The wolf steadied himself down the slope. His teal fur shone in the sun, and his turquoise eyes glimmered in the light. He looked over the horizon of the ocean and whined. That was his home, over there, but he had chosen the love of his life over it. Remembering why he was there, he put his wet nose to the ground and smelt the earth. Karabu. he smelt the air too, the scent of Karabu was strong, but another smell invaded it. Man. In the distance he saw lights, even in the dark. The wolf knew this was wrong and so barked up the slope.

A female apeared, and anyone who'd have seen her would have know that she was heavily pregnant. Her yellow and blue eyes looked around. Knowing the area she wagged her tail with happiness. The rest of the pack saw she was not afraid and came down the slope too. The dominant couple lay down. Their tongues apeared and disapeared from their mouths and in a few minutes the whole pack was either sleeping, playing or relaxing.

The female was a light shade of brown and she was known to the pack as Alue. Her mate, Dix, was a nervous animal, and anything new to him made him frightened. "Come on," Alue sighed "We'll go and explore the town. I want to visit someone."

"Are you crazy? The men wil have us on a wall by midday if we stroll into there!"

"It won't take too long, and I know where to find them." and without waiting for a reply, Alue trotted forwards toward the town. Soon they arrived at the boiler room and they pushed open the door.

"Alue!" Jenna and Balto rushed over to their daughter. Things were talked about such as what happened over the great water. Dix explained that men wiped out his pack and he came across a group of new wolves and joined them. "Well you can stay at the old boat," offered Balto "There are plenty of cusions and blakets left from when I was last there. It'll be perfect for just the two of you."

"That's the other thing, dad. You see, we're having pups." Balto was taken back. Was this really his little girl? Eventually the night wore on and Dix and Alue left. Alue slept in the old boat and Dix went back to the pack to take charge.

In the morning there was a suprise! Alue had given birth to four puppies. A dark grey which they named Kiala, two brown ones that they named Oka and Meta and there was a strong, more outstanding one. She was a pale grey with a teal back and a deeper blue eyes and ears. This one they named Ilena.

Dix ran to the boiler room to tell the news, however a terrible thing happened.

A gun fired. There was a yelp and then silence. Balto heard this commotion and sprinted outside. Dix lay there, panting and spluttering. "Alue's had the puppies, " choked "Alue's had..." He trailed off. Dix didn't move. Balto layed beside him and howled. This was a sign that one of them had passed on.

A snowstorm moved in. The pack was forced to leave. The puppies were strong enough to travel and their eyes had opened. They started off at once. Alue made a track in the snow, in which her pups followed in. She was still grieving for the loss of Dix and so she was not very alert. Ilena slowed down, and lost sight of the pack. She thought to herself that she was to die in the cold when suddenly, a shape of a wolf appeared. But it wasn't quite wolf. The not-wolf picked her up and she fell asleep.

When she awoke she was in a vey warm place, with lots of other people. Then the not-wolf came up to her. It licked her. She felt happy and scenced that it was safe to be with. Then a girl not-wolf appeared. The three of them lived together in the house.

A year later Ilena had grown. She was an adult but didn't know eveyting (even though she thought she did!) about the world. All day she would play with the other dogs in town, as after being cared for she found out that the not-wolves were actually called "Dogs". She felt like a dog and she ran like a rabbit that bolts. Everyone accepted her, but Ilena never felt she belonged.

one day, Balto went to talk to her. He took her to the old boat. "Ilena. We have to talk, you see, you, aren't," Balto clampped his teeth together, expecting abuse to be thrown at him afyer what he would say "A dog. You're almost all wolf." He once again waited to be yelled at but instead, Ilena just sat there. "I'm not angry, dad," she said "I don't mind what I am."

"Then you're not like your mother." Balto chuckled.

"Why? Didn't she like being a dog?" Ilena had always assumed that Balto and Jenna were her parents "Dad?" This time her tone was hard. Balto was forced to tell her everything. After this, Ilena became very upset. She shouted and growled at Balto. "You aren't my real parents? I'm your grandaughter? This doesn't make sense." She eventually calmed down, but when Balto tried to speak she ran off. Luckily it was into Nome, not away.

Ilena ran around the town at least five times before stopping. Running felt good. The wind rushing past her felt like it was blowing away all her problems. A local musher saw her. Her stamina was exellent and she was swift and graceful. This was just the thing he wanted.

Ilena was sold to the musher. She found out his name from the other dogs he owned, and his name was Harry. Ilena made many friends from the new dogs and one of which was a female called Kesar. Kesar was a wheel dog, she ran at the back, steering and directing the sled. When the team ran, Ilena always went in the lead. She felt happy whenever she ran. The wind, the strength everything made it enjoyable. One day there was a race. Ilena stretched out and shook her paws of the slush. A gun fired and away went all the sleds.

The other dos raced as fast as they could. "Slow down!" Ilena barked "You'll run out of energy. Go steady." There was no arguing with the lead dog. They all slowed down. Once they got to the river there was a bottleneck of sleds. Some had been trapped together, others were on their side. Luckily the team got through and there were only five sleds ahead of them. One team went after a rabbit that was nibbling the tufts of grass that rarely grew. Ilena increased speed and the team followed. Eventualy they were in line with the leading team. The dog at the front was worn out and soon they would slow down. Over the last few meters, Ilena pushed her self over the limit and sprinted as fast as the wind. Her neck stretched out and soon the crowd was cheering.

After her victory, Ilena was sold to another man. This one was cruel, though, and he took pleasure in hurting animals. Ilena was fed very little and was still forced to run every day, with a load of bricks on the sled that followed behind her. One day she couldn't take it any more. When the man came to tie her up for work, he hit her. That was it. Ilena bit his arm and ripped her teeth down it. The man yelled with pain. Two other men came in. Ilena ran between them and out the door. Freedom.

Due to being mostly wolf, her insticts wereto find others and to find food. She came across a track of a Buffalo but knew it was too big and kept sniffing. Ilena strolled free for two days. in that time she managed to catch enough food to not only suvive, but thicken up a bit. On the evening of the second day, a strange smell came to her. it wasn't dog, but close. Ilena tracked it to a river. There was no smell to her right, nor the left. She decided to swim across. The scent continued until she found a patch of blood on the snow beneath a tree. The smell of death terrified her and she went mad. Then she gathered herself up and continued, still anxious about what she had just come by.

In the twilight, Ilena found footprints on the ground. The prints were filled with the same smell. The tracks led her to the shore.

The bones of a Karabu lay deserted on the rocks, and the scent filled everything and everywhere. Ilena stayed still. A growl echoed and a wolf jumped out at her. "What are you doing here stranger?" A white female spoke to her. Ilena explained her journey and asked wher ehte pack leader was.

"Oh, you wont find her here I'm afraid," sighed the wolf "She's gone on a trip to find someone. She put me and my friends on guard. The others are hunting and no-one knows when she'll be back."

Ilena thanked her. The wolf told her that they were going to a man place, near the sea, with hills all around it. As she walked through the forest. The air was chilly and the snow was like slush. A strike of red shot past a bush. Ilena looked around herself cautiously. Then it pounced on her.

Later, when she awoke, Ilena could feel that there were others around her. She was underground and the air was damp. Outside it was snowing, and the wind holwed like a wolf.

"Why are you in the foxes territory?" said one of the animals. It was a fox, as it spoke in the language of all the dog-like animals.

"I'm searching for the man place." Ilena spoke without emotion. She knew foxes were sly.

"There are no men here," said a vixen.

"That's why I'm traveling."

The first fox got up and sat next to Ilena. "Then we'll tell you a story to pass the time.

"Many, many years ago, men did live here. And also, foxes and wolves lived together. They stole from the men. The men hated them. Then, one fine, sunny spring, a litter was born, but not any old litter. The mother was a vixen and the father was a wolf.

"The men set traps to catch the wolves and foxes. One day, the strange family all went hunting. The only one that returned was the brown male pup. His name was Agali. he lived by himself but was well respected by tha animals. One day, he went out and stole four geese, four chickens and four ducks. All the wolves and foxes ate together.

"The week after that, Agali sent out a wolf to spy on the men. The wolf didn't come back. It was later discovered that it had been killed by the trap. The wolves were outraged by this. "A fox wouldn't have been sacrificed!" they barked. The two species went their separate way. Agali was left by himself, as both sides told him he was half enemy and could not be trusted.