think about you and the others . . . Oh Jenna, to think that a year ago we were awaiting our first litter . . . and now, our little girl is almost grown up . . . I really wish you were here to see her now, Jen . . . He lowered his head with tears of sorrow and happiness in his eyes.

The sound of laughter broke his thoughts of the past, pricking his ears up curiously; Aleu was running with Muk and Luk in tow, laughing and pouncing on each other and on the white gander that was reluctant to join the romping and rough-housing. Ah, our little girl is so special, Balto sighed, drying his eyes once more with his paw. So playful, intelligent, and beautiful, she is. Thank goodness Rosy’s taken her in; no other human here would want a child that was born with such wild looks. 

As if on cue, Rosy entered the good-natured scene, suddenly scaring the polar bears away in fear. She approached Aleu with a hug while the quarter-wolf licked her giggling face with her tongue. Once the bears saw that the little girl was a friend of Aleu’s and that she wouldn’t hurt them, they crept from their bushy, leafy hiding place and allowed Rosy to pet them as a sign of friendship. Rosy seemed to show no fear to the bear cubs, although she knew they were wild animals. She’s a great owner, Jen. She’s not even afraid of Muk and Luk, and that’s pretty rare for any human! I can see how special she was to you, and now she’s given both me and Aleu a safe haven, just like what she did for you when you were a weaned pup. He gently smiled at the sight, but slowly turned back to the set of crosses with a somber sigh.

I still . . . I still miss you though. This old town just isn’t the same – No. Nothing is the same anymore without you . . .  

Especially my life with our daughter . . .

“Oy, Balto!” 

The accented voice of his Russian-born companion broke the mellow hush of the cemetery as he waddled over to the gray-brown wolf-dog’s side at about midday. “Oh, it’s just you, Boris,” Balto sighed, realizing the gander’s presence. Boris was the only other creature that swore to keep the story of Aleu’s birth a secret, but he was beginning to have his own worries about the pup’s heritage.

“Back here moping about Jenna again, eh?” Balto nodded as Boris continued. “You know, Aleu may start to suspect something if you don’t tell her soon . . . especially since she turns a year old in a couple of days.” 

“No, she won’t,” Balto pressed his long muzzle up against the goose’s large beak. “There’s no way that I’ll tell her, and there’s no way that she needs to know anything about the day she was born.” The hybrid stood up and began to walk towards the gated exit. “I promised I wouldn’t say a word about Jenna to Aleu, and I’m willing to take that promise with me to the grave.”

“But what if she asks?” Boris queried, trying to make a point. “Aleu will want an answer one day. What will you tell her then?”  

Balto halted at the sound of his guardian’s words, but he said nothing. He hated it whenever Boris was right about things, but on something like this, he refused to even respond to the gander’s own query, knowing that he would only continue to give him more reasons to nag him.

“I hope you know what you are doing, Balto. Take care.” Boris sighed as he watched Balto walk away, returning back to Rosy’s house to relax for a moment. He looked up into the sky, sighing once more with his feathered fingers against his beaked chin. “Oh, what would you do in this situation, Jenna?” Knowing that the sky was less than likely to reply, the gander sighed nervously. “If he doesn’t tell her soon, she’ll find out on her own . . .” He let out a gulp, changing his attention back to the moping father that was slowly climbing up the wooden steps of Rosy’s home. “ . . . and that’s what I’m afraid of most. Oy . . .” 

It was about mid-day once Aleu parted with the bears by the beach. She carefully walked by the town borders and gazed out at the line of pine that made a natural boundary between the town and the Alaskan forest. Her eyes grew as she gasped with curiosity.

“Wow, the forest looks so lush today!” She spoke with a happy tone. “I wonder why Papa doesn’t like me wandering in there by myself. . .” A mischievous smirk began to grow on her face. “Well, he doesn’t have to know anything . . . Maybe I’ll go for a quick trip . . .” The quarter-wolf female began to take a couple of steps forward when a voice shattered her thoughts. 

“Aleu!”

Much to her chagrin, the gray-brown hybrid made his way up to his daughter’s side. She lowered her tail and let out a groan of disappointment as Balto’s look of anger glared her down. 

“Aleu, what do you think you were doing?” Balto asked her as she sat down, her ears against her neck. “I’ve told you many times to not go into the woods by yourself!”

“I know, Papa,” Aleu sulked. “but I just wanted to –” 

The patriarch interrupted his daughter before she could explain. “No buts, Aleu! You know better than that, and there are a lot of creatures and dangers out there that could have hurt you or killed you.” He lowered his head a little and his voice turned to worry. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you without my protection.”

“Oh, you’re worrying too much, Papa,” Aleu reassured him. “I’m almost a year old, and you shouldn’t be treating me like such a child anymore!” She let out a huff, turning her head away from her father’s surprised face as she stood up onto her feet. “What would you know about the dangers in the woods anyway? It’s not like I’ve seen you go inside it!” 

“Aleu . . .” Before Balto could explain himself, he watched his daughter run away from him, heading into the main street of Nome. He only could sigh and sit down at the edge of the forest. “What else can I do for her, Jen?” He murmured into the gentle breeze, hoping there was a chance that his lost lover could give him a reply from Heaven. A moment passed, but there was still no answer. The sky was silent, as was the breeze that he had given his query to. “I guess you can’t hear me anymore, huh, Jen?” He managed to joke, although the words seemed to make his heart ache even more. A tear slipped from his eyes, trickled down his cheeks and dripped onto the soil underneath his large wolf paws.

No, Balto, I can hear you . . . 

The hybrid’s ears pricked up at the airy voice that seemed to surround him. He could recognize that voice anywhere. “Jen? Jenna, is that really you?”

Yes, it is . . . Oh, how I’ve missed you so. The voice began to reverberate through his mind as Balto closed his eyes, imagining the beautiful husky’s figure standing in front of him. The purebred looked more gorgeous in his thoughts than she ever had in life; her coat was as stunning as ever, still surrounding her trademark red-orange bandanna, which was no longer spotted with her own blood from her difficult ordeal with delivering her only litter of pups. His mind’s image of himself nuzzled her, ending with a little kiss. 

And I you, Balto answered back in his head, realizing that talking to himself aloud would make others think he had truly lost his mind. After parting their noses, the proud father had so many questions to ask the spirit of his mate. How is it up there, . . . I mean, being dead and all? Is Heaven as wonderful as the stories say? He felt awkward asking her such a ridiculous query such as that, but you had to admit it, he was curious about it.

Oh, it’s very beautiful and peaceful in Heaven, filled with everything you could ever wish for . . . except for you, Balto . . . It’s very bright and clean there too. A soft smile came upon her face.  

Do you miss the fact that . . . you were so close to becoming a mother? Balto struggled on the question, pausing halfway through. He was afraid it was too difficult of a question for her to answer, but Jenna only giggled lightly.

Not at all. I have the other five pups with me, but it’s hard to imagine them grown up though; up here, the aging process is quite impossible for them, so our children haven’t changed a bit since when they were taken. The she-husky replied, her voice was quiet and a bit saddened. I mean I’ve remained the way I am, but the older ones in Heaven have been given their youthful forms. 

I see, Balto replied. He let out a large sigh. That must be hard for you, huh?

Yes, it has, Jenna answered back. Sometimes I’m envious of you, especially since you have someone that’ll grow right before your eyes . . . She let out a sigh. 

So that means you’ve been able to see us from up there? The wolf-dog’s eyes grew in amazement. I mean, if they allow you to . . .

Jenna’s voice perked up, the tip of her tail waving back and forth in a steady rhythm. Of course! Ever since I left your world, I’ve been watching you. I see Rosy’s been taking good care of you in my place. Her amber-hazel eyes lowered a bit, easily showing how much she missed her girl. And she’s taken care of her too, it seems . . . She sighed again, remembering how her surviving child looked from the last time she looked at her. Aleu, our only daughter . . .Oh, she is a perfect blend of the two of us . . .

Balto’s ears lowered when he heard those words, especially since he knew that wasn’t true in his eyes. But she looks like a wolf, Jenna . . . No one can deny the fact that she takes after me more than you, and . . . and I’m afraid that once she learns about her breeding and the fact that you died after giving birth to her and her dead siblings . . . The hybrid couldn’t even complete his thoughts, for the images of that day – the blood-stained sheet that his mate died in, the five wrapped bundles of the dead pups that she had delivered, the first look he had of his only daughter, the only pup born that had clearly inherited his wild looks – those images were