“Echo must be proud.”

“That he is,” Vella whispered, laying her head down to sleep. Suddenly, an urgent howl made the three turn their heads.

“It’s Echo; he says come quickly,” said Balto, inclining his ear toward the sound, “Jenna, stay with Vella, I’ll be back soon.” He then turned and raced down the stone path into the forest beyond. He had not gone far when he came upon Krystal. She had tears in her eyes.

“Oh Balto it’s horrible, look what they did to him!” Behind her, Echo and Gunther half-carried, half-dragged a tan canine through the snow. Balto gasped when he recognized him.

“Kaltag?”

“We found him in a clearing over there,” Milo explained, nodded towards the open ground. “Someone ambushed him.”

“Yes,” Echo agreed, “but the odd thing is that they were not wolf paw marks. The tracks were that of a human’s dog, perhaps a husky?” Suddenly, a strong burst of wind made them all turn their eyes upward in surprise.

“The storm! It turned around!” Milo shouted, barely heard above nature’s wrath.

“Get back to the cave! Now!” As the first flurries began to fall, Echo lifted Kaltag onto his back and ran, with Balto and the rest close behind him. The small group burst into the clearing by the waterfall and padded quickly up the stone path to the cave and safety. Laying Kaltag down, Echo shook the snow from his fur and then looked over their unconscious friend. A deep gash in his shoulder hinted at a missed bite aimed at the neck. Whoever they were dealing with was serious. Just then, Kaltag began to stir and the pack gathered around as he shook his head.

“Where…who…” His vision cleared and the first thing that came out of his mouth confused all of those present. “Where’s Krystal?” The pack parted and Krystal stepped forward. Kaltag sighed in relief. “I’m glad you got back safe.”

“What do you mean?” Krystal asked.

“I promised I’d come meet you yesterday, and I did, but you and the others were gone. I looked around for a while, but you didn’t come back.”

“Well, Balto and Jenna had a little run-in with the Cold Mountain Pack,” Milo explained, “and let’s just say they were far from friendly.”

“Are they alright?”

“We’re fine,” Balto replied as he and Jenna stepped closer, “But what happened to you? Who did this?”

“I never saw it coming. One minute I’m fighting through the storm, and the next I’m muzzle first in the snow.”

“And you came through the storm just to see if I was alright?” Krystal asked. Kaltag nodded and looked away, but everyone saw the blush on his cheeks.

“I wanted to make sure nothing had happened.”

“Oh, that is so sweet, Kaltag,” Krystal whispered, lying down beside him, “We need to take care of that wound.” She licked it to clean away any infection, but Kaltag winced.

“Ah…Oh, that stings.”

“I’m sorry, Kaltag. We’ll find whoever is responsible for this,” Krysal said, “But for now, you need to rest and give your shoulder a little time to heal.”

“Regardless of how it looks,” Balto added, “we need to take him to doc’s as soon as the storm clears.” Echo and the others looked at him in confusion.

“Doc?” said Gunther.

“He’s a kind human who helps other humans and dogs get better. He must have a medicine for every disease there is.”

“A human who helps dogs? Interesting.” Echo replied, deep in thought. He quickly turned back to Kaltag and Krystal. “We’ll leave you two alone.” He and the rest of the pack returned to their places among the rocks. Balto and Jenna lay down nearby.

“So who were these Cold Mountain wolves?”

“Well, this morning I caught two of them murdering a pup in the forest, but before I could do anything I was surrounded. Jenna followed my scent.”

“Speaking of which, Balto, why were you soaking wet when they brought me to you?” Balto shuddered.

“Its…a method of torture, I believe. First they would ask me a question, most of them actually related to Echo and where he and his pack were staying. Then, if I didn’t give the answer they wanted, they would hold my muzzle under water until I was about to pass out. And at just that point, they would lift me up again, but only for a few seconds, then they would push my muzzle back down.”

“By God, that’s…that’s the most horrible, the most disgusting, the most low-down…”

“I know, but I survived. I guess I was lucky. And then, of course, Echo and the others showed up just in time; a few more seconds and we would have both been wolf meat.”

“Hey, I resent that!” joked Gunther.

“Shh! Don’t wake the pups!” whispered Vella. Just then, Echo returned from outside, covered from head to tail in snow. Shaking it off, he said,

“I don’t think the storm’s going to pass us by for a while, so why don’t we all get a little shut eye?” Balto nodded.

“We’ve got nothing better to do.” He and Jenna padded back to their cave and curled up together. Krystal and Kaltag did the same and within a few moments the den was silent again. Well, almost…

Behind one of the cave walls, a black wolf was laughing softly as he looked in through a hole in the rock, surveying the sleeping pack and their guests. So this is where they have their winter den. And not even a guard on duty. We could just sneak in there right now, and-

“I know what you’re thinking,” said a new voice behind him, “but we’re going to let them sleep. Remember, if you want them dead, we’re doing it my way.” The old black wolf turned and flashed a wolfish grin.

“A thousand apologies,” he whispered sarcastically, “I did not mean to challenge your authority, but I will not wait much longer. My captains are restless, they want revenge.”

“They will get it,” the other canine said, stepping closer, “when the time is right. And you will rule the Alaskan tundra. But not before I say so.” The black wolf turned and crept back out into the storm and disappeared. The other canine watched him go and then looked in through the same hole. A tan husky and a white wolf caught his eye. Look at that traitor, cuddling up with a wolf! He stared long and hard at Kaltag. You’ll get what’s coming to you, I promise. The stranger snickered and looked about the den. Just as he was about to leave, something else caught his eye in another small cave, or rather, someone else. He started to growl, but then a thought came to his mind and he grinned. How could I forget about you, Jenna? He gazed at her, sleeping peacefully next to Balto. After all this is done, you’ll see what you’ve been missing. You’ll see… The stranger turned and slipped away into the swirling snow.

Meanwhile, in a small cave in the back of the den, Balto, curled up next to Jenna, fancied that the walls were laughing.

Chapter Six

“Hey, wake up,” a small voice whispered. Balto blinked the sleep from his eyes and stood. A brown pup sat looking at him. “Momma says the storm passed.” Jenna yawned and stood up beside Balto.

“Then we better get Kaltag to Nome,” she whispered, mindfully of the sleeping wolves around her. Balto nodded and padded up to Kaltag, still curled up beside Krystal. A gentle tap on the head brought him back from dreamland and he whispered good bye to Krystal, who was barely waking up. But she smiled and whispered,

“Will you come back and visit?”

“Of course,” Kaltag replied quietly, “Go back to sleep.” Krystal nodded and laid her head on her paws as Kaltag limped toward the den entrance with Balto and Jenna close behind.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The group turned as Echo and Milo padded up to them. “We’ll take you to the edge of the forest. You never know who could be out there.” He stepped in front of the trio and Milo walked behind. “Just to be safe,” Echo reassured them. As they walked away, Balto looked back at the den.

“Shouldn’t you have someone on watch?”

“We won’t be gone long, and this part of the woods is safe. Besides, everyone needs their rest.” So the group continued on, though Balto couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Unbeknownst to them, a stranger watched from the shadows.

Yes, he thought, you never know… The black wolf turned and disappeared into the forest.

Meanwhile, Echo, Balto, Jenna and Kaltag padded through the snow towards Nome. As they walked, Echo pointed out bits of terrain that marked the edge of their territory.

“Between our domain and that of the neighboring packs, there is a shared neutral area. We use it as a loose boundary; because no pack may pass through it to another domain without explicate permission from the receiving leader. However, wolves, and other creatures, can walk safely between two domains with no threat of attack. No wolf may be attacked in the neutral area.”

“That’s very clever, Echo.”

“Don’t thank me, Jenna. This system has been