Chapter 5: growing love
Hey, Guys… it's been a very long time since I last updated this story, but many things got in the way and created barriers to writing this story which were nigh impassible. But, At least for now, I'm back!
(Would love to give a huge shout out to Lilly The Omega Wolf (formerly frostfairy) as she helped me write part of this story and saved it from being discarded a few times.)
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Golden rays of early morning Alaskan sun filtered through a window on the side of a small shed attached to the side of a house, shining brightly and directly into the eyes of a certain, brown wolf-dog.
The canine in question slowly started to wake from his slumber.
Balto's eyes opened wearily, the temptation of sleep still calling to him from the land of slumber.
Slowly though, the blurriness in his vision faded until he was able to see clearly once more, and the sight that graced him spread a smile across his muzzle.
Lying there, peacefully snoozing was the young husky that his heart held so dear.
Her sleeping form shifted in her sleep and she rolled over to face the brown dog whom she had shared her sleeping space with.
Though her eyes remained closed, indicating that she had yet to wake from her slumber.
Balto had been so busy admiring the beautiful husky, that he hadn't even noticed the pain slowly growing in his broken leg
.
The reason for that probably being, that Jenna's new position had her head draped over Balto's legs, using them as a furry pillow of sorts.
And as much pain as Balto may have been in, he couldn't bring himself to wake her.
"She's so cute when she sleeps." Balto thought to himself, not even realizing that he had spoken the thought aloud.
After he spoke those words, a cheeky grin spread across Jenna's muzzle.
And with her eyes still closed she spoke:, "You think I'm cute?"
Balto blushed profusely, but decided to play along.
"I don't think you're cute, I know you're cute." He replied, flashing Jenna his signature grin once again.
"Aww Balto, you're so sweet." Jenna said lifting her head from Baltos legs, much to the relief of the wolf-dog.
"So what do you want to do today?" Jenna questioned Balto, looking over at him with an early morning fatigue.
"As long as I'm with you, I don't care. But I don't think I can do much with my injuries." he answered, gesturing to his wounds.
"Well, how about we quickly go get some breakfast and then go out on a walk with Rosie. And we can work something up when we get back, sound good?" she asked, to which she got a nod and a lick in reply.
Shivers ran down Jenna's spine, she still wasn't used to the feeling of another canines lick, that wasn't to say that she didn't like it.
Jenna quickly got to her paws and around to Balto's uninjured side and did her best to help him to his paws.
"You don't need to help me you know, I'm fine." Balto told Jenna, not wanting her to worry about him.
"Oh hush you, stop trying to act all big and strong just to impress me." she retorted.
"Is it working?" he asked cheekily, with a playful grin, refusing to leave his features.
"Yes." Jenna giggled and licked his nose, "Now come on, I'm hungry."
The young husky began to walk forward with her lover leaning on her for the much needed support she was offering.
"So, Balto, how did you sleep?" Jenna asked trying to start some small talk.
"Well after my uhh… dream, I slept very well actually, thanks to you of course. Best sleep I've ever had honestly." he replied, nuzzling into Jenna before asking, "What about you?" in an attempt to keep the conversation going out of mild curiosity.
"Well, I slept very well also. But that was mainly due to the fact that I had a soft and warm pillow, which also just so happens to be very furry and handsome." she finished, looking to her now blushing companion and giving a laugh.
'Mental note: still super cute. Side note: that is probably never going to change' she thought, completely oblivious to the fact that she was staring at her companion.
"Uhh, Jenna? hello-ooo? Earth to Jenna?" Balto asked, almost teasingly.
Jenna snapped out of her thoughts to find Balto smiling at her innocently.
"So do I have something in my fur? Or were you staring at me for another reason?" he asked, raising his brows.
A mischievous smile formed on the lips of the young red husky.
"Why, yes Balto, you do have some dirt in your fur, let me get that for you." Jenna said as she stopped walking and moved round to the front of Balto. She sat down in front of Balto and licked one of her fore-paws, before bringing it up to where this supposed dirt spot was and rubbing over it.
There was no dirt of course, only an opportunity to tease the poor canine.
The spot of 'dirt' was supposedly just behind his ear.
And as Jenna put pressure behind her rubbing, Balto began to lean into her paw, tongue lolling out of his mouth and leg slowly starting to thump off the ground.
After a small while of giggling at his actions like a school pup, Jenna decided to stop her rubbing motion and let Balto snap back to reality.
"Okay Balto, I think I got the dirt, now come on, I'm hungry." Jenna said as she made her way to Balto's side.
"Aww, I was enjoying that," Balto said in an innocent voice. "Could you do that again? Please, just for a minute." Balto asked, giving Jenna the puppy dog eyes.
Jenna saw him begging and laughed, "Maybe later Balto, C'mon we are gonna miss breakfast at this rate." she then walked off to head into the kitchen, completely oblivious she was leaving Balto behind.
"Uhh, Jenna? Little help please?" he called to her and she turned.
"Oh right, sorry Balto" she quickly ran over to Balto and let him lean against her.
"You must be pretty strong, huh Jenna?" he mused.
"What? For being able to support you?" she asked, almost sounding amused.
"Well yeah." was the simple reply received.
"I mean, I'm putting pretty much all of my weight on you and you're absolutely fine with it." Balto said.
"Well Balto, that is more than likely because you're as light as a feather." Jenna stated, "And that is probably due to how little you've had to eat. But don't worry, you live with us now, so you'll always be fed." she said nuzzling Balto, reassuring him that her words were the truth.
After these words reached Balto's ears though, his mood changed completely
"Thank you Jenna, but I'm not going to get used to it." he replied, looking to the ground and letting a tear fall from his eye snaking its way through his fur
"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong Balto? Why do you not want to get used to it?" she asked worriedly, stopping in her tracks and looking to Balto
Balto sighed, "Jenna look at me, I'm a mongrel. A good for nothing, wolfdog, with a broken leg and a messed up side. I can guarantee you that after I'm back to full health, your family will realize what I really am and kick me out in seconds, minutes if I'm lucky..."
Tears were now openly flowing from the young wolf's eyes as he just knew that after he was healed he would be cast out into the unforgiving cold of alaska.
Alone in his life once again, with his love, Jenna, so close, yet so far away...
Jenna saw that Balto honestly thought that the things he was saying were true.
That her family would kick him out and that he would be alone again.
It hurt her to see the one she loved in such a state.
"Balto, please, I know you might not think that my family loves you, but they do. Believe me Balto, they do. Would they have paid to have you looked at by the vet if they didn't love you?" the husky asked in a soft voice.
"I guess you are right…" the wolf-dog replied, clearly still having doubts.
Jenna sighed, "Balto, I can't change your thoughts. All I can ask you to do, is trust me." she said, her voice caring and gentle.
She gently nuzzled into her canine love, hoping to somewhat raise his spirits from the depressed mood that had been created.
The gentle touch from the husky made Balto smile.
As much as the world may have hated him, he knew that there would always be someone who
loved him just as much as he loved them.
And he was glad he was able to spend this time, no matter how short, with that special someone.
"Now come on Balto, we need to eat breakfast. You especially since you need to eat plenty for you to heal you know." Jenna told the young wolf.
She then pushed herself into his side to provide support and to take strain off of his broken leg.
She loved the canine that was currently right next to her, and she was going to do anything to ease the pain caused by that mongrel steele.
The very thought of that mutt and what he almost did to both Balto AND Rosie, made the young husky want to skin the fleabag alive.
But she knew that looking after Balto was far more important than picking a fight.
Finally, the canine duo made their way to the door that lead into the kitchen, alluring smells emanating from it.
As both canines entered the kitchen area they were greeted by the ever joyful voice that belonged to Rosie.
"Well, hey you two!" she called to the two dogs who were practically joined at the hip. "Did you have a good sleep?" she asked her two dogs.
A bark and a happy yip was the reply.
After the young red head turned back to her breakfast, the two canines made their way to theirs.
Balto limped his way over to the bowl, with Jenna by his side every step of the way of course.
Once the young duo reached their destination, Balto sat and allowed the one he loved to eat first.
"Always the gentleman are we, Balto?" Jenna asked, taking and eating some kibble, then, looking to her love to hear his answer to her question.
"Yes, especially when you're around." he replied with a chuckle, licking her cheek and making her blush.
"And you say I look cute when I blush." he commented, only serving to increase the colour in his companion's cheeks.
"But it's true." Jenna said, turning away and flicking his nose with her tail in a vain attempt to hide her embarrassment.
She motioned to the bowl of dog food she had been eating out of previously.
"You are probably going to want to eat some of that, because if I know Rosie, then she is probably going to take us out for a walk right after breakfast."
"Okay." Balto said hesitantly, obviously not looking forward to walking around town with a broken leg AND knowing that steele was in said town.
He made his way over to the bowl, lowered his head and ate some of the dry wheat biscuits.
Jenna smiled, she was happy that Balto was finally eating enough food to actually help his wounds heal, rather than yesterday when he would barely even touch the bowl.
"Hey there, boy." said Thomas as he walked over to the two pups.
"How's that leg of yours?" he questioned, carefully taking the injured leg into his hand.
Balto gave a small whimper as his wandering fingers went over an especially sore spot on the young wolf's leg.
"Oh, I'm sorry boy, hopefully you get better soon." he said, giving both young canine a scratch on the head before turning to his daughter.
"Rosie can you take Balto and Jenna here on a walk after breakfast? I think they need some fresh air and they both probably want to stretch their legs." He requested with a pause, rethinking his words before adding "The ones that work, anyway…"
"Ok dad, but can I take them down to the beach? Please?" she asked with a high pitched voice emphasising the last part of her question.
"I don't know, it's on the other side of town…" he replied, thinking about his decision
"Please, dad? It's big and open and no other people really go there, so that means that it will be safe for me to let Balto run around without having to worry. Please, daddy?" pleaded the young girl.
After a few more moments of thought Thomas conceded, "Okay fine, you can go to the beach, but you have to be very careful, okay? I don't need both my dog AND my daughter being hurt." he remarks, half joking and half serious.
Rosie snorted, "ugh, yeah, yeah dad, I know. Byeee!" she yelled walking over to the front door and calling the canines.
"Balto! Jenna! walkies!" she giggled happily waiting for the canines to join her by the front door to the house and picking up a leash from the hat rack.
The trio stepped out onto the open porch of the small house, the wood being sturdy under their feet. Balto let out a long relieved sigh, the cold relaxing breeze passing through his fur being a nice contrast to the thick warm air of the kitchen.
Rosie fumbled around with her gloves, trying to put them on whilst also keeping her grip on the leash she had in her hand. She turned to look at the two patiently waiting dogs.
"Ehehe, sorry guys, having thumbs is harder than you think" she giggles before finally sliding her hand into the warm clothing item,her other hand following suit. She gripped the leash and walked over to the female of the 2 canines "Ok, Jenna, You get to go on the leash" she says, clipping the metal connector attached to the long rope to the collar that circled around her neck.
She then turned to the other canine and smiled, "You, boy, are being carried,. The vet said you need to keep nice and rested, but you need your fresh air and play too, so I will carry you for as long as possible." she reasoned to seemingly no one, walking to the little canine and picking him up.
Jenna yipped and barked happily, jumping around in circles, not being able to wait for her walk. It was different for Balto, however. He wasn't looking forward to it. He knew that steele would be after him and that they would be walking down the main street of the small town, so basically guaranteed to run into steele.
The Rust coloured husky instantly took notice of the glum look across her companion's face and was instantly trying to get back the handsome grin she barely knew yet loved so dearly, "Balto? What's wrong?" she asked, looking up at him in the young girl's arms.
He answered somewhat somberly "W-Well….. We are going right down Nome main street… And it's the morning…. S-So every working person and pooch in town is gonna be there to start the day….I-Including steele." He Shakily proclaims, the very name of the monochromatic canine sending shivers straight down into the core of the wolf-dog.
"Balto…" she started, a soft reassuring tone to her voice. She was realizing only now how much fear Steele had installed in him after the vicious attack "I need you to listen to me and I mean really listen…" She continues, her expression turning dead serious "He can't hurt you and he won't hurt you, Balto. If he does what he did yesterday then that makes him dangerous to humans and we all know what happens to dogs that are dangerous to humans." she says, looking up at Balto.
A look of shock quickly replaced her stern look as she saw the clueless look On her companion's face 'Right… Wolf pup, not a dog, not trained.' She sighed as she started her explanation if euthanization "Balto, When a dog is a threat to a human or if they hurt a human then they, uh… They get 'put down'" she explained looking once more up at him as Rosie gently swayed him in her arms, ticking off things in her mental checklist to see if she had forgotten anything she needed for their walk to the beach.
Balto however didn't show any signs of understanding and instead looked more confused than before the explanation was given "What's put down?" He asked her, the spark of curiosity and genuineness in his eyes showed that he truly had no idea as to what she was referencing.
Jenna stumbled over her words for a few seconds, attempting to find an explanation to the term that wouldn't petrify the poor pup.
"W-Well… Balto…. When a dog needs to be put down… it just means that the humans make them go to sleep, but they never wake up…." She explained, every word having to be thought out and questioned before she uttered them.
A look of dread came over the brown canid's face as he realised just what the term meant and made sure to never allow that to happen to himself, or anyone he loved.
Before he could form any sort of reply, Rosie cut in with her ever joyful voice, "Okay pups, let's go!" she called with a large smile and a spring in her step as she skipped happily to the gate with Balto in her arms and Jenna following close behind.
As she proceeded out of the gate and towards the main street with nothing more than the sweet hum of Rosie in their ears, Balto slowly found himself beginning to nod off yet again within the small kid's arms.
"Awwww…. Are you tired pup?" she asked him, shifting his weight around in her arms to cradle him with one arm and tickle at his belly with the other.
The wolf's reaction to this was adorable to say the least. He curled his tail up over his tummy and his paws came up to try and push away the hand of the human, annoyed murrs and gentle growls leaving him softly as they played. Jenna, all the while just smiled and watched the two bond.
As they reached the main street of the town, the young redhead finally let up with her tickling and made sure Jenna was still following obediently behind with a tug to her leash.
Eventually, the trio ended up back at the butchers, luckily too late in the morning to catch steele or Kassen.
She knew that the butcher would have no problem with the pup as long as he was being held close, so she left Jenna outside and made her way into the store,calling back a "Stay, Girl!" before closing the door behind herself.
"Good morning, Young Rosie! How can I help you today?" The large man behind the counter asked in a cheery tone, obviously having had a good morning thus far.
As the wolf heard the voice of the butcher, he tensed up and nuzzled further into the crevice of Rosie's arm. He recognised the voice easily as the one who had been so callous toward him and had chipped his ear with a well placed cleaver.
The petite girl smiled at him over the counter and handed him a few coins "could I please have some meat?" she requested, not really realising just how vague that request was.
The Butcher chuckled softly and picked up his cleaver, walking over to his chopping board and taking a large chunk out of the succulent meat he had waiting there before turning to the girl and enquiring with a warm smile "All I sell here is meat, Rosie. Is there any specific meat you would like? Or just one big chunk?"
The girl put her hand to her chin and thought for a moment, being sure to keep the shivering canine close and secure against her chest. She lit up and nodded over to him as a thought crossed her mind "Could I have it cut up into little treat sized pieces?"
The burly man nodded and turned back to his chopping board, bringing down his cleaver and chopping the large piece of meat in half, then in half again, and so on and so forth until he had several small cubes that would be easily devoured by certain hungry pups.
With every connection of cleaver to chopping board and the loud thuds that came from that, the pup flinched slightly and folded his ears back some more, feeling very uneasy with the man who had tried to decapitate him not too long ago being in the room with him.
"An early morning snack for Jenna then?" he asked, shovelling the meat from the board into a small white baggy and bringing it back over to the counter, holding it out for her to take it.
Before Rosie even had the chance to answer the question, the butcher saw the brown canine in her arms and his smile seemingly widened
"And for this new pup I assume? He's very cute, and for some reason very familiar…" the man's brow furrowed as he tried to place where he had seen the pup before, knowing full well that he had seen it somewhere prior.
Rosie, on the other hand had already taken the baggy of meat and was heading towards the door "Yeah, he is quite cute. Anyway, I had better get going. I promised my dad I would take him and Jenna to the beach and then come right back afterwards to get lunch! Goodbye sir!" she waved as she exited the store, not giving the butcher enough time to respond with his own goodbye before she was out and walking down the street once again, Jenna's leash lazily in one hand, and Balto snuggly in her other arm.
The butcher just shrugged off the thought and went about wrapping up and refrigerating the meat he had just taken a cut from, Whistling jovially as he went about it.
The group of two canines and a human had been walking for around three minutes in complete silence, other than Rosie's happy humming. Jenna had noticed Balto's lack of motion and it unnerved her.
"Balto?" she called up to him "Balto, are you okay?" she questioned, waiting attentively for his answer even though she knew he was fine, Rosie would have definitely noticed if something was wrong.
The canine in the arms of the girl yawned softly and replied lazily to the other "Yes, Jenna. I am fine, I was just a little worried the butcher would try and hit me with his cleaver again."
Jenna frowned softly as she continued walking, her ears laying against the top of her head and her tail dropping visibly as se remembered that the butcher had indeed attacked him at some point.
"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore, Balto, trust me. You are a part of our family now, and that means that as much as humans may not like you at first, they certainly aren't allowed to hurt you!" she says, not knowing if her own words were true, but trying to make sure that the injured pup resting in her owner's arms had absolutely nothing to stress over as he tried to recover from his vicious attack.
His worries seemed to fade at the other dog's words and he relaxed again, snuggling once again into his new owner's arms.
An eternity seemed to have passed from when they left the house to the where they were now, just on the outskirts of the small town they inhabited.
Jenna was the first to be set off, her lead being unclipped from the collar hidden beneath her bandana and placed down to the side as the human moved her arms to set Balto gently onto the snowy ground.
As soon as he was placed down he moved to Jenna's side, nuzzling her and licking her cheek, gaining a slight blush from the husky and an adoring "Awww..." from their human accompaniment.
Both canines then made their way onto the beach, again Jenna offering herself essentially as a crutch to the injured wolf-dog, keeping him from toppling over his - currently unusable - leg as they continued further out onto the sand.
Behind them, Rosie was simply watching the two dogs bond and her smile seemingly only grew wider with every step they both took glued to each other at the hip. The girl knew she would sadly have to interrupt them and decided it was better done sooner rather than later.
"Jenna! here girl," she called forward to her life-long pet, "And you too Balty." she added, already coming up with cutesy nicknames for him.
Both canines looked back at her as she called them and both developed different looks on their faces.
On Jenna's was one of excitement and wonder, as if the most amazing thing in the world had just happened and she was there to witness every single second of it and each second was captured as a picture so she could view it over and over. Her tail began to wag in overdrive.
Balto, however wore a face of confusion at both the human and his partner's actions, he just didn't understand what was so maw-droppingly good about what the human had produced, so he looked to Jenna to plea for help as to what was so amazing that he was missing out on.
"Jenna…? Why are you so happy? I mean…. It's just Rosie holding something… she does that all the time? I think?" the confused canid asked her several seemingly obvious half questions, half statements, only receiving a giggle and a nuzzle as a reply.
The item that the youngster was holding, was in fact something amazing to all canines and Balto had just not learned that yet.
A Ball. A squeaky ball.
Rosie giggled at the reaction she got from both of the puppies and walked over to them, giving the toy a squeak. "It's called a ball silly puppy, and it's just to make sure you both don't run off, we can't really play with it because of your leg, but we can still play in the snow!" she says before playfully pushing the husky into the snow and laying down next to her, pulling the still slightly confused Balto to her chest with Jenna nibbling on her coats arm.
The young human squealed happily and pushed the cream-coloured husky from her arm whilst placing Balto gently to the side and standing back up, shaking the snow that had worked it's way into her hair loose and tugging her gloves up a little.
"Well, on second thought, let's just go for a walk, it's not really fair if it's just you and me who get to have fun, is it girl?" Rosie asked as she began to walk her way down the beach, sticking close to the outskirts of town, not wanting to stray further than she thought her father would deem appropriate.
As the trio continued down the beach, something large, decrepit, and ice covered caught their attention. In front of them, jutting out from the iced over sand like a mighty iceberg on land was a beached trawler, but not just any beached trawler. The very trawler that the two dogs had slept on just last night.
"Balto… Isn't that your ho-... Old home?" The rusted husky asked her wolf-dog counterpart, tripping over her words, not wanting to remind him of the very recent times when he had to spend many nights cold, alone and abandoned.
Balto hobbled up to the old trawler silently, the crunch of snow under his paw being the only sound he made and even that was nigh inaudible. He approached the dilapidated and rotting wooden beam that lead up onto the main deck of the trawler.
A sigh left him as he looked back to the others and nodded - mainly towards Jenna - and spoke, "Yep, this is home sweet home, for me…" he joked with the husky but his eyes still remained saddened as though he couldn't get out of his mind that, at one point this was his life; the little trawler with little to no cover from the elements and constant fear of his only source of food, the small town not even one hundred metres from them.
Jenna took an instant notice to his saddened eyes and shook her head, moving over to the disheartened pup and giving him a warm nuzzle and long lick up his cheek and to the tip of one of his ears, a feeling which sent a jolt down the others spine and made him lean into the loving lick, sitting down with his head under the female's chin placing his other ear by her maw.
This gave the husky another idea, so she opened her muzzle and whispered into his ear, "Don't you worry, Balto. I won't ever let this become your life again. I won't let that happen, I swear." she promised, again giving his ear a gentle lick before adding with a smirk, "Stick with me pup, we'll go places."
Balto lifted his head to look the female in the eyes, her entrancing amber orbs practically glowing as the early morning sun reflected off of them, each ray of light hitting her body making her look like a canine deity come to a remote little corner of the earth, to nome.
To Balto, in that moment she looked like the canid embodiment of perfection, the sun showing off every slender curve of her form, every bristle of fur. She truly did look heavenly.
The male pushed his muzzle forward and rubbed noses with Jenna whilst closing his eyes, his maw curving into the canine equivalent of a smile.
"I love you, Jenna…" he spoke softly, to which came an obvious reply.
"I love you too, Balto."
After the nose rub had finally ended, the duo looked one another in the eyes and smiled, knowing their future together would be bright and filled with love - even if it were to be ripped apart for several years.
This mind-numbingly adorable moment was cut short as Rosie piped in with her ever cheery voice snapping the two canine's gaze from each other to the freckled redhead.
"Balto and Jenna sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" she teased the two lovestruck puppies with a schoolgirl-like chant, earning murrs and whines in return from both aforementioned pups.
Jenna looked up at her human and looks at the ball in her hand, being an energetic little husky she jumped up at it, trying to nose it out of her owner's hands.
Rosie looked at her pup with a slight giggle and held up the ball, shaking it and pretending to give it a good throw, watching as her pup ran across the beach to chase nothing.
"Jenna~!" she called out, holding the ball up above her, showing the canine the real whereabouts of the ball.
Balto chuckled softly and looked over to Jenna "What were you running after?" He asks, being rather perceptive he had noticed that she hadn't even let the ball leave her hands.
"W-Well, it looked like she had thrown it, and it's a ball so I couldn't help but chase it and it's just that…." she replied, being rather embarrassed at her lack of foresight, choosing to chase first and check ball had been thrown later.
Balto chuckled with a soft, lopsided smile that made Jenna shiver before speaking "Y'know… you are real cute when you are embarrassed~" His smile only grew wider as he witnessed the beautiful husky's normally white cheek fur tint a shade of red as she began to blush
Her rebuttal was that of a child, one that only caused the brown Canid in front of her to grin wider "Well, You are handsome always!" she blurted out without a thought, trying to find some way to move on from the embarrassing chasing of an invisible ball.
"Handsome always, am I? Well I'm pretty sure that would make you beautiful always, no?" he asked his puppy lover gaining a shocking response.
Jenna leapt forward from her seated position, and being very careful in her movements, lowered Balto to the ground and nuzzled up under his neck, giving it several soft licks as she did so.
From the perspective of their owner, The freckled red-head, it was a sight to marvel at. Two of the cutest canines she had ever known, snuggled up close and nuzzling one another, the slightly smaller Jenna almost curled up over the Wolf-dog like a fluffy husky blanket, lapping at his neck lovingly.
All the while, Balto, being the canine embodiment of confidence was blushing red as a rose, with his tail wagging happily. There was still a nagging pain in his leg, but he quickly disregarded it and returned every nuzzle granted to him by his companion.
Jenna's soft voice broke Balto from his blushing mess of a state as she spoke from her position nestled within his chest fur.
"I've known you less than a couple days… and I already feel as though i've known you all of my, albeit very short life
After a little while longer, the pups broke from their loving embrace, pushed themselves to their paws and instantly began to run after one another, an overjoyed Rosie following suit.
Another short while passed and all three of the playing young ones found themselves sprawled out over the crystal like sand, panting and wheezing for breath after their semi intense game of "chase"
"So...how did you pups…. Enjoy the walk?" The Human asked her canine counterparts through her rugged breathing, being very worn out after chasing two energetic dogs, even if one was partially crippled.
Both of the pups were far too tired to answer, and the injured one had even managed to find a comfortable enough position to fall asleep curled against his femme husky lover.
Rosie softly picked herself up and then moved to pick up Balto, silently d'awing at the level of cute radiating from his little form, Jenna also found herself being unable to stop herself from swooning at him.
Carefully, the two thirds of the trio who were awake headed back home with their canine companion snoozing. His soft snores did not go unnoticed, as both Rosie and the rusty pup by her side were absolutely enthralled by the sleeping dog.
"I can see why you love him so much, pup… He is adorable!" she whisper yelled to the husky, her hand softly trailing through his fur and caressing his cheek. The pup rolled belly up during his sleep, whining softly as he stretched out.
The walk home was pleasant, peaceful, almost tranquil as dogs wandered to and fro with their owner's on morning walks and such, every so often one or two turning to Jenna giving her a smile, or a wolf whistle, to which she would growl and tell them to suck yellow snow.
After withstanding the onslaught of friendly dogs, and not so friendly mutts, they arrived back home.
Jenna delighted when Balto was brought back into the shed and laid down on the puppy bed to rest. She hopped onto it with him and silently, carefully wrapped herself up in his warm aura, sighing happily as she did so and even blushing slightly through her white cheek fur.
After ensuring she hadn't woken him up, she softly murred and nuzzled into his neck, a happy, contented sigh leaving her small frame.
Rosie walked out of the room to go talk with her father, placing the little treats in the fridge before she did so, and closing the door over just enough to block most noise but also let the pups into the main house, should they awake.
"I love you, Balto." the female whispered, closing her own eyes and preparing to be lulled into sleep by the strong scented male's beating heart.
At the far sound in his dreams of his lover calling his name and telling him she loved him, Balto's tail wagged softly and his paw came up around her., subconsciously pulling her flush against him and curling around her like a protective coil.
At that moment, everything was all too perfect in their little world.
Too bad that stable perfection wasn't to last.
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Boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy…. Well it's been a long little while, but here is the next chapter to the past and present, and I promise I won't keep you guys waiting, what… two years for the next update? Nearly three?
Things went so far south in my life they managed to start going north then back south again… if you would like to know more, by all means send me a private message and i'll introduce you to the hellish past couple years of my life. So only do that if you care, and don't mind a little extra depression in your day..
Other than that, go on ahead and i'll stay back here, watching these two snuggle and thinking up the next chapter, which won't be filler like this one is, I promise!
this story is no longer on hiatus.
Until next time; The Lone Wolf.