His blue-green eyes were as huge and round as the moon. “Is she…dead?”

Dusty felt the word as if a flaming sword had been thrust through his gut. He could see Kira’s shock and pain on her face, too, and the blue-green of her eyes faded to a dull blue as she whispered, “No. Not…yet.” She shuffled forward and began licking Robin’s blood-streaked face.

Robin’s eyes cracked open weakly, and the broken whimper that splintered from her dry throat drove daggers through Dusty’s heart. He padded to her side and leaned down so he could see her face, as Kira curled around her youngest pup and daughter and tried to keep from crying out.

“Robin?” Dusty breathed, “Robin, sweetheart. Say something. Say anything.”

Robin’s blank eyes were two blue slits in her gray face. She gazed up at him, squinting a little. “Dusty?”

Dusty swallowed. His mouth felt like dry ice. “Yeah. It’s me.”

Robin’s eyes suddenly dropped closed, and she sucked in several deep breaths, as if playing tug-o-war with death. The rope: her life.

Kira let out a breathless sob and nudged her daughter’s face. “Robin? Robin!”

Robin forced her glazing eyes open and moved her head a little on her mother’s side. “Mom?”

Kira whooshed out all her air and rubbed her nose against Robin’s ear. “Thank god. I’m here, Robin. I’m here.”

“Am I…” Robin coughed wetly, and her eyelids drooped. She struggled to keep them open, and tried in vain to focus on Dusty. “Am I dying?”

Dusty choked back the howl of grief that was clawing to be set free from his throat. He didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to feel it. But he knew. The breath had been beaten from her body. It was only a matter of time before… “No, Robin,” Dusty murmured, “No. You’re just…just…hurt.” He tenderly licked her cheek, wishing he could wash away the scratches and bruises and pain as well as the blood.

Robin closed her eyes, and Dusty froze, horrified. She slowly brought them open again, and looked at him with a flicker of a smile. “Don’t worry…Am I really like a daughter to you?”

Dusty gazed down into the pools of her eyes. “Robin, listen. I don’t care who your father is. You are my daughter, and I love you.”

Robin was quiet for a moment. Then she raised her eyes to his. “I’m your daughter,” she whispered, “…and you’re my dad.” She licked him on the cheek, and suddenly slumped to the ground, her bright eyes paling to a dull gray as they finally closed. Robin flew away to a place free of pain where no one could reach her.

Kira stiffened. Her nose drifted over Robin’s face, hovering at her daughter’s mouth. No faint breath blew against her cheek. No small heart beat through the downy fur against her side. Dusty watched with stabbing grief as Kira wrestled with death. “You’re going to be okay, Robin. You’re going to–” Her voice cut off with a torn high-pitched note that scraped away at Dusty’s heart. It left him raw and bleeding, open to the icy winds of grief.

He leaned his head against his daughter’s forehead, and for one moment he could pretend she was only sleeping the sleep of dreamers and not the Eternal Sleep. Words cut his throat as they came up, grating the air. “She isokay. Now.”

Broken sobs tore from Kira’s chest. Dusty looked up to see her dull eyes glistening with sharp tears as she tried to nudge her daughter awake.

“No. Robin. No. No!” Kira collapsed to the ground as if all her strength had been sucked away with her daughter’s spirit, and shook as silent screams rocked her soul.

Dusty watched her with an ache that went on for eternity. His ribs seemed to tighten until they almost burst apart with the strain of holding in the pain burning inside his heart. Barely breathing, he took a few steps toward Kira to try and somehow comfort her, but she brushed him away as if he were a stranger. The wild hurt in her gray eyes mirrored Robin’s, and told him that Kira wouldn’t let herself be helped until she had harnessed her pain and had control of her world again. For now, there was nothing he could do.

Dusty pivoted to stare at the wide-eyed expressions of his two remaining children. They both wore the same soul-torn expression: huge, haunted eyes with such dark, deep fear and sorrow it seared through Dusty with a killing bolt. He barely noticed he was moving before he had taken three short, slow steps back, swung around, and flung himself out into the battle with a tortured cry that freed some of the wild animal inside him yearning to smash and twist and wring every drop of blood out of Steele for taking his child.

The cry rang as it hit the quiet. The battle outside Robin’s tomb seemed to be over.

Dusty’s gaze darted around in a panic. Everywhere street dogs and wolves alike lay so still it made Dusty’s skin crawl. On every fallen canine Dusty saw Robin’s face, empty forever. The red blood that made the grass slick reminded him of the red fur that colored her chest and had been the inspiration for her name. He felt as if at any moment he would fly apart in a thousand pieces, as easily broken as glass. Desperate for relief, he spun around wildly. Where was everyone? Kaila? Chase? Copper?

A brown-gray lump shifted from amidst a cluster of corpses. Its eyes flashed gold as it rolled onto its side with a moan.

Dusty crashed to its side. “Dad?” He was sure it was Balto, but it was unreal seeing his father battered and beaten. It hurt a part of Dusty that had never been touched by raw emotion before. It seemed unbelievable: was it possible that his father –Balto, the hero of Nome – could lose?

Balto raised his head wearily and fixed his son with an unsteady gaze. “Dusty. Don’t look so worried. I’m fine. Are you all right?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Dusty muttered sarcastically, “A couple of flesh wounds, a dead daughter, dogs torn up before my eyes…”

“That doesn’t sound all right to me,” Balto said with a tired smile.

Dusty shrugged. “You lie, I lie.”

Balto suddenly stiffened. “A dead daughter? But…” His eyes glinted at the very edges with tears. “Robin…died? That sweet kid…Dusty–”

“Stop,” Dusty snapped. He couldn’t take sympathy. He couldn’t think about it or he would crack. “Just stop.”

Balto stared at him, and then nodded as if he understood. He winced as he tried to stand up. His legs shook. Dusty helped him, and as he rose to his feet Balto asked, “Where’s Kaila? And Chase and Copper? Are they all right?”

“I don’t know.”

“That Steele,” Balto muttered fiercely, “There’s only one way to stop him. I have to kill him. It’s the only way. The only way to keep you guys safe…”

A dark shape rose in the corner of Dusty’s vision. Dusty slowly pivoted around to see Steele heaving himself up from the bloody ground only a few feet away, eyeing the landscape for any sign of life.

Dusty hit the dirt, dragging Balto down with him, and waited breathlessly for deliverance.

Suddenly Steele bellowed, “Silver Arrow!” and Dusty lifted his head and watched Steele charge towards the gray beta wolf. At the beta’s side stood a wolf-dog. Dusty’s ears shot up with recognition. Kaila! She was alive! But what was she doing with the beta wolf of the enemy pack? Dusty nudged his father and mouthed, “Kaila.” Balto nodded wordlessly, staring ahead.

Dusty flattened himself down and began dragging himself forward on his stomach, sneaking towards his sister and the two enemies that now surrounded her. No, wait! Was Silver Arrow standing in front of her? Protecting her?

Dusty was close enough to hear every word the threesome uttered.

“You lying son of a–!” Steele cursed.

“Right back at you,” Silver Arrow said coolly.

Steele bristled with indignation. His voice rang out so loud the tundra seemed to quiver with it. “Darn you! You were supposed to kill her!”

“Those were Dark Moon’s orders,” Silver Arrow said coldly, “Not yours. And now Dark Moon is dead.”

“Those were the orders I gave Dark Moon to give to you!” Steele shot back. He bared his teeth. “Or are you so brainless that you can’t follow a simple order?”

“Are you so heartless that you would give such an order?” Silver Arrow retorted, “The pack is dead, Steele. I follow no one’s orders now. Besides…I love Kaila.”

Dusty almost choked with astonishment. He couldn’t have heard right. Silver Arrow…loved…KAILA?

Steele stared, as dumbfounded as Dusty felt. The tundra was silent, but eerie tension stretched the quiet until it was almost unbearable.

The laughter started low and deep, but gradually it rose louder and louder until it rumbled like thunder, and Steele was rocking with it. Kaila glared at him as she moved up to stand at Silver Arrow’s side, her golden eyes flashing. Dusty knew her well enough to realize she was fighting quite an internal battle to stop herself from slapping Steele, who was chuckling so hard his shoulders shook.

A soft crunch in the snow made Dusty jump. Cheyenne glanced up at him from her crouching position a few feet away, her body bright against the swirling gray sky. She put her paw to her mouth to signal his silence. He nodded, and flashed her a slight smile to show he was glad she was alive.

She jerked her head towards Steele. One by one, Copper, Taya, Ava, Chase, and Ketch quietly encircled Steele. Kaila and Silver Arrow both gaped in surprise, but they managed to regain their composure before Steele stopped laughing.

The four Northern Hills wolves standing behind him were thrown to the ground and knocked out. There was a scuffle, but Steele was enjoying himself too much to notice.

Dusty gave Cheyenne a sharp nod, and she scurried over to join the ever-growing ring around Steele. Dusty nudged Balto, and father and son crept quickly to catch up with Cheyenne. Slowly, silently, they surrounded him in a circle like a hangman’s noose.

“I always thought you were a few dogs short of a sled team,” Steele was laughing at Silver Arrow, “But I never thought it was this bad. You had your pick of the pack females, and yet you fall for this mangy lobo? I mean, evenBalto knew a good-looking girl when he saw one.”