to herself. "Why do we always have to change the subject?" Aleu yelled. The three wolves that were in the conversation turned and looked at Aleu. "I asked, 'Why do we always have to change the subject?' We should always talk about something peaceful." "Yeah, but to some of us hunting isn't peaceful and we have to talk about that twice a day." "That's not what I meant, and you know that." "So you're trying to tell them what to do are you?" asked Shadow. "No, as a matter of fact I am not." "It seems to me like you are." "So you're trying to call on a fight?" "Pretty much." "You made the wrong move." "No, you did. You're the one trying to tell them what to do." Scylla blurted out, "No, Aleu was pointing something out to us." Just then Shadow charged for Aleu's throat. Aleu saw this coming and dogged out of the way. Before Shadow could make another attempt to attack, Aleu was at his through. "You are the one who made the wrong move, as I said the first time." said Aleu through closed jaws. Shadow ripped free, only to find his right shoulder in Scylla's mouth. "It looks like it's two against one." she said after letting go of Shadow's shoulder. "But the two are females and the one male. Males are always stronger." "I think you might regret that after we're done." "Done because you lost, I don't think so." "Whatever." said Aleu then she darted for Shadow's throat again. Shadow was waiting for this so he could pull out of the way and let Aleu grab hold of Scylla's throat. Aleu was too quick to let that happen and charged, side by side with Scylla, chasing Shadow in circles. The circles were getting smaller and smaller, creating a spiral effect. When the circles were almost too small to run in, Aleu jumped at Shadow. She did not aim for his throat, but that was what she grabbed hold of. Shadow yelped, and then fell to the ground with Aleu. They were lying in the grass until Aleu got up. She had a limp, but was not injured from the fall other than that. Molly stepped forward and sniffed Shadow. When she announced that he was dead, Slash and Max growled and slowly steeped toward Aleu. Aleu sat down and stared at them, which caused them to back off. Scylla said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed. Also, no more fights until we all eat and get some rest." "What was the 'No more monkeys jumping on the bed.' for?" "It was a joke." "Oh." “Duh.”

"I don't get it. Why was there a fight?" Robert asked Ginger. "You don't really need to know." "But I want to." "But you don't... Robert, why do you always ask so many questions?" "Because I like to know a lot of answers." "You don't need to know a lot of answers." "I know, but I like to know a lot of answers, and I'm hungry." "Yeah I am hungry too. Let me go ask Scylla when they're going to go hunt." Scylla's answer was surprising to Ginger. "We already went hunting." "Then where is the food?" "We didn't catch any." "You didn't!?!" "No." "The pups are starving though! Did you see any rabbits or anything like that?" "Yes, but not very many." "Where?" "Up north of here." "How far north? Can you be more specific, or take me there?" "Follow me." "You don't sound very happy. What's wrong?" "I'm just tired." It was quiet until they saw a rabbit.

Scylla pounced on the rabbit which did not even notice the two wolves. Then when Scylla and Ginger returned, the pups refused to eat it. "Were not pups anymore, so we won't eat like pups anymore." As Kiba was finished speaking, she whirled around into the bushes and attacked a grizzly bear no one noticed! "Kiba!?!" Ginger yelled and then chased after her. When Ginger finally caught up to Kiba, she stopped dead in her tracks, her jaw as wide open as wide as they would go. Kiba was hanging from the bear’s neck! "What on earth..." Just as Ginger started to back up, the bear fell straight on her! When she got out from under the bear, Ginger said, "That’s not the first time that has ever happened to me..." Aleu called from the distance. Everyone came to her instantly.

Before Aleu could speak, a white wolf attacked her! Aleu threw the white wolf off her back. "Who in the world are you?" asked Aleu. The wolf gave no response, but jumped at Aleu's neck. It was so loud, no one heard the gun shot. Aleu fell to the ground. Slash, who was now learning to actually obey Aleu, stared at the stranger. Silence. The gun shot again. This time, everyone broke out into a run in the opposite direction. Everyone except Aleu who lay on the ground, not moving. The hunter left, and a few minutes after that, the pack returned to where Aleu lay on the ground. Jack sniffed her, then turned towards the others, and shook his head with a frown.

Jack led the pack a mile or so along the border of their territory. Soon, they stopped and went to sleep. Everyone agreed with jack being the new alpha. Jack did not fall asleep with the rest of the pack. He waited until everyone was asleep, then he ran back towards Aleu and slept there. He was awakened by a scent. A bad scent coming from the direction of the white wolf that did not belong on this territory. He noticed this scent before, but just barely. Rabies. Not good. "If only Aleu wasn't dead and Balto was here. He would understand the problem and somehow, communicate with the humans here on St. Lawrence Island. This pack won’t survive without Aleu." One of Balto's talents is communicating with humans. Not like Muk and Luk trying to communicate with a toad a couple years ago, but the humans really understand him in a way. Even if they don't have a single clue who in the world he is. Jack sighed and decided to go back to the pack before they awoke. His goal for today was to figure out the name of this rabid stranger. He knew just asking probably wasn't going to work, so he decided to not waste his time on things that would not work. Catching her off guard, even staying awake all night to see if she talked to other wolves by howling over night when everyone else was sleeping. Something would have to work.

Days went by. Days turned into weeks, and the wolf still did not give her name. The wolf was now begging to be a pack member o this pack, but Jack was not so sure. Finally, a plan came to mind. He would not let her into the pack unless she gave her name. Then he remembered she had rabies. Jack knew that that disease could spread easily. He and his pack would have to be extremely careful with this wolf.

The plan worked. The wolf gave her name. Or what she wanted the pack to think her name was. Even I do not know if she is telling the truth. You can never trust a rabid animal. And that includes humans. Jack glanced at Thunder. They were both at the edge of their territory. Sam howled from the distance. So did Garret. All four packs went to a meeting spot that was there even before what used to be Nava's pack came from across the Bering Sea. Everyone except the white wolf, Monica, who was ordered by Jack to stay.

"I've noticed more than three or four rabid wolves around here..." "Yes, and one has entered my pack. Her name is Monica, but no one that I know of trusts her." "And one threatened my pack for revenge after I won a battle." Max groaned. It was enough crossing the Bering Sea once and he did not want to do it again. "If we cross the water again, we won't have anymore food unless there is possibly food in Russia, but we don't know if there is or not." "Yes, but it is either a fifty percent chance that we live, or a...good point." "A wolf usually knows how to avoid rabies. I, Max, say that this pack stays here." "Wait a minute, I'm the alpha male here, and I decide what the pack does. I also decide how I decide what the pack does, and I think that Sam, Thunder, Garret and I should discuss this by ourselves." "Ok, back to the rabid wolves. No more arguing, please. Who has done anything yet...?” A helicopter in the near distance interrupted the conversation.

"Let's land here. We can ski to the wolves." "You know that we will have to stop halfway there, though, right?" "Yes, but skiing at all might make it a little faster." The two men grabbed the inoculations for rabies, and the guns for shooting darts that would put the wolf it hit asleep, got on their skis, and headed out. The wolves were completely silent. Only the wind made a sound. The wind and the snow under the two human's skis that the wolves could easily hear. One of the guns went off and all of the wolves broke out into a run. A gun shot twice more, then a third time. A flock of eider ducks was about to fly overhead, but changed routs at the sound of gunshots. A flock of arctic terns flew up from the grass, partially covered with snow. Weasels darted as fast as they could toward their burros. Two wolves slowed down, then fell to the ground. The rest disappeared into the mist. The two men ran toward the wolves that were asleep on the ground, and gave them the rabies inoculations, then got back on their skis and went back to the chopper. Eventually, the inoculated wolves woke up, and went out in search of the rest of the pack.

"What were those hu--..." "I don't know. I think we should talk about what we were talking about another day. For now, I think we should all go home." "After we hunt." "No, Max. Not tonight. Not with those humans around." Ginger was already heading towards home at that very word. Home. She had had enough of today. "I agree. Max, it's either no food, or death. Which do you think is worse?" "Death, but it's only a forty, even thirty percent chance that we will die." "Forty or thirty percent chance that it will snow tonight. Sixty or seventy percent chance we will die." "You can go look for something, like a lemming, for yourself, but no one else is going." "He means no one." "Let's go." Jack led his pack back to their territory. "Enough of today."

A few days later, there was a strong scent of human in the air. "Not good. Not good at all." Slash appeared around a tree. "I can't find Aleu anywhere." "Yes. I believe the hunter brought her back to his house to make a