her pack, who had started this whole war. This was the wolf who had betrayed Sirius before he had died. “Traitor!” Kaila yelled. Anger blinded her, and she struck Silver Arrow across the face.

With that blow, reality seared through again, and fear choked her until she couldn’t breathe. She looked up at him in pure terror, but then her paws were carrying her away. She raced from this deserter with the hope that when she saw him again, he would be lying dead on a battlefield.

Silver Arrow watched her go with a strange look in his eyes. He turned and brought his paw up to touch the cheek she had hit. His eyes were glazed, but then he shook himself, muttering, “No, no. Snap out of it. Just forget her.” With one last backwards glance he sighed and hurried to return to his duties as beta wolf.

Kaila charged across the snow that melted beneath her paws, and stopped just short of the cave entrance. A thick, oily smell swirled up her nostrils and made her stomach clench. She peered into the depths of the cave and saw the others backing up to the wall with Steele standing before them.

Her thoughts scattered for a second. All courage left her. But then she saw the expressions on the others’ faces, and she knew there was no real danger if they were there. She had backup.

Kaila stepped dangerously close to Steele and whirled to face him. “What are you doing here? What do you want?” she spat. She could feel herself trembling, but she ignored that and stood her ground.

Steele looked down at her with mournful eyes. “Kaila, I…I’ve come to say…that…I’m sorry.”

Kaila blinked, and stared into his ice-blue eyes. Did she really see a trickle of warmth or was that just her imagination? “You? Sorry?” She laughed harshly. “If you’re here to hurt my family or my pack, you’re going to have to deal with me first.”

“No.” He shook his head emphatically. “It’s the opposite. I really want to apologize.”

“Well, that ain’t good enough,” Chase burst out.

Steele hung his head. “I know. That’s why I was hoping I could do…something else.”

Kaila stared at him as hard as she could, hoping somehow this would reveal to her if he was telling the truth or not. He stared back unblinkingly.

The silence weighed down heavily on Kaila. “Get out of here. Get out of here, Steele.”

“Wait. I know how I can make it up to all of you,” he persisted.

“Make up for my sister’s missing leg? Make up for your daughter’s life? Make up for my dad’s pride?” Kaila cried, “I’d like to see you try.”

“Kaila, stay out of this,” Balto said, stepping forward and pushing her a little to the side, “This is my fight.”

“But you’ve already fought!” Kaila burst out, “And yet Steele keeps coming back!”

Balto studied Steele carefully. The two rivals stood face-to-face, Balto’s golden eyes war and fierce, Steele’s frozen blue eyes dull and pleading.

“Balto,” Steele said.

Balto flinched. He couldn’t remember Steele ever calling him anything but ‘wolf-dog’ and ‘lobo’.

“I’ve been…stupid,” Steele continued, “The past is the past. After all I put you through, you deserved to be the hero of Nome more than me.” He shook his head, and lowered his eyes. “And then I went after your children…”

“Don’t forget about your own children,” Taya whispered loudly.

Steele looked up at his daughter with so much pain and guilt in his eyes that Balto’s heart went out to him. “I’m sorry,” Steele said. Everyone knew he wasn’t speaking just to Balto. “Can you…?” He couldn’t finish the sentence. He ducked his head shamefully and stared at the ground.

Balto seemed to consider something. He peered up at Taya, who was shaking as she glared at her father, and Copper was struggling to hold her back. Balto gazed around at the others. Chase’s face was a livid identical to Taya’s. Dusty looked simply confused as he stared at his father’s enemy who was now asking for forgiveness. Kaila’s face could have been carved out of stone. She didn’t trust Steele, and probably never would.

Balto looked at Steele. “So no more calling me ‘wolf-dog’?”

Steele straightened and stared right into Balto’s eyes. “On my honor: never.”

“You will leave my family alone?” Balto asked.

“Yes.”

“You will look after your own children and give them the respect they deserve?”

“…Yes.”

Balto nodded. “Alright.”

“What is this thing you wanted to do to help us out?” Kaila asked.

Steele smiled weakly at her. “Oh, yeah. Well, I’m not officially a member of the Northern Hills pack, but they want me to stay because they think I have ‘valuable information’ about the ‘other side’. I was thinking that I could get you information about the other pack if you made me a part of your pack…”

Kaila’s face flushed red. “And have a traitor with us? Who knows what you would do to this pack once you were in it? You would betray your own pack, and then maybe betray us again! We don’t need another Silver Arrow!” Her eyes blazed. “Get out! Get out now!”

Steele backed away with his head down. He stole one last look at Balto and his seething daughter, and muttered, “I guess I’ll never be welcome.” He fled, and disappeared into the distance.

Balto spun around. “Kaila!”

“Dad!” Kaila shot back, “I don’t understand you! That guy has hurt us all in some way, and yet as soon as he says ‘sorry’, you forgive him! How does ‘sorry’ make up for everything he did to us? And he was going to betray us just like Silver Arrow! Steele tortured you all through your life! How can you forgive him?”

Balto looked at her, and heaved a long sigh. “Steele is a broken dog, Kaila. And if I’ve learned anything at all in my life, it’s that everybody deserves a second chance.” He looked her right in the eye. “Everybody.”

Kaila turned away, her heart a mess of confusion. “Well, what I’ve learned, Dad, is that you’re not always right,” she muttered.

Copper lay by Taya’s side that night. She wouldn’t talk, but he hoped he could console her simply by being there. Out of the corner of his eye, Copper saw Balto padding hesitantly up to him.

“Copper?”

“What, Dad?” Copper said, craning his neck around and up.

Balto’s face was serious. “Come over here. I need to talk to you.”

Copper knew what this was about. He got up and followed his father to the entrance of the cave, where the wind would carry their words away so they couldn’t be heard by anyone else in the cave.

Balto stared out into the night. Copper followed his gaze, and saw the Northern Lights dancing dimly on the horizon. The beautiful sight brought a small rush of homesickness to him. He thought of his mother, Jenna, and wondered how long she would be able to take being left behind.

Balto sighed and turned to Copper with distant eyes. “Your mother and I met because I was brave enough and loopy-in-love enough to find her and talk to her.” He jerked his head at the swirling colors in the sky. “That’s how this whole Northern Lights thing got started. But I was too crazy about Jenna to really think about how Steele liked her, too. That turned into a huge mess, but it all turned out okay in the end…for me and Jenna, anyway. But the happy ending was really just luck and Steele’s lies catching up with him. If the situation had played out any other way, I don’t know what would’ve happened, but it wouldn’t have been pretty.”

Copper stared at his father. “Dad, I know what you’re trying to say. But…why would it matter if I was friends with Taya if Steele hates her already?”

Balto raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t you see Steele? He’s losing his mind to hate. I know I forgave him, but I don’t trust him. I know he apologized and everything, but once you’ve been hating for too long, it’s very hard to do anything else…” He looked out at the Aurora, and then back at his son. “Do you love Taya?”

Copper had been trying to prepare himself for this question, but it hit hard anyway. He glanced down at his paws, embarrassed. “I don’t know…” He looked over at Taya, who was lying with such defeat and yet such fierce hope in her eyes. Soft warmth blew gently through him, and his heart felt warm and bright, like a waterfall of molten gold. He felt the need to protect his loved ones. He had felt this need his whole life, but never had it been so strong as in that moment, for Taya. He would spend his life with her, give his life for her if he had to. The word was like a perfect diamond from his mouth as he answered his father, “Yes.”

Balto looked back at him. There was both joy and worry in his eyes. “In that case…be careful. If Steele sees my son with his daughter…Be careful.”

“Yeah, Dad. I know.” Assuming the conversation was over, Copper started padding away.

“Copper?”

Copper turned around.

Balto smiled. “I’m happy for you. I think both you and Taya deserve each other.”

Copper smiled back, and then trotted over and lay at Taya’s side again. “Hey.”

Taya jerked out of her trance. “What? Oh. Hi.” She sprang up and started pacing angrily, storming from one side of the corner to the other. “I can’t stand it, Copper! It always seems like my life revolves around everything my dad does! Why can’t my parents’ past leave me in peace? I didn’t choose my father! I wish my mother hadn’t been stupid enough to have pups with him!”

Copper got up and watched Taya march back and forth. “Yeah. But without that, there wouldn’t have been you.”

Taya’s face reddened slightly either from anger or embarrassment. She swiped at the cave wall, and suddenly was still.

“Taya?” Copper crept over.

Taya’s blue eyes gleamed with curiosity. She swiped at the wall again, and this time her paw plunged in and left a hole. Copper watched cautiously as she gradually made the hole bigger and bigger, until she could just about squeeze through. She did, and her gasp of surprise was enough to draw Copper in after her.

Immediately his mouth dropped open and the same awed gasp escaped from him. “Wow.” It was an underground cave, with the ceiling just a few feet over their heads and the earth beneath their feet cool and damp. This hidden cave obviously hadn’t been used in awhile, as there