down. And that was just fine with him.

Dusty rubbed his head against Kira’s, and her blue-green eyes snapped open instantly and glanced around the room. Then she saw him, and her rigid body relaxed. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Well, that’s a great way to greet someone!” Dusty exclaimed quietly, so as not to wake the pups, “ ‘Oh, it’s just you.’ C’mon, Kira!”

She smiled wanly. “Sorry, Dusty. I was dreaming…about Lucas. He was back, and he was coming after the pups…” She shuddered, and looked back up at Dusty. “I’m glad it was only you.”

Dusty laughed nervously. “Well, you’ll never have to worry about Lucas again. I’ll never forget seeing you…kill him.”

“I may have killed him, but I’ll never get rid of what he did to me.” Kira scooped Silver closer, and instantly all the pups whimpered and whined in chorus, then snuggled in closer and fell back asleep. Dusty smiled in spite of himself

“It has done some good things,” Kira continued, nodding to the pups. Her blue-green eyes flamed emerald green. “But he hurt me. And I don’t forgive and forget.”

Dusty nudged her face and murmured, “I know. I know. I wish I could tell you to let it go, but this is the kind of thing that even I can’t forget about. Just think about the pups, Kira. At least they’re a wonderful thing to come out of such a mess.”

Kira’s face softened, but her eyes still sparked. “Yes, but I wish you were the father. Not…him.” She suddenly stiffened, and a dullness scratched across her eyes. “Julie’s parents are talking about selling the pups.”

Dusty started. “Now?” Dusty’s owners were Mr. and Mrs. Tolbeck, and Julie, their young daughter. They had taken Kira and her pups in after her trials with Dusty in the barren tundra. “But the pups are four months old! Who would take them now?” Inside he thought, ‘They can’t take them. They just can’t…’

“I heard Julie’s parents talking to her last night,” Kira spat bitterly, “They said there was no way they were keeping five dogs in the same house, and that they should sell them before the pups lose that cute puppy look everybody drools over.” Kira clenched her teeth defiantly. “It makes sense, but…they can’t sell them just like that. They can’t!”

Dusty was unsure what to say. He would miss the pups as much as Kira, but they couldn’t stay forever. He rubbed his head tenderly against hers. “Shhh.”

She tensed for a minute, but with his silent reassurance she slowly relaxed.

“It’ll be hard, but at least you’ll still be able to see them around town,” Dusty said softly, “It’ll be all right, Kira. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but it will be all right.”

Kira nodded and closed her eyes, and when she opened them again their fiery green had subsided to blue-green like ocean waves. She nuzzled his neck and licked his chin. Her breath was sweet against his face.

A warm current coursed through Dusty’s blood, and he couldn’t think of any place he would rather be–

Copper burst through the doggy door and hit the carpet with a dull thump. Dusty felt heat zipping up his face. His brother knew about his affection for Kira, but being walked in on made his toes curl and his face flush red. “Copper, what–”

“Dusty! Get to Dad’s boat!” Copper gasped. He paused to heave in tearing breaths, and cold sweat beaded on his fur. He straightened up and stared at Dusty. “Family meeting. Now. Run there now. We know you’re fast, so get there as fast as you can!”

Dusty’s mind was a jumble of pieces of broken thought. “Copper, why? Copper!” There was no reply. Copper had bolted out into the cold again, leaving an air of confusion behind him.

The pups had woken up.

“Was that Copper? What did he want, Mom?” Silver yawned.

“Dusty has some family business to take care of,” Kira explained. She looked at Dusty. “Go. Copper’s usually not so…blunt. Something’s up.”

“I’ll be back right afterwards,” Dusty promised. He nudged each pup good morning and then dashed off out the door and down the street. His paws pumping hard, he ran out of town and across the beach. Rhythmic thumping behind him and scents tossed on the wind told Dusty Copper was already racing back with their mother, Jenna, in tow.

The three dogs clattered up the ramp to the deck where they found Chase and Balto waiting in silence. Copper sat, breathing hard and fast.

Balto furrowed an eyebrow in concern. “Thank you, Copper.”

“No problem,” Copper wheezed.

Jenna stepped forward. “Balto, what is this all about? Copper wouldn’t tell me and–” She froze. Her brown eyes flicked over the boat, the tundra, the faces of her husband and children. “Where’s Kaila?” Her voice choked, and her face betrayed that she suddenly knew.

Dusty felt himself sink. Oh, no. Not again. What reason did she have to run…?

Balto faced his family with solemn eyes. “Kaila ran away again…and I don’t know why.”

Kaila awoke with the flooding sense that she was home. She sat up, sifting the cool dirt with her paws. Around her lay seven wolves, and she smiled as she recognized each one. The earthy smell of the cave swirled into her as a pang of sadness hit her heart. Sirius, the old pack leader, was no longer here. He had drowned when they had crossed a river to get to his mate Kiowa’s whelping den so she could have pups. The pain Kaila felt for Sirius wasn’t sharp anymore. It had dulled over time.

Kaila suddenly felt a rush of guilt. Sirius had been like a second father to her. Shouldn’t her pain hurt more?

A dark brown wolf lying almost face to face with her opened his green eyes and stared straight into her brown eyes. He blinked once, twice, and then shook his head and gawked at her. “Kaila?”

She smiled so wide she felt like her face would split. She just couldn’t help it. She was back with her other family, the Anvil Creek pack. She was home. “Hey, Lakota.”

Lakota scrambled up and hugged her so hard she felt the air pushed out of her lungs. “Uh!” she gasped, and smiled weakly. “I missed you, too.”

Lakota backed off and regained control of himself. “Sorry. But…when did you get back? Why did you come back? How–” His eyes narrowed, and he spun around. “Mom!”

Kaila heard a yip from behind her, and she found herself being tackled by a very enthusiastic light brown wolf with one blue eye and one brown.

“Kaila!” the young wolf shouted, successfully blowing out Kaila’s eardrums and waking the rest of the pack. “You’re back, you’re back, you’re back, you’re–”

“Get off me, Sarai!” Kaila pinned her friend to the ground and let her up. “I told you I’d come back, didn’t I?”

The cave filled with a flurry of commotion as Kaila greeted the old friends she had left behind: Kiowa, Sage, Nilak, and Cheyenne.

Nilak and Cheyenne.

Kaila stared wonderingly at the two wolves, remembering them as the newborn pups whose birth had brought about the death of their father, Sirius, and the joy of being Kiowa’s first litter. The two pups were six months old and as big as Kaila now. Nilak still had the gray and white fur that had inspired his name, and his sharp brown eyes showed wisdom beyond his years. Cheyenne had black ears and paws, but the rest of her fur was a dark red-brown. Her eyes were fierce, and Kaila could tell Cheyenne might be rivaling her for best hunter in the pack. Nevertheless, it was both shocking and fulfilling to see how much the pups had grown.

“Mom,” Lakota said suspiciously, “You wouldn’t happen to know how Kaila got here, would you?”

“Yeah, how did you know I wanted to come back?” Kaila inquired.

Aniu smiled mysteriously. “Grandmotherly instinct, perhaps.” She winked at Kaila.

Kaila wasn’t exactly sure what that wink meant, but not for the first time she had the feeling Aniu was more than she seemed.

“Oh, who cares?” Sarai cried, “I’m just glad you’re back!”

“This is good timing,” Nilak said quietly, “Now we have another member to fight against the Northern Hills pack.”

Kaila snapped to attention. “What?”

“Oh, why do you always have to bring the war up?” Sarai complained.

“Well, we’re not in any position to ignore it,” Sage huffed.

Kaila looked worriedly from face to face. “There’s a war?”

Lakota sighed. “Awhile ago, the Northern Hills pack sent in a wolf called Silver Arrow to spy on us. We let him join this pack when we found him almost frozen outside the cave, and he told us his pack had abandoned him.” Lakota’s dark face twisted with disgust. “Then Silver Arrow found out we were planning to take a part of the Northern Hills pack’s territory, and he rushed back to that pack and betrayed our plans to them. It turned out Silver Arrow was really a member of that pack, and he had been ‘abandoned’ just to spy on us. There was a war, and we won, but now the Northern Hills pack wants their territory back, or at least revenge. They’ve been threatening us for a week now. There might be an attack any day.”

“I think I know that story,” Kaila murmured, “Sirius told it to me when I first came here.”

“Sirius? Our father?” Cheyenne said eagerly, “He told you that?”

Kaila was taken by surprise, but she nodded and observed the brightness of Cheyenne’s eyes when her missing parent was mentioned. Nilak had become very still, and his eyes were dark and piercing. Kaila tried to imagine what it would be like to live without a father, and the result was overwhelming sadness. Now she understood: Cheyenne and Nilak would do anything they thought would make Sirius proud. They wanted to be his living legacy.

A heavy silence descended on the pack as they each took a moment to remember Sirius.

Then Aniu stepped forward and howled sharp and clear. Heads rose, and Kaila felt Lakota brush against her as he came forward and howled deep and brassy. Sage joined in strong and sweet, and then Sarai with a call of the wild that sent an awed shiver down Kaila’s spine. Kiowa’s howl soared high above the rest, and the only two new calls were Cheyenne’s and Nilak’s, Cheyenne howling sweet and diamond-clear, Nilak calling hard and rumbling like thunder. Kaila could almost feel Sirius smiling.

She thrust her head up and howled