along well with humans.”

“He is unconscious, and even if he wakes up, what chance would one man have against a pack as strong as yours?  I daresay that even the weakest among you would be an easy match for him in his current state.  And we will gladly help you remove his weapons, if it would make you feel better.”

“And,” added Toby, deciding this might help, “our chief is an honorable man who has committed his life to justice.  If you help him now, I can assure you he will not fail to give a good report of wolves in the future.”

Luna gave Toby a dirty look for thinking of something she had forgotten, but Denahi laughed.  “So, your mute friend finds his tongue at last.”  As the other wolves joined in the laughter, Denahi nodded.  “Very well.  You and your team may stay here until you are ready to continue, and your master shall be allowed to remain with us until it is time for all of you to depart.”  He sent six wolves to help Toby and Luna retrieve the sled, their team, and the chief.  Soon all were in the cave.  The team members were a bit uneasy about accepting help from wolves, but Toby assured them it would be fine.

“Just remember,” he said with a nod to Luna, “that if any of you needs to talk to the alphas, you’d better let Luna do your talking for you.”

The next morning Toby was well-rested and anxious to get going, but most of the team was still too weakened by the accident to leave the cave.  As for the chief, he was still out, and Luna pointed out that they would need him to handcuff Bryan Lawrence once they caught him.  “Anyway,” she added, “a little R&R never hurt anyone.”

Exile agreed.  “The team needs the rest.”

“Hmph,” said Toby, looking at the ground.

“And it wouldn’t kill you to relax for once,” Exile added.

“Quiet, Exile,” snapped Toby.  “I only brought you out here so we could tell the chatterboxes in Nome that Luna and I were never out of anyone’s sight during the trip.”

Luna sighed at the mention of Nome.  “I wish I could have told my owners where I was going, especially Connie.  She must be out of her mind right now.”

“I’m sure my boy is too, but the mission is top priority.  Thinking about people back home will only distract us.”

Luna stared at him.  “You’ve changed,” she said.

Toby lifted his head.  “What?”

“You’re different from when I first met you.  You’re not the Toby I’ve been friends with all this time.  And you’re definitely not the Toby I’ve been dating all this time.”

“Is that a fact?” asked Toby dryly.

“Yes it is.  You’ve gotten cold and tense.  Look at you!  We’re here, we’re alive, we stand a decent chance of catching the man who shot your father, and you can’t even smile!”  She scowled.  “You know what I think?  You need to lighten up.”

Toby scoffed.  “Like how?”

Luna smiled.  “Like this!” she yelled, pouncing on him.  Toby fought back, irritated at first, then slowly starting to enjoy himself.  Soon he and Luna were rolling in the snow, laughing until they were sick.

At last they stopped and lay on their backs in a snowdrift, side by side.  “That was fun,” panted Toby.

Luna nodded happily.  “Now that’s the Toby I remember.”

Toby got up.  “You were right,” he said, pulling Luna to her feet.  “I’ve been a real pain lately, haven’t I?”

“You have no idea.”

“Well, I guess that’s over now.”  Toby felt as if an anvil had been lifted off of his shoulders.  “We’re going to make it.  We’ll find Lawrence and get back to Nome in one piece.”  He gently laid his paw on top of hers.  “Together.”

Luna smiled, and Exile laughed.  “Careful, you two.  I can’t tell the dogs in Nome that the rumors are empty if you keep this up.”

“Just tell them he’s undergoing medical treatment for an undersized brain and a swollen ego,” said Luna.

Toby thought about a comeback, but decided against it.  Instead he asked, “So, doc, what’s the prescription?”

Luna thought a moment.  “I’d say half an hour of this every day should do it.”

“Same time tomorrow?” asked Toby.

Luna smiled.  “It’s a date,” she said, making Toby cringe as he cast a sideways glance in Exile’s direction.

“Luna…” he warned through his teeth.

“Oh, come on,” she laughed.  “It’s just an expression.”

 “Yeah, right,” chuckled Exile under his breath.

        After staying with the White Wolf pack for about three days, the team was rested, recovered, and ready to continue the search.  When it came time for them to set out, the wolves gathered to see them off.  Denahi stepped forward to speak to them.  “You have proven while you were here that you are loyal and honorable.  May you be successful in your journey, and may you win the favor of any other packs you meet.”

“Whether you succeed or not, you may be sure that you will be welcome here if you need help,” added Lunau.  “Now go, and know that our hearts go with you.”

The pack howled in salute, and first Luna, then Toby, then all the dogs howled in reply.  When the chorus had died down, Toby nodded to the wolves.  “I will do everything in my power to see that the hunter who seeks to destroy you is stopped.  In Nome most dogs look down on wolves.  When we return there, know that I will tell everyone how you helped us, and hopefully discourage such small-minded thinking.”

The wolves howled again, voicing their approval.  As the dogs left, Luna looked at Toby.  “Nice speech,” she said.  “Especially for someone who doesn’t know the Code of the Wolf.”

The search was not easy.  They had feasted heavily on the food supplies from the sled to prepare for their journey, but even so it was not long before all their stomachs growled loudly.  Worse, it was spring, meaning that the snow was melting and made it almost impossible for even Toby to track Bryan.  But although it was getting warmer, it was still bitterly cold at night, forcing the dogs to sleep close together to share body heat.  The team, knowing that Toby’s fur was thinner than theirs, made a point of always putting him at the center of the group.  “We can’t have you catching cold,” said Exile, “Or we’ll all be in trouble.”

After five days of tracking, Toby caught a strong scent from the man they were after near a large mound of rocks.  “He must be on the other side,” he told the others.  “You four go up over the top, and you three circle right.  I’ll go around the left.  I want the first crack at him, but if I call for help, attack.  And try not to harm him any more than we have to.  He may be a rat, but we’re not.”

The dogs nodded and separated to do as he had told them.  Luna, who was part of the group of four, asked Toby if she could go with him instead.

“No,” he told her.  “I plan on being the first one he sees, and I don’t want you in the line of fire.”  Luna started to protest, but Toby cut her off.  “Please,” he said quietly, “for once, listen and do what I say.”  He turned and went around the left side.  As he crept forward the man’s scent grew stronger.  A moment later he could see the hunter, crouched by a fire and cooking a meal.  Studying him, Toby noticed there was something oddly familiar about him…

The hunter happened to glance up and jumped to his feet when he saw Toby.  “So, you’ve come for my dinner, have you?” he asked angrily.  “Well, you’re not going to have it, you bloodthirsty…”  letting his sentence trail off, he snatched up his rifle and pointed it at Toby.

Toby froze.  ‘He thinks I’m a wolf.’  He’d been hoping to succeed in a surprise assault, but now the man had him at gunpoint.  ‘If I try to run, he’ll shoot,’ he thought.  ‘If I attack I’ll be dead in an instant.  Either way I’ll be shot, just like dad.’

The man pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.  He pulled it twice more and nothing happened.  Cursing, he threw aside the rifle and grabbed for his pistol, drawing and cocking it in one motion.

There was a blur of movement as a snarling dog leaped onto the man from the rocks.  It was Luna.  With a howl, she sank her teeth into his hand, making him drop the gun.  Releasing him, she grabbed the gun in her teeth and threw it into the bushes.

“Why, you little…” eyes blazing, the man snatched a knife from his belt with his good hand and jumped at Luna.  Toby threw himself at the hunter and knocked him off course.

“Now!” he yelled as the man turned to attack him.  There was the sound of barking, and a moment later the hunter disappeared beneath a sea of snarling dogs.

When the melee was over, Bryan lay unconscious.  Every one of the dogs bore cuts from his knife, but thankfully none were serious.  Toby smiled at Luna.  “Thanks,” he said.  “I would’ve been a goner without you.”

Luna beamed back.  “Hey, you’re my friend.  What else was I supposed to do?”

“Friend?” asked one of the team with a laugh.  “I thought he’d been your boyfriend for about the last three months.  Or was it four?”

“Oh, be quiet,” said Toby good-naturedly.  “And remember, you’re witnesses when we get back to Nome that Luna and I did not ‘run off together.’”

The team nodded, but as soon as Toby looked away several of them exchanged winks.  “It was five, at least,” whispered Exile.

“Now come on,” said Toby, ripping off the various weapons the hunter was wearing.  “Let’s get him back to the chief before he wakes up.  I wonder how we’ll keep him from escaping if he…” Toby turned to see Luna pulling her head out of the sack the man had been keeping his things in.  In her teeth, she clutched a bundle of rope.  Toby