The Revenge and Redemption of Steele

by The Cool Kat

After accidentally running into his father's old enemy, Steele, Kodi and his wife Dusty are faced with two choices, suffer the malamute's wrath like his father used to, or try to help the bitter sled dog turn his life around. Collaboration fic with Kodiwolf231. Rated T for action, swearing, and adult themes. Contains both gay and straight slash pairings.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Love's Labor's Lost.

January 7, 1926.

Steele yawned, breathing in the fresh, yet frigid, arctic air. It had been nearly a year since he left Nome to start a new life for himself, and after thinking about Jenna nonstop for almost 365 days, he was finally going to see her again. He was finally going to return to his old home. The people of Nome were going to celebrate the anniversary of the serum run by holding a gigantic sled race, stretching from Nome to Nenana, and Steele's team was gonna participate (after all, even though he was now a disgraced dog, Steele was still one of the original runners in the serum run).

The malamute yawned again, and stretched his legs, before a few clumps of snow landed on his head. Steele growled annoyingly, before shaking his head a bit to fling the snow off. In the process, his head collided with the roof of snow over him, causing it all to almost bury the angry malamute.

Since Roger's tent only had enough room for one person, Steele and his team often had to sleep outside. The dog team slept underneath the snow, piling it on top of themselves to contain their body heat. It was sort of like how the Eskimos made their igloos. Their own natural body heat wouldn't be hot enough to melt the snow, but it would keep them warm enough to sleep through the night, so long as the night wasn't too cold. The technique kept Steele and his men from freezing their tails off, but that didn't mean the malamute had to like it. In fact, he hated snow with a passion. The human children may have thought it was fun and exciting to play in, but to Steele, it was nothing more than frozen water.

After satisfying all his morning needs (stretching his legs, taking a drink of water, etc, etc.), Steele decided it was to time to wake up the rest of his team. "Alright you lazy bums, wake up! It's time to get moving!", Steele shouted at the sleeping dogs that were lying all around him. Though his 'shouting voice' was not at it's usual octave, the malamute still had enough energy to fully demean his dogs that morning.

Besides, his mind was on other things beside his lazy team. Like seeing his beloved again, and finally getting her to fall for him, like he would have a year ago if that half-wolf Balto hadn't gotten in his way. Steele growled, before sighing again, surely a year was more than enough time for Jenna to have changed her mind about Balto. And if she hadn't, Steele would just have to be more persistent this time in swaying her.

However, before Steele could think anymore pleasant thoughts about Jenna, the sound of someone screaming interrupted him. "Hey, get your gay ass off me!", someone shouted angrily.

"Hey, relax Griff", someone else said reassuringly, though the dog's words were clearly having no effect on his angry comrade.

Steele sighed, he already knew who the mad dog's voice belonged to. Griff, the dog that everyone hated, but was too afraid to say or do anything about it. Griff was one of Roger's first dogs, and had been head dog on the team before Steele took his place a year ago. Apparently, Griff used to be the team's own badass, the position that used to be Steele's on Gunnar's old team. Griff had been causing trouble for Steele ever since he took his place in lead dog, but the malamute had put Griff back in his place more than once. Still, he also caused trouble for more than just Steele. He also liked to intimidate his teammates, ones who could be frightened a lot easier than Steele and didn't have nearly as much experience when it came to fighting. Ones of those dogs he liked to target was the same dog he was now yelling at, Blake.

Blake had joined Roger's team a few years ago, and was the first dog besides Steele to be openly gay (though the label didn't quite fit Steele since the malamute had slept with dozens of dogs from both the same and opposite sex). While most of the other rookies and veterans had no problem with him (some even considered Blake to be their best pal), Griff was enormously prejudiced and had made sure Blake knew his place on the team on his first day. Today, Griff had caught Blake sleeping next to him in his makeshift bed, and as ridiculous as it sounded, Griff was accusing the rookie of trying to have sex with him.

"Look Griff, I don't want any trouble. I know you're straight, and I was just trying to keep warm, that's all", Blake reasoned, hoping his words would somehow calm his biased teammate. However, he had no such luck.

"No, you look! I don't want no faggots anywhere near me when I'm sleeping!", Griff growled.

Blake scoffed. "Like I'd actually want to sleep with some homophobic jerk like you", Blake replied, rolling his eyes.

Steele groaned. Keeping his dogs in line didn't used to be this hard when he was on Gunnar's team, back when everyone feared and respected him. Who knew starting over fresh would be so difficult?

Griff snarled, the already angry dog was now furious at his smaller teammate, for having the nerve to talk back to him like that. The rookie's insolence would not go unpunished. Not long after Blake had spoken, Griff charged forward, his teeth bared and his neck hairs standing up. However, Blake stood his ground, refusing to let himself be pushed around by Griff any longer. He would rather die now than let himself be bullied and humiliated for the rest of his life.

Steele raised his eyebrow at bit, as he watched Blake prepare to take on Griff. He had to admit, the kid had balls, and he maybe had a small chance of winning the brawl. But as much as Steele always enjoyed a good dog fight (whether he was watching one, or being in one), today was not a good day for two his best dogs to start killing each other. Steele had a race to get to, and a beautiful red husky waiting for him back in Nome, so the sooner they got moving, the better. Besides, the veteran knew a way he could nip this fight in the bud now, without having two of his own men out of commission. But if he was going to do it, he'd have to do it now, before Roger woke up.

As Griff continued to approach, Blake gulped a bit, but still didn't move. He refused to let Griff know he was afraid, he knew bullies like him fed on fear and intimidation. "I'm not afraid of you Griff", Blake growled, though it was obvious the younger dog was bluffing.

Griff smirked at Blake's words. "You should be, sissy dog. You fags are all alike. Look at Steele, he's spent this whole year moping around, whining about some bitch named Jenna who dumped him for a half-wolf", Griff replied, as he towered over Blake.

"This coming from the guy who freaks out whenever he gets a boner", Steele replied.

Blake and Griff both turned around at the same time, to see Steele had decided to join in their little argument.

Griff growled, as Blake raised his eyebrow confusedly. "What are you talking about?", Blake asked.

Steele grinned, and stepped a little closer, so he and Griff could speak to each other face-to-face. By now, the three dogs talking had gained the attention of the other five dogs on the team, who were all watching anxiously to see what Steele's next move would be.

"When I first joined this sorry, half-assed team, Roger decided I would be the new lead dog. I'd have to be the one to whip all of you losers into shape. And if I remember right Griff, you were all pissed-off because you had to be second dog. At first, I thought it was because you were like me, and didn't want give up your position to a newcomer. But that's not it, is it? It's something much more personal than that", Steele mused.

Blake stared at Steele, confused, and then glanced at Griff. The husky somehow looked even angrier than before, but still didn't move from where he was standing. Only growling at Steele, as the malamute walked even closer.

Steele's grin grew even wider, as he continued to play minds with his subordinate teammate. "You liked being lead dog because you were at the head of the team. All you saw were trees and mountains passing by everyday. But now, you have to stare at your teammates asses every single day. Standing only a few feet behind another dog's butt, that's gotta be nasty, especially when you see their junk waving in the wind. Now, seeing that everyday would be enough to make any dog sick. But that's not the case for you, is it?", Steele asked rhetorically.

Griff growled again, and spoke to Steele for the first time. "Shut up faggot!", Griff snarled, but his lead dog ignored him. Steele took orders from no one, especially not some arrogant, self-centered wannabe. Besides, it was time someone put Griff in his place once and for all.

"I could see it in your eyes, the first time Roger put you in your new position. I could see real fear in your eyes. You weren't angry at me for your taking your job, you were afraid. Afraid of what your 'buddies' might learn about 'big, bad Griff'", Steele smirked.

"I said shut up!", Griff shouted, but the husky's anger only caused Steele's grin to grow wider.

"I bet you tried your hardest not to look. To focus on something else, anything else. The trees, the snow, the grass, the sky, anything that kept you from looking at what was ahead of you. But no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't stop yourself from looking at me", Steele said.

Blake glanced at Griff, and was surprised to see the husky's angry expression had disappeared. Instead, the usually cocky and arrogant dog now looked different than anyone had ever seen him. He looked like he was afraid. Afraid by whatever Steele was building up to.

Steele smirked, as he continued with his observation.. "That's right Griff, I saw you. I saw you looking at me out of the corner of my eye. You were staring right at my butt like it was the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen. In fact, a few ladies have even told me I have a fine rear bumper, but I've rarely ever seen guys so interested in it. I take it you're an ass-man?", Steele asked.

"I said shut up", Griff replied. But this time, the husky's words came out more like a scared whisper than an angry threat. Blake's eyes widened, along with most of the guys on Steele's team, as they all realized what their leader was implying.

"I can only imagine what you were thinking about when you were staring at me for eight straight hours. Whatever it was, it most have been pretty dirty. Because when we finally stopped running and Roger unhooked us, you ran off somewhere and didn't come back for three hours. Now, the others might have thought it was because you were still mad at me, but I know the real reason why you disappeared", Steele taunted.

Griff trembled, as his fear continued to grow. "You can't do this to me", Griff whispered, almost begging for the malamute to stop.

"I can, and I am", Steele growled, unfazed by his teammate's pointless begging. "Besides, I can't stop now. I'm just getting to the good part", Steele said, grinning evilly.

"My guess is you went somewhere far, far away from the camp, at least a couple miles away, but not so far that you wouldn't able to find your way back. The walk there must have been awful, struggling to hold it all in like you had all day. I bet your junk was itching so bad you couldn't stand it. I can't even fathom it myself, how you kept yourself from getting an erection for eight hours. If I had to stare at some dude's butt for eight hours, I'd just let him know I was hard. Trying to keep it a secret is just not worth the pain", Steele mused.

"And you wanna know the worse part of it all Griff? Even after Roger had cut you loose, you still had to control yourself long enough to get as far away from camp as you could, so far that your friends couldn't follow you. And when you were sure your trail had gone cold, you let the floodgates open, didn't you? You succumbed to all your deepest, darkest desires", Steele whispered.

Griff trembled, as Steele noticed subconsciously that a certain part of the husky's midsection was starting to swell up. He could already guess what was going through the husky's mind. As Steele was dredging up all his old memories, Griff wanted to touch himself more than anything, but he didn't want to do it front of his boys. Still, Steele knew Griff's self-control wouldn't last much longer.

Steele grinned again, and rubbed his paws across his chest. "Now, this body has made a few guys hard before, but I've never seen anyone get so horny that they jack themselves off, just because they looked at me. I'm guessing that you're not only gay, you must also be a virgin. You've never had sex with a woman because you're attracted to men. And you've certainly never had sex with a man, because you don't want anyone to know you're a fag. Which means that you've had to settle for masturbating your whole life. Probably learned from your owners how to rub yourself with your paws. And I bet the whole time you were stroking yourself off, you were wishing it was me, wasn't it? You wanted it to be me fucking you. After staring at my dick all day, you wanted to know what it tasted like. You wanted to know what it would feel like for me to release in you. Whether it was in your butt or in your mouth, any hole would have done just fine, wouldn't it?", Steele asked, moving even closer to Griff, until the two dogs were only a few inches apart.

"You just kept rubbing and rubbing, thinking and thinking, until you finally cummed. It splattered all over you, your skin, your fur, your face. I bet it was the hottest thing you had ever done in your life. It felt so right. But you didn't just stop there. After a few minutes, the well finally ran dry, but you still had other fluids inside you, and you didn't want to stop being wet yet. I've seen you staring at me when I take a leak before, so I know seeing someone piss turns it you on just as much as looking at some guy's tail. When you ran out of cum, you pissed all over yourself. You were probably so high that you wished it my doing", Steele said disgustedly.

"But once the moment was over, you were not only in heaven, but in hell too. Despite everything you had said about me, and about Blake, you were a fag too. The proof was all over your fur. You reeked of your 'sins', and if you didn't wash it off before you went back to camp, everyone would know about your dirty little secret. Now, my guess is that your little orgy only lasted for about an hour. You spent the other two hours looking for a river, or a stream, or a lake, or whatever. Anything that had enough water for you wash yourself off. And after you were sure the scent was gone, you went back to camp", Steele concluded.

Steele looked back at Griff, who only stared at the malamute. The husky was still frozen in the same place he had been for the last five minutes, too scared to move, and his face was a mixture of absolute horror - and lust. Steele's eyes wandered down beyond the Griff's face, to inspect the bully's lower area. He could see Griff was so hard the husky was visibly shaking from the pain. He wanted to take Steele so badly. And he knew that if he made any movements whatsoever, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from acting out his fantasies. Instead, he forced a half-angry, half-lustful question out of his clenched teeth. "How did you know?", he whispered.

Steele smirked again. "The sled dogs today are so soft. You barely use any of your senses. But I've been running for years. I see, hear, and smell things that most people can't. I have to admit, you washed most of it off, but I could still smell some of it on you. A tiny little hint of semen and urine mixed together. Too distant for most people to notice, but not me", Steele explained, moving even closer so that he and Griff were not only a fraction of an inch apart.

"If you wanted me to take you, you could have just asked", Steele whispered. But before Griff could reply, Steele shocked everyone, by lunging forward and pressing his lips against Griff's. The husky struggled for a bit, flailing his arms and legs in the air, before he finally stopped. Steele could feel the husky melting into him, relaxing as Steele rubbed his tongue against Griff's. Pretty soon, Steele could feel Griff pushing his lips back against him, with twice as much force as Steele was using. The malamute smirked, as he realized his hunch about Griff being a virgin was right. He was the dog's first kiss.

Out of the corner of his eye, Steele could see all his teammates' eyes widen. Some looked shocked, some a little disgusted by what they were seeing, and some looked a little turned on. He could see several dogs' getting massive boners from the guy-on-guy kiss, many of whom Steele had never even suspected were gay. Standing the closest to Steele and Griff, Blake was neither disgusted or turned-on. Instead, the husky's eyes remained widened with shock, and the dog's lower area remained it's normal side. Strange, Steele had expected him to enjoy this moment the most, instead, it seem his teammates were more horny than him. Maybe Steele's gaydar was on fritz.

Eventually, after sucking Griff's face for about 30 seconds, Steele could feel something long and hard poking him in the stomach, and he had a pretty good idea what it was. It was so stiff it was wonder Griff didn't explode all over himself or Steele. The malamute pulled his lips away from Griff's (ignoring the husky whine for more lip action as he drew back), and glanced down to confirm his suspicions. Steele smirked, and stepped back from Griff, allowing everyone to see how much the husky had enjoyed his first kiss. "Looks like me and Blake aren't the only sissies on the team", Steele noted.

Griff looked down, horrified, and then at his teammates, who were all staring him with the same look surprise. Whether he liked it or not, his secret was now out, thanks to Steele. Griff could feel his eyes dampening a bit with tears of anger, and felt the need to get away from his shame. But before the husky could run off, Steele placed his paw on the Griff's shoulder to stop him. "Don't even think about running away, not today. We have to get moving. Nome is only a few miles away", Steele ordered.

Griff snarled at his lead dog, and advanced forward. "You bastard! I'll kill you!", Griff snarled.

"Do you really want to fight me? Cause your face may look angry, but your other body parts are telling me you're thinking about something else right now", Steele observed, glancing down at the husky's below-the-belt section again.

Before Griff could reply, or even attack, Roger walked up with a harness in his hand. "Alright guys, it's time to head out", Roger announced.

Steele grinned anticipated, while Griff only growled again. "You planned this, didn't you?!", the husky snarled, as realization washed over him.

"Right down to the last detail", Steele replied, as Roger placed his harness over his neck. "You can fight me later. Right now, I've got a lovely lady waiting for me back home", Steele grinned.

Griff panted heavily, anger and hatred pulsing through his veins. He wanted to kill Steele. He wanted to make the malamute pay for outing him like that in front of all his teammates.

As he thought about his teammates, the husky froze and glanced back at the dogs who were all standing behind him. They were all staring at him with that same look of shock and disbelief that they had been wearing for the past five minutes. Griff's heart sank, and at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to bury his face in the snow and hide for all eternity. Even if he did fight Steele, beat him, maim him, even killed him, it still wouldn't make any kind of difference. The damage was already done. Everyone now knew he was a fag, and that's how he would be remembered for the rest of his life. It was all over for him.

Up ahead of him, Steele grinned evilly, as he watched Griff suffer in silence. The husky's pain soothed Steele, it helped him feel less anxious about seeing Jenna again. Seeing another dog's misery made Steele feel confident again, like how satisfied he always used to feel when he would pick on Balto. For the first time in ages, he felt like his old self again.

He was now the top dog in his team, just like he used to be on Gunnar's team. After whining and moping around about Jenna for 12 months, he had now earned his place as lead dog. In less than an a hour, he had put a troublemaker in his place, got a pretty good kiss from that same troublemaker, and a few thrills in-between. All in all, it had been pretty good morning, and he couldn't wait to see what lied ahead for him when they reached Nome.

((()-()))

Several miles away from the place where Steele and his team were camping, a worried mother bid her son farewell for the day.

"Make sure you're back by 3:00 Richie, I don't want you staying late after school!", Mrs. Parkinson shouted after her son.

"Don't worry, I will!", Richie replied, as the 10 year old boy ran out the door.

Mrs. Parkinson watched Richie bolt down the street, and head in the direction of the local schoolhouse, before she shook her head and walked back inside. She had watched her son leave for school before, but she had been extra worried about her son's safety for the past few weeks. After all, it was the one year anniversary of the serum run. And her son had been one of the children sick with Diphtheria during that horrible week. Her little Richard had been one of the doomed souls who almost perished, if it had not been for the intervention of that blessed half-wolf Balto. Even though those dark days were long gone, and the chances of Richard ever getting Diphtheria again were slim, she couldn't help but a worry a bit. Seeing your only son wither away to nothing and almost die was something you never forgot, no matter how much time passed.

But just before she closed the door, a small streak of red and white rushed past her, and leapt through the open doorway. Little Kodiak had finally escaped from his boring home, and was free to explore the town. It had been only a few weeks since he was taken home by Richie and his family, and they had already accepted him as their adorable family pet. Kodi loved his humans to death, he really did, but they were so boring sometimes. The only time he ever got to play with his boy was during the weekends, and during the weekdays, Mrs. Parkinson kept him cooped up inside the house all day.

Usually, Kodi was all for following the rules (in fact, he loved rules), but today was the day before the big race, and there was no way he was gonna miss seeing the racers arrive. Kodi had always dreamed of being a sled dog, running with a team like his father, and he was hoping that spending time with sled dogs might help him become one someday. Today, he was gonna be one step closer to fulfilling his dreams.

He knew exactly where to look if he wanted to see sled dogs - Front Street. Every sled team in Alaska had to go through Front Street first before they could go anywhere else in Nome, and Kodi knew that. The six month old pup settled down in a nice snow bank, and waited patiently. Luckily, he didn't have too wait long, as he soon saw a sled team appearing over the horizon. Kodi noticed all the dogs on the team looked exhausted from their long journey, all except their lead dog, a black and white malamute who looked like he was almost bursting with excitement. "What's he so happy about?", Kodi thought curiously.

((()-()))

"Whoa, whoa!", Roger shouted, a signal for his team to stop in their tracks. The eight tired dogs gladly complied, and thrust their feet forward, as a way of slowing their momentum before they came to a complete stop.

A few seconds later, Roger uncoupled his dogs, setting them free again for the first time in hours. As soon as he was loose, Griff angrily ran off, and disappeared down the street. Steele wasn't surprised. He had expected Griff would run and hide like a coward rather than face his teammates now that they knew his secret. He would probably stay sulking for days. "He'll get over it. Wimp", Steele thought, annoyed.

However, what did surprise Steele was Blake running after Griff, following the husky's trail down the street. Why would Blake care about what happened to Griff, his tormentor? "He probably has a crush on him now that he knows he gay. Maybe Griff was right about Blake trying to sleep with him last night", Steele mused. Though the malamute was a notorious gossip-hound, he was only half-interested. He had much bigger things to focus on.

He was back in Nome, his old hometown. After traveling for a year, Nome never looked so good. Steele had missed the drab and boring village so much, especially the people who lived in it. He had spent the best years of his life in Nome, winning races, getting in dog fights, hooking up with girls (and the occasional guys), flirting with Jenna, picking on Balto, it had all been so great. It was just those last two weeks he had spent in Nome that were all fucked up. But after a year, everyone would have surely forgotten about his old scandal, and he would be free to pursue Jenna again. He could hardly wait to see that beautiful smile on her face, and those lovely brown eyes of hers.

Steele was about to walk off and search for Jenna, when he felt something tugging at the fur on his legs. Steele looked down, annoyed, to see a young pup pulling on his leg. The kid looked to be no older than six months, and had the same rust and cream colored fur as Steele's beloved. Seeing how much the two looked alike only reminded Steele how much he wanted to see her. Still, he couldn't go anywhere until the little brat let go of his fur.

"Excuse me, mister", the pup said politely.

"What do you want kid?", Steele asked impatiently.

"My name's Kodiak. Are you a real sled dog?", the little boy asked excitedly.

Steele groaned. He used to love having women and children fawn over him, and after being disgraced for a year, he had missed it a lot. But he didn't have time to deal with fans today, especially annoying little children who always asked him dozens of questions nonstop. "Yes I am, now get out of my way", Steele replied, before lightly shaking the kid off his leg and walking past him.

Kodi groaned, as he landed flat on his back in the snow. The impact hadn't hurt him, but it hadn't been very pleasant either. Kodi frowned, as he watched the surly malamute walk off down the street. "Jerk", the kid muttered, before deciding to talk to the rest of Steele's team. Hopefully, the malamute's teammates would be a little friendlier than their leader.

Further down the street, Steele's team watched as three of their best dogs disappeared down the street. One dog, named Jake, watched as his best friend ran away. "Where do you think Griff's going?", Jake asked, worried.

Another dog, named Hal, decided to answer his question. "I don't know. But I wouldn't worry about him if I were you. I'd worry about Blake, he's the only one crazy enough to follow him", Hal replied.

"Good point", Jake said, even more worried now.

"I'll bet you a bone Griff kicks the crap out of him", another dog, named Ron, said.

Jake and Hal turned to glare at Ron at the same time, causing the dog to step back nervously. "What? No takers?", Ron said.

Before anyone could reply, Jake felt someone tugging on his fur. The sled dog looked down, to see little Kodi grinning up at him. "Excuse me sir, are you a sled dog?", Kodi asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?", Jake asked curiously.

"I wanna be a sled dog too someday. Do you think you can teach me how to be one?", Kodi asked.

A small smile appeared on Jake's face. Despite most sled dogs' reputation as being cold and selfish, Jake had always had a soft spot for kids. "Sure kid, I'd love to", Jake replied.

Kodi's grin grew wider, he had just found a mentor.

((()-()))

Further down the street, Blake stumbled through a busy crowd of humans and dogs, hastily apologizing to any dogs he may have bumped into (after all, it was only his first day in Nome, he didn't want to make any enemies already). Griff was only a few seconds ahead of him, but he had somehow managed to already disappear into the crowd.

Blake kept looking and looking, until he finally caught the husky's scent again. He followed it into a quiet, secluded alleyway - the perfect place for someone to go if they wanted to be alone. Sure enough, he could see Griff's rather large silhouette at the end of the alley, sulking to himself in the dark.

"Griff? Are you okay?", Blake asked nervously. Despite everything Griff had done to him, Blake knew no one deserved to be outed like that in front of everyone they knew, not even a mean-spirited bully like him. Still, Blake decided it was best to be cautious and play it safe for now. Griff was already known to be a hothead, and after being humiliated like that, the husky was bound to be in a bad mood.

Griff growled at the sound of Blake's voice, but still didn't turn around to face the rookie. He refused to let his former victim see him in sort a vulnerable state. "Go away pup", Griff muttered.

However, Blake didn't leave the husky. Instead, he started to approach Griff, slowly moving towards the dog. "I'm only worried about you Griff. What went on back there was pretty heavy", Blake explained.

"I don't need your sympathy", Griff replied, though the dog still didn't turn around. It was clear by the tone of his voice that Griff was growing impatient, but Blake still didn't leave the husky alone. He wasn't going anywhere until he said what needed to be said.

"I think you do. You can't just go through life alone all the time Griff. You need someone to tell your problems to. Someone who can help you face the ones you can't conquer alone. Someone you can always count on to have your back, no matter how bad things get. What you need is a friend Griff", Blake reasoned.

Griff scoffed at the rookie's words, and sniffled a bit. "Why would I want a fag like you for a friend?", Griff replied indifferently.

Blake stopped walking, as pain rippled across his face. After everything that happened, Griff was still trying to play the prejudiced card. Even after having his secrets be exposed to everyone, the stubborn husky was still trying to cling to his old ways. Like he could just go on about his life and pretend the morning's events had never happened.

But this time, Blake was not about to buy into it. This wasn't about rivalry anymore, or Griff's hatred towards gays, or any of that straight superiority crap he believed in. Even if Griff was the biggest asshole Blake was ever forced to work with, he was still a part of his team. And part of what made a sled team so strong was their sense of camaraderie. Sled dogs looked out for each other, and whether Griff wanted to admit it or not, he needed Blake, now more than ever.

Blake forced himself to keep walking, until he was close enough to Griff to put his paw on the husky's shoulder. "Griff, if you had just told me you were gay, I could have helped you. I could have-", Blake said. But before the husky could continue, he was cut off by the sound of Griff growling.

Griff snarled, and turned around to face Blake for the first time. The smaller husky flinched, as he saw Griff's twisted, distorted expression. His teammate no longer wore his cocky and superior grin that he usually bore. Instead, his face was a mixture of anger, pain, and anguish, all at the same time. His lips were twisted into a hard scowl, his nose scrunched up in anger, and his eyes were bloodshot red from all the crying he had done for the past three minutes. "You could have done what?! WHAT COULD YOU HAVE DONE BLAKE?!", Griff demanded.

Blake stared at the dog for a second, still too shocked for his brain to work right. As the younger dog struggled to come up with an answer, Griff grew impatient and decided to cut him off. "What could you have done for me? Told me to 'talk about my feelings' and start crying like a bitch, just you could have the satisfaction seeing me losing it?! I may be a faggot, but that does mean I'm not gonna become a whiny little sissy like you!", Griff growled.

Blake cringed as Griff's outburst grew louder, and could only watch in fear as his teammate's fury grew. He decided to take a few decisive steps back. He didn't want to be standing directly next to Griff if the husky decided to vent his anger by doing more than shouting at him.

"Here's a better idea about what you could do for me. How about turning me straight, so I'm not a freak? Or better yet, going back in time and killing my mother so I was never born?! Except you can't do that, can you?! You can't do that any of that! So don't go telling me you can help Blake, because you can't do shit for me! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU CAN'T DO SHIT!", Griff bellowed.

Blake stepped back an inch, and his heart stopped, as he realized Griff had backed him into a wall. Blake braced himself for the worst, as Griff put his face only a few inches from his, his mouth opening wide. However, after at least a minute of huffing and puffing, Griff still hadn't made his move. Instead, he only stared heatedly at his terrified teammate. He was currently in more anger than he had ever been in his whole life. But for some strange reason, he didn't try to vent some of that anger through violence, like he would have normally done. Eventually, Griff started to cool down a bit, and the husky calmed down enough to speak rationally again.

The husky's face softened, as his anger was slowly replaced by his sadness. His rage had been the only thing keeping him from breaking down completely, and now that it was gone, he could feel the tears building behind his eyelids. "You wanna know more about me? Fine, I'll tell you. You don't know what it's like, being the only fag on the team, wherever you go! Having your father beat you and berate every single night, just because he doesn't want a sissy boy for a son! No matter what team I was on, I was always a freak. When my owner finally sold me, and I became the lead dog on Roger's team, it was a chance for me to finally start over. To finally be something more than a disgrace", Griff explained.

Once his fear finally subsided, comprehension washed over Blake, and he stood on all fours again. "So you changed your entire personality. You created this whole 'macho tough-guy' persona so people would think you were straight", Blake realized.

Griff laughed ruefully, and nodded his head. "I got in this stupid fight during my first year on the team. Some idiot guy found out I was gay, and said he was gonna tell everyone I was a faggot if I didn't throw the race between my team and his. When he told me he knew, I was so angry, so afraid. I didn't want to go back to being the freak I was before. I never wanted to be that again. So I made sure he would never tell anyone about me. I beat his ass so bad that he was put in the hospital for weeks, and made him promise to never tell anyone about me or what had really happened. I get what Steele means about how intimidating people is addicting. When he saw me visit him in the hospital, the guy wet himself out of fear. I guess that's why seeing guys piss turns me on now", Griff explained, musing at the end.

"Well, aren't you glad he didn't throw up when he saw you then?", Blake joked, hoping to ease some of the tension, but quickly shut up when Griff glared him into submission again.

"Anyway, the other guys on the team found about the fight, and I got this reputation of being the team badass. And after a few years, and a couple dozen dog fights later, that's who I became", Griff explained.

Blake stared at the dog sympathetically. All he could think about was comforting the dog, helping him lighten some of the weight on his shoulders. But how he could help someone who didn't want to be helped? Still, he had to at least try. He stood on two legs instead of four, and inched his way towards his teammate.

Griff sighed, when he suddenly felt Blake grab him, and pull him into his chest. Before the bigger, angrier dog could try and struggle, Blake wrapped his arms around him and held on as tightly as he could. "What are you doing?!", Griff growled, his anger towards the rookie returning.

"Griff, don't fight this. You need it, you know you do", Blake replied. Despite the husky's wise words of advice, Griff continued to struggle, trashing about in Blake's arms and calling the younger dog many different insults, all of which probably had something to do with the word 'faggot' (Blake was really trying his hardest not to listen). After at least three minutes, Griff started to run out of energy and relaxed into Blake's arms, who finally felt safe enough to loosen his grip a little.

Once he relinquished his vice-tight grip, Blake was surprised to find that instead of trying to escape again, Griff further buried himself into the husky's fur. It took him a moment, but Blake realized that a warm liquid was flowing down his chest. "Is he taking a leak on me?", Blake thought, shocked, but strangely not disgusted. According to Steele, Griff did have a thing for bodily fluids.

But then he heard the sound of Griff sobbing, and he realized that the moisture he felt on his chest was tears. Griff was crying. He had never seen Griff cry before, he doubted anyone had. The hug had worked after all. Despite the fact Griff's tears were drenching his fur, Blake continued to let the husky cry onto him. He needed to get all his anger and sadness out before he could let go.

Finally, after a few more minutes, the well of tears ran dry, and Blake let go of Griff completely, allowing the husky to stumble backwards repeatedly until he got his footing. Griff stared at Blake, his expression unreadable, until the husky finally decided to speak what was on his mind.

"You were right kid, I did need that", Griff muttered, his voice real low and scratchy. Blake guessed all the crying the dog had just done must have effected his vocal cords.

Griff sighed again, before a small smile appeared on the dog's face, a sign that he had finished venting all his rage. "Look kid, this isn't easy for me to say. I'm not used to apologizing after I kick someone's butt, but I'm gonna make an exception this time. I shouldn't have been calling you 'fag' and 'faggot' all the time these past few months. I was really mad at myself and I guess I was taking it out on you", Griff apologized, while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

However, the dog didn't seem notice that Blake wasn't listening to him anymore, the rookie was in completely different world at that moment. He was glad the hug had made Griff feel better, but Blake had also enjoyed it for a different kind of reason. Even though Griff had picked on him ever since he first joined Roger's team, Blake had always considered him to be kinda handsome, for a homophobe. And now that he knew Griff was gay, he could hardly resist the urge to do what Steele had that morning. Griff's lips were so were thick and juicy, so inviting, they were practically calling him in. And like a lost sailor following a siren's call, Blake couldn't fight his instincts, even if they led him towards certain doom.

Unaware that Blake was slowly inching towards him, Griff continued with his apology. "But it was wrong, and I feel like the biggest hypocrite in the world. And-", Griff rambled, before he was cut off.

Before Griff could go any further, his ability to speak was inhibited by Blake running up and pressing their lips together. Just like before, Griff's eyes widened, and the husky flailed his arms around for a bit, before his body relaxed. Pretty soon, Blake could feel's Griff tongue edge into his mouth, looking to touch his partner's tongue.

As their tongues finally touched, the husky couldn't help but notice that Griff hadn't fought as much against him as he had with Steele. "He must be used to making out with other guys now", Blake thought. Finally, Blake could feel the moment ending, and reluctantly pulled away from Griff. He had wanted to keep kissing that man forever, but unfortunately, Blake (like all living things), needed to breathe eventually.

Blake glanced up at Griff, before hanging his head down in shame. Griff was in pain, he was just recovering from being outed only a few hours ago, and he had taken advantage of him. He felt so selfish. "Griff, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you", Blake apologized.

But instead of answering, Griff reached out and grabbed Blake's arm as hard as he could, pulling the dog forward until he all but crashed into his teammate's rock hard chest. After the initial shock of impact wore off, Blake looked up, and saw Griff staring down at him, the husky's face a hard mask of anger.

Blake gulped. He had gone too far. Griff was just starting to like him as a friend, and now he had pissed him off again. He had seen Griff put dozens of the dogs in the hospital, just for insulting him, so he couldn't even fathom how mad Griff was at him now that he had been kissed by another guy. As his teammate continued to stare daggers at him, Blake could only imagine what kind of gruesome and painful punishment Griff had in mind for him. Subconsciously, the dog sat backwards on his hunches, as he waited for the worst to happen.

But before Blake could get too comfortable where he was standing, Griff grabbed him again, and wrapped his arms around the dog, until their chests were only a few inches apart. However, even with their close proximity, Griff was still a foot taller than Blake, so the smaller dog had to look up just to see the angry dog's face.

To Blake's surprise, Griff's angry expression quickly disappeared, and was replaced by a mischievous grin, like the kind a little boy would wear when he was up to no good. Though Griff's grin assured him he was in no danger, Blake was still too scared to move, as the husky started to speak. "Geez kid. First you try to fight me, then you hug me, and now you practically throw yourself at me. Since when did you decide to grow a pair?", Griff asked teasingly.

Blake gulped, and decided it was best to answer the husky's question, before he got mad for real. "Since this morning. I hear testosterone does wonders for a guy's confidence", Blake stuttered nervously.

Griff chuckled, and tilted his head to side a bit. "You know, I should beat the crap out of you kissing me like that", Griff said, his voice half-joking and half-serious.

Although he knew it was stupid to try and argue with the guy who was crushing him, Blake couldn't help himself from asking his next question. He had to know why Griff was being so merciful all of sudden. "So why don't you?", the husky asked nervously.

"You make me laugh. You look so cute when you're nervous, and I'd hate myself if I pounded you into the snow", Griff replied affectionately. Blake laughed nervously, and Griff's grin widened as he saw that smile he loved so much appear on the scared dog's face.

"Just answer me this. When I found you cuddling up to me this morning, were you really trying to keep warm? Or were you just trying to find an excuse you hug me? And you'd better be honest, or I might just have to keep squeezing you until your heart comes out of your throat", Griff asked curiously, with a not-so-subtle warning at the end.

Blaze gulped, he knew Griff was absolutely serious. Still as afraid as he was of his unstable teammate, a small part of him was enjoying their embrace, and never wanted it to end. "A little bit of both. I really was cold last night, but I guess I wanted to know what you felt like too", Blake explained.

"Well, here I am", Griff said. The big dog squeezed Blake one more time (knocking the wind out of the smaller dog's chest), before he released him from his grip, allowing Blake to finally calm down and think rationally again. He had never been in any danger. Griff grabbing him and trying to suffocate him had just been his sick, twisted idea of a joke. He always had had a sick sense of humor.

Griff laughed again, as he saw Blake continue to pant out of fear. Finally, Blake's terrified expression was replaced by a frown. "You know what Griff? You may be all hard and tough on the outside. But on the inside, you're just a big softie, aren't you?", Blake asked.

Instead of replying, Griff nodded his head in reply. "You're alright kid, for a faggot anyway", Griff complimented.

Blake smirked. "Yeah, and I guess you're okay too, for a homophobic jerk who likes to beat up all his friends", Blake replied.

"Who said we were friends?", Griff said, causing Blake to roll his eyes.

After taking one last deep breath (to make sure he still wouldn't have a heart attack from his close encounter), Blake looked back towards the end of the alley. "Come on, we'd better be getting back. The others will be worrying about us", Blake decided.

Griff's smile faded a bit, and his ears drooped. "I'm not going back", Griff said quietly.

"They're your friends Griff. You have to face them sooner or later", Blake replied.

Griff scoffed. "They're not my friends. They only hang out with me because they're afraid of me. I'm the guy they go to when they need help kicking someone's ass, but that's all they think of me", Griff said.

"Maybe, maybe not. But you'll never know for sure if you don't face up to them. If they're really your friends then they'll accept you like they accepted me. If not, who needs them?", Blake reasoned, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Still, he understood why Griff was so worried. His first few weeks after coming out had been the hardest. So many had stopped looking at him in the same way they had before, and probably never would again. Still, Blake had had his friends to help him through some of the rough patches, and now he would be there for Griff during his.

Griff thought about Blake's words for a minute, before the husky sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll go back. But not now, I'm not ready yet", Griff said. Since he knew Blake, he knew the annoying dog wouldn't give up, so it was best to try and compromise with him.

Blake sighed too. He knew Griff was just trying to stall, but he couldn't force the dog to face his fears if he didn't want to. Besides, this was a chance to get to know Griff a little better. He was just starting to find out about the guy's softer side, and he wasn't ready to stop now.

As Griff started to walk out of the alley, Blake followed only a few feet behind. "Alright then, I'll come with you. We can see the town, meet some of the locals, maybe even a chew a few bones. I hear this place called the Old Mill has a great band", Blake decided.

Griff chuckled, and raised his eyebrows. "What you just described is a date. You've only known I was gay since this morning, and you already wanna go on a date with me?", Griff asked sarcastically.

Blake laughed nervously (he could already feel himself blushing), and shook his head in denial. "Nah, we're just friends Griff. And we'll have fun together as friends. Two friends who just happen to be both gay", Blake said awkwardly.

"Like I said before, who said we were friends?", Griff said, just to piss Blake off again.

It worked.

Only a few seconds after the husky had spoken, Blake punched him in the shoulder, though Griff had hardly felt the rookie's feather-like punch. "Shut up", Blake muttered, causing Griff to laugh again.

((()-()))

Across town, Jenna Jones made her way through a bustling crowd of humans and dogs. She was on her way to visit her husband. It was the day before the big race, and she knew today was probably the last chance she'd get to visit Balto before he risked his life on the tundra again. And she knew exactly where to find him. He'd be with his team in the Old Mill, resting up for the big race, that's where he told her to meet him for lunch. But as she walking down the street, Jenna failed to notice a familiar face appear behind her, until the mystery dog decided to speak up.

"Jenna Jones. After all this time, you're still as lovely as ever", a husky voice noted.

As she recognized his voice, Jenna whirled around, to see a face she never she'd see again. "Steele! You're back!", Jenna shouted out of surprise.

The malamute grinned, and wrapped his arms of Jenna, spinning her around a bit, before putting back down on the ground. Steele then smirked, as he watched as Jenna blush out of embarrassment. "Ah, Jenna, you haven't changed a bit", Steele laughed.

Jenna frowned a bit, but the cracked a small smile. "What are you doing back here? I thought you and your team live halfway across Alaska", Jenna asked, confused.

Steele was about to answer, when several dogs brushed past him, earning themselves a growl from the dog they pushed. After Steele composed himself, he turned back to Jenna. "How about we go somewhere where we can talk in private, somewhere without all these people?", Steele suggested.

Jenna nodded, and started walking in the direction of Rosie's house, with Steele not far behind. It felt so good to see a familiar face, even if it was Steele. Besides, the malamute seemed to be much more polite than he used to be, and less obvious about his attraction to her. But as they were walking, Jenna couldn't help but worry. She knew Steele was still hoping they could be something more than friends. So how could she explain to him she was a married woman, and a mother to six children?

Across the street, young Kodi watched confusedly, as his mother walked off with the mean dog he had tried to talk to before. When he saw Jenna appear amongst the crowd, the pup had tried to get his mother's attention so he could tell her about his sled dog lessons, but froze in his tracks when he saw Steele join her. And now she was going off somewhere alone with him. Kodi was worried about his mother, but he also trusted her judgment. Jenna seemed to know what she was doing. And besides, no self-respecting dog would dare hurt a female. Unless of course, Steele had no self-respect at all.

"Hey kid, do you wanna learn, or do you wanna sit around day?", Jake asked impatiently.

Kodi glanced back at Jake, and then at his mother, who was already disappearing into the crowd. He was torn between following his mother, and his following his dream. Finally, Kodi turned back towards Jake. "Coming!", the pup shouted, before eagerly joining the sled dog.

((()-()))

On the other side of town, Blake and Griff sat on a pair of pillows, watching a dog named Jared and his band perform some of their best rock/pop hits. Eventually, they got around to a rap song.

"Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber begins.

"If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go. I can take you places you ain't never been before. Baby, take a chance or you'll never ever know, I got money in my hands that I'd really like to blow. Swag, swag, swag, on you", Jared rapped.

"Chillin' by the fire while we eatin' fondue, I don't know about me but I know about you. So say hello to falsetto in three, two, swag! I'd like to be everything you want. Hey girl, let me talk to you", Jared continued, before entering the chorus.

"If I was your boyfriend, never let you go. Keep you on my arm girl, you'd never be alone. I can be a gentleman, anything you want. If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go, I'd never let you go", Jared and his band sang.

"You know, some of this stuff is actually pretty good", Blake said.

Griff shrugged in reply. "I've heard better", the husky said indifferently.

Blake frowned, and tried to ignore his annoying friend (which was proving to be rather difficult since he was sitting right next to him). Eventually, he turned his attention back towards the band, who were entering their second verse.

"Tell me what you like yeah, tell me what you don't. I could be your Buzz Lightyear, fly across the globe. I don't ever wanna fight yeah, you already know. Imma make you shine bright like you're laying in the snow, Burr", Jared sang.

"Girlfriend, girlfriend, you could be my girlfriend. You could be my girlfriend until the w-w-world ends. Make you dance do a spin and a twirl and voice goin crazy on this hook like a whirlwind! Swaggie. I'd like to be everything you want. Hey girl, let me talk to you", Jared continued, before entering the second chorus.

Blake looked around the room, staring at all the different sled dogs. Some were huskies, some malamutes, some mix-breeds, and some Blake suspected were half-wolf. Despite their different backgrounds and breeding, they were all there for the same reason they were, to rest up before the big race that was coming the next day.

Blake kept looking around the room, until one dog finally caught his eye. The dog was pretty well built, with a rather taut and muscular frame. He was covered from head to toe in light and dark brown colored fur. His eyes glowed bright yellow, and Blake could swear he saw a few fang-like teeth hanging out of his mouth, illuminated by the bright light of a nearby boiler. Judging by his appearance alone, it was obvious the husky was half-wolf. But he wasn't just any wolf-dog. He was the wolf-dog. The wolf-dog everyone in Alaska had been talking about for the past year. "No way", Blake whispered.

Behind him, the band entered the second chorus, but Blake was no longer looking at them. "If I was your boyfriend, never let you go. Keep you on my arm girl, you'd never be alone. I can be a gentleman, anything you want. If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go, I'd never let you go", Jared and his band continued.

"What is it?", Griff asked curiously, but by the time he turned around, Blake was already half-way across the room. "Aw, come on kid, we just got here. Don't embarrass us already", Griff groaned, before following after his teammate.

"So give me a chance, 'cause you're all I need girl. Spend a week with your boy, I'll be calling you my girlfriend. If I was your man, I'd never leave you girl. I just want to love and treat you right", Jared continued.

Blake ran up to the dog he had been admiring, and tapped on his shoulder. The dog turned around, and smiled at his conversationalist. But before he could say anything, Blake cut him off. "You're Balto, aren't you? The wolf-dog who saved Nome", Blake gushed.

The wolf-dog grin grew wider. "Well, it was a team effort, and I had plenty of help. But yeah, I'm Balto", the half-wolf confirmed.

Blake laughed, though it sounded more like a giggle, and the sled dog's tail wagged with excitement. "I knew it. I knew from the minute I saw you. Your face was all over the papers last year", Blake said.

Before Balto could reply, Griff finally caught up with Blake, and joined in their conversation. Griff groaned, as he realized Blake had already started talking to people. "You'll have to excuse the boy, he's new. He only started sledding a few months ago", Griff explained.

Blake frowned. "Why do you keep calling me 'boy'? I'm only two years younger than you", Blake asked, annoyed.

"You're right. I should call you 'pup' instead", Griff mused.

As the two friends continued arguing, not even the music was loud enough to full block out their conversation. "If I was your boyfriend, never let you go. Keep you on my arm girl, you'd never be alone (never be alone). I can be a gentleman (gentleman), anything you want. If I was your boyfriend (boyfriend), I'd never let you go, never let you go", Jared continued.

"Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Yeah girl. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. na. ey. If I was your boyfriend. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, ey. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, ey. If I was your boyfriend", Jared and his band finished, before staring into the crowd, angrily looking for the two canines who had been arguing throughout their performance.

Balto watched as the two friends bickered back and forth for over a minute. It didn't take much to guess the two were more than friends. Much more. Suddenly, the wolf-dog felt incredibly awkward. Like he had went from having a friendly two-person to becoming a third wheel in a lover's quarrel.

Blake growled, before turning back towards Balto. "Anyway, I'm your biggest fan. And I would love to get to know you better", Blake explained.

Balto's eyes widened a little, as the wolf-dog misunderstood what Blake had meant. "Sorry, but I have a wife and kids", Balto stuttered.

This time, Blake's eyes were the ones to widen, and the husky's cheeks blushed bright red. "Oh, no, no, no, I didn't mean it in that way", Blake stuttered. He had only just met his idol, and he was already freaking him out. Maybe Griff was right, maybe he did have a way of embarrassing himself all the time. "But now that I think about it. Balto is a pretty nice guy. And his body is much more firm in person than it looked in the papers. I wouldn't mind having him for a boyfriend. But…ugh, he's straight…and married", Blake frowned, moaning to himself in his mind. Finally, Blake stopped stuttering, and decided it was best to try and change subject. "You have a wife and kids? Congratulations. I'd love to meet them", Blake said, putting on his best fake smile.

"Thanks. Actually, Jenna should be here by now. I told her we should meet at the Old Mill at noon", Balto noted, his brows furrowing.

As Balto said the word 'Jenna', Blake froze where he was standing, and the husky's heart stopped beating. "Jenna?", he whispered.

"Yeah, you know her?", Balto asked.

However, Blake didn't reply, he only stood frozen in the same spot, staring at Balto like he was looking at a ghost.

As he saw his teammate freeze up again, Griff rolled his eyes and then frowned. "Kid, you're embarrassing us again", Griff growled underneath his breath.

At the sound of Griff's voice, Blake unfroze and growled at his friend. "Who cares about that?! Don't you remember?! Steele kept talking about how he couldn't wait to get back to Nome and make some girl named Jenna be his. He doesn't know Jenna's already married!", Blake explained.

Once he realized Blake was right, it was Griff's turn to freeze up, while Balto's mouth dropped in shock. He hadn't heard the name Steele in almost a year. He thought he'd never see the malamute again. He thought he and Jenna could finally put Steele out of their minds and live the rest of their lives in peace. The idea of Steele coming back now, and stirring up the past again was unthinkable. "What?! Steele's here?!", Balto asked.

"Steele's the leader of our sled team, we came to Nome for the big race tomorrow. When Steele finds out Jenna's already had your kids-", Blake said.

"There's no telling what'll he do. We've got to find Jenna, now!", Balto shouted, before running past Blake and Griff.

However, Griff reached out and grabbed Balto by his shoulder, successfully stopping the wolf-dog in his tracks. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Even if you are a wolf, you can't fight Steele alone pal. He's too strong. We'll have to call our team for back-up", Griff reasoned.

"There's no time! You've ran with Steele for a year, you know what he's capable of", Balto argued.

As Balto's words washed over him, Griff remembered the events of that morning, how Steele had outed him in front of the entire team, how he had humiliated him in front of all his friends and enemies. And suddenly, he realized Balto was right. There was no limit to how low Steele would stoop to get what he wanted. And if that Jenna girl really was alone with him, she was in horrible danger.

Griff released Balto's shoulder, and the wolf-dog started running towards the Old Mill's exit, with Blake and Griff not far behind. By the time they made it outside, Balto had already made up his mind about what he was gonna do. "You guys go find your team, I'll hold Steele off until you arrive", Balto said.

"But you don't even know where he is", Blake argued.

"I don't have to. Like your friend said, I'm half-wolf, I'll just track Jenna's scent. And wherever Jenna is, that's where Steele will be", Balto explained, before he ran further up the street, and disappeared into the crowd.

"Godspeed man. Godspeed", Griff said, before he and Blake ran off in the direction of where their sled was parked. After running for a while, they found their team, who were still standing in the same place as before for some reason. Finally, they realized their teammates were talking to some kid. It almost looked like they were teaching him the proper way to run.

"What the hell is this?", Griff muttered.

But as soon as he spoke, Blake shoved him in the ribs with his elbow. "Watch the language. There's kids present", Blake whispered.

"We don't have time to worry about stuff like that. We're trying to keep our boss from killing some guy's wife, not running a daycare", Griff growled, before running up to his friends.

Still unaware their two missing teammates had just returned, Jake and Hal continued talking to their pupil. "So, when you stop a sled, always make your sure your thrust your legs forward like this. You wanna make sure you slow down first before coming to a complete stop. Because if you try to stop running while you're still going at full speed, the whole sled with just topple over", Jake explained, while pushing his legs back and forth.

Kodi nodded, and copied the sled dog's movements, before he noticed Blake and Griff approaching from a distance. "Hey, who are they?", the puppy asked curiously.

Jake glanced over his shoulder, and smiled. "Blake, it's good to see you pal, and in one piece at that", Jake noted.

"Griff, you seem to be in a better mood", Ron joked.

"Shut up, we don't have time for your dumb jokes today", Griff snarled.

"Or not", Ron chuckled.

Blake rolled his eyes, before turning towards Jake. "What Griff is trying to say is that there's an emergency. You know that dog, Jenna, the one Steele's been talking about for the past year?", Blake asked.

"Yeah, he won't shut up about her. I don't see how that's an emergency", Hal said.

"What out fearless leader doesn't know is that she's got a husband, Balto. And she's already had his kids", Griff explained.

"Ooh", Jake, Ron, and Hal all cringed at the same time.

"Yeah, I know. And if we don't find them soon, Balto might just become a widower", Blake continued.

"Wait, mom's in danger?!", Kodi shouted, terrified.

Griff, Blake, Ron, Hal, and Jake all turned to Kodi, all five dogs wearing the same shocked expression on their faces.

"Wait, you mean you're one of Balto and Jenna's kids?", Blake asked.

"Yeah. When we were training, I saw mom head off with that mean dog, Steele. It looked she was heading back towards her owner's house", Kodi explained.

"Do you know where it is?", Jake asked.

"Yeah, me and my brother and sisters grew up there", Kodi replied.

"Then lead the way kid", Griff said.

Kodi nodded, and ran off down the street, with seven sled dogs behind him. He knew he should had went with his mother when he saw her leave with Steele. And now she was in grave danger, all because of his inaction. He had to find her, before it was too late.

((()-()))

Outside Rosie's house, in the Jones Family's backyard, Steele finished telling Jenna about his past year. "So, Roger's not only treating you well, but you're captain of a team again. Sounds like you've had a pretty good life since you left Nome", Jenna said.

"Almost. But it's just not the same without you Jenna. You're a part of what used to make life worth living, and without you, it's all so dull and empty", Steele replied, before walking towards his soulmate. He eventually stopped when his face was a few inches away from hers. Jenna wanted to tell him he was making her uncomfortable, and that his love for her was still unrequited, but she didn't know quite how to tell him.

"And now that I'm back, everything feels right again", Steele whispered, before leaning in to kiss his beloved. Just as his lips were a few inches away from hers, he felt Jenna feebly try to push him away. "What is it?", Steele asked, confused.

"Steele, I can't. I still like you. But I don't love you, I love Balto", Jenna explained sadly.

As he took in what Jenna was saying, Steele stared at her in disbelief. "You mean, you're still hung up on that wolf-dog? After all this time, nothing's changed?!", Steele asked angrily. He had traveled so far, waited so long to see Jenna again, only to learn she was still rejecting him for her freak of a boyfriend.

"Actually, a lot of things have changed since then. Balto isn't my boyfriend anymore. He's my husband, and a father to our kids", Jenna explained nervously, before bracing herself for Steele's reaction. She didn't have to wait long.

As Steele's brain processed the word 'father', Jenna watched as his pain rippled across the malamute's face, followed by a look of horrible betrayal, and finally, uncontrollable rage. He wrenched his head upwards, and glared at Jenna, causing the husky to take another few steps backwards. "Father? FATHER?! How dare that half-breed bastard have the nerve to mate with you!", Steele screamed.

As Steele's anger continued to boil to uncontrollable point, Jenna got as far back as she could, before she realized she had backed herself against backyard fence. "How dare he get you pregnant with his abominations!", Steele continued.

As Steele used the word 'abomination' about her pups, Jenna's fear quickly disappeared, replaced by fury of her own. The husky ran forward, and placed her face right in Steele's. "Don't you dare insult my children! They're my kids too! Balto and I made the decision to have children together, and what goes on in my family is none of your business!", Jenna screamed.

However, Steele was completely unfazed by Jenna's words, the malamute was far too angry himself to care if Jenna was offended by what he had to say. Steele was about to argue some more with the husky, when he was cut off by the sound of a third person shouting.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE!", Balto yelled.

Steele and Jenna turned around, to see Balto standing in the front gate, prepared to fight to the death with Steele (again), if it meant protecting his mate.

Steele snarled, as he recognized the dog he had held a grudge against for so long. Balto. The half-breed had taken everything from him, his job, his home, his fame, and now he had taken Jenna away from him, and there was no hope of ever getting her back.

"You! How dare you do this to her! How dare you contaminate her with your demon seed! And how dare you brainwash her into thinking those little half-wolf monsters will ever be anything more than freaks of nature! Freaks that need to be destroyed!", Steele shouted.

This time, Balto answered with a growl of his own. He had put up with Steele's bullying his entire life, ever since he was a pup. But now it had to stop. He wasn't going to let Steele hurt his family, even if it meant risking his own life. Or worse, taking away Steele's. "Jenna, RUN!", Balto shouted.

For what seemed like the very first time ever, Jenna listened to her husband, and got as far away from Steele as she could. The terrified husky watched from a distance as Steele charged at Balto, colliding with the wolf-dog at full speed. Jenna could only look on as the two rivals grappled head-to-head. Even though Balto had managed to get in a few bites of his own, Steele quickly gained the upper hand, pinning the wolf-dog down against the grass. "No!", Jenna whispered, as she saw Steele lean over her husband's body.

Steele smirked. "You may have taken Jenna from me lobo, but if I can't have her, no one can", Steele gloated. The malamute then leaned down further, until his and Balto's faces were only a few inches apart. "And yes, I know it's a bit of cliché, but why mess with a classic?", Steele taunted.

"LEAVE MY DAD ALONE!", someone shouted from a distance.

Balto, Jenna, and Steele all looked up, to see little Kodi run into the yard, heading straight for Steele. Once the shock of seeing her son appear at the worst possible time wore off, Jenna realized the little one was running straight towards danger.

"Kodi, no stay away!", Balto groaned, as Steele continued to stand on his chest.

"KODI, STAY BACK!", Jenna screamed, as she ran out to stop her son. But she was too late. By the time she had started running herself, Kodi had already reached Steele.

Steele tilted his head to the side, as the young pup started to bite him on the leg. The puppy's teeth stung a little, but not nearly enough to cause him any damage. "I remember you. You're that little brat who kept bothering me. I should have known you were that wolf-dog's son", Steele growled, before kicking Kodi in the head with his massive foot.

"KODI!", Balto and Jenna screamed at the same time. The canine couple watched as Kodi fell backwards onto the snow. However, Kodi didn't stay down for long. After taking a second to catch his breath, Kodi ran right back towards Steele and started his second assault.

"Kodi, no…", Balto whispered. The wolf-dog wanted to throw Steele off him. He wanted to help his son. He wanted to make the sadistic sled dog pay for hurting his family, but he was too weak. He had spent all his energy fighting with Steele, and he had still been no match for the malamute.

"Ugh, you don't know when to give up, do you kid? Just like your father", Steele groaned, rolling his eyes. Eventually, he decided to ignore the boy that was tugging on his legs, and focus on the dog he was really fighting. Steele bent over, and grinned evilly at Balto. "When I'm done with you, I'll enjoy killing your freak show of a son", Steele said smugly.

Balto growled, and snapped his teeth at Steele, but the malamute pulled back fast enough to avoid the half-wolf's attack. "Damn, you've still got some fight in you, haven't you? I'll just have to beat that out of you", Steele decided.

The malamute shifted his body a few inches, so his entire body weight was focused on Balto's chest, only a few inches above his lungs. The wolf-dog wanted to scream, as his rival crushed his internal organs, but he didn't have the strength or the breath to use his vocal cords. Steele knew he only had to wait another minute, and Balto's torment would finally end - when his heart stopped beating.

But before Steele could continue with his torture, someone interrupted him, someone who was neither Balto, Jenna, or Kodi. "Well, this is very homo-erotic", Blake noted.

Steele turned his head around and growled, as he saw his sled team had joined him in the backyard. Steele tilted his head to the side again, until he realized that him standing over Balto's chest could easily be seen as a different kind of torture.

"Jesus Steele, it's bad enough you're gonna kill him, do you have to rape him too? I thought you got your rocks off this morning when you kissed Griff", Jake said, disgusted.

"You stay out of this! This is between me and the half-wolf", Steele growled.

"Sorry alpha, but that's where you're wrong", Griff replied, before the husky leapt forward and tackled Steele with as much force as he could.

As soon as Steele's weight was lifted off his chest, Balto gasped and filled his lungs with as much air as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, the wolf-dog could see Steele being ganged up on by his angry team. Though the malamute fought like a crazed-animal, he was still outnumbered 7-1, and was subdued almost immediately.

As Balto got to his feet, his wife and son ran up to him, and hugged their loved one around the chest, knocking the wind out of him again.

"Dad! Are you okay?", Kodi asked, concerned.

"Balto, I thought I was going to lose you!", Jenna sobbed, crying into her husband's fur.

"I'm fine. A little banged up, but I've had worse", Balto said reassuringly, while flinching as Kodi and Jenna continued to hug his sore spots.

Once they were sure everyone was okay, Balto, Jenna, and Kodi all looked up, and glared at Steele, who was currently being held down by his mutinous team. Despite Balto's warnings, Jenna walked up to the malamute, and stared at him with a look of absolute hatred. "And here I thought you had changed. You're even worse now than you ever were before", Jenna growled.

As his savage brain calmed down enough to comprehend Jenna's rejection, Steele's angry expression softened. He had messed up. There were no words for how much he had messed up. He had promised himself he'd be the bigger man, but all he had done was make the same mistake he made during the serum run. He had let his anger control him again, and now he was living his worst nightmare. For the first time ever, Jenna truly hated him, and wanted nothing to do with him anymore. And no amount of grand gestures or apologies would ever change that. He had lost, and the wolf-dog had won. Instead of begging for Jenna's forgiveness or cursing at Balto, Steele only hung his head down in shame, and let his teammates drag out of the yard by force.

Balto and Jenna watched anxiously as Blake walked up to them. "Thank you for helping me back there. If you hadn't jumped in…", Balto said, his voice trailing off at the end.

"Like you said, it was a group effort. But you're welcome", Blake said, grinning. He had just been thanked by his idol - it was like a dream come true.

Balto glanced back at the other dogs, who were busy dragging an eerily compliant Steele down the street. "What'll happen to him now?", Balto asked.

"I don't know. When dogs fight on Roger's team, he usually changes their position. If this was the first time Steele got in a fight, he'd just find a new lead dog. But this is the third dog fight Steele's gotten in this year, so Roger will be pretty pissed. It's a good bet that we won't compete in the race. Roger might even sell him", Blake guessed.

"Good riddance", Jenna said, her voice hard and emotionless.

Kodi looked at Steele. He would never that forget his face. The face of a monster, The face of the man who had tried to kill his father. "Dad, why does he hate us so much?", Kodi asked, still shaken up by what had almost happened to his family.

"I don't know Kodi. I don't know", Balto replied.

Author's Note:

Measuring over 29 pages long, this is the longest chapter of any story I've written so far (even longer than chapter 17 of "Erdan 2"). But I've had a lot of fun writing it. Whether it was introducing Blake and Griff and then developing their characters throughout this chapter's run, or imagining Kodi's first encounter with Steele (a special request by Kodiwolf321 by the way, thanks Kodi!), or following up on the love triangle between Balto, Jenna, and Steele. Unlike chapter 1, the point of view changes rapidly, and all the characters' separate story arcs all tie into each other towards the end, to make the plot a bit more introspective. All in all, this chapter felt more like a whole story itself than just the second chapter of a story, and was the most complicated plot I've ever written for a single chapter (sort of makes me nervous about what all the other chapters will be like).

When I decided to take a break from writing last winter, I thought it was a bad idea, but now I'm glad I did. Cause if I hadn't, I would never have been able to write this chapter. During my time writing "Erdan 2", I met a lot of experienced writers in the Kung Fu Panda community, and I've learned from them how to write massive amounts exposition through dialogue, which takes up most of this chapter. Especially during the first 7 pages, when Steele humiliates Griff by outing him in front of everyone.

I'd also like to point out that this is the first time two guys have ever kissed in one of my stories. I've wanted to do it for a while now, but I've never managed to find the right time or place for it. Trust me, when you're gay, and you're always writing stories about straight characters, it can get very frustrating to resist the urge to slash male characters. Whether you're a guy or girl, I think we've all been there.

A good example is when you watch a movie where two cowboys (or bikers, or pirates, or whatever you're into) are fighting each other, and the whole time they're throwing punches, you're really just waiting for them to stop hitting each other and start making out, even though you know it's a straight flick. Or another example is the 'staring contest' between Bruce Willis and the Rock in a 2005 episode of TRL. I was just 10 years old then, and barely even knew I was gay, but I was old enough to know that kiss was the hottest thing I'd ever seen. And the fact they were both straight made it even hotter (of course, it could have been better. Bruce only kissed Dwayne on the cheek, when he could have aimed for the lips).

To put it simply, I find all face-offs between men have a homo-erotic subtext, depending on how you look at it. If you're straight, you'll just see it as two guys being guys and showing their aggression. If you're gay, you'll see it as two guys having a repressed sexual attraction for each other and funneling it though their aggression. And I learned that the hard way when I was writing Balto and Steele's confrontations in "Salvation, Part 1", especially in chapter 7 when the two stare each other down (if Jenna hadn't been present in that story, it could have easily gone down the same path as "Brokeback Mountain"). So getting to write for two gay characters for once was refreshing, and finally gives me a chance to tear down some 'macho male' stereotypes (I oughta write bi fics more often).

Also, this chapter makes references to Jack London's "Call of the Wild", which was a major influence for me when I was writing the "Heritage of the Wolf" series. Digging holes in the snow to keep warm was something Buck and his team used to do, and when I was writing this author's note, I felt I needed to give credit where credit was due.