In the Negative

by RevieRev

Disclaimer:

I do not own Balto or it's characters. I also make no money from this fan fiction.

Chapter 2

Kaltag's first reaction would have been to mimic her actions but knowing who it was in front of him, he held himself back and just stood his ground. Of course he didn't want to look stupid like Star would have. He was just shocked that she'd woken up in the first place.

'I could have sworn she'd been Steele just now,' he thought nervously to himself.

Right off the bat Aleu would honestly have to say that she didn't recognize him. Her mind was still spinning from taking in this whole "wolf" thing that was buzzing around her. She hadn't expected anyone to sneak up on her. Those light blue eyes were intense as she stared him down, but it took her a moment to realize who he was.

"What are you doing here, Kaltag," Aleu snarled back at him.

It didn't feel right to her to lower her defense just yet. This dog had a history of messing with her father before and working with Steele. She'd never known why, but had an idea about it now.

Kaltag wanted to say something but found that he just wasn't able to get anything out. Maybe because he had no intention of hurting her but she was clearly ready to attack him. This was a very awkward official meeting if that was what anyone wanted to call it.

"Aleu, well… I-I. .. You see… I," he stumbled around with his words, not able to find a thing to say. Since when was he the one to be under pressure like this?

"Spit it out," Aleu demanded.

"Scent," he quickly replied, just trying to pull the first word out of his head. "The scent…"

Aleu couldn't smell anything unusual in the building. If there was anything, she would have been one of the first ones to pick it up. That wolf nose of hers helped a lot when it came to such things. The wolf-dog eyed him, unsure of where he was getting here at first.

"What scent," she asked impatiently, more frustrated that she couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary herself.

How was he supposed to tell her about that scent? It was the one thing that would drive any male dog, neutered or not, insane. All Kaltag could do was stare at her.

"Well," Aleu barked out, sounding a bit more aggressive with her tone this time. She was not here to play games with this dog.

Still no reply came from the golden canine.

Then like a bombshell out of nowhere, it hit her when she put two and two together. A rush of embarrassment waved over her. Imminently, she sat down, with her tail in-between her legs. It wasn't because she was afraid but she was trying to hide every trace of the scent that she was in heat from Kaltag.

Oh how he felt like bursting out laughing just then and there. The big bad wolf had been ready to come after him just seconds ago and maybe rip his face off. Now, she was like a helpless pup. Unable to help himself, he just started going off.

"That was just brilliant, was just fantastic, that was phenomenal," he laughed out.

She wasn't one that liked to be made fun of. Aleu narrowed her eyes at the intruder, ears back, and fangs still bared, a low growl being emitted from her throat.

Freezing, he picked himself up so that he was back on all fours again. It wouldn't be in his nature then to fight back against a female in heat, especially if he wanted any chance of breeding with her.

Kaltag had found that Aleu wasn't like many of the other females. She was more aggressive by nature, and not as willing as any dog he'd never met. Of course, other female dogs had admired him for his skill as a sled dog. This wolf dog didn't seem like she cared much in following in her father's footsteps.

"I'm sorry, Aleu. That was wrong of me. I just couldn't help myself," he responded, trying to calm her down some, if that was even possible.

She'd just come into her heat cycle and wasn't ready to breed just yet. Right now she wasn't even sure if a dog was good enough for her. Maybe she should have looked outside the box now and tried to find a wolf. Of course, she'd only seen them from afar before. What wolf would want a cross breed like her though? Her grandfather could have just lucked out.

"Shut up, Kaltag! I don't want to hear your excuses," Aleu snapped back at him. He was just like every other male out there that wanted her when she was in heat. Sadly, she was cursed with the heat cycles of a dog and not that of a wolf.

"No need to be so moody, princess," he said, trying to calm her down again.

"I'm NOT your princess!"

"Well someone's woken up on the wrong side of the kennel," he mumbled to himself.

"I heard that, Kaltag!"

"I said I was sorry."

She just huffed at him, sick of his stupidity in her eyes. She did have a problem though. She was two years of age now and old enough to raise a litter of puppies herself. Of course if she needed it, she could get her mother to help her raise the puppies since it would be her first time.

Kaltag sighed, not too sure how he was going to be able to get by her. It wasn't just instinct that had driven him to her. Well that was what he wanted to say at least. He'd watched Aleu grow up and mature into a very beautiful canine in his eyes. Yet, he'd never found that he had the courage to confront her and tell her how he felt. If he did it now, she'd surely just think he was trying to get on her good side so she'd allow him to breed with her when she was ready.

"Aleu, I…"

"What now?"

No, he was right. Now was not a good time to try and get on her good side. He'd have to let her calm down but he couldn't guarantee that he'd be able to have this chance alone with her again. He'd just have to find her at the right time to be able to tell her how she really felt. This meeting between the two of them had been odd enough as it was.

"Never mind," he said, looking away from her, not wanting to make eye contact.

Aleu looked back at him, confused now by the way that he was acting. One second ago he was laughing at her and now he was trying say something. She couldn't put it all together right now. He must have just been messing with her head.

Her ears then pricked forward to a familiar sound, and Kaltag's soon followed. There was a howl back off in the distance, one that she recognized as her mother's. Balto must have told her about what he'd said to Aleu earlier about the whole wolf thing.

"I have to go," she said, looking at the golden canine one more time, making sure that he wasn't going to follow her. "I'll see you around.

She finished it off just trying to sound polite for her earlier actions. No one needed to know about what had happened in between the two of them. It was more so for her then for him, she thought. She was the one that had been made to look like a fool but his actions and words still confused her. What did he need to say?

"Sure," Kaltag managed to whisper under his breath.

He watched with those chocolate brown eyes as the wolf-dog took off into the night as if she had been there one minute and just gone the next.

This all surely hadn't gone as he'd planned. He dwelled upon his encounter with Aleu for a while before he just shook it off. It was never going to happen and he needed to stop getting his hopes up so much. Waiting a few more minutes, he excited the building through the doggie door that he'd entered through and decided to make his way back home.

Author's Note:

I must say I love where this story is going. It might be something about today but my brain is already spinning with ideas for the next chapters. My muse must be back. :P

Would love to hear your reviews - good or bad.