mother?” Aleu asked once they arrived at the end of the hallway, where the prisoner’s chamber was located. 

Before Balto could give his daughter an answer, Geona let out a cough. “Here’s the Prisoner’s Chamber, Balto. I’ll let you and Aleu have some time to talk alone – for a few minutes – before I take her back to our Alpha, okay?”

Balto nodded. “Thanks, . . . uh . . .” He wanted to speak the name of the one who was so kind to him, but he had forgotten to ask. 

“It’s Geona,” she replied with a smile. “I’ll be right outside here, and I’ll signal to you two with my tail when your time’s up, okay?”

“Thanks, Geona,” Balto finally nodded one last time as Aleu joined him inside the chamber. In respect of her promise, the light-gray she-wolf stepped by the door, guarding their conversation from any curious ears. 

“So, Papa,” Aleu asked once more. “What’s the connection between those Northern Lights and my mother? I know there’s something, right?”

“Yes, there is,” Balto sighed again. He paused for a second, sitting his daughter down. “I really do wish I had let you see them before you ran away, . . . but the toll on my heart was just too much.” His grizzly-furred head lowered near the ground. “Your mother . . . Jenna . . . oh, there hasn’t been a single day that has passed that I haven’t thought of her, but . . . ever since I saw that you had survived, I only kept her existence secret for your safety. I didn’t want you to blame yourself . . . because I originally blamed myself for losing her.” 

“Hmph, really?” Aleu wasn’t convinced; Balto lifted his head in surprise. “How could it have been your fault? I was born from her moments before she died! Clearly I’m the reason my mother is gone forever!” Tears of anger, frustration and sadness fell from her eyes as her head hung from her neck, but she was about to learn her father’s reasons.

“No, that’s where you’re wrong, Aleu,” the half-wolf patriarch corrected, using one of his front paws to lift his daughter’s head up. He leaned up to her tear-stained eyes and gently licked them clean with his tongue. She sniffled a bit before looking back at her father eye-to-eye. “I wanted to explain what I meant before, but you darted off before I could begin . . . and now I think you’re ready to hear the story.” He took a deep breath and began to tell his story to his daughter. 

“It was over a year ago when I first met her . . . your mother, Jenna. She was with Rosy, the human that took us both under her wing, when I first saw her, but I was easily entranced by the heavenly spell of love that she silently cast on my heart. Her thin ivory legs, her slim and trim figure, her amber-hazel eyes . . .” He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes as if the moment were playing once more in his mind. “She was beautiful, the most gorgeous dog I had ever met . . . but I knew if she was like any of the other huskies and dogs in town, she would never notice me or get the chance to know who I was because of my mixed blood – all purebreds seemed to be like that, from what I usually noticed. I was afraid I would never get the chance to introduce myself to her, but the winds of fate must have changed my luck for the better that day.

“A sled race was about to end, and Rosy was cheering on the winning team, waving her musher hat in the air . . . but a gust of wind caused the hat to slip from her fingers, blowing right next to the finish line. I saw her try to rush towards her precious hat, but Jenna protected her, pulling her back to safety by her coat sleeve. Turning to the other side, I saw the sled team, racing at full speed down Main Street without even noticing the human’s headgear lay in front of them. I was confident that I could catch it before the lead dog of the team pulverized it with his large Malamute paws, so I leapt out onto the street, much to the dismay of many of the local spectators. I could hear their cries of ‘It’s the wolf-dog! He’ll ruin the race!’ – but I ignored them, placing all of my focus on Rosy’s hat. Before I knew it, I was nose to nose with the team’s leader, Steele . . .” 

“Hey, Ebony mentioned him when she told me about my mother!” Aleu noted, proving that she was actually listening to what her father was telling her. Her anger had subsided at last, giving Balto the chance to explain why he hid the truth from her.

“Yes, she did; it’s only natural for her to mention him since Steele is her father,” Balto added. “He was fast for a purebred dog bred for racing, but he was no match for me.” He continued his story. “I easily outran him and dodged a quick lunge of his sharp teeth, but I jumped out in front of him, grabbing the hat and returning to the sidelines only mere seconds before the team crossed the finish line.” He let out a slight chuckle. “I mean, I didn’t mean to show off like I did, but apparently it worked – she noticed me! When I went over to return the hat to its proper owner, I could tell just by staring into her large eyes that she was telling me ‘Thank you,’ but both of us weren’t even sharing a single word, for her relieved face and my grateful yet modest grin spoke volumes to the other. Rosy tried to thank me by placing her harness on me, but her father, in fear of my wolf blood, kicked cold snow powder in my face, causing the harness to slip from my neck and fall onto the ground.” 

“How mean of them!” Aleu growled quietly in outrage. “Couldn’t they tell that you weren’t going to hurt her? Rosy’s too nice for anyone to attack her!”

“That is true: it was a mean thing to do, but that’s how many of the adult humans were at the time,” Balto explained. “He was just being protective of his daughter, his only child, and due to knowing I had wolf in me, he was afraid I might hurt her . . . or her beloved dog.” He paused, for he knew that he was just as cautious for his own daughter as Rosy’s father was to her. “I’m sure you understand how others just don’t understand the feelings of those like us – the different ones – am I right? ” Once Aleu nodded once, his story went on. “Anyway, I scampered away in sorrow as I watched Steele try to court the lovely husky and Rosy’s kind words to her father about me. I felt I had failed once more . . . I thought I would never be able to see her face again, . . . but yet again, the fates were in my favor. 

“I was running back through the town alleys and hidden roads on my way back to Boris’s, but I ran into the road and felt my nose touching something cool and wet . . . it was her again! We both were in shock and surprise by the fact that we had met again, but we were more surprised by our noses touching . . . our first kiss. I scooted backwards and gave her an apologetic grin, hoping that she wasn’t too upset with my unexpected actions; she only smiled back kindly, as if she wouldn’t have had it any other way. We parted ways seconds later once Rosy and her family called her away from me, not realizing that we would rely on each other’s company from that day on.”

“How sweet, Papa,” Aleu’s lips finally formed a soft smile. “Did you ever expect her to fall for you like you had for her?” 

“Well, I wasn’t too sure at first, but eventually, my thoughts were all about her. My heart was no longer beating like a drum; it was chanting her name over and over, filling my half-breed veins with the blood of my pure love for her. From Boris’s boat, I remember looking out into town, hoping to catch another glimpse of her perfectly bright face again . . . and maybe sneak another kiss too, but I was shy to these new emotions. I couldn’t think straight at times – I couldn’t figure out whether now or later was the right time to tell her how I felt. I was afraid to tell Boris my real feelings – mainly because I’d had yet to see him in love with a female goose – so I asked myself instead: ‘Why does she make me feel this way? Why does my heart race whenever I think of the slightest things about her, like her name? Is this what is feels like to be in love?’ But the real question that troubled me was easy to figure out: ‘She knows that I have wolf in me; will she act like the others and curse me with harsh words, or does she truly love me the way I am?’ Our first kiss began to confuse me, circling my mind with a horrible thought: ‘What if she was only toying with me and my emotions? Was it all just an act or were her feelings genuine as mine were?’ Although I wasn’t sure how to feel, my mind was telling me to go to her one night when I saw her outside the front steps of the doctor’s office on a chilly, snowy night – I had to see if I could admit my feelings and see if she would return them as well.”

Aleu was silent, for she had the same questions circling through her mind about her feeling for Everett, the brave wolf that had taught her to awaken the wild huntress within. I love him too, and I feel just like Papa did when he first fell in love with my mother . . . but I know he loves me for who I am, even if I am only part-wolf. Oh, I would do anything within my power to be with Everett, and that’s why I’ll stay here in the Runaway Clan to start a new life with him, just as White Feather did the same when she left her uncle’s pack. Papa wouldn’t understand that . . . he may be half-wolf, but I don’t think he has a clue on how life is out here . . . 

Would he?

Balto could tell that his daughter had thoughts in her head, but he only continued his tale. “I finally caught up to her, peering into a side window of a room where her human was being examined by the doctor. Her voice was filled with worry and anxiety when she spoke back to me, for she didn’t know what was wrong. She actually asked me for an answer, but all I could work with was just the sight of Rosy sitting in agony in the doctor’s room . . .” Balto paused as a tear fell