Balto panted.  "I gave her the basics of the situation, but you'll need to take her up the mountain.  I've got a date with a mail sled today."  Grinning, the half-breed hero took off towards the town of Nome.  As soon as he was gone, Jenna turned to her nephew and friend with a determined expression.

"What are you waiting for?  Let's move."

It took half a day going at a rapid-fire pace to reach the cave, and Jenna was exhausted and sore, but she went diligently to her patient.  At first Aspen was apprehensive, but she soon recognized Balto's life partner.  As Jenna began to talk to the wolf about her curious symptoms, the waiting pack of wolves straggled away, talking in groups and lazing about in the hazy, filmy light.  It was nearly nine o' clock at night, and Pawnee, Juneau, and Brite waited another tense hour before their husky friend came out again with a verdict.

"Sir," Jenna said to Pawnee, "your mate's pregnant."

"Call me Pawnee," the wolf replied, "and WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

"Aspen is pregnant.  She's actually doing pretty well, but she's rather worried that she'll be unable to go on the month-long hunt that everybody's been talking about.  I told her that she was correct in that assumption, and now she could do with a little cheering up.  Despite that, she's pretty excited.  Congratulations, you two!" 

Pawnee flushed and stepped softly through the curtained entrance of the little den.  The dry reeds whispered and quaked gently as he slipped past, and he nuzzled his mate.

"Dear," said Aspen in hushed tones.  "Oh, dear, I won't be able to go on the hunt, but...it'll be worth it, won't it?"  Her tone was appealing.

"You don't have to convince me that it's wonderful," Pawnee said, seeming to read her mind.  He smiled gently.

"Aren't they cute?"  Brite appeared beside Juneau as they peeped through the curtain together.  "Let's leave them."

The morning of the hunt dawned with howls of joy.  Brite was among them, very happy indeed.  Aspen, of course, was staying home, and they could keep each other company during the lonely, uneventful month.  Suddenly the future seemed considerably brighter.

The future had always looked bright from Juneau's standpoint, and the news about Aspen only added more jewels to his shining crown of glory.  He tried not to get in the way of the other wolves as they packed, and in the process he almost bumped straight into Brite.   

"Uh, hey," he said distractedly.

"Hey.  Hey?  Is that all?  You're leaving for a month, and you're not even going to say good-bye?"  The collie-cross cocked her slim head.  A little paw tapped against the dusty ground impatiently.

"Well, uh...good-bye, I, uh...guess."  Juneau was becoming exceedingly nervous again. 

As the other wolves started out, Pawnee called Juneau's name.  The wolfdog saw Pawnee nuzzle his expectant mate one last time before he started out to head the procession.  Pawnee looked over at Juneau, and noticed the two yearlings together.  He winked at his apprentice slyly and turned away. 

Juneau gulped.  But this time he had an inspiration.  Just as Brite was about to say something impatient, he gave her a big lick on the cheek-not the welcome kind-and then hurried on his way.  It took all of his willpower not to look back to see his friend's reaction.  His course was erratic as he reached Pawnee's side. 

The alpha leaned in close once they were out of sight. 

 "What did you do?"

"What do you mean, what did I do?  Nothing much."  But his face burned as hot as fire.  Half of Juneau's heart wished he hadn't done that, especially since he'd missed the reaction.  But deep inside he was glad.  At least now she had to know that he liked her, really liked her.

Several hundred yards back, Brite sat in the morning sun as it burned magenta and crimson.  She was utterly blown away.

It took the girl pup the full span of a week to get over it.  Aspen, as always, was amused.  "I could've told you in advance that he liked you."

"Could not!" 

"Oh, yes, I could, but I didn't.  I thought that you needed to find out for yourself.  Go, run along and play outside.  It smells like rain, but no matter.  Just come in before it starts."

"Sure thing."  Brite was thinking furiously as she walked outside-so furiously, in fact, that she almost missed a familiar and ill-liked figure on the cliffs below.  Brite realized that whatever it was, a large mountain lion was after it.  Its fangs were bared menacingly, and it looked about to strike.  Brite suddenly swallowed a large amount of air.  It went down the wrong way as she recognized the victim.

After a long and tedious morning of preparation, the Northern Heights hunting pack was finally ready to hunt for the day.  Juneau had learned how to efficiently gut and clean the prey, and now he did it daily.  He felt Pawnee breathing down his neck.

"Juneau...c'mon, concentrate!  What's bothering you?"

"Nothin'."  The young canine forced himself to wuit thinking of his collie friend back at home.  A single droplet of rain plopped onto his forehead and slithered down his long nose.  But in that one drop he could tell that it was going to be a heavy rain.  It was in his instinct.  "Let's get under cover."

"Right."  Pawnee motioned to the heavy cloud-cover.  The clan trooped under a dead tree trunk.  Juneau's mind began wandering again, and the wolfdog sighed.

"Ow."  The rain dashed against the coats of the drenched cousins.  Trying to block her kin from the pelting water, Brite was freezing.  She was also holding her left hind paw well off the ground in an attempt to make it stop throbbing.  She leaned down precariously, shielding Caliber as best she could.  "I know it hurts.  I do too," she whispered plainly.  "But we'll be all right.  Just wait and see."  Cal had a bad gash on his side, and Brite was really worried about him-more so than about herself.  All thoughts of what he'd done to her in the past had dissipated into nothingness.  Now her thoughts were riveted on help.  But no help came.  

"That's it!"  Struck by a sudden flash of inspiration, Brite threw her head back and howled.  She no longer cared that it sounded quivering and un-wolf-like.  Really, who even cared about all that silly stuff?  She set up a mighty caterwaul, yelling for all she was worth.  In those moments she knew that she would never care again what the other wolves thought of her ways. 

Never again.

And it worked.  In a burst the remaining lupines stormed over the hill, swinging along like a rippling wave, instantly recongizing her unique call.  In seconds the cousins were caught up in the paws of the pack.  Brite almost cried when she realized that none other than Aspen had her by the scruff of the neck and was carrying her surely up the slope once more.  She felt her watery eyes closing, and her mountain home became a blur.  It was only mid-morning, but she was so tired...

What?  It's still morning?  Brite hadn't forgotten the previous events.  It felt like I slept for a week.  She yawned widely.

"Hello, sleepyhead."  The young mixed-breed saw that she was in Pawnee and Aspen's den, the latter of which was leaning over her tenderly.  The early sun filtered in through the curtain, and it felt like a repeat.  "It's still morning?"  

"I guess you could say that," Aspen grinned, "that is, next morning.  You slept through yesterday."

"I did?"  She gasped.  She'd never known that she could sleep for that long.  But then she saw Cal sprawled out on a mat woven with rushes.  He looked to be sleeping peacefully, but his leg was bandaged.  "Is-is he all right?"

"Thanks to you, yes.  Now tell me," said Aspen, leaning forward, "exactly what happened?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story."  Brite began hesitantly.  "But I went outside, like you said, and I almost missed the mountain lion on the cliff with something.  When I realized it was Cal, I panicked-"

"So that's his name.  Go on."

"-and ran into the cave screaming for help.  You were asleep and I figured you couldn't help anyway, so I yelled at everyone else.  When they looked all confused, I told them not to bother.  I regret that now."  She winced in pain as she gingerly moved her leg.  "Well, then I went back out, and kind of lost all my sense.  I scrambled down the side of the cliff and attacked the lion.  He swiped me, and I almost fell off again.  That snapped Cal out of his dreamy state, and he attacked, too.  We both got hurt, but then it began pouring rain.  The lion tried to catch us, but we managed to wedge ourselves under a little crack in the rocks.  Wet and miserable, the lion left.  We crept out of hiding, but I discovered that Cal couldn't move.  So I stood over him on three legs until you came."  

"Wow."  Aspen was staring out into the distance with a glazed-over expression.  "Wow.  You're a hero!"  Bringing herself to the present, as if she had been reliving some forgotten