AN: Without further adieu... Chapter 2! Enjoy~
It wasn't until a week later that Steele was finally able to get away from his owners and teammates. He had been trying to track down the ever elusive she-wolf. It was not easy, especially when one had two other huskies that wouldn't leave well enough alone. He had raced out of the town the first chance he got, mainly just to get away from the hovering the other dogs were doing.
Steele snorted at the thought of the other dogs on his team. They were aa good team and all, but they weren't his main interest. He was about three miles away from the town of Nome when he saw an old abandoned fishing boat. On the roof of said boat was the main objective he had been searching for. She was breathtaking, her fur shining in the sunlight. Her eyes were closed, indicating she either sleeping or dozing.
He approached her cautiously, not wanting her to run away from him before he at least got her name. He was about two feet from the boat when her eyes opened, obviously hearing him walk up to her home. Ice blue met blazing amber as Balta assessed the large male husky in front of her. His eyes held no maliciousness and no vile intent, only curiosity.
"Not a bad race," she started the conversation when it became clear he wasn't, "for a house pet at least."
"House pet?!" Steele scoffed amused, "I will have you know I come from a long line of racers. Thank you very much."
"House pet~" Balta all but sang in a teasing manner.
"Not a house pet," Steele huffed, "My name is Steele by the way."
"Balta," she introduced herself, "what brings you way out here? You usually don't leave town."
"I needed to get away from the others for a while," Steele explained, "They are a great team and all but they hover a bit too much for my taste."
"Hahaha," Balta laughed, "yeah they tend to do that a lot don't they? I've been watching them for a few weeks now and from what I've seen they aren't the best to hang around. Especially with how closeminded they are to those who are different."
"Your wolf side, right?" the large husky asked.
"Yeah," Balta confirmed, "they don't take kindly to me being half-wolf. Then again neither do the humans. But there isn't much I can do about it."
"Hmm," Steele hummed lost in thought.
Balta looked at the handsome husky in front of her. He was lost deep in thought, and from the looks of his frown, they weren't goods ones. She stood up and stretched before shaking her fur free of any clinging snow, before jumping down from the boat roof, landing in front of him. Steele, startled, backed up a few paces, looking at her with surprise filled eyes.
"Wanna race?" Balta asked, her blazing amber eyes alight with mischief and excitement.
"So sure you can keep up?" Steele goaded playfully, relieved to have something to take his mind off of his previously deep thoughts.
They both crouched down in preparation to run, and both took off, running as fast as they could. Balta and Steele were neck to neck in their friendly race, until Balta started pulling ahead of Steele, running faster than any canine he had ever seen. He had to give credit to her wolf side, for her ability to push past her limits had to have come from that part of her heritage. He was impressed as she outpaced him, clearly breaking the record he and his father, Roscoe, had set for racing.
Balta had never had so much fun racing before. She was usually running alone, without anyone to keep her company. Now, though, she felt like she found someone who understood her love for racing. She skidded to a stop and looked behind her to see Steele was at least a mile behind her. She sat down to catch her breathe as she waited for Steele to catch up to her. He stopped next to his new friend, panting heavily, and practically collapsed onto the snow-covered ground next to her.
"Hahaha," Balta laughed, "house pet~"
"I *huff* am not *huff* a house pet *huff*," Steele said trying to regain his breath.
"So sure about that?" Balta asked.
"Yes I'm sure," Steele chuckled, "how did you get so fast?"
"I love running," she said, "I was usually the one the packs used to send messages to other packs. You have to be fast to make it to the other packs in enough time for them to get whatever information is being sent to them."
"Really?" Steele asked astonished that wolf packs had such dynamics when it came to a message system.
"Uh-huh," Balta said, "What do you wanna do now?"
"Why don't we go back to your boat and you can tell me what it's like being a wolf," Steele suggested.
"Sounds good," she said as they began their trek back to Balta's home.
During the walk back, Balta told Steel about what it was like to be a wolf, from their keen sense of smell to their large paws used for climbing and their uncanny ability to make it through whiteout blizzards. Steele was fascinated by everything she told him. He had never known just what wolves went through in the wild and found himself feeling lucky that he never had to worry about going hungry because food was scarce. He stayed with his new friend until the sun was setting, knowing he would have to get home soon, even if he was hesitant to leave Balta here alone.
"I have to head home now," Steel said, "You sure you'll be alright here alone?"
"I'll be fine," Balta reassured her friend, "you better go before they come looking for you."
"Good night Balta," Steele said as he left.
"Good night Steele," was what echoed after him.