Hope 2: Blood Ties

Alex, who has finally been accepted in Nome, is living with his friend… best friend I should say, with the man who decided to take care of both of them. Alex, after protecting the diphtheria medicine and running alongside Balto when he brought it back to save the children, after losing two of his friends… his brothers… his pack. He would venture out into the wilderness and sit upon the white, cold snow that blanketed the whole landscape. Sometimes, when he was sitting there, he would listen to all of the animals moving about, each in their own battle to survive. Sometimes, if he sat really still, the animals would approach him with caution and would investigate if Alex was a threat or not. Alex would remain as still as the dead. The animals would continue to go about their everyday tasks until Alex would get up and leave. As soon as that happened, they would dart off and disappear into the wilderness.

One day, as Alex is sitting in the same spot he normally sits in, a deer, approaching him cautiously, and finally spits out, "You're… you're not gonna hurt me, are you?"

Alex could tell that the deer was just a fawn. Alex turned his attention towards the fawn and says, "Only if you're planning on hurting me, but since you're not, then you and I have no quarrel with each other."

The fawn starts to laugh. "You're pretty funny! Hey, do you want to be friends?"

Alex smiles a nostalgic smile. "Sure. We can be friends. In fact… get behind me!"

The fawn starts to listen and hears something crashing through the trees. He turns his head and sees a large black bear charging towards him. He starts to panic and runs behind Alex for protection. Alex takes a protective stance and a menacing growl escaped his maw. The bear stops in front of Alex, leaving a distance of six feet between them, and roars. Its roar pierced the silent land and carried it off to a great distance.

Alex carefully watches the bear, apprehension overwhelming his mind. The bear suddenly charged at him. He watched the bear getting closer and closer until finally, he snapped. The bear, stunned at the fact that this… wolf, was turning into a raging demon, stopped dead in its tracks. It smacked Alex and sent him sliding across the snow. It then charged at Alex again, but he was ready. He lunged at the bear's face and dug his fangs into the bear's snout while his claws slashed at the bear's face. One of his claws struck the bear in its left eye which sent the bear into full fledged panic. It threw Alex to the ground and ran off shaking its head as it disappeared from view.

The fawn trotted towards Alex and asked with a hint of concern in his voice, "Are… are you alright?"

Alex groggily nodded his head. "I'm… I'm alrigh… I'm alright."

The fawn cocked his head at him. "You sure don't sound alright mister."

Alex nods his head. "Yeah… I'm… I'm fine. You… you don't have to worry. Just… go back to your family. We'll… meet… again someday."

The fawn starts to tear up, but reluctantly nods his head. "Okay, but we'll see each other again. Promise?"

Alex nods his head. "I promise."

Three hours later, Alex walks into his home and is greeted by his one and only pup, Alexis.

Alexis excitedly asks, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, can we play chase?! Can we?! Can we?!"

Alex starts to laugh. "Of course we can. You ready?"

She nods her head and starts to run down the hall, only to be pursued by Alex. Alex, not wanting to catch her too easily or hurting himself from a previous dilemma from earlier, is only trotting behind her. Her laughs fill his ears and he smiles for he has been devoted as a father to taking care of the pup. His mate, Alice, was on a trip to White Mountain with his owner. Alex and Kyle had the house to themselves, but they rarely stayed indoors. When they were outside, Alex let his daughter sit on top of his back so she didn't get stuck in the snow.

As Alexis was running, she tripped over her feet and slid across the ground. Alex started to run towards her, hoping that she wasn't hurt. As he approached her, she pushed herself off the ground, tears streaming from her eyes.

She looks up at her dad and says, "Daddy… I hurt my paw!"

Alex lies down and says, "Hop on sport. We'll be relaxing for the rest of the day, okay?"

"Okay daddy" says Alexis as she's nodding her head.

Alex smiles and Alexis climbs onto his back and he walks into the living room. He jumps onto the couch and lies down again. Alexis climbs off of his back and lies right next to him. She stretches her legs and just collapses from exhaustion and drifts off to sleep. Alex smiles at his daughter sleeping and he too, drifts off to sleep.

A/N: You know, I can relate to Alex. So R&R.