Hokee continued to stare at Achak for quite a long time, before looking away to think harder. What should he do? Did they expect him to answer now? Achak probably wanted to be on his way, so poor Hokee felt pretty rushed. But he just didn't know what to do.

On one hand he had a family of wolves who went through so much to take care of him and accept him. He even started feeling like Achak's son for the first time...

On the other hand, he had his real father, someone he had been yearning to meet his entire life. Someone who would take care of him no matter what. He even had new friends here. And the humans would take care of him too...

But the pack helped him when he was sick. And he had old friends there who he loved very much. But he almost didn't last at that time... What could he do? What should he do?

Balto wanted to speak, but for now just watched, between glances at Achak, and the young Hokee who clearly looked unsure about answering. But who could blame the poor pup when his alpha was staring at him expectantly with sharp blue eyes. With a sympathetic sigh, the hybrid's maroon eyes glanced then to that of his blonde friend Kaltag beside him, who was surprisingly quiet, watching as well, but glanced back at Balto with a small smile at the look. But then suddenly the Chinook's head shot up, ears going erect, grinning.

"Hey, I just thought of a great idea! Its the greatest, the most stupendous--"

"Kaltag. We get it." The brown hybrid chuckled, snapping the dog out of his ranting.

"Right, right. So, how about Hokee stay a few days here in town and get to know things? That way, he can have the time to decide, and have some fun." The blonde, brown patched chinook glanced to Balto first, who thought about it briefly, before smiling.

"I think you've got a plan there. He'll be safe with all of us in town, the humans and all the dogs. I'm sure he'd make a lot of friends too. That way you and Hokee could get to know each other some more as well." Both then looked to Achak, followed by Hokee.

Hokee seemed to like the idea. That way he'd have more time to think things over himself. "Is that... okay, Achak?"

The wolf looked from Balto to Hokee when he spoke, gave a light sigh, and nodded. The pack would be wondering where he would be if he were a day or two late, but then again they did make good time getting to Nome in the first place. It was for the best.

Hokee smiled and felt he had to restrain himself from nuzzling Achak in thanks. Balto smiled as well at him.

"Well, that's that!" Kaltag replied, looking down at his son. "Are you ready for your first tour of the town, Hokee?" The pup wagged his tail and yipped in affirmation, and the two made their way down the plank and towards the town.

Achak watched the two go, with a rather emotionless face, then turned to Balto who was staring at him. They had a staring contest for a few moments before Balto offered to catch him some fish to eat.

At that the wolf snorted. "I can catch my own meal." he stated, turning then towards the water to do so. He'd caught fish plenty of times before. The alpha did not need another to feed him, and a hybrid at that.

~~~

Hokee was so excited, he didn't know what to do with himself as they made the walk to Nome, running around, through Kaltag's legs, seeming to be full of energy again. He'd never been in a town before! He wondered what he'd see there. Maybe he should ask?

"What's in a town? Are there other dogs?" all Hokee had known before this was the pack and wolves. Such a different life style than what he was about to be introduced to.

Kaltag gave Hokee a tour of the place like he said he would, giving every little detail about every dog and place, and Hokee grasped every word. This place was incredible, and all of the dogs seemed so friendly. There were even a few his own age.

"Hey, Kaltag!" called a rather nasally high-pitched voice. Hokee turned his head and saw a lanky grey dog with huge blue eyes. Coming up next to him was a pudgey brown dog.

"Hey Nikki, Star!" Kaltag said, smiling rather proudly next to Hokee.

"Who's this familiar looking kid?" Nikki asked, smirking. Just then from behind Nikki peeked a red and brown husky pup that caught Hokee's eye. He looked older than Hokee, but appeared just as friendly as the other dogs. The two boys wagged their tails.

"This is Hokee, guys. Believe it or not, he's my son!"

Star and Nikki looked at Kaltag in surprise, then to each other, and then to Hokee. They both seemed equally as happy as they were astonished at this coincidence.

Kaltag took a deep breath. This would definitely need some explaining, but now wouldn't be the best time. He'd tell Hokee about his mother when it was more appropriate. "Why don't we all go to the boiler room and I'll explain it there." Kaltag suggested.

Along the way, Hokee decided to make himself acquainted with the older pup. He wondered why they shouldn't be friends seeing as his own father and the pup's father were friends too.

"I'm Hokee!" he introduced as the adults walked behind them. "What's your name?"

"I'm Summer." the pup said, smiling. He unofficially took the role of leading everyone to the boiler room. Which was fine by everyone, Summer knew where he was going.

The five dogs were the only ones in the boiler room, thankfully. Kaltag spent most of the time explaining to Nikki what he had explained to Balto and Achak. Star was off playing with the pups and really didn't have the attention span for the whole story anyway.

"That's really somethin', pal." Nikki said.

"I know." Kaltag strugged. "So, Achak decided to give Hokee a few days to decide on what he wants to do."

The husky nodded and paused. "What are you going to do if he decides to go back?"

The chinook frowned as he watched his son play. Deep down, he didn't want to lose the son he'd always wanted. The son he just met and loved. He didn't ever want to give him up. "..I don't know." Being speechless was starting to become a bad habit for the poor dog

Once in the other room, Hokee padded up to Summer again, eager to ask questions. He had to know what it was like here in town with humans and dogs, and what they did and how they lived. It already looked so much different from what the pack did out in the wild.

"Hey, so whats it like living here anyway? What do you do for fun? I've never been near a town until now, I was living out in the forest with my pack.." saying 'his pack' was so common to the blonde pup, he didn't even notice it would probably seem odd and bring up questions for him from the older dog. Which really, he wouldn't mind answering anyway. Hokee loved the pack, everything about it. This place was pretty cool too, just different if anything. "Never been around any dogs either until now... Achak told me Kiona was half dog, but all wild..."

Mention of Kiona made the brown eye-patched hybrid to pause a moment, sighing a bit. It was still hard to remember she was gone...

Summer was pretty confused when Hokee started rambling. He noticed the pup's mood switch at the thought of someone who was obviously close to him, but he changed the subject back to Hokee's questions.

"Well, its nice here. There's lots to do! Me and my friends have fun just running around and playing with the human pups." Summer explained happily.

"Humans have pups?" Hokee asked, hopeful that they were just as fun as Nayeli, Tonrar, and Hinto. Just the same Hokee was starting to feel more at home already.

"Yeah! They're very tall, and like petting us. Whats it like living in a pack? Isn't it scary?"

"Nope! I play with all of the pack, even the adults, when they don't leave us to hunt. But then they bring back a big deer for us to eat. Its really tasty. Tho, it does get pretty cold outside... I got sick once, but I got better!" he assured him. As enthusiastic Hokee was about his life in the pack, it just didn't sound as glamorous as Summer's life in Nome.

To both of them, life as a dog here was very much made, but Hokee still enjoyed living in the wild. Summer said that many of the adult dogs here didn't like playing with pups their age, and that seemed very strange to Hokee. But at least there /were/ plenty of pups their age, and Hokee met a handful of them on the tour. But comparing them to Nayeli, Tonrar, and Hinto, it made him miss them already, even tho he'd only been gone for a couple days.


The remainder of the day was spent playing around town with the other younger dogs, until it was getting dark and they all had to make their ways to their respectable homes. Thankfully the other pups hadn't been too judgmental about his wolf side, only a bit unsure at first. It had been a lot of fun playing the games, some he knew, like hide and seek, to new ones. He could teach them to Hinto, Tonrar and Nayeli when he got back!
Hokee walked with Summer to his home's front door, where his mother was sitting in wait for her son to arrive. She smiled as they walked up.

"Who's your new friend? I don't remember seeing him around..." Summer turned from his parent to Hokee then, smiling.

"Hokee, he's new around here." Hokee smile as the older dog looked to him, his tail wagging a bit.

"Oh, well, welcome to Nome Hokee. I hope you like it so far and make friends." The blonde pup smiled more at that.

"Thanks, I'm already having tons of fun! I should probably be getting back though, someone's waiting for me... goodnight!" Turning, he bounded off down the street. Summer had given him a good tip about finding the boiler room from just about anywhere in town. Just look for the steam rising into the sky. Doing so, it didn't take him long to get back, panting from the run. But Hokee liked running, he often raced with Tonrar and Hinto for fun. They used to always beat him, but as he had grown and gotten stronger, he was able to keep up atleast. Maybe if he practiced, he could beat them one day.

Kaltag was sitting at the door to the room, probably waiting for him. The blonde chinook smiled widely as he saw the younger hybrid bound up, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted.

"Did you run all the way here kid?" Hokee nodded, tail wagging. But the moment was broken as a wide yawn stretched along his muzzle. "Haha, long day huh? About ready to turn in for the night? Everyone else is already inside, come on..."

"Watch out, incoming!" a loud high pitched giggle was all other warning they got, just barely able to scramble away from the door, Hokee ducking to the floor, as two dogs leapt over him laughing as they bound the rest of the way in, before stopping and turning. Kaltag, recovering, frowned, clearly not liking the entrance.

"Are you two nuts?!" One of the dogs, the one of the two that Hokee recognized as Star, had the sense to smile and chuckle nervously, apologetically.

"Eheh, sorry. We were running too fast to stop. Estee wanted to race." Hokee then glanced to the other dog, who was clearly ready for more running, as she danced back and forth on her paws around Star, giggling.

"I won!" But then as she paused, getting a glance at Hokee, blinked, tilting her head to the side. "Who are you?" she beamed, padding over energetically, dropping her front legs down in front of the blonde hybrid. "You're sure a cutie. Oh! are you Hokee? Start told me you!" The younger laughed. This dog sure was friendly! A bit hard to understand, as she talked funny, but he liked her already.

"Uh-huh! You must be Estee! I just heard your name though." The female laughed again at that, her butt wagging in the air before straightening again. "You like racing?"

"Well someone has to keep all these guys in shape for sledding. Well, atleast Star." Kaltag snorted at that.

"Hokee don't listen to her, she's french..." Hokee blinked. What was french? Estee just giggled again and stuck out her tongue playfully, going back to Star and bumping him with her body. Kaltag gave them a look. "We came to settle down you two..." Star chuckled again.

"I know, we did too." Glancing around the room, the Klee Kai smiled as he spotted his friend Name over in one of the corners. "Well, night then Kaltag, Hokee." Kaltag just grumbled, as Hokee replied, watching the two walk away. The brown patched hybrid followed the Chinook to his usual spot next, laying down with a sigh, but smiled over at the pup.

"So you having fun?" Yawning again, feeling more and more sleepy by the second, Hokee nodded, laying down as well with a tired slump. He hoped tomorrow would be just as good. He would have so much to tell to Achak and the pack when he got back.

The black and silver wolf woke up before the sun the next morning. Balto was rather curious yesterday about his grandchildren, so he told him about them. It seemed to relieve the wolf hybrid the loss of his daughter. But Achak had more important matters now. He paid his respects, now he had something else to worry about.

He hoped Hokee was okay here. He hoped the dogs treated him fairly. He knew that Kiona was not so fortunate with her time here, but if Kaltag knew what was good for him, he'd make sure no harm came to Hokee.

Not long after the sun rose, he saw Hokee and Kaltag making their way back to Balto's boat. The two seemed happy enough, so things must have gone well. This was good.

"Achak!" the blonde pup laughed. "You won't believe how many dogs I met yesterday! They were all so nice! I know you don't like dogs, but they really liked me." He knew Achak didn't like rambling, so he summed up some of the more fun dogs he met, even some that were his age. He even told them about everything they did that day and how much fun he had, and how the humans even fed him some meat. "I can't wait to tell the others. They're gonna be thrilled."

"Heheh, he seems pretty excited to tell his stories to everyone." Kaltag mentioned.

Achak smiled at the pup, not taking much note to the dog's comment.

"I'm sure they will be." the wolf said, standing up.

Hokee then turned to his father and smiled. "I'm glad I finally met you... Dad." He nuzzled his face into Kaltag's chest. He looked down at his son and smiled back, patting his back softly with his large paw.

"I'm glad I finally met you too, Hokee." Kaltag licked Hokee's head. He was taking it easier than he thought he would. But he was more than glad to have finally met his son. The one he and Kayiya made together. It was nice knowing that his bloodline would continue in the future. It would be in the wild, but he was still happy. He would never take this reunion for granted. "You take care alright?" Achak rolled his eyes.

The blonde pup nodded and scampered back over to the black wolf. "I'm ready to go now."

Achak shook his head. "You're staying here, Hokee."

"What? Really? For how long? When will I be going back?"

"You won't be returning."

Hokee stared up at him, is eyes getting larger. He wasn't going back? "W-Why!"

"Life will be better for you here. You'll be safe from the weather and you won't have to worry about surviving."

"But... I..." he wanted to object. He knew he shouldn't talk back to Achak, but he wanted to go back to his family. He was happy to find his father and meet new friends. And yes, he would be sad to leave them, but he would miss the pack as well. They took care of him from the beginning.

Balto started. "Achak, are you sure about--"

The wolf sternly looked at him, as a means to say to not question what he was doing. Achak looked back down at Hokee, giving him a stern look as well. That he had already made up his mind and the pup would not be going back to live in the wild for his own good. His life would be better here. He had friends and his father and would be protected and sheltered by him. He would not have to worry about hunting for food or illness or freezing to death.

Hokee looked down in defeat, his sniffed back a few tears and walked forward to nuzzle Achak. But the wolf just pulled away.

"Take care of him," He said to the chinook, then nodding to Balto and taking his leave. Hokee scurried after him, but had to stop because he couldn't jump from that high off the boat. He watched until the black wolf was long gone into the white of the snow.

~~~

It took a couple days travel, but Achak finally retired to his territory, all the while not even letting himself think about leaving Hokee behind. Upon his return, the pack actually greeted him before he even reached the cave. They were as happy as ever to see him, a few already noticing that Hokee was not with him. Olathe and Ayashi already began to worry if Hokee actually hadn't gone with Achak and disappeared elsewhere. If that were the case he'd have been gone for a few days without them even knowing he was safe.

"You don't know where he could be, Achak?" his mother asked.

"No, I know where he is--"

Hinto spoke up. "Nayeli told me he was sneaking off with you."

He nodded. He explained to everyone that Hokee did in fact follow him when he left to pay his respects to Kiona's father. And that while they were there they found out who Hokee's father was. He explained how Hokee was having a good time there and seemed to fit in nicely, to assure everyone that he would be okay. All the while, Nayeli was standing off to the side, with the most devastated look on her face.

Kanook nodded. "Well, I'm glad he--"

"You made him stay!?" Nayeli growled stomping up to her father, glaring up at him. "Why did you do that!"

Achak stared down at his daughter. How could she just yell at him like that? She knew it was for the best. "It was--"

"I didn't even get to say good-bye! I.... I hate you!" with a snarl she ran through the rest of the pack and past the cave, leaving a speckled trail of tears behind her.