And then Wilhelm jumped up, turned in the air and landed in front of the one who had been watching him. It was a large black and white husky which had been about to attack him, but now, the husky was surprised. “I don’t suppose you want to ask me about the weather, right?” Wilhelm growled. He also knew that asking: ‘Are you following me?’ would result into: ‘No!’ The husky smirked: “Well, what do YOU think?” Wilhelm relaxed a little, but still watched the husky. “I think no. Otherwise you wouldn’t try to jump on my back!” The husky laughed a little. “Anyway… I am going to Nome. Is it far from here?”

            “No, we are almost here.”

Steele was almost shocked. He was known there… maybe more than he wanted, but this dog had to have really good nerves, or… didn’t know him. “Well… to be exact, I am looking for Balto.” Steele continued. “I want to… well… I want to tell him something.” It was stupid, but Steele had to say it. Everybody knew what had happened and an apology sounded like the most plausible reason for his return. So… if the dog knew him, he would act suspiciously… but…

Wilhelm looked at him. Of course… who could it be? He looked at Steele one more time and sighed. “So… you want to speak with Balto, eh?”   

            “Yes, that’s why I am here,” Steele smiled, “do you know him?”

            “Yeah. I suppose so, but not well.”

But not well? Steele was confused more and more. Balto was known almost everywhere. The hero of Nome… and this dog said he didn’t know him well. Wilhelm noticed Steele’s expression. “I am new here. I have never been to Alaska before.”

Steele was sure. The dog had to be a liar or… he could tell the truth. And the truth is the best lie sometimes. “Ah…” That was all Steele could say.

            “Actually, I heard something about him…,” Wilhelm grinned, “and about you too, Steele…”

----------

            The squad continued in its task. Actually, it was simple… just make a trip and return safely. Easy… no? Mut sniffed and then he turned to Danny: “Okay… I don’t smell anybody near. So I think the worst passed already.” Danny nodded. “I hope you are right, Sir.”

Wolf was walking by Renna’s side and still, he was trying to comfort her. She was still shaken and afraid. Anyway, her mate had been in a danger.

            They continued walking for two more hours and then Napper ordered them to stop. He looked at the sky and the hills in the distance. “Good… so I suppose it’s all we need to do. We are heading home, boys.”

            Later that day, Mut and Danny were roaming the camp while Wolf and Renna were lying close to each other. Renna knew it was a war but… now, she had someone whom she feared for. “Love, promise you’ll never do that again… please,” she whispered still seeing that scene in front of her eyes. The shepherd just shook his head: “I am afraid it’s something I can’t promise. I am here to fight-“

            “And die?” Renna snapped at him. “If it will be necessary…” Wolf looked into her eyes.

----------

            Reinhardt smirked when he noticed Ghost standing in front of his tent. He looked at her: “So… I suppose you know why I had you called.”

            “Unfortunately, yes…” She smirked even more than Rein and he had to admit it impressed him a lot. “So, then you know every unit has somebody who is responsible for it… who is in charge. And I have chosen you. Because-”

            “Because. And now, please spare me of this crap. Tell me why did you want to speak with me? I am pretty sure you could announce this to the unit without calling me there. So?”   “So?” Reinhardt was shocked for a while. She was pretty clever… and she knew what was going on. “Oh… so… what are you doing tonight, private? Like… you and me… for dinner?” He came closer to her. Ghost gave him a look full of nothing. Was he flirting with her? Obviously… “I am afraid I am not a girl you can buy so easily, sir…” And the word sir contained all her disdain, curiosity and… well… a little bit of a surprise and pleasure.

“I don’t like girls I can buy easily, private…” He licked his maw. Yeah… he was flirting right now. And she had to admit a little piece of her enjoyed it. “Well… if you want to… but dinner will be on you           .”

            “You can be sure, private. I will be waiting for you.” He smiled. “You may go,” he nodded and watched her leaving. “You may go, Ghost…” he whispered.

            Ghost returned to her tent and let her master to pet her for a while and then she just lay down. So her commander asked her for a date! And since it was something the rest of the unit shouldn’t have known, she just kept her mouth shut. She didn’t like the rest of the unit anyway.

Should I go? I… I don’t know. It’s so quick and sudden. Maybe he wants just THAT. But what if… he isn’t ugly at all. It’s only dinner. Nothing more. I… I will go and see…

 

The rest of day was unusually peaceful. And a dinner time was closer and closer. Rein was waiting outside his tent. His owner was somewhere else, probably drinking again. He whined softly as he watched the camp. He wanted – oh, how he wanted – her to come. She was so different. She was thinking unlike the rest of dogs here. She had her own opinion. She was… she was so perfect… Rein sighed once more and looked at his paw. He had a large bruise there and the paw was scratched in a few places. Well… it was the cost of dinner.

            And then, finally. He saw her heading towards him. Rein tried his best to remain calm but seeing Ghost in her elegant style and a flirtatious walk was something that fascinated him. “Soldier, I see you are here,” Rein said but then he realized he had made a complete idiot of himself. It wasn’t the best beginning… stating obvious, when you want to look like superior, is the worst thing you can do.

“Oh, really? I didn’t notice at all,” Ghost took advantage of Rein’s mistake very well.

Rein smirked: “Call me Rein, private.” The shepherd shook her head. “Well… I suppose you want me to allow you to call me Ghost, eh?”

            “Well, if you don’t want to-“

            “I guess I have no other choice. So…” Ghost sighed. Rein looked at her and then, with a silent ‘Ah’, he placed his bowl in front of her. “I promised you something,” he smiled.

Ghost immediately caught a scent of something very rare. It was a fresh meat. But… how? Where had he got it? And then she noticed his paw. Of course… the only fresh meat was in the kitchen. And there was the only way of getting it (if you were a dog of course). Of course, cooks and soldiers who were supposed to get the meat didn’t approve of it. And they had thrown stone this time and had hit him… so Rein had paid. But why? Was he trying to impress her? Why had he done it? She smirked, but the smirk wasn’t as confident as usual. “Rein, why did-“

            “Because you seem to be special. And the special one deserves just the best I have to offer. I would like you to be my officer, Ghost.” She nodded, maybe just because she didn’t know how to react. It was obvious… he wanted to get her. She had heard a lot of things about him… well, to be exact about his cruelty, abusing his power, merciless ways of dealing with everybody who dared to oppose him… and now, this rotten dog was standing right in front of her. “I would like to be your officer, Sir…” Ghost grinned and looked at the meat. “So I guess we should start, no?”

           “We should.” Rein grinned. After dinner, Ghost was unsure what to do. Well, better to continue in the conversation, no? “Si- uhh, Rein, I just wanted to ask…”

            “Well?” he leaned his head. “When are we goin’ to fight? I am here because of fighting. Not because of-”

            “Flirting with me, eh? But you will see both can be really interesting and amusing.”

Ghost didn’t know what to say… she couldn’t bother herself to think right now. Instead of it, she was staring into Rein’s eyes. And she realized he was doing the same.

            “You have beautiful eyes…” Rein whispered.

“I know, I was born this way.” And then, the silence came. Ghost knew what was about to come. A kiss. Just one small kiss. She had kissed (and had done even worse things with) many dogs before. SO… what was the problem? Reinhardt was yet another dog in her life. She would have forgotten quickly… as usual. But… No. A little part of her didn’t want Rein to be yet another… It wanted something it had never wanted before. “I… I have to go. My master is worried for me, for sure.” She turned away from him because she didn’t want to see

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