lifted her muzzle up and a little melody escaped from her lips as she gave Balto one last piece of encouragement. 

“And when you're down and feel alone,

Just want to run away;

Trust yourself and don't give up!

You know you better than anyone else . . .”

“You know you do . . .” She whispered in his ears and gently licked him with her tongue on his cheek. He let out a light gasp to the comment, looked surprisingly back at Jenna’s loving eyes as she let out a tiny giggle and completed her sentence. “and I know it too.” 

“Jen . . .” Balto’s eyelids lowered gently as he returned the gesture to the spirit of his beloved. “I . . . I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too, Balto,” she answered back. “but right now you have a job to do . . . and wishes to fulfill.” 

Make our family full of love . . . Always remain my hero . . . Jenna’s last words from her short life echoed through Balto’s head as he nodded with a slightly confident smile.

“I will,” Balto told her as he watched her body disappear in front of him. “I swear to God I will still be your hero . . . and bring our family back together.” No longer was he saddened by the fact that Jenna was gone from him; unlike the last time, only a couple of hours before Aleu’s outburst and running away, the half-breed was content with accepting Jenna’s sudden death, realizing how spontaneous those final moments can be . . . and how precious life really is.  

I’ll find our daughter . . . and I’ll let her know that she should be proud to be ours . . . Even though she has 25% wolf in her, she’s got more of you inside in the end . . .

The night had finally reached where Aleu now was, but she wouldn’t have realized that her father was still quite far behind her scent trail; she was still angry at the fact that Balto had kept the truth of her mother’s death from her, and at the moment was far from forgiving him for it. The three wolves that had placed her under their control had led the quarter-wolf into land that Aleu had never seen. 

The never-ending forest suddenly stopped, leading to a beautiful mountain lake, lined with short grass by the lake’s shoreline. Apparently their pack’s cavern was located past a small waterfall that crashed over the entrance and into the lake, making it very hard to spot from the other side of the water’s flow. There were no dry ways to enter the secret passage, so when exiting and entering the pack’s hideaway, it was impossible to not get completely soaked.

“Why can’t you stay dry when going into your own territory?” Aleu turned to her light-gray captor and asked Geona curiously after passing through the waterfall herself. “Don’t you get tired of the wet fur all the time?” She paused to shake her fur dry, chilled by the strong force of the blast. “Brr! And it’s so cold too!” 

“Not at all,” she replied back with a giggle, unsuccessfully dodging the random spray of the water from her prisoner; they continued walking through the wide rocky hallway that led to the main chambers of the pack. “The waterfall helps mask our scent when we go inside to sleep and come out to hunt or go on patrol, and since most animals can’t bear the threat of a harsh shower of cold water hitting them to follow our scents, they don’t even bother going through.” She let out a giggle. “Actually, it takes a bit of getting used to, but if it helps to protect you . . .” Geona sighed in relief. “Sounds pretty cool, huh?”

Aleu nodded. “Mmm-hmm! That’s quite an intelligent idea . . . for a group of wolves. I never would have thought of that before!” 

Juniper, the lead wolf of the four of them, turned around and scoffed. “Of course you wouldn’t have – you’re just a part-breed! What would you know about wolves when you’re only part one?”

Aleu’s head lowered sadly, realizing that the dark she-wolf was right. I don’t know anything about wolves . . . Papa never told me anything about them – all I really know is that I am part-wolf . . . and apparently I have a strong sense of smell too . . . but that’s about it. 

Hickory quickly snapped back at Juniper with a bark. “Juni! Please don’t insult our prisoner like that! She’s only a pup, so leave her alone, okay?”

“No.” 

The three wolves turned to Aleu, who spoke up suddenly. “What do you mean, no?” Geona asked. “You are just a pup, aren’t you? You don’t seem to be as old as us.”

“I mean, yeah, I am almost a year old, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” the quarter-wolf explained. “My papa – I mean, my father . . . he’s half-wolf.” Her ears lowered sadly, as did her eyelids. “I didn’t even find out about this until earlier today, so Juni’s right about me . . . not knowing anything about wolves and all, even when I’m part-wolf.” 

“The name’s Juniper, not Juni!” the black she-wolf growled loudly to Aleu. “Only the members of our Clan can call be by that name, so show some respect, part-breed!” Before she let out a loud bark, a beautiful howl silenced them and made the four dogs turn towards the source of the melody.

A gray-white she-wolf stood at the end of the hall, blocking the way into the main chamber. Her face was calm and welcoming, but Aleu noticed that she had a sudden royal air about her. The three wolves that had gasped at the noise now were kneeling down to the she-wolf. Geona, who just noticed that Aleu was still gazing eye-to-eye at the large gray-white wolf, nudged the quarter-wolf on the leg, telling her to kneel. Following along, Aleu did as she was told, lowering her front legs and head towards the ground. 

“Rise, my children,” the silver wolf spoke with a light, airy voice that sounded like sparkling starlight . . . if starlight could actually talk. “Ah, I see you’ve found a new recruit for our Clan, correct?”

“Yes, my Alpha,” Geona lifted her head up and replied politely. “This is one that we found trespassing on the western territory. She only asks for shelter and nourishment, and nothing else.” 

“That’s a lie!” Juniper shouted with rage. “This one’s only a part-wolf, not a purebred like us! She’s our prisoner!” She had placed emphasis on the words ‘this one’, which made Aleu speak up.

“I’m no one’s prisoner, ma’am,” Aleu gave the Alpha a small bow with her head, much to the wolves’ surprise. “I was just looking for a place to stay because I can’t go back home, that’s all. I’ve never been out here by myself before, so I apologize for trespassing.” She bowed again, hoping that perhaps her strategy would work. 

“Hmm,” the white wolf’s expression changed from seriously calm to quite impressed. “I see; so you’re a visitor here.”

“Uh, yes . . .” Aleu answered back, feeling a bit nervous. “My name’s Aleu, . . . ma’am.” She took a pause after introducing herself, hoping that perhaps telling them her name would allow the three other wolves – mostly Juniper – to stop calling her “this one” or “part-breed” or “part-wolf” like they had been for the past thirty minutes since they captured her. 

“Well, I bid you good evening, my dear,” the she-wolf lowered her own head in a quick bow. “My name is White Feather, and I am the Alpha of the Runaway Clan. If you want, you can join us and be our honored guest for tonight’s feast.”

“Thank you very much,” Aleu responded. “That would be great!” She stopped and cleared her throat. “I mean, I’d be honored to join you tonight.” 

Awed by the quarter-wolf’s answer to her dinner invitation, White Feather stepped backwards into the chamber and welcomed her inside. “Please, allow our guest to enter, Juniper. I would like her to feel at ease with us before I speak with her in my quarters in private before dinner. You can go assist with the evening hunt for tonight’s feast.”

“Yes, Alpha.” With a rebellious growl, Juniper still did as she was ordered to, allowing Aleu, Hickory and Geona to pass into the main chamber; after Hickory’s dark-brown tail passed her gaze, the jet-black she-wolf ran past them toward the other members of the hunting party. 

“Hickory, Geona,” the Alpha called the remaining two wolves that were with Aleu. They turned their heads to the white wolf, awaiting her orders. “Lead Aleu to stay in Geona’s quarters. Please see to it that our guest is comfortable until I send a servant to fetch her within the hour.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the two wolves quickly dipped their heads for a quick bow, replying back in unison. White Feather walked away towards another part of the main chamber, moving as if her gray-white body were as light as a gently floating feather that skimmed on the wind and moved just inches from the ground. 

“Wow . . .” Aleu finally spoke up with a look of awe in her wide eyes as she looked around at the new world she was in. The rocky chamber that they had called the “main chamber” was actually more of a gateway to the other areas of the Clan’s cavern. Wolves of many colors – all shades of black, brown, gray, white, and a few stranger hues of orange, faded blue, and red . . . maybe about fifty to sixty wolves altogether – surrounded the two levels of the cavern, each one busy with their niches for the Clan’s well-being. “This place is amazing! I . . . I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“I see you like our home, yes?” Hickory turned his gaze to the quarter-wolf, who nodded with excitement. “Every member of the Runaway Clan helped to dig the entrance and this large chamber you see here. This place wouldn’t have been possible without each other.” 

“Hmm, . . . that’s incredible!” Aleu replied, but something else made her curious. “Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but why are you called the Runaway Clan? None of you seem like runaways . . . not like me, anyway.”

“Well,” Geona began to speak; her muzzle lowered towards to ground, easily matching her sullen expression. “not all of us are runaways; only about 10% of us are like Hickory is,