A/N: Another longer one. More action. My favorite.

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CH. 3

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I woke up wishing I hadn’t.

My muscles were stiff and heavy, making any movement feel extremely uncoordinated and painful. The lacerations scattered across my body stung and throbbed with every new frigid breeze that slipped through the cracks in the aging wood.

Despite my exhaustion, discomfort kept plans for any additional sleep at bay. Maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t fall back asleep. The white wolf had taken over my dreams again, accompanied by the human hunter who shot her. In a variation of the same dream, she’d been running alongside me again when the dark wolf from the night before joined us. He ran with us for a while before suddenly leaping at the white wolf and taking her down with a powerful snap of his jaws. 

I didn’t know what the dreams meant, nor did I care very much. I had bigger problems than recurring nightmares. Take, for example, the one I was actually living in. A lone wolf was running around Nome and I was being blamed for his misdeeds. Despite my apprehensions, I had to go back to town. I had to know what was going on.

Boris was gone from my side. I assumed he’d gone out for breakfast. The ongoing storm limited visibility, but I could tell it was early morning. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and climbed to my feet, fighting my protesting body. I immediately noted the tenderness of my left front paw and cursed the lone wolf for his horrible aim. Far from being a deadly bite to the neck, an aching paw was simply one of the most annoying and crippling injuries I could have sustained.

The snowstorm raged outside, casting the world into various shades of gray. The town was definitely not visible, but I could find my way easily enough. I wasn’t looking forward to this trip for many reasons, but the weather didn’t even make the top five. Before I could even leave the shelter of the wheelhouse, however, I stopped, catching the faint smell of someone familiar. Based on the way the gusts were blowing, which was every direction at once it seemed, whoever it was had to be close.

I caught another whiff, and simultaneously heard a bark which sounded far away as it was carried on the wind. Immediately I relaxed. I next saw a hazy yellow form at the base of the ship’s deck.

“Come on up.” I called.

Kaltag trotted across the deep snow easily with his long legs, bred for speed in his job as a sled dog. I always found it ironic that despite my being constantly ridiculed for being a half-breed, the great majority of working dogs in Nome were nothing but pure-bred mutts. Kaltag was no exception, but people had given his mash of genetics a name. Something like a Chinook. Not that I looked down on him for it. I just found it ironic. Weren’t all dogs bred down from wolves at one time or another? Every so called pure-breed was once an experiment. Somehow the dogs had forgotten that when bringing up my own heritage.

Kaltag had been one of those dogs. In fact, if he had been doing what he was now a few weeks ago, I would have been more than happy to chase the mutt back to Nome. However, since his lead dog had been disgraced and confined to his master’s home, Kaltag and I had become fast friends. Turns out he never really hated me as much as he pretended to. Out of guilt, he was overly nice to me in fact.

“Balto.” He greeted breathlessly as he gladly stepped out of the raging blizzard into the wheelhouse.

I nodded in greeting. Not much in the mood to be interacting socially, but deciding to humor him. “What brings you out here? Must be important to brave a storm like this.”

“It’s pretty crazy isn’t it? The most insane, the most uh-…” He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. His tail hung uncharacteristically low and his ears slowly started to drift back to lie almost flat on his head.  

Now he had my attention. For Kaltag to interrupt his own vocabulary rants, something had to be going on. “You heard about Rosy?” I asked, not really stating it as a question. Of course he had. The dogs knew more about the goings on of Nome than most of the humans.

Kaltag offered a sympathetic look. “Listen, Jenna told us about the wolf. We know it wasn’t you, but even though Rosy’s alive, the humans-.”

“Wait.” I stopped him. “Rosy’s okay?”

He cocked his head a bit. “I wouldn’t say okay, but maybe alive, surviving, holding on-.”

“But she’s not dead.” I said, feeling as though my heart had finally started beating again after hours of sitting lifeless in my chest.

“I think that’s what I just said, but you’re obviously not listening. Balto-.”

“No, I am.” I felt myself smile. “Rosy’s alive.”

“Balto.” Kaltag snapped, making sure to catch my eyes before going on. “The humans still think you attacked her.”

There went my heart again… “But Rosy, she would have told them-.”

“She hasn’t woken up yet. She was hurt bad. She can’t tell anyone anything yet, but the humans aren’t going to wait. They’ve all assumed it was you.” He hesitated, shifting his paws nervously. “They want blood now.”

My stomach seemed to rise into my throat. “What… what are you saying?”

Kaltag slowly raised his eyes to meet mine. “They’re coming to kill you, Balto.” He admitted softly.

I stepped back, shaking my head. “They wouldn’t. They can’t think I did this. I saved her life!” I barked.

The tawny mutt couldn’t look at me anymore. He stared at the floorboards. “I’m sorry, Balto. You know humans… they jump to conclusions. They only believe what they see. They didn’t see the wolf. Look, we don’t have a lot of time. The humans have already set out. Dallas, the hunter’s lab, is leading them in the wrong direction, but he had a hard time convincing his hunting partner, that elkhound, Nash, to play along. Nash doesn’t like deceiving his master and he’s not entirely sure if he believes Jenna’s story…” Kaltag rushed through the last part, but I managed to untangle his words.

“What, the dogs think I did this now?” I couldn’t help but feel completely betrayed. People I could wrap my brain around, but the dogs? They should know better.

“Very few of them, Balto, I swear. These are the same jerks that didn’t even cut you a break after the epidemic, so no big loss, right?” He suggested with a forced smile.

I could only narrow my eyes in response. Nothing I did would ever be enough, would it? Nothing would ever change my heritage, so I would forever be the outcast, the scapegoat.

“Balto, you have to get going.” Kaltag urged, breaking me from my daze. “Dallas can only hold the hunters off for so long before a human remembers where you live.”

“Where’s Jenna?” I asked.

 “Locked up in the shed. Her people didn’t want her running after you. Listen, Rosy will wake up, and she’ll tell everyone it wasn’t you. Everything will be back to normal and you can come home again. But right now, you need to go, or they’re going to kill you.” He looked at me with pleading eyes.

Great, I finally had a friend of my own species and I had to run away. “Boris,” I managed to stutter, “he’s out. I have to wait for him. He needs to know.”

“I’ll tell him then. Seriously, Balto, you don’t have time.” Kaltag pressed.

“Okay, okay. Just make sure you warn everyone about that wolf. He’s dangerous.” I stopped next to his shoulder as I moved to leave. “Listen…Thanks.”

Kaltag forced a small smile. “I owed you.”

I looked around my shabby excuse for a home and then out into the raging snowstorm. At least the weather would slow down my pursuers. With one last nod to Kaltag, I set off into the white void.

I immediately made a break for the tree line. It would provide more cover from both the hunters and the storm. There were plenty of caves back in the nearby mountains where I could bed down and wait out the both of them.

My thick fur sheltered me from the bitter cold, and the wind was usually at my back, easing my journey, but my paw continued to ache. That tiny little wound was proving to be my worst enemy in all of this. It didn’t hurt enough to slow me down, but only a little while after setting out, I was leaving blood streaked paw prints in the snow. I might as well have dipped myself in neon paint and run around the city screaming “Shoot me!”.

I looked over my shoulder, as if I could tell how close the hunters were, but all I got was a face full of blowing snow. So my options were to either carefully plod along on three legs or distance myself from the humans. Honestly, sticking around wasn’t very appealing. The snow was quickly covering my trail, but my scent was still there and would be enough for the dogs to track me. Moving slowly would do me no good. If I made it deep enough into the wilderness, the humans would have a harder time following me and would eventually have to turn around.

My mind set, I ignored the throbbing in my paw and started running. I preferred this to walking anyways. It helped me to clear my head and focus on something else. It went against everything in my nature to run from something like this, and it had been eating at me with every step I took until I picked up my pace and finally came to grips with the fact that it was either this or get killed. I couldn’t exactly reason with humans. I barely understood their language to begin with, relying mainly on body posture and expression to decipher what they were saying. From what I’d seen of humans, the majority of them had next to no knowledge of canine communication either. If I went ahead and did what my heart longed to do, which was stand up to the humans and prove my innocence, the conversation would be quick and short and end with a bullet between my eyes.

I grew less and less aware of my surroundings as I traveled. My paw stopped hurting, my mind stopped swirling, and I was able to relax. The storm went on, but the trees had managed to dull the intensity of it. I climbed on over icy rocks and pine covered hills until I found myself deep in the mountainous terrain with very little idea as to where I actually was. Not that I cared. I rather enjoyed the feeling of freedom it offered. I still longed for home and Boris and Jenna… but until I could return in safety, this would suit me just fine.

I came to a wide river where the frozen banks gave way to raging rapids and figured this would be a good place to rest for the night. Light was fading fast and the temperature was dropping quickly. Before I came to the river, I felt like I could have run through the night, but as I stared at the frothing water, my body changed its mind. Mental exhaustion added to physical and all I wanted was to find a spot to get out of the weather and curl up.

I tried to fight the encroaching thoughts of the past few days as I searched for a suitable resting spot, but Jenna’s face kept appearing before my eyes. Kaltag said she had been locked in the shed after last night. I wondered if she was still there, worried about Rosy, and maybe me, but unable to do anything about it. I knew how that felt. After all that was exactly what I was feeling right now.

It seemed so incredibly unfair that after all I’d done to save the little girl, something like this, which couldn’t be healed with medicine anyone could bring, would try and rip her from the world again. I couldn’t save her this time. I couldn’t even save myself. In fact, I was counting on Rosy to save me. Only her words could change the minds of the humans, but even if they couldn’t, I still wanted her to be okay. She had shown me the only human affection I’d ever known before the serum run. She had a pure heart. She deserved to be okay.

My thoughts lingered on the two girls as I found my bed for the night. There wasn’t much in the way of shelter, but I settled next to a giant, lopsided rock, digging myself deep into the snow before shutting my eyes.

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The white wolf didn’t invade my dreams that night, but the dark wolf did. He ran through Nome, snatching up children and attacking the humans who tried to stop him. At one point, the wolf scooped up a small puppy. It yelped in protest, screaming for his mother who cried out after him. The squeals continued long after the wolf had left and I slowly realized that the sounds were not a part of my dream.

I lifted my head, breaking through a few inches of snow as I did so, and blearily searched my stark white surroundings. The sun had finally beaten out the storm and its reflections off the icy landscape nearly blinded me. I listened hard for the noises again and finally figured out the direction of their source.

Crawling out of my snow-den, I headed back toward the river. The cries were growing louder, but I couldn’t see anything. That could have been the fault of the sun’s glare, or I maybe I was just going crazy. Suddenly it all went silent. I looked around in confusion. That’s it. I was going nuts.

Then out of nowhere, the yelps resumed, almost directly in front of me. Finally I spotted it. It hadn’t occurred to me to look in the river simply because it would be insane for any living thing to be in it, but that would be the cause for the cries for help.

A small brown puppy was being swept along with the river, tumbling over the rapids and screaming for help with every breath it could take above water. I didn’t even think about what I had to do. I took a running leap and splashed into the water just down-river of the pup’s position. The icy water almost instantly froze my muscles, but I could only imagine how long the poor kid had been in there and needed to get him out. I kicked against the current and finally managed to get close enough to snatch the puppy up by the scruff of his neck and at least pull him partly out of the river as I lifted my head as high as I could.

We were quickly being pulled along by the swiftly moving water as I struggled to reach the shore. The problem was ice stretched out over much of the river. One sheet of ice we floated past broke off as I tried to hold onto it. I swam harder and managed to grip onto a large rock poking out of the riverbed. The water pulled at me as I tried to hang on, kicking my back legs with everything I had. I managed to place the pup on top of the rock, but pulled him along with me as I slipped off.

I was running out of strength quickly and knew we had to get out, now or never. I made a bee-line for the ice-covered banks, pleased to find that even though the current was strong, it became weaker the closer we got to shore. I reached another sheet of ice and placed my paws on top of it. They broke through, but I immediately reached out again, and again as each section broke free. Finally the ice became thicker and started to hold as I gripped at it with my paws. I placed the puppy on the ice and nudged him as far forward as I could with my nose before I tried to move up onto the ice again. I could hear it cracking beneath me and managed to scoot the puppy just out of reach of the next section that snapped.

As I moved forward, I could finally feel the freezing mud of the bank under my back feet. It was hard enough that I could push against it and gain that extra boost I needed. Using my last reserves of strength, I pulled the back half of my body up and onto the ice. Not giving myself time to rest, as I was afraid once I stopped, I wouldn’t move again, I grabbed the shivering puppy by the scruff again and carried him to a spot in the sun. I shook off as best as I could and dug another shallow den. Placing the pup between my paws, I started to lick him, trying to stimulate him and get his blood flowing again.

He was starting to come around when frantic cries reached my ears yet again, coming closer quickly. The pup’s ears perked up as he listened. “Mom?” He mumbled, lifting his head shakily to look.

“Hey!” Before I could have time to think of the repercussions of being caught with a wolf’s child, I spotted two wolves coming out of the trees, running straight for me. The smaller gray one had to be the mother. She glared as she ran for me. I tripped and stumbled in my efforts to back away from her kid and ended up just lying in the snow, hoping a sign of submission would be enough for her to pause and listen before ripping out my throat.

“Miki, wait!” The larger wolf cried as she placed herself between me and the mother.

The gray wolf only did so because she was more worried about her child than killing me. She went to the pup and continued licking him. He was much more alert now, though still shivering. “Mom! Mom, he s-s-saved me.” The pup stuttered excitedly.

The gray wolf looked to me for confirmation and I nodded slightly. The larger wolf, who was mostly creamy white except for a stripe of black ticking that ran from her nose to her tail, looked down at me with a smirk. Confused, I looked back up at her, not wanting to move yet. If I had wandered into their territory, I was dead, drowning child or not.

“You saved a pup you did not know?” She asked me.

I was surprised when I found it hard to talk, and not because I was fearing for my life. Along with all of my limbs, my mouth also seemed to be frozen. “I wasn’t g-going to let him d-drown.” I muttered in response, keeping my eyes averted.

“Well get up. You’re going to freeze if you just lie there.” She continued, sounding amused.

In surprise, I glanced up at her and saw she was wearing a kind smile. Feeling I was at least safe for now, I staggered to my feet, finding my muscles almost too drained to hold me up. I tried to shake off again, but nearly fell over in the process. If I had the strength, I would have jumped when I found the white wolf leaning against my shoulder to hold me up. She was about my size, maybe a little smaller. It was hard to tell, hunched over as I was, but she was strong.

“You need to walk around. It will help warm you.” She said, continuing to support me even as I started to move around unsteadily on my numb legs.

The gray wolf was focusing solely on her pup, now curling around him to help warm him up with her own body heat, but I spotted the pup poking his head out to watch me.

“So, what brings you out here? I was unaware there were any packs nearby.” The creamy wolf asked in a cheery tone.

“Uh… I’m not from a pack.” I responded, my tongue still feeling thick in my mouth. “If I trespassed, I’m sorry. I came in during the storm and didn’t realize-.”

“Oh, you’re fine. These lands are beyond our borders. The only reason we’re out here is because River is too adventurous for his own good.”

“The pup is named River?” I asked, managing a smile.

“Fitting, right?” She grinned in return. “We called him that originally because of his endless movement as a newborn, but his puppyhood name may become permanent after this. And what is your name?”

“B-Balto.” I answered through gritted teeth. The feeling was just barely starting to return to my limbs, but rather than alleviating the pain, it just intensified it. It felt as though fire was crawling down my legs.

“Keep moving.” She encouraged, nudging me along with her head. “Balto, huh? I’ve never heard of it. What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” I gasped, stopping as I tripped over my numb paws.

“Sakari.” The gray wolf appeared beside us, her pup walking at her feet. “We should head back. The others will be worried. You,” She looked at me and gave a short nod as if in appreciation- at least that’s what I hoped it was-, “you will come with us.”

She didn’t really state is as a request, but as more of a command, so I wasn’t sure if I had the right to decline. She continued on without waiting for a response anyways.

The white wolf tapped me with her nose. “You heard her, let’s go.”

“But…I-.” I wasn’t sure what the problem was aside from my body being half painfully numb and half feeling like it was being eaten alive by tiny fanged creatures.

“Balto, right? You have no pack. The alpha female just accepted you into ours. I don’t see the conflict here. Besides, you’re shaking so hard, I don’t think you’ll last much longer on your own.”

I couldn’t argue with her there. “Okay…thank you.”

“Of course. We owe you.” She smiled.

I wasn’t traveling very fast as each step felt like millions of barbs piercing my legs, but the cream-colored wolf stayed by my side the whole time, keeping me upright when I stumbled. The gray wolf and her pup weren’t moving quickly either, held back by his tiny legs and the deep snow.

“So,” I started, finally feeling like I could speak normally, “what was your name again?”

“Sakari.” She answered. “I didn’t get to finish my question. Where does your name come from?”

I hesitated, unsure how my human connection would come across to the wolves. “It was given to me.”

“As are all our names.” She teased.

“By humans, I mean.”

Her reaction was completely unexpected. She tilted her head in shock, looked at me and smiled. “Really? So you lived with humans?” She asked excitedly.

“No.” I answered simply, not because I didn’t want to answer, but because the feeling had now traveled down my leg and was just reaching my left front paw, and it didn’t feel good to say the least.

Sakari stopped, and as I was leaning on her, I was forced to stop as well.  She looked down at our tracks and noticed the blood trail I was leaving. “It’s fine.” I said before she could ask. “It’s from a few days ago.”

“And it hadn’t healed?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “Someone hasn’t been resting much. I assume you’ve come from far away?”

I smirked. “Why should I respond when you seem to already have all the answers?” I teased.

“Alright then. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but putting all of what I see together, you’re running from something.” She caught my eyes and I looked away. “You don’t have to tell, but know that you are welcome with us, Balto, no matter what it is.”

I offered a grateful smile.

A short time later, we came upon what looked like their den site. The gray wolf was already there, watching her pup enthusiastically reuniting with a tawny colored sibling. There were only two other wolves there. One was a lean wolf, so elderly her dark markings had taken on a blue-ish hue. The other was a large gray-brown male with cream markings. He rose from his sitting place to greet us first.

“Sakari, who is this?”

“This is Balto. He rescued River from the…River. Balto, this is my brother, Akiak.”

I stopped leaning on his sister and unsteadily stood as he walked over to meet me. He stood only slightly taller than me at the shoulder, but held his head high as he cautiously sniffed at me. “So what is he doing here?” He asked, addressing his sister instead of me.

“Miki requested it. He did save her son. We should try to repay the favor, don’t you think?” She asked pointedly.

The large wolf crumbled under his sister’s glare. “Sure, why not?” He muttered as he slunk back to his perch on a rock above the den.

“Don’t mind him.” Sakari assured me. “He’s just mad that he got left behind on the hunt. Come on, I want you to meet Michelo.” She took off toward the old wolf who had been watching us, but remained lying on a patch of snow in the sunlight. I slowly followed, now sporting an annoying limp.

“Michelo.” Sakari lowered her head to greet the elderly female. “This is Balto. He saved River.”

Michelo looked up at me with soft gray eyes. “We can never repay your kindness, Atka.”

“Balto.” I corrected, offering a nervous smile.

She just smiled contentedly back at me.

I looked at Sakari anxiously. Something about the old wolf made my insides shift uncomfortably. Being here in a pack of unknown wolves already had me on edge, but this old female just topped it off.

“Come on,” Sakari offered, “You’re still shaking.” She led me over to where another streak of sunlight broke through the trees and landed on a patch of sparkling snow. I happily lay down with my legs under me. My body immediately thanked me for the break and I almost fell asleep right there, forgetting my anxiety almost completely. Before I could, though, I felt Sakari sidle up next to me and lay her head across my back. “Gotta warm you up.” She explained. “Don’t get any ideas.” She added, and I could hear the grin in her voice.

I smiled to myself, reminded of the very same gesture Boris had offered me only a couple of nights before. It was amazing to me that mere hours ago, I had been hopeless, helpless and homeless, and then these wolves had come along and changed it. My heart still ached for home, but this definitely helped to dull the pain. Just before I drifted off into an exhausted sleep, I started to wonder if it was worth it to go back, but immediately dispelled the idea as my dreams filled with images of the two females I had left back in Nome.

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A/N: Please leave a comment!