front of the two teams. He cleared his throat and uttered a loud roof, grabbing the onlookers' attention.  "Ladies and gentledogs, there'll be no biting, scratching, clawing, or causing harm of any kind.  And now, on your marks...get set...GO!"

The teams rushed past him, Balto's team immediately in the lead.  Steele glanced over and snarled when he saw that Balto was ahead of him.  Balto grinned at his pups and barked encouragingly, "You can do it! Let's go!" 

Soon, the team reached White Mountain.  Like the mail race he and Kodi had competed in a year ago, this was their turning point.  The team slowed and rested for a few minutes, then got up, picked up the pace swiftly, and ran as fast as they could back to Nome.  As they left, they saw Steele's team puffing and panting as they sprinted into the little town.  Aleu shouted to the team, "Don't get cocky!  They still might catch up!"

"True words, Aleu!" Kenai yelled back, being respectful to his alpha.

"Suckup!" she laughed and nudged him in the shoulder.  He stumbled and laughed along with her, the affection between the two showing.

After about a half hour, they pulled into Nome, the town dogs howling and cheering, Steele's few remaining followers grumbling.  Jenna rushed up and nuzzled her mate and each of her puppies in turn.  She gasped when she saw Kenai instead of Kodi.  "Where is my son?" she demanded.

"Kodi was injured by Steele.  He'll be okay," Aleu said, intervening quickly.

"Speak of the devil," Denali barked, looking in the opposite direction.  The others turned to see Kodi limping as fast as his injury would let him towards his siblings and parents.  "It's Dusty!  She's going into labor!" he panted.

The dogs swiftly unharnessed and followed him.  Once they reached the alleyway, Aleu glanced at Dusty, who was lying on the snowy ground, and a connection flashed between them.  "We've got to get her to a vet!" she ordered the others.  Denali, Aleu, Jenna, and Saba picked her up and carried her to the vet.  The males followed.  Balto noticed that, standing side by side, Denali and Aleu almost seemed like twins, except that Denali as red and white and Aleu was tan and white.  Thinking of Aleu reminded him of something he needed to do.  "You three go ahead.  I wanna speak with Kenai."  He beckoned the gray wolf over as the three brothers went on ahead.  Kenai slowed his pace to match Balto's.  "I'd like to ask you something."

"Yes, sir?" Kenai asked nervously.

"Do you really like my daughter?"

"Aleu?  Yes, I like her.  Probably more than I should, seeing as she's my superior.  But please understand that I do love her, and if she were to take me as her mate, I wouldn't cheat, and I wouldn't abuse her."

"And if she does...? There's always that shot, Kenai.  Why don't you take it?"

That seemed to encourage him enough to make him smile and say confidently, "You know what?  You're right!  It is worth a shot!  I'll tell her while we're waiting."

As they waited, Jenna stayed inside to help Dusty.  Kenai drew Aleu away to talk to her.  Balto, watching out of the corner of his eye, saw Aleu's eyes widen in shock, then a smile play her face as she responded.  Kenai leapt high in the air and howled with joy.  Aleu laughed.  They rejoined the group just as Jenna popped her head out and said, "There's a new puppy in the world!  A little red girl with brown eyes."  She glimpsed Kodi's proud and excited face and said, "Come on in, Kodi."

Fifteen minutes later, two gray twins with blue eyes, a boy and a girl, entered the universe.  Then, an hour later, the last two puppies, a red and gray brown eyed girl and a red blue eyed boy, arrived.

Jenna led the others in and showed them the puppies.  Kodi and Dusty were contemplating names.

"Can we name this red female Jen?  After your mother?" Dusty inquired.

"Sure.  And this little gray male should be Togo," Kodi replied.

"The petite gray female could be called Dayna," Dusty went on.  "And I'm dying to name the red and gray one Sophie."

"And finally, the red male," Kodi said.  "He should be Fritz."

Scene 5: Aleu's Puppies

THREE MONTHS LATER

Aleu and Kenai's puppies had been born.  They'd named them Juneau (miniature Aleu), Alyeska(Juneau's twin), Nikolai (gray and white female, Balto's markings), Shasta (miniature female Balto), Amaroq (black male), and Nanuk (white female with red paws).  They played on the beach with their grandfather and cousins. 

Jenna padded up to her daughter, something dangling from her jaws.  "Aleu, I'd like you to have this."  She put a yellow bandana around Aleu's neck.

"Thanks, Mom," Aleu responded, nuzzling her mother.  She stepped back, sat down, and watched her puppies play.