A Second Chance: Kaila
This is “book” one of the ‘A Second Chance’ series.
(See ‘Introduction: A Second Chance’ for the whole beginning.)

Kaila sniffed the cold, crisp air and ambled slowly through
the center of town. The people of Nome, Alaska were just beginning to
hustle and bustle in the early morning. Kaila yawned, and was just
about to set off for a quick run to her father’s boat, when a shout
came from across the street.
“Kaila!”
A whirlwind of red and cream knocked her over, and they both
rolled on and on endlessly in the chilling snow. They were a hurricane
of gray and brown, red and cream, over and over until they both rammed
into the side of a building. Kaila’s breath was knocked out of her,
and she shakily turned over to see who her attacker was. A familiar
face grinned up at her.
“Copper!” Kaila exclaimed. Her brother cracked up laughing,
and soon Kaila joined in. They both laughed uncontrollably, on their
backs, in the snow. The town dogs began giving them strange looks, so
as soon as she could stop laughing Kaila stood up and shook the
melting snow from her fur. It sprayed the ground, and soon Copper
stood up and did the same. He was panting, and his eyes were bright
like two fiery red-brown stars. He grinned at her again, and
said, “Was that the best or what? I even got you off your guard that
time!”
Kaila snorted. “That time, mind you,” she said hotly. “ Someday I’ll
chase YOU down, and roll YOU over a million times, and see how you
like it.”
“Yeah, sure,” Copper said sarcastically, but in a good-natured way. A
shrill whistle pierced the air like a clean-cut diamond cutting glass.
“Copper!”
A man’s voice called out, and Copper barked in reply.
“That’s my owner, Johnson,” Copper explained to Kaila’s questioning
look. Immediately her face took on a sad expression.
“How…how is he?” she asked haltingly, trying hard not to sound
wistful. She remembered that day. Puppy adoption day. Copper and her
other brother, Dusty, had been taken away by new owners while she had
watched from over the rim of the cardboard box, along with her sister,
Chase. Kaila could just picture the mournful expression they both must
have worn as their brothers disappeared into new houses with new
voices, new sights, new sounds, new smells, new everything. But she
would never be adopted, and neither would Chase, the pup with the
twisted back leg. Who would want a wolf-dog or a cripple?
“He’s great,” Copper replied with enthusiasm. “He’s been writing that
book about sled dogs, since, you know, he wants to become an author
and everything, and he’s using me as a model in his book! Just think,
I might be famous!” Copper quivered with excitement. “And he’s a lot
of fun too, and he gives me all the best food, and he thinks up the
greatest games, and he’s coaching me to be a sled dog! He’s the
greatest.” Copper suddenly noticed Kaila’s face. It was so sad, and
wistful, and hurt, full of longing. Copper’s tone changed. “Aw, c’mon
Kai, don’t be like that,” he said worriedly. He hoped she wasn’t going
to cry, even though he’d never seen her cry, not even when they were
pups and he had accidentally bitten her ear and made it bleed. Not one
single tear had welled up or fallen on her face then. Still, you could
never tell with girls.
Johnson’s whistle sliced the air again.
“Copper! Here boy!” A blonde-haired man with cold gray eyes wearing
thick, dark winter clothes appeared around the corner. He was tall and
very thin, so thin his clothes flapped comically in the Arctic wind.
His eyes lit up when he saw Copper.
“Here, Copper!” Johnson slapped his knee, and Copper, after one long
look at Kaila, ran to his owner, jumping up and licking the man’s
clothes. They both played in the snow together, and Kaila’s heart
ached as she watched. Why couldn’t she have the happiness Copper had?
Why did she have to be the one in the litter that looked most like a
wolf? The unfairness burned inside her as she watched Copper and
Johnson romp in the soft, white piles.
After awhile they wandered away, and Kaila was left alone to stare at
the pawprints and bootprints they had left in the snow. The cold wind
ruffled her fur, and she just managed to stop a hot tear from coursing
down her furry gray cheek. One question burned and flamed in her mind:
Why? Why? Why?
All her self-pity and sadness and longing welled up inside her, and
she knew she couldn’t hold it in. Before she could stop herself, she
howled. Howled, howled at the top of her lungs, a high, desperate note
that tore at the cold air and drove daggers of sadness into everything
around her. She howled with frustration, self-pity, anger, longing,
and something else she could never describe. The high, sad, silvery
note hung in the air like a dewdrop on a spider’s web. It was alone a
wolf’s howl, and from a few miles away a white wolf perked up her ears
and heard this desperate cry for help. She looked out into the
distance and suddenly knew where it was coming from, and knew where
she had to go.
Kaila’s howl subsided to a low whine, and then stopped altogether. A
snicker arose from her right, and Kaila whirled around to stare into
two icy blue eyes and a wide grinning face splotched with brown and
white. The rough, wiry hairs on her neck bristled. Hawk.
Hawk stared back, a mocking smile on his lips. “Out a little early,
wolf-dog?” he asked, smiling all the while. From behind him came the
growls of his two henchmen, Cookie and Snow. Kaila growled back, deep
in her throat. These three had mocked her ever since they were pups,
hating her because she was different. She was angry and tired of it
all. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?
Hawk began slowly circling Kaila, and she followed him with a steady
gaze. Who knew what he might do?
“Howling to your pack, wolf-dog?” he said. “Here, let me help.” He
threw back his head and howled, but made it high-pitched and whiny,
imitating her cruelly. Snow laughed and lifted her head too, and
Cookie his, and all three of them made hideous, screechy howls. Inside
Kaila was fizzing with anger, but she still did nothing. What was the
use of fighting back? There were three of them and one of her.
When Hawk saw that Kaila wasn’t doing anything, he stopped howling and
began circling again. Snow and Cookie sat back to watch.
“Here, why don’t you shove off back to your pack, half-breed?” he
said, ramming his head into her stomach and sending her skidding into
another building, where she smashed into it hard.
“Ooh!” Snow and Cookie said at the same time, both closing one eye and
making a face.
“She’ll feel that tomorrow!” Cookie commented.
“I think she is feeling it now!” Snow replied.
Kaila slowly got up and turned back towards Hawk. She could feel
herself screaming inside, ‘I’m gonna KILL him!’ But another side of
her said, ‘What’s the point of getting into a big fight? They’ll still
come back to make fun of me again.’ With these two sides conflicting,
she stood her ground.
Hawk advanced towards her and swung his tail to smash Kaila into the
building again. “Go home to your pack, hybrid. Nobody wants you here.”
He spat on her and bit her ear.
That did it.
She lunged at Hawk, and something in her made her catch him around the
throat. She clawed and scratched and whirled around, while he
staggered in circles, choking for air. Snow and Cookie realized what
was going on, and piled on top of Kaila. Kaila could feel the cuts
bleed on her back and legs as they bit and scratched. The fighting
foursome collapsed onto the snow, and Hawk and Kaila went all out,
tearing wounds into each other’s flesh. Kaila even thought she might
have caught Hawk’s eye with her nails, and she thought she heard him
roar with pain. The fight might have gone on forever had a voice not
broken through the chaos and commotion.
“Kaila!!”
All four froze, and Kaila looked up to see her father, Balto, standing
in the town square with an angry and shocked expression on his face.
He seemed to tower over them, and Kaila could tell that Hawk was
scared almost out of his wits. Finally he hissed, “Let’s get out of
here!” and he and his henchmen climbed off Kaila and scampered away.
Balto strode over to Kaila and called after the threesome, “Hey! Get
back here!” But they were already gone.
Balto looked down at his daughter and she looked back at him. Her
yellow eyes stared back into his own, and to Balto it was like looking
at a miniature replica of himself.
She turned her face away when he bent down, but instead of a sharp
reprimand she felt her father’s warm tongue licking her cuts. It stung
a bit, but it felt good, so good. She looked up when Balto stopped,
and he gave her a questioning look. ‘Can you walk?’ it said. She got
up, her legs shaking, and limped over to Balto and leaned against him.
Balto licked her face again, and led his troublesome daughter to
Jenna’s house.

Kaila closed her eyes as she felt Rosy’s father wiping a warm, soaking
cloth across her cuts and applying medicine to them. He spoke softly
to Kaila as he rubbed her down.
“Well, you got in quite a mess there, Kaila! You better stay away from
those alleys from now on. More dogs might scratch you up and I’ll have
to do this all over again.” He stood up and took the medicine and
cloth in one hand and stroked Kaila’s fur with the other. “You be
careful now, ok?” He gave her one last pat as he walked towards the
kitchen.
Kaila’s eyes stayed closed even when she felt her father and mother
pad over to stand beside her. She just wanted to stay like this
forever, sleepy and warm and a little damp from the wet cloth. Kaila
felt Balto nudge her face with his nose, and she wearily opened her
eyes and sat up. She looked at Jenna, and could tell from her mother’s
face that Balto had told her everything. Kaila hung her head and
didn’t look up as Balto questioned her.
“Alright Kaila, we have to know. Who started the fight?”
“Hawk, Snow, and Cookie, but mainly Hawk,” Kaila replied
truthfully. “It’s nothing new. They’ve made fun of me for being part
wolf ever since we were pups.”
“ But you’ve never gotten into a fight like this before,” Balto said
calmly, though you could tell he was trying to hold his anger in
almost unsuccessfully. “What was so different about this? What did
they say? What did they do?”
“You saw, Dad,” Kaila said wearily. “They, or mainly Hawk, call me
wolf-dog and half-breed and hybrid. They bully me. But it’s mostly
Hawk. Snow and Cookie just back him up, kind of like Kaltag, Nikki,
and Star did to Steele, right?”
Balto caught his breath at this sudden mention of his past. He
remembered the hurt, the anger, and the annoyance he felt as Steele
and The Trio taunted him. But this wasn’t him. This was happening to
his daughter. What was he supposed to do?
Kaila continued. “And I just felt-”
“Angry and annoyed, and tired of it all, so you fought back to get rid
of them,” Balto finished for her, and Kaila gave him a long look.
Jenna stepped in.
“Balto, there’s no need to drag this all out. Kaila, please, try not
to get into any more fights. I know it’s hard, but I’ll see Hawk’s
parents myself, and we’ll take care if this. Just because you look
like a wolf doesn’t give him a good reason to make fun of you.”
“But it does!” Kaila burst out. “I’m different, ok? I’ve been treated
different all my life, and I’ll stay different until I die! I hate it,
but I have to cope.” She whirled around to face Balto. “Why did you
have to be part wolf? I know I sound just like Aleu, but I wish you
weren’t!”
That sudden dagger struck deep, but Kaila didn’t even pay attention to
the hurt expression on her father’s face. Balto tried again. “Look, I
know this is hard, but I’ve been through it. I want to help. I-” Kaila
cut him off.
“I know, I know! I know you’ve been through it! You’ve said it a
million times! But in case you haven’t noticed, this is about me! Not
you!” She seethed with frustration, baring her teeth. “You don’t
understand!”
Anger clouded her mind, and suddenly Kaila just wanted to yell and
scream and tear something apart and get out all the frustration she
had kept bottled up inside for so long. She lunged blindly at Balto
and bit him on the cheek. Jenna gasped softly. Kaila backed away,
shocked at what she’d done.
Balto watched as tiny red beads of blood slowly welled up and dripped
down his cheek. His eyes turned towards Kaila, and such a frightening
and horrifying expression was in them that Kaila had to look away. The
full force of what she’d done hit her like a giant wave. Terrified,
she bolted from the house, through the doggy door and out into the
cold. “Kaila! Kaila, wait!” Jenna cried after her, but Kaila didn’t
stop running. The wind whipped around the runaway wolf-dog and cold
ice crystals were flung into her face. A storm was coming.
She dashed away from the house and through the town, fleeing Nome.
Finally she stopped on the tundra just outside of town. Great tearing
heaves flung themselves from her chest, and she sat defeatedly,
gasping for air. When she could breathe easily, a tear slid down one
cheek. She roughly wiped it away with the tip of her tail. What was
she supposed to do? It seemed like every wolf-dog in the family had to
have some kind of struggle. First Balto with the dogsled team. Then
Aleu with the spirits and her wolf pack. And now her, Kaila.
Kaila felt all confused, and angry and sad, all torn up inside, like a
puzzle that had been flung all over the floor and the pieces scattered
everywhere. She remembered the struggle Balto and Aleu had to go
through to find out ‘who they were’. Who was SHE anyway? She would
never know till all those mental puzzle pieces had been put together
to make her, Kaila. And it would take a lifetime to do that.
A sudden gust of wind whipped her fur into tangled, streaming wisps of
brown-gray, and Kaila suddenly remembered a lullaby Jenna had sang to
her every night when she was a puppy. Balto’s mother, Aniu, had sang
it to Balto, and since Balto wasn’t a very good singer, he had taught
it to Jenna so she could sing it to their puppies. Now it was like a
family tradition.
Kaila began singing very softly to herself.
‘Deep in the night, the winds blow cold,
And in a heartbeat, the fear takes hold.’
A faint glimmer of color on the hillside caught Kaila’s
attention. It glinted red, then blue, then green, and suddenly Kaila
realized. The colored bottles! Or the ‘polar icecaps’, as Balto liked
to call them. Kaila found herself heading towards the hillside, and as
she padded up the powdery slope she sang softly.
‘Deep in the storm, there’s a place that’s soft and still,
Where the road waits to be taken, if you only will,
The voices inside you can lead you so astray,
Believe in what you dream,
Don’t turn away, don’t you turn away,’
Kaila stepped towards the broken bottles and recited the words
her father had said when he taught her this trick. “The sun…” she said
quietly, turning the colored glass towards the lighted town of
Nome. “And…to the north…”
Light shafts of blue, green, red, pink, and magenta shot up to
make a cloud of shimmering waves of color. Kaila felt her heart race
with so much beauty, and she sang out.
‘Reach for the light,
You might touch the sky,
Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,
Reach for the light,
To capture a star,
Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are,’
The Northern Lights danced before her eyes, and she was
dazzled by their simplicity and beauty. Her yellow eyes watched the
milky rainbow in front of her as if in a trance. Nothing mattered
except her and the Aurora Borealis.
Frightening thoughts entered her mind for those few minutes,
though. Did Jenna still love her? Did Balto still love her? Would she
be able to go back home? Would Balto ever forgive her for biting him
like that? Kaila tried to push these thoughts away, and focused
everything she had on the Aurora.
Suddenly, through the silence she heard a soft, warm voice
singing. The tune and words were familiar.
“ ‘…come out of the darkness, and find out who you are.’” A
white wolf slid out from the shadows, and Kaila froze. She could feel
her pulse quicken and her heart start to thump. Her mind raced in a
blur of images. Why was this singing white wolf here? Was she going to
eat Kaila? And how did this white wolf know that song, the song that
only her family knew?
Kaila’s wolf instincts suddenly told her she was in the
presence of an alpha wolf, and she sank to her belly, whimpering
softly. Kaila felt the white wolf’s fur brush her side, and a voice
came close to her ear. Kaila looked up to see a regal old wolf with
snowy white fur, a long muzzle, and mustard yellow eyes that were wise
and knowing. Kaila shrank away, but the white wolf nudged her side and
said in a pleasant, round voice, “Peace, granddaughter. I will not
hurt you.”
Kaila looked up. “What? You’re my…grandmother? Aniu?” The white wolf
laughed softly.
“Yes, I am your grandmother, and yes, I am Aniu.” Aniu stopped and
gave her a questioning look. “But who are you?”
“Well, my name’s Kaila,” Kaila said limply, “But I know you’re going
to tell me that’s WHAT I am, not who I am. My dad’s told me Aleu’s
story about a million times. I practically know it by heart!”
Aniu had a surprised and pleased expression on her face. “Do-”
“How did you find me?” Kaila interrupted. She knew what Aniu was going
to ask, but she didn’t want to get into that too quickly.
“I heard you howl from Nome. It sounded like you needed help, so I
followed it to the outside of town. Then I saw the Northern Lights up
here. Your shadow looks almost exactly like a wolf’s. I knew it had to
be one of my son’s children.” Aniu smiled with tenderness at her new-
found granddaughter. Kaila gulped. She knew what was coming.
Aniu spoke.
“Do you wish to know WHO YOU ARE?”
Kaila stared out into the distance. “It’s not that I don’t know who I
am, I just don’t know where I belong,” she said softly. “A dog lives
in a town. A wolf lives in the wilderness. I’m half and half, so where
do I belong?” She nodded and turned to Aniu. “No, I don’t need to know
who I am, at least not right now. It’ll take me a lifetime to figure
that out. I just want to know where I belong.”
Aniu nodded and began to walk away. “Then follow me.”
The blowing white snow swallowed Aniu up, and Kaila lost sight of her
in the whiteness. Then a sharp, clear howl came back to her, and Kaila
knew it was Aniu beckoning to her. Kaila howled back, and stepped out
to be surrounded by white, lost in the snowstorm. Aniu howled again,
and Kaila followed, ever trusting of her grandmother to lead her to
safety.
The only things that were left of them on the slope were their huge
pawprints and the Northern Lights, which faltered and faded as the
snow blocked the light from the town, and the Aurora fell back to
Earth to become just broken bottles again.

In Jenna’s house, Balto watched as two dark figures descended the
slope and the Northern Lights faded. Soon he lost sight of almost
everything in the blur of white snow flying past the window. Jenna
watched Balto as he turned away from the frosty glass. She went up and
nuzzled him, but she knew he was worried when he didn’t nuzzle back.
He just stared off into space.
“Balto, I’m sure she’s fine,” Jenna said, trying to be reassuring. “If
she runs off like Aleu, at least we’ll have been through it before.”
“But Jenna, there were two dogs up there,” Balto said, shaking himself
from his reverie. “And it looked like one of them was leading the
other away. What if Kaila’s being led away by some monster of a dog
that will kidnap her and kill her just for sport? Sometimes Kaila
doesn’t know any better.”
“But she does,” Jenna insisted. “Balto, have you forgotten the fight
she got into today? If she knows someone’s going to hurt her, she’ll
fight.”
“Yeah, you’re right Jenna,” Balto conceded. “But she’s still our
daughter.”
“ Don’t make it sound like I don’t care about our puppies!” Jenna
exclaimed. She took a deep breath. “If you think Kaila’s in that much
danger, go after her. I won’t be much help. But you’re part wolf and
so is she. You’ll make it out there.”
Balto sighed. “I’m sorry, Jenna. When this storm lets up I’ll go after
her,” he said defeatedly. He went back to the window and pressed his
nose against the icy glass. The snow still flew past the window in
sudden gusts, and he could not see anything. “Kaila,” Balto
murmured, “What have you gotten yourself into?”

Aniu led Kaila through the blinding snow, and by exchanging howls they
stayed together through the blizzard. Once Kaila thought she had lost
Aniu, and she panicked, running in desperate circles. Then she felt a
tiny valley in the snow, and realized she had stepped into one of
Aniu’s pawprints. She followed them, and, sure enough, caught up to
Aniu.
Grandmother and granddaughter, white wolf and wolf-dog, tunneled
through the cold walls of snow that were thrown at them and stung
their faces. It was easy at first, stepping into the storm and pushing
on, but soon Kaila’s paws ached, her face stung, and she was cold and
wet. How much farther?
On and on they went, and Kaila became more tired and weary. She was
just about to give up and collapse in the snow when they entered a
small cave. It was carved out in the side of a rocky slope and was
warm and dry inside. Kaila just wanted to lie down and fall into an
endless sleep, but just in time she noticed a pack of wolves standing
at the back of the cave. She and Aniu walked up to them, and Aniu went
over to lick the biggest, strongest wolf on the muzzle. He was
definitely the alpha male of the pack, a black wolf with a pure white
spot on his forehead. He and Aniu were almost complete opposites in
fur color. They nuzzled each other, and the black wolf raised a
questioning eyebrow at Kaila. Aniu whispered something in his ear.
While she was doing that, Kaila eyed the other wolves. There were four
more of them, and Kaila carefully studied them one by one.
Kaila guessed the dark brown wolf with those startling green eyes was
the alpha’s son. He walked with a proud and superior gait. He stared
back at her through slitted eyes, and Kaila could tell he didn’t trust
her.
The older light brown wolf had eyes that looked surprisingly like
Hawk’s, blue, and cold as ice, though this wolf’s eyes had a kind look
to them. Kaila shuddered as she remembered the fight with Hawk she had
gotten into just that morning, and turned to the next wolf.
This wolf was lying down as if exhausted, and was white like Aniu, but
with black spots encircling her bright blue eyes and a black spot on
her right hip. She was fat, and Kaila was surprised to find this wolf
was pregnant! Kaila smiled as she thought of puppies, then turned to
the last wolf.
This one was light brown with a dark brown saddle of fur on her back,
and one eye was yellow, the other blue. She looked to be about Kaila’s
age, which was to say, about a year old. This wolf flashed a grin at
Kaila and winked, and Kaila couldn’t help smiling back. At least she
knew she had one friend here. What was she doing here anyway?
Aniu and the black wolf finished talking, and the black wolf turned
towards Kaila.
“Welcome, Kaila. I am Sirius, leader of the Anvil Creek pack. My mate,
Aniu, your grandmother, informs me that you wish to test yourself in
surviving as a wolf does.”
Kaila’s jaw dropped. Inside her head she screamed ‘WHAT?!’ This wasn’t
what she had expected at all, if anything! She had just followed Aniu
here!
Kaila turned to her grandmother and saw the wolf’s eyes were
twinkling. The old wolf made a nudging motion with her head towards
Sirius.
At first Kaila fumed at her grandmother. How could she get her into
this mess?! Anger threatened to flare up again, but suddenly something
clicked inside Kaila’s head. By sort of joining the pack for a few
days, she could see if she belonged out here. Kaila glanced back at
Aniu, and the white wolf smiled and nodded. Kaila grinned and turned
back towards Sirius.
“Yes,” she replied. “I was wondering if I could join this pack for…”
Kaila faltered. How long did she want to be put to the test? “Um…three
days. Yes, three days,” Kaila said decisively. “And at the end of
those three days, you can decide if I can join the pack for life, and
if you do, I can choose to join the pack, or go back to Nome.”
Sirius listened carefully, and thought for a long time. The silence
was unbearable, so the dark brown, green-eyed wolf spoke up.
“Dad, I don’t trust her! Who is she to intrude on our pack? She might
be after Kiowa to get revenge for the other packs! She could be a spy!
If you’re gonna…”
“Silence, Lakota!” Sirius shouted, and his son fell into a sulk. “This
is one of your cousins we’re talking about! I think your mother knows
enough to make sure this stranger means us no harm. And I say Kaila’s
wish will be granted!”
He slammed his paw down on the ground to say the matter was settled.
Lakota began to protest, but the light brown wolf that looked to be
around Kaila’s age interrupted.
“Be quiet, Lakota! Kaila’s just a wolf-dog! Can’t you see that? She’s
never been out in the wild before, you can see it! Stop being such a
grumpy, untrusting jerk!”
“Shut it, Sarai,” Lakota muttered under his breath.
“Both of you ‘shut it’,” the older light brown wolf said good-
naturedly, stepping between the two quarreling yearlings. “We’ve got
work to do, and we can’t stand around all day doing nothing. Lakota,
Sarai, you come with me. We need to hunt to get something to eat. Aniu-
” she turned to the white wolf, “The Eagle Pass pack has been coming
over the border of our territory. Can you go down there and re-mark
the boundary?” Aniu loped out of the cave and dashed off for an
answer. “And Kiowa, you just stay and rest, ok?” the wolf said,
turning to the soon-to-be mother. A nod consented superior trust.
“Thank you, Sage,” Sirius said as his light brown mate nudged Lakota
and Sarai off into the snow-covered tundra. Sirius and Sage rubbed
flanks, then Sage bounded off to join the ‘kids’.
Kaila stood stock still in the middle of the cave. She was glad Sage
had taken charge, she hated to be the topic of an argument, but what
was she supposed to do now?
Sirius sauntered up to Kaila and placed a reassuring paw on top of her
own. “I hope you don’t take Lakota’s accusations to heart,” he said
apologetically. “He’s an untrusting fellow. He’s never learned how to
trust anyone except his pack. If only…”
Sirius stopped, and Kaila waited for him to continue. But he
didn’t. “Yes?” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too pushy.
The old alpha sighed. “Lakota used to be very kind-hearted, and he
couldn’t take one step past a hurt animal without having an incredible
urge to help. One day, about a year ago, Lakota ventured out from the
cave by himself, the sly one, and found a wolf lying half frozen in
the snow. He came to get us and we all dragged the iced wolf back to
this same cave.” Sirius shook his great black head at the memory. “We
got him all warmed up and thawed out, and it seemed like he was very
grateful to us when he came to. He said his name was Silver Arrow, and
his pack had deserted him because of some reason we couldn’t get out
of him. Anyway, we let it drop and he joined this pack. He hunted with
us, watched our puppies, knew all our plans, all our secrets. One day
he overheard me tell Sage we would take over one part of the Northern
Hills pack’s territory because they didn’t use that part anymore.
Well, Silver Arrow ran as fast as you like to that pack’s den and told
them our plan. Turns out he was really part of that pack, they hadn’t
rejected him at all, and he had been sent in to spy on us. Just think,
we had trusted him with our lives and he had been spying on us all
that time. Well, as you might imagine, there was a huge fight, and we
won and got the piece of territory, but Lakota hasn’t trusted anyone
but his pack ever since. His heart grew hard, and he kinda shrank away
from the world. You’ll have to forgive him.”
There was silence as both Sirius and Kaila thought over the story.
Kaila was especially amazed at how something like that could happen. A
good-hearted deed had turned into a bloody battle. No wonder Lakota
was so hard and stingy!
“So…do you have the whole pack sorted out yet?” Sirius asked suddenly.
Kaila started.
Sirius saw her startled expression and began to explain his pack to
her.
“I have three mates,” he said. He thumped his tail three times on the
ground to affirm it. “Aniu, Sage, and Kiowa. Aniu is your grandmother,
as you know, Sage is the one that took the kids on a hunt, and Kiowa
is the one that’s…going to have puppies.” A spark of pride lit up his
eyes as he said those words. Kaila smiled and waited for him to
continue. “Lakota is Aniu’s son,” ‘Lakota’s my dad’s half-brother!’
Kaila thought excitedly, “Sarai is Sage’s daughter, and we’ll soon
have pups for Kiowa.” The flash of pride came back into his eyes, but
disappeared when he heard a shuffling outside the cave.
“They’re back!” Kaila exclaimed, running to the entrance. Sarai, Sage,
and Lakota emerged dragging half a caribou carcass into the cave. Aniu
came in behind them.
“Look how much we got, Dad!” Sarai yelled. “We found this baby down by
the creek!”
“C’mon, everybody, dig in!” Lakota shouted. He ignored Kaila and dove
into the pile of meat, chewing vigorously and getting red blood on his
muzzle.
Kaila recoiled. Raw meat. She had forgotten. How was she going to eat
the next three days? Kiowa saw Kaila hesitate, and spoke up for the
first time.
“Sirius, what’s Kaila going to eat? She’s a town dog. She’s used to
cooked meat.”
All the wolves turned towards Kaila, and the room grew quiet. Sarai
called out. “We don’t have anything else. She’s just gonna have to eat
raw meat like everyone else.”
“Let her starve,” Lakota growled, and went back to eating. His muzzle
was smeared with blood, and Kaila shuddered at the sight.
“Sarai’s right,” Sage said, and took a small piece of meat in her
mouth, walked over to Kaila and dropped it at the wolf-dog’s
feet. “Here, try it.”
Kaila stared at the slimy piece of caribou thigh, and felt nauseous at
the thought of actually putting that thing in her mouth. Well, she had
to try. It was now or never.
Gingerly she pawed at it, then tentatively bent down and scooped the
meat into her mouth with her tongue. The juicy, slurpy taste filled
her mouth and she almost choked. Ugh! How could they eat this? She was
about to spit it out when her wolf side took over.
The meat suddenly tasted delicious, the rich taste of blood and flesh
mixing together to form a strong, sweet flavor. Kaila chewed and
swallowed, then turned to face her waiting companions.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s eat,” she said, licking her
lips. Surprised expressions broke out on each pack member’s face. Even
Lakota stopped eating and looked up to stare at Kaila. All was quiet
in the amazed silence.
Suddenly Sarai yelled, “Alright!” and rushed over to hug Kaila.
Kaila’s heart felt full as she realized Sarai was welcoming her into
the pack family, at least for awhile, and accepting her as friend.
Kaila joined the pack with Sarai at her side as they all settled in to
the caribou feast.
Later that night, Sarai helped Kaila scoop out a bed in the moist
earth of the cave’s floor. Dirt flew in all directions, and small
piles of it grew behind them. Kaila marveled at how fast Sarai could
dig. In no time at all Kaila had a rounded, earthy bed just the right
size for her to lay down in and stretch out.
“Thanks, Sarai,” Kaila said gratefully as Sarai backed up and lay down
in the bed right next to Kaila’s.
“No problem,” Sarai said as she rolled her shoulders, trying to get
comfortable. “You’ll need all the help you can get.”
Kaila started, then sat up.
“You don’t think I’ll make it out here, do you?” she said in a soft,
accusing voice. Sarai cricked her tail nervously.
“To tell you the truth, Kaila, I don’t think any of us think you’ll
make it. Except Aniu, of course. Even if you are part wolf, you’ve
lived all your life in a town. To us you’re pretty much just a regular
dog.” With that proclamation, Sarai shifted to lay on her side, facing
away from Kaila.
Kaila felt her face get hot and her blood begin to simmer with anger
and annoyance. Just a regular dog?! That’s all they thought of her?!
Just a stupid, frolicking puppydog that wanted to have some excitement
and joined the pack. Kaila fumed, and in her mind she saw images of
herself doing better than any of the wolves, hunting better, tracking
faster, and moving up to be the beta wolf of the pack. ‘I’ll show
them,’ Kaila thought fiercely. ‘I’ll show them.’
The den grew quiet as one by one each wolf dropped off to sleep.
Pretty soon, Kaila was the only one awake. She stared up at the sky
through a crack in the rocky cave ceiling, and Sirius, the brightest
star in the heavens, shone down upon her.

Early the next morning, Balto awoke at Jenna’s house. At first he was
confused. What was he doing here? Why wasn’t he on his boat? Then the
last day’s events flashed through his mind, and he groaned. Kaila.
Balto got up and stole out to get his breakfast from the butcher’s,
and when he crept back in Jenna was waiting for him.
“You’ll be needing this before you go,” she said, and nuzzled him
tenderly. Balto brushed his head against her bandana and breathed in
her familiar scent. They had only nuzzled like this before puppies,
before all these problems. He loved their pups, he knew Jenna did too,
but sometimes it just got to be a little too much.
“Make it home, and make it safe,” Jenna said, then drew away. “I’ll be
waiting for you.”
“Goodbye. I love you.”
Balto gazed into the beautiful husky’s fiery red-brown eyes, then
dashed away and hurried through the town. Shouts of recognition and
friendly hellos from the other town dogs greeted him as he sped
through town, but he had no time to stop.  He headed toward the slope
where the ‘polar icecaps’ were, the last place Kaila had been before
she ran off. He needed to find his daughter.
Balto caught a scent, but it was very weak. The departed snowstorm had
messed with the scents of the animals that had passed by. He carefully
followed Kaila’s scent, and soon another strangely familiar scent
interlaced with Kaila’s. Balto stopped as he realized.
“Mother?”
He began tracking faster than ever, wondering why in the world Aniu
would lead his daughter, her own granddaughter, away from home.

Kaila awoke that same morning in the pack’s cave, but unlike her
father she was not confused about where she was. The facts about her
whereabouts had echoed in her sleep all night long. She got up and
walked over to the remains of the caribou carcass. It had been bitten
and chewed and gnawed until only scraps of meat were left, and the
caribou’s white bones seemed to glow in the darkness from under the
raw pieces of meat. Those bones would be put to use too. Sage had
showed Kaila how to crack the bones open with her teeth and eat the
calcium-rich marrow inside. Kaila did this, and ate some scraps for
her breakfast.
There was movement from the back of the cave. Sirius strode out from
the back and bade a sleepy hello to Kaila. Kaila nodded back and
watched as Sirius walked briskly to a spot just outside the cave. He
sat down on his haunches and lifted his head, and howled, a deep,
booming bass. The sound woke Kaila up to the refreshing coolness of
the morning, and stirrings came from the back of the cave. The others
were waking up.
Aniu traipsed past Kaila and joined Sirius, howling that howl Kaila
knew so well, sharp and clear. Sarai joined in with her high voice,
and Lakota with his medium, brassy howl. Sage’s howl was strong and
sweet, like her name, and even Kiowa joined in with her high, high
voice, even higher than Sarai’s. The Anvil Creek pack harmonized, and
Kaila was left out of the circle of wolves surrounding Sirius.
Kaila gulped and hesitated, but a voice in her head urged her on. ‘I
AM part of the pack.’ Kaila slipped between Lakota and Kiowa and
picked a note slightly lower than Sarai’s. She howled the silvery
note, and was surprised to find the others still went on harmonizing,
and she thought she even saw Aniu smile. The pack howled together as
one, and the morning hunt was ready to begin.

“Stop stepping on my paws, Lakota!”
“Ow! Hey, quit biting my tail, Sarai!”
The two yearlings quarreled loudly as the pack trekked across the
tundra. Sage shushed them, and Kaila felt restless. When were they
going to hunt? Of course, she didn’t know anything about hunting, but
she’d rather be DOING something than just walking, walking, walking.
Sirius stopped suddenly, and Kaila heard Kiowa exclaim softly, “A
moose!”
Sirius began directing silently. Kaila wasn’t sure how he did it.
Something in his golden eyes told Sage and Kiowa to herd the moose
toward the pack. The two streaked away, even with Kiowa and her
swollen belly. The pups were due anytime now.
The two furry blurs, one brown and one white, ran north of the pack
and then turned to chase the gigantic antlered creature back south
again. The moose kicked it’s great hooves towards the two wolves, but
they skillfully ducked and dodged the blows. As soon as the beast was
close enough, Sirius looked at Lakota and Aniu and jerked his head to
the right, and they set out to take on the moose from the eastern
side. With a swish of his tail the alpha male directed Sarai to come
with him and Kaila to attack from the left. The two bounded off to
take the prey head on, and Kaila ran and veered to the left, trembling
at what she had to do.
Soon she was running alongside to the moose, and ducked to avoid it’s
great antlers crushing her or it’s huge hooves pounding her into the
ground. She could see the rest of the pack starting to attack their
prey, yet still she hesitated. How could she do this? She had never
willingly killed anything before. But this moose meant food, it meant
life. Another part of the family lullaby ran through her head.
‘Somewhere in time, the truth shines through,
And the spirit knows what it has to do,
Somewhere in you, there’s a power with no name,
It can rise to meet the moment, and burn like a flame,
And you can be stronger than anything you know,
Hold on to what you see,
Don’t let it go, don’t you let it go,’
Kaila suddenly realized that that was exactly what she would
have to do. She lunged at the moose and closed her jaws around the
skin on it’s neck. It reared up and bellowed, the sound searing
through Kaila’s ears, but she hung on valiantly with iron jaws. With
her wolf instincts guiding her, she started to twist and roll on the
moose’s back. Pressing her paws up against the moose’s rough, wiry
side, she tugged her prey down to the ground. It rolled over and
tumbled to the earth, bawling for all to hear. Kaila coughed as dust
settled in her eyes and throat, but she could hear her pack taking
care of their soon-to-be meal.
  The moose let out one last bellow, and then it stopped moving
and the dust cleared. Kaila saw the other wolves circling the dead
animal, and their faces showed nothing but respect for her. The
tension in the air was as thick as river mud.
Sirius came up to her and placed a heavy paw on her
shoulder. “Kaila, that was the best performance I’ve ever seen of any
wolf,” he said quietly. “You have gained my respect as a great hunter,
and I think everyone else agrees.”
Kaila gazed around at the furry faces before her, and she
could see pure pride in Aniu’s eyes. Her granddaughter had done her
proud. Even Lakota nodded towards Kaila, those green eyes sparking
with amazement and respect. Kaila knew he didn’t think she was ‘just a
town dog’ anymore.
As always, Sarai burst out with a yip of excitement to fill
the stillness, and soon all the wolves were dancing around Kaila,
jostling and talking and laughing over the great success of the hunt.
There was a sudden need for celebration.
To add to the celebrating, there was a moose to eat. The meat
would last for several days. The pack dragged it back to the den where
they all ate their fill. Kaila felt happy and glad that she had
finally gained a place in the pack, and that she had finally gained
some respect. Now she wasn’t just a town dog , she was a full-fledged
wolf-dog, and the most skilled hunter in the Anvil Creek pack.
That night, Sarai and Kaila sat on the grassy slope on top of
the cave, watching the stars. As the other pack members slept in the
cave, the two sat and pointed out the constellations.
“There’s Sirius,” Sarai said, pointing with her paw at the
bright star. “It looks just like the white spot on our leader.”
“No wonder he’s called Sirius,” Kaila pointed out. “Hey, I see
the Big Dipper!”
“That’s easy,” Sarai said. “Let’s see if you can find Draco!
Oh, look! The Northern Lights!”
Sure enough, there in the distance, glinting on the horizon,
was the rainbow of the north. The colors danced and shimmered, and
Sarai began singing quietly under her breath. Kaila recognized the
song as ‘Reach for the Light’.
“You know that song?” she asked. Sarai stopped singing and
looked surprised.
“Yeah, Aniu taught it to Lakota and me, and she used to sing
us to sleep with it. She said HER grandmother taught it to her. You
know it too?”
Kaila nodded, and the two voices of Kaila and Sarai sang out
in unison.
‘Reach for the light,
You might touch the sky,
Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,
Reach for the light,
To capture a star,
Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are.’
Both stopped singing, and Kaila stared at Sarai. Kaila had
heard something beautiful, and she knew it wasn’t her own voice.
“What?” Sarai snapped, annoyed that Kaila kept staring at her.
“You have a beautiful voice,” Kaila said lamely, but she knew
it was true. She had heard Sarai’s voice over her own, and it was
amazing. High, but round and peaceful and silky, like a small bird
flying over the wide world. If the Northern Lights could make a sound,
it would have been Sarai’s voice that sang out of them.
Sarai scuffed one paw around in the dirt. “Well, my name does
mean ‘wolfsong’,” she said, looking a little embarrassed but
pleased. “But really, my voice is nothing special. You sang really
good too.” Kaila smiled, but she knew who was speaking the truth.
Kaila turned back to the Northern Lights, and she thought
sadly of home, and of a certain red husky who loved the Northern
Lights. The blues and reds and greens spun and swirled, and Kaila
wondered if that husky was worried about her, and if anyone was
looking for her, particularly a certain wolf-dog named Balto.

Balto groaned and rolled his shoulders. He had spent last
night in an old deserted fox den, and it was cramped, to say the
least. He had caught a snowshoe hare to eat (he didn’t mind eating raw
meat if he was hungry enough) and now he was making tracks to try and
find Kaila.
Balto trudged on for awhile, trying to follow the weak scent
that came and went. He wished that that snowstorm hadn’t flung the
scents about. Kaila might have gone this way or not, even if her scent
was there. Her scent was all over the place, and Balto tried
desperately to track it, but it was almost hopeless.
After an hour of walking and bulldozing through snowdrifts,
the scent suddenly disappeared entirely, and he gave himself up for
lost. Looking around, he didn’t even know where he was. ‘If only I had
made some kind of mark to find my way back,’ Balto thought, then
smacked himself over the head a second later. The trees! Why hadn’t he
scratched up some of the trees along the way? Stupid! Well, there was
nothing to do now but to keep on searching.
He sniffed the area, and suddenly caught a whiff of something.
Aniu! And Kaila again! But there were more wolves, and these scents
were very strong, as if they’d passed by a short time ago. “Finally!”
Balto said aloud to himself, and began tracking northward, hoping he
would find Kaila soon.

After the morning hunt (a caribou was nearly caught, but it
got away, and the pack had to settle for another carcass found down by
Anvil Creek) the meat was dragged to the cave again, but Kaila noticed
Kiowa was pulling weakly, and was not as fast as yesterday. The others
noticed it too.
It had been Kiowa’s fault that they had not been able to get
the caribou. She was too slow at chasing the animal, and she hadn’t
been there to tackle it when an empty space was open for the creature
to get away. The caribou had galloped away and left the pack in the
dust, and Kiowa had hung her head in shame. It had been pure luck that
Lakota had found the caribou carcass when the pack traversed across
the creek, an old kill of some other animal’s, half-buried and frozen.
But now that they were in the cave, Kiowa was acting
strangely, screwing up her face and breathing hard. The whole pack
gathered around her and Sirius licked his mate’s eyes and
muzzle. “Kiowa, what is it?” he asked worriedly. Kiowa looked up at
him and half-smiled.
“I think…I think the puppies are coming,” she said slowly. Sirius
sprang into action. “We must get her to the whelping den!” he cried,
and immediately the whole pack surrounded Kiowa in one big wave.
Kaila slipped in beside Sarai and whispered, “What’s a
whelping den?”
“That’s where wolves have to have their puppies,” Sarai
replied, “It’s wolf tradition.”
Sirius took his place at the front and swiftly led his pack
out of the cave and onto the tundra. The pack ran as fast as they
could across the white landscape, and Sirius started up a happy howl.
His deep, golden bass encouraged first Aniu, then Sage, then Lakota,
then Sarai, then Kaila, and lastly Kiowa to howl all their different
pitches and notes. The Anvil Creek pack announced to the world that
puppies were about to be born.
The snow danced and swirled in front of them, and Kaila saw
Sarai stick out her tongue and catch a snowflake.
As the Arctic sun turned ever so slowly and softly in the
graying sky, the clan of wolves raced across the tundra. Kaila heard
Kiowa gasp out in pain once or twice, but thankfully she kept going.
The small sea of furry tails and pointed ears and big, blocky paws
wound up the hills, through mountain passes, and over frozen streams.
Kaila could feel the tension and excitement mount as they neared the
whelping den. Aniu called over her shoulder, “I can see it! We will be
there soon!”
Kaila saw it too, a small earthy den dug out in the side of
the riverbank. But it was on the other SIDE of the river.
Sirius stopped the pack at the edge, and Kaila could see the
water was frozen, and hopefully a good foot thick with ice. The black
alpha male eyed the glistening ice, and gingerly lifted one paw and
pressed it down on the frigid surface. It creaked, and the old leader
drew back, afraid to go on. Kiowa groaned and leaned against her mate.
“Sirius, I don’t know if I can make it. The pups are almost
here.” Sirius rubbed his head against hers.
“Don’t worry, Kiowa. We’ll get you across and in the den
before the puppies come.” Sirius jumped into the air and landed gently
halfway across the river. There was a great moan from the icy
crystals, and Sirius froze. The ice was still.
He watched as Kiowa lowered herself onto the glassy surface.
Then the whole pack followed, and Kaila held her breath as big, heavy
paws were placed on the waiting exterior, and the ice murmured, but
did nothing else. Sirius slowly led every wolf step by step over the
icy obstacle. The moving was tricky, and the going was slow. No
mishaps were had until Sarai slipped and fell, causing the ice around
her to snap and crackle. She quickly jumped away and landed THWAK on
her back on top of the ice, about three quarters of the way across.
She slowly got up, and as Sirius sharply rebuked her for being
careless, Kaila exhaled. They were almost across. Everything was going
to be alright.
Sirius took a step forward, and the fracture Sarai had made
suddenly sent a jagged crack past Lakota, and the ice crackled and
popped as it began to break.
“Everybody, off!” Sirius yelled, and seized Kiowa by the
scruff of her neck and flung her to the secure shore. The white wolf
skidded to a stop and after a moment shakily got up and watched from
the snowy bank. She was too weak and too much in shock to be of much
help.
Kaila felt the ice start to jerk under her, and before she
knew it she was sliding off a giant sheet of ice and plunging into the
freezing water. Cold water rushed into her ears and eyes and throat,
and she gurgled and choked and frantically scratched the ice to try to
pull herself up. She could feel the giant piece tilting over her, and
she continued to drop below.
‘I can’t die!’ Kaila screamed inside her head, but even so she
could feel the ice closing in around her. This bleak, cold, cruel
enemy that was intent on swallowing her up. She hated it, hated it so
much she felt herself get hot with anger, but she was helpless to
fight. The ice closed over her head, the light was shut out, and it
went dark.
Kaila knew she was running out of air. She floundered
uselessly as the cold river water battled with her and seemed to fill
up her insides. As Kaila fought for her life, the first thoughts that
came into her head were, ‘Somebody save me! Is anyone going to save
me? Do they even care?’ Her thoughts swirled back towards home, though
was it really her home anymore? Her past was better suited to the
term.
‘I never got to say goodbye to Mom or Dad. Are they still
looking for me? It feels like forever since I’ve seen them. Will they
remember me? Do they even love me?’ Kaila felt herself tire, and her
lungs shrieked for air, but she was lost, lost forever in this grey,
blue, and frozen world. Kaila drifted in the water, and almost closed
her eyes, when something shot through the thin ice above her head.
Lakota’s dark head turned and grabbed ahold of Kaila’s neck
with it’s teeth. Kaila felt dizzy as air rushed into her face as
Lakota lifted her into the open and dragged her to shore. They both
almost tumbled into the depths again when the river ice unexpectedly
cracked underneath them, but Lakota leaped over the split and safely
laid Kaila on the riverbank. Kaila saw movement and felt a tiny bit of
warmth, so she guessed he had lain his body on hers to get her warm
again. She couldn’t feel anything, not her paws, not her tail, not
even Lakota’s weight on her back. But he had saved her life.
Now they both had respect for each other, her as a great
hunter, him as her rescuer. Kaila hoped that was all it was going to
come to, and wouldn’t grow into a romance or anything. She respected
Lakota now, but that didn’t mean she liked him. She was almost
positive that he felt the same way about her.
Kaila felt her body slowly grow warm again, and after awhile
she had enough strength to lift her head and open her eyes.
Sage, Lakota, Sarai, and herself were all on the shore. Kiowa
was nowhere to be seen. Kaila concluded Kiowa must have forced herself
to get to the whelping den. Then she saw the pregnant wolf standing
just outside the dark den, watching helplessly the scene on the ice.
Aniu and Sirius were the only ones left on the ice, and Sirius
was in danger of slipping under. The black upper part of his body was
the only thing not stuck in the depths. Aniu tried to pull him up with
her teeth, and scratched at the ice that enclosed her mate. But it was
hopeless. He was trapped.
Tears filled Aniu’s yellow eyes as the great pack leader
slipped away, and the ice closed after him, sealing his fate. Aniu
clawed at the ice some more, tears spilling down her white furry
cheeks, but the ice began to snap under her, and she leaped to the
shore.
Sarai, Lakota, and Kaila watched silently as Sirius’s three
mates looked out onto the ice, where their great leader was drowning
and dying underneath. There was a heavy and mournful silence, and Aniu
was the first to lift her head. She howled, a long, heartbroken howl
that floated across the wilderness. Sage joined in, her howl as sad
and melancholy as Aniu’s. Kiowa was silent as she stared out onto the
river. Shards of ice drifted harmlessly, and it was hard to believe
that underneath them a great pack leader lay dead. Sirius was gone.
Kiowa’s high, soprano howl blended with Aniu’s and Sage’s, and
together these three mourned for their lost mate, and at the same time
were joined together with unending love for the father of their pups.

Balto strode into the cave and shook the melting snow from his
wiry coat. Thank goodness the scents had led him here, out of the
wetness and cold of late spring in Alaska. Balto inhaled deeply, and
the scents of the cave confirmed what he had been guessing. There were
six wolves, one Aniu and five others he did not know. Balto sniffed
around some more, and found the old caribou carcass the pack had found
by the creek that morning. ‘I wonder what Kaila’s been eating out
here,’ he mused, and went on to investigate more.
After sorting out the old scents from the ones that had been
left that morning, Balto followed the morning ones to the entrance of
the cave. He lifted his head to see faint pawprints in the snow,
heading west, and he recognized Kaila’s slightly smaller paws in the
midst of all the other impressions displayed in the snow. After some
thought, Balto howled softly, then chuckled quietly.
“Being around these wolves does things to me,” he said to
himself, “Before you know it, I’ll be joining a wolf pack.”
He chuckled again, then advanced out of the cave and headed
towards the west.

“Kaila.”
A sharp voice jolted Kaila awake. Kaila didn’t open her eyes,
but rolled over onto her side. “Leave me alone, Sarai,” Kaila said
sleepily, “I feel like I haven’t slept for years.”
“KaiLA!!”
Sarai’s whining voice made Kaila pry open her eyes and sit up,
yawning. Then in mid-yawn Kaila remembered everything.
The whelping den.
The river.
The ice.
Down under.
Lakota.
Sirius.
The ice.
Gone.
Aniu.
Sage.
Kiowa.
The puppies.
Sadness flooded Kaila as she thought of Sirius, the kind black
alpha male. She had known him only for a couple of days. And now he
was gone.
But then Kaila remembered again why they were here. She opened
her eyes wider and stared into Sarai’s bi-color eyes.
“Are the puppies here?” she asked.
Sarai smiled sadly. “Yeah, they’re here. You fell asleep from getting
so cold from going under the ice, I guess, and while you were in
dreamland Kiowa had two puppies. Boy and a girl. I’ve already seen
them, and they’re…oh, c’mon.”
Kaila got up and followed the young wolf, but something in
Sarai’s face made her stop.
“Sarai, what’s the matter?” Kaila asked, concerned. Kaila
watched as a tear snaked down Sarai’s muzzle and dripped onto the
snow. The wolf turned to Kaila, and her eyes were wet.
“Kaila, how would you feel if you were responsible for your
father’s death? Even if it was an accident.” Sarai sniffled, and
another tear rolled down her cheek.“I killed my dad, Kaila. I made
that crack in the ice, and that started the whole thing. And now my
dad’s gone, and my mom’s nearly heartbroken, and I only have one
parent, and I’m a murderer!!”
This outburst was followed by screaming and shouting from
Sarai, angry at herself and the ice and even Sirius himself. Kaila
watched as her friend shrieked and yelled, and Kaila was sure that it
would take a long while for Sarai to get over her father’s death.
After this angry fit had gone on for maybe five minutes, Sarai
suddenly quietened and just sat there in the snow, sniffling once in
awhile. Kaila sat down next to her and placed a paw on her friend’s
paw. The silence was soothing between them, and then Kaila broke it
with a whisper.
“Sarai, it wasn’t all your fault. Sooner or later someone
would’ve accidentally cracked the ice, or it would’ve cracked all by
itself. Sirius was old, anyway. Maybe it was time for him to go. Maybe
it was his time, or fate. Maybe that was how your dad was supposed to
go, heroic and brave. Everybody will still remember him, and miss him.
You shouldn’t blame yourself for his…death.”
Kaila wasn’t sure if her words were comforting, but she tried,
and she could feel Sarai listening. After another awhile, Sarai
sniffed again and got up.
“C’mon,” she said, and Kaila followed her into the whelping
den. They passed Lakota, who lay just outside the den, and he gave
Kaila a strange look as she walked by. She ignored him, and entered
the cozy smallness of the den.
Kiowa wore an expression of sadness mixed with pride as she
nursed two tiny puppies, her first litter. The first one was smaller
than the second, and had black ears, paws, and tail, but the rest of
the pup’s fur was reddish-brown. Sarai nudged Kaila to tell her this
was the girl puppy.
The second one, the boy puppy, was larger and had silvery gray
fur with tints of white. Kaila smiled as the boy mewed pitifully as he
wondered away from his mother, and both Sage and Aniu nudged him back.
Kiowa licked her new pups tenderly, then looked up with wide, serious
eyes.
“I’m going to name them now, before anything else happens, so
they’ll at least have names,” she announced to the room. They all
smiled a little.
“This one is so small. She needs a good name, one that
describes her,” Sage said, ever the leader, and nodded to the girl pup.
“Flikka?” Sarai offered. Everyone stared at her. Sarai flushed
and hid her face, mumbling, “Well, I heard it before, and it sounded
like a nice name to ME.”
“Pet?” Kaila suggested. Lakota’s shout came from outside.
“This isn’t any PET dog, stupid! Think of some real names!”
“OK, OK,” Kaila said, hurt.
Kiowa licked the pup again and said thoughtfully, “She’s so little and
tiny. I think Cheyenne is the best name for her.”
An agreeable silence followed this statement, and Lakota didn’t say
anything from his post at the den’s entrance. But, after all, who
could argue with the mother of the puppies?
“Now this one,” Aniu whispered reverently, nudging the boy puppy.
Kiowa drew him close and looked at him with her big, blue eyes. Her
face was still, and her jaw was set decisively.
“I know exactly what to call you,” she said as the pup squealed and
rubbed against her paw. “You will be Nilak, ‘chipped ice’, so no one
will forget how your father died, especially not you.” She pulled the
girl puppy close and embraced both.
After watching for a minute, Kaila slipped out and laid down next to
Lakota outside. She had something to say to him, but she wasn’t sure
how to say it.
“What do you want?” he growled fiercely.
“Nothing,” she said. “Um…thanks, for saving me out there. On the ice,
I mean.” There, she had said it. Would he reply? No, he just gave her
another one of his strange looks. One eyebrow curved up and the other
swooped down, and he didn’t smile, just stared at her with those hard,
green eyes. Kaila shifted uncomfortably, then burst out.
“Why do you keep STARING at me like that?!” she exclaimed.
“Like what?” Lakota asked, unfazed, and she imitated him. He laughed,
and Kaila realized in surprise that it was the first time she had ever
heard him display some other emotion besides annoyance or anger. What
was different about him?
“It’s just looking at a person that I’ve saved that makes me do that,”
he explained. “It’s just weird. If I hadn’t saved you, you would be
dead right now, and whenever I see you I think about that, and I just
get a weird feeling. It gives me the creeps.”
He shrugged, and she nodded. She understood.
Kaila opened her mouth, but before she could say anything he plunged
ahead.
“I was just standing on the edge of the ice, not sure what to do, when
I saw you go under. Sage was helping Sarai out, Mom was trying to get
Dad”-grief flitted across Lakota’s face, but he pushed it away-“and
Kiowa was just sitting on the shore. I was the only one that could get
to you. I tried to run across the ice, but I got stuck a few times, so
it took awhile. Sorry.” He smiled apologetically, and she smiled back.
She waited for him to continue. “I didn’t like you that much, but I
didn’t want you to DIE.”
“Do you like me now?” Kaila asked quickly, then bit her
tongue. ‘Please let him say yes, but not in that way,’ she prayed
silently. He smiled at her again, but in a funny way this time.
“Yeah…but as a friend, just a friend. Don’t go into the boyfriend and
girlfriend stuff, ok?”
Kaila snorted. “I thought you would’ve noticed by now that I’m not
that kind of girl.”
“Just friends?”
“Just friends and nothing more.”
Kaila marveled at how much Lakota had changed. Somewhere, out on the
ice, he had found it in him to accept and trust her. Maybe he had
realized she was more a part of the pack than she ever thought she
could be, and more a part than he had realized. Somehow, they needed
her. It was a good feeling to finally be accepted by the whole pack.
Lakota suddenly jumped up and growled deep in his throat. Kaila,
surprised at his reaction, leapt up too and looked out past the river.
A dark, wolf-like shape was making its way towards the whelping den,
and Kaila squinted to see who it was. Realization shot through her,
and she raced away, yelling, “It’s my dad! My dad! Oh my gosh, he’s
found me!”
“Huh?” Lakota said with a confused look on his face, but Kaila was
already far down the riverbank, barking and yelling and crying for all
she was worth.

Balto sped up as he saw two dark shapes lying on the riverbank, and
the smaller one began to run towards him, and he could hear barking
and crying and a familiar voice saying, “Dad! Dad! Dad!”
“Kaila!” Balto cried, and he skidded to a stop at the edge of the
riverbank. They both yelled and danced with joy on their opposite
sides, but a river still separated them.
“Careful, Dad,” Kaila called out fearfully as Balto stepped onto a
floating block of ice. It tipped about, and Balto unsteadily leaped to
the next ice piece. It began to sink, and he vaulted over to another,
bigger piece. This pattern continued as he jumped his way across the
river. Once he misplaced his footing and fell into the water, and
Kaila cried out, but he pulled himself back out, panting, and kept
going.
Finally he was standing on the last ice block, and vaulted onto the
shore, tackling Kaila and bringing her down to the ground. They both
rolled and rolled down the riverbank, and only stopped when Kaila got
up and pounced on her father. She cried as she played with Balto, and
tears ran down his face too. They were so happy to see each other
again after…what? Only two days?! To Kaila and Balto, it seemed like
forever.
After they had both settled down, Kaila lead her father back to the
den, where everyone except Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Nilak were waiting for
them.
“Dad, this is Lakota, the new alpha male of the Anvil Creek pack,”
Kaila told Balto. Balto nodded respectfully, then raised an eyebrow
and questioned.
“ ‘New’?”
“My father, Sirius, died while we were crossing this river,” Lakota
said quietly, “Now I take his place.”
Balto’s face was sympathetic. “I’m sorry about your father,” he said.
Kaila almost cried again, she had grown so fond of Sirius. She hastily
changed the subject before she could start to sob.
“Dad, this is Sarai, Sage, Aniu, and Kiowa is inside with her new
puppies, Cheyenne and Nilak.”
Balto nodded to each one, then softly padded up to Aniu.
“Mother,” he said, and they both nuzzled.
Aniu said to Balto after he drew away, “Your daughter has shown great
skill in surviving as a wolf does. She does not need to go back with
you if she does not want to.” Balto looked startled.
“But why did you lead her to this pack in the first place?” he asked.
Aniu shook her white head.
“Your daughter wished to know where she belongs, where a wolf lives,
or where a dog lives. I decided to show her the life of a wolf to see
if she could endure it, and she has proved that she can. Now, when she
first met Sirius, she made a deal with him that at the end of three
days he would decide if she could stay in the pack.”
“You were thinking about joining a wolf pack??!” Balto exclaimed,
turning to his daughter. Kaila cast down her eyes and nodded
wordlessly. Balto’s eyes got very wide, and he shook his head. “Just
like Aleu,” he murmured, but didn’t say anything else.
“However,” Aniu continued, but more gently now. “Since Sirius is…gone,
Kaila must choose for herself. Today. She has shown she can survive
with the pack, and, I must say, is a very skilled hunter.”
Kaila gave a small smile at that, but when she looked up Balto was
still shaking his head. He couldn’t seem to believe that she had
almost joined this pack.
“C’mon, Dad,” Kaila beckoned, and she lead her father to a small hill
she had seen from the river. It was far enough away from everybody so
they couldn’t hear, and as Kaila and Balto turned away, Kaila looked
back to see all but one wolf go back into the den. Lakota lay watching
at the den’s entrance, guarding his pack with his life.
Father and daughter reached the hill and lay down. Kaila watched her
father’s face, and there was a reflective silence between them. The
white snow on the ground whirled around in peaceful puffs, and Balto
suddenly spoke.
“You know, when I let Aleu go, I knew I probably wasn’t going to ever
see her again,” he stated quietly. “She floated away on that ice
bridge and a part of me felt like running after her and pulling her
back home, where I would never let her run away again. But the one
thing that held me back was that I knew it was her choice, and that it
was what she wanted to do with her life.” Kaila looked down. She knew
what was coming. “It’s your choice, Kaila. You don’t have to listen to
your old man’s wishes. If you want to stay with this wolf pack, I
understand.”
Balto smiled a little, and Kaila felt her heart start to pound. All
her life adults had been telling her what to do, while she had to obey
whether she liked it or not. Well, most of the time anyway. But now
her father was telling her she could do what she wanted. Her and
nobody else! But what DID she want?
Kaila looked back at the whelping den, where her pack lay inside and
their new leader was guarding them. She had experienced life and death
with them, made friendships, strengthened bonds, and helped keep the
pack together. She had played, hunted, howled, and lived with this
pack for only about two days, and yet she felt like she’d known them
all her life. Needless to say, she loved them. They were like the
future, the key to life outside of her old home.
Then Kaila looked back at Balto. Memories of her puppy days flooded
up, and she remembered all the happy times she had had, listening to
her mother, Jenna, sing her to sleep…messing around with Nikki,
Kaltag, and Star…playing tricks on the town dogs with her siblings…
listening to her father tell the story of when he saved Nome…that was
her past. Balto, Jenna, The Trio, her brothers and sister, and Nome
were her past. But which would she run to? Her past or her future?
Kaila remembered that night on the slope when Aniu had first
appeared. “But who are you?” Aniu had asked, and Kaila knew it would
take a lifetime for her to figure that out. But she herself had
said, “I want to know where I belong.”
Where did she belong? She would have to choose now. The Anvil Creek
pack or her parents? The Alaskan wilderness or Nome? Her future or her
past? Another verse from the lullaby trickled through Kaila’s mind.
‘There’s no turning back,
Your destiny is calling,
Listen to the thunder roll,
And let your heart break free,’
Kaila came to a decision. She turned to Balto and said, “Stop
telling yourself I’m just like Aleu. I’m Kaila, and I’m a whole
different person from my sister. Aleu was on a quest to find out who
she was; I went on a journey to find out where I belong. She was with
a wolf pack for one day before she went; I was with my pack for two.
She’s already made her decision; I’m making mine.”
Balto stared into his daughter’s eyes with hope, and Kaila
smiled as she said, “Dad, I’m coming home with you.”
Balto’s heart seemed to burst, and he embraced his daughter,
and before she knew it he was licking her face and muzzle all over
with fatherly tenderness, and his happiness was so intense Kaila
couldn’t help feeling happy as well. She was finally going home.
The two wolf-dogs raced to the den, fur flying, tongues
hanging out, and feet pounding over the tundra, kicking up snow like
sparkling dust. They both slowed down, and Kaila felt a twinge of
guilt as they neared the pack’s current dwelling. Was she a traitor to
be leaving her pack?
Lakota got up when he saw them, and by Balto’s face he knew
what Kaila’s decision had been. The young alpha called his pack out,
even Kiowa, and they all stood waiting.
Kaila took a deep breath and announced, “I’m going home to
Nome with my dad.”
“Aww, Kaila,” Sarai said, and the others murmured in
agreement. They didn’t want her to go.
“I’ll be back someday,” Kaila continued. “I promise. But right
now, I feel like my home is waiting for me back where my parents are.
I’ll come back someday and I’ll join the pack all over again. I
promise.”
It was settled, and though Sarai whined and complained, Kaila
was firm. Goodbyes were exchanged.
“Hey, goodbye ‘just friend’,” Lakota said jokingly. “I’ll miss
you around here.”
“’Bye,” Kaila said. “You’ll make a great alpha someday,
Lakota.”
“Why do you have to leave?” Sarai said. “This pack needs you.”
“I told you, I’ll be back,” Kaila insisted. “Goodbye, Sarai.”
“Goodbye, Kaila,” Sarai sighed.
“Goodbye, Kaila,” Sage said warmly, her eyes still glinting
like Hawk’s. “You were the best hunter this pack has ever had. I’ll
miss you.”
“So long, Sage,” Kaila said. “Thanks for taking care of me
that first night.”
“’Bye, Kaila,” Kiowa said softly, and nuzzled the wolf-dog
once.
“Goodbye, Kiowa,” Kaila said. “Take care of Cheyenne and Nilak
for me. Hopefully I’ll be able to see them when I come back.”
“Yes,” Kiowa whispered, and smiled.
Kaila strode up to Aniu and they hugged each other. “Farewell,
granddaughter,” Aniu said. “If you ever feel you wish to join the pack
again, I’ll be waiting for you on that hill. You will always have a
place among wolves.”
“Goodbye, Aniu,” Kaila whispered, and turned to the whole
pack. “I’ll miss all you guys.”
Balto said one last goodbye to his mother-“Take care, my son,”-
and the two wolf-dogs headed south, towards Nome, and Jenna, and
Kaila’s siblings, Copper and Chase and Dusty. Nome would be Kaila’s
home, for now.
Balto and Kaila made their way across the glittering
landscape, and as they mounted the last hill before they descended
into a steep valley, Kaila turned back for one last look at her pack.
A high, clear voice floated across the frosty plains to Kaila’s ears,
and she knew it was Sarai singing.
‘Reach for the light,
You might touch the sky,
Stand on the mountaintop, and see yourself flying,
Reach for the light,
To capture a star,
Come out of the darkness, and find out who you are.’
As she turned away, Kaila whispered the last words of the
song: “Yes, reach for the light.”
Balto ran ahead, down the hillside into the valley, and he called back.
“C’mon, Kaila!”
Kaila followed, and let her father lead her away from her
pack. She saw on the horizon a lighted shape that just might be Nome,
where Jenna was waiting.
Kaila took a deep breath and plunged ahead of Balto, her paws
pounding over the snow. As Kaila ran on and on, the wind shrieking in
her ears and snow swirling in her face, her heart felt light. The
brilliant lighted shape seemed to loom closer, and Kaila sang happily
into the wind.
“Yes, reach for the light.”
  She knew she was finally headed home.


The ‘A Second Chance’ series to be continued with Copper’s story…



Kaila, Copper, Chase, Dusty, Hawk, Snow, Cookie, Sirius, Sage, Kiowa,
Lakota, Sarai, Cheyenne, and Nilak © redwolf03

Balto, Jenna, Nikki, Kaltag, Star, Aniu, Rosy’s father, and Aleu ©
Universal Studios


Author’s Note: I thought it would be kind of cool for you to know the
meanings of the names of all but one of the Anvil Creek wolf pack
members, just so you can see why I gave them that specific name.

NAMES                           MEANINGS
Sirius                                ‘the Dog Star’
Lakota                              ‘High Wolf’
Sage                                 ‘strong and sweet’
Sarai                                 ‘wolfsong’
Kiowa                               ‘Sleeping Wolf’
Cheyenne                          ‘Little Wolf’
Nilak                                 ‘chipped ice’