Beringo was soon let known of what had Lewis told him and not only that he did not like what he had just heard, he felt… as if the sharp knife had been jammed deeply in his back. He just could not believe it. Could Fritz really do such thing to him in the name of his cronies all while he wished him and his team a luck for the final race?

"I mean, this just doesn't make any sense to me! I heard that Fritz is a closed dog when it comes to friends, but to go this far?" Hallie tried to connect dots, as if he knew her rival better than any other teammate. They were all back home and ever since how these news came to them, Beringo felt like he never wanted to be outside on streets… ever again.

"I can't be sure either, but there is one thing I can be sure about. I don't like those friends he has." Roger commented this situation, also baffled by the scenario where he ordered his friends to spread this false rumor to discredit Beringo all because over a loss?! He added: "Sometimes I don't know if Fritz himself is in charge or those guys are."

"For what I have heard from my parents, he was a very nice dog and up until he met these three, he made the decisions himself and didn't let anyone, not even his girlfriend Della, to do it in his name." Beringo spoke to them, all while sitting below the window separately from his group, feeling like he didn't need any company right now.

"Clearly you thought he's going to be that same old? So did I." Indiana told him, but since Beringo and others knew him pretty well by what he meant, it was clear that he was aware of others changing. No one seemed like he wanted to give him that stern look. Dakota was the only one who walked up to Beringo and asked: "Look, Beringo, none of this is your fault! We've achieved that victory fair and square and if anything, Fritz will learn his lesson!"

"I hate to break it down for you, Dakota, but we may need to teach that same lesson to his three friends too. They are tougher to deal with if I must say." Justin made his point here and clearly there was no way that should there be any physical conflict against Fritz's team, it'd be either Pyrrhic victory for one side or an embarrassing defeat for another side.

"Still, Justin, one way or another, they'll have the taste of their own medicine for discrediting Beringo! This has gone too far!" Dakota let him know what she meant. For all the rumor that had begun, none of Beringo's teammates was targeted and afraid. This made Beringo feel like a sore thumb among them and it was just the beginning.

"Beringo, look." Roger told him, even if Beringo didn't want to look at anyone right now. "This rumor will die out soon and that will be their lesson. Besides, you didn't survive because you became mad, you survived by a miracle and by how you've seen your mother in your lapses saving you! If any of us had the same thing happening to us like you, I'd genuinely believe you."

"Thanks, Roger." Beringo muttered. For the first time in his life, Beringo felt that he did not want to be outside anymore. It was a fortune that their mail deliveries weren't going to begin until in the middle of February. As for now, he could spend more time at home. He told them: "Guys, I think I'll need some time now."

"For what? Don't tell us you'll never go outside again, that's crazy!" Hallie didn't like the idea that Beringo was going to spend the rest of his days behind the doors. He proved her wrong: "No, Hallie. I'll go outside… but I'll go outside just at the night time, when there are no other dogs outside."

"Then what? You think that your female will come knocking at the doors looking at you and come every single night go be with you? Think again!" Indiana didn't like how Beringo was taking this too seriously. Little did he know by what he just said made Beringo's eyes widen and slightly open his jaw. As if Indiana provoked him with unintentional words.

But he remained calm, by looking calmly at Indiana and letting him know: "Of course not. I'll carry on if I have to! And I won't entirely isolate myself, because there are Lewis, Koyuk and Scottia, remember?" Beringo had that in mind, along with some other things, some that his friends were not meant to know. Now he got on his paws and headed towards the hall.

"Where are you going?" Justin asked, not being sure if Beringo actually wanted to go outside or not. He told them all: "I'll go to master's room. Look, I need some time to be alone because this whole rumor made me feel pretty upset, okay? Give me an hour or two if necessary." They wanted to comply about it, but at the same time, they had to respect his opinion as a leader.

Walking up the stairs and looking at the room at his right, his master Nash slept in this small bedroom with a bed of old gray sheets, oakwood closet and a small table with some of Nash's personal belongings. Beringo moved straight towards Nash's bed and rested by it, sighing at that moment while he enjoyed the solace and peace by himself.

"Well, if they think I'm mad, then they're not worthy to see me again for some time." Beringo thought to himself, hoping that this was going to end some day. Then he thought well about his idea of being outside just at night: "And this is just good! They won't suspect me on going and seeing Aniu! That is, as long as I don't overly rely on that pleasure."

Since the rumor was fresh and overly present among the dogs of Nome, Beringo would mainly remain home. In the night, when the dogs were home or somewhere else, Beringo had that pleasure to enjoy being outside. He didn't have to worry anything about those pesky dogs bothering him and whispering his name all because of the false rumor.

That was in Beringo's teammates' view. In reality, whenever he made sure that no one followed him, he'd always sneak out of the town, all the way down the beach to the old boat and there he'd meet Aniu, whom he'd seen as his new solace. Sometimes they'd not be in the old boat, but they once went few times to the forest not far from the town, with Aniu taking care no one would harm them.

"Aniu." Beringo talked to her, this being like the fourth time ever since he decided to go outside in the night. They were walking at the edge of the forest that night under the bright moon. "You must be wondering why I haven't showed up last night? Well, I couldn't let anyone sense my scent on the beach actually."

"Beringo, you don't have to apologize. It isn't like as if we not being able to see each other every day would be terrible!" Aniu was easy on Beringo's absence last night and he appreciated how she wasn't hurt by how he couldn't come. Besides, what Beringo had seen last night was worth sharing with her.

"Well, would you like to know what happened? I didn't see it coming myself, although I could." Beringo asked her, with Aniu's eyes all perked with curiosity, her telling him: "I'm listening." They stopped for a bit and sat down as Beringo had an interesting story to share…

The night before…

"I was preparing to move towards the old boat and to meet you there like we had today, but I was risking to reveal you to the others." Beringo narrated as he was seen in the alleys that led to the beach and from there he would be able to sneak to the old boat without anyone noticing. Then he heard familiar giggles, which made his eyes widen and his eyebrow raise.

"I have told you that two of my friends, Indiana and Dakota, are dating one another, haven't I? Well, I looked over there to see who was giggling and… it was neither Dakota nor Indiana. I saw Hallie and Justin." He noticed two of his friends there on the beach, with Hallie leaning her head against Justin's shoulder all while he was telling her something she loved.

"It is like two of your other friends have realized they are meant for one another." Aniu's voice echoed at where Beringo was gazing at his friends. He was happy for them to get along and have one another right there. Then again, he had realized that if he went to the old boat, his scent would've been left behind and these two would have suspected something fishy.

"Yes, that was something I realized after looking at them from the shadows. These two are understanding towards each other and as if they didn't care for being called strange and so." Beringo's voice echoed all while he, who'd been looking at them for a while, decided to return to the town, realizing that he should've left the house much before them, but he didn't expect them to date.

Back to the present night…

"Now that there are Indiana and Dakota together, Hallie and Justin together, my friend Roger and some others think that I have no one, but they're wrong." Beringo looked at Aniu while saying this and she was certainly flattered that Beringo was referring to her, knowing that he didn't care if Aniu was a wolf or not.

"I… I don't know what to say." Aniu felt the warm feeling in her heart and the excitement in her eyes, looking at her husky friend. Beringo let her know: "As long as other dogs and even humans don't find out anything about you in here, we can have one another as if we have all the time in the world!" The mention of "humans" however, made Aniu feel melancholic.

"Aniu?" Beringo asked her, noticing that she was not feeling right about something. She looked at him and knowing that she could no longer carry the burden, told him: "Beringo… there's something I should have told you before. Well, you do know that humans wouldn't be happy to see me."

"Well, I know… I wish the humans weren't showing that much prejudice towards you and other wolves." Beringo sighed, knowing what the humans were thinking of wolves. She looked at him and all while trying to remain calm, she told him: "Beringo, when I was a little puppy, I first saw humans… and it was one of the saddest days in my life…"

"Oh no, what happened?" Beringo walked closer to her and as she seemed like she was on the brink of tears, she remained calm because she had to say: "When I was a little puppy… a group of humans, carrying weapons, attacked the clan my parents and my mother's brother lived in. They thankfully made it alive, all three of them, but at a cost of a greater price."

Beringo had a slight relieving feeling when he heard that Aniu's family was alive in this skirmish, but the next thing he heard was less relieving: "My father's friends, who were the parents of the triplets I'd play with as a little one, were among many of them whose lives were tragically cut short all because of human's wrath… they were some of the kindest… wolves I had… ever known…"

More she spoke about it, the tears were seen in her eyes and she closed them, only to feel the memories and emotions overcome her. She leaned her head against Beringo's chest, trying to calm herself down, all while Beringo was taking it easy by how Aniu was nuzzling him. He told her: "I'm sorry, Aniu, I shouldn't have brought in humans in our talk!"

"No, it is alright, you just didn't know." Aniu didn't resent him for his mistake, although he was still biting himself for bringing in something he unexpectedly made her upset. He asked her: "Was that look in your eyes, the melancholic one, about all those memories you had as a little?"

"Well, since you have discovered it yourself, I will not deny it, Beringo." Aniu knew that there was no point of coming up with anything else but being straight honest with him. Now that they were at the edge of the forest, she took her time to calm down and then they were moving on with brighter topics for the time he had before Beringo had to return home.

Beringo and Aniu kept seeing each other in secret as the time went on. And with the time passing, the rumor of Beringo being insane and considering to attack someone innocent started to fade. Less and less dogs started being so afraid of him on the streets and behaved casual whenever they could see him.

As for Fritz's cronies, they were trying to come up with another rumor, hoping to discredit Beringo one more time. However, that was out of the question for a few reasons. One, Cosmo was terrified that Lewis was not going to spare him this time. Two, now that the fear was fading, coming up with something else and with thin paper evidence, it would not help and third, Della had been involved in this, ordering to end this folly.

Beringo's friends started to notice how Beringo, along with delivering mail with them, started to talk to other dogs in town that weren't either Koyuk, Scottia or Lewis, and sometimes these talks were cordial. But one thing had not changed - Beringo kept going outside in the evening. While his friends were fine with it as the time went on, thinking it was a habit that couldn't die out easily, Beringo spent longer and longer out there.

"Guys, I didn't want to bring this up, but I just think that we need to do something." Indiana talked to his friends, with Beringo now hanging out with Scottia as they could've noticed that from the distance while they were in the boiler room. "It is about Beringo. Something is not right with him… not that I buy any of that rumor nonsense Fritz's pals came up with."

"Well, if it is how Beringo goes outside every evening by himself, then I cannot blame him. I mean, it has turned into a habit!" Roger was not really catching up with Indiana's concerns right here. Though, Justin was: "You know, I don't mind him for doing so, but he's been outside longer and longer and sometimes he returns home pretty late."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Indiana stated it clearly, being clearly concerned for his best friend. Dakota listened up pretty closely to speak: "Not to mention, we're back in mail delivery after a few weeks long break and I don't want to have Beringo feel all tired and uninterested to deliver mail. He's supposed to be our capable leader!"

"Wait, I think I may have an idea why he's out every single night… he's got a female he doesn't want to tell us about!" Hallie shared her thoughts, as if she wasn't taking this whole situation too seriously. At first everyone looked at her as if she was talking nonsense, but true to Beringo's words, Justin stood by her side and told them: "I think that Hallie might be right. I do suspect he's seeing someone."

"Right. We made it clear there should be no secrets among us and now your best choice is that he's seeing a female." Indiana actually didn't consider that idea, but he regretted what he just said when Justin counter-responded: "No, Indiana. On his birthday, he'd headed outside in the night, telling me he's going to Lewis because he's got a surprise for him. He told he it was a female who apparently Lewis arranged her to have a night out with Beringo and he told me that their date didn't go well and they decided not to go out anymore."

For someone like Justin, who was not fond of picking in the details, this was genuinely surprising by others how he deduced this whole thing. Dakota gave her suggestion: "If Beringo is apparently seeing someone and he told you that he's not seeing that female… what if he does, but for some reason is too ashamed to tell us!"

"Or maybe it is some other female… some who did not buy any of these rumors and remained by his side… someone we might not even have met before!" Roger gave his idea, him being closer to the truth, although they couldn't view that right now. Murmuring and whispering to one another, they were unintentionally connecting the dots based off on the correct calculations.

"In one paw, if Beringo was with Lewis, Koyuk and Scottia, that'd be fine to me, but in the other paw, as if we're not good friends for him!" Hallie was wondering why'd Beringo avoid them like this? She added some more: "Besides, Lewis doesn't have the time to spend with him whenever he wants. Koyuk and Scottia wouldn't really want him to be always around them, ever when they're having a night out."

"Just like how Dakota and I, so are you and Justin." Indiana changed a mood a little bit so there could've been some tension lifted off, albeit this left Roger as a sore thumb over here, with Indiana apologizing: "No hard feelings, Roger." To which Roger looked like as if him being single was not a big deal after all.

"So, what are we going to do?" Justin wondered about the whole situation. Since they had to know why Beringo was spending his time during the night longer and longer, Dakota figured it out: "Okay, I got it! We'll wait for an another day or two and then, when Beringo goes to one of his evening walks, we'll all pretend that we're asleep and when he leaves, we'll all follow him and find out where he goes every night!"

"Who is into this?" Indiana didn't have to ask this because each one of them in unisom barked it: "Count me in!" So, now that they were resting in the boiler room and noticed that Beringo was very likely with his classy friends right now, this gave Indiana, Dakota, Roger, Justin and Hallie some time to devise their plan and commence it on the third night from this day…

The third day after their deal was made, Indiana, Dakota, Roger, Justin and Hallie were ready to go to bed all while Beringo was to head outside as a part of his routine. While Beringo was getting ready to go, he was not aware that his teammates, whom he thought were fast asleep, only pretending that they were asleep!

Looking around himself, Beringo could only hear the rhythmical breathing for each one of his teammates and making sure no one was awake, he pushed the dog doors with his head and managed to get outside in the night. Little did he know that his teammates were not asleep, or at least it looked like so…

"Alright, Beringo has left! We're leaving in a minute!" Indiana led the expedition to find out what was Beringo hiding. He sneaked out of the bed after pretending he was asleep and Dakota, who usually slept with him, joined Indiana. As for Justin and Hallie, who'd been sharing a bed for a while, they got out of the bed and were ready to move.

"Roger, come on, we must get going!" Dakota told her teammate, who was still in bed. "Roger!" No response after the second call and Hallie headed to see what was going on. Unpleasantly surprised, it was seen that Roger was genuinely asleep! With his tongue sticking out and saliva dripping from his tongue, he was heard muttering: "That bacon smells so good… can I have some…?"

Now that all of them were in disbelief how Roger was sleeping and having gourmet dreams, Indiana exasperatedly commented: "Great, all he needs is two eggs and that's his first breakfast!" Seeing that there was no point right here, right now, to wake him up, Dakota said: "Look, let's just leave him asleep! We'll tell him what we're going to find!"

"Right. Let's move!" Indiana led his friends outside in the night and once they were out on the chilly spring night, with some leftover snow still left, they had to focus on their task - finding out where Beringo's scent was leading to. Justin, who had his nose steady, as he was "the best smeller" or the six, noticed the scent was leading eastwards.

"That way!" Justin beckoned to the east and four friends were making their move to find out where Beringo'd go every night and come back every single time later than the night before. Passing through the alleys and reaching the outskirts of the town, they were looking quite bewildered to find out that Beringo's scent was leading to the beach.

"What's Beringo doing on the beach every night?!" Hallie was confused that her lead friend would go every night outside the town without telling them that. Dakota shushed her: "Quiet, Hallie! We should not let them hear us!" Only for Indiana to state out the irony: "Then why are you talking? Why are we talking?!"

"Look, there's Beringo! I see him going to the old boat!" Justin ended this point arguing when he could notice his friend in the distance. All four of them rushed to the boat to find out what Beringo was hiding from them. Indiana warned them: "Remember, stay down! He should not know that we're following him, alright?"

However, as they were going to make sure of what he just ordered them, quite unintentionally Dakota slipped and yelped as she hit her side on the the peeking rock in the snow: "OW!" And that was loud enough for Beringo to discover, much to his dismay and shock, that he was no longer alone.

"What the… guys?!" Beringo gasped in disbelief that he had seen four out of his five friends behind, with Dakota getting on all her fours as she was not even injured by the fall. Bewildered, he asked them: "What are you doing here?! Weren't you asleep when I left home?!" He could not believe that it led to this.

"Beringo, we were about to ask you the same… this has been going on for a while, weeks or even months!" Dakota said this, quite amazing how she had the record of all these things. She continued: "Look, I know that the rumor must have made you feel like an outcast and that you wanted to be alone, but lately…"

"But what?" Beringo asked her, trying not to reveal why he was here, at least not yet. Justin took from here: "...lately we have noticed that you've been going out every night and that you'd return home each night later than the previous one. Question is: Why? What has gotten into you, Beringo? Don't tell me that the so-called rumor pushed you into the corner!"

"It didn't, Justin, okay?!" Beringo replied to him, being all anxious about his secret to be revealed soon. "I don't believe in it and it was made by those dogs who cannot take defeat! I am fine anyhow!" "Fine" might not have been the ideal word to begin with over here and so Hallie asked him: "But, Beringo, you're all like as if you're… I don't know… hiding something?"

"Oh is that so?" Beringo asked her as if he wanted to deny her presumptions and remain clear from any suspicions. And he had an ace up his sleeve when he counted four of them instead of five, realizing: "Wait a minute… why is Roger not with you?" To which Indiana said without any amusement: "Dreaming at home his breakfast dreams."

"That makes sense." Beringo felt like this was going to relieve the tension over here and was he wrong when Dakota talked to him: "Beringo, you're our friend and our lead dog. We know that we are not meant to question you as a leader, but as a friend, we have to know why are you this long every night! It is like there's something you don't want to tell us… please, we're your friends!"

Beringo gazed at each one of them and while he wanted to tell them the truth, he heard enough from some of them about their views on the wolves and he could expect their answers so he told them: "No, I cannot tell any of you. You should go back home, this is none of your business!"

"Excuse me? Beringo, do you hear yourself!? We're here for you so why don't you tell us what's going on?!" Justin made few steps ahead when he received "no" as an answer, but Beringo's stern look prevented him from making another few steps ahead. He told them: "Listen to me! I cannot tell you what this is all about, okay?! None of you would believe me if I tell you!"

"What makes you think so? Don't you know what friends are for, Beringo? To trust one another no matter what!" Hallie protested, speaking the truth over here. Since he had never expected them to be this tough in their decisions, Beringo sighed, feeling like he was going to regret this: "And what if I tell you? The very next moment it is going to look like that I'm going to lose all the trust you've given to me ever since that day we've met!"

"We've been this far with you and we will make sure that our trust is not going to be shaken by whatever it is, alright?" Dakota hoped that Beringo's secret over here was not something terrible or beyond that to imagine. He had a good look on them all and with the stern view in his eyes, he asked them: "Are you really sure what this is all about, huh? You have to give me your word that you are not going to tell anyone!"

This made them feel reluctant that he had said this, but if Beringo was going to tell them what was happening, then they all said it, in Indiana's name: "You have our word, Beringo." It sounded so firm and confident the way he said it and Beringo could move on: "I will tell you that for all what I've contributed is that I am not regretting my decisions and my actions for everything I've done at this point."

"We understand. Now what is you've been hiding from us?" Justin asked him, as if his answer was not too far from this moment. Beringo corrected him: "More like who I have been hiding from you and seeing in secret! Once you see for yourselves, there's no going back." He turned his head towards the deck of the old boat and any moment, all while his teammates were baffled to hear "who" instead of "what"...

Beringo didn't have to wait until a familiar white figure was seen stepping on the deck and coming to Beringo's sight. She smiled upon seeing her friend down there and so did he. Though, it was clear to them that they were not alone, but Aniu remained calm no matter what and Beringo wanted to keep it under control.

As expected, this was a point of no return of his teammates, all of them with their jaws dropped down in shock and awe. Beringo with a wolf?! It had taken them a while to say something as Aniu descended down to Beringo and from their sight, she was around his height or a tad taller than him but did that matter?

"Beringo… a wolf…!?" Dakota finally said it first, not believing with her eyes what she was just seeing! Beringo looked at her and at the others with his stern and confident look just to let them know: "Yes, Dakota and she is not any wolf! Her name is Aniu, just so you want to know!" He didn't want to lose someone who meant to him a lot at this point.

Aniu had finally spoken to his friends: "You may have no likes for my breed, but one thing that you should know is that if it had not been for me that fateful day in the cliffs, Beringo would have never returned to any of you!" This was finally opening them the doors to some events they were not aware of, right under their muzzles!

"What… what do you mean?" Justin asked Aniu, being always the slower one in these cases, only Roger being slower than him when it came to thinking. Aniu explained to him: "I have found him covered in snow underneath the cliffs and I couldn't just leave him there so I took Beringo under my care for a night so he could recover his strength and come back to you!"

Indiana, who had been led to believe the story of Beringo's mother coming to him, asked: "But… what does this all have to do with your mother coming to you when you were out cold?" Beringo sighed, knowing that this lie had to burst like a bubble and thus he said it, swallowing his pride: "I'm sorry, you guys, but I made that all up. I had to make it up so no one would suspect who I was with when I fell."

"Then… the rumor had started and you only wanted to go outside at evenings and since then, you've been going to Aniu!" Hallie got this fairly quickly and well when things were starting to make some more sense over here. Beringo told her: "You're right, Hallie. I have been seeing her ever since on a nightly basis unless either Dakota or Indiana, or you and Justin and even someone else would go on a beach for their night out."

Since Aniu was not reacting in surprise when Beringo said "rumor", it was very likely that she had heard from Beringo about it weeks or months ago. Not to mention, he was avoiding seeing Aniu when someone else was on a beach so it'd ignite an already false rumour. Beringo continued on: "I believe you are all stunned by this revelation and that I have been keeping secret, even if we are meant to share them with one another, but I did not want to let anyone find out about Aniu! And do you wonder why I asked you about wolves the other day?"

"I don't remember you asked us that before?" Dakota didn't recall Beringo asking her what she was thinking of the wolves, but Hallie did: "Yes… you asked us that as some kind of casual question and now I realize that it was not a casual question!" There were some things in life that others would not suspect but as a random question, such as this one.

"Beringo, can I ask you this? Are you sure… are you sure that you can trust her?" Justin was doubtful about this friendship between Beringo and Aniu and little did he know that Beringo's response surprised them all: "Do you think that I can trust her? I not only trust her, I love her!" Aniu and Beringo's friends all gasped in surprise, with Aniu whispering: "W… what?"

"WHAT?" Beringo's friends had louder responses, only for Beringo to firmly say: "That's right! I love her! I. love. her! Aniu, I truly do love you!" Aniu was touched by his response that she felt her heart skipping a beat, whispering: "Beringo… oh, Beringo!" She didn't bother to keep her emotions back as she rushed to Beringo and nuzzle him deeply as so did he.

Now he returned his focus on his friends: "Since I was afraid that you were going to be prejudical towards wolves, then I decided to let this be my secret! You all have different views, but we're doing a job that we spent majorly in the wildlands and how would it have been if it was some of you who'd fall down that cliff instead of me?! How would you feel if the wolf had rescued you?!"

It looked like as if none of these four had any valid counter-response to what he was telling them and no matter what they were going to say, it was not going to work. He asked them this: "Now, you have seen where I go every night ever since that cursed rumor had begun, and even slightly before that, but once or twice a week back then, I must ask you this: Can you hold this secret among one another and make sure no one else, not even Lewis, not even Koyuk and not even Scottia find out! Even less Fritz and his friends!"

This just made them look at their lead friend without any words and shock in their eyes. To keep a secret this big?! They were just looking at one another and none of them could come or think of any good response over here. Longer this lasted, desperate Beringo was growing, as if all of them were going to fail in their test of credibility. Aniu, while anxious for the outcome of their decisions, remained calm, thinking that they were going to come to their senses.

"Beringo." Indiana broke their murmuring and hopefully Beringo's despair when he talked to his friend. Aniu looked at both Beringo, who had that look as if she were saying: "Don't be afraid." and then at Indiana and the words were promising: "Since we all know what you have all gone through for the last few months and how you've kept Aniu secret to us and now all this? You may count on us that we'll never tell anyone!"

"Really? You won't?" Beringo was surprised by how his friends were making this decision, hoping they were not lying in front of his face. Justin also approved: "If you truly love her and don't want any harm come to her, especially not from the poisonous words of Fritz's gang, then your secret can stay safe with us!"

More he heard how they were all swearing their word to keep this encounter a secret, better it was to them all. Dakota let him know: "Beringo, we're sorry that we've caused all this drama. While we're still stunned by this secret, you may count on it that we're not telling anyone."

"No, don't be sorry. I should be sorry for keeping a secret like this and behaving as if I couldn't trust you. It was just that I didn't want Aniu to be exposed by someone we can't trust." Beringo spoke, wanting to show some solitude for his actions. In the end, he did not want to have someone who he loved, as he said it not long ago, to be endangered.

As for Hallie, she did say: "Look, we may have found out your secret, Beringo. We may or may not have contacts with Aniu because of what we said towards wolves, but I will make sure that I won't mention her name anywhere in town. If anything, only in your presence." While this seemed like the least approving comment he heard, he had to accept it nonetheless.

"Hold on, what about Roger? What is he going to say if he finds out?" Justin wondered about the outcome of this situation with the missing teammate. Beringo was ready for this: "Roger is our friend and we may trust him, but since he did not find out about this secret, it is for better if he never finds out. Besides, his opinions towards wolves weren't any better than yours, Hallie."

They had all nodded and Indiana concluded: "Well, if he didn't find out, then we won't tell him. It is for better as you say so, Beringo." Beringo was relieved that this whole thing from escalating headed to the cooldown and that the prejudices were not too storng in them. Dakota asked Beringo: "So, what are you going to do now? You'll be with Aniu?"

"Yes and if possible, I think I'll spend time with her tonight." He looked and smiled towards the wolf he'd proclaimed his love for and she smiled, being flattered by his demeanor, saying: "It'd be a pleasure." This clearly marked one thing for Beringo's friends and Justin said it: "I think we should go home and get some sleep. Beringo, have a good time with her!"

"That I will!" Beringo replied with the joy that had returned to him once he didn't have to worry about Aniu being exposed anymore. Indiana, Dakota, Justin and Hallie headed back home and on their way back, as Beringo and Aniu were seen heading into the boat, they were just thinking about what they had discovered tonight.

Not to mention, Indiana and Justin, who had been dating Dakota and Hallie respectively for the last few months, started to have that sinking feeling now that they had heard Beringo saying he loved Aniu and neither of these two said that word to Dakota and Hallie! If they were to say it right here right now, this would make them look desperate and envious.

Returning to Nome and sneaking in the alleys, making sure there was no one around, not even Fritz's gang, four friends made it to their house, all pitch black from inside. Nash was already asleep and it was pretty late right now. Dakota instruced them: "Easy now! We better not wake Roger up or at least not tell him the truth if he's awake!"

All of them agreed and they had decided to get inside slowly one by one. First Indiana entered the house and he slowly paced to his bed, without waking Roger up. Then Dakota followed silently and so did Justin. Sadly, Hallie's last move in the house had the dog door hit her rear right leg that she yelped in pain, thus waking Roger up straight away.

"Huh? HUH?! Wowzat!?" Roger was coming to his senses and once his vision got clear from all that sound, he could notice his four friends looking at him anxiously. Not to mention, Roger asked them: "Guys?! Are we going to go after Beringo now and try to find out where he goes every night!?"

Well, he had to realize that they just returned from their search and Justin told him: "Roger, you had fallen asleep and we had to go as soon as we could so we'd know where he goes. Sadly, Beringo was too smart for us. He managed to disperse his scent in various paths so he could make sure no one was going to follow him!"

"Oh? So… you didn't find him?" Roger asked them, being still half asleep after having a juicy dream. Indiana told him: "Do you think we'd be like this right now if we did? There's no way we'll ever know where he goes, Roger! All we can do now is go to bed, all of us." Since it was pretty late, he was quite right about this and they were all exhaused by now.

"Alright, night." Roger lazily rolled on his back and continued his sleep. Dakota and Indiana headed to their bed in one corner whereas Justin and Hallie headed to their corner. They hated to lie to Roger, but as for now, they knew what Beringo was hiding from them and they were respecting it. They didn't speak to one another on their way home or else they'd have given the pleasure to Cosmo's false rumor being true.