9.

"And this is where my siblings and I used to sleep," Aleu says rather proudly.

Eran regards the tiny box curiously before resting his paw within it, which it could barely fit into.

"A little small if I have to be honest," he says and looks up at Aleu with a grin.

She looks away in mild embarrassment, "we were pups alright."

Eran chuckles before he looks the box over again. How small was Aleu? He could have easily crushed her when she was that young, he could do it now. The mere thought of having so much power in his hands was enough to cause him to shrink away in mild disgust.

Aleu, oblivious to Eran's fears, walks away from the small cupboard the box was set in and led the way deeper into the gutted belly of the ship. The huge hole on the ship's underside allows gusting winds and drifting snow to invade the interior, turning the place into a small icebox. Aleu doesn't mind too much as she leads Eran into what looks like the cargo hold.

The room was much more spacious and surprisingly warm. The wooden floors and walls are holding strong while rickety tables and chairs lay scattered across space, collecting dust and slowly molds away as the elements continue to beat away at them. However one corner of the room is swept and skewed around the area is an assortment of toys, doggie toys to be more precise.

"Boris found most of these abandoned by humans or other dogs when they grew out of pup hood" Aleu explains as she herself nose around the various articles, probably remembering fond memories, "he would collect them for papa when he was small," she smiles fondly at the toys, "then he gave them to us."

Eran smiles as he tries to imagine Aleu as a puppy which didn't turn out to be too hard. She has the energy and determination of a child so it's easy to think of her as a puppy while she develops into a rather strong, independent she-wolf.

Such thoughts, however, fade from his mind as he remembers his own childhood. An alcoholic father and a mother who had passed away when he was young…if it wasn't for Tom he would have lost his mind and may have even become a drunkard like his father. Such thoughts cause the giant wolf to once more look at the toys.

Even wolves and birds take better care of their off-springs than some humans do, he reflects inwardly, what does that have to say about my father who relied on his boys to provide more than he could?

"Are you alright Eran?" Aleu asks when she notices how silent he had gotten.

The said wolf looks at her and smiles, "Yeah, I'm fine."

He can tell from the look she is giving him that she doesn't believe him, but she doesn't voice any concerns as she says, "I know this boat isn't big, but to us, it was the world, aside from our mother's human's house," she says with a grin.

Eran couldn't help but to smile back at this, it has become a near instinct with him now. For some reason being near the she-wolf makes him feel relaxed and less poise, has he finally found a friend in her? He thought about the night before with the events that had led them to argue, but he brandishes that to the side for now. After all this time he-

His eyes widen at this.

Time?! How could he have been so careless?

He runs from the room and into the cargo hold and looks out the massive hole in the ship's hull. To his horror, he sees that the sun is rising. The sky is changing from red to orange, it won't be long before his time is up.

"Eran?" Aleu comes up to his side with a mildly worried look, "what's the matter?"

"The sun," he says in a hurried voice, "I need to get home before…uh…before my human gets back," he finishes with a rapid nod. He makes ready to sprint forward when Aleu bumps into his side.

Now what?!

However when he looks into her eyes he sees only concern as she asks, "are you going to be alright Eran? You're not going to be in too much trouble because of me are you?"

Despite the panic of the moment, Eran feels touched by Aleu's concern, if it was all under better circumstances he would have acknowledged this. The rapidly receding night, however, reminds him of his impending time schedule.

"Fine!" he says suddenly and loudly causing Aleu to shy away a bit, causing Eran to curse himself for scaring her.

"I'll be fine," Eran growls before suddenly leaping over her and lands sprinting, "but I need to go!"

"Eran!" she calls after him, but he couldn't stop no matter how much he wanted to. Trouble won't even come close to describing where he will be if he doesn't return home soon.

Nome is just now waking up, causing him to pray that any early risers won't see him and if they do then all that they will see is a black shadow. Better being seen as a shadow that could be thought of as a figment of one's imagination than him being some sort of dark creature.

The sun is barely peeking over the horizon and Eran already feels his body starting to change. His limbs are burning and his bones are being crushed.

Soon his shed comes into view and this spurs him onward. He is literally thundering down the road as he goes, kicking up the snow in his wake. While going at full speed he leaps towards the door. He closes his eyes and braces for impact. Despite being prepared, it still hurts nonetheless.

The wood became splinters in a matter of seconds as Eran lands and tumbles into his tiny shelter. He crashes into the cot and crushes his bag before banging his head hard against the wall. He sees red stars for a brief moment before shaking his head, clearing his foggy mind before coming back into focus again. As soon as he does so, he then realizes that he had shifted back into human form without realizing it. He is back to being Kyle.

He frowns slightly as he observes his body. Was he changing while he ran or was the pain that he felt earlier was from when he barged through the door? Was his anxiety of being discovered numbed some of the pain before he changed? Why can't his life have simple answers for once?

He groans as he shifts his weight around and reaches a hand underneath him to retrieve some clothes from his bag. He is exhausted, but probably has only an hour or less to take a nap before having to report to the docks for work.

With that in mind, he leans his head back against the wall and slowly falls into slumber, not caring if the door has been ripped off its hinges and is nearly broken in two. The wolf within him will ensure that he won't freeze to death…even if a part of him wishes he could.

He quickly dismisses that thought. Sure he considered killing himself because of the curse, but now…something has changed.

Before he was restricted to minimal contact with the outside world and couldn't create a life for himself. He can't stay out late with others, couldn't make friends without shrouding himself with suspicion and caution and he can forget starting a family. It'll be hard to excuse himself from any potential lover since he has to disappear every full moon night.

However, here in Nome…he is actually…enjoying himself.

Back in the south, he was always on the move, always hiding and every so often he would be running for his life from either angry dogs or wary humans.

Here, he can run around with almost no care. The people of Nome don't go into the woods at night, there is far less activity here and the forest itself smells so good, so clean, so fresh. Sure there are dogs and wolves, but they kept their distance so far and from what Kyle has heard, they won't engage unless provoked, a first in his experience with the dogs.

Then there is Aleu. She is young, brash, and playful, not much of a leader from Kyle's point of view, but then again the only leaders he ever had were military ones. They were tough and resilient, they had to be otherwise they would be killed due to weakness and no one would follow them into battle. This is a peaceful place though and Aleu must have surely been made pack leader for some reason.

Aside from that, she is a great friend, a good companion and for the first time is someone who isn't intimidated by him…or at least she does her best not to appear that way for his sake. She is actually considerate of him because, as she explained it, they were both outsiders at one point. He still is but she isn't and she remembers all the past woes and pains that had come with it. She generally cares for him and wants to help him, to be the friend that he so desperately needed.

Kyle sighs at these thoughts as he feels himself drifting off.

She is his friend, and because of that, he will fight to protect her with his life. She has earned that much.

"Aleu!"

The female grumbles in irritation as she rolls over.

"Aleu!"

"Go away," she replies sleepily.

She is about to fall back asleep when she is suddenly doused in cold water. She yelps in surprise and jumps up instantly. She shakes herself in a vain attempt to dry her fur before it gets too soggy, however, there is nothing that she can do as she begins to shake uncontrollably.

"Uncle Boris!" she whines as she looks at the goose with her puppy eyes in an attempt to make the bird feel guilty.

It doesn't work.

"Don't look at me like that," Boris scolds her as he sets the bucket aside, "that trick hasn't worked on me in years."

Aleu sighs as she drops her act and shrugs, "it was worth a try."

"As amusing as that was," her father Balto says as he steps into the storage room, "it is time you wake up Aleu."

The she-wolf just yawns before whining, "But papa…it's too early."

"It's noon."

Aleu's eyes instantly pop open at that. Realizing what has been said, she looks up at her father and asks, "My pack?"

"They're worried," he says and shook his head once, "Sitka is ready to lead a search party into the woods, Kila is going out of her mind with worry and Nuju hasn't taken his eyes away from the skies…despite the fact that the sun is up."

"Oh wow," Aleu tries not to stumble as she makes her way to the door, "guess I better get over there before things get too crazy."

She is almost gone when she pauses and looks at Balto, "Why didn't you tell them where I was papa?"

"Because I didn't know where you were," he says with an evident scowl, "I came to visit Boris and that's when he told me you were here...not alone I might add."

She senses his unease and frowns at him in turn, "papa, you knew I was out with Eran-"

"Yes but I didn't think you were going to bring him here," he says with obvious distress as he takes a few steps forward until he is in front of his daughter, "It's one thing to show him the boundaries of your territories Aleu, it's completely another to bring him to a place where your family resides."

"He didn't hurt anyone," Aleu tries to say.

"He gave me a heart attack though," voice Boris as he raises a wing.

"Uncle Boris!" she cries out as she looks at the goose in exasperation, "it's not like Eran can choose how he looks," she then looks at Balto, "and what about what you said to us when we were pups? You said not to judge people by their appearances."

She looks away from him as she finishes softly, "and after everything that we were put through I would have thought you would understand papa."

There is a silence in the room before Balto sighs as he walks away a bit. He pauses as he comes across an old wooden cat wind up toy that Boris would crank for him when he was young. He brought a paw up and pushes it around a bit, causing it to squeak a couple of times before finding his voice.

"You're right Aleu," he tells his daughter, "I was put through a lot…before you were born this town didn't accept me, I risked my life every time I went into town when I needed food."

Aleu heard this story before but it doesn't help in making it any more believable. Whenever she goes into Nome people would leave her alone, occasionally she would get a head rub or even a snack. It's hard to believe that these were the same people who would have wanted to kill her ever caring papa.

"Then when I was accepted, life instantly became better." He smiles at the next part, "finally I didn't have to hide who I was, I accepted my wolf side, I took your mother as a mate and we had you." He chuckles a bit as he sits on his haunches, "I didn't have to worry about you or your sibling freezing to death, being eaten, or being persecuted just because of who you are."

Slowly the smile falls from his face as he continues to talk.

"Aside from our occasional…misadventures," he says with light sarcasm, "you pups were safe…Jenna was safe…I was safe."

He then turns around and faces his daughter, "but now we face the unknown which is now taking up residence in the forest, and to make matters worse there appears to be two of them." He walks back towards Aleu, "we don't know what they are or what they are capable of, but until the dogs of Nome actually… meet face to face with at least Eran…then perhaps something can be worked out."

Aleu is silent for a while. She never really realized how much strain her father was being put through when he thinks of their safety, but that makes sense all things considered. She ran away when she was young. Uncle Boris was on a downed airplane and needed rescuing. Not to mention his own adventurous lifestyle as well, it's a wonder how he is still fully functioning.

Now that she has a pack, wolves to take care of as well, to feed and protect, she has some idea of what Balto is talking about. Still though…Eran meeting all the dogs of Nome at once…it may not be such a good idea.

"I'm not sure having him at one of the boiler room meetings will be…advisable" Aleu says cautiously, "he was nervous just meeting Uncle Boris, and that was before he hit Eran on the head."

Balto turns to the goose, "You did what?"

Boris offers a timid chortle, "Well…what would you have done?"

"He tried to attack him when they first met," Aleu said in a neutral voice.

"You did what?" Boris demands as he now turns a critical eye towards Balto.

Finally, the male shakes his head before speaking again, "the point is Aleu, Eran has no choice, this is going to happen sooner or later," he looks into his daughter's eyes, "and your pack must be included as well, the more we know about these strangers the better our relationship with them will be."

Aleu is silent as she thought over the words and thought of Eran, imagining his reaction. He will no doubt be scared by the prospect but he will put on a brave face and look intimidating like he always does whenever he meets someone new, whether they are wolves or dogs.

"I suppose that does make sense," she starts off slowly, "but he's not going to like this."

"He doesn't have to like it," Balto tells her, "all he needs to do is show up and introduce himself and tell us what he's doing here or at the very least what he is."

Aleu is already shaking her head, "He's definitely not going to like that, I've been with him for three days papa and all I was able to get out of him is that he is from the south."

"And there's something else," father and daughter look to Boris as he speaks, "he had some private words with me," the goose shivers a bit at the memory, "and he asked me about Bodarks."

Balto tilts his head to the side in confusion, "he asked about the monster that lives under the boat?"

"Yes," Boris confirms with a nod, "but he seemed upset that I didn't know a lot about them…almost as if he was disappointed."

Aleu is quiet before saying, "maybe the story reminded him of when he was a pup, from the way he talks about it…it wasn't a happy time and the littlest of things seems to cause him to think about it."

Balto says nothing for a while before he looks to his daughter and asks, "Aleu…has he told you what species he is?"

Aleu is quiet for a moment before shaking her head, "the subject is sensitive."

"Everything is sensitive with him," Balto exasperates, "If he wants to stay here he needs to at least answer whether or not he is dangerous."

"He'll do that," Aleu confirms, "but that's it, he won't answer any other questions."

Balto takes a deep breath of air as he tries to contemplate the options before him. On one hand, he didn't want this creature anywhere near his family, yet logically speaking a confrontation and laying down the rules with him about living in Nome would benefit everyone.

"We just need to make sure he knows his place here," Balto says cautiously, "Or to be more precise, make sure he doesn't attack or kill anyone."

Aleu groans and rolls her eyes, "Papa, how many times do I have to tell you he won't do that?"

"Until I hear him say it," Balto says stubbornly.

Aleu sighs as she turns and starts walking out of the room while speaking.

"I'll tell him next time we meet," she pauses then looks over her shoulder so that she is looking at Boris and Balto, "but when and where?"

"Anytime and anyplace will do," Balto answers, "surely that will make him comfortable."

Aleu blinks before giving him a wide smile, "thanks, papa."

"For what?" Balto asks as his brow scuffles up in light confusion.

"Still being considerate of others even when you have every reason not to be," answers Aleu as she turns and starts walking out again.

Balto is in the thought of what was being said when he suddenly remembers something and he calls out, "Aleu!"

She stops and turns fully around to face him.

"I was just informed that Kodi and his team will be making a stop in Nome," the father smiles widely at the concept of seeing one of his son's returning, "no doubt they will rest here for a bit before moving on."

"Really?" Aleu asks as she hops up and down in pure excitement. She only saw Kodi once after he was adopted and before she left on her journey. She thought she would never see him again, but that was before she decided to return home with her pack in tow. With her life preoccupied with Eran she had completely forgotten to ask her parents about her other siblings, it would be incredible just to meet one of them again.

Balto chuckle at that, "Yes, he should be here probably tomorrow and-"

"I'll see you then!" Aleu exclaims as she twists around and bolts out of the room.

Boris chortles to himself, "still the loving girl chick I know."

"Yeah," Balto sighs as he watches where his daughter was a moment ago with a sad expression on his face, "still…she grew up so fast."

"You mean too fast?" Boris asks with a raised eye ridge.

"Yes," Balto remedies with a grin as he looks to Boris, "as if you would know."

"I do," answers the slightly annoyed bird, "lots of people seem to forget who it was that raised the town hero."

Balto just laughs as he shakes his head.

They remain standing in silence before Balto frowns to himself and says, "So Eran was interested in Bodarks huh?"

"Mmm," Boris frowns and scratches the top of his head, causing the feathers to swish back and forth, "Yes, very much so, and he was disappointed when I admitted I didn't know what exactly they were."

"What made you call him a Bodark in the first place Boris?" Balto asks curiously.

"Why not?" Boris asks, "He was huge, had teeth and claws, whenever I see something bad, I assume they're Bodarks," he gives a stubborn grunt and mutters to himself, "I blame my mother for that."

Balto couldn't help but grin, "So…when you see Muk and Luk…"

"I see two. Chubby. Immature. Furballs," Boris all but growls out through gritted teeth and half-closed eyes.

"Let's not forget who raised them sweet Uncle Boris," Balto continues teasingly.

"Ha-ha," Boris says as he waddles out of the room, "Let's just hope that you won't forget."

Balto waits until Boris is out of sight before he scrunches up his brow and scowls lightly.

Why would Eran be concerned about monsters that are only fantasies?

Or…are they?

St. Nazaire, France: 1917

"Gear up, grab everything you can, don't forget your rifles."

Slowly the little home that the Marines have made for themselves unravels. The tents are put down, the clothes collected and the precious few belongings were packed away as well. They work under the soft sunshine that soon turns into a kind of blaze as the soldiers work beneath the glaring heat. Another thing the men despise about the war is being forced to wear the regulated uniform, plus their wide helmets and rifles which didn't help keep them cool at all.

Kyle quickly folds his blankets and places them tightly within his bag. Oliver has already packed everything he needed, but Eric, on the other hand, is in the midst of roughly stuffing all of his belongings into his sea sack.

"Cotter's going to murder you if you don't fold those properly," Kyle comments without looking up at his friend as he begins to fold his socks.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Eric grunts as he pushes his jacket into the clutter.

"There's a reason why they taught us how to fold our clothing," Oliver speaks up, "it's to help us ensure we can pack everything we need into a single sack."

"I always thought of those rules as guidelines," Eric replies, "besides I'm already halfway done here."

Oliver could only sigh at his friend's reasoning as he turns to Kyle and decides to change the subject, "Where are we going again?"

"Menaucourt…or Naix…something like that," Kyle answers.

"Do you know how far they will be?" Oliver asks, "My father wants to know everything, including how far we are traveling."

"Well just tell him that," Eric says as he sits on his bag, "that it's far."

"How far?" Oliver presses as he looks at his comrade.

"Don't know, but it's far," is all he says in answer.

Kyle pauses as he shifts through his belongings, "and you know that because…?"

"They're putting us on a train," Eric replies with a shrug, "they wouldn't be taking us somewhere close if we had to take a train."

"Well I guess that's sound logic," Kyle says with a shake of his head.

Oliver sits crossed-legged on the ground with his rifle cradled in his arms as he tilts the helmet over his eyes in an attempt to ward off the sun.

"Do you think we have a chance?"

The two other men pause in their activities and look up at their smallest member.

"What?" Kyle asks.

Oliver shrugs, "well you know, the British have more experienced fighters from those colonial wars that they fight in and the last major war that America fought in was the Civil War, do you really think we can do this?"

"Well I know one thing is for sure little buddy," Eric says as he stands up and stretches, "I didn't spend the past months training to fight in a war just to get killed easily."

Kyle thought about that. Will it really be like that? He remembers hearing stories about the Revolutionary and Civil War, how the soldiers would just stand in long lines and shoot at each other. It didn't make much sense in his mind, those men were easily slaughtered without hope of surviving. Surely the tactics of this new era are different.

Then again…he remembers the news wheels he saw back home. Of men charging across black barren wastelands and the mangled bodies, the skeleton of trees and the occasional puffs of gas being released. This is a new kind of warfare, one that neither of their grandfathers have ever seen before.

He dearly hopes that those events aren't as bad as they seem, surely they were exaggerated…however, they were captured on film so…

"Spalding!"

Nearly everyone in the courtyard jumps onto their feet and stood at attention upon hearing the deep booming voice.

Striding through the crowd is Gunnery Sergeant Cotter, eyes solely set on Eric.

"Marine!" he shouts, "what is wrong with your appearance!?"

Eric remains standing straight, he couldn't look down at himself so he is forced to make an educated guess.

"My…coat is unbuttoned sir," he answers in a hesitant voice.

"Holy smokes Spalding!" Cotter shouts, "You're a real genius, aren't you!? Why are you in the military and not a University scholar kid?!"

Eric isn't sure if he is supposed to answer, but before he could, Cotter swats the back of his head.

"I'm not talking about your stinking jacket!" he kicks the overstuffed bag at their feet, "I'm talking about your sack! It's a disgrace! If it wasn't U.S property I would have burned it the moment I saw it!"

All across the yard, everyone had to work hard to keep a smirk from appearing on their faces.

Leave it to Cotter to spot a badly packed bag a mile away.

He grabs the sack, holds it up high, and starts shaking it. The strenuous button that was holding all the contents back couldn't take the strain and a moment later it releases its load. A combination of blankets, letters, clothes, a coffee cup, and spare bullets fell with a clutter onto the ground. Cotter continued to shake the bag until he is certain it is empty before discarding it and looks back up at Eric.

"Now pack it up again Spalding," he growls out.

"Yes sir!" answers Eric as he gets down on his knees and starts repacking.

Everybody remains standing, Cotter hasn't told them to be at ease so they wait for the command. The heat returns with a vengeance and soon the Marines were blinking to keep the sweat out of their eyes. Their bodies began to ache and they had to withstand the temptation just to wriggle in place to relieve the tension. The only thing they can do to try and keep their minds off of their suffering is to glance at Eric and watch him work.

Soon all the fabrics were neatly folded and belongings were carefully put back into his bag. By this point, everyone felt relieved and waited for Cotter to release them.

Instead, they watch aghast as Cotter picks the bag up, holds it upside down and the contents fall to the floor once more.

"I don't think you learned your lesson, Spalding!" Cotter shouts before throwing the bag at Eric, forcing the Marine to catch it out of reflex, "keep packing until I know you got it right."

"Yes sir!" it's all that Eric could say as he bent over and began the process all over again. Leaving everyone else in the company standing for who knows how long.

One Hour Later

"You got it now Corporal?" Cotter asks Eric.

"Yes sir," breathes out Eric as his limbs hang by his side as they burn from the repeated action they were forced to go through under the hot conditions.

"Good, hopefully, you won't forget," the Sergeant then turns and looks around at the other Marines who by now are completely soaked in perspiration, "because I have a feeling your friends will make sure you remember this."

Eric nods as he feels the glaring eyes of his fellow warriors burning holes into him.

"At ease," Cotter finally says, causing everyone to slouch and breathe in heavy gulps of air.

"The train will depart in an hour," Cotter calls out, "be ready by then or you'll be shipped back home," with that he turns and strides out of the courtyard.

After he leaves, nearly everyone turns in Eric's direction and scowls at him. Aside from him and a few others, most of the other Marines still need to pack and now they have less time to do so before the scheduled time to depart. After a moment of glaring, they turn back to their chores and begin packing, this time at a faster rate than before.

Eric sighs as he sits down and looks up at Kyle and Oliver. They were mad at being forced to suffer because of Eric's mistake, but they are still friends…to a point.

Eric, in turn, gives them a hesitant smile, "What? You'll see, they'll be thanking me, if they don't get done in time they'll be sent home." He ends with a shrug, "who could be mad about that?"