picked up Aniu’s scent on the hill, but he knew Kaila had started out the journey by herself. And once Kaila started something, there was no stopping her. Aniu had probably come to protect her, with the intuitive sense of knowing she had always seemed to have.

Kaila bristled with annoyance.

Chase jerked to attention. ‘Mother’? This was Balto’s mother?

The white female stepped away from Balto and padded over to Copper and Taya. “Copper.”

Copper grinned. “Aniu. Good to see you…again.”

Taya stared at her, open-mouthed. “You’re…you’re–”

“Yes,” Aniu said gently, “I guided you to Nome from the Northern Fights. What is your name?”

“Taya,” Taya whispered.

Aniu smiled. “You were lost in more ways than one, Taya. But perhaps now you have found the way.” She looked from Copper to Taya, and her smile grew wider. Copper blushed.

“Dusty,” Aniu said, turning to her other grandson, “It hasn’t been that long.”

“Thank you, Aniu,” Dusty said right away, standing straight and tall, “Without you, Kira and Kaila might not have made it…and I would have given up. Thank you.”

Aniu considered him wisely. “It wasn’t just me. You had the strength to save your sister and your friend. You underestimate yourself, Dusty.” It was Dusty’s turn to go a little red.

Suddenly Chase found herself face to face with her grandmother. The old wolf looked down at her with gentle love and understanding. “Chase. So we finally meet.”

Chase’s mind was swimming. She remembered a piece of a dream where a white wolf had called to her, had revealed her family’s feelings to her. Surely this couldn’t be the same wolf…

Chase began to tremble. She licked her lips nervously and gazed up into Aniu’s face. It was the same gentle smile, kind eyes, and wise expression that had come to Chase in sleep all those months ago.

Chase felt her legs shake, and she tried to steady herself. This was too strange. This was impossible.

Suddenly the gratitude welled up from within. A storm of emotions thundered through Chase, and it was all she could do to stop collapsing then and there. Words flowed upwards and pushed themselves onto her tongue. Somehow, some way, this wolf had shown her her family’s true feelings about her and her crippled leg. Aniu had shown her they cared. And that had been what Chase had needed to hear.

With unblinking and utmost sincerity, Chase stared into Aniu’s golden eyes and said, “Thank you.”

Dusty lay at the mouth of the cave, guarding the pack and brooding over his current predicament. He had been introduced to the whole pack now and had been told of Kaila’s first stay with the Anvil Creek pack. Balto had wondered why the pack was in their cave and not in the whelping den across the river, where Cheyenne and Nilak had been born. “We think the humans polluted the river,” Sage had replied angrily, “It’s not safe to drink the water, or even live there anymore, so we moved back here.” Now everyone but Dusty was inside the cave, trying to decide Kaila’s future.

Balto was trying to convince her to come back to Nome, with Chase, Ketch, Copper, and Taya as his support. Despite all his respect for Balto, Lakota was certain Kaila should stay with the pack, and Sage, Sarai, Cheyenne, and Nilak were his backup. Aniu was acting as the neutral force, trying to work everything out peacefully.

Dusty had listened and done his part to convince Kaila, but after awhile he had slipped out here. He knew someone should be on lookout for Northern Hills wolves, but above all he wanted to get away from the conflict inside the cave. Dusty hated arguments; he always had. They broke the peace he so loved among his family members. He had gotten better at ending them than simply ignoring them, but they still troubled him greatly.

He knew there was a very slim chance Kaila would give in and come with them back to Nome, so the reason he had come was simple: to say goodbye. Balto just didn’t want to lose another of his children to wolves. But, since Kaila’s and Balto’s stubbornness were evenly matched, it would take a few days before Balto admitted he was fighting a losing battle.

Sarai suddenly stomped out and lay down beside Dusty in a huff. Dusty sat up in surprise.

“No one ever listens to me,” she growled under her breath. She looked up at Dusty. “Sorry. I just got sick of everybody talking over me and telling me to be quiet. I mean, Kaila’s one of my best friends! Shouldn’t I have a say in whether she stays or not?” She shook her head bitterly. “But no. No one cares.”

Dusty looked at her sadly. “I know the feeling. It’s Sarai, isn’t it?”

Sarai nodded, and looked away with a melancholy air.

Dusty let her think for a few minutes, and then through the silence came a soft, lovely sound. Dusty looked around curiously, and he noticed Sarai’s lips were moving, but barely. Sarai was singing, and Dusty craned to hear the lilting sound:

“You waved your hand and it was done…Said let it be and there it was…A mountain so high it broke through the sky…A canyon so deep it’d bring a man to his knees…I’ve seen what you can do…I’ve seen you make miracles and hopeless dreams come true…You made the heavens and the stars…Everything, c’mon, how hard could it be–” Sarai cut herself off and ducked her head in embarrassment. “Sorry. Sometimes I just break out into song and I don’t even realize it. It’s embarrassing!”

Dusty gazed at her in awe. “Don’t be sorry. That was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.” He had never heard anything like it. Sarai’s voice was high, smooth, and sweet, and the sad, slow music of the song had made a bubble of emotions well up inside Dusty. Part of him wished she hadn’t stopped.

She blushed. “Thanks. Singing seems to be the only part of me anyone takes seriously.”

“If you’re serious enough about something, everyone will pay attention, no matter what it is,” Dusty said with ringing certainty, “You just need to show them you care too much about the subject to be ignored. A lot of dogs…and wolves…aren’t very good listeners, Sarai. Most of them are too caught up in their own opinion to consider others. You have to make them listen. And if they act like they don’t care, show them you don’t care if they don’t care. Just get your point across, and then they can decide what they think of it. At least they’ve heard your point.”

Sarai’s face was thoughtful. She got up, and when she turned to Dusty her expression was fierce. “You’re right. Oh, what the heck? I’ll do it!” She faced the cave and galloped towards it. “Charge!” Sarai disappeared into the thin shadows, and Dusty heard the conversation stop and Sarai plunge into her argument. He smiled. At least now he had gotten to talk to one of the pack members. He had begun wondering if he turned invisible around them. Not one had made an effort to acknowledge his presence. Oh, well. He had Sarai’s friendship now, at least.

A sudden change in the wind made Dusty cock his head as he sniffed deeply, then leap to his feet. The scent that rubbed at his nose was unfamiliar, but it was dark and dirty, like oil.

The arguing stopped as the thick smell swept through the cave, too, and Balto came running out. He stood at attention as his face twisted with disgust and he murmured one word: “Steele.”

The name sent shudders up and down Dusty’s spine.

Balto slunk across the white, weaving behind mounds of snow and little hills. Dusty followed him, and father and son crouched behind a pile of snow when they came across a dreaded sight: Steele surrounded by Northern Hills wolves.

“In the name of Dark Moon!” one of the wolves swore, “How many more dogs are going to camp out in the wilderness?”

“Oh, I don’t intend on staying,” Steele chuckled darkly, “At least, not for long. Did a wolf-dog and five others pass through here awhile ago?”

“Yes,” one of the wolves grunted, “Were you following them?”

“What are you, some kind of stalker?” another wolf called out.

Steele was all Dusty had imagined him to be. His black and white fur was dark and dramatic, and his blue eyes were like ice, cold of any emotion except hate.

“That wolf-dog’s name is Balto,” Steele growled, “And that wolf-dog you heard of in the Anvil Creek pack a few hours ago was his daughter, Kaila. He’s going after her to try to bring her back to the human town where she was living. I want to make sure neither of them make that journey back.”

“You seem to be an insider on useful information,” a brown wolf said with a thin smile, “Perhaps you can aid us in our battle against the Anvil Creek pack and this Balto. I suspect you have some unfinished business with him?”

Steele’s eyes glittered. “Soon to be finished.”

Dusty shuddered and turned to Balto. “Dad, why is Steele getting help from the other pack? I thought he hated wolves!” he hissed softly.

“Steele didn’t hate me specifically because I’m part wolf,” Balto explained quietly, “He hated me because I’m different, and then he hated me even more when I became the town hero and not him.”

Suddenly the wind changed, whipping Dusty’s and Balto’s scents to the nostrils of Steele and the Northern Hills wolves. The wolves and Steele spun around to stare at the snow mound Dusty and Balto had been behind, but now they were long gone, sprinting back to the cave.

Dusty skidded to a halt inside, panting. “Steele’s with the Northern Hills pack. He told them why we’re all here, who Dad is, who Kaila is. He must have been following us…” He trailed off, wiping at his eyes. The screaming wind and the speed of his sprint had made them water.

Chase swore so loudly it echoed around the cave.

Taya’s eyes were far away. Dusty had to look away so as not to wince at the similarity between her eyes and Steele’s.

“He knows I’m here, too,” Taya muttered. She looked up. “He’s after all of us.”

“Everybody, just calm down for a second,” Lakota barked.

The pack and the other dogs settled into an uneasy silence.

Lakota fixed his hard green eyes on all the canines he was forced to take care of. “You all knew the danger of