Steele pulled Kodi by his collar.

"Lucky me, you already have a collar on you!"

Kodi heard Aleu cry out. He looked back to see the three dogs pull her in. What are they doing!?

"What are they going to do to her!?" Kodi questioned.

"Whatever they want. She's their slave. You're mine!"

"What are you going to do to me?"

"I haven't fully decided. Lucky for me, I'm able to keep you tied up! I'm sure they are going to keep her up all night. The three of them will be on different shifts making sure she doesn't escape and work her."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY WORK HER!?" Kodi roared.

Steele shrugged, "I don't know. What ever they want."

Steele wasn't intimidated one bit by Kodi's roar. Steele was about to unravel the anger that's only reached the surface of Kodi one or two other times throughout his entire life. Steele threw Kodi into an enclosed area.

"What are you going to make me do!?" Kodi interrogated.

"You do nothing. Let's just say I hope you stay on your paws well. This'll only hurt for a minute."

Aleu heard Kodi's yelp. She started crying tears of sorrow now. Steele had burned and scratched his symbol into Kodi's body.

"You won't get away with this!" Kodi said.

"I will! 'Cause if I ever do let you go, and you tell everyone about me, I'll lie my way in, then bring it all down on you!"

Aleu was waiting for her first element of torture.

"What should wes do, dere?" Nikki asked.

"There's all sorts of stuff! She can get our food, give us pleasure, help us sleep, make us…" Kaltag ranted.

"She'll be great for us!" Star interrupted.

Kaltag hit Star on the head.

"What are you guys going to do me?" Aleu asked.

"We're hungry," Kaltag said.

Aleu growled.

"Go get us something to eat, and bring it back!"

Aleu went hunting to look for food for her slave owners. Kodi looked at his burn scar.

"Good news and bad news. Good news, your fur will grow back normally. Bad news, I gotta burn you twice a year!"

"I hate you already!"

"You do know this is all a big prank right?"

Kodi felt immediate relief and excitement.

"Wait, really?"

"Your dad is involved in it, and everything! Do you know how excited he is that his daughter is back?"

"Wow! You got me good! Damn!"

"This is actually a benefit to all of us! Your sister gets to come home, your dad gets his daughter back, and I get my reputation back! Guess who else was involved?"

"Who!?"

"Kirby! He knows you like him! Guess what? He likes you back!"

"No way! Yes! Hey, sorry about what I said!"

"Man, I feel bad. I got your hopes up!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm such a butt! This isn't a prank! It's real! You're my slave, your sister is enslaved by three guys, do you think your dad would allow a prank like that!? And by me? He wouldn't even approve of you and Kirby!"

Kodi's face dropped. Oh, would he love to kill this malamute!

"I HATE YOU!"

Kodi went to run, but not only would Steele go and make his reputation at Nome hell, but he was physically trapped now. He can't take on Steele by himself, and Aleu can't take three dogs down at once. Steele threw Kodi onto his back and got on top of him. Steele's rancid breath was flowing right into Kodi's nostrils.

"You are my slave now! You can't escape, because I'll kill you. And if you do manage to get to Nome, you'll want to leave! Leaving would be a bad idea with me around!"

Kodi immediately felt regret and homesickness. Now he wished ill-will upon his sister!

It's her fault! She's why I got into this mess! She pulled me in to cuddle with me last night! I hope those three dogs get the best of her! I hope she suffers! Kodi yelled in his head, Wait! What am I thinking!? It's not remotely close to her fault! This faggot shouldn't be alive, he's the reason this is happening! It's more of my fault than hers!

"I hope your tail gets pulled on by a monkey!" Kodi yelled to Steele.

That really was all Kodi could get out. He was so angry and had this war inside his head.

Aleu was grooming Kaltag while he was eating a rabbit she caught. He forgot what it was like to be groomed by another dog. It was way different from how a human groomed him, but it was better! Aleu pulled on the notches on Kaltag's ear.

"Ah! Watch it!"

"Sorry!"

Aleu did this all the time to her mate, it was nothing new. This really wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It was just like being at the bottom of the pack.

"My turn!" Star said.

"Back off!" Kaltag growled.

"I'm almost done," Aleu said calmly, "I'll get you next!"

"Youse forgot about me!" Nikki said.

"You're after Star!"

Nikki shoved Aleu.

"It's my turn!"

"I'm going to finish Kaltag!"

"Piss off, Nikki!" Kaltag defended.

Nikki pulled Aleu back. She brought him down. Meanwhile, Steele made Kodi decide on either being used to cuddle with Steele for the night or skipping dinner.

"I'll let you decide," Steele said as he left the cave.

He saw Aleu on top of Nikki. She looked like she was about to kill him! Steele went for a dead sprint and body slammed her to the ground. Kodi watched it all go down.

"Don't you dare fight! They might not be willing to kill you, but next time you pull a stunt like that, don't expect to be able to fully function!"

Steele pulled out a large stick and dragged her by her neck.

"Do yourself a favor and keep count!"

He started lashing her. Kodi couldn't take it! He was against suicide tactics, but he didn't want to get killed by these monsters! He had to keep Aleu in mind. If that was Yukon, he'd be able to flee, and trust Yukon to kill whoever was guarding him, then take out the rest in their sleep. The most annoying thing about growing up with Yukon was that he could never take him down. At times like these, he admired that.

Kodi closed his eyes and sealed his ears. He couldn't watch or hear her suffer! Aleu couldn't keep count. Countless lashes later, Aleu was dragged back to Star, Nikki, and Kaltag. Thankfully the stick wasn't sharp, nor did it have much velocity when swung. She still couldn't stop her bleeding. Steele walked into the cave.

"Don't make her mistake!" he warned.

"Was that necessary?"

Steele paused.

"Are you trying to challenge my authority!?"

"Never mind! Sorry!"

Steele threw the stick as hard as he could at Kodi. It pierced the top of Kodi's muzzle.

"I have a mail run tomorrow. What am I supposed to do?"

"That's for them to figure out. Oh what will your lover do without you?"

"He's not my lover! How the hell do you know which one I like?"

"You don't think I stalk you!? I've been waiting for advantage like this since before you were born!"

Kodi started to get intimidated. Steele has seen everything he's done? He's done so many things he wasn't proud of! What about that time he… Kodi prayed Steele didn't see that.

"What about that time when Kirby was sleeping? I'm gonna go straight up to Kirby and tell him what you did!"

Well, he knows!

"Please! Don't! I'd rather the town think Aleu and I are mates!"

"Then don't try to escape! Your choice, me use you as something to cuddle with or skip dinner?"

"Skip dinner! I don't want you to touch me!"

"Shame!"

Steele pulled out some fresh meat. He tore it apart and started eating right in front of Kodi.

"Oh! This is so good!"

Kodi put his head on his paws and looked away. Steele grabbed Kodi's muzzle and aimed his eyes right on the meat.

"You gotta watch me!"

Steele chomped down on the meat. A piece dropped on Kodi's nose. He was about to bring it into his mouth when Steele snatched it right off. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag stood there watching Aleu bleed. What now? They might as well help her.

Steele was done with his food. He laid down to go to sleep.

"One more thing Kodi! If I wake up in the morning, and I have your scent on me from any part of the night, I will lash you!"

Kodi backed away more.

"Am I allowed to visit my sister? It looks like Kaltag is still awake."

"Tomorrow you might have that privilege depending on your behavior and work. Come here. I won't hurt you, I'm too lazy to get up."

Kodi approached Steele. Steele grabbed his collar and attached a tether line to it.

"Now get some sleep. Or stay up. Just don't wake me up."

"Alright. Goodnight."

"You know what? Disregard what I said about not touching me tonight. If you do get cold, you can cuddle up next to me."

"Really? Thanks!"

"I'll probably still hog the blanket."

Kodi and Steele talked a little bit. Star and Nikki were cuddled up with Aleu. Kaltag was on his back keeping watch in case either of the slaves tried to escape. He hoped she'd willingly go with him overtime. It'd be a while. He felt bad enslaving her like this. Kodi might've got off on the wrong paw with Steele. Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Was he actually a nice dog?

"Hey Steele, you're actually pretty cool. I like you."

"I like you to, Kodi. Sorry about everything earlier."

"Well, you should apologize to Aleu."

"I will when I wake up. You know what?"

Steele tossed Kodi a piece of meat.

"You did earn it. Eat."

"Thanks!"

Kodi ate a meal he thought he had given up. He cuddled up next to Steele afterwards.

"Thanks, again."

"I should thank you. I was the one that enslaved you."

"Well, goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Kodi."

Steele nodded to Kaltag to signal permission to sleep. All 6 dogs were able to sleep.