The sound of the gunshot echoed throughout the woodland. From experience, the wolf had seen it coming before Sam had taken the shot. Swiftly, he made his way off Kaltag and ran out of the way before the metal could puncture him. Sevrim knew better than to try and stay and fight. With the condition he was in, and the human shooting him down, it was in his best interest to leave. Not even turning to look back, he bolted off with the last burst of energy he had.

Sam had to hesitate about going after the wolf and finishing him off. He knew that Kaltag was his main priority though. He began to make his way back over to the golden dog after giving Yakone a quick command to stay. As he advanced forward, he was holding his gun in his hand, ready to fire if the wolf came back. Once he reached the dog, he bent over and looked him over real quick. It was obvious that he would have to take Kaltag to a vet.

Out of the corner of his eye though, he caught the sight of Aleu standing there. He paid no attention to the blood around the back of her foot since the rest of the area around him was already stained. Sam then turned to look back at Aleu, holding his gun in his hand and getting ready to aim. Kaltag caught sight of the gun through almost half-closed eyes. Giving a low whine, he staggered to lift himself up on his front legs. As gently as he could, he grabbed the sleeve of Sam's jacket near the wrist.

Sam was about to take the shot without any hesitation before Kaltag had pulled his sleeve. In confusion, he looked at the bloody dog. The poor soul couldn't figure out what the dog was doing. Why would be try to stop him from killing these wolves that had almost just killed him? Their eyes made contact and Sam could only peer into those deep chocolate brown eyes of the Alaskan Husky. Had he been any other dog, he wouldn't have paid any mind to it and gone on with his business.

"Let go, Kaltag. These wolves are dangerous!" He tried to not yell, but he firm at the same time.

Aleu looked on in dismay at everything that was going on. Her mind was still spinning, trying to take in all the information around her. She'd just been raped, Kaltag had almost been killed, and now here she was, not sure if she was going to die or not. What sort of life was this that she had asked for? Why did she have to be part wolf? Why couldn't she had been born a squirrel or a normal dog and not have any problems in the world? It was all chaotic!

Kaltag released Sam's sleeve at the human's words but he still refused to let any more harm come to Aleu. With what strength he had, he began to walk towards her, slowly, but communicating his point in the best way that he could to Sam. Sam couldn't help but watched dumbfounded at what he was seeing. Kaltag was defending this wolf that had tried to kill him? What exactly was this world coming to these days? Oh what crazy jobs he took on. He better get paid more.

"Kaltag, what are you doing," suddenly came an exclamation from Aleu! "You're hardly half way dead! You need to go."

"I'm not leaving without you," was all he could say when he finally reached the wolf-dog.

Sam and Aleu could only stare at him. Aleu couldn't understand why he was so stubborn and committed to her while Sam tried to figure out why Aleu wasn't attacking the Alaskan Husky. Kaltag gave Aleu a weak smile before turning his attention back to Sam again. A human was the only one that could undo the trap that Aleu was in and he was very aware of it. Giving a whine he looked back in between Sam and Aleu again, then just stared, waiting for the human to make a move.

Cautiously, Sam began to approach Aleu and Kaltag. When he was finally closer, he recognized Aleu as one of the dogs that commonly ran free in Nome. His attention then immediately shifted to the blood stained snow around Aleu's hind leg. She had no other wounds that than and he was amazed. Looking further, he found the source of the blood to be the teeth from the trap that she was caught in. How had he not seen this all before, was he that blind?

Eyeing Aleu carefully, he walked around to her side. From what he understood, she didn't have as much wolf as that Balto dog did but still enough to put him on edge. The three dogs around him could just watch. Sam knelt down beside Aleu, uneasy as he did, and brushed the snow back from around the leg to reveal the trap. An avid hunter, he knew a thing or two about traps. He quickly indentified the type of trap and unlocked it, freeing Aleu's foot and then stepped back.

Instantly, Aleu raised her back leg up, to free it from the pressure of being against the ground. She looked at the human and then back at Kaltag, unsure of what the next step from there was. Sam knew in the back of his mind that he wouldn't just be able to leave Aleu there. If anyone had ever heard about it, he would be run out of town. Yet, supporting two injured dogs wasn't what he had planned on doing in the first place either. This surely was going to be an experience.

Reaching into his pocket, Sam pulled out a slip lead and slowly approached Aleu again. He moved the loop around her head and then to her next. Aleu didn't react frightened or in shock. Rosie and some of the other children in town had played with her and trained her on their own, so she wasn't totally a feral dog as many people had thought of her. Advancing forward, Sam began to move slowly not to hurt Aleu and sure that Kaltag would follow him anyway.

"Are you guys all right," came the quick response from Yakone when the trio had approached the sled.

"I'll be fine in a few days. Aleu needs to see a vet," Kaltag replied.

Even though he didn't like the idea of not being able to pull the sled himself, Kaltag did have some common sense and knew that he wouldn't be able to travel the distance back to Nome, even with Yakone's help. He looked to Aleu who at his gazed stepped up on the sled. She lay down and then curled up into a ball. Kaltag himself, stepped on the sled, and sat down, still not pleased that he had to. Sam looked at them in amazement, dogs were surely smart.

"Mush!"

Yakone took off.