It had been almost 2 weeks. Liza, the wolf-dog who was 3/4 husky and 1/4 wolf was tired of traveling and wanted to get to Duke's new homelands already. He friend, Duke, who was a full-blooded wolf, had insisted that she come back with him to his pack from which he left in search of adventures.

"I'm tired of this, Duke, WHEN will we be there?!" Liza moaned. " My paws are cracked from all of this walking, and I think i got a thorn stuck in my tail!"

As Liza turnd around and bit at her backside, Duke began to sniff around on the ground.  "What is it, Duke, danger?" Liza asked frantically.  "no, no, nothing like that...it's.....it's....hard to explain".  The  black and tan wolf had a very serious, but puzzled look to his face, and was determined to find out what this strange scent was from.

" Check it out for yourself, you'll see what I mean." He said. Liza took in a big whiff of the air surrounding her. " I don't smell anything either than, you, me, the trees, and some squirrels, your crazy". She said playfully. " Am not, here, come here and smell this rock." Duke  retorted as he motioned to a large rock beside him.  Liza trotted right up to the rock and pressed her nose gently against it and took a deep breath. " Hey, your right, its smells kinds like salt!" Liza shouted and she started to lick the rock's surface briskly. " salt? what's that?" Duke replied with a questioning look to his young face as he watched Lza joyfully lick the rock.

" You don't know what salt is, come take a lick for yourself." Liza offered as she stepped aside to make room for him. " mmm, that tastes grrreat"! Duke shouted while adding a friendly growl to his words. "How did you know what that was anyways"? He asked. " well, back then when i lived near the humans, the smell would often appear in nearby restrauants and dumpsters from time to time, like on french fries and stuff. But then one day, to teenage boys came by the dumpster as I was hiding behind the dumpster. They almost instantly saw me and threw me their fries and said ' They put too much slat on those anyway, might as well leave it for the poor, hungry, mutts.' " Liza explained. " From then on, I had always knew the smell and taste of this "salt" the boys had talked of and had always made sure to keep my senses alert at all times for this wonderful stuff."

" well, c'mon, lets keep moving, we still have a long ways to go." Duke said quickly as he bagan to walk briskly again. With one last slurp of the wonder ful salt, Liza dashed to catch up ask Duke tredded steadly onward.

" So, do you think your pack will like me?"  Liza asked suddenly. " i mean, after all, I'm not full wolf, would they aprove of me joining the pack?" "Who said anything about joining the pack".  Duke asked a little to seriously, because suddenly, Liza's magnificent head hung low and her tail drooped. "Well, I had always considered the possiblity of starting a family in the pack Duke, once we get there, I mean, but now I see what your answer to that would be". Liza stated sadly. " what are you trying to say?" Duke said as he cocked his head and pricked his ears. " Duke, do you not see it, we are both adults, it's almost mating season." Liza exclaimed.

" Are you trying to tell me you want to be my mate, Liza"? Duke asked, suddenly with a completely different expression. " yes, duke, if that's the way you understand it best." " just think about it, if your pack were to find out that we were officially mates, I don't think they would be as hostile, more accepting of me if you will." She explained.

Duke stayed silent for about a full minute just staring at the ground with an expressionless look on his face.  "ok, then, Liza, I accept you as my mate." He finally said. He calmly walked over to her and nuzzled her neck.  " Ok, then, lets get going, I think were almost there.'' Duke assured her. " I think by tommorrow afternoon we should be there, this territory looks very familiar." " Awesome I can't wait to meet the rest of your family." Liza said happily. " So c'mon, lets get a move on it."

Soon the next morning, Liza and Duke were traveling once again, more happily than before knowing that they were almost there. Then around the time the sun was it's highest in the sky, Duke cried out "We're here, this is it, see those giant boulders, its behind them, Liza, we made it at last!" He said cheerfully and ran over to her and licked her muzzle. They both sprinted off and Duke sounded off a call to his pack to let them know who it was.

Right when they turned the corner, they both found three rather large wolves staring back at them. The one in the center, the largest of the three which appeared to be the alpha male, was a chocolate brown color with tanish underbelly markings and muzzle markings. The one to his right was much smaller, she was solid light brown with three black stripes between her ears on her forehead, she seemed to be the alpha female. The one on the alpha male's left was almost as large as the alpha male, but seemed much younger, he was reddish brown with white markings.

"Father, mother, brother Jindo, this is my new mate, Liza." Duke said confedently. " Liza, this is my father, Arask, my mother Sheesla, and my older brother Jindo." Duke explained. " Duke, I've been waiting for you." Jindo said with a menancing smile. "It's time to see who the future alpha male in this pack will be."

                                                                  To Be continued......................