Chapter 6

Revelation

In the fading light, Jenna fought back a steadily increasing pain in her injured paw to get to the landlocked trawler, hoping Boris was around. She kept looking behind her to make sure that Steele was not following. It relieved her every time to not see him, or anyone for that matter. Eventually, she felt safe enough to slow herself down to prevent further damage to her paw. At the top of a snow bank, Jenna stopped to catch her breath, and caught sight of the trawler in the distance. She smiled when she saw the hazy figures of Muk and Luk playing on the beach near the boat. "Boris..." she whispered. Jenna rose to continue on. But, just as she was about to step forward off of the snow bank, a sharp pain shot through her paw, and radiated up her leg to her shoulder. She gasped in pain, and immediately took weight off of it. "Crap..." Jenna thought. She wouldn't be walking on that leg anytime soon. Fear struck her again, and she turned around to check for Steele. When she did not see him, she then limped off back towards the trawler. As she approached, she silently hoped that Muk and Luk would see her and notice something was wrong. But the two polar bears' playing led them further away from the boat. "Wonderful," Jenna said. "Oh Boris.. I hope you are there..." Despite being limited to three legs, Jenna made it to the ramp that led up onto the ship. She hurriedly ran up it, jumping the final step and sliding onto the deck.

"Boris! Boris! Where are you?! I need your help!" Jenna cried. She frantically limped across the deck, her nose actively trying to pick up his scent. When she finally caught it, the blunt thud of goose feet on wood caused her to whip around to see Boris stumbling out of the cabin. He was rubbing his eyes, indicating that he was just asleep and had woken up. "What? What is all this rattle?! Boris said in a grumpy voice. "I told you two idiot balls of fluff to keep it down-" Boris stopped talking when he saw that it was Jenna, and not Muk and Luk as he had originally thought. "Jenna? Is that you? Oh.. my.. what happened to you?" The rust and cream colored husky had wet fur on her muzzle from crying, and her injured paw tucked up by her chest. In an instant, Boris was awake and alert, and rushed over to her. "What happened?" he asked sternly. Jenna started sobbing uncontrollably as she told him everything. Boris comforted her by hugging her with one wing, and softly patting her head with the other. When Jenna got to the point where Steele advanced on her, Boris jumped up. "HE DID WHAT TO YOU?!" he yelled, thrashing his wings in anger. This caused Jenna to cry even harder. Boris was beyond mad now. Steele was up to no good, and he took things a step too far. "Jenna, I'm sorry this happened to you..." Boris said, his rage episode subsiding. Jenna sniffled several times before asking Boris to do the one thing she came here to ask him to do. "Please... *sniff* Don't let him find me *sniff* here..." Boris wasted no more time talking. He knew what he needed to do. He nodded, and took off flying low to the ground towards Nome. As he flew, the burst of air from the vertical thrust of his wings easily cleared Jenna's tracks in the snow. But much to Boris' surprise, the wind was on his side, blowing to the east. Jenna's scent would blow out of town fairly quickly, and Steele would not know where it went. "This is the one time I really wish this weather would stay the way it is," Boris muttered. Within minutes, Boris had reached the edge of Nome. Confident that he covered Jenna's tracks, he turned back, scanning the plains as he went for anything he missed. As he was about to make his final approach to the trawler's deck, he spotted three animals limping along. At first, he thought they were wolves carrying prey, as they each had something in their mouth. But, he soon recognized them to be Kaltag, Nikki, and Star, and they had a branch with something, or someone, in it. He turned sharply to meet up with them, not knowing what was in store for him when he got there.

Back at the trawler, Jenna was sitting in the cabin battling the throbbing pain in her leg. She licked it in an attempt to soothe it, but the injury was internal, and it did no good. She shut her eyes, and tried to clear her head. Everything that had happened in the last half an hour was overwhelming her, and her leg wasn't helping at all. Steele tried to take advantage of her, and she shivered at the thought of what would have happened if she hadn't escaped him. Boris was right about Steele. Something was wrong with him, and she let him take advantage of her trust. "How could I be so stupid?!" Jenna spat at herself. "I should have known that he would try something like that! Does he actually care about my genuine well being at all? "Of course he does," a voice said in her head. The same voice that convinced her to trust Steele from the start. "He promised Balto, remember?" Jenna got mad. " Oh yeah?! Well he broke his promise tonight. You clearly don't do what he tried to do if you promise to take care of someone!" "Steele never made you a promise, Jenna," a voice said, interrupting her argument. Jenna sat up in a rush, not happy to have been interrupted at that moment. She was speechless when she found herself looking at a pure white wolf standing at the doorway to the cabin. The wolf approached her, and sat down. Jenna didn't dare to do anything, but was relieved by the words that the wolf spoke to her. "I am Aniu, the great wolf spirit. I have come to bring you a message. A revelation. Release your fear, my child, for I am a friend." Seconds passed as Jenna tried to think of something to say. Aniu turned to look out the door. Jenna wondered what she was looking at. Before she could inquire about it, Aniu turned back to her. "Do you wish to know why I am here, child?" she asked. Jenna nodded slowly, trying not to sound to eager. If the great wolf spirit came to visit her, it must be a big deal, because she was a dog, and not a wolf.

"The reason why I am here is to tell you that my son, Balto, is alive, and has been rescued."

Jenna gasped, and nearly fainted. There was no way he survived. Steele and the team got back several weeks ago, and Balto would not be able to survive out there based on how Steele described his unfortunate death. "Balto's death was no accident, Jenna," Aniu said, reading her thoughts. She reached a paw out to touch Jenna's forehead, and suddenly, Jenna was at the bottom of a ravine. She battled the fierce winds around her to see her surroundings. Suddenly, a scream rang out, and Jenna looked up to see someone flying off the cliff above. Her heart stopped when she recognized that it was Balto, and she tried to jump under him to catch him. But she could not move, and was forced to watch Balto as he fell to the bottom. Right before he hit the ground, Jenna was back in the trawler's cabin, breathing extremely heavily over what she had just seen. "My son was murdered, Jenna. As I said before, his death was no accident." Jenna looked up at Aniu, tears streaming down her eyes. "But death held no claim on him, and he survived that fall." Aniu walked back to the entrance to the trawler. Sobs began taking over Jenna's body, and she was barely able to speak. But she managed to get out several words. "Who.. how...?" she croaked. Aniu sighed sadly, and once again put a paw on her forehead. This time, Jenna was in a clearing, and saw the missing dog sled team. But what really caught her attention was the clumps of grey fur, and a mix of blood and snow leading straight to the edge of the cliff, where Steele and Balto were. When she finally realized what had happened there, Steele slipped the bandanna off of Balto's neck and spun around, delivering a hard kick to Balto's chest. She watched in horror as he was sent over the edge. The same scream rang out from her vision before, and Jenna shut her eyes, begging Aniu to make the vision stop. Not wanting to cause anymore distress to Jenna, she obliged, and in an instant they were back in the cabin. Jenna tried desperately to hold back the full on crying she wanted to give in to. Aniu sat next to her, once again reading her thoughts. "Yes, Steele was the one who did this. And I know you don't want to believe it, but the truth will soon be revealed to you, and you will then see what I tell you is true." Jenna knew that a fall like that would cause major injuries, and immediately asked how Balto would have gotten back if he was next to death. A vision briefly popped up, with Nikki, Kaltag, and Star carefully carrying a branch with Balto nestled in it. And then Boris appeared in the picture, frantically flying away from them. Jenna watched on as the trio carried Balto to the old sawmill on the east edge of Nome. Suddenly, she was brought back to reality by the impact of a goose. With a loud thud, Boris crashed into Jenna and hit the deck, sending them both tumbling a few feet. Boris was breathing hard, and he lifted his wing up to tell Jenna something. "Jenna, come quick! He is alive..." Jenna looked around, expecting to see Aniu giving her the 'I told you so' look. But she was gone. Vanished into thin air. Jenna got up to make her way to the sawmill, but completely forgot that her leg was injured. As soon as she put pressure on it, it felt like someone had thrust a knife vertically through her leg. "Owww!" Jenna growled. She quickly lifted her leg back up, and flinched as the pain resonated through her body before it slowly began to fade away. Jenna then started again, being careful not to use her injured leg. She couldn't move very fast, but her adrenaline was high enough that she could hold her pace with no issues, and so she began making her way to the sawmill. If Balto truly was alive, she wanted to see him. No.. Needed to see him. She needed to hear his voice telling her that everything will be alright...


"Put him over in this corner!" Kaltag breathed. His jaw was in pain from holding the branch up for so long. But, they had finally gotten back into town after a very long journey. Kaltag made a last minute decision to bring Balto to the sawmill, because there would likely be no dogs or humans there. During the winter months, all logging operations were shut down, so the sawmill was practically abandoned until the warmer months of the year. With a last burst of energy, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star softly brought the branch down to the ground, and all flopped over from exhaustion. As Kaltag lay there on the floor trying to catch his breath, he smiled. Balto was alive, and he was home at last. But as quickly has his joy came, it left. Balto was safe, yes. But he was injured. Badly. He needed medical attention, and he needed it soon. Kaltag had to fight his burning and aching muscles to stand up. He turned to the two other dogs who were next to him on the ground. "Go get someone to help us!" he said. Before the two could even so much as lift their heads to respond to Kaltag, the recognizable laugh of Steele echoed throughout the sawmill. Kaltag shut his eyes. The last thing he needed to deal with right now was Steele in a rage. Kaltag looked up, and gasped. Steele was limping on three paws, and had one tucked up near his chest. It was stained with blood. "Where the hell have you three been?" Steele spat. Kaltag briefly glanced to where Balto was, and knew that the second Steele saw him, he would attack. So, to divert Steele away from Balto, he approached him. "Performing an emergency rescue." When Steele showed no response to this, Kaltag needed to make a split second decision. This was a pivotal moment. He could submit to Steele, or he could do the very thing he promised he would do. Stand up against him. He chose to fight back. "I didn't tell you because you don't care for that kind of stuff. So I asked Nikki and Star to help." Steele growled at Kaltag. "You complete fool! How dare you assume that I wouldn't want to help someone! I cannot believe you think that lowly of me. You disgust me, Kaltag," Steele said. "What idiot did you have to go save? Was it that lead dog from White Mountain's team? Or maybe the snow goose and those polar bear cubs took a long walk of shame and they got lost." Kaltag was getting mad now. Steele clearly showed no remorse for his words. "No, it wasn't any of that. We went to retrieve someone who came to try and help us get the medicine to Nome." Steele laughed, and turned away from them. "Ha! And who might that be?" Kaltag made sure that Nikki and Star were ready to defend Balto if things got out of hand. As soon as he got visual confirmation from them, he gave Steele his reply.

"You know exactly who, Steele. He came to help us, and you decided to put your selfish lust for power and domination before anyone else, and you will have to live with your decision to kill him for the rest of your life." Steele stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to face the three dogs standing there. "You are a sick dog, Steele. I could only live with what happened for so long. It eventually consumed me, and I could not take it anymore. I swore that I would avenge Balto, and when the opportunity presented itself, I did. And I am sick of playing your puppet. I don't give a rat's ass about what happens now, but I will never associate with you again. Ever." Steele was speechless. He began walking toward the three. He then caught sight of Balto lying behind the three dogs. From the position that Steele was at, he was far enough away that he could not see Balto's shallow and slow breathing, and so he assumed that he was dead. And at that moment, he then lost his sense of sanity.

"YES! I killed him! I killed Balto! That wretched lobo deserved it! I'm glad you thought your little 'rescue' mission was worthwhile, but it wasn't. He's dead, and there's nothing you can do about it. He was the one thing that kept me from Jenna! I made the mistake of believing his pathetic lies on that cliff, if only for a split second. And as soon as I realized what I had done, I snapped. With him gone, nothing was stopping me." Steele continued to press forward. "I had her this close"- Steele emphasized with his injured paw- "to being my mate! She was this close! If she hadn't bit me and gotten away earlier, she would be mine! But she screwed it up! Big mistake for her! Once I'm done with you three here, I'll go deal with her, and then I'll make sure that you guys aren't found when people starting asking questions."

Jenna, who had witnessed the entire thing occur right near her hiding spot, could not believe what she was hearing. Not only did Steele lie straight to her face, twist her emotions, and try to force her into being his mate, he also screwed over other dogs in his grand plot to be top dog. He also confirmed what Aniu had shown her earlier. Steele murdered Balto. Murdered her best friend. There was no forgiving him for that. Ever. Jenna lost all control of herself at that point, and she didn't care. Steele was a monster, and he deserved no mercy. Kaltag, Nikki, and Star were busy holding Steele's small advancements back. Even with three against one, he still pressed forward. A low growl emanated from his throat, and it was one that no dog wanted to hear. As he got closer, it got louder. But every dog froze when Jenna's footsteps broke through the darkness and cold air of the sawmill. She appeared in a beam of light that was shining down through a hole in the roof. It was not very bright, but the burning rage and fire in her eyes was as clear as day, and it only added fuel to the inferno that was about to explode. He smirked at her, ready to enact revenge for her little stunt she pulled at the jetty. Even with an injured paw, Steele would rip them all to shreds. At long last, Jenna spoke, making her presence fully known. "This is going to be fun..."

And then all hell broke loose.


A/N: Steele is in big trouble now! Jenna finally learns what really happened, and Steele confirmed it with his own words. She is not happy, as you can clearly see... What will become of Steele now? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out... We are one chapter away from the end! This one may take a little longer than expected, both due to writing it and dealing with real life things at the same time. But, rest assured it will be done soon and it will be good! Catch you all in Ch.7!