Chapter 1: I See You

It was a warm spring morning with the townspeople gathering around seeing Balto and Jenna's new pups that are now being sold for free. Thomas, a fifteen-year-old boy, walks up to the small and sees the puppies or what was left of the puppies. All that was left was a small tan pup that looked just like Balto but more wolf. Thomas then picks up Aleu and looks at her. Aleu looks back at Thomas and licks his face. "Alright, I see you," Thomas said as he held her in his arms. Balto and Thomas now are eye to eye. Aleu yawns before falling asleep in Thomas's arms. Thomas smiles while looking down at Aleu before looking back at Balto. "I'll take care of her," Thomas said with a smile as he held Aleu close to him. Balto nodded accepting the fact of his daughter will be taken care of by a human.

"He's a good kid for Aleu," Jenna whispered to her mate. "Are you sure?" Balto asked while watching Thomas take Aleu home. "I'm sure Balto," Jenna said as she nuzzled her mate. Thomas walked along while carrying Aleu in his arms until he reached his house. Thomas walked into his house and closed the door behind him. Thomas walked quietly into his mother's bedroom. Thomas's mother smiled seeing her son come into her room with a tan pup in his arms. "Who is this sweet thing?" Thomas's mother asked as she sat up from her bed looking at Aleu. "This is Aleu mom, one of Balto and Jenna's puppies," Thomas explained as she placed Aleu down on the bed next to his mother. "Oh she's so sweet," Thomas's mother said with a smile.

His mother then pets Aleu's warm soft fur making her open her eyes to see who was touching her. Aleu smiled softly while looking at Thomas's mother. "Such a sweet girl," Thomas's mother said with a smile. "She looks more wolf than her father does," Thomas said sitting back in his mother's chair. "Oh, that's okay, That makes her more special than the rest," His mother said still petting her. Just then from the other room, Thomas and his mother both heard Thomas's stepdad Adam stumble into the house. Adam was an English man with brown hair. He wasn't a very nice man to Thomas but treated Thomas's mother like a queen. Adam walked into the room and glared at Aleu. "Who's this?" Adam said rudely. "Adam, this is Aleu," Thomas's mother said looking at her husband.

Adam grumbled before leaving the room. Thomas turned and looked at his mother. "I don't think he likes her very much," Thomas said crossing his arms. "He'll get used to her," Thomas's mother said as she placed her hand down on her son's knee. "Yeah I hope so," Thomas said as he picked up Aleu from her mother. "See you at dinner?" Thomas said as he stood up from his seat and walked towards the door. Thomas's mother nodded as Thomas left the room and upstairs to his room. Thomas then placed Aleu down on the bed and sat at his computer chain and looked at her. Thomas loved wolves as a whole and saw that Aleu was the closest thing he could to get one besides Balto of course.

Aleu sniffed around the bed and playfully barked with a smile while looking at Thomas. Thomas smiled as he jumped onto the bed and started playing with Aleu. Later that night dinner was done and Thomas walked down the stairs to get his dinner. Aleu stayed in Thomas's and waited for her owner to come back. "So you're the new girl," said a small voice from the window. Aleu looked to the window and saw a small black and white kitten in the window. "Oh, hello," said Aleu looking at the small cat. "What's your name?" Aleu asked as she got closer to the small cat in the window.

"My name's Ozzy," Ozzy said proudly. Aleu smiled as she jumped onto the bed. "My name's Aleu, nice to meet you, Ozzy," Aleu said as Ozzy jumped into the room from the window. "I see Adam let Thomas have you in his house," Ozzy said as he sat in front of Aleu. "Will Adam not let you come in?" Aleu asked confused. "No, he hates Cats," Ozzy said with his head down. "Does Thomas like cats?" Aleu asked, trying to change the mood. "Oh, he loves cats and dogs… it's just Adam who doesn't like us," Ozzy explained. "Oh," Aleu said looking down. "But don't worry, Thomas will take care of you like he takes care of me," Ozzy said with a smile. "He takes care of you too?" Aleu asked. "Well… he sneaks me in from time to time and feeds me," Ozzy said licking his paw.

"Oh, that's good… hey! Maybe we can be friends!" Aleu cheered playfully. Ozzy was taken back by this. "You want to be my friend?" Ozzy asked confused. Aleu chuckled, "Well of course," Aleu said as she playfully pushed Ozzy lightly. "Oh, okay! Let's be friends!" Ozzy said with a purr. "Okay let's play," Aleu said as she playfully jumped on Ozzy making him fall on his back. Ozzy laughed and playfully jumped back at Aleu.

While downstairs Thomas and his family eat dinner. "So when were you going to get a dog and tell me?" Adam said while eating. "Mom said I could go get one because they were free," Thomas said looking at his stepfather. "Oh," Adam said strictly. "I didn't think it would be trouble, I had a dog when I was young and I thought Thomas could have one now," Alea said before taking a drink of her wine. Adam picks at his food before taking another bite of his food. "You better take care of it boy," Adam said looking at Thomas. "Oh, I will," Thomas said before taking a drink of his milk. "Good, because I don't want to take care of it," Adam said while eating. "She has a name Adam," Alea spoke up. "Yes, Aleu is it?" Adam said with a fake smile. Thomas bit down on his lip for Adam to stop being so rude.

"And what kind of dog is she?" Adam asked again pushing his food around. "She's a wolfdog," Thomas spoke up. Adam nearly choked on his food. "You brought a wild animal in this house!" Adam shouted while standing up from his seat. "She's not a wild animal!" Thomas spoke up looking at Adam. Adam got red in the face while looking at Thomas. "Go to your room," Adam said pointing to the stairs. Thomas shook his head as he stood up and ran up to his room. "Adam," Alea looking up at her husband. "What?" Adam said looking to his wife. "We need to talk," Alea said with her eyes looking warm to Adam.

Thomas ran into his room and shut the door behind him. Ozzy and Aleu both stopped playing and looking at Thomas. "Oh, I see you two met," Thomas said with a smile as he walked over to his bed. Ozzy and Aleu both jumped on Thomas and started to play with him. Thomas enjoyed the company of his animals as they played around on the bed. After a while, Ozzy left the room in search of some food. Thomas and Aleu laid down on the bed as Aleu yawned for being tired. "Goodnight Aleu," Thomas said as he kissed her on the head. "Goodnight Thomas," Aleu said back to her human. Thomas sat quickly and looked at Aleu. "You just talked?" Thomas said looking at his dog.

"You understand me?" Aleu asked looking at Thomas. "Wow, you can talk!" Thomas said with a smile. Aleu's smile turned into a frown, "What's the matter?" Thomas asked now face to face with Aleu. "Papa said I shouldn't talk to my humans and that I could get in trouble from it," Aleu explained with her head down. "Well, I promise I wouldn't let anyone hurt you," Thomas said as he pulled Aleu closer to him. "Are you sure?" Aleu asked. "I swear," Thomas said as he hugged Aleu. Aleu smiled as she felt Thomas's warm body next to him. "What about your stepfather?" Aleu asked now pulling away from the hug. "Oh, Don't worry about him I'll protect you from him. Alright smiled before jumping into Thomas's arms.

Thomas held her tightly knowing that this would be his best friend for life.

Kodiwolf321 A/N: hey guys I'm back in a new story I like to call Still Learning and I want to showcase some real-life struggles In this story so it feels real. I hope to write a storyline that some of you can relate to. Alright, guys, I'll see you again real soon with the next chapter!