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Aleu hadn’t been adopted like her brothers and sisters, but could never understand why. Even now, as she neared her first birthday, Balto hadn’t had the heart to tell her that the townspeople viewed her as a wolf, especially unfair considering how much she looked like Balto himself. But Balto was known throughout Nome as a hero, and despite that pedigree, no one wanted to take a chance with a wolfdog like her. Since then, she’d shared Balto’s boat, giving up by even Jenna’s family.

He knew he had to tell her. She’d almost been killed when she was sighted by a local hunter, something no other dog in Nome would have to risk. Explain that she would never be welcome in town; would be looked at with distrust, if not literally hunted for her pelt. What future did she have here? She could hardly choose a mate among the owned dogs in town, and the strays would never do for his daughter. And no wolf would venture this close to such a large town. She was trapped between two worlds, and Balto feared what she might do when she found out.

But there was one last hope.

A new arrival to Nome, Duke was a man who seemed unafraid of Balto. He fed the wolfdog scraps even before he learned that the local stray was the savior of Nome. Tall, young, and blonde, he was working on a pilot’s license during the summer. From what the man told Balto, he could actually fly in the sky, like a bird! Balto was skeptical, but he’d seen all that humans were capable of.

Well, Balto was a free spirit, but Aleu needed a home. Someone to tame her and vouch for her in town. Duke spent so much time alone in his distant cabin that Balto was sure Aleu would be a good fit for the man. Besides, he’d need an emergency dog to pull a sled in the depths of winter. All he had to do was arrange for Aleu to meet Duke, and he had just the plan.

“Och! Ohh, I twisted my ankle, Aleu…” Balto groaned, collapsing to the snow on his right foot.

“Dad! Are you okay?”

“Ffffff, it… it hurts pretty bad…” he’d led her into the forest under the guise of explaining why a man had almost shot her, leading her near Duke’s cabin, the softly rising smoke indicating he was home. “I’m going to have to stay off this foot for a day or so.”

Aleu blinked. “Here?” looking around the snowy forest.

Balto just chuckled. “We’re strays, Aleu. The boat may be a nice roof over our heads, but here’s as good as anywhere. We can’t all have it as cushy as Jenna and your brothers and sisters. But if you want, you can head back to the boat. I’m sure I’ll be fine until I recover…”

Aleu looked so cute with her tail between her legs. “But what will you eat, Daddy?” the yearling gasped, still half-grown but well-fed and strong thanks to Balto’s game and Jenna’s gifts of extra meat from her family.

“I’ll be fine for a day without food, sweety,” he said, knowing she’d never accept it.

“No, no… I… I’ll bring you something,” she promised.

Balto shook his head. “I can’t have you going into town. It’s too dangerous…!”

Aleu paused, thinking it over. She was a nice, honest, forthright daughter, and she noticed the drifting smoke almost immediately. “What about that? There’s a cabin, and…” she sniffed several times. “It smells like meat! Do you think they’ll spare me some food?”

Balto just shrugged, thrilled that she was falling for his plan while thinking it was her idea the whole time! “I guess. It’s worth a shot, anyway.”

Excited, Aleu wagged, hoping she could help out her old man for once. She yipped, “I’ll be right back!” and dashed off through the woods.

Balto sighed, watching his eager daughter go. He hoped for the best, though he knew how much he’d miss sharing his boathouse with his daughter. It was hard to do what was best for her, when he knew it meant distancing from his beloved little girl.

It was all up to Duke now.

Aleu didn’t try to sneak up. She wanted to be a dog, not a wolf. She approached, tail wagging, licking her lips hopefully as she scratched at the door. And despite her looks; her yellow eyes, her large paws, when Duke opened the door he said “Oh, it’s the hero of Nome! No, wait —”

Aleu sighed. Of course he’d heard of her famous father. She looked up hopefully at him anyway, seeing if his expression changed upon realizing she was ‘just a wolf’.

“The spitting image of him though. You hungry, boy?”

She barked and licked her lips, ignoring the man’s ignorance. From what she’d heard, humans couldn’t smell worth a damn, and it wasn’t like he was peeking between her legs.

“Come in, come in,” Duke said, opening the door wider.

Aleu had never realized how stiff the townsfolk were with her until Duke showed her what it could be like. Tentatively, she took a step forward. “Go on, buddy, so I can close the door. All the heat is escaping.”

It made sense, but Aleu worried about getting closed in with the man. What if he didn’t let her out to go feed her father out in the woods? But he’d been so kind to invite her in. Shaking off the light snow on her back, she walked into the warm cabin, a hot stew over the fire.

“Oh, sorry; I mean girl,” Duke corrected, as he followed the curious canine over to the fire.

Aleu felt a bit flushed, realizing that the man had just taken a peek beneath her tail. She’d been sniffed plenty of times before, but never by a human. Feeling skittish but needing to repress it, she sat down by the fire, keeping her tail wagging.

“You don’t act much like a wolf,” Duke mused, sitting in a plush armchair by the fire. “You must be part dog, aren’t you, girl?”

She perked her ears up, then barked at the stew pot.

“Alright, alright,” Duke laughed, reaching over to grab a bowl and the ladle. He made sure to dredge up a large piece of stewed caribou, though he knew the meaty broth would appeal just fine to his fluffy guest. He held onto it though. “It’s too hot, girl. You gotta wait.”

Only after it was no longer piping hot did he finally lower the bowl to the ground.

It smelled great, but she wasn’t trying to feed herself. Grabbing the meat from the bowl, she ran back to the front door, scratching at it.

Duke chuckled. “Not feeling safe here, girl? No need to be so… aloof,” he said, picking his word carefully.

Aleu perked her head up, blinking in surprise. No, wait, he hadn’t just said her name. No one in town had ever called her by her given name. She cocked her head, not knowing the word he’d just used.

“Aloof,” he said again, once more to her perking up. “Don’t tell me that’s your actual name! It’s okay, Aloof.”

But the third time, she looked away, and scratched at the door. Duke paused, then tried, “Aloo?”

Now she looked at him in disbelief.

“You’ve been someone’s dog before, haven’t you, Aleu? But why are you in the wild?”

Aleu faced Duke now. The man was perceptive. She lowered her gaze and flattened her ears.

“I’m not going to treat you like they did. I’ll let you go, but I’m not like the others. Anytime you need to warm up and get a meal, my door is always open.” With that, he strode over to the door and popped it open.

Aleu hesitated for once, staring up at the strange human. She’d only ever been treated so nice by Jenna’s owners and the little girl. She kept her ears flat as she reached down to snag the meat and rushed out into the forest. He was so… nice.

Balto was thrilled to hear it when she returned with her meat, and his injury seemed to already be healing. He limped over to greet her. “Not as bad as I thought,” he shrugged. “How about we share this food, huh?”

Aleu explained what happened over the stew, each of them digging in gratefully. “He wasn’t afraid of me. He was… nice.”

Balto nodded. “And a great cook. You should come back tomorrow.”

The brown she-wolf glanced askance at her father. “Why is that?” That suggestion seemed out of the blue; now that he was able to walk, they could return to the boat.

“You know I can only scrounge so much food from town, even with my good name. If he’s offering caribou this good, we might as well take advantage. You’re getting a little thin around the ribs, you know.”

“Okay…” she agreed, but something was off about the way Balto was acting. She just couldn’t put her paw on it.

The next day, she traveled alone. Balto was still limping too much to join her, but it was only twenty minutes to the cabin, and sure enough, just around lunch the smell of meat wafted out of his chimney. It was good food. Worth a little awkwardness.

This time, she ate at the bowl, with no one to take the meat to. The broth was warm and delicious, and complimented the meat really well. And the orange blobs the man called carrots weren’t bad either. She lay across the rug, wagging her tail as she dined on fresh caribou, warmed by the fire, while Duke praised her just for feeling more comfortable around him.

Still, she jerked away when his hand landed on her head.

“Oh, sorry, Aleu,” he apologized. “Didn’t mean to assault you like that,” he joked.

The next day, she didn’t flinch when he patted her head, and the day after that, she curled up against him on the couch to sleep after filling up on caribou.

“Where have you been?” Jenna asked, days later when she finally caught her young daughter at the boat. Balto had already told his mate everything, but it was time to push the little bird out of the nest. “I keep coming around to see you.”

“Sorry, Mom. I’m just spending time with a man.”

“Like… a human?” she asked, feigning surprise. “When did that happen?”

“When did ‘what’ happen? I’m just taking advantage of freely offered food,” the young wolf explained. Sure enough, her glossy coat covered her ribs quite plushly now.

Jenna picked her words carefully. “Well, wasn’t the plan always to get you adopted?”

Aleu wrinkled her brow. “Adopted? But I live here, with Dad.”

Jenna glanced away and then back to her daughter. “Yes, but… we always knew that couldn’t last. All your brothers and sisters have loving homes. Why not you?”

She narrowed her eyes. “What, don’t you and Dad love me?”

Balto stepped in. “Of course we do, honey.”

Hackles raised, Aleu said, “You know why I wasn’t adopted. Because I look like this!”

Now it was Balto’s turn to pick his words carefully. “That’s all the more reason. If you had a human, all the people in town would trust you more. And the more they saw you, the more they’d trust you.”

“Maybe I don’t want their trust!” Aleu barked, tail erect.

Jenna soothed her with, “You shouldn’t have to earn their trust. That’s true. But you have HIS. Maybe just think about it. You know him now. Would it be so bad to be his dog?”

“Yes!” Aleu shouted before fleeing to her spot in the depths of the boat.

Yearling temper-tantrum aside, she still returned to Duke’s home the next day, and despite her feelings, she really did think about it. She ate well and curled up beside Duke and wagged her tail, and when he asked her to help pull a sled full of lumber for the fire, she could hardly refuse. And, most importantly, she couldn’t suppress her tail when he called her a good dog.

This time, she didn’t leave as the sun began to set. She didn’t scratch at the door and Duke made no effort to make her go. They fell asleep together in front of the fire, the wolfdog spread out over Duke’s legs.

She woke, the darkness enveloping the cabin. She could see well enough by the dying embers of the fire. Duke had leaned back and somehow she’d ended up on top of him, in his arms. She’d never been held like this, petted in two places at once. He rubbed her shoulders and her rump, their body heat more than enough despite the cold outside. He hugged her tight and she felt safe and warm.

And then she felt his hand under her tail.

[The rest of this story is available at my discord, for paying subscribers until 7/15/2024, and free after that; https://subscribestar.adult/thakur]