Steele.

Steele was motionless on the ground under a tree. His blood stained the snow around him and he knew he probably would never leave that spot again. His vision was fading but he could still make out his attacker, a large, and angry, grizzly bear. Steele may have had endurance and skill when it came to mushing, but he put up a pitiful fight against the bear. It wasn't much for the bear to fend off his attacks anyway, but Steele was in no way a match for it. He closed his eyes one last time as he saw the bear lift up a paw, preparing to do the final deed to end Steele's life.

"This is where I end, where my entire life of accomplishment turns meaningless, I only regret that I could not apologize for my egotistical ways". Steele thought.

Almost impatient by the bear taking its time to kill him off, he opened one eye just in time to see the bear being fought off by... Something... His senses blinded by pain, he could not see, smell or hear very much of anything, but he made out a wolf-like animal, it was much smaller than Balto would have been, but for reasons he would never know, he perceived it as the very wolfdog that he has hated his entire life.

"Thank you... Balto" his last thoughts before slipping out of the conscious world. From this point in time, and on, Steele would learn that he had to put his ways behind him, and respect Balto for his deeds.

But it wasn't Balto, was it? No, Balto woke up right as Steele slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Balto.

The clouds overhead looked like the bottom of an ocean. It was chilly, as always, but when the sun chose to peek through, it got hot. So it was another one of those days that would be freezing in the shade, and hot in sunlight.

"What a beautiful day" Balto said with a hint of sarcasm.

He got up to survey the horizon. Balto was awake early today; he went over and sat out on the front of his boat like he does every morning. He was looking and smelling into the distance, his powerful senses reaching the town, along the far coast and to the other side of the plain where it met dense forest. He wasn't smelling for just anything, but was honing his senses on Jenna.

Luckily his vision wasn't one of the things to use against him to show his age. His sense of vision and smell were just as good as they were when he was a young pup, and because of his half-wolf heritage he could use his nose to "see" things that his eyes can't. He "watched" as Jenna and Rosie walked from the store back home, he loved her scent, it was a scent he would not forget for all of eternity. His eyes closed and enjoyed the cool Alaskan air flow through his scruffy coat as he continued to sniff about.

Balto chuckled as he knew he no longer had to steal her scent from afar. He could actually go up and talk to her, and nuzzle her as they kissed, to feel her fur against his and not forgetting being able to take in her scent at point blank as it stuns him. He smiled, not believing how it was possible, how he accomplished something that made Jenna his mate, and lets not forget his six beautiful pups. His smile grew larger as he began to mentally plan his trip to Jenna when suddenly something foul hit his nose like a kick to the muzzle.

Steele.

The smell was faint, but for some reason to Balto it felt like Steele was hiding right behind his boat. Balto waddled over to investigate, but when he got there, Steele was nowhere to be found. Balto took another whiff of the air then realized that the scent was much farther away, towards the forest behind his boat.

"Better not be playing any tricks" Balto said to himself. He turned to head back, when a change of wind brought new smells along with Steele's. Blood, fear and... A bear... He froze, Steele was defiantly hurt, and he was almost sure there was a bear involved. Balto hesitated for a second before bolting off in the direction of the dense forest that surrounds the town. As he neared the source, not 100 meters away, a few new, faint smells appeared. He didn't think much of them, but it was enough for his brain to make a note of it and classify it as "wolf". When he finally got there, he traced the smell to the other side of a tree; he slowly looked around it, knowing it would be a horrific site.

Sure enough, there he was. Steele, well, whatever was left of him.

Steele was as good as dead, his body completely destroyed, Balto counted, 4.. 5.. No at least 8 broken bones and those were just from what he could see. He had a huge bite mark, and a missing chunk of flesh removed from his back. Numerous scratches and bite marks all over the rest of his body. his muzzle was ripped at the nose, exposing his teeth and gums fully. He brought his paw to Steele and gently nudged him over, then felt his heartbeat. 4 seconds passed before it finally got back in a steady rate, for seconds until it stopped again... For a few seconds. Balto shivered, a small part of his cruel side was smiling at the sight of the good-as-dead asshole who tormented him all his life, but the much larger compassionate side - the one Jenna fell in love with - told him he needed to help. First things first, he would have to... sanitize what wounds he could reach so that it didn't get infected... The very thought of having to lick Steele, even to potentially save his life, made him vomit. But it was due in part because of the smell and the shock of seeing Steele's mangled body. He looked around, halfway hoping nobody was around to see this, and then he started. He began licking the larger gashes and cuts, then the bite marks, checking to make sure there was no sign of rabies; thankfully the bear didn't have it. He stopped and held back his stomach after realizing again that he was licking Steele. But had to return to finish his aid, his licking lead to Steele's head and to his muzzle, where Balto's worst fear at the moment happened, Steele momentarily woke in shock and saw Balto licking his muzzle! He was instantly knocked back out, possibly due to his left front leg all but completely destroyed. Balto was surprised but continued what he was doing.

"Great, just what I need, Steele recovering and spreading rumors that Balto was sneaking kisses to the love of his dreams while he was unconscious" Balto muttered. A sound came from the trees behind him; Balto's ears perked up in response, but quickly figured it was nothing, then sat and stared at Steele for a second before walking off to the left. He grabbed a branch that had leaves and many sticks on it, a veritable sled, then brought it over to Steele and, after gently tossing his body into it, dragged the "sled" off towards town.

"Clever, Balto". Said an anonymous being that watched them the entire time, and Steele's real savior.

Balto couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following him as he dragged Steele towards town. 10 min past until he reached the forest edge. The feeling shook off as soon as he left the closed forest and entered an open stretch of land roughly 2 km to reach the small settlement of Nome.

Steele's savior sat and watched, it was a female wolf pup, not older than a year. If she was going to talk to Balto, she would have to enter town...

Siku.

She had just awoken from another frightful night that consisted of waking up every hour or so at the slightest sound, every time fear caused her to wait even longer before falling back asleep. Siku watched from behind cover as a large black and white malamute entered the forest. He was muttering something... something about stealing his fame and glory... And his girl, then he mentioned Balto. She instantly perked up, listening closer.

Siku was little more than a pup at 11 months old, but she was not a dog, she was a wolf. A wolf that was abandoned mere weeks after she was born. Sound familiar, huh? Her fur was almost a pure white over her body, mostly being puppy fur, but had grey patches of fur on her chest and belly. Her muzzle also had a darker grey shade. But her eyes were a mysterious difference, her left eye has Blue pupils but her right eye was Brown. She had nobody in this world, and she rarely ever saw other wolves or dogs in her life. So this was interesting to her. The malamute stopped at a tree and looked around for a few seconds then... he started crying. It was a sort of angry, yet desperate sort of sobbing. Siku felt like she should go and ask the dog what was wrong, but of course instantly retracted herself; after all she didn't know anything. Something else approached from the opposite side of Steele, it was a small brown bear cub.

"Go away disgusting excuse for a life; I will kill you, right here, right now if you don't get the fuck out of here!" Steal barked, obviously angry that someone saw him crying.

The bear cub ran off in fear. Siku now knew that this dog wasn't too friendly. Steele pulled himself together and started walking off again, Siku followed secretly. She was fascinated by seeing another of her species not knowing, much less caring of their different genetics. She was a wolf, and he was a pure-bred Alaskan Malamute. Two different species from two very different worlds, but she didn't know any better so she followed him and accidentally knocked some snow off of a low lying branch. This got Steele's attention and he zipped around and walked over to her to investigate. She did nothing but drop down and huddle in fear at the possibility that she was going to die right then and there. Before Steele even caught eye of the creature, he was literally thrown off a good 10 feet into a tree, by a bear...

Mama bear.

Accompanied by her cub, she was furious with the dog, and he stood nothing against it. He tried to run off but was grabbed by the back right Leg and tossed into the air carelessly by the bear. It caught Steele with its teeth, sinking 3 inch fangs into Steele's lower back, causing him to let out horrifying sounds, he was released by the bear and tried yet again to run away, only to be rammed into and then shoved meters away. The bear continued to "play" with this potential threat to her young. Carelessly ripping flesh off, biting and breaking Steele. The ordeal lasted 30 minutes, and Siku could do nothing back hide and watch as she cried at the horrific scene happening in front of her.

She wouldn't let anymore happen, almost instantly the tiny white wolf sprang forward and latched all teeth into the back of the bear's neck. The bear was in shock and bellowed out a loud long growl-like scream of pain. Siku continued her attack, taking advantage of the bear's futile efforts of shaking her off, to spring upwards and again sink her teeth into the bear's muzzle. She was thrown off the bear and finally met her paws to the ground, before jumping yet again at the bear, this time biting into its ankle causing the bear to fall down. This proved fatal as Siku bit down hard on its neck, the bear let out a cry of pain with his last breath. Siku's eyes shot open and she whimpered at the sudden torrent of copper-tasting blood. She backed off and took a second to be both proud, and angry that she killed a bear by herself! She didn't take the time to check on Steele, and ran back to her hiding place.

She returned to her spot from earlier and smiled. "I took on a bear by myself!" She thought. Her parents would be so proud, while at the same time very angry. Her smile faded at the thought that her parents were no longer around, but enough tears have been shed about it over the past months, so she easily put the thoughts aside. She didn't know what else to do, go and check on the downed dog? Should she run for help? Or just sit there staring, She was already doing that. A smell entered her nose, a familiar smell. Balto. Her heart pounded fast as her favorite wolf came and checked on Steele. She always liked Balto, for reasons that will be explained later. She giggled as Balto looked around, and for a split second, right at her, then proceeded to lick Steele's wounds. Then she watched Balto drag him off on a makeshift sled.

"Clever, Balto" she muttered to herself.

Balto

Balto couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following him as he dragged Steele towards town. 10 min past until he reached the forest edge. The feeling shook off as soon as he left the closed forest and entered an open stretch of land and ice roughly 2 km to reach the small settlement of Nome.

Balto ran past his boat and headed into town, a quick sniff of the air told him that people were up and busy now. Past the homes of various canines that Balto would recently called them friends. It has been a month or so, but people still came up to greet Balto, still thankful for the wolfdog saving their children. This time was different, a small boy ran up to pat balto, but he was stopped by his mother. They both watched as Balto ran past them, ignoring them, and dragging a motionless dog on a sled-like branch.

"That Balto, never ceases to amaze me, he's still a hero, doing hero things..." The mother said to her son.

"I want a dog like Balto!" the boy cried.

"Heh, I don't think we'll find a wolfdog quite like Balto, dear." The mother and son turned back to their home.

Balto neared his destination, the Vet's office. Stomach still a bit sick after the earlier event, he curled up a bit, then let go of the sled, and with it, Steele. The Vet's office was still closed. Dr. Osnik had no set business hours, he seemed to open up whenever he awoke, which today was a bit late for Balto's liking. He barked and scratched at the door, then, remembering how he saw a cat do, he turned around and beat the door with his back leg. This got Osnik's attention.

The man sat up in his bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He was surprisingly well rested, and knowing what the signals at his door meant, he quickly got up and went to open the door. Still wearing night clothes, he winced at the site before him. He knelt down to pat Balto, and examine the victim.

"What have you brought me boy?" The man said in a deep heavy german accent. Balto's reply was a low whimper and a tilt of his head to the left, and raised his right ear up.

"Haha, Balto still saves lives would 'ya look at that!" His mood left from happiness when he got a closer look at the unconscious dog.

"Man this guy isn't in good shape… I know you wouldn't do this Balto, but… What could have? Oh never-mind I've wasted enough time as-is." He went inside to grab a stretcher-type device to carry Steele inside. Balto let out a relieved sigh as the vet pat him again, then closed the door, carrying Steele inside. Balto didn't stick around long, but he passed Steele's owners as they entered the Vet's office. The owners were told that Balto was dragging Steele into town by the mother from earlier and they still did not rule out that Balto was the one to attack Steele, but with no evidence, they simply ignored him. Balto did the same; after-all he still had his mind set on visiting Jenna, plus to tell her of this event.

Siku.

Siku sat at the edge of the forest, she watched Balto bring Steele to Nome, when he was out of sight behind a faraway building, Siku brought up her courage and was set on going to town… For the first time since…

She mentally scolded herself for thinking about it, and took a breath. Her plan was to run as fast as she possibly can, and low, using the hills to cover her approach to the town. She breathed out a long quiet lung full of air then ran off. She aimed in-between two of the higher hills, which cleared about 400m from the trip to the town. She peeked out and looked for her next destination, this time a small bush that was just enough to cover her. She bolted towards it with success. She was less than a kilometer from the town now. There was nothing between her and the town but Ice now. The huge lazy riverbed of the summer has now frozen over with ice that blended with the snow of any islands that formed in the river. She stayed behind the bush for a few minutes, her mind not coming up with any good ideas. She peered towards town for any Humans or dogs, and after learning that this left side of town was completely empty, she bolted off towards it. As she got closer, she centered her destination as a small alleyway between two houses. The 900m or so approach was closed within minutes by the wolf; her short legs did the job of running just as well as someone like Steele would for that matter. She entered the alley and looked around for a hiding place. She snuggled under a table that was somewhat closed off by the snowfall. Siku lay down comfortably on her paws, she figured that it was best to wait until Balto was alone to talk to him, and it shouldn't be long at all until Balto would come alone from the Vet's office and walk right through this alley.

Balto.

Balto was still caught by the townspeople before he was left alone. This time a man gave him some leftover Bacon from breakfast. He couldn't resist, both because he was hungry, and because it'd just be rude. He carefully ate the bacon strips from the man's hand and gave him a nuzzle and a lick. The man returned a pat to his head and let him off. Balto did like all the new attention he was getting, people liked him being there, it was nothing like the old days. If he could recall, that same man once kicked him before he ran off towards his boat. He trotted off towards Jenna's house, he couldn't wait to meet her. He only wished he had something to give her, but shook his head and continued walking.
"4th street. I wonder why such a small town would bother naming the streets." Balto thought. He didn't pay much attention to the streets anyways. He took an alleyway shortcut, one that he rarely took. It wasn't everyday that he was coming to her house from the Vet's side of town, it was usually a straight line from Balto's boat to Jenna's home.

Balto stopped halfway through the alley. He was being watched, and he knew it, his senses tingling, telling him that something was near, and was hidden. He let out an involuntary growl, it was instinct, and even though he was sure whatever was hiding probably wouldn't harm him. The hidden "threat" was hiding under a table on the far side of the alley; Balto approached it in "kill" mode. Head, ears and tail down, Lips raised to show huge wolf dog teeth.

"I know you're there" he said through his teeth, maintaining a low growl.

There was no response, Balto inched closer, to the point where he would have been able to take a snap at the being had it not been sheltered by snow and table. His aggressive stance weakened when he heard a tiny whimper come from the source. The snow gave and slid down a bit revealing a scared to death wolf pup. Any form of aggression Balto had was now absent.

"Hey, hey, hey, I won't hurt you, I'm not like the other dogs." Balto knew she wouldn't just believe him, he know all too well that strangers couldn't be trusted. To his surprise the wolf pup uncurled, and stared into Balto's eyes, as if trying to say something without using words. Balto was lost in her eyes, her blue and brown pupils were a rare oddity but it complemented to this wolf's beauty.

"Uh, hello to you too." Balto shook his head, he had no idea why he replied that way, the wolf hadn't said a thing yet!
He put the thoughts away then assisted the wolf in leaving her hiding place by swiping away the small hill of snow that accumulated and formed her protective "shield". The wolf moved back a bit, but then ignored everything and walked out to Balto.

Before him was the most beautiful thing he's set his eye's upon, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why? He had no desire at all to "mate" with this wolf, but he was dumbfounded by her beauty nonetheless. Another thought popped up in his head. Something told him that he needed to protect this wolf from any and all dangers, he needed to hold the wolf close to him and fend off anything that would threaten it. Both sides in some sort of trance, they moved together and gave, what could best be described as a "dog hug".

"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH." Balto screamed in his mind, what the hell was he doing? Not only was this wolf years younger than him, he had a mate! But Balto never felt like he was betraying Jenna in anyway. He had no attraction to the wolf, but he couldn't deny that he loved her. Loved her like a daughter, that is. Balto was first to break from the trance as he thought about Jenna, and stepped back. The wolf pretty much fell on her face and it broke her trance as well.

"Who are you?" Balto asked, still shaking his head. The wolf did not speak. Just stared at him with her multi-colored eyes.

"Okay… Where did you come from?" The wolf only nudged her head in the direction of the forest, towards where Balto found Steele.

"Uh-huh, so you can't talk." Balto asked curiously, he turned his head to the left as he heard a familiar sound, Jenna's yipping.

"Sorry, I have to… go now." Everything in Balto's mind told him not to leave this wolf. He fought it and head towards Jenna. He looked over his shoulder to the wolf; she just sat there, with a face of sorrow, and looked towards the ground. Balto let out a sigh and turned back to the wolf.

Siku

Siku got quite comfortable in her hiding place. She dug a tiny hole to see towards the alley opening, waiting for Balto's arrival. She didn't have to wait long, Balto came striding into the alleyway. She realized she had not planned on how she would confront the wolf-dog. Panicking, she simply decided she'd let him pass and talk to him when she actually know what to say. She lay back down and peered through the hole and watched Balto. She was happy just seeing Balto, but she could not talk to him yet. It seemed as though it wasn't her decision, because Balto was walking right towards her!

"I know you're there!" She heard him say, then she heard him growling. She could do nothing but freeze, fear filled her body at the sight of a huge wolfdog nearing her with teeth the size of her front paws. She drop down and covered her face with both paws, preparing for the worst. Her shaking disturbed part of the snow wall, and it collapsed, exposing her to the open, and to Balto. An huge amount of fear resided when she heard Balto stop growling. She was at a loss of words, she just stared at him, he was amazing, and everything she imagined he would be like up close, so long did she observe him from far away, but she was still trembling in fear.

Balto said things that made no sense to Siku, as her mind was on other things, how would she approach this topic to Balto? How would she even speak to him. His voice was soothing though, it told her that he could be trusted no matter what. Her body loosened and she caught his eyes. For reasons even beyond her, she locked her eyes into his and immediately lost all voluntary thought. She had no idea what was going on. It was like she was reading his mind! That's crazy. She figured she'd been starring too long, so she tried to say "Hello", only to realize she was still silenced by this event.

"Uh, hello to you too." Balto replied, but to what? She didn't say anything, did she? She didn't hear herself say Hello, but she'd got the message through.

Everything in her body told her that she could trust Balto, her mind was full of thoughts, most of them about Balto, the rest about what was going on not too far outside of Nome, and that she'd have to tell him eventually. She couldn't control herself as she watched Balto move the snow out to allow her freedom; she only walked slowly to Balto and rested her head in his chest. Her mind was literally blank at this point. She'd finally touched another wolf-dog, it didn't matter, she'd been so alone for so long. Plus she couldn't fight off the feeling that Balto was her protector, and that she'd have to stay with him always. She loved Balto. But not in the way you'd normally think, it was more, the way a daughter loves her father. Gravity seemed to slip away momentarily before she was reminded of its existence. Balto seemed to had disappeared and she crashed face first into the snow under her. She broke from her train of thought and immediately sat up, watching Balto seem to try and shake his thoughts out of his ears.

"Who are you"? He said in a concerned voice, he was obviously as lost for words as she was. Words were still absent from her mind, she could not answer, though she was screaming it in her mind.

A moment passed then, "Okay… Where did you come from?" She was happy that she could answer this without words, and pointed her muzzle in the direction of the forest.

"Uh-huh, so you can't talk." Balto said as a small smile formed on his face. She loved his smile too. Yipping sounds came from the right as Balto turned his head towards it, she opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by "Sorry, I have to… go now."

Her heart fell as Balto turned and left her, but she would not follow him, he needed to be at full concentration to listen to her anyway. Not really noticing, or caring, her head fell and looked towards the ground, she was a bit frustrated that she didn't talk to him when she got the chance. Balto turned and headed back towards her and she felt her happiness return.

Balto was slightly annoyed by this wolf, here he was inexplicably attracted to, but at the same time not attracted in a "wanting to mate" sort of way, And all the time she barely answered his questions.

"Okay, let's try this again. Slowly, don't worry." He really wanted to know this wolf's name.
"May I learn your name, please"? Balto tried hard to hide any annoyed sound in the question.

"Siku" The shewolf finally responded. Balto was lost at her voice, she only said one word, but it made memories of her mother's voice pop up in his head, he ignored it and continued at the wolf pup.

"Okay, uh, Siku, would you like to come with me as I talk to my mate, Jenna?" Balto asked very carefully. Siku nodded her head and returned to Balto's side, just a little too close for Balto's comfort. "Good"

"Jenna's going to love this..." he thought as they walked out of the alley.