CHAPTER I

OMEN

''Aleu, my dear...''

The alpha she-wolf listened to a soft and caring voice trying to wake her up. She was trying to sleep and rest, after another awful and hard day as the leader of a hungry wolf pack. The caribou was still lost, they didn't knew where they went. Something was probably scaring them off.

''Like evil, goodness is also hard, very hard to destroy completely.''

Aleu decided to open her eyes, of sorts', only to find herself in a dreamy environment, there was fog and a starry, light blue sky. The floor, apparently snow, was absolutely white, like the wolf that started to appear in front of Aleu.

''Aniu''. Thought Aleu, seeing the spirit of her grandmother materializing on that place.

''I need to tell you something, urgent, important, please listen to me''

''Alright, tell me'' Answered the alpha, concern vibrating on her voice.

''There is something happening, something that I don't wanted to ever face again, but I knew this time would eventually come, coming very quickly…Do you know that everything on the universe has a counterpart?''

''Of course I do.''

''I have one too, is a Spirit absolutely different from me, but from the same nature. He follows a cycle, some years it is weak and less dangerous, but other years it gets stronger, and his dark powers increase to such unimaginable levels, and I'm afraid that time has come, he has gained more power, attracting more followers, he is now very strong, and for many years I've kept him away from your world, but now, he's on the way to make a comeback. But he needs a physical body, and his descendants went on a mission to find it Nome, one that has the enough aura to completely satisfy Spirit's needs''

''I need to find that'' Replied Aleu, already thinking on her new travel.

Her grandma nodded, and continued ''It's not too late Aleu''

Aniu's figure started to vanish in a twist of snowflakes.

The next day, at dawn...

—''Have you find a giant herd of caribous?'' Asked Nuk, the biggest fan of the food in the pack, and the one who suffered the scarceness more than the other wolves.

—''No, Nuk, i don't, but I have found kind of an explanation of what is happening …''

Once she got the attention of the pack. The alpha continued:

—''Last night, Aniu appeared to me in my dreams, she said that her counterpart, an evil black wolf spirit, is coming to our world, and his followers want to capture a dog. If the spirit gets the dog's body, his comeback will be done, and our world will be on serious problems''

—''Wendigo is coming back? that's indeed an explanation, the animals we eat are feeling his proximity, and running away from him, they are escaping the forests'' Stated some old, wise wolf, his name was Aqeutaq, he was Nava's younger brother ''If a Clan is following the Evil Spirit, they will not care anymore for the scarceness of food, they will not care for anything than serve their Master. That's why they suddenly disappeared, he probably lured them with food and other goods to follow him''

—''Aqeutaq, you probably know more than me about all this…'' Replied Aleu, feeling unsure about her real perception about all what was happening.

—''No, my alpha, you're the only one who sees Aniu in dreams, you are the one who will know what to do about this, how to stop the comeback of Wendigo'' Answered the wise wolf, trying to calm Aleu.

—''Alright. I must recruit the most strong, fierce and brave wolves of our pack, I hope that the ones i'll pick want to come with me to a dangerous travel, and the ones who will stay here needs to accept my decision. Hunters and scouts, please step forward''

The wolves stood on position forming a row in front of Aleu.

—''Akiak'' Said Aleu, picking a silver hunter wolf.

—''Akicha'' The alpha continued, selecting a dark brown scout female.

—''And Taku'' Called the hybrid, choosing an auburn and white hunter.

—''You're coming with me to Nome, the dog we need to find, my parents and and my siblings, are there too, we will probably meet with Raima and her pack, so stay alert. Aqeutaq is now in charge of the pack, we depart in five minutes, be prepared!''

Aqeutaq wished them good luck. The other wolves howled together to cheer them and say goodbye, they were starting the travel to the Anvil Mountains, their meeting with destiny was underway.

A snowstorm enveloped Balto's sight. He felt that he was walking inside a cloud. But his paws were touching the ground, by the texture of it, he realized that it was covered by ice. Then, his blurry vision started to clear up, he saw a big forest in the skirts of a mountain, and, in the front of his sight. He saw his beloved, daughter... But suddenly, the ground cracked between them, a black fume emerged from the crack, and, in the other side of the fracture, it revealed eight black wolves, the creatures surrounded Aleu, who prepared to fight them. Balto wanted to help. He decided to jump to the other side. And when he was preparing to do so. Aleu yelled

—''Lookout!''

And Balto he felt a presence behind of him. He turned his head to face a massive, pitch black furred bear with yellow eyes… The same he faced on his way to find Steele and the serum three years ago.

—''Wake up, Balto.'' Balto heard the soft voice of his mate, Jenna. He was sleeping at her home in the town, because the boat was leaky and wet after a heavy rain the day before. ''Are you okay?'' Asked her. After taking a look to Balto's frightened face. ''It seems you had a nightmare''

—''I was just thinking in Aleu…'' Sighed the brown and gray wolf dog.

—'''Oh Balto, i'm sure she is fine, she's in her true home right now. That's what you told me, and if you say so, it's true'' Replied Jenna with confidence ''Please Balto, you have to be happy for her. Sleep again''

Actually, a long time passed before Jenna could forgive Balto for letting their daughter go with a pack of wolves to wander adrift in the sea in a block of ice. They were not even sure if the block could arrive safely to land. Or if a hostile pack was waiting for them on the shore. They could only rely on Aniu guiding her blood to reach their new home.

The light of the crescent moon outlined the silhouette of a young canine that wandered aimlessly through the woods, far from home, he took a breath on the top of a mound flanked by pines. His senses were attentive to any movement, any noise that broke the tranquility of the forest, he did not wanted his trip to end up in the grip of a bear or shot dead by a human hunter. Although he was born and raised as a dog, he was in reality a half-breed, and in the darkness he could be easily mistaken for a wolf due to his figure.

Suddenly, in the dim light he saw the figure of another canine, when he approached, he saw that it was a female wolf, more or less his age, somehow, he was not afraid of that animal.

It could not be said which of the two was more impressed to see the other, if the wolf to see a dog in the middle of that remote forest, or the pet to be face to face with the inhabitant of the wild. He could see her eyes, blue as ice, suddenly felt a twinge in the stomach when they were stuck on him, he knew it was not fear, it was something else manifesting in a sudden meeting of looks.

The wolf finally broke the silence:

—''What are you doing here, pal? So late at night, so far from the humans?''

—''Actually, is quite confusing…''

—'''Relax. I know exactly how it feels like'' Laughed the wolf ''My name is Aleu''

—''I'm Dinae. Din for short''

—''Maybe you have a very interesting story behind you. Din'' Aleu said ''But now, you need shelter and food, come to where my pack is, do not worry, we are peaceful, you are lucky to have met with us, have confidence''

At first sight the wolf did not looked like a threat to his life, so he decided to go with her, and something had intrigued Din from the moment he saw her, a kind of magnetism that pulled him towards her.

Din woke up. But he was not on the wild anymore, while the sun rays coming from the window caressed his eyes, he realized that it was the real world this time. Where another female called him. Not an unknown wolf. But his partner: Dara. A beautiful malamute with brown fur and amber eyes.

She noticed the tiredness in the face of her mate.

—''You can tell me if something is plaguing your mind ... I need to know, do not be afraid to talk about it.'' She said.

Din did not wanted to tell Dara about the dreams. In fact, it plagued his mind since they came to that new place: Nome, Alaska.

—''Wake up, sleeping beauty'' Jenna said ''Someone's waiting for you out there''

—''Someone?'' Answered Balto with a yawn.

—''Yes, Kodiak says that he's the new dog on the Mail Team or something like that''

—''Well, I guess I have to say hello''

Balto went out of his boat to meet the surprised and excited face of a husky. For his features he thought that he was part wolf, in a percentage similar of that of his sons. He was white furred with black fur on his ears, legs, and tummy and in a tip on his tail.

—''Well. Hello mate, what's your name?'' Waved Balto

—''Oh...Balto sir, finally I got to meet you!'' He answered ''My name's Dinae''

—''Nice to meet you, you wanted to meet me?'' Balto asked

—''Yes. I always wanted, since I've heard of you...of that heroic run to bring the medicine for the human boys. That was just amazing''

—''Okay, I'm always pleased when someone mentions that. But I was just doing my duty; I don't want those children to die. I felt urged to do something before a tragedy happened''

—''And then...you won that race against the bush plane'' He said ''I betted for your victory with a friend of mine, and I won!''

—''Really? That plane crashed and that decided the race for us''

—''That was what I've heard. But that was something very brave too''

—''I guess...But, as a matter of fact. I was about to quit and ran away. I was afraid of letting down my son Kodiak. But then Jenna pumped me up and I felt stronger''

Jenna was joining Balto when she heard that, she grinned and said

—''I'm the reason for all of his victories, indeed'' Balto smiled and nuzzled his mate.

Kodiak arrived to his father's home looking for his teammate.

—''Hi Son, is this guy your new teammate?'' Asked Balto

—''Yes, he arrived to Nome today; tomorrow will be his first day at work''

—''Congratulations. And good luck'' Said Jenna

—''Thank you Miss Jenna. It was nice to meet you Mr. Balto''

—''Nice to meet you too, have a great run tomorrow!''

Both dogs headed to the Post Office, chatting and joking, Dinae was about to meet the rest of his teammates. He told the team his story. He was found and raised by a hunter near White Mountain; he was a great master for him. Loving, caring, amusing, but then he ran out of money and had to sell Dinae to the post office, where Mr. Simpson saw him a week ago and bought him for the team.

Later that morning, the humans and the dogs both had a meeting, humans at the mayor's office and the dogs at the boiler room, dealing with the same topic: Wolves had been seen stalking near the town. At the boiler room Balto gave some recommendations.

—''Don't go outside in the night; don't walk alone in the outskirts of the city. Obey the orders of your masters. They will do everything for your safety.''

Meanwhile. The City Council decided to temporarily cancel the Mail service by land. Duke, with his brand new bush plane Balto Flyer was committed to deliver mail and supplies to town until the situation normalized.