seem to forget that I'm a wolf and so I can look out for myself.  And we have a lot of rabbits here, too so I'm not going to go hungry or something.”

            Luca nodded.  “I know. I just don’t want to leave.  What would the pups think of me?”

            The she-wolf smiled.  “They don’t pay much attention to anything but playing, eating, and sleeping.”

            Luca snickered.  “I guess that is true,” he hesitated.  “If you think I should, I will go and visit them.”

            Aniu licked him again.  “You know you want to see her.”

            Luca smiled.  “You know, most girls would be jealous if their man wanted to see another girl.”

            “There is a keyword there:  most.  I have no reason to be jealous because I know you two are pup-hood friends.”

            Luca nodded.  “If you need me for anything, just howl and I'll be back as soon as possible.”

            “So you are going to go for a while?” Aniu smirked, wagging her tail slightly.

            “Yeah, I have been wanting to apologize for just leaving last time.”

            Aniu got up and nuzzled him.  “Have a safe trip and come back soon.”

            Luca gently licked her and all the pups before turning to leave the den.  He glanced back once and saw Aniu looking at him and he smiled.  “I love you.”

            “I love you, too,” Aniu said as Luca ran toward Nome.

Chapter 12

            Luca went straight to Autumn’s home and saw her through the window.  Barking slightly, he put his paws on the pane and scratched the window.  Autumn perked her ears and looked out.  Seeing him, she ran to the dog-door and out into the snow with three small husky pups following her.  One was red and white, one was light tan and white, and the other was a dark tan and white.

            “Luca, you came back!” she nuzzled him and looked into his eyes.  “I was so worried about you when you just left.  I thought that Taluas might have…”

            Luca shook his head.  “He did come into the forest looking for me once, but I scared him away.  He isn’t so tough when you mention a whole pack of wolves.”

            Autumn laughed.  “I always knew that his toughness was just an act.”

            He nodded.  Then he looked at the pups.  “They are so adorable,” Luca said, lying in the snow to play with them.

            Autumn licked the nearest one.  “They are three and a half week old.”

            Luca got up.  “What are their names?”

            “That little red one’s name is Jenna,” a male dog’s voice said from behind.

            Luca turned.  “Hey Shad!”

            Shadow smiled and walked over to Autumn.  “Long time no see,” he said.

            Luca laughed.  “It has been a few months, huh?” he said.

            Shadow laughed.  Then he looked at Jenna who was trying to climb up his leg.  “Stay down sweetie, you might get hurt.”  She ignored him and kept on trying.

            Luca smiled.  “What are the other pups’ names?”

            Autumn licked the light tan one who was a male.  “This is Malik.  He is somewhat of a troublemaker.”

            Luca laughed.  Then he looked at the dark tan one.  “What about that little one?”

            Shadow smiled.  “Her name is Chameal.”

            Luca looked at the three pups.  They were all running around in the snow enjoying life.  They would never have to worry about another dog coming after them.  They would be safe unlike his pups.

            Sensing something was bugging Luca, Autumn spoke up.  “Has your mate had her pups yet?”

            “Yeah,” Luca said, still watching Jenna, Malik, and Chameal play in the snow.  “We had two:  Tara and Balto.”

            Shadow smiled.  “Such sweet names.”

            Luca nodded and looked around the street.  It was unusually empty.  “Where are all the other dogs?” he asked with a bit of worry.

            “The sled team went to the next town over,” Shadow said, a slight growl in his voice.

            “Why…”

            The red and white husky looked down.  “The human didn’t want me on the team anymore.”

            Luca nodded solemnly.  “They just don’t understand us.”

            Nodding, Autumn changed the subject.  “We should get our pups together sometime.”

            “That would be nice,” Luca agreed.  “I think they would really like that.”  Looking up sky-ward, the large husky noted that the moon was already starting to appear over the horizon.  “I really should be heading back to Aniu.” 

            “How is she?” a voice from behind sneered.

            Luca growled.  “Hello brother,” he said without even looking behind him.

            “What a cold greeting to your only brother,” he snickered.  “Shouldn’t you treat me with more respect?”

            “And why would I do that after what you wanted to do to Aniu?”

             Talus snarled.  “Why would I treat that thing any better?  It’s a wolf for goodness sake.”

            Luca glanced at Autumn and Shadow who were gathering their pups to bring them back inside the house.  Turing back around, he saw Christa heading toward them with a pup behind her.  He was black and white, just like her. 

            “Let me guess?  It is yours?” Luca growled sarcastically.

            “At least I mated with a dog.  One of my own kind!”

            Christa snarled at Luca as she got closer.  “Meet your Uncle Luca, Steele,” she said coldly.  “He mated with a wolf.  And what do we think of wolves?”

            Steele gave a furious snarl and looked up at his father for approval.  “Was that good papa?”

            Talus nodded.  “Very good, son.  You’ll make me proud one day.  And do you know for what?”

            “For eliminating wolves from Nome and all of Alaska,” he said, thinking carefully.

            Luca growled and looked at the pup.  His eyes were fierce.  Fiercer than any other pup he had ever seen.  What has my brother been telling this little guy about wolves? he couldn’t help but thinking.

            “I don’t have time for this,” Luca stated, his voice full of hatred for his brother.  He looked toward Autumn and Shadow who were coming back out.  “I'll come and visit again soon.”

            They nodded and glanced at Talus and Christa.   Looking back at Luca, Autumn wagged her tail.  “We’ll look forward to it.”

            “See you soon, friend,” Shadow said as Luca turned around and headed toward the woods.