as a tear fell down his eye; he had remembered something else that had happened within that room. Jen . . . it was the same room, wasn’t it? What a coincidence . . . 

“Papa?” Aleu was gazing at him, wondering what had caused these sudden tears to fall. “Are you okay?”

The brown-gray hybrid noticed his tears and quickly dried them with his paw. “Huh, . . . oh that, it’s nothing. Just some fond memories coming back to me, that’s all.” He cleared his throat with a slight cough and started to speak again. “Well, I could tell she was worried sick about Rosy’s condition, so since I knew nothing on human diseases, I decided to try something drastic: I told her I held the ‘Keys to the City’ . . .” He smiled with a twinkle in his eye.

“You showed her your ‘Guiding Lights,’ right?” Aleu asked. “Is that why you couldn’t show them to me . . . because they reminded you of her so much?” 

“Yeah, . . . they just brought back so many memories, both good and bad,” her father answered truthfully. “When I took her down to my private place underneath the doctor’s office, I could tell she wasn’t too fond of the accommodations . . . especially with all of the dirt getting on her paws. I showed her the broken glass shards, which confused her when I told her she was looking at the bowl half-empty.”

Aleu let out a chuckle. “Of course they would be all empty; they’re all broken up into pieces!” 

“Right, she said something like that too,” the hybrid father noted, remembering his lover’s words in his mind, but he continued on with his tale. “but once I moved aside to allow the lantern’s fake sunshine beam on them, allowing the Northern Lights appeared in front of her on the wall, . . .” Balto sighed before continuing, “her fears and shyness vanished, leaving behind a look of awe as the soft colors of the lights reflected against her coat. I can remember hearing her light voice sighing of complete amazement, telling me how beautiful the lights were . . . but I was looking straight at her, right into her eyes, talking about how beautiful she was.”

“Let me guess: you knew then that she was the one, right?” Aleu wondered aloud. 

“Kind of,” Balto responded; Aleu gave him a ‘Yeah, right’ look, which made her father explain what he meant. “Okay, okay – you got me. I knew that she was the one my heart longed for at that moment, but I had no idea if she returned my love. We were almost about to share another kiss with our noses when the lantern shut off above our heads through the floor. Apparently Rosy had to remain at the doctor’s overnight and we soon discovered why: diphtheria.” Aleu tilted her head to the side, but Balto quickly explained before she could ask another query. “According to the doctor, she was one of the many cases that week of the sickness and the news continued to get worse – diphtheria was a deadly disease . . . and Doc was all out of the medicine necessary to make them well again.”

“She wasn’t too happy about hearing that news, huh?” Daughter commented somberly. 

“Not a bit,” Father replied. “She sniffled all the way out of the crawl space, but thankfully, she told me how much of a good thing I had done for her. I’m not sure whether it was my faux aurora display or the doctor’s words on Rosy’s condition that made her content, but I was glad to at least be of some help to her; I had at least given her the answer to her question, so she had some trust in me . . . and that was when Steele burst in suddenly –”

“Balto,” Geona’s voice murmured in the air, interrupting the hybrid’s story. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for Aleu to go.” Her two-toned tail twitched slightly against the ground. 

Balto nodded back at the opening where Geona stood up. He turned back to his daughter with a look of longing. “I wish you could stay longer with me, Aleu.”

“It’s okay, Papa,” she answered back. “Geona might let me come back before White Feather summons for you, so hopefully I’ll get to hear the rest of your story, okay?” He smiled back at her as she returned the gesture, walking out of the chamber and back into the hallway with the light-gray she-wolf. 

“Be safe, my baby . . .” Balto whispered into the slight breeze, but he knew Aleu was unable to hear his parting words.

Once the she-wolf and the quarter-wolf had left the cell, they began to chat to each other on their way back to report to White Feather. 

“So, that was some interesting story, huh?” Aleu asked Geona as they carefully spoke in quiet voices.

“Yeah, it was,” The she-wolf replied. “I knew there were others that had a hard life as a pup, but your father . . .” She deeply sighed. “I wasn’t expecting the story of his life when I gave you two a few minutes alone though.” 

“Neither was I,” the quarter-wolf answered back. “I had a feeling he would try to follow me out here, but I never thought he would get the prisoner treatment with a pack of wolves.”

“If things go well with White Feather, I’ll see that you get to see him tonight, all right?” Geona reassured her. “It’s only afternoon, so she should be summoning him in a while.”

“Hopefully she’ll allow him to stay at least,” Aleu hoped. “As long as I keep the fact that he’s my father from her . . .” She paused and looked at Geona with a concerned look. “What was that all about anyway . . . that whole thing that Hanoki was talking about?” 

The she-wolf only lowered her brows to her eyes, sensing the presence of others close by. “Not now, Aleu; we have to take care of completing our instructions first by reporting back to the Alpha, okay?”

Aleu only nodded slightly, following the lead of Geona without any hesitation. However, the quarter-wolf had thoughts swimming through her mind, ones that mainly concerned her about her father and the warning that the tan and brown wolf cadet had given her only moments ago. 

What is White Feather’s deal with parents anyway? Aleu thought as Geona led her through the bustling main chamber to the Alpha’s chambers. She seemed like she didn’t have any grudge against my father when I mentioned him last evening, yet Nariah, Hanoki, and even Geona seem to protect some sort of secret that the Alpha has . . . I have to find out more about it . . . before someone else learns that the prisoner is my father and tells her themselves.

Aleu now felt that she had no choice but to defend her father, even if it meant to sacrifice her status with the Clan. I’m not an official member of the Clan yet, so I have to try. Papa’s freedom depends on it . . . and something tells me that he doesn’t belong in that jail cell.  

The least I can do is to send him home . . .

“Ah, Aleu, Geona,” the twinkling voice of the Alpha she-wolf entered the area. The young wolf and the quarter-wolf were in front of her chambers now, and the ivory-furred Alpha had just stepped outside of her guarded doorway. “I was just about to check on you two. It was taking so long for you to finish such a simple assignment.” 

“Many apologizes, my Alpha,” Geona bowed. “The prisoner – he was injured and slow-moving. It was only common courtesy for us to make sure that his injuries didn’t get any worse as we moved him.”

“I see,” White Feather spoke in a calm tone. “Was he obedient?” 

“Yes, of course, ma’am,” Aleu replied, although she was feeling a little nervous due to the fact that she was talking about her own father. “He was a little shaky, but we were able to keep him within the prisoner chamber. He still falls in and out of exhaustion, but he’ll be fine for now.”

“That’s good,” the she-Alpha smiled. “Well, I’ll see if I can go to him instead, so not to tire him out so soon. Perhaps I’ll check out his injuries within a few minutes to talk to him.” Her eyelids lowered a little. “I’d like to learn a bit about why he was in our territory before I pass my judgment on him. He may be an innocent, just like you were, Aleu, and I don’t want to misjudge anyone like last time –” She paused, realizing what she had said. Aleu tilted her head in confusion, but before she could ask any questions, White Feather spoke again. “I mean, I don’t want anyone to be wrongly judged. Afterwards, I’ll probably send you two to tend to his wounds.” 

“I understand completely,” the quarter-wolf responded. “but I’ve never help heal anyone before. How will I know what to do?”

“It’s no problem; I’ll teach you what to do, Aleu,” Geona volunteered. 

“Thank you so much, Geona,” White Feather gave her a quick bow. She then turned her attention to Aleu. “You’re probably wondering why we don’t use medicine wolves or elders, right?” Aleu, who didn’t understand either of those terms, just nodded. When she was younger, she had always relied on the doctor to tend for her scrapes . . . or Rosy would wrap it or do a little ‘kiss and make it better’ routine whenever Balto wasn’t around. She had a feeling that those terms were similar to doctors and vets, but she didn’t feel like asking any more questions at the present time. “Well, recovering from wounds is a natural thing that happens to all of us, and I see that it’s only necessary for wolves in my Clan to learn basic healing procedures in case of emergencies.”

“Ah, I see,” the quarter-wolf replied, understanding the Alpha’s reasons. “If all of your wolves know how to offer help to wounds, there’ll still be enough wolves left for fighting and guarding your territory during enemy attacks, right?” 

“Correct,” the Alpha’s grin grew a little bit larger. “I see that every member of our Clan has a place of importance, especially since we are such a close community. I’ve learned while being an Alpha that one cannot be left alone to fend for one’s self when you have your family by your side, even if they may not be your flesh and blood. In the end, we are