wilderness after your father revealed what he had passed on to you. To her, you were born to be different than your siblings, not just by looks and actions alone. To prepare for your arrival, Aniu sent your father dream visions of what your destiny was to be, showing herself to him in her raven form, from the day you were conceived within your dam’s womb until the day of your birth. Then after you were born, he received them every so often to remind him that the time of your destiny was near. That’s when . . .”

“. . .When he saved me from the hunter . . .” Aleu finished the thought as silent water-colored flashbacks of that fateful day played in her mind’s eye. The images of the hunter’s rifle aimed at her running figure and her father’s life-saving leap to stop him from killing her caused water to well up in her eyes. “And when he told me about how others see me . . . and . . .” She began to cry softly as she spoke. “and . . . and how I was part-wolf, thanks to him . . .” After pausing for a moment to calm down, she dried her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. “I guess I should have thanked him for . . . this.” She placed her paw on the ground and looked at her four-toed feet. “I have the paws . . . and the looks of a wolf – the world that he left behind.” She closed her eyes as a tear dripped onto her paw. “Thanks, Papa . . .” She murmured to herself in quiet meditation as more tears drenched her clawed paw. “I love you . . . and I miss you.” She sniffed away her tears, regaining control of herself as she allowed Muru to finish. 

“Although he was half wolf and the only son of Aniu’s most recent reincarnation, he was unable to truly understand the visions that she had sent him. I suppose his father’s sledding blood overshadowed that of his lupine dam after becoming the hero of Nome.” Muru pointed at Aleu, causing her to show a look of slight surprise. “Aniu’s visions were meant for you and only you to translate once you were wise and mature enough to receive them yourself, which you did wonderfully.” Muru altered another prism, caused an image of the vision to show in front of them. The mysterious and natural beauty of the flat floes of ice forming a straight line in between the Clan’s old territory and the new land that they now called home. The flurry of galloping caribou began to cross the ice, heading for the forest valley that lined the bottom of the mountains. “You understood that the caribou meant life for the Kawa Clan, and if they were to live, they must cross the bridge of frozen water to reach them.”

“But Papa didn’t seem to understand that,” the yearling added her thoughts. “He seemed to be more concerned about my well-being than the fate of the Kawa. He even threatened to take me back home to Nome instead of leading the Clan across, all because he thought I was too young and not meant to be delving into the Kawa Clan’s situation.” 

“Great observation,” Muru complimented. “You are quite intelligent for a hybrid.” He gave her a quick wink of appreciation. “He now had a new destiny in store for him, especially since he had six children to watch over. Aniu was pleased to see you show the true wisdom beyond your years when you took the destiny meant for your father and began your own lifelong quest of self.”

“I see,” Aleu said. “Speaking of which, what exactly is this quest that I have accepted that you spoke of earlier?” She began to question him.  

Muru did not give a answer, just a chuckle and a poetic phrase that caused the sparkling crystals to flash many different hues of light.

“Belief is the key . . . Remember this carefully, my friend, and do not forget it. When all believe in the light, only then you will find the path to what you seek . . .” 

“’Belief is the key?’ What are you talking about? I just don’t understand, Muru!” Aleu began to panic by her guide’s confusing chants and yet beautiful songs. “What do you mean by ‘believing in the light’?”

The only answer she received was the final verse of the previous song from the soprano rodent while the room was again misted with fog. 

“Trust yourself for you know what is right . . .

Belief is the key, then you’ll release the light . . .  

Don’t give up! Your journey’s begun to unravel . . .

Though dark things take place, these moments are only natural . . .” 

Once the song reached its conclusion, the fog dispersed, leaving the yearling Alpha in the cave alone. The crystals remained in the center, but on the middle prism, a mouse-sized stamp of a sparkling, smiling rodent stood there, only glittering at the confused quarter-wolf that had learned many things about her family and the large paws she had to fill in achieving her destined purpose.

“Belief is the key . . .? When all believe in the light, only then you will find the path to what you seek . . .?” Aleu repeated, murmuring the phrase that the mouse had told her to remember. “I’m not sure I understand what it means, but . . . I’ll try my best to complete this quest.” She let out a sigh, thinking that the encounter was over, but just like her last dream when she first met Aniu, a forceful gust of wind pushed her out of the cavern room and through the rocky tunnel into the bright light of the outside . . . 

Her eyes opened suddenly as she lifted her head from her leaning forelegs that touched the ground. After panting a bit to catch her breath, she looked beside her to see the sleeping figure of Scarlet, snoozing away the remainder of the night with his steady breathing snoring through his nose. He began to move beside her, moaning in his sleep quietly, then he continued his sleep. She gazed upon him lovingly then she began to rise from her bed and walked to the opening of her den, looking out at the world surrounding her.

It was the same as it had been for the past several weeks – the lush, pine foliage atop the tall forest trees lined the land that they lived in, thrived in, making their presence known in this new land that they had claimed as their own – yet as Aleu looked out, watching the moon begin its descent into the ho
rizon into the trees, she looked as if she was viewing this for the first time in her life. 

When all believe in the light . . . The words of her spirit guide’s parting words still lingered freshly in her mind. Only then you will find the path to what you seek . . . Although her eyes were fixed on the still glistening stars in the early-morning sky, she repeated all of the words, hoping that perhaps the heavenly lights would offer some assistance.

Suddenly, she gasped at the sight of the stars above her. They did not look like much, but she seemed to see something that made her sense a feeling of hope, as if the heavens and the spirits around her had heard her pleas. To others, they may have seen a cluster of celestial bodies setting the dark night sky aglow, but to Aleu, a shape of several stars stood out amongst the stars, shining much brighter than the others – the outline of a butterfly, motionlessly fluttering above her head.

Oh, how pretty . . .The young Alpha thought to herself, gazing in awe at what she saw. The insect’s shape continued to sparkle like silver and gold sky glitter as Aleu reminisced about the creature, calming her mind of the worries that had been added within the past day. I . . . I remember seeing butterflies all over the forest near town as a pup, especially those yellow and orange ones . . . She let out a soft giggle. The day before I turned eight weeks old, one of them tickled my nose so much, I tried pouncing and chasing it around the beach until I fell into the sand laughing. 

I miss those days . . . my life was so carefree and happy . . . Aleu let out a deep sigh, sitting down on the gray cavern entrance. Her thoughts were forlorn and nostalgic, wandering back through her memories of how easy it was for her as a child. Back then, I had no idea that my blood had even a drop of lupine in it. I howled when I was happy or excited, not knowing that it made be seem wild. I always thought others stayed away because of my over-friendliness . . . and for a year, I never realized I could be mistaken for a wolf, not until Papa told me the truth about his breeding . . . and mine. She sighed again, only to let out a gasp of shock when she felt a paw tap her from behind.

“Oh!” Aleu’s ears and body quickly reacted to the sensation, sticking straight up in shock; once she turned her head around and realized who it was, her fur returned to its normal sleekness. “Oh, it’s just you, Scarlet.” 

The mud-red male joined her at the edge of the cavern, looking out at the clusters of shimmering stars above them. “I felt strange a few minutes ago, and suddenly woke up without you beside me. I really thought you had left us too, like Lorna had.” Aleu turned her head to the wolf, looking at him with a feeling of surprise as he continued. His eyes were gazing at the shape where Aleu’s butterfly hovered above them, although he couldn’t exactly see the image that the Alpha saw clearly. “Wow, I’ve never seen the stars shine so beautifully before.” He switched his gaze back on the Alpha, the two of them looking eye-to-eye. “Your eyes are shining too, Aleu . . . like gemstones. They’re absolutely stunning.”

The yearling felt her face get hot and red, her pulse quickened as she saw her reflection in Scarlet’s dark gray eyes. “Yours are too,” she answered back quietly, almost as if she were afraid to admit that she was in love with him, but the knowledge and the prophecies she had learned about overshadowed all of her true feelings of love for the purebred wolf. She let out a soft sigh as she turned away again, looking back at the picture in the sky above. 

“Aleu? Is something the matter?” Scarlet asked, confused by his Alpha’s reaction. “Did you have