed your trail. How did you end up here?”

“This morning, I heard a wolf call for help. I thought of getting Echo, but it was close by and by the sound of things he didn’t have much time. So I took off into the forest, but I got there too late. He was just a pup, but the two wolves had torn him to shreds. I never felt so angry in my life. I wanted to kill them so badly. I lunged at one of them, but then out of nowhere more than ten wolves surrounded me. I had no choice, so I went with them.”

“Are you hurt bad?”

“No, I’m fine Jenna,” Balto replied. Jenna eyed the scratch and bite wounds all across his back and chest.

“You rest then, I won’t wake you up.” Balto looked up at her and they kissed. Jenna licked him once on the cheek and he laid his head on his paws to rest. Jenna laid her muzzle on top of his head and fell asleep.

Outside the cave, one of the guards had been watching. He quickly turned and dashed off toward the clearing, where his leader stood addressing the rest of his elite wolves. The guard told his leader what he’d seen and his leader frowned.

“…them both tomorrow at daybreak.” Meanwhile, the other guard overheard their discussion and his eyes widened. He looked in on Jenna and Balto sleeping and then back at his leader. He couldn’t possibly mean…

“Wake up!” Jenna woke with a start to a gruff wolf voice. One of the guards stood in front of them. “Come up, get up!” Jenna rose to her paws, but Balto struggled to stand. The guard butted him over on his side. “Weakling.” He turned and padded out of the cave. Jenna frowned at him as he left and helped Balto to his paws. She gave him a reassuring smile and together they padded out of the cave.

Almost instantly they were surrounded by four strong males, who led them out into the clearing. Their escorts then turned in unison to look toward the rock face. Balto and Jenna turned and followed their gaze. From a cliff higher then all the rest, the black alpha looked down on them.

“After meeting with my captains, we have come to the conclusion that this brown wolf has done nothing against our pack and had no intention to.” As she listened, Jenna looked again at Balto’s wounds and thought it took them a day of torturing him to figure that out? “However, he is a known friend and possible ally of Echo.” A flurry of whispers spread throughout the guards. “And we cannot risk him telling off our location by releasing him, so his is to be…executed!”

Suddenly, two of the wolves guarding the couple pulled Jenna a short distance away and held her down. One wolf lay on top of her to keep her from struggling, and the other pressing her muzzle into the snow to silence her. Before Balto could move, a guard wolf leapt on him and a harsh growl came from beside him.

“Perhaps now you will tell us where your friend Echo’s den is, hmm?” Balto looked from Jenna to the wolf beside him. As he looked back at Jenna, the wolf on top of her opened his jaw and wrapped his teeth around her small neck, looking him in the eye. Balto lifted his muzzle to the heavens, exposing the whole front of his neck.

“Alright, but let Jenna go.” The black alpha grinned at this.

“I make deals with no one. Kill the girl.”

“Enough!!” In a flash of silver, Balto felt the wolf on top of him flung off into the snow. He looked over at Jenna, but saw only two silver females brutally attacking the two wolves that held her down. Soon she was up and the silver females lifted Balto to his paws. He quickly looked around. Three of the guard wolves lay beaten in the snow, the fourth had fled. Just then, the voice of the black alpha rang in their ears, he was laughing. They all turned to see him marching toward them.

“A fine show of strength, but I’m afraid it won’t help you now.” As he spoke, several strong young black males joined him. “Surrender the red female to me,” said the black alpha, “and I will