‘ Gotta be careful of humans. They can hurt, a lot. I know that.’ He said as he started walking again.

‘ Then why do you have one?’ Lisa asked.

‘ I only have one to survive, but when I was a pup, I didn’t need one.’ Rex answered.

‘ Why?’ She asked.

‘ I had a lot more spirit and confidence back then, but ever since the race I’ve lost it all, but then I had your mother and she helped me.’ Rex answered.

‘ Which reminds me, why are we going to mom’s?’ Lisa asked.

‘ You ask a lot of questions. We’re going because I need to check on her and you don’t see your mother much.’ Rex answered.

‘ I see her everyday and I don’t like going to her home. I swear Tabatha hates me.’ Lisa protested.

‘ You’re just different.’ Rex said as he walked towards Soul's home.

‘ I take after mom. How can I be different?’ Lisa asked.

‘ Believe me…you don’t take after your mother.’ Rex said as he climbed through a dog door with Lisa behind.

‘ Hi Rex. You okay?’ Soul asked as she nuzzled Rex.

‘ Yeah, but I had to bring miss I-ask-a-lot-of-questions,’ Rex said as Lisa went over to a window. ‘ When should we tell her?’

‘ When the right time comes. Hopefully she’ll do the same thing as Nita.’ Soul whispered.

‘ How is that good? Look, I have to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow evening.’ Rex said as he nuzzled Soul. She nuzzled back as Lisa stared out the window. She stared at a puppy and its human, she thought of the life that she could’ve had if a human picked her up. Rex then pulled her back to the real world and outside Soul’s house.

‘ What are we doing today?’ Lisa asked.

‘ I’m gonna pick Brendan up and take you somewhere nice.’ Rex answered as he went over to a house two doors down from his mothers place.

‘ I wandered when you were gonna show up! How’s things with you and Soul?’ Brendan asked as he came from inside his house.

‘ I told you, we’re perfectly fine. We’ve had 5 pups and one of my daughters has moved away.’ Rex said.

‘ Right. I forgot, so we going to the secret place today?’ Brendan asked as he followed Rex and Lisa.

‘ I’m bringing Lisa.’ Rex answered.

‘ Are you sure? I mean don’t you think…?’ Brendan asked as if he knew that Rex knew what he was talking about. Rex ignored his question and ran to the outskirts of town with Lisa and Brendan following. He led them to a small clearing in the forest, which had a small river with gentle currents. Lisa gasped as she stared around her, she had never been in the forest before and she wondered why her dad brought her here.

‘ If there’s two dogs here then we can keep an eye on you and since Nita moved, it’s been easier to keep an eye on you.’ Rex said as he walked over to a large, flat rock.

‘ Thanks dad. You’re the best!’ Lisa said as she ran over to the stream.

‘ Yeah. She’ll take it a lot easier when she finds out.’ Rex breathed as his friend and daughter played together. Rex then closed his eyes and fell asleep…

‘ You must learn to accept the truth… as it will set your daughter’s wolf spirit free, like the wind…’

Rex then heard a distant howling as the wind blew as if there were wolves’ travelling faster than it.

‘ I’ve learnt to accept, but she’ll be hurt too badly if I tell her too soon. Saying goodbye to Nita was bad enough. Maybe we’ll see each other in a year… if only I could stop the world, I would make this last… sometimes goodbye even though it’s the hardest thing to say, is the only way for destiny and it may hurt in the heart, but it was the only way for her and me. I don’t think that I can let anyone go just after what happened to Nita. I just can’t…’ Rex whispered.

He then opened his eyes and found Brendan staring at him with big hazel eyes.

‘ You okay? You looked like that you were having a nightmare or was it about Nita again?’ He asked as Rex stood up and jumped off the rock. He nodded and Brendan went back to Lisa as he heard rustling from the bushes. Rex lifted his head and listened closely, he heard feet and clicking. Suddenly he ran over to Lisa and Brendan and started growling at the shadows.

‘ Dad? There’s nothing there, it’s just…’ Lisa started, but she was interrupted by the appearance of a hunter. He was holding a gun that was aimed at her!

‘ Brendan, get Lisa to the house quickly. I’ll hold the hunter off and I’ll see you back in town.’ Rex said quickly. Brendan knew that he and Lisa were in trouble, but she didn’t. She still ran away with Brendan though. Rex faced the hunter as he still took aim at Lisa.

‘ I’m gonna get that white coat before I die.’ The hunter said as Rex jumped at him and bit his leg. The hunter yelled in pain as he fell and hit his head on Rex’s rock. Rex ran away as the hunter looked at his scar.

‘ Don’t mess with me, I’ve fought wolverine and they don’t scare me.’ Rex whispered as he looked back at the hunter and then ran towards Brendan and Lisa. They quickly ran home leaving no trace behind them. Once Brendan got back home, Lisa went to her bed and lay down. Rex went over to his food bowl and ate like a pig.

‘ Why did that human attack us? And why did you attack him? What if he just used that gun to scare you and Brendan away while he considered adopting me?’ Lisa asked. She had always been the smart one, but this time, she didn’t sound so smart.

‘ Humans don’t use guns like that. They use them to kill and it was my instinct to protect you from him. We should go to your mothers house.’ Rex said as he walked towards the door. Lisa sighed and followed him to her mother’s bright house. Soul was in the window as if she had been waiting for them. The father and daughter walked into the house as Soul greeted them again.

‘ Don’t worry. My human has gone shopping,’ Soul led Rex away from Lisa. ‘ What’s wrong?’

‘ We met a hunter in the woods and he wanted Lisa’s white coat. We managed to get away, but now she’s got more questions than ever about it.’ Rex answered.

‘ You should handle this. If you want me to step in then I will.’ Soul said. Rex then walked over to Lisa and they faced each other.

‘ Lisa, the hunter attacked us because he wanted your fur as he thought that it was white…wolf fur.’ Rex said. Lisa then gave him an angry look.

‘ But I’m not a wolf.’ She protested.

‘ Well, actually you’re part wolf.’ Rex said slowly.

‘ Part wolf?! How?’ Lisa asked as she stared at her father.

‘ Well, I’m only part wolf, but your mother’s half and half. You see, my mother is really Dakoda, daughter of Balto and Jenna and your mother’s mom was a husky called Isabella who had pups with a wolf called Howler and Isabella’s dead,’ Rex explained.

‘ When I was old enough to be adopted, I wasn’t because I looked like a wolf pup and when I went to a concert, I found out the truth and that’s how your mother and I met.’

Lisa dropped her jaw slightly, but her eyes had anger and sorrow inside them as she sat down to listen to the tale. Soul then stepped forward while Rex stepped back.

‘ Before I was born, there was a famine and my mother escaped White Mountain and went into the forest for food. There she met Howler who was alpha of the Lunar pack. When the famine was over, my mother went back and after that I was born with my siblings, but after that my mother died so I went to Howler who rejected me and I told him that mom died and he went crazy and tried to kill me, but your uncle Joseph saved me by telling me to escape to Nome where I met your father. I was lucky to meet him though as he is a miracle wolf dog.’ Soul explained.

‘ How?’ Lisa asked.

‘ When I fell out he sled, I found an outcast wolf and a pack of Rebellion wolves and one of them was Diamond, daughter of Cloud and Trisha. I then risked my life to save your mother, but I thought that I failed when she came back. I took Diamond back to Nome to meet Cloud without Trisha as she died of a broken heart.’ Rex explained as he once again remembered all those times.

‘ But, how can I look like a wolf? I’m white and lots of huskies are white and you said that I take after Mom.’ Lisa said.

‘ No. I said that you didn’t. You actually take after your great great grandmother, Aniu, the legendary white wolf.’ Rex replied.

‘ Great! I look like my wolf ancestor! Neither dog nor human’ll ever accept me! I’m going home so don’t follow me.’ Lisa shouted. She then stomped out the door and once she was gone Soul started crying.

‘Don’t worry. She’ll forgive us. I promise and I mean it.’ Rex whispered as he nuzzled Soul.

‘ She’s gonna run away like any other wolf dog would. We must be Nome’s worst parents.’ Soul said as her tears went down her face and stained her beautiful white fur, turning light grey. She nuzzled Rex like she was never going to nuzzle him again.

‘ Come, stop your crying, it will be alright
Just take my paw, hold it tight
It’ll be alright…’ Rex sang quietly as he nuzzled back.

‘ It’s happening all over again…I just wish that we could turn back the hands of time, then everything would be okay. Why…?’ Soul asked as she tried to hold the tears back, but they overpowered her.

‘ I don’t know, I just don’t know. I wish I did though, but she can’t keep me locked out the house. I should see how she’s doing.’ Rex said as he gave Soul a last nuzzle before he left. He then walked out the dog door and over to his house. Once he was inside, Lisa was nowhere to be seen or heard.

****

On the borders of town, Lisa ran beside the ocean waves thinking of all the lies that her parents told her and her siblings.

‘ I know why Dad never let Nita and me into the forest because he didn’t want us to revert back to our wolf selves, but he did.  I just wish that he told us sooner…’ Lisa breathed as her tears also took over. She then stopped and howled loudly with much sorrow. She then saw a figure in the horizon and walked over to it. Once she was closer, she saw a creature that she thought that she would never see: a pure wolf. It has claw marks across its dark brown snout, neck and a rip in its right ear. Its entire body was dark brown except for its legs that were half light brown. Lisa only had one thought in her wolf dog mind: get it to safety. Without a second thought, she dragged it over to the mine shack that she used to play in when she was a pup. There was no blankets or anything soft in the shack except for herself, so she huddled herself closer to the wolf and shared her warmth with it.

The next day…

The wolf still hadn’t woken up and Lisa had nearly given up hope for it surviving. She hadn’t moved from its side since she found it and her parent’s thought that she had run away, but they didn’t go looking for her as Rex felt that she was still around town.

Near noon, Lisa was still sleeping with hopes going through her head. A strong wind them blew against the shack walls and woke Lisa up, but it also woke the wolf up too. It opened an eye and saw Lisa standing above him.

‘ Aniu…?’ A male voice coming from the wolf asked.

‘ Um…no. I’m her great great granddaughter: Lisa, daughter of Rex and Soul and granddaughter of Fang and Dakoda also known as Fly. How did you end up on the beach?’ Lisa asked as she sat down and watched the wolf sit up.

‘ Well, I can’t remember much, but I’ll tell you what I can remember. My pack was under attack of a grizzly bear and I had to protect my father who was alpha of the pack. In the process, I managed to bring down the bear, but it was by a river, which I fell into. I remember just barely, that my half brother tried to save me, but was stopped by my mother, Bramble who had eyes like crystals and soft light brown fur that matched her gentle voice. My half brother was called Firepaw and has a very dark past…which we don’t talk about. Thanks for saving me though.’ He said.

‘ What’s your name?’ Lisa asked.

‘ Shain. Soon to be alpha of the Wind pack. We travel with the wind and sometimes, it brings us back, but only if we’re close to it like me.’ He explained.

‘ What was your half brother like?’ Lisa asked wanting to know more about his family.

 ‘ A brother I guess, but he was found before I was born so I don’t know much about him except for his secrets.’ Shain said as he struggled to stand up on all fours. Lisa helped him and noticed that he had a silver bracelet on his front right leg and started wondering. Once Shain had the strength, he walked outside with Lisa and she led him to Nome.

 ‘ You should see my dad first. He’ll know what to do.’ Lisa said as she and Shain walked down the streets of Nome. The townsfolk stared as they walked past their homes, thinking that wolves were invading, but Lisa and Shain ignored them as they approached Rex’s house. Inside Soul and Rex sat beside each other by a burning fire until Lisa and Shain walked through the door as the wind blew the fire out.

 ‘ Dad?’ Lisa asked.

 ‘ Lisa? Is that you?’ Rex asked. He and Soul then turned their heads towards Lisa and ran up to her faster than a roadrunner.

 ‘ I thought that you’d run away.’ Soul said as she and Rex nuzzled Lisa. As Rex nuzzled Lisa, Shain noticed his scar and thought what to him could be the impossible. Rex then noticed that Lisa had brought a guest.

‘ You brought a friend?’ Rex asked as he stopped nuzzling Lisa.

‘ Yeah. He’s why I came to you. He says that he’s part of the Wind pack and the alpha’s son.’ Lisa explained as she showed Shain to her parents.

 ‘ Hi. I’m Shain and I just wanted to ask, but are you the Rex?’ Shain asked as he faced Rex.

‘ Well, yeah. I am. The one that defeated Zack and a wolverine, saved my mate by going over a waterfall and brought two dogs back together.’ Rex answered with a questioning look on his face.

‘ It’s an honour to meet you. I’ve heard so many things about you and all the packs fear you…it’s just amazing how a wolf like your…’ Shain stammered quickly.

‘ I’m not a wolf!’ Rex snapped.

‘ Word of advice: never call a wolf dog a pure wolf.’ Lisa whispered to Shain.

‘ Rex!’ Soul said just before Rex attacked Shain.

‘ I’m very sorry Rex, but all the packs say that you’re a pure wolf that lives at the edge of the forest and sometimes with humans.’ Shain explained as Rex sat next to Soul.

‘ Well, they’re wrong. Except for the Thunder pack, I know that they’re good because…’ Rex began, but was stopped by his memories of Nita.

‘ I’m gonna go and find a place for Shain to stay for the night.’ Lisa said as her dad turned away and lay down. Shain left the house with Lisa and once again led him somewhere else.

Midnight…

Shain and Lisa were sleeping on Balto’s boat since he was at Jenna’s. Suddenly Shain woke up to the sound of distant howling. He quickly stood up and ran to the bow of the boat, listened carefully and howled back.

‘ I’ll be coming home, but with a visitor.’ Shain thought as he stared at a sleeping Lisa.

Dawn…

Lisa woke up and looked around. She wasn’t on the boat anymore; she was in an empty cave. She stood up and walked outside the cave and into a clearing in the forest!

‘ How did I end up here?’ Lisa thought as she saw three pups playing with each other. She also saw four more wolves talking to each other by a large rock that looked like her father’s in the other clearing. Shain walked over to Lisa as she looked at her surroundings.

‘ Have a good sleep?’ Shain asked as Lisa walked to the centre of the clearing and stared at a piece of sky.

‘ Yeah, until I came here last night.’ Lisa answered as the wind blew against her.

‘ Shain has a little girlfriend.’

‘ Firepaw!’ Shain shouted. He turned to see a black wolf with dark brown spots over his eyes and a red scar in the shape of two moons crossing each other on his chest and on his snout. He had a black and brown tail that matched his legs.

‘ Hi. I’m Lisa, daughter of Rex and Soul and great great granddaughter of Aniu.’ Lisa said as she walked towards Firepaw, but he walked past her and ran towards a range of mountains in the distance.

‘ You’ve met Firepaw. I’ll introduce you to my parents.’ Shain said as he led Lisa over to the wolves that he was talking to. Lisa recognized his mother from his description and his father was brown with a black underbelly, but had a huge scar across his eye that made him half blind.

‘ You must be Lisa. The wolf dog that looks like Aniu. I’m Bramble and my mate here is One Eye.’ Bramble said as she and One Eye walked towards her.

‘ We wanted to thank you for saving Shain. He’s our only real son.’ One Eye said. Lisa then pulled Shain towards the cave. Once they were inside, Lisa started asking questions.

‘ Why did you bring me here?’ Lisa asked.

‘ I was called back to my pack and I decided to bring my savior with me.’ Shain answered. Lisa then went back outside, but Shain stayed inside. She walked over to Bramble who was sitting on the giant rock.

‘ Bramble? Can I talk to you?’ Lisa asked. Bramble then jumped off the rock and over to Lisa. ‘ Why has Shain got a silver bracelet on his front right leg?’

‘ That’s a long story, but I’ve got the time. When Shain was a few weeks old, Man came to the forest looking for wolves to kill. I managed to get Firepaw and One Eye into safety, but I left Shain on his own and Man took him away to a place called White Mountain and one of them gave Shain to his daughter and she raised him as a puppy, but he never forgot about us and every time a storm came, he would try to escape with the wind, but his human kept him back. One day, when Shain was about 11 months old, his human gave him his bracelet and released him as he was too wolf for a pet. Shain managed to get home with everyone waiting for him.’ Bramble explained.

‘ And, what is Firepaw’s problem?’ Lisa asked.

‘ I promised that I would only tell this story if Firepaw wanted it to be told, but you’re an exception. Before I found him on his own, he was once part of the…Shadow pack. During a war between them and the River pack, Firepaw ran away, but he was the best hunter in the pack so they were very mad at him when he returned. Adja said that he let everyone die for the sake of his own safety. They had a fight and Firepaw lost, but the fight gave him his scars and they’re the only part of the Shadow pack he has left.’ Bramble explained.

‘ Thanks Bramble.’ Lisa said as she walked away leaving Bramble to resume to her activities.

****

‘ She’s run away again?!’ Soul shouted as she sat in front of Rex.

‘ I checked all over town and she’s nowhere to be seen.’ Rex said as he walked up to Soul and nuzzled her.