stray patch of fur on his head, but despite his fur being wet, the patch simply refused to stay down.

“Well, at least you’re grown up. I’m still waiting for the bears to do the same,” Boris muttered. On cue, two round polar bear cubs dashed right through the unsuspecting goose towards Balto.

“Balto! Your back! We’ve been looking all over for you!” the smaller one cried, while the larger one picked Balto up in a big bear hug. The smaller bear was Muk, and his brother Luk was the larger one.

“Haha, hey there boys. Luk, ease up will ya. I’ve only got one ribcage and it needs to last me a while,” Balto said. Luk let him go and Balto went back to the puddle.

“Mmm mfm ffm mmm mf?” Luk mumbled, pointing at Balto as he continued to clean himself.

“What is it?” Boris asked.

“Luk wants to know what Balto’s doing,” Muk translated. He seemed to be the only one who understood his younger brother’s mumbling.

“Oh, Balto is just sprucing himself up for his date with Jenna tonight.”

“Date? What’s a date uncle Boris?” Muk asked.

“Well, Balto and Jenna are two dogs who love each other. And when you love someone, you go on dates to spend time with them, and show them how much you love them.”

“So, you have dates with those you love?”

“Exactly.”

“Mff, mm, mff ff, mmmm,” Luk mumbled.

“You’re right Luk. We love uncle Boris, so we should take him out on a date!” Muk exclaimed. A few feet away, Balto sniggered.

“It doesn’t exactly work that way,” Boris replied.

“Sure it does, you said so,” Muk said. “You said when you love someone, you go on dates. We love you because you’re our favorite uncle, and so we should go out on a date.” Luk clapped his paws in agreement and picked Boris up.

“Ack, Balto, help me out here.”

“Aw, but Boris, they just want to show you how much they love you,” Balto teased. “Besides, it’s getting late. I’ve got to run,” Balto said as he dashed back towards the town.

“Balto, get back here! Help me!” Boris shouted, following with numerous Russian curses.

“Yay! We’re going to have so much fun. We’ll show you this fun hill we can slide down,” Muk said, as the two bears carried off Boris for their ‘date’.

----------

Eighteen months earlier, Summer 1923.

Boris found Balto perched on the prow of the boat, gazing out at the town. Occasionally he heard him mutter ‘Jenna’ with a forlorn look on his face. He had been doing this almost every night for the past week and Boris decided to intervene.

“Balto, if you are interested in this girl, you should tell her,” he suggested.

“I want to tell Jenna how I feel, but I can’t,” Balto replied.

“Balto, you shouldn’t have to hide how you feel. I’m sure Jenna cares about you too.”

“But I can’t. I just can’t tell her Boris."

“And why not? What’s stopping you?” Balto couldn’t bring himself to tell him, but he was not the only dog who had eyes for Jenna...

Steele had been spending a lot of time trying to court Jenna, and was almost always around her. If Balto tried to come up to talk to her, he would snarl and chase him off, nipping at Balto’s hindquarters as a warning.

"That's right wolfdog, run away! Besides, why would she even like a stray mutt like you anyways?" he would shout out while Balto ran. Steele saw Jenna as his, and wouldn’t let anyone else near her. Going near Jenna was impossible and every time he would have to turn away, it tore him up inside. As time went on, he began to wonder if Steele might be right. What if Jenna wouldn't like him at all?

“She and I… shouldn’t be like that,” he replied.

“Why not? What's wrong with liking her?”

“I’m a half wolf stray and she’s a purebred husky. She’s way out of my league.”

“Balto, love doesn’t care what you are, it cares who you are and how you act.”

“But still, what if I say it, but she doesn’t feel the same? It might put her off.”

“It might, but it might not. You’ll never know unless you take that chance.”

“I don’t want to take that chance! I don’t want to lose her!”

“So your plan is just to admire her from far away and hide how you feel?”

“It’s all I can do,” Balto replied solemnly. It really was all he could do. Steele had made sure of that.

Steele may have seen Jenna as his, but she did not feel the same. She made every attempt to get away from him, but he was persistent. They had almost nothing in common, yet Steele insisted that they be together. She grew to dislike him more and more each day, especially because of how he treated Balto. She hated seeing him chase Balto away and would tell him off every time he did it, but he would just shrug it off and go back to flirting with her.

The next time Steele left to chase Balto away, she decided to just ditch him. By the time he had come back, she was long gone. She hoped to find Balto somewhere in the town. After their last meeting, she had found herself preoccupied with thinking about him. He always seemed so lonely, and she wanted to help him by talking to him and being his friend. She trotted around the twisting alleys until she found something. There were pawprints everywhere in the dirt. One set was identical to a husky’s, while the other had the same shape, only much larger. “They almost look like a wolf’s… or a wolfdog’s! Balto I’ve found you!” She followed the larger set in behind the buildings, but as she did, she noticed little red dots along the trail. “It almost looks like… blood. Oh Balto, I hope you’re okay.”

She followed the trail until she was near the butcher's and found him, licking a small bite wound on his shoulder. When he heard her crunching through the snow, he looked up in surprise, expecting someone else to try to attack him, but was relieved when he saw it was only her.

"Oh Jenna, it's just you."

“Hi Balto, are you okay?” she asked.

“Well other than the fact that Steele keeps using me as a punching bag, yeah, I'm fine,” he growled. Jenna noticed the deep anger in his voice and was a little surprised by it.

“What exactly happened?” she asked him.

“Well, Steele went after me like he always does, shouting things at me. Finally, he said something that crossed the line and I… I lost it. I turned right around and charged at him. We fought a bit and I got this,” he said, indicating his shoulder. “But I managed to get a few hits on him too.”

“Wait, you attacked him first? Why?”

“He said something really awful… about my folks. Something that wasn’t true. I couldn’t let him get away with it. Not again,” he growled.

“But attacking him won’t make it right. If anything it will just prove what he says about you.”

“Well what else am I supposed to do!? I’m tired of running away! I’m tired of looking weak! If I can’t defend myself then what can I do?! Roll over and play dead?! Is that what you want me to do?!” he snapped.

“No,” Jenna replied, shocked at his outburst.

Balto saw he had upset her and pulled himself together. “I’m sorry I snapped at you Jenna, you don’t deserve that. I’m just sick of being treated like dirt by Steele. I want be allowed to live my life in peace. I just want him to stop.”

“I want him to stop too Balto,” she replied. That small sentence made all the difference to Balto. It meant that there was at least one dog that felt the same way as him.

“Thanks Jenna. You don’t know how much that means to me. It makes me feel a lot less…” he paused, trying to find the right word.

“Alone?” Jenna suggested.

“Yes. A lot less alone,” he replied. Jenna smiled at him and it made his pent up anger melt away. She was on his side, and that made a world of difference for him. "Balto, why don't you say it now? You have her alone with you so you can tell her you like her." However he was still unsure of himself, and hesitated. "Would she even like me back? I'm just a half-breed outcast. Then again, being the outcast means I don't have much to lose..." "Uh, Jenna... I-" he started, but he saw her ears perk up suddenly, reacting to another noise. "What is it?" he asked. "Please don't be Steele."

"There's something else here. Listen... " she replied. He strained his ears, and could faintly hear a small whimpering, coming from around the corner. "C'mon, let's check it out," she said and they both walked around the corner. Along the side of the building, Balto could see two wooden cages, filled with round balls of white fluff.

"What are they?" he asked.

"Polar bear cubs," she replied. As they got closer, they could hear that the two cubs were sobbing. “Shhhhh shhhh, it’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you,” she comforted and the cubs quieted down. “Can you tell us your names?” she asked.

“I’m Muk,” the smaller bear replied. “And he’s Luk,” he said