pressed forward. He had met the same treatment all the way through until he emerged, scared, bleeding, bruised, and exhausted out the other end of the gauntlet. He had looked back at Cloud Runner, but her glare burned holes in his head. At that point, he had turned and ran, never to be seen again. Garth’s voice shook Jenna from her memories.

“…but seeing that you are not a wolf and that this is not a very normal situation, I believe it would be fairer if you had a more personal trial.” He stepped aside and a familiar brown wolf-dog padded forward.

“Balto…”

“I see you enjoyed your night in the boiler room.” He nodded at Jenna’s swollen stomach. “So where’s Kale?”

“Balto, I… I don’t even know where to start, I…” She blinked back tears. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Apparently you thought you loved him,” Balto said coldly. For the second time since her night in the boiler room, Jenna felt as if she’d been shot.

“No, Balto… I didn’t… He was just a friend, I… I didn’t mean to…” Balto met her eyes directly and gave her the most heart wrenching look she’d ever seen. His face was contorted in such sorrow, anger, betrayal, and agony that Jenna burst into tears. The elders looked away, but Balto continued to glare at Jenna. After a moment of sobbing, she looked up at him and said, “Balto, I never meant to do what I did. I don’t know what happened, I… I’m so sorry.” Balto closed his eyes and said nothing. None of the elders spoke. Even the wind seemed to quiet itself. The only sound was Jenna crying softly as she looked at her mate. Just then, he began to quiver. “Balto?” His eyes opened, unleashing twin rivers of tears that etched their way down his face.

“I never thought you would do that to me, Jenna. I thought you loved me. I thought I MEANT something to you. But you run off with this guy Kale and then expect me to forgive you? Like what you did doesn’t matter?” His voice failed and deep sobs found their way out of his muzzle. Jenna felt her heart wrench as she watched him and, despite what he had said, she moved closer.

“Balto,” she began, “I…I know you hate me and I don’t blame you at all.” She fought back new tears. “But I still love you, and I always will, even…even if you never return that love. I’ll love you till the day I die. I…I’m so sorry. I don’t deserve any manner of mercy. Just…just kill me now and be done with it. Maybe it will make up for my mistake.” She raised her muzzle to the heavens, exposing the entire front of her neck and chest. “I’m at your mercy,” she whispered. With that, she closed her eyes and waited for the end, but it didn’t come. She opened her eyes to see Balto walking away.

“Go back to Nome, Jenna, and raise those pups. Just tell them their father was killed.” Jenna couldn’t believe it. The male who had every right to kill her had simply walked away. Despite the pain in her stomach, she stood and started to follow him, but Garth blocked her way.

“His judgment is final,” he said, “Now I believe you should be going home. I’ll send one of my guards with you.”

As he padded back towards the forest, Balto looked over his shoulder at Jenna. She was walking away slowly, her head hung. Even at his distance, Balto could still hear her crying. He shed a few tears as he watched her go.

“So this is it, then. I had hoped…” He bowed his head and turned towards the forest. Just as he was about to bound into the woods and leave what would have been his old life behind, a desperate howl echoed through the trees.

“Garth!” the wolf called, “The Conae, they’re back, they-” The call ended in a startled yelp. Balto looked through the trees just in time to see one of Garth’s sentries being overwhelmed. The brave wolf fought to the death. As his body shuddered and went limp, his attackers turned and joined their comrades, now rushing toward Garth’s startled pack. As he turned and began to run back towards the den and the pack, Balto heard Garth yell,

“Faolan, get Jenna to safety! Hurry!”

Jenna couldn’t believe what was happening. Wolves were fighting everywhere. There was no safety anymore. Her guard called for her to follow him as he dashed back toward the den. They almost made it. When they were within sight of the small earthen cave, one of the attacking wolves pounced on her guard and tore into his throat. Jenna watched in horror as his body shuddered and went limp in a pool of blood. The Conae wolf looked at her and the skin around his teeth pulled back into a growl. Jenna began to panic, and quickly tried to back away, but in her haste she tripped on a fallen tree limb and fell to the ground.

“I’ve never tasted husky blood before…” the Conae wolf said menacingly. Jenna could only stare back into his dark brown eyes as he closed the distance between them. He raised his paw high above his head and Jenna closed her eyes as he brought it down. She didn’t feel a thing.

“I will kill you if you touch her,” someone growled. I know that voice, Jenna thought, opening her eyes, it…it can’t be… Balto had placed himself firmly between her and the Conae wolf, which lay sprawled on the ground in front of him. The assailant snarled viscously and Balto also bared his teeth. Balto charged and the two wolves met in a flurry of claws and teeth. Though Balto was an experienced fighter, the Conae wolf was stronger and more agile. He leapt and knocked Balto to the ground, pinning him there. Instinctively, Balto lashed out with his front paws and knocked the Conae off. Balto quickly got to his paws, but the Conae sprang back and caught him in the chest. Tumbling backwards, Balto landed hard on his back, and the Conae wolf jumped on him and closed his jaws around his throat.

“Nooooooo!” Jenna leapt at the Conae with fire in her eyes. Caught completely off guard, he had no time to defend himself as Jenna slashed a part of his muzzle away. The Conae leapt back in surprise, but before he could regain his senses one of Garth’s sentries was upon him. At the first chance he got, the Conae turned and ran.

Jenna stopped and looked around. Everywhere, the Conae were retreating; Garth’s pack had won. These thoughts were quickly swept from her mind when her eyes rested on Balto. He lay motionless in the snow, and a small pool of blood was growing beneath his pierced throat.

“Oh God…” she whispered. Garth padded up behind her. Not taking her eyes off of Balto, she said, “Is he…?” Garth put his ear against Balto’s chest and shook his head.

“No. He’s just unconscious from blood loss, but we have to get his throat mended now. Sentry!” A young black wolf ran up to him. “How many casualties?”

“More than I wish to report, Garth.” Garth sighed and said,

“Find Naku and bring her over here. This one needs help.” The sentry nodded and ran off towards the rest of the pack.

“Are you sure he’ll be alright?” Jenna asked.

“He should be fine, but we’ll just have to see.” A silver female padded up beside him. “Naku will make sure that he heals, but for now, I believe that you need to leave.” Jenna looked sadly at Balto and started to follow Garth when she was seized by a searing pain in her stomach. With a cry of pain, she collapsed to the ground. Garth spun around.

“Jenna, what is it?” he asked anxiously.

“They’re…coming!” she replied, her speech interrupted by heavy breathing.

“Jenna, can you stand?”

“I think so.”

“Then follow me. Sentry! Help her!” the same black wolf ran up and helped Jenna struggle to her paws and follow Garth to a small earthen cave. Jenna lay down gratefully in the soft earth as the first contraction began.

“If you have need of anything, call for us,” said Garth. Jenna nodded hastily and cried out as her whole body began to shake. Garth and the sentry turned and left, mindful of her privacy.

* * *

“She did all she could, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

“Well, his wounds have already- Look, he’s awake!” Balto lifted his head and looked around, still a little groggy.

“Where am I?”

“You’re in our territory, Balto,” Garth said. Balto started to get up, but Garth held him back. “Whoa there, you lost a lot of blood, Balto. You better take it easy for a while.”

“Where’s Jenna? Is she gone?”

“No, the pups came while you were unconscious, so we had to let her stay. As soon as it’s safe, I can have her sent back to Nome.”

“No, I…I’ve got to see her.” Balto stood and padded toward the small hillside den, leaving a confused Garth behind. When he reached the den, a silver wolf padded out.

“How many?”

“There were five…and now there are three.” Balto shook his head.

“May I see them?” The silver wolf nodded and walked away. Balto stepped into the underground chamber. The first thing, or rather things, that he saw were two pups lying motionless against the wall. The two that didn’t make it, Balto thought. Both pups were black. He turned his head to the center of the small cave. Jenna lay on one side, sleeping, as three pups suckled at her stomach. Two were brick red, like their mother, but the third was black. We won’t be able to hide the truth from him for long. When he gets older, he’ll notice. He’ll have questions. And we’ll only have one true answer. Balto sighed, and Jenna’s ears twitched. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw him watching her.

“Balto?” she whispered. 

“They’re beautiful, Jenna. Have you named them yet?” Not sure if she should believe what she was hearing, Jenna replied,

“I…haven’t really thought about that.” Jenna tried to hold back the tears that she knew were coming. “Balto, I…I can’t live without you. I’m so sorry for what I did. I want to go back in time and undo everything. I never should have trusted Kale. He said he’d missed me so much. It’s been more than a year since we last saw each other in Fairbanks.”

“Wait, you knew Kale before you even came to Nome?” Jenna nodded.

“We…we were friends since we were pups. Before I left, we were practically in love with each other. But then Rosie and her family moved to Nome and I thought I should just move