In the end, we are all a part of the same community, despite our backgrounds.” A smile grew on the quarter-wolf’s face as well; White Feather noticed her expression and continued to praise the newcomer. “I’m quite impressed by your fast learning and quick intuition, Aleu. You have quite a talent for knowledge, and I feel that you’re quite a candidate for Clan-ship.”

The near-yearling’s face was nearly flushed by embarrassment, thanks to the Alpha’s kind words. “Thank you, I feel so honored. I’ve been learning a lot about being a wolf . . . even though I’ve only known about my wolf heritage for little more than a day.” 

“There is a lot left for you to learn still, Aleu,” White Feather told her. “Being part of a wolf pack is more than just howling, hunting, healing and protecting your territory from intruders, you know. As a member of a pack, you will have to be responsible and do your part to help others. While in a Clan, even a leader cannot always be thinking about themselves, for it may affect the way others think of them; letting your own feelings affect your judgment doesn’t help make things right either . . . and I should know.” The white Alpha’s ears lowered as if ashamed of something. Her expression was straight and a bit regretful as she tried to continue.

“What do you mean by that?” Aleu couldn’t help but ask; everyone else was avoiding her questions, so she thought at least the Alpha should be able to tell her an answer. 

“Oh, now is not the right time for that,” White Feather told her, much to Aleu’s chagrin. When she saw the quarter-wolf’s head slump down, the Alpha cheered her up, or at least tried to anyway. “Right now, the two of you can rest in your chambers until I send Oak for you to assist the prisoner’s wounds.” Aleu’s head and eyebrows lifted, but after a second, she lowered it again with a sigh. White Feather softly tittered with a small grin, reassuring the young quarter-wolf. “The right time for answers will come soon, Aleu.”

Confused by the Alpha’s words directly to her, Aleu only lowered her head in a bow. “Yes, ma’am,” the quarter-wolf spoke in a defeated tone.  

“Yes, my Alpha,” Geona bowed respectively.

Once the two females rose up again, another concern tugged at Aleu’s heart. “But what about Everett? He won’t be punished for what happened earlier, will he?” 

White Feather shook her head. “He’s fine. I’ll let you see him at dinner tonight; he’s leading the hunting party with Oak and Hickory while I speak with the prisoner.” She lowered her elegant head closer to the sepia ear of Aleu. “Everett has the potential to follow my paws as Alpha one day, but right now, he seems to be quite smitten for you. Maybe one day he’ll select you to become his mate once we make you an official member of the Clan.”

Just hearing about Everett made Aleu’s face glow brighter. “That’s good to hear, ma’am.” Aleu smiled, knowing that White Feather saw something positive with their possible union as well. Geona let out a very quiet giggle as she looked at the quarter-wolf blush in happiness. 

“Now, go rest for a while, you two,” The Alpha told them. “Both of you deserve it.”

As the two females lowered their heads in farewell, the ivory Alpha gave them a slight nod and left them to tend to some other Clan business. Once she left the area, Geona, followed by the quarter-wolf, descended to the main chamber and down the hall to their cavern to rest . . . and talk. 

“Is now a better time to talk about what White Feather meant?” Aleu asked once they began to relax on the rocky cave floor of Geona’s chamber. “No one else is here, so this should be safe, right?”

The light-gray nodded, but suddenly let out a yawn, stretching out her tongue in the process. “Just in case, we’ll have to whisper . . . in case some unnecessary ears listen in.” 

“Is it that secretive?” Aleu began to practice her quiet voice.

“Yeah, only because White Feather prefers not to mention it to new recruits . . . or to many others that weren’t there to see it,” Geona murmured, causing Aleu to nod slightly. “I was a little over a year old when it happened, but it was horrible.” She took a moment to pause and take a deep breath before starting the story. “It was during a rough winter storm and a couple of guards had recovered an adult male wolf from our outside territory to the west. He was thin and malnourished, but luckily he was still alive. However, one of the younger wolves – one that was about my age at the time – recognized him aloud as his father . . . and White Feather was outraged for some reason.” Tears began to swell in her eyes. “She . . . she seemed as if she were a different wolf – one that hated any wolves that still depended on the ones that they once depended on for everything . . .” 

Aleu gasped lightly, but still it was a sound of shock. “I’m afraid to ask, but . . . what did she do?”

“She never mentioned what got her all riled up, but as soon as Father and Son were reunited, they were given a choice: either one of them must leave forever or both of them would have to perish in the blizzard that lay outside the cavern.” Geona lowered her ears and muzzle in a forlorn manner. “Easily, they chose to stay by each other . . . all the way to the very end.” She paused to wipe a wet spot on her cheek with her paw. “Once the storm subsided, the hunting party found the frozen bodies of the two of them, lying together in eternal sleep underneath a tree that’s about two hundred feet from our cave.” 

“How awful . . .” Aleu began to shed a tear. “Why couldn’t she allow them both to stay? That just doesn’t seem fair for both of them to die like that!” Her outrage nearly made her cry out, but she easily caught herself. “If I were Alpha, I’d let them both stay . . . it’s their right to live, right?”

“That’s right, but you forget who’s in charge,” Geona reminded the young quarter-wolf. “Many of the other wolves that were around that day wished that they could have stood up to White Feather, but she is the Alpha. I guess we all were grateful for our new lives here in the Runaway Clan, so although we wanted to stop this, we were all powerless to do anything. Her rule comes first around here, and unless the Great Aniu tells her to stop, White Feather’s rule is law.” 

The Great Aniu? She thought to herself. White Feather mentioned her to me when we talked in her chambers last night . . . but why didn’t this Great Aniu stop her from doing such a thing? Why would a Great Spirit allow something so horrible . . . like this to happen? “Well, I still say it’s unfair,” Aleu repeated. “Someone should stand up to her about it.”

“Good luck with that plan, Aleu,” The she-wolf chuckled jokingly. “You know that White Feather likes you and all, but I doubt that she would spare both you and your father if she found out.” 

“I should still try anyway, Geona,” Aleu proudly murmured. “My father doesn’t belong here like I do. He’s too tame for the wild life that he was originally born in, but if White Feather even dares to throw him out, I’ll have to take her on myself.”

“Now that you know what she’d do to you once she learned of your relationship with our prisoner, you wouldn’t stand a chance,” The she-wolf reminded her. “That’s the wild for you – it’s unfair how nature and the Great Spirits work, but eventually things end up working out in the end.” 

“How is that possible?” The quarter-wolf was still confused. “Two wolves just died in a storm and White Feather’s still the Alpha? I can’t see how that can help things work out for the Clan . . .”

“Eventually, things did work out. White Feather apologized for her sudden outburst and gave the two wolves a proper burial once the snow thawed out in the spring,” Geona concluded her story. “Apparently, she knew that the young wolf had been sent away from his birth Clan, but she didn’t know that it was actually a mistake. The father was searching for his son, hoping to take him back home and set things right, but it had been a few months since he had left. He was a full-fledged member of the Runaway Clan, accepting the new life that the Great Aniu had blessed him under White Feather’s rule, but once his father was taken in as a trespasser, all loyalties to his Clan were broken. He preferred to return his father’s love by following him into the storm than stay in a world in which his father wasn’t allowed the same warmth and safety that he was given.” 

“Fathers,” Aleu huffed quietly. “Why are they so weird when it comes to their children?”

“I wouldn’t know, Aleu,” Geona sighed. “I never knew who my birth father was, but when White Feather nursed me back to health, Oak, her mate, was the closest thing to a father figure to me.” Strangely, she let out a soft smile. “He was strict and protective of me and my new siblings, but he always loved us, even when he never really said it aloud. White Feather told me that even though they weren’t my real parents by birth, they loved me just the same. I guess it’s the same with Balto, your father . . . and probably with all parents out in the world.” 

“You mean with how he acted, right?” Aleu asked.

Geona nodded. “That’s right. Perhaps he just wants to show how much he loves you by coming to your rescue, that’s all. Why else would he do what he did?” 

“But . . . he still kept my mother’s death and any memories of her away from me,” Aleu responded. “I know he said he did it only to protect me, but I . . . I still feel responsible for losing her. It’s still my faul—”

“Listen to me, Aleu,” Geona silenced her anger with a paw to her mouth. “I may not have known your mother, but clearly she must have loved you enough until the end. She left your father with the greatest gift of all, although she sacrificed her own