you, kind Aleu. I might see you again, for I have to return to my other terra after the deed is done." He gave a growl, and ran across the stone lanscape which used to be all grass. He laid back his ears.

Aleu looked on, then slowly turned. "Some wolf, that one. He's a true hero."

Later on that day, after Aleu had returned to her pack, Hanya rushed back into camp. "There's a fire! At the Northern Border! Humans started it!" she cried, scrambling up to Aleu who was sitting on Leader's Rock. Aleu gasped. That was where she had dropped Kotan off! She hoped he was alright. The humans didn't harm him, did they? She gave a deep growl and  howled for the pack. "We're goin' in. Together. Hanya, Betta Highway, stay back here and watch the pups." Hanya and Highway nodded.

Aleu was at the Northern Border in an instant, all of the adults in her pack beside her. The adults sprang into the circles of fire, rescuing members of the other pack. Aleu saw Kotan, laying still and frail in a tall circle of fire. She grabbed him by the scruff, and she leapt him out of the fire. She met the adults just out of the dying fire site, and they howled. They brought the other pack further in the terra at Aleu's orders, through some protests by the members who thought it was unsafe. Aleu gave Kotan a lick on his neck.

"Kotan, you're safe now." Kotan rolled over, and whispered, "I'm not an intruder, I'm a friend." He gave her a lick back, and they both blushed. Aleu got out from above him and Kotan rolled out from under her. "You'll have to stay with our pack until you and your pack members heal and the grass grows back in your old terra." Aleu explained. Kotan nodded, and watched her step onto Leader's Rock. "She's wonderful." he mumbled under his breath. Aleu called her pack to attention once more.

"Today's been a long day. We'll have to go to our summer dens tomorrow. The sun has set too quickly. You may go to your spring dens and rest up, tomorrow will be a busy day, as we are moving to our summer dens." Aleu proudly watched her pack, and sighed. She turned to go to her den when she ran right into Kotan. His eyes caught hers, they were so close, their noses almost touched. Aleu dragged her eyes away. "Your den is over there, and now everybody has a roommate." She pointed her paw to a medium-sized den that the betta lived in. Kotan trotted in the den, and sat down. The betta looked up. "I'm Highway, and I bet you are Kotan. We will be roommates for a while until your pack has healed." Highway licked a bone he had been chewing on. "It will be great. Tomorrow we move to summer dens, and we will be reassigned to a den, a different one from last year." He glanced up. "But you weren't here last year, so I guess it doesn't matter." Highway stretched, then lay down, beginning to slumber for Kotan didn't respond. Kotan was lost in his own little world, a world where he and Aleu were together, nuzzling. Then suddenly, as his eyes closed, a nightmare began. Aleu  suddenly tumbled from his sight, and he went hurtling down as well. In his sleep, he cried out, "No, no! No. Aleu!" Aleu cried up, "Bye, Kotan... never will I see you... never again."

At that moment, Kotan jumped up from his sleep. Morn shone through the cave entrance. He couldn't help but feel something special was going to happen today. Then he remembered. Today was the day they would move to summer dens. He glanced out the cave entrance, and saw Highway's tail dissappear just around the bend that linked the dens together. Kotan walked out, seeing Aleu stand proudly among the others, giving a good-morning bark.

"The day has come. We are to move on to summer dens now." She looked down toward Highway, and she growled and said in a whisper "...highway! you are late...!"

"Sorry Aleu..." said Highway, lowering his head a little bit as he sat on the rock below Leader's Rock. Beside Leader's Rock was another rock, where Hanya stood as Second-In-Command. The order of the pack was shown best that way, with normal pack members standing at the ground. Aleu continued her speech with a voice with the grace of a leader, and a tone with the nobleness of the eagle. Kotan watched in fascination, when a dog tapped him on the back. Growling, he turned and looked at a black and white dog. Surprisingly, the wolf knew the dog. "Steele, what are you doing here? And with Niju..." A proud black and silver wolf stood beside the dog. Steele growled. "Is our plan working?"

Kotan laid back his ears. "What plan?" He pretended he didn't know.

"Our plan, stupid! Our plan to take over Aleu's pack!" growled Niju. He slapped a paw across Kotan's muzzle, leaving a scratch. Kotan's nose rippled into a snarl. He hated being slave to these two, but if he ever wanted to live a long and happy life, he had to obey them. He lowered his lips back over his teeth. "It's working." he sighed. "In about five minutes they will leave off unaware, and you will attack. I know."

Steele cackled. "And isn't it great, fusing your anger to these pathetic other wolves? In only moments, I will get revenge on Balto's daughter, and Niju will rule the pack of Aleu's. Our plan is working- fantastically!" Steele lifted his nose and gave a viscous growl. "In moments, I will tear the flesh of someone related to Balto, at last."

Kotan never knew Steele had ever been this bloodthirsty. He seemed to be driven mad. Kotan gazed out at the pack, which was starting their march across the long blades of summer grass. "It's almost time..." He sighed to himself. He would be betraying Aleu, but he had to or else he'd lose more than love. He could lose his own life.

Just then, Steele and Niju lept forward, and Steele had Aleu pinned instantly. Niju stood strong and tall over Highway and Hanya, pinning them down at the same time.

"What's going on?" cried Alue, rolling out from under Steele. She lifted her lips and snarled. Niju chuckled and imitated Kotan. "We're just passing by. We. Are. Wanderers."

Aleu turned and looked at Kotan, searching his eyes for some kind of explanation. But his eyes stayed blank and lost. Niju cackled, and pushed his paw up from under Hanya's chin, exposing her neck. Aleu growled, and laid her ears back. "Why are you here, you intruders? Is this a challenge?!" She snapped her teeth at Niju and Steele, and began to circle Steele with snarls. Steele growled and returned the snap, and advanced, ready to strike Aleu at any moment.

Kotan leapt forward and landed beside Aleu, blocking attacks on Aleu. He lifted his nose and snarled. Niju laughed. "That's just pitiful."                 

Chapter 4: A Challenge She Must Take

Niju and Stele began to circle them. They snapped their teeth. But the only sound in the area was their snaps and growls. It seemed as if the world had stopped, and only the challenging two moved. "What do I see wrong with this picture...?" snarled Niju, stopping his circle in front of the two.

"I see something wrong..." said Steele, as time went back to its normal pace. Steele moved closer and bumped his shoulder to Aleu's. Then he resumed his snarling as he drew back just out of Aleu's biting range. He circled and stopped behind them, and Aleu and Kotan looked back at him. "Why would such a pretty animal trust a traitor? A lyer? Kotan, you helped us. And to what cost? Losing the love of your life."

Kotan snarled, "Look, I don't love her. She's a friend. Aleu, don't lis...!"

"So you HELPED THEM?" screamed Aleu. She snarled at him.

"It's not what you think, Aleu! They're lying, well, almost. I didn't want to help them, really, but if I didn't..." He was interrupted by Aleu.

"...If you didn't I would still be your friend. You're a traitor!"

"Aleu...!"

Aleu ran off, tears welling deep in her eyes. She stopped, and called back to him, "Don't Aleu me. You are from here on out B-A-N-N-E-D! Banned! Cuz you are a traitor!"

Chapter 5: Traitor

Traitor... the word echoed in his mind. He turned, and trotted off to his old terra. His ears were lowered, and his mood was dreary. At least where he was headed the scenery fit his mood.

Aleu had forgotten Hanya and Highway, and she ran back, tackling Steele, and then ran off with her two friends at her side. Steele chased after her, but couldn't keep up much. He dropped behind, and growled, "Mutt, you'll never get away with this! I'll be back! To destroy you all!!"

Kotan finally arrived at his old, barren terra, still not claimed. It was deserted. Kotan stared into the sky, and it started to rain. His tears mingled with the rain, and he sighed. "Aleu, I had to work with them... or else you and I would die. It was our only hope... and it stinks. We could still be close as the raindrops in the storm. We could be close as sun and moon in an eclipse. If only..." After 'it was our only hope and it stinks' he began to sing.

Aleu found herself singing. "If only the truth would come to me,  if only these broken dreams could join together again. We could be..."

"Closer than the sunset and the sky."

"Closer than anything."

Kotan stared up at the moon. "Near enough to listen to your heartbeat."

Aleu sighed, finishing the short song in regular spoken voice. "If only... you were here."

Kotan walked over to his old den, and lay down. "If only... if only I were there..." he whispered, as his eyes fluttered closed. He sighed, and the rain lulled him to a deep, long slumber.

The rain had just begun over at Aleu's pack, and she gave a lonesome howl, calling