pricked-up ears of dark brown. The source of the din swooped down, landing in front of Balto’s large tan paws. It was a raven, average-sized and yet it seemed to not fear the hybrid at all. It lowered its head then lifted it up, letting out another cry. 

“What are you . . .” Balto began to speak as it crouched its thin gray legs close to the ground and suddenly flew around him in a circular motion. He looked up at the raven with his shadowy plume of feathers covering its entire body, curious about the bird’s sudden actions. “What do you want from me?”

The raven only replied with a caw, releasing itself from its invisible round path. It flapped its wings several times before soaring towards a gap between two mountains. Instinctively wanting to understand the meaning of the raven’s sudden departure, Balto charged after it, being careful with his wolfish paws sprinting over the icy body of water. Once he had caught up with the soaring bird, he slid to a stop, watching as the feathered fowl flew straight up through the mountains’ gap, where a bright symbol of speckled lights caught Balto’s attention. 

It was a cluster of stars – a constellation. The glittering space rocks formed the shape of a butterfly, each of its wings so parallel and perfect as it shone in the night sky.

“A . . . butterfly?” Balto tilted his head in confusion by the sight in the sky above him. There was no reply this time from the raven; the only voice he heard was that same high-pitched howl that had once joined him earlier in his dream on the shoreline. He could not see her this time, however, but he knew who it was. 

“My daughter . . .?”

The howl grew louder and clearer, soon morphing into a wailing cry of hunger. Balto opened his eyes, awoken by his newborn daughter’s whimpering and the sudden creaking of the wooden door opening, revealing the elder doctor holding a glass bottle of just-warmed milk. 

“Ah, Balto,” the doctor gave him a kind, small smile as he approached the hungry child and the startled wolf-dog. “It seems she woke you up as well, huh?” He patted the gray-brown father’s head and gently lifted the tiny light-brown pup into his arms, placing it on top of a tiny blanket. He turned back to the wolf-dog, asking, “Would you like to help, boy?”

Balto let out a whine of worry. What could he possibly do to help feed his only daughter? He was only a dog who had gone from expected happiness to exhaustive sorrow in only a matter of a day’s time – for once, he felt completely helpless to anyone. 

“Oh, don’t worry so much,” Doc walked the now calmed pup to a set of benches near a couple of wall hangings and the soft glow of a lantern’s light. He sat down, placing the child on his lap and putting the bottle nipple on her lips, allowing her to drink. With one hand around the sucking puppy and her nightly bottle, he patted a seat beside him on the wooden bench where a map of Alaska hung above it. “Come here, Balto. I know you can keep us company.”

Encouraged by the kind gesture, Balto let out a yawn and slowly trotted to the warmth of the lamplight. He leaped onto the bench, sitting beside the serene scene that seemed to fill his heart with gladness. 

“You know, you’re a very lucky dog, Balto,” Doc spoke gladly as he continued to nurse the pup. “If Jenna hadn’t arrived here when she did this morning, none of her pups would have survived the birth. I’m sure that you really miss her, right?” Balto whined, lowering his head. At least the doctor understands my pain, he thought as he nudged against the doctor’s shoulder. “But you shouldn’t worry about her now, Balto. You have something more important here: your daughter.” As if on cue, the wolf-like pup let out a yawn, stretching her tiny legs out. The doctor placed the almost-empty bottle on the table where the lantern continued to fill the room with light, even in this dark hour. “She needs you more than you know now, so you have to protect her as she grows up . . . and keep Jenna’s memory alive in her.” He glanced at the pup, then at the wolf-dog, and let out a chuckle. “You know, she really does take after your side, doesn’t she?”

That was the second time that day he had had someone to tell him that. He sighed lightly, feeling ashamed by the fact that it would seem that everyone that he met would automatically know that his child took after the wolf part of him that he wished he would forget. Before his heroic endeavor only months ago, he had hated that half of him. It was because of his wolf side that he was considered a threat to town society, both by humans and canines. It was because of his wolf side that he was always alone, with only Boris, Muk and Luk to offer him company. It was because of his wolf side that he became the object of every bully’s attention, for they enjoyed mocking his wolf mother with their god-awful howling. Now he was left to raise his daughter within this same world that once hated him; he was afraid for her life, and he didn’t want her to receive the same torturous treatment that he had as an orphaned pup when he started living near the edge of Nome. 

I don’t want that life for her. She’s meant for so much more than to be made fun of for her looks,Balto told himself as he looked up behind him, reading the map. Although he didn’t know why the map intrigued his sudden fancy, his eyes were wide with wonder at the size of the land outside of the small dot that was placed beside the word “Nome.” Wow . . . I – I never knew how large the outdoors was before. I wonder . . . His ears lowered as he placed his legs on the top of the back of the bench, leaning closer to the map. I wonder where I was born out there . . . Hmm . . . His eyes, busy scanning the words, symbols and dots on the faded colored map, soon halted at a set of curved islands far south of the safety of Nome. He read the words beside them, curiously wondering why his attention was placed on them. A-Aleutian Islands . . . Aleutian . . . Aleu . . . he stopped, quickly turning his head to the doctor and his child. Aleu . . . that word . . . I don’t know why, but it just sounds so . . . so perfect . . . He let out a whimpering whine, for the word stood out as he thought about his little girl.

“Balto, what is it?” The doctor looked back at him, curious about the wolf-dog’s strange behavior. “What is it, boy?” Balto pointed his nose to the map, whining at the words in front of him. Doc stared at the focus of the hybrid’s attention, still cradling the now-sleeping pup in his palms. “Hmm? Ah, that’s the Aleutians there, Balto. Very wild island territory out there, it is. Why are you . . . ?”

Balto continued to try and get the physician to understand him, knowing very well that most humans couldn’t translate Canine very well. He whined and let out a small bark. The sound of the wolf-dog’s cry woke the puppy, causing her to let out a tiny whimper.

“Oh, Balto . . . Now look what you’ve done . . .” The doctor began to scold the half-breed, but before he was able to, Balto whined again. The doctor let out a sigh, then gasped in shock at what he saw next. Balto had leaned his head towards his daughter, hushing her with his gentle lick. To the older man’s surprise, the new father began to smile as his little child whimpered, nuzzling against her proud papa’s nose. Balto gazed back at the man, quickly pointing out the cluster of islands once more with a flicking motion of his nose and a soft whine.  

“Wait a sec . . .” Something inside the physician began to click. “The name . . . Are you talking about naming your daughter?” Balto nodded, letting out a quiet bark; he had to make sure not to wake his daughter again.

“Well, the islands are the Aleutian Islands. Were you thinking of ‘Aleutian’?” Balto shook his head.  

“No? A little too long, huh? Well, how about just plain ‘Aleut’ then?” For a second time, Balto shook his head, snorting in disgust.

“Not a good one, eh?” The doctor chuckled, placing his free hand on his chin, deep in thought as he looked at the word in front of him.  

“What about . . . ‘Aleu’?” Balto’s ears pricked up happily, leaning towards his child. Finally, he understood the canine’s previous actions and gestures. “Aleu, huh . . .” The man’s eyelids lowered, gazing at Father and Daughter with new eyes. “Well, Aleu it shall be then. It suits her very well, Balto.” He began to walk back into the room where Balto’s temporary bed was located. “Come on, now. It’s still nighttime, and Aleu’s ready for more sleep with her proud papa.”

Somehow, Balto enjoyed the sound of his daughter’s name as he followed the doctor’s voice, quickly and cautiously leaping ahead, making sure that he was there on the safe haven of soft blankets and cushion when his child arrived. He laid down on the blankets, smoothing out a section of the cloth near his underbelly with his nose so that his daughter would feel comfortable and secure as she slept by his warm, loving side. The doctor smiled at the patriarch part-wolf as he carefully placed the light-brown bundle of sleeping pup and the tiny cloth she was loosely wrapped in against the softness of Balto’s bedding, a little over a foot away from the half-breed.  

The pup, noticing the sudden change of location, woke up and whimpered softly; Balto’s eyes were wide, surprised by the fact that the human was letting the less-than-a-day old newborn wander off on her own so soon, but the doctor scolded him with a soft tap on his nose when the wolf-dog attempted to grab his child.

“Uh-uh, boy. Let her try to find you on her own, Balto,” Doc murmured to him, revealing his true purpose to the young father. “If she’s anything like you and Jenna, she’ll find what she wants while allowing her natural senses to develop.” 

Aleu, still blind since birth, lifted her head slightly, as if