then.”

                        “Ok, bye”

            Evan then hung up the phone and turned off his TV. Tuck watched him as he grabbed his letterman jacket off of the bed and headed for the door. Tuck knew he was leaving.

                        “Come on Tuck, let’s go downstairs.” Evan said commandingly.

            Tuck jumped off the bed and ran down the steps with Evan. Tuck followed Evan into the kitchen. He put on his jacket.

                        “Evan, where are you going? Dinner is almost ready. Don’t you want any?” His mom asked.

                        “No thanks Mom, I’ve got a date with Marcie. We’re going to the movies.” Evan replied.

                        “That’s my boy” His dad spoke form his chair in the living room.

                        Evan laughed. “I’ll be back by 8. Don’t worry.”

            Evan ran out the door and walked to Marcie’s. Tuck, now bored, went out the dog door to go find Dumpster, his childhood buddy. He went to the alley behind the meat locker. That was where all of Tuck’s friends hung out at.

                        “Hey Tuck,” Dumpster said.

                        “Hey guys, what’s up?” Tuck spoke as he went to lay down on an old torn up mattress.

                        “Nothing really. Hey did you hear about Aruk?” Dumpster asked.

                        “No, who’s Aruk?” Tuck responded now confused.

                        “Your dad’s new component. He was the best lead dog in Chugiak. His family moved here to Nome, and he’s going to try to win his title back.” Dumpster smirked.

                        “Wow.” Tuck said not really caring.

                        “Aw, don’t worry Tuck. No one can beat your dad.” Zep said.

            After he said that a black and white husky approached them. “Oh really? Well, I have a feeling that old dog is going to lose next race” the husky smirked.

                        “Oh…hey Aruk” Zep quietly said.

                        “Hello boys, I’m looking for a friend of mine.” Aruk asked in a aggressive way.

                        “Who?” Dumpster asked curiously.

                        “Crawl” Aruk grinned.

                        “What?” Tuck asked confused.

                        “Crawl, me and his dad were old friends.” Aruk smirked.

            Crawl then walked out form the meat locker. “What’s up Aruk?”

                        “Come with me Crawl, we need to talk about something.” Aruk said grinning again.

            Crawl jumped off the stairs and followed Aruk to who knows where.

                        “What’s going on?” Tuck asked Dumpster seriously.

                        “I’m…I’m not sure Tuck.” Dumpster replied also confused.

Tuck then looked up at the sky and noticed is was getting dark. He needed to be getting home.

                        “Hey guys, I got to go. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Tuck said as he began to head home.

            Once home, Tuck noticed crawl and Aruk walked down the front steps off the porch. Buck was sitting sternly on the porch, watching them walk away. Tuck looked at them and had a bad feeling. He walked up the steps to the porch, and sat next to his dad.

                        “Dad?” Tuck asked worried.

                        “Yes..?” Buck replied not looking at him.

                        “What was that about? What did they want?” Tuck said looking over at his father who he never really talked to.

                        “Oh nothing really, just a…a…little bet.” Buck hesitated.

                        “Dad, what kind of bet? What’s going on?” Tuck asked worried.

                        “Nothing Tuck, just don’t worry about it,” Buck said still zoning out.

                        “Dad, just tell me. It sounds bad. What is it?” Tuck stammered.

                        Buck sighed and looked down. “They…they want Makyaa.”

                        “What?” Tuck exclaimed.

                        “Yeah…Aruk demanded that if I don’t lose on purpose, they get Makyaa.” Buck sadly said.

                        “Why do they want her? She’s mixed anyway.” Tuck asked now very confused.

                        “Tuck, they want to breed her to Steele. So their pup would have enough wolf genes to have the natural instincts. With that, in a race the pup would be remarkable.” Buck explained.

                        “Why did you agree with the bet, Dad?” Tuck yelled.

                        “Son, I was forced to. They said if I don’t agree on the bet, then they would kill Balto & Makyaa. You don’t want that do you?” Buck