Luna ran for all she was worth, zigzagging through streets and pedestrians with a degree of speed and agility that would have won a gold collar in the Canine Olympics if there were any. With a spray of snow, she swerved into the lot where Chase's army was headquartered. There were already dozens of dogs, lined up on opposite sides to watch the spectacle. Chase and Groven were in the middle and apparently talking.

Luna set Arrow down. "Get somewhere safe," she ordered.

Arrow didn't want to get out of the line of fire. She wanted to help, to make up for what she'd done. "But…" she pleaded.

Luna shook her head. "No buts," she insisted. "Hide, now."

Arrow hesitated, then scampered off. Luna moved forward to join the strays on Chase's side of the area. "They're planning something," she whispered to one of the dogs.

"Duh," the dog replied. "Everyone knows that creep can't be trusted."

"No, I mean―"

"Shh!" hushed another dog. "Can't you see they're talking?"

"I'll give you one more chance to give this up," Chase warned Groven.

"Oh, you'll give up all right," Groven replied. "Or your troops will. You, on the other hand, won't have the chance!" And with that he threw himself at her like a tornado. Chase, with experience born from years spent as a stray, rolled back with Groven's attack and jammed her legs up into his underside, using his momentum against him to launch him away from her, then flipped back onto her feet. Groven hit the ground with a thump, twisted around and came charging back at Chase again. Though Chase was much faster and very agile, Groven was more attuned to strength and raw power.

As the two dogs fought, sometimes grappling and other times darting in and out, Toby appeared at Luna's side. "Where's Arrow?"

"Hiding," Luna replied. "I told her to go somewhere safe and stay out of the line of fire. Where are the reinforcements?"

"I couldn't find anyone, so I came alone. Now what's going on?"

"They're fighting," she answered. "Arrow mentioned some kind of scheme, although I don't see how Groven's dogs can do anything to her without…"

And then Groven rammed into Chase, hitting her in the shoulder and driving her into the line of his dogs. They pushed her back, and in the commotion, Luna saw several of the dogs striking Chase in the same shoulder.

"So that's it!" exclaimed Toby. "He's getting them to weaken her for him, the coward!"

Luna's teeth were grinding like a millstone. "Toby, we have to do something."

"Like what?" he countered. "If we attack, they'll fight back and any number of them can tear her apart in the melee. I've seen your aunt fight before, Luna. She can handle this."

But as the fight went on, Chase continued to weaken. Groven was a tougher fighter than he appeared, and the repeated beatings by his troops were taking their toll. Finally, Groven backed a battered and exhausted Chase up to his line, which moved aside to give him plenty of room for the final round. "Time to finish you off, you miserable parasite," he gloated.

"You double-crossed me!" Chase snapped. "You're the reason for this, not me!"

Groven's eyes narrowed. "Well, I suppose you'd know all about betrayal. Isn't that right, Second-in-Command?"

"I'll show you who's second!" she answered as she tried another slash at his shoulder.

Groven evaded the blow, and to Chase's surprise he started to laugh. "Oh, you'll never be my second," he replied. "I'm surprised you've forgotten the dog who actually founded this whole army." As he continued to sidestep strike after strike, he grinned. "See anything familiar?"

At first Toby was confused by the question. He'd never seen Groven before, and until he'd come to Nome, neither had Chase. Why should she see any familiar about him? A second later, realization hit him like a runaway train. Of course! He felt like an idiot for missing something so obvious. The muscular build, the black and white markings, the nasty disposition. He's another of Steele's pups!

Chase must have seen it too, for her eyes widened and she hesitated for one split second. "No…" That was all it took. With a roar, Groven leapt at her, flipped her on her back, and pressed his paw against her throat. Chase, who was already short of breath, began to utter a gasping noise like water through a pinched hose.

Groven chuckled as his paw pressed down on Chase's throat. "You lose, wolfdog," he mocked. "Time to finish what my father started with your leg." Leaning in and speaking low so only Chase could hear, he added, "And I didn't even need the ambush."

Chase's eyes bulged from lack of air as she flailed her legs, each kick feebler than the last.

"Let her go!" raged Luna, desperate to join the fight.

Groven growled. "I'll deal with you next," he snapped, and with a nod at Toby, added, "Then the mutt who sent my father across the continent." His eyes glinted maliciously. "And then that half-breed Balto for dessert." Once more he focused his eyes on Chase. "You're the reason my father was driven out of Nome," he spat. "But you can't stop us forever. We're not weak like you wolves."

Toby watched the scene helplessly. What could he do? They were closer to Groven's side than Chase's. If I do anything, Groven's mutts will attack and it's game over! he stewed. There was no escape, no way to win.

A flicker of movement from the corner of his vision behind Groven's lines drew his attention, but by the time he focused there it was gone. Tentatively, he sniffed the air. "Arrow!" he breathed.

Sure enough, the pup had crept through the crowd unnoticed and climbed to the top of a stack of crates. She's not… Toby thought with a mix of wry humor and abject fear. If she was doing what it looked like she was doing, she'd learned from his stories all too well.

But she was. "Pick on someone your own size, creep!" she yelled, leaping from the top of the pile. She did her namesake proud as she dived straight down and sank her teeth into Groven's tail.

The rebel leader's eyes widened and he howled in pain and whirled around to dislodge the source. He made a comical sight as he chased his rear end, frantically trying to reach it. Finally, he sat down, his weight forcing Arrow to open her mouth as she tried to breathe. His eyes flashed, glinting with a look straight out of any pup's nightmare. "I'll make you pay for that, runt!" he snarled.

"Forget her!" came a voice from behind him. "You haven't finished with me yet!"

Groven turned just in time to see one back paw driving straight for his face. The kick was quickly followed up as Chase threw herself at him, lashing out with a merciless barrage of teeth and claws. Tired and battered as she was, she still had plenty of fight left. "Get out of here, kid!" she yelled through a mouthful of skin and fur on the back of her enemy's neck. "I'll take it from here!"

"Get that pup!" screamed the insurgent as he tried to fend off the attacks. With the contest broken, violence erupted once more like the second eruption from a volcano. Three dogs quickly zeroed in on Arrow, but before they could strike two of them were met by Chase's troops, leaving only one to attack the pup.

One was plenty. The dog pounced on top of Arrow, swiping a paw and sending her into the stack of crates she had leapt from. She let out a cry of pain as her body struck the wood.

"No!" Toby cried, trying to get past his opponent. "Arrow!"

The dog leapt at Arrow again and stood over her, glowering down at the pup. Dazed and in pain, Arrow tried to get away, but the dog followed her every move like a cobra waiting for a shot at a snake charmer's face. No matter what she tried, he stayed with her.

Luna, who'd been watching the scene as best she could in the midst of a struggle for her own life, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Batting her assailant away, she hollered, "Arrow! Hard left!"

Arrow obeyed, and the dog followed. He should have paid closer attention to his surroundings, though, because this brought him crashing right into the boxes already unsteady from Arrow's impact earlier. He and Arrow both looked up and bolted in opposite directions, out of the way of the avalanche to come. "Boss!" the dog yelled.

Groven slammed against Chase, driving her back several feet, then turned around just in time to see the crates come down.

All the fighting ceased at the resounding noise of the falling wooden boxes. When it was over and the echoes had died away, the black-and-white dog lay beneath the pile like a tree struck down by lightning. His body was mostly covered, but it was clear that the crates had done their work. The corner of one had fallen directly onto his neck. Groven was dead before he hit the ground.

The fight was over in an instant, and silence descended over the battleground. The rebels looked at Chase, whose face was contorted in a scowl of pain, disgust and betrayal. "If you know what's good for you," she snarled, "you'll leave right now and never let me see your faces again."

They looked at her, the realization of what Groven had been planning to do all along hitting them at full force. Groven had seemed like the kind of dog anyone would want for a leader: Strong, driven, and charismatic. But they had completely missed the one thing that any normal dog would have noticed right from the start: His seething hatred of half-breeds. Now, as they were coming around to the truth, they looked at Chase with a pleading look in their eyes.

"Puppy eyes won't work here," Chase said seriously. "Now get, before my fighters and I make you."

They could tell by her snarling scowl that she meant every word. They had never seen Chase harm another dog outside of necessity, but something told them that if they didn't leave soon, they would find out just how mean she could be. Her threat was all the urging they needed, and they scattered. Chase watched until all were out of the room.

Luna looked at her aunt in surprise. She'd never heard Chase say anything in anger with such conviction. "You didn't really mean that, did you?" she asked.

Chase answered, "Of course not."

"Will they be a problem from here on out?"

Chase shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. Her eyes softened, and she sighed. "They left me, betrayed me, even attempted to kill me. But I don't hold anything against them. They were young and didn't know me as well as some of the others."

"What a forgiving heart you have," remarked Toby. "You're the ultimate leader."

Chase blushed a bit. "Oh, I'm not so sure about that," she said. "But thanks for saying so."

"Come on, Toby," said Luna. "Let's go before someone starts to get curious."

"Good idea," Toby agreed. Turning to Chase, he said, "You might want to drop by your parents' place and tell them you're okay."

Chase nodded and thanked them for their help, gave Arrow a light nuzzle and told the pup to be good, then turned and left with the rest of her followers behind her.