dawn.  He slowly got up so as not to disturb Aniu and walked to the den entrance.  Quietly, he shook himself and looked toward the sunrise.  It was beautiful.  The sky was different shades of pink, purple, and blue.  It was truly wondrous to see. 

            Looking back in at Aniu, Luca smiled.  He kind of liked the conversation they had had yesterday about him wanting to leave.  It made his feel safer knowing that Aniu knew he would never leave her.  And I won’t, Luca thought.  I love her to much to put her through that.  I will never do what my father did to my mother, he vowed to himself, remembering how his father had ran off and disappeared when her was only a small pup.

            Soon, Aniu woke up.  She got up and walked over to Luca, smiling. 

            “Good morning,” she said.

            “Hey,” he replied, licking her.  “How did you sleep?”

            Aniu looked at the ground.  “I had a weird dream.”

            Luca looked at her.  “What kind of weird dream?”

            She lifted her head and Luca saw tears in her eyes.

            “What’s wrong?”

            The she-wolf started to cry.  “You-you were dead!  Taluas killed you.  He just…”

            Luca laid his head on hers protectively.  “I’m not dead.  I’m right here.”

            “I know,” Aniu sobbed.  “But it was so real!  He said he could never have a brother that mated with a wolf!  And after he killed you, he-he killed our pups!  For no reason at all but to kill!  It was so horrible!”

            “If Taluas comes near us, near you or the pups, I will…”

            “No!” Aniu said sharply.  “If you try to kill him, he will kill you.  You may have been trained by me, but you have never killed another dog.  He has.  You told me so yourself.”

            Luca nodded, remembering.  When his brother was trying to get lead dog on another team there was only one dog that was in his way: a malamute.  Feeling he was unable to lose, Taluas got the malamute to come to the outskirts of the town with him.  Luca shuddered when he remembered when they found the malamute, torn to pieces and unrecognizable.  It was horrible and what was worse was that there were no witnesses.  The only one had been killed a day after.  No one but Luca knew it was his brother and Taluas had told him if he told anyone, he would be next.

            “I won’t kill him, then,” Luca surrendered.  “But if he tried to lay one paw on you or the pups, he will pay.”

            Aniu seemed to relax as he said this.  She knew she had nothing to worry about as long as Luca was with her.  He could be as fierce as a wolf, maybe even fiercer. 

            “Let’s go for a walk,” Luca said.  “It will get your mind off of things.”

            The she-wolf nodded and followed Luca out of the den and into the soft snow.  They walked for a long time until they had reached the edge of the woods.  Luca looked longingly at the houses and the people.  Aniu looked at him and smiled. 

            “You know you what to go back,” she said. 

            Luca shook his head.  “I’m happy here with you.”

            Aniu licked him.  “You want to go back for a little bit, though.”

            Luca was silent for a few minuets.  Then, “I-I think you’re right.”

            The she-wolf nodded.  “You should go.  At least for a while, you should.”

            “But what about you?  About the pups?” Luca asked, worried.

            “They will be fine,” she said confidently.  “The pups aren’t going to be born for at least another month or two.” 

            Luca looked at her.  “Do you want me to go?”

            “Do you want to go?”

            “Well,” Luca searched for the right way to say it, “I really miss the town and all the people and dogs.”  He paused.  “I miss the warm touch of man when I do a good job.”

            Aniu licked him.  “Go.”

            Luca took a step toward the town.  “I love you,” he said, licking her.

            “I love you, too.”

            Luca smiled.  “I’ll be back in a few days.”

            Aniu watched him bound forward into the town, a tear trickling down her muzzle.  “See you in a few days, Luca.”

Chapter 6

            Luca kept running until he had come to the boiler room where all of the dogs gathered to just hang out and have an occasional meeting.

            “Hey guys!” he said as he burst in.

            “Luca?” a light tan and white husky with an orange bandana around her neck stepped forward.  “Is it really you?”

            “It is,” he said laughing.  He walked up to the female and nuzzled her.  “I missed you guys so much.”

            “We all thought you were dead,” the husky said, looking up at Luca.

            “Now why would you think that Autumn?”

            “Well,” Autumn said, “you were gone for a long time.  We all looked for you, but with no luck.  We thought the wolves had killed you.”

            “Ah, yes,” he said.  “The wolves.”

             “What’s wrong?” Autumn asked, seeing Luca’s discomfort.

            Luca hesitated.  “Well, I-I kind of…”

            “What?”

            “I mated with one,” Luca finally said.

            Autumn took a step back with a frightened look on her face.  She looked at the other dogs, which also had gotten up.

            Just as Luca was about to explain, a tan and white husky that looked similar to himself came in. 

            “Hello brother,” he sneered.  “I see you’ve finally come back.”

            “Taluas,” Luca said.

            “So,” Taluas said, “I hear you mated with that wolf scum.”

            Luca growled and his hackles rose.  “Say one more thing and I will rip you apart.”

            Taluas just laughed cruelly.  “I have never seen you kill anything except for a rabbit, and that was just luck.”

            It was him! Luca realized.  He was watching me!  What if he gets to Aniu? 

            “How do you know I killed a rabbit?” Luca asked, playing dumb.

            Taluas snickered.  “How do you think?”

            Luca stepped up to his brother.  “If you come anywhere near her, I will kill you.  Got it?” he whispered into Taluas’s ear. 

            “What?  Can’t that flee-bag fight for its self?” Taluas asked, mockingly.

            Luca growled and lunged at his brother forcing him to the ground.  Pinning him on his back, Luca lowered his head next to