know…. really.”

“Oh,” Jenna said, a little surprised. “So you’re going to be raising them yourself then?”

“No,” Char said, “My owner will probably take them and get rid of em’. they may or may not be pure bred, I… can’t remember..” she said, embarrassed that her new friend had to find out something like this. “Life as a sled dog is hard, live long, love short and hope there’s someone like him at the next stop.” She said, hoping it would rationalize her actions.

It did not.

“Not necessarily,” Jenna said. “My mate, Balto, is a sled dog, and he’s never done anything like that.”

“That you know of,” Char said, “you might be surprised, it gets pretty lonely out on the trail…”

“Balto’d never do that to me,” Jenna said, but as she said it, she realized she really didn’t know for sure. She’d never thought about it.

“Balto would never do that to me, she thought, “would he? No Jenna, stop thinking like this, of course he wouldn’t, he loves you, end of story.

“I don’t know,” Char said, someone as famous as he is must have girls crawling all over him. If you’ve held on to him, you’re lucky.”

Jenna wanted desperately to change the subject.

“You should do everything you can to keep your pups” she said.

“I don’t know if I want five or six little balls of fluff that get in trouble all the time running around?”

Jenna was a little angered at the husky’s attitude. “

You wanted to make them,” she thought. But she didn’t want to distance herself from her new friend, so she just let it go and smiled.

Yeah,” she said, “they’re a bit of a nuisance at first, but I wouldn’t change my decisions for the world. They’re a joy to have around, to watch them learn, to walk, to talk. I enjoy it so much.”

She realized, then that she missed the sound of little paws pattering on the floor of their home. It had been a while since Melody had moved out, and she wasn’t exactly a pup then.

“Maybe I’ll have a talk with Balto about that when he gets back.” She thought.

“You should give it a try,” Jenna said.

“I might,” Char said, “for now follow me and we’ll go back to the rest of the team.” Jenna followed her out of the room

When Steele woke up, he was furious. He couldn’t believe Jenna had outsmarted him. He was done trying to get her. All he wanted now was her shredded body. He’d get it, whatever it took. He followed her scent outside; it was strong, despite the fact that the storm was blowing full tilt now.

“She’s afraid,” Steele thought. He grinned as he took off in the direction of Nome.

Gemeni had been trying to find some meat to go with the dog’s food. She was usually a very good scavenger, but she wasn’t having any luck. She decided to give up, preferring the heat in the shed, to the swirling blizzard outside.

“It’s a miracle” Steele thought, as he watched Gemeni struggling through the storm.

Jenna’s scent had dissipated the closer he got to Nome. Now it was completely gone. Steele had been looking for a semi-warm place to sleep.

“So we meet again, “Steele thought, “This is going to be fun.”

He advanced through the storm. He no longer felt the cold, a warmness flooded through his body, a lust for blood.

The wind was blowing so hard that Gemeni didn’t even hear him until he was right up on her. As she turned, Steele was already swinging his paw at her.

It hit her in the face, and she flipped over onto her side. The wind masked all the sound of both impacts. Steele didn’t hear anything but the screeching wind. Gemeni, who had been in her share of fights, recovered quicker than Steele anticipated and attacked him. Steele dodged out of the way and hit her again, this time on the back of the head. She fell to the snow again, this time there was red on the snow, where she fell. She scrabbled up and, knowing that she couldn’t fight him, she made a run for it.

She was fast, but he was faster as he chased her through the streets of Nome.

“Seems familiar,” he thought, as he remembered the stray. He was close enough to jump on her now, and he did.

She and Steele rolled along the side walk until, finally they slid to a stop. Steele was on top of her.

“I’m done,” she thought, as Steele bit down on her exposed throat.

Chapter XII

Drake was walking down the street, trying to make it to the shed that Gemeni was staying in. He wanted to tell her how he felt.

“But how much sense does that make? Getting involved with a girl who’s going to be leaving soon. But she’s so alluring,” he debated with himself as he pushed on through the storm.

Suddenly a scream reached his ears. He might not have heard it, if he hadn’t walked under an overhang that blocked the wind for a few seconds.

“Gemeni?” he said, he took off down the road, mindless of the snow that stung his face as he ran.

Drake rounded the corner to see Steele crouched over something, it looked like a dog. Steele looked up and saw him then, jumped off of it and ran off. Drake’s heart dropped. Somehow he knew what or who Steele had been bending over. He ran up to it. The first thing he saw was the blood…

Balto was still at the shed in Applegate He looked at the swirling snow outside. He was not happy. He was angry, at himself. He’d told Jenna that Steele was gone, that he’d never bother them again, yet he had this terrible feeling that he wasn’t, he couldn’t explain it. Max said he was just being edgy, but Balto knew somehow that Jenna was in trouble. He decided to lay down and sleep, if he could.

Jenna was trying to get to sleep as well. When she heard the door to the shed slam open and the cold wind blew in. She shivered and stood up, wondering what it was. She walked over to the entrance and saw Drake standing there, covered in snow. He was shivering and was dragging something. He took a deep breath before he, picked it up again and drug it the rest of the way into the shed. Jenna’s first thought was that it might’ve been a dog once. Then she saw the golden hair under all of the blood. She ran over to the entrance, hoping that what she’d seen wasn’t real…

Balto was walking around home. He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten there. It had stopped storming and it was a fairly nice day outside, for Alaska anyway. He continued walking up to the house. He made it through the gate, before he sensed that something was dreadfully wrong…

He broke into a run then, somehow knowing what he’d find when he made it into their home. He pushed the doggie door open and stepped in.

Jenna lay right where she had fallen. Steele had just left her there, in the middle of the floor. Balto ran over to her. He could tell that she was…

He couldn’t even think about it. Sickness washed over him and he almost passed out. Then he heard her voice outside. He ran out, leaving the door open as he did so. He saw Jenna on the top of the hill. She seemed to glow. He looked behind him, Jenna was still lying on the floor. The Jenna on the hill gestured at him and he ran up to her.

“Jenna?” He said.

“If only you’d been here,” she said.

Then she turned and ran off. Balto took off after her, but know matter how fast he ran he couldn’t catch her, she slowly passed from view. Balto saw her run into a cave, so he followed, he was catching up to her now. Once he was inside, she vanished, and Balto ran into an ice wall. He heard a rumbling sound and looked up. The ice stalactites on the ceiling started to fall…

Balto woke up in a cool sweat.

“That’s it,” he thought, “I’m gone.” He walked over and woke up Flash.

“Max,” Flash said, “why don’t you leave… oh it’s you,” he sad as he saw Balto. He set up and yawned. “So why’d you wake me up?” .

“Because I’m leaving,” Balto said.

“What?” Flash said.

“And I had to tell someone,” Balto continued, “:and I figured you’d give me less grief than Max would.”

“Balto,” Flash said, “if anything the storm has gotten worse.”

“I don’t care,” Balto responded, “I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“Well be careful,” Flash said.

“Thanks Flash,” Balto said, “in case I… well just know that I’m glad to have known you and Max,” Balto looked at Flash. “Tell her, would you?”

“Yeah,” Flash said, “but you’ll be able to yourself, so don’t worry about it.”

“I hope you’re right,” Balto said.

“Take care of yourself Balto,” Flash said.

“You too Flash,” Balto said quietly. Then he walked out of the shed, beginning what he knew could very possibly be his last journey…

Chapter XIII

Jenna ran down to where Drake was standing over the mangled mess that had once been Gemeni. Drake was shivering and Jenna thought he might be going into shock. He started sobbing; she’d never seen her friend this upset before.

“I..I heard… her.. heard her scream, he said. I.. I wa..was on my way to.. to tell .. her and now… now…”

“Shh,” Jenna said, soothingly, “it’s okay.”

He leaned into