VOICES:
-Buck: Mark Harmon
-Balto: Kevin Bacon
-Jenna: Briget Fonda
-Mindy: Jennifer Love- Hewitt
-Aniu: Glenn Close
-Talus: Patrick Stewart
-Klondike: Viggo Mortensen
-Andy: Brendon Baerg
My eyes fluttered open. Where was I?
“You call this lazy wolf your son?!” someone thundered, making me jump out of my skin.
I leapt to my feet and turned around, teeth bared. But a familiar white form stopped me dead in my tracks.
“Mom…”
Aniu’s presence might have caught me off guard, but it didn’t shock me as it had the first few times.
“Hi son” she smiled, eyes sad.
A bad feeling started to ping in my gut.
“What’s wrong?”
Something moved out of the corner of my eye. I spun again, meeting the cold eyes of another wolf that carried the same sort of mystical, powerful feeling that Aniu did. At once, I knew who he was.
“Talus?”
The great grey wolf ignored me.
“Aniu! You’ve gone too far this time!” he thundered.
Aniu opened her mouth, ears back, but Talus cut her off again.
“The first time with Boss it was okay, the second with Boss was okay, the third time with the hunter, I had given you this talk and now this! This… this half bred is long overdue!”
A soft growl escaped from me before I could help it. Those cold eyes finally jumped to me.
“Do you honestly think you could beat me!?” he snarled. “You’re coming with us now!”
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Was I dead?!
“He has to stay!” Aniu cried desperately. “He’s the only one who can beat-”
“You’ve done enough!” Talus thundered again.
Throughout the whole fight, I was finally able to pick out what was happening to me. The thoughts wove through each other when my mother pulled me out of it.
“Buck, honey? Why don’t you go wait outside?” she tried to smile.
“I’m the one giving orders!”
“He doesn’t deserve to be put through all of this!” Aniu snapped.
Talus thought about it then nodded. Still trying to sort things out, I exited.
I focused on the ground, in a kind of fog, ignoring the little bit of snow that fell along as I went. Something in the back of my mind was telling me to go home, and without knowing, my feet started to lead me back to my territory. Suddenly, something moved in the bushes making me freeze. A furry, dark brown creature slithered out; a creature I had never seen before.
“Hello there Buck” it sniggered.
I narrowed my eyes. Another one crawled out from behind me, whiskers twitching.
“How are you feeling?” the second snickered.
I took a step back, bristling when a third came out. What were these things?
“Stay away” I growled.
“We don’t mean any harm” the first hissed.
“Then what do you want and what are you?!”
“We’re just three poor wolverines coming to give you sympathy”
“For what” I shot suspiciously.
“Your family” the third grinned.
“What happened to them?!” I snapped.
“A huge black wolf killed them”, said the first, pretending to be sad.
My heart dropped right into my stomach.
“Why should I believe you” I snarled, trying to walk around them.
“We were there”
I stopped and glanced over my shoulder. They had to be wrong.
“You don’t even know what they look like”
“Sure we do. A brown- grey female and three pups that are black, white and brown”
“You’re wrong!” I yelled, panic twisting my insides.
“And the rest of your pack thinks you’re a failure”
“They don’t want you back”
I closed my eyes and shook my head furiously.
“Tsk tsk. A wolf that can’t protect his own family”
All three of the wolverines began talking at once. All of what had happened to me was crushing me. It was too much. I muffled a sob and took off, running blindly into territory I didn’t know.
I had no idea how long I had run for. It was a while before I stopped and when I did, it was only because I bumped into something. My tear filled eyes couldn’t make out what it was. The only thing I could see was a dark hole. Without a second thought, I burrowed into it and curled into a tight ball. I didn’t deserve to go back. I didn’t deserve to start a new family. I jammed my eyes shut and forced myself asleep. Again, losing track of time, I drifted between sleep and a semi awake daze. But as what I believed were days passed, the sleep became longer and outlasted the daze.
* * *
I opened my eyes, but closed them again with a sigh. They flew back open again and I scrambled to my feet. Where was I?!
I shook off the old brown blanket and almost tripped over a half chewed bone.
“Buck?” someone mumbled.
I snarled and backed into a corner.
A dark form moved toward me.
“Stay away!” I roared.
The dark figure didn’t stop.
“Buck, it’s me, Balto”
My younger brother’s form finally took shape and I tried to calm myself down.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
Balto looked dumbfounded.
“I saved your life” he said breathlessly.
“Well I didn’t want it to be saved” I snapped.
Balto’s brown eyes searched me worriedly.
“What hap-?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Ever”
I stalked away but stopped at the railing.
“How’d I even get here?”
“My son Kodi and his friends found you unconscious under an old rowboat. They brought you here and we had Doc come up to check on you. He said you have shock and exhaustion”
I laid my ears back and clenched my jaw. With a sickening twist, memories rushed back to me. Nero was dead.
“I don’t have any home to go to” I managed, voice cracking thinking of a way to tell him.
“You can stay here” Balto offered.
“Balto… Nero’s dead”
I probably could have told him in a thousand better ways but I was in a bad mood anyway. Balto didn’t make a sound and I didn’t want to see his face. With a final sigh, I stalked back over to the tattered blanket and threw myself on it. I fell asleep almost immediately.
“Come on Buck. Time to get up”
I was in no mood to be woken up, much less woken up early enough to see the sun that was still rising. But Balto wasn’t in a mood to let me sleep.
“It’s not good for you to just sit around” Balto said in a softer voice. “Doc said so”
I glared at him.
“Just get up. We’re going into town”
I lazily lifted myself to my feet and followed reluctantly. I should have felt bad for him; his ears and tail were drooping. But his loss was nothing compared to mine. I followed him to the house closest to the abandoned ship. He jumped onto the porch and howled. The front door opened and a red husky, ears back stepped out. Balto must have told her about Nero last night after I had fallen asleep.
“Buck, this is Jenna”
I nodded curtly. She tucked her ears back and her eyes shifted from Balto to me uneasily. I could already tell she didn’t like me. And so far, I didn’t like her much either.
“Just stay here for a second Buck; Boris is going to be here in a second…”
“To babysit me?!” I spat angrily.
“To watch you” Balto said quietly. “You’re still sick”
Before I could object, the huge bird I had almost eaten a few years ago landed with a crash on the front porch.
“Iz thes the kiddo?” he asked, pointing to me.
“Yep. Good luck Boris, you’re gonna need it”
Boris stood up and brushed himself off. I watched in disgust. A week ago, I was the leader of the strongest pack in our mountain range. Now I was being babysat by a goose that was afraid to fly too far off the ground.
“So, how are you doing kiddo?” the goose asked in a thick accent.
I turned and walked off the porch.
“Guess you are no talker, eh?”
It was time to lose this bird…
Suddenly, I winced and fell on the ground, clutching my stomach and breathing hard. The goose flapped over almost immediately.
“Quick!” I gasped. “Go find Doc! I think I have wolf poisoning!”
“Oh, wolf poisoning, right!”
With a honk, the goose flew a few feet above the ground into the town. Once he was out of sight, I got back on my feet and shook off. While I was here, I might as well check out the town. I trotted toward the buildings and into the alleyways. I had to admit, it was a little fun trying to find my way through them. As I picked my way through, a delicious smell hit me. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I was a little hungry…
I followed my nose to another building, this one with strange food hanging everywhere. The only problem was that it was inside the building. I circled around and spotted an opening with meat hanging out of it. I looked around, jumped on a trashcan, then into the ledge of the opening. I snagged the meat and ran before anyone caught me.
In yet another alleyway, I laid down to enjoy my food.
“Looks like we got us a thief”
From out of nowhere, a grey, black and white husky appeared with a few other dogs behind him. Keeping my eyes on him, I stood up.
“What are you going to do about it dog?” I said quietly.
Apparently, this dog wasn’t used to being talked to that way. It looked like someone slapped him across the face.
“The name’s
I had no idea what a sheriff was but I guessed it was something like an alpha. And no one was alpha over me.
“Alright Sheriff” I snorted. “How bout you get out of here and I’ll let you get away”
“Get ‘em boys”
Suddenly, I found myself in a wave of kicked up snow. I was angry, but what really got me mad was when a stray rock caught me between the eyes. The dogs stopped kicking up snow to see the affect it had on me. I opened my mouth and shook off the snow.
“I dare you… to do that one more time” I breathed.
“Big mistake” I growled.
“Now I told you not to do that” I said loudly with false kindness. “Now I can’t tell you that you’re a good dog”
The other dogs around us chuckled. I stepped off of
“Ever get into a real fight before, Sheriff?” I said, swishing my tail as I circled him.
“Yea”
“Well you got another one coming” I said, crouching.
“Buck!”
I whirled around. Balto, Boris and Jenna in tow, came running right up to me.
“You better have a good reason for interrupting” I growled.
Jenna gasped and stepped back. I glared at her. She was getting on my last nerve.
“Buck!” Balto repeated stepping in between us. “Wolf poisoning?!”
I couldn’t help but to grin again.
“And you can’t just fight! This is
I turned back to
“You got off easy this time… next time, pick a fight with someone you can handle”
Balto started to walk away and motioned for me to follow. He was still a little gloomy, but he seemed to be doing a little better.
“We’re going to go to the boiler room” Balto explained. “Doc and a few other dogs are there to meet you”
W walked for a little longer in silence. Finally, Balto sighed loudly.
“Alright, the boiler room is on the other side of town so I’m going to teach you a new way of getting around here”
We stepped into an alleyway and Balto surveyed what he had to work with. Then, in a flash, he jumped onto a trashcan, a fence and then the roof of a house.
“It’s not as easy as it looks” Balto chuckled. “So don’t get frustrated if-” I jumped from the trashcan, fence and landed next to Balto “-you can’t do it the first time….”
I grinned.
“Let’s just go” Balto grumbled.
I followed him across the rooftops, and I let a little gap spread so he got farther and farther ahead. Suddenly, a small sound reached my ears. I skit to a stop, almost sliding off the roof.
“Are you okay?!” Balto called.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you there”
“Okay” Balto said warily. “It’s the hut with a red glow coming out the door”
With that, I hopped off the roof, straining my ears. I could have sworn it was a pup yelping. I shook my head and looked around for a way to get back on the roof.
Another yip sounded, this time louder.
I spun around, slid off the roof and ran lightly through the alley ways until I came upon a little group. I watched closely. It looked like three strays, a pup and it’s mother.
“Please leave us alone!” the mother said desperately.
“Not a chance, you’re on our turf”
“Don’t make me fight you!” the little pup squealed, trying to protect it’s mother.
I smiled. That pup reminded me a lot of Dakota…
The strays weren’t impressed at all. They started to close in… my old father-mate instincts started to kick in.
“Leave them alone” I growled.
All spun to face me. I might not be able to fight them, but I could act.
“You know your precious
The strays exchanged glances.
“I just sent him home, crying for his mommy”
The strays weren’t impressed. They started to creep toward me.
Doing my best to look scary, I bristled, bared my teeth and started to crawl toward them. It worked. All three tucked their tails between their legs and ran.
I snorted, puffed out my chest and watched them run. Two points for Buck, zero for the dogs of
“Wait! All we want to say is thank you!”
I sprinted until I was far enough away from the pair. Then I took a break, puffing and panting. I glanced around and to my surprise, a small wooden shack spilling a red glow stood only feet away. With a final puff, I stalked over and pushed the door open with my nose.
“What were you doing Buck?” Balto moaned.
I didn’t reply. Instead, my eyes traveled over the small group. In the flickering light, I could make out a small light brown female, a slender red husky, undoubtedly Jenna’s daughter, a red male husky, a huge black and white husky and another, older red husky sitting next to Jenna.
“This is the family” Balto smiled proudly. “Aleu, Kodi and Mya are my other pups, Mindy is Jenna’s older sister and Triton is a friend of Mya’s”
My eyes glided over them again, stopping on Mindy. Her eyes twinkled and she smiled warmly. She seemed a lot different from her sister who was currently very interested in the wooden floor. For a second, everything was quiet, then everyone exploded with questions.
“Hold it, hold it!” Balto managed to yell. “One question at a time! He’s been through a lot”
Once again, everything was quiet.
“What happened to Nero?” Mya finally asked quietly.
All eyes fell on me. My eyes fell to the floor as hollowness filled up my chest. I knew this question was coming and had already planned this conversation in my head, but now that it was actually said, it hit me harder then I thought. After what had seemed like hours, I finally looked up to answer.
“He was protecting my pu… pack. He was with
Everyone looked sad except for Mya. Her blue eyes were smoldering and her expression was dark. I narrowed my eyes.
“Then why are you here?” she asked coldly.
“Mya!” Balto and Jenna said in unison.
I stood up and didn’t let my gaze falter.
“Your guess is as good as mine. If it were up to me, I’d be long gone” I replied quietly.
Tension hung in the air. I was done here. I turned and stalked out of the boiler room without another word. No one tried to stop me.
* * *
Since the fight, it seemed like every dog in
“Buck! Buck! Vhat are you doing! Vait for me!”
I jumped off the edge of the roof and into the alley. Then, sliding into a trash can, I froze. Honking like he was on fire, Boris flew right on by at three feet above ground. I waited until the honking faded away. Grinning to myself, I stepped out of the trashcan and into the alley.
“Hey Mister!”
I looked around but all I saw was a little grey and white pup running my way. He looked familiar…
“Are you the one that saved me and my mom a few days ago?”
The moment of fatherly instinct flashed back to me.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
“I need your help!” he yipped excitedly.
He scrambled off, stopped and looked over his shoulder then yelled “Come on!”
I jogged after him, not believing he had a real problem. The little pup led me out of town and towards the beach. That’s when I started to worry a little.
“See!” the pup said, pointing to an ice floe.
I squinted and could just barely make out another little pup shivering on top. I had to save him! I shook my head. What was I doing?! Going against everything I had just told myself, I gave a final disgusted growl and reluctantly threw myself into the frigid water. The cold water sloshed against me and the salt made my stomach a little sick, but the only really bad thing was the cold. The current pushed me right out to the ice.
“What did you think you were doing?” I growled at the pup once I climbed on the ice. “And are you wet!?”
The pup shivered but stayed quiet. I picked it up in my teeth and jumped back in the water. It was harder paddling back to shore because the current was against us, at least until the sand was under us. Then I was able to stand and jog back onto the beach. I dropped the pup in the sand, but it started to shake harder.
“Geez” I muttered under my breath as I tried to cover the pup with my body.
“Is he gonna be okay sir?” the other pup chirped.
“I think so…” I mumbled.
“I’m Andy by the way!” the pup declared boldly.
“Buck” I replied, smiling at the pup’s boldness.
“There he is!” someone shrieked.
Scowling, I looked up to see a group of five dogs racing towards us.
“Oh my God, he’s trying to suffocate Taffy!” a little fluffy dog shrieked.
The little dog’s voice almost shattered my eardrums! But I stood up and let the now- warm pup run back to another dog, probably its mother.
“
I shook the extra water off my coat and shivered a little myself.
“You tried to save him? But… but aren’t you that wolf that fought with
Suddenly, I didn’t really feel like talking.
“Why did you save him?”
I shrugged, “I’ve done it before… one more time couldn’t hurt”
“Do you want me to take you to the boiler room?” Mindy asked. “You look a little cold”
I studied her curiously but she looked away with a half smile. But I was cold…
“Okay” I shrugged.
She beamed at me and pranced off. I shook off, purposely a little too close to
Mindy pushed the door open for me and I gratefully hurried in. I collapsed in front of the heater with a sigh and let it warm me up. After paddling around in ice water, it felt good.
“So… um, where did you say you were from? I don’t think you ever told us”
I opened my eyes. Mindy was still there.
“The wild” I said flatly.
Mindy shuffled her paws around awkwardly.
“Well… um… what about your family?”
I clenched my jaw and rested my head back on the ground.
“I don’t have one” I growled softly.
“Oh- I’m sorry” she stammered, taken aback.
Emotion started to swell up inside me but I wasn’t about to let it leak.
“Do you have a family?”
“No, not now at least” she began. “I didn’t want to for a long time, but after Jenna and Balto had pups, it seems like all I want is a family”
I nodded and set my head back down on the floor.
“Actually, I’m looking for a mate now…”
That was it. I was warm enough.
“I think Balto’s probably wondering where I am” I muttered. “I should probably go before he sends out a search party”
I hustled out of the boiler room, but the image of Mindy’s distraught face stayed plastered in the back of my head.
The next morning was extremely different from any other day I had spent in
“See, I told you Sylvie, heroism runs in the family!”
I moaned at her high pitched voice but turned to them.
“What are you talking about?!” I spat.
“Well you’re a hero now!” she swooned. “Balto saved our kids and you saved Taffy, Andy and Mini!”
“I’m not a hero” I growled. “And before I was a hero, you treated me like a disease”
Sylvie and Dixie exchanged glances before
Andy, the pup I had saved a few nights ago yipped a hello happily and I ignored him. I walked past two more small dogs on a leash and both smiled and batted their eyes. I glanced nervously at them and picked up my pace. A few sled dogs that were being hooked up smiled and wagged their tails at me. Any normal dog or wolf would have taken this as a good thing and soaked it up. Not me. That was exactly what I didn’t want to be.
The more dogs that smiled at me or greeted me, the faster I went along until I was sprinting. My breaths came faster and finally, I dived into an alleyway and hid behind some trash cans. I didn’t want to be liked… I hated myself and that meant that everyone else should too. Something rustled inside the trash can next to me and made the whole thing shake. I stepped away from it cautiously but the can yipped. Rolling my eyes, I lifted the lid off the can.
“Boy did I think I was in trouble for a second there!” came Andy’s voice. “I musta been in that trashcan for at least an hour!”
I didn’t have enough time to tolerate Andy. Peering cautiously around the corner, I waited until there were no dogs around so I could walk in piece.
“Whater you doin?” Andy asked.
“Trying to avoid other dogs… especially ones that talk a lot”
Not taking the hint, the little grey and white pup circled back around to the trashcan.
“The next time they come around I’ll pound em!”
“Wait a second… did someone throw you in there?”
“Of course I was Buckles”
I stared at him and he grinned sheepishly.
“I mean Buck” he said quietly.
“Who threw you in the trashcan” I asked flatly.
“Agro”
“Led the way” I said.
Not needing to be told twice, Andy took off through the alleys and I followed at an easy jog. No need to rush and chances were, Agro was just another pup that needed to be taught a lesson. Instead, I found myself being led once again to the edge of town.
“Does your mother even bother watching you?”
“It’s boring in town, so I run away”
I shook my head. Eventually, we reached the last house on the main street and Andy pointed. On the porch sat the scruffiest looking dog I had ever seen. But it wasn’t the dog that caught my attention. The chair next to the dog contained a human, but there was something so familiar about the man. He sat in his chair and must have been watching me for a while. I narrowed my eyes and wracked my brain. I had only seen humans so many times but now that I lived in a town full of them, it was hard to separate faces.
“So are you gonna beat him up?” Andy asked hopefully.
“Let’s get out of here now” I ordered.
Andy scurried away but I stayed behind to get one last look at the man. His right hand rested on a gun. Shivers ran down my spine and I remembered the last time I had a run in with a gun. Standing there was just another excuse to shoot, so I slowly backed away then dashed down an alleyway. I had almost made it to the other side of town when I finally glanced over my shoulder just to make sure nothing was following me. But when I turned back around, it took all my effort to stop from hitting the owner of two amber eyes. I slid to a stop just in time from hitting Mindy.
“Buck!”
“Hey Mindy!” I said with fake enthusiasm, slowly backing away.
“Stay where you are”
Not used to taking orders, I froze only because she thought she was in charge! Then her gaze softened.
“I just wanted to say sorry about last night”
“What happened last night!?” Andy yipped, returning inconveniently.
“Scram pup!”
“Nothing happened!”
Andy didn’t know what to make of it, so Mindy and I resumed our conversation.
“In five years, no one will remember, including me or you”
I turned to walk away but that little red husky wouldn’t give up. She jumped right in my path and braced herself. I studied her.
“You really think I couldn’t just knock you down right now?” I asked curiously.
“I know you wouldn’t” she stated boldly.
I smirked and narrowed my eyes.
“Something happened to you and I’m not going to give up until I find out what-”
“Until then, I’ll see ya” I said, cutting her off and spinning around.
Mindy bit her lip but determinedly hurried after me. I rolled my eyes.
“Well you were from the wild, but you came here even though you hate it here. So something really bad and still there must be keeping you from going back”
“Actually, it’s starting to come back to me now! There was this annoying little dog out there who wouldn’t leave me alone so I had to escape!” I snorted. “Too bad it didn’t work” I added under my breath.
Mindy ignored me and thought silently.
“And you were upset your first night here so something sad must have happened too!”
That was as close as I was going to let her get.
Like Balto had showed me, I leapt from a few trashcans, onto a fence and smiled down at the wide- eyed husky.
“See if you can follow me now!”
I hopped down on the other side and continued on my way weaving through backyards and allies so no one would bother me.
Later on that strange day, after night had fallen, I received another surprise. After grabbing a quick dinner from the butcher’s, I chewed on the bone that was left over until someone cleared their throat. I looked up and there was the good ol’ sheriff of
“I… uh, wanted to talk to you… but you were… hard to find”
I stared at him blankly.
“I wanted to start off with an apology, but that’s not all I’m here for”
I didn’t say anything still.
“You may be considered a hero, but that pup could have easily saved itself. And my mate and pup could have defended themselves too. The strays around here aren’t wild animals”
I furrowed my brow and narrowed my eyes. Andy and Mini were his mate and pup?!
“I came to tell you to leave. You don’t belong here and it’s my job to keep wild animals like you from ruining my town. If you don’t leave, I’ll be forced to take action against you” he stated blandly.
“No one tells me what to do” I said quietly. “I have just as much right to stay here as you do”
“If that’s the way you want it”
He nodded and his three friends from the other day came out, teeth bared. I stood my ground.
“What happened to no fighting?”
“The only way you’d be able to fight and get away with it is if you’re fighting in defense… like as in a wolf attacked me and I had three eye witnesses to back me up”
I growled but backed up. If worst came to worst, I could hop on the fence and run away.
“Sheriff?”
All four of the huskies spun around. I looked around the dogs and I couldn’t believe it: Mindy!
“What do you need miss?”
Mindy’s eyes passed over me but then they fastened on
“Actually, I was looking for him. I have a score to settle with him”
Thinking that she was tricking me into bringing me to the pound,
“Now wolf!” she said loud enough for her audience to hear. “I’m going to take you to my house! There are spaces that you can rest in that have bars for your protection”
It took all my will power to act stupid, but I only did it for my sake.
“What are bars? Or houses? I guess I’ll have to find out, won’t I?”
Then I let Mindy lead me out of the ally and onto the main street. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her nod to
“Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?!”
“Honestly, I didn’t start anything with them! They started it and I was just gonna finish it!”
“I saved your butt, you owe me!”
“What do you mean I owe you?! I think you owe me for every annoying second I’ve been with you!”
Mindy gasped and jumped in front of me, blocking my path.
“I just saved you… I might have just saved your life! You… you... you-.”
“You what?” I said, going so close to her face our noses touched.
She opened her mouth but no words came out. I opened my mouth to yell something- anything but all I heard was silence. My heart raced and our brown eyes never lost contact. Too close! I shook my head furiously and jolted backward.
“I need… to go. Now.” I stammered.
Mindy didn’t say anything, just watched me go with those amber eyes. I shook my head again and deliberately walked back to my brother’s shipwreck.
Back on the ship, I climbed the ramp without a word, thoughts spinning inside my head. I walked right past Balto who watched me curiously as I plopped down on the tattered brown blanket.
“How was today?” Balto asked curiously.
“Just fine…” I said softly.
With a snort, Balto rolled to his feet.
“Every night you came back here so far, you always had something to complain about or at least just said you had a bad day… it must have been really bad if you won’t talk about it”
I looked up at him forlornly.
“I… I think I… like someone… love them… maybe”
“That’s not a bad thing! That’s great! Why would that be a bad thing?”
“I can’t love anyone else… I don’t deserve it”
Balto lay down next to me with a sympathetic expression.
“What happened before you came here?”
“I don’t want to talk about it” I growled, turning away.
I heard Balto sigh, get up and walk down the ramp. I could bet he was going to talk to Jenna or Mindy…
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to stop the thoughts and emotions raging inside my head… it was too painful!
The next morning I woke up with bloodshot, dry eyes. My neck was stiff and my head was pounding. Balto had either already left or had never returned. I yawned and started down the ramp and noticed that Boris, Muk or Luk weren’t around. How bad off did Balto think I was? I trotted toward
“Have you seen Balto?” I asked.
Jenna shook her head.
“All he said was that you weren’t feeling yourself and I don’t know where he went afterwards”
“Thanks” I mumbled, darting for the nearest ally.
Before I had even gotten a chance to start running, a little grey blur smacked into my legs so hard, it almost knocked me over.
“Buck!”
“What is it this time Andy?!” I barked. “I’m looking for someone!”
“Mindy?”
“No” I said slowly.
“Well she’s looking for you! She’s with my dad… they don’t look too happy. She wants you to come help her”
“Fine” I sighed. Balto could wait.
Andy shot off and I was right behind him. In no time flat, Andy led me to a small group.
“He’s your dad!?” I barked in surprise.
Andy nodded happily and sat down next to his father.
“Maybe you guys can be friends like me and you are!” he yipped happily.
“Yeah… we probably could” I mumbled, keeping my eyes on the grey husky.
“So what’s going on?” I asked Mindy, acting like the others didn’t exist.
“They think that there’s something going on between us!” she replied. “And they’re trying to convince me that a purebred like me shouldn’t be with a half bred like you. And I think they should keep their stuck up noses out of other dogs’ business!”
“Mindy, you know that’s not true!”
Mindy’s eyes smoldered and the hair on the back of her neck bristled. I caught Mindy’s eyes and nodded toward the roof. I hoped she knew how to travel by rooftop like Balto and I could. She gave a tiny nod, small enough to not be noticed, then stood up and started to shout at
“And now look what you’ve made me do!” she barked dramatically. “Now I have to leave!”
She easily leapt onto a trashcan to the fence. I instinctively scooped up Andy so that he wouldn’t get hurt in the sure-to-come scuffle and hopped up on the fence after her. The dogs we had left behind started to bark and scramble after us, but they couldn’t balance on the fence when they tried to copy us. When I turned back to look where I was going, I realized Mindy couldn’t either. She scrambled across the planks and wobbled all over the place as she went along.
“Easy Mindy!” I barked as she wobbled and almost fell.
She glanced over her shoulder to say something… big mistake. Off the fence she fell, into the next alley over from where we had just been. By accident, she grabbed onto me and all three of us fell into the snow. Groaning, I pulled myself to my feet and my eyes adjusted on the five huskies that had caught up with us. The still silent Andy hung from my mouth by the scruff of his neck. It was a miracle I was able to hold onto him at all. Then something clicked in the back of my mind. I was cornered. No way out. A pup hung from my mouth. A group of dogs/ wolves blocked me and they were led by the one I hated the most. But I was not going to let this end like it did the first time!
With a soft thud, I dropped Andy and walked straight towards
“You must be so proud!” I said quietly. “You finally caught your newest enemy”
“I am-.”
“I mean I would if I was embarrassed that badly in front of everyone”
“I mean, just think. Some of the dogs you used to scare won’t be afraid of you for a long time to come and that’s all because of me. You might even lose control of this town…”
“Just… shut up!” he managed to sputter, confused.
“And have I told you about your son?” I asked, getting right in his face so that our noses almost touched. “He likes me better then you. He likes a half bred-.”
“Uh-uh. This is only in self defense. You can’t attack”
They froze but their eyes darted to their leader, each other and then back to me, unsure of what to do. I turned back to
“If this is the only way to get to you, so be it but listen to me” I started. “I don’t like you and you clearly don’t like me. I haven’t done anything wrong more then you have but I’m willing to stay out of your way if you stay out of mine. Like a truce, okay?”
“And your son doesn’t like me as much as he does you…”
“What was that all about?” Mindy asked curiously.
“It’s called a truce” I said. “It’s when two dogs call it even”
“I know what that is!” she said, playfully shoving me. “I mean, before you started the fight, you were like in a trance… and then that thing about Andy…”
“It’s a long story…”
Disappointed, Mindy looked down.
“But maybe it’s about time I told someone” I said quietly.
Mindy looked at me curiously.
“It really is long… is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
Mindy led me to the boiler room and we both lay down in front of the heater. For the next few hours I told her about everything. I told her about Boss and our grudge. When I told her about my family, I started to choke up a little… but when I told her about how they had gotten killed I felt a few tears trickle down my cheeks. Someone scuffled behind the door when I was almost finished telling my story but I didn’t worry. I knew it was Balto and he deserved to hear the whole story too.
“And that’s why I’m here” I finished.
Mindy stayed quiet for a few seconds but finally looked up.
“Oh” she said quietly. “No wonder you wanted nothing to do with me”
Which brought up something else. The wolf part of me told me to spend the rest of my life alone. But the dog side of me told me that the weeks of getting over it had made room for a second chance.
“So are you still looking for a mate?”
Aniu, Balto, Sylvie, Dixie and Jenna (c) Universal