VOICES:

-Buck: Mark Harmon

-Mindy: Jennifer Love- Hewitt

-Balto: Kevin Bacon

-Mya: Hillary Swank

-Atka: Jennifer Morrison

-Yukon: Toby Maguire

-Aniu: Glenn Close

-Inari: Natalie Portman

-Talus: Patrick Stewart

-Dakota: Zac Efron

-Sitka: Ashley Tisdale

-Anyu: Claire Danes

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Anywhere I want to” I grinned, pretending to push past Mindy.

She laughed and bounded to catch up to me, playfully bumping into me. I grinned again and thought about how far I’d come since I’d arrived. Before now, I couldn’t remember smiling once and there wasn’t a dog in town that liked me. Now I was respected, had the most beautiful dog in town as my mate, and was as happy as I had been since… before.

As Mindy and I walked into town, side by side, other dogs greeted us. I smiled back now that I was used to it. As I walked down the street, I caught the eyes of the Sheriff’s dog, Klondike. The dogs he was talking to stopped, eyes nervously flickering back and forth between us. I gave the grey husky a curt nod and he returned it. Then I went on my way.

“That was mature of you” Mindy smiled. “You would have eaten him a few weeks ago”

“I would have eaten you too” I grinned.

She playfully shoved me again but before I could push her back, Jenna came running up to us, a huge smile across her face.

“You’ll never guess what just happened!” she said breathlessly.

“You had more pups”

My brother’s mate gave me a half smile.

“No… but Atka and Yukoncame back last night!”

My smile faded. My throat tightened up, but I tried to keep my face emotionless.

“Oh” I said quietly.

“Well what are you waiting for?!” Jenna asked cheerfully.

“Um… I should just let them sleep a little if they just got here… and don’t tell them I’m here either”

Jenna glanced back at me curiously.

“Okay, but if you change your mind, we’ll be on Balto’s boat”

I nodded grimly and watched Jenna run off happily to tell everyone else. Once her sister was out of site, Mindy turned to me.

“Why don’t you want to see them? Wouldn’t they be happy?”

“No…” I sighed, closing my eyes. “Why would they?”

Mindy nuzzled me.

“I’m sure they didn’t see it that way… I bet they’ll be really happy to see you!”

I sighed and opened my eyes.

“I don’t want to take any chances”

Mindy nodded supportively.

“Maybe we should just head home”

She nodded again and I followed her back to her owner’s house. Since I had built up a better reputation, Mindy’s owners didn’t mind letting me stay in their back shed. It actually wasn’t too bad.

“Buck?!”

Familiar voice jerking me out of my thoughts, I turned around. I didn’t believe it! Yukon, eyes wide in wonder, seemed like he couldn’t move. I couldn’t move myself. I didn’t have to… Yukon started to walk towards me, still in shock. I forced my eyes on the snowy ground and I could feel myself lowering to the ground.

“You’re supposed to be…”

His voice trailed off. I didn’t look up. I kept my eyes trained on Yukon’s feet.

“Why didn’t you come back?” he asked softly.

“I don’t deserve it” I heard myself almost growl.

Yukon was quiet.

“Why on earth would you think-?”

“I couldn’t even protect my own family! I shouldn’t have survived… if everyone else hadn’t put so much effort into keeping me alive, I doubt I would be” I spat bitterly.

Yukon didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure what kind of look was on his face but I didn’t want to see it. Yukon lay down too, forcing me to make eye contact.

“We’re your family” he said softly. “We never thought any of that about you”

“I let Kaya… and… my pups…” I couldn’t even bring myself to finish.

Yukon raised an eyebrow.

“Kaya isn’t dead. Neither are Dakota, Sitkaor Dakota… well I’m not sure about them, but Kaya was fine when we left”

Now I was really stunned.

“But… I talked to… that can’t be…” I stammered. I thought about telling them about the wolverines, but decided against it. No one would believe me…

Yukon’s eyes turned to Mindy, who was still faithfully watching nearby.

“Who are you?” he asked politely.

“That’s Mindy” I supplied. “She’s uh… my mate”

Yukon didn’t seem surprised at all.

“Oh. Well um… when should we go back?”

“To where?” I asked dumbly, knowing the answer.

“To the pack?”

“Never” I said softly.

Then, before he could say anything, I turned and walked away. Mindy hurried after me, but didn’t say anything. I was about to turn to her when I caught site of Mya and her family returning from where ever they’d come from. Mya’s eyes met mine and she deliberately stuck her nose and tail in the air. That was it. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’d had it!

“Stay here for a second” I told Mindy quietly, voice quavering with rage.

I stormed after Mya and Triton stopped, noticing me trying to catch up. Mya furrowed her brow when she saw me.

“Can I talk to you? In private?”

She looked back at Triton and shrugged.

“I’ll be right back” she said matter- a- factly.

I led her into an alley and whipped around so we were eye to eye.

“Do you have a problem with me or do you act like this to everyone?!”

Mya stepped back.

“I don’t know-.”

“If another stupid thing comes outta your mouth, I’ll shut it for you. I’m your Uncle. Got it. It’s not going to change just because you want it to! I’m part wolf and you are too. Just because we choose to live in different places makes us mortal enemies?!”

Mya blinked; either because she was trying to hold back tears or because this was the first time someone had talked to her like this.

“Now I want you to seriously tell me why you hate me”

“You’re always skulking around like you killed someone or something! For all I know you probably did!”

“You wanna know what happened?” I said quietly, not blinking. “You really wanna know?”

Mya looked at me apprehensively.

“Do you know how most wolves fight? To kill. And the worst one around tried to kill me. You wanna know what happened? He invaded my territory. Took over my family. Made me think they were dead and made me think I should be too. You wanna know what that feels like? I bet you don’t because it’s the worst feeling anyone could have. It changes you forever. You never want to go back again because you know everyone else will probably feel the same way!”

Mya, stunned and shocked, didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t think-.”

“You never do. At least as long as I’ve known you haven’t”

Mya looked a little hurt, but I was starting to care less and less.

“And the worst part is you don’t even seem to care. Your brother was killed and I can only imagine what Yukon and Atka went through!”

Mya’s eyes drifted to the ground in shame. Finally run out of anger, I turned to go.

“Wait!”

“Talk to your brother and sister. I don’t care anymore”

Back at the shed, I mulled things over. So many different thoughts swirled around in my head… I couldn’t focus on any of them. Mya hated me. Yukon and Atka had come back. Kaya and my pups were alive. My emotions were as strayed as my thoughts, but I couldn’t focus on a single one. The door to the shed creaked open and Mindy came in with a bone in her mouth. As distraught as I was, I couldn’t help but to smile.

“I thought you’d need this” she said, placing the bone in front of me.

“I thought it was the guy’s job to bring the girl food” I said with a grin.

“You looked stressed” she replied, plopping down next to me.

“Thanks” I said, nuzzling her.

“I don’t think my humans would mind if I crashed out here tonight” she smiled.

“Good, cause I need some company out here”

It was later on that night when I woke up again. I sniffed and scanned the shed. Nothing was there. Mindy still slept peacefully at my side. I licked her forehead and she mumbled in her sleep. I laid my head back down when a shrill tapping made me jump. Mindy hadn’t flinched. Slowly, I rose to my feet and went to the window. A black figure, a raven looked in at me. We stared for a few seconds. Finally, blinking, I went back to Mindy.

“Stupid bird” I muttered to myself.

It tapped the window yet again, this time more frantic and harder. Wincing at the loud noise, I went back to the window.

“What do you want you stupid bird?” I growled. “Let me sleep!”

The raven cawed and pecked at the glass.

“Go away!” I hissed.

The raven fluffed its feathers and darted away.

“Finally” I sighed, heading back to Mindy.

The raven’s caw made me jump out of my skin. I spun around. The stupid bird hopped toward me through the open shed door.

“Go!” I hissed again. “I could eat you if I wanted to!”

The raven cawed angrily.

“That’s it!” I growled, crouching.

I pounced but caught nothing. Shocked, I looked around for the bird. Ahead of me, the bird watched with a curious expression. I crouched and pounced again. I caught nothing again. The bird cawed again, beckoning me.

“What, do you want me to follow you or something?”

The bird fluffed its wings again as if it was saying yes. I sighed.

“I really have lost it now” I moaned.

The raven flapped its wings and took off. I trotted along under it. It lead me towards the outskirts of town, but before we exited the town, the raven took a sharp dive into an alley. I had to run to keep up, but it was too late, I’d lost site of it.

“Now I know why everyone was so worried about me” I muttered under my breath.

Suddenly, something moved behind a trashcan. My fur bristled and I moved closer.

“Who’s there?!” I snarled.

Someone leapt out, fur as bristled as mine.

“Leave me alone!” she spat.

We were eye to eye, but I had to stop. Something was strange about her…

“What do you want?!” we growled at the same time.

“I asked first!” we barked at the same time again.

“Uh… a bird… led me here” I said, realizing how stupid that sounded.

The hybrid, a brown and cream colored female, rolled her eyes.

“You guys are all the same” she growled. “All the same pig- headed-.”

“Don’t waste your time” I snapped. “I already have a mate!”

“Oh yeah?! And how many does that make?”

“Uh… two…” I admitted, folding my ears back. “But that’s none of your business!”

“Listen…uh, who are you?”

I’d learned a long time ago that giving out personal information was a bad idea. I shrugged.

“Well whoever you are, as far as I can tell, you’re just like every other guy out there”

“And so far, you’re just like every lonely stray”

She froze.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked quietly.

“Picking on everyone else to make yourself feel better”

Her eyes burned and her expression darkened.

“You have no idea how hard my life has been!” she spat.

“Try me” I growled.

“I’ll show you!” she snarled, stalking toward me.

I growled and did the same. But before we could fight, the raven cawed again.

“What do you want with me?” I snarled, turning my attention to the bird.

“You weren’t kidding” the hybrid said amused.

“No, I wasn’t!” I snapped.

The raven cawed again. I sighed. It took off again.

“This stupid bird’s gonna lead me around all stupid night” I growled under my breath.

I started after it, but it spun around and went back to the hybrid and circled around her, cawing.

“Leave me alone!” she screeched, desperately trying to catch it.

“I think it wants you to follow it too” I said, amused.

“I wouldn’t follow you if you were the last thing on earth1” she barked through anger.

The raven stopped circling and pecked madly at her head.

“Okay, okay! I’m going!” she yelped running toward me. “See?!”

Satisfied, the raven soared ahead, this time taking us out of town.

“Stupid bird” she muttered, leading the way.

The raven led us towards Balto’s boat. The raven soared ahead and disappeared behind the boat. I jogged and the female, sighing heavily, jogged too. I slipped quietly up the ramp and past Boris and two pups, making my way over to the captain’s quarters where Balto slept.

“Balto… wake up” I said nudging him.

“Buck, do you have any idea what time it is? Or did you suddenly think the moon was the sun?”

He opened his eyes and noticed the angry female.

“What did he do to you?” Balto asked her flatly as if I made someone angry every day.

“Nothing!” I shot. “Some stupid bird led us here and I don’t know what it wants us to do”

Balto sat up, wide awake.

“Was it a raven?”

“Yeah… how do you know?”

“It’s a long story… where is it now?”

The raven cawed, right on cue.

“Let’s go” Balto said, following the bird briskly.

I sighed and the female moaned.

“I’m never going to wake up tomorrow” I muttered.

We followed Balto and the bird across the beach and towards the woods. The female cringed. I guess she’d never been to the woods before. Balto seemed too focused on the bird to care and I was too tired to notice. Finally, we came to a clearing and the raven disappeared. Once the hybrid and I caught up, I realized how foggy it had gotten.

“Hello my children” Aniu’s warm voice echoed.

I jumped out of my fur and the female squeaked. Balto smiled as if he was expecting it. The graceful white figure, my mother, stepped out of the fog. The hybrid let out another small noise.

“Hi mom” I said with a sheepish smile.

“Hello Buck” she said with a smile, then looking at Balto and the hybrid, “Balto. Inari”

“How do you know my name?!” Inari asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

“Well I should know who my own daughter is” Aniu smiled gently.

Inari looked like she was going to faint. Balto and I both looked at her in shock, exchanging surprised glances.

“Yes boys, she’s you sister” Aniu said softly. “But I didn’t just call you all here for that”

Inari, Balto and I all tore our eyes away from each other.

“Buck, you need to go home”

I tilted my head.

“I am home” I said, throat tightening.

Aniu gave me a sad smile.

“I didn’t save your life so that you could forget about those who loved you”

I lowered my head.

“You can still save them. No one has been permanently harmed. Go save them”

I thought about it… I had to go back.

“Inari, don’t give up yet” Aniu continued, addressing the hybrid. “Not all humans and dogs are as cruel as you think. Friends can be found in the oddest places. And the one your heart longs for is looking for you still”

Inari managed a smile and her eyes were shining.

“Finally, Balto… your other daughter is going to make the same choice Aleu made. Let her go”

Balto smiled, a little strained but nodded respectfully.

“It is time for me to go. I might not see you again, and if that’s the case, I just want you to know that I love you all”

We all smiled and when the wind picked up, swirling the fog, Aniu’s white form melted into it and faded away.

“So… you guys are my brothers…” Inari said.

“And you’re our sister…” I said.

Having a sister was something I’d never had before and it was a kind of cool feeling. As we walked back, we exchanged life stories. Inari did have a tough life. Being a fighting dog. Being abused. Being sold from owner to owner. I’d never had an owner before, but losing a kind one the way Inari described it sounded heartbreaking. No surprise, she’d heard of Balto before, but only far- off talks about his daring rescue. While they talked, I thought some more. I did have to go back. My family was stillalive. But would they hate me like I thought they would? I sighed and looked down at the ground. When we reached the boat, Balto offered Inari a place to sleep and I waited patiently for him to finish helping her.

“So what are you going to do?” Balto asked sincerely.

“I’m going back” I said quietly.

“Even if it means… you know”

I nodded, staring down at the ground.

“I should leave tomorrow”

Suddenly, Yukon scrambled up the ramp.

“Yukon what’s-?”

“They’ve got Atka! Klondike’s trying to get you and they’re coming after me too I think!”

“Distract them” I ordered.

Yukon nodded and took off. Then, in a flash, both Balto and I leapt of the boat, Inari scrambling after us.

“Wait for me!”

Balto slowed down, but I charged on. I thundered down the main street, making everything a blur. Suddenly, something red stepped out in my path. This time, unlike other times, I couldn’t stop, but luckily, slid right under her.

“Mindy, you gotta stop doing that?!”

“Doing what?” she asked sleepily.

“Appearing out of nowhere!”

“What’s wrong?” she yawned, brown eyes searching my face.

“Atka’s in trouble with Agro and Klondike”

Mindy was instantly wide awake and just as Balto and Inari caught up with me, Mindy and I took off again. And yet again, I was interrupted. Mya and Triton darted out into my path and I had to dive and fall to miss them. Pulling myself to my feet, I suddenly realized that Mya hated wolves enough to have done this in the first place! A growl started to grow in my throat.

“Mya, I swear, if this is your-!”

“It’s not” Triton interrupted.

I turned to him, rage fully directed at the black and white husky.

“Just wanted to let…” he mumbled in a smaller voice.

I whipped around, leading our small rescue group away, Mya still squabbling questions.

“Did they catch Yu-?”

“No, he’s leading Klondikeand his group all over the place while weget Atka out”

Mya didn’t take the hint as we sprinted on. Once we reached the fence line, I skit to a halt, causing the others to almost hit me.

“What do we do?” Inari asked nervously.

“Yeah?” Mya repeated.

“You’ve done enough for one night!” I snarled at Mya.

I studied the shack… Klondike had set this up to get me. So much for calling a truce. Well, only one thing left to do…

“Guess I better give Klondike what he wants”

“What?!” several voices exclaimed at once.

I didn’t wait for an answer and stepped out into the yard. Balto whispered frantically for me to come back, but I ignored it.

“Agro!” I barked. “You wanted me, you got me”

At first, dead silence. Then paws scuffling across the creaking floor and opening the door. Agro, as shocked and scruffy as ever, stood stunned at the front door. It was as if he couldn’t believe I was standing there. Before he could do anything, I simply walked right up onto the porch. As soon as my paws touched wood, Agro barked. Footsteps thundered down the stairs.

The next thing I knew, I was being roughly shoved into some sort of small crate with a rope tightly wound around my neck. Using all four feet, I twisted out of the rope and quietly looked out of my cage.

“Hello?” came a small voice from the cage next to me.

“Atka? That you?”

“Buck!Yukon and I were looking for-!”

“Shhhh”

The man’s footsteps approached and the door opened. Agro, followed by his human, entered the room and headed toward our crates. I backed as far into the back of my cage as possible and watched silently. The man’s feet walked toward Atka’s cage and I heard her shift uncomfortably. Then the man came toward my crate and peered in.

“I thought you were a goner” the man’s raspy voice drawled. “You shoulda been dead”

I didn’t make a sound. Things began to come back to me… the night I had found Kaya after she had disappeared. I had only been that close to a human one time before I had come here. And I was pretty sure I’d just found him. He walked away but didn’t leave the room. Instead, he went over to the corner of the room and picked up a long, shiny stick. A gun. Chills raced down my spine but never again would I let feat or emotion stop me from helping my family.

“I can still get that reward money. I jes’ don’t know what to do with ya ‘til then”

The human sat down in his rocking chair and kicked an empty glass thing across the floor, rubbing his scruffy chin. Agro settled down next to him, beady eyes on me. It was pretty clear I wasn’t going anywhere, so I settled down too and rested my head on my paws. We sat in silence for a few moments until Agro and his owner’s snores echoed in the room.

“Buck?!” came Atka’s angry whisper, “Why are you here?! The only reason they got me was so they could get-!”

“Me? I’m not going to let another pack mate down”

“That guy is crazy! And so is Agro! Leave it up to you to make enemies everywhere you go!”

“Do you know who he is?”

Atka didn’t say anything. Only silence.

“Remember the first day you were in the pack? The only other time I’d seen a human?”

Atka made a small sound.

“Then we really need to get out of here. You do have some kind of plan, right?”

I silently thought. The cage didn’t look like it had a lock that was hard to break.

“We could try picking the locks” I suggested.

“You don’t have any kind of plan?”

“We have a rescue party waiting outside”

Suddenly, snorting and stretching, the man stood up. Agro yawned and got to his feet as well. Sun managed to push through the dusty windows and fell onto the equally dirty floor. It was already morning. The man rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat, bringing my attention back to him.

“Guess I should get ya some grub”

He shuffled out of the room, leaving Agro to watch us, and then came back with two dirty bowls filled with some kind of meat.

“Eat up” he smirked, shoving the bowls in slots under the door.

I sniffed the meat. Something smelled very strange about it.

“Atka, don’t eat it” I whispered.

“I wasn’t” she whispered back. “I think it’s poisoned or something”

The man and Agro watched us amused, but their amusement faded to impatience.

“Fine! Don’t eat it!” the man growled. “Guess we’re going to have to do this the hard way!”

With that he stormed out of the room, leaving Agro to watch us. He looked tired. If he would only fall asleep, Atka and I would probably be able to escape…

It took a while, but after a few hours, Agro’s steady snores echoed in the room again. His owner was somewhere I didn’t know, but the house felt empty.

“Atka, you awake?” I murmured quietly.

“Um-hm” I heard her answer just as quiet.

“We’re getting out of here. Now. But we gotta be quiet”

Then I focused all of my attention on the lock outside the wooden crate. It was only a bar. I delicately slid my paw out the door and stretched. At first, I couldn’t reach anything, but then by paw brushed against cold metal. I clawed at it. Nothing happened. Wrenching my arm as far out as possible, I tried again. The bar moved a little. I scratched and it moved some more. Then, with one last push, I lashed out and the bar fell to the floor, making a loud clattering noise. Agro scrambled up, mumbling something, but sank back down to the musty floor again and returned to sleep. Slipping my paw back out, I grinned and turned to Atka.

“You did it!” she whispered excitedly.

“Don’t jinx us yet. I still need to open your door”

Concentrating once again, I pawed at Atka’s door. Hers was a little different; it had some kind of latch as well. I pawed and pawed, but it wouldn’t move. Suddenly, something scuffed behind me.

“Buck! Look ou-!”

Something jumped on top of me, sending me crashing to the dirty wood. Agro was awake. Scrambling to my feet, I tried to face my attacker only to be knocked to the floor again.

“Hold on! I’ll help!” Atka cried desperately, scratching at her door.

“Atka it looks like that thing-!”

Agro tackled me again, but this time, I sank my teeth into his nose. Instead of yelping, he snarled, shaking his head as he backed up. I whipped back to Atka.

“You need to lift the latch!”

Agro leapt back at me again, pinning me to the floor. I kicked ferociously, back paws hitting his stomach over and over again, but it was like it had no effect what so ever. I might as well have been kicking the floor.

“So what are you gonna do now dog?!” I snarled.

“Wait for my owner” Agro drawled stupidly.

Using all my strength, I flipped over backward, knocking the heavy mutt face first into the floor. I whipped around to Atka and couldn’t believe my eyes: Mya had undone the latch and both sisters were racing for the open door where I could see Balto and Mindy’s faces mixed in with a few of the others who had raced to the shack the night before.

“What in the heck is goin’ on here!?”

I whipped around and my eyes met with the man’s. Mya and Atka froze, the man now blocking their way. His eyes darted to the unconscious Agro and to Balto’s daughters. I froze. Then his eyes darted to the gun…

We both broke into a run, aiming for the silver stick. The moment that I felt my teeth hit it, I felt the cold thing be jerked away. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw Mya and Atka scramble for the door. Atka paused, looking back uncertainly.

“Get out! And that’s an order!” I growled through my clenched teeth.

Atka scrambled out of the way and I sprang at the man, knocking the gun across the floor. Both of us hit the wood hard. I moaned and shook my head. And once again, I couldn’t believe who I saw.

“Yukon, get out! Now!”

Yukon’s blue eyes didn’t leave the man.

“Technically, you’re not my leader” Yukonreplied quietly, keeping his paw on the gun.

The man still froze, horrified that two wolves were in front of him.

“Yukon!” I growled. “I’m warning you!”

“We’re going back”

“What?! Yes, I know!”

“Now”

“Fine, just get out of here before he does something!”

Yukon just stared at the man without a word.

“You get out” he said. “You’re the one that needs to stay alive. I know you are. Get out. And that’s an order”

I wasn’t sure whether to be furious, scared or stunned. Then, in one smooth, motion, I jumped for the door,Yukon slid the gun away and the man crawled across the floor for his gun. By the time he had it in his hands and Agro was groggily picking himself up, we were all gone.

Out of breath and on the deck of Balto’s boat, the whole group panted. Atka and Mya sat closer to each other then they had since I’d seen them. Balto and Inari were glancing over their shoulders to make sure no one was following. Mindy was panting hardest of all, which I found pretty strange, but she seemed okay as well. Yukon, on the other hand, was in trouble. As soon as I turned to him, he shrank down a little.

“Yukon! You-.”

“-disobeyed you?” he filled in.

“And-.”

“-shouldn’t have done it because you’re the leader?”

“And-!”

“-could’ve been killed?”

Out of words in breath, I couldn’t think of anything else. Everyone else on the boat held their breath, knowing my temper. Instead, I grinned, not being able to help it. Everyone else smiled, relaxing.

“Just to let you know, if you were anyone else, you’d be unconscious” I added brushing past him as I went over to the railing.

Mindy followed me over.

“Are you leaving?”

I nodded solemnly, scanning the dark woods that would lead me home.

“Yukonsays now” I managed to smile again, looking over my shoulder to see Yukon shrink down again. But my smile faded when I turned back to Mindy. “I’m gonna miss you”

Mindy started to sniff.

“Oh, come on” I said gently. “You were tough enough to break me in… you’re not gonna cry, are you?”

Mindy laughed, a tear or two leaking out.

“I’ll always love you” I said gently, looking into her brown eyes for the last time.

“I will too” she almost whispered to keep from crying.

I nuzzled her one last time.

“I’m going” I announced. “And, uh… th- thanks. You know, for taking care of… me… and stuff. And nice to meet you Inari”

Inari nodded back with a smile. Then, taking a deep, apprehensive breath, I headed down the ramp. After a few months of living with dogs in the safety of Nome, I actually started to get afraid. But the old me took over and I shook my head. I wasn’t going to be afraid this time! I broke into a run, pushing myself faster and faster until the world whipped by. Then, in a flash, the open ground disappeared and I was back in the woods. I paused for a second, looking around. All I heard was my own panting. Puffing out my chest I walked on. After a while of walking, I realized I wasn’t alone. But a quick glance over my shoulder and I knew it was Yukon.

“You were supposed to stay with your sisters”

“Technically-.”

“We’re in the wild again. Family members killing each other isn’t rare out here”

“Well said” Yukonsaid in a small voice. “But dad said I’m in more danger in Nome then I am out here”

“Then your dad doesn’t know Boss”

“I need to go back. After all he’s done to Atka… I can’t just relax and let you take care of it”

“Fine” I replied in a quiet voice.

We walked for what seemed like weeks, even though I knew it couldn’t have been more then a few days. The whole time, all I could think about was what was going to happen. Something told me Aniu wasn’t going to help me this time. And I was sure Talus would catch up with me as well. But the biggest thing was my family. Were they okay? What had Boss done to them? What would they think when I came back? Were they even still alive? What about the rest of my pack?

“We’re here” Yukonsaid quietly, interrupting my thoughts.

I came to my senses and familiar scents raced back to me. Years ago, I’d stood right here with my father, mother and Balto after we had gone back to my father’s first home. In truth, nothing looked that different. When rain started to fall, I closed my eyes and sighed. Rain would wipe out our scents… if there was ever a time to attack, now would be it.

“Let’s go” I whispered softly.

I led the way down the slippery hill and into my old territory. Even though we were cautious, I would have thought that at least one scout would have found us. But the place was deserted.

“Was everyone okay when you left?” I asked quizzically.

“Positive”

We continued on and took the familiar trail up to the top of the twin mountains, where the den was. Even that area, which was usually very crowded, looked empty. I peaked in the den. Empty. The last time I found the den empty, I had almost gotten killed. The old feeling crept up again.

“This isn’t right”

“It’s not like last time” Yukonsaid sharply, reading my mind. “Don’t let it get to your head”

I nodded and continued down the trail leading toward the Northern Territory. As soon as we turned the corner, the sounds of fighting reached our ears.

“Take the trail down and come from behind” I ordered sharply. “I’ll meet you down there”

Yukon nodded and took off. I took a deep breath and jogged over to the edge. Two or three packs were in a vicious fight. I scanned for my family and saw Bristoland Bear fighting side by side, Nuka unconscious, and Kaya, making my heart skip a beat. Where were the pups? Anyu wasn’t hard to pick out, being one of the only white wolves. My heart skipped a beat again, but for a different reason. She was crumpled in a heap, under a tree. What about Sitka?! I searched frantically for her and finally spotted her in the same state as her sister. My temper began to rise. My breathing began to speed up. My heart raced. Suddenly, the fighting stopped. What was going on? I looked where everyone else was looking. Hate burned inside me, stronger then ever before. Boss had Dakota, my son, pinned to the ground and was whispering something in his ear. Then he opened his mouth and tried to finish off Dakota…

“Don’t you dare touch that pup!” I thundered, not able to take it any longer.

Dozens of pairs of eyes turned to me at once. But there was only one stare that I returned. Boss’s face was a mixture of stupidity, shock and disbelief. I was too angry to enjoy it.

“Your fight’s with me. You touch one hair on that pup, and I’ll make your life more miserable then you could ever imagine…”

I started to stalk down and with each step I took, his expression grew darker. By the time I had reached the bottom, he was snarling. It all seemed so slow as if it was a dream. I’d planned it all out in my head and now it was going to happen.

I kept my eyes glued on Boss the whole time, mostly because I was afraid of any looks my pack would give me. They could deal with me if I was still alive later. Boss seemed uncertain, but we started to circle anyway. Dakota pulled himself up and backed up into the rest of the pack. Then it was just me and Boss. Circling each other. No one else made a sound. No one else moved. In a flash, we both dived. Around us, our packs started to fight again. As focused as I’d ever been, each move I made was precise but so was Boss’s. Each move I made he was able to equal and any bite or scratch I gave him seemed to backfire right at me again. But when we stopped for a few seconds to catch our breath, he seemed just as tired as I was. Then, he crouched low again, ready to fight. I stopped panting and concentrated again but just as I thought he was going to charge, he spun and ran away, up toward the den. My head spun with confusion, but I followed him anyway. What was going on? We ran up the trail and around the twin peaks, but he didn’t stop when we whipped past the den. I paused for a second, but as soon as I did, Boss’s tail slipped out of view. I clenched my jaw and sped after him. Then I turned the corner and something hit me hard, causing me to roll. Blinking and shaking my head, I pulled myself tiredly to my feet.

“Real clever” I moaned. “Unusual for you”

Boss chuckled to himself.

“Unusual that you’re still alive” he taunted. “Do you know where we are?”

I glanced around. We were overlooking the fight at the northern territory. The same one I’d fallen over before. Chills ran down my spine. The river I had almost drowned in was right in between the sharp rocks I had missed last time.

“It’s a long fall” Boss growled.

Boss lunged again. This time, I was almost too tired to fight back. I dodged and Boss missed by only a few inches. We paused and panted again. Then I realized how quiet it had gotten… the fighting had stopped. I peered over the ledge to see that my pack was running up the trail to help. Boss’s pack was gone; some dead, but most retreating with tucked tails. Boss had lost. Barks started to echo toward me.

“You lost” I almost laughed. “You’re pack ran away and you can’t win against a whole pack”

Boss’s curious look turned dark and furious. Without warning, he lunged again, this time knocking me down and pinning me. I wriggled and tried to slip away, but it was no use. I was too tired to fight back or try to get away.

“Buck!”

“If I lose, I’m bringing you down with me!”

Using any strength I had left, I rolled over backwards like I had done with Agro. But there was nothing there for Boss to hit. In a split second, he went over the side of the cliff, but with his teeth clamped on one of my paws. I jerked toward the cliff, clawing desperately at the dirt and rock. Kaya and Yukon rushed forward and caught me, dragging me forward, or at least trying to. Boss’s teeth were slipping though. I shook my foot desperately, and suddenly, the weight was gone. Kaya and Yukon dragged me up until I was safely away, panting on my side. No splash had followed after I was dragged up, so I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about Boss ever again. Besides the sound of panting, everything was quiet.

“Buck”

Talus’s voice was as bad as Boss’s. I rolled to my feet, each move more tiring then the next. But in an instant, my whole pack was in front of me, willing to fight again to protect me. Maybe they didn’t hate me…

“It’s okay” I said warily.

My pack gave me confused looks, but let me walk through. I walked out of earshot from them and stopped, eyes on the great grey wolf.

“Look, I really don’t have anything left in me so whatever you came to do, just get it over with” I breathed.

Talus’s stern look softened.

“I might’ve been wrong about you. Just maybe…”

Talus glanced past me at my pack.

“You’ve got a pretty loyal family there”

I grinned.

“Yeah”

“I should punish you and your mother for this whole mess…” Talus replied gruffly. “So I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll leave you alone if you protect this pack for the rest of your life”

My smile broadened.

“I think I could manage that”

Talus’s smile returned to his usual strict glare and with a brief nod, he almost seemed to fad away into the rock. Astounded, I stared at the rock. But there were more important things… I shook my head and turned around. Kaya walked up, weak smile on her face.

“So… do I really want to know what happened?”

“Naw. Nothin’ really happened… just a few dogs and stuff” I grinned.

Kaya was safe… but what about my pups?

“Are Sitka and Anyu okay? I saw them laying down…”

Kaya’s smile faded. Since we barely had any energy left, we jogged down the trail where Anyu was standing dizzily and Sitka was moving a little. Anyu’s eyes widened as soon as she saw me.

“Dad?!”

It had been such a long time since I’d heard that word…

“Hey” I said gently, nuzzling her. “Are you alright?”

Anyu grinned.

“Just a bump on the head”

Another wolf, a grayish brown and cream wolf watched shyly.

“Oh! This is my mate, Mackenzie!”

I smiled and nodded. Sitka moaned and drew my attention back to her. Dakota and another tawny wolf were helping her sit up.

“What happened? Is he gone? Did we win?” Sitkafired, sitting straight up”

“I guess we won” the tawny wolf next to her shrugged.

Sitka grinned from ear to ear.

“You look like something that got into a fight with a porcupine and lost!” she laughed. “Did I beat him?! Who did?!”

The tawny wolf nodded to me. Still smiling, Sitkaturned to me too. She tilted her head and squinted her eyes.

“Dad…?”

“Hey” I said again. “Long time no see”

Sitka shot to her feet and nuzzled me.

“Wed thought you were dead! But you’re not!”

I smiled and nuzzled her back. Everything was almost perfect… but someone was missing.

I looked over my pack: Xenia, Nuka, Bear, Boulderand most of the older wolves were there… except my beta.

“Where’s Bristol?”

“Gone” Kaya supplied. “He disappeared after Atka and Yukon left… we don’t know if he’s alive or anything”

“Is everyone else okay?”

“Except for Atka” Kaya nodded.

“She’s safe” I filled in. “She’s with Balto”

I thought about Nome again… and Mindy. But that was far behind me now.

* * *

Soon after the fight, everything started to go back to normal… or as normal as my pack could be. Yukonbecame the new beta. Bristolnever came back, but I was almost sure he wasn’t dead. Anyu and Sitka, who both had mates, promised to come back as soon as possible, once Anyu’s pups were older and Sitka had pups of her own too. As I watched them leave, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Dakota watched his sisters leave, face expressionless. He hadn’t talked to me since I’d returned. But before I could talk to him, he turned and hurried off. I frowned. I started to follow after but Kaya cut me off.

“Hey” she smiled, as if she couldn’t believe I was there still.

She had a brown and white wolf behind her.

“Who’s that?” I asked half-mindedly.

“Catori” Kaya filled in. “She wants to know if she can join our pack”

“I’ve got no where else to go” the young wolf shrugged before adding shyly, “If it’s not too much trouble or anything”

“Why not” I shrugged. “Bear!”

Bear trotted up obediently.

“Can you just watch Catori and get her used to being in the pack?”

Bear nodded and the two jogged away. Kaya stayed, studying me curiously.

“It’s Dakota” I supplied before she asked.

“What’s wrong with him? He does seem quiet…”

“I think he had a pack… but it’s like he doesn’t want to leave”

“Go talk to him” Kaya smiled, shoving me.

“We’re guys! We don’t just talk-.”

Kaya shoved me again, harder.

“I’m goin, I’m goin!”

I shuffled after my son, but looking up when his friends started to call him over. Dakota paused for a second then headed towards them. Trying to stay out of sight, I watched them talk, but I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying. Then, Dakota turned around and walked away, leaving the sad group of four behind with tails and ears drooping. They glanced at Dakota but started to shuffle off. Why were they leaving? When Dakota had drifted out of hearing range from anyone else, I jogged to catch up.

“Dakota! Hey I… uh, want to talk to you”

Dakota turned around and lowered himself submissively.

“Hey dad…” he greeted quietly.

I glanced over my shoulder at Kaya who nodded toward Dakota encouragingly.

“Uh… well, we haven’t talked since I got back. So… what’ve you been up to?”

Dakota sat down and his eyes trailed to the ground.

“Well, I did have a pack for a while”

“Do you have a mate?”

“No… not yet”

“Your sisters left already… are you going to head back out with your pack?”

“No” Dakota said deliberately.

“What?” I replied, shocked. “I mean, why wouldn’t you want to go back out?”

Dakota’s eyes dropped back down to the ground again.

“I want to stay here…” Dakota said quietly, before adding, “…with you…”

“Oh…” I breathed, feeling empty.

“You were dead… an’ I don’t want you to go again…” he said in a small voice.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere” I said, nuzzling him. “I’m going to be around for a long time”

We sat quietly for a while and Dakota’s eyes found the group of four wandering away.

“The pack’s not going anywhere either… you can always visit”

Dakota smiled.

“Okay” he smiled. “See you later then dad”

I smiled.

“Go catch up before your pack leaves you behind”

Dakota spun around and took off yelling, “Wait for me!”

As I watched Dakota and his happy pack reunite, Kaya strutted over.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

I grinned and looked at her under half-closed eyes.

“Could’ve killed me!” I replied. “You know Dakota…”

She bumped into me playfully, and then nuzzled me. Even after Dakota and his friends had edged out of view, we watched the sun turn the sky into streaks of pink and gold. It was all over now. Nothing bad would happen to my pack ever again. Not as long as I was around. And nothing would ever make me leave again. Nothing.

Inari © Everni

Bristol (c) Anileu

Boss (c) Tadie