to him. “Any word?” He asked. Shadow just shook his head and looked at the ground. “I’ve called off the search, for now anyway… we need as many as we can get here, in case they come back.” Balto nodded. “No,” Dash said, “you can’t give up on her, not yet.” “Dash…” Shadow said. “I care about her too… more than even you… but… as leader of this pack I have to do what is right for them… what’s best for their safety.” “She’s my sister,” Dash said, raising his voice “and…” He was interrupted by Shadow. “I love her too!” he yelled. Jenna and Shasta looked over at them, one of the pups started whining. “Look,” Shadow said, lowering his voice. “I know how you feel, believe me it’s harder than you know for me to do this. Now I’ll keep everyone on the lookout, I’m not abandoning her. We just need to be cautious, understand?” Dash nodded, clearly still angry, and walked off. “Don’t worry about him,” Balto said, “he’s just worried.” “I know, I am too,” responded Shadow. “Please understand, what I told him is true. I’m not abandoning your daughter.” “I know you’re not,” Balto responded. “I trust you.” Then he walked back over to Jenna and Shasta. “Balto,” said Shadow. Balto turned to look at him. “Thanks.” Then he walked out of the room. 

Aleu was thrown roughly into the cage again. She tried to stand, and fell on her face. Her legs started shaking, she started shaking all over. She couldn’t even talk. It reminded her of when she had nearly frozen to death. Her teeth chattered. “Wh…Why?” She choked out, hardly able to even talk. Kima walked over to her. “They do that do us, it’s called shock treatment.” “Why?” Aleu said again. “The leader of the group has a personal vendetta against wolves, seems his family was killed by a hungry pack. He uses the treatments to drive us mad. Then he takes us into town and shows everyone the wolves he’s caught. It fuels his genocide. “I.. It hu.. hurts,” Aleu said. “Yeah, it does,” Kima responded. Aleu slowly stood up. She was shaky, but she didn’t fall this time. “How did you come to be here?” She asked quietly. “My… my pack was massacred by them. Our pack wasn’t very big, just twelve counting four pups. They were just less than a year old,” a tear rolled out of the corner of her eye. “One of them was mine, little Jake.” She smiled. “His daddy was the leader of our little band. “They… They killed him. He was standing in front of me when the first shot sounded, not five feet from me. He… he fell, dead. The same fate befell the rest of them one by one. They backed me into a corner. I was ready to die, to tell you the truth. I mean, they’d just destroyed my entire life, all I’d ever had, but they shot me with that same little dart and brought me here.” “I’m sorry,” Aleu said. “I’ve got two kids of my own… I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to them.” “Really what are their names?” “Sheik and Lima, a boy and a girl, Aleu responded.” “How old are they?” Kima asked. “Six months and six days,” Aleu said. “They’re still young then, huh?” Said Kima. “Yeah,” Aleu said, “they are.” “Well if we get out of here..” Kima started, but Aleu cut her off. “Not if, when, I’m not giving up till we do.” “You’re wasting your time,” Kima said. Aleu ignored her. She looked at the door to the cage. “There’s got to be a way to get out, but how?”

Lika was out hunting for the pack. The pups that were too young to hunt, but needed solid food depended on her. She was currently watching a deer. It was a small deer and she thought she could take it by herself. She’d only been hunting once by herself, and that was today. Wouldn’t it impress everyone if she came back with a big kill like a deer? Most of the others would get rabbits and squirrels. She decided to go for it. Lika jumped up and took off after the startled deer. She ran behind it for some time. She prepared to jump, coming in at an angle, just like she’d been taught. Then just as she leapt she smelled something and lost her train of thought. She sailed past the deer, and watched as it continued to tear through the underbrush. “Man,” she said aloud, “almost.” Then she caught that familiar scent again. She sniffed. It was Aleu! She started to follow it. Being called a hero would be even better than great hunter. She followed the scent for about ten minutes. Then she came to a small cabin with a barn attached to it. She walked around the perimeter of the clearing trying to find where the scent picked back up, but she couldn’t find it. That meant Aleu was probably taken to the barn. She turned and headed back to the pack.

Aleu was so proud of herself. She’d managed to get her front leg through the links in the cage, and reach the release. She pushed it in, then pulled her leg back in. The cage door swung open. “Ha,” she said, “Kima let’s go!” Kima shook her head. “Come on Kima,” Aleu said, “this is our chance.” Kima shook her head again. “You go,” She said. Aleu shrugged “Alright,” she said. She stepped out of the cage. For the first time in two days, she could jump. She did. She liked to be free. She started walking carefully down the rows of cages. Some of the wolves started barking and growling at her. “Shhh,” she said, but they wouldn’t listen. They didn’t seem to be “all there.” Aleu kept walking. Then a man stepped out in front of her. Instead of a gun, he held one of the poles. She turned to run, and saw three more behind her. The lead one tapped her with the end of the stick. Dizziness ran through Aleu as pain wracked her body. She fell to the ground. She tried to stand, but she just wasn’t able. The men gathered around her.

Kima heard Aleu scream several times, but she didn’t hear any gunshots. She only heard a sizzling sound. Then two of the men came walking back, carrying Aleu. She wasn’t moving, and her eyes were closed. The two men opened the cage door, and dropped Aleu’s inert form to the ground. Then they laughed and left. Kima walked over to Aleu, who opened her eyes. She groaned. “I told you not to try it,” Kima said. “Why didn’t you listen to me?” “Because I don’t give up,” Aleu said “My father always said it was stubborness, but I like to think of it as determination.” “Well do you believe me now or not?” Kima asked. “What did I say,” Aleu said, “I’m getting us, both of us out of here.” “Honey,” I think your Father is right, that is stubborness.” “Well it’s going to get both of us home,” She said. She began to work at getting a plan together.

Aleu was thrown in the cage again. She didn’t move. The men slammed the door at the top of the cage. Aleu opened her eyes, but still didn’t move, or say anything. She just laid there. “Should I say “I told you so,” Kima said. Aleu just looked away from her, and winced as even that brought pain. Kima felt sorry for the way she had just treated her new friend, who was obviously hurting. She walked over to Aleu. “Hey, sweetie,” she said, “ I’m sorry. You tried, no one can fault you for that. Now just give it up. We’re here to stay, like it or not.” “N…N..” Kima couldn’t quite make out what Aleu said. “What honey?” she asked. “No,” Aleu said. Then she fell asleep.

Aleu had made it out once more. She was running this time. Not concerned with how much noise she made, desperation fueling her efforts. She rounded one row of the cages and nearly ran into a man standing there, smoking. He dropped his cigerette and grabbed one of the poles Aleu had grown to hate so much. Aleu turned and ran. Her claws clicked on the cement floor of the barn. A man stepped out from the crates in front of her. He too was armed with one of the long poles. She tried to stop, but slid on the floor, right under the man’s legs. She continued running. The door was just in front of her, she was going to make it. Then another man stepped through the door. No, she thought, not again. She bared her teeth and jumped. The Man held his ground. She landed on him and the two of them fell over. The man dropped his stick when he fell. He went for the pistol that he had on his belt. Aleu bit his arm. She started shaking her head left to right. The man screamed and hit her with his fists. Then one of the others ran up behind her. He had a baseball bat. He swung it hard and hit Aleu on top of the head. Her vision swam and she struggled to stay concious. The man swung it again and hit her in the side. She thought she heard something crack. She fell then and the man she’d bit grabbed his pole. He held his injured arm close to his body and held the pole with the other one. “That’s we hunt you wolves,” he said, “that’s why I hunt you, for Sarah and James. Your kind took them from me.” He watched her. She started to whimper. “Shut up he screamed as he kicked out with his boot and caught