Chapter 7

Tavo bolted to Aleu's side. It looked like she had hit her head on a nearby rock, and she was very still.

Too still.

"C'mon Alpha dont do this... come on...you realize if you kick it now... t-the trouble you're gonna cause?" Tavo asked frantically, he nudged her with his nose.

"Aleu...please get up...Aleu..." Tavo nuzzled her face. He laid down next to her and closed his eyes.

After a while, Tavo decided he must have fallen asleep because he knew what he was hearing had to be impossible, he had to be dreaming.

"Tavo?"

He closed his eyes tighter. No, forget it, she's...

"Hey Tavo."

Tavo slowly opened his eyes so that he could prove the truth to himself. The air caught in his throat; Aleu was sitting there staring at him with her deep blue eyes, looking almost concerned for his sake.

"Y-you're okay..." Tavo whispered.

Aleu looked at him inquiringly, "Uh, yeah" she touched her brow with her front paw, "except I have the king of all headaches, was I out long?" She rubbed her aching head as she waited for his reply.

Tavo stared at her in disbelief, few full grown (not to mention full blood) Alpha wolves could take a hit like that to the head and be up and talking coherently minutes later.

"Aleu...you..."

"Yeah?" She said.

He looked at her intensely, as he waged war between his emotions and his brain, "Nevermind, it's nothing..."

Aleu looked at him confusedly for a moment before deciding to let it slide and stand up slowly, "Well, then why don't we get this meat back to the pack before it starts to reak."


Nome

It had been four days since Saba had so much as looked at Balto. He was starting to fear she would never talk to him again.

I know Jenna said she wasn't like Aleu, but for some reason i feel this is worse...

Balto decided he had to talk to her, even if she didn't want to, he couldn't just let it stand. He set out for the carpenter's house in hopes to find her there. Her scent surrounded the house, but he had a feeling she was not here. The carpenter's wife owned a small shi tzu pup who rounded the corner of the house just as Balto turned to leave.

"Oh, oh, oh! Balto! Mr. Balto! Here, here, here!" The bouncy pup yipped.

Balto turned to look at the little ball of fur, who looked like she was about to burst from excitement. "Yes, that's me have you seen-"

"Ba! Ba! You're Ba's Papa!" the pup chirped before becoming very interested in her tail and trying to bite it.

Balto sighed in exasperation, the pup's energy was making him feel tired.

He reached out with one of his large paws and placed in on the young one's head in an effort to make her sit still for a few moments. "Yes I am. Where is she?"

The pup was shivering beneath the giant paw, "Ba is mad at you! She told Gizmo! She told me! She didn't say why! But oooo she mad!"

"Ok, ok I know, but... Gizmo? Where is Saba? I need to talk to her

"To the woods, with the carpenter, he needed wood! I show Ba's papa!" The little shi tzu wriggled out from under Balto's paw and bolted towards the distant tree line."

"Wait... Gizmo! Wait for me!" Balto took off after her.


Pack Territory

Aleu felt dizzy as they made their way back into pack territory with the caribou and some of the smaller kills they had collected. They were immediately met by Nuka and the other wolves who all looked ravenous. Aleu could've sworn she heard someone say, "Well, what do ya know the puppy isn't as completely useless as we thought..."

This made her smile a little bit, but suddenly it seemed like all the wolves were treating her differently. Before they took a bite almost all of the wolves thanked her for bringing in dinner, and even stranger, many of the males were being very friendly.

Even Nuka was edging up next to her, pushing Tavo aside, the larger wolf smiled at her and puffed out his chest. Aleu tried to move away, but one of the other large males had pushed up next to her and was smiling awkwardly at her.

She turned her head looking for Tavo. The brown wolf had a small strip of meat in his mouth and was retreating away from the group with his head low to the ground.