The Wolf and the Dog

1

~~~~REBEL POV~~~~
The flare was shot into the sky, signaling the three-mile marker. Balto grinned as he had Boris's head in his mouth as he dragged him onto the railing of a balcony, me jumping up after them.

"Get your slobbery mouth off me!" Boris yelled at Balto as he pried the jaws off of his head.

"Come on. Let's go, Boris. We can cut around the back and catch the end of the race." Balto grinned.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no. I'm a delicate country bird. I hate going into town." Boris whined.

"Ah, come on. What's the worst that can happen?" Balto asked.

"Knowing us, anything." I grinned with a shrug. Balto sent a mock glare at me as he dragged Boris from one balcony to another and using a clothes line to reach another house's roof. I jumped after them and laughed when Balto released Boris on the roof and he coughed.

"Why do I let you talk me into these things?" Boris questioned. He took a step forward but slipped on the snow and slid down the roof to the window and got his foot caught on antlers that were hanging up. A man reached his hand out the window and grabbed Boris, causing him to scream once he caught sight of the headless plucked geese hanging up beside him.

"Oh, Boris." I sighed with a grin while shaking my head. "Should we save him?" I asked Balto.

"Probably." He grinned back. We jumped down to the window and Balto grabbed Boris before the man could chop off his head. I jumped after Balto and landed on a different roof as the man yelled at us.

"Bring that back, you thieves!" The man yelled. Balto grinned as he seen the sled team running in the distance and turned to our left to see the street where the race would end.

"You, put me down now, Mr. Golden Retriever." Boris said, muffled around Balto's jaws.

"Whatever you say, Boris." Balto chuckled.

"What? You don't like the smell of dog breath?" I teased the goose.

"Every time there's a race, you two run around like you're in it." Boris said.

"Maybe one day I will be." Balto shrugged as he and I jumped down from the roof and onto a fence.

"Boris Goosetenov is no spring chicken! Aaah!" Boris yelled as he fell through a sky panel and out a window, where a pile of snow fell on him." I'm no spring penguin, either. It's cold!" Boris shivered as he flapped into the sky before falling. Balto caught him as he used a plank of wood to jump into a window with me jumping after him on a different plank of wood. We ran down the stairs in the house and burst out the back door.

"Come on. We don't want to miss the finish." Balto said as we stared at the glare in the sky that signaled the two-mile marker. The team wasn't far away.

"Oh, that would be a tragedy!" Boris said sarcastically. Balto and I raced off, leaving Boris buried in the snow. Another flare shot into the sky, signaling the one-mile marker. Balto and I snuck through a gap between some crates as we stood on the sidelines of the road for the race.

"Jenna! Stay, girl." I heard a little girl say. I turned with Balto to see Jenna with her little girl, Rosy. I smirked and nudged Balto as he stared at Jenna. "Jenna! Jenna." Rosy laughed as Jenna barked. "Bulldog. Come on, Steele!" Rosy cheered and waved her mushers hat in the air but a strong gust of wind blew it out of her hands and onto the road, where the sled team was racing. Balto glanced between the hat and the approaching dogs, me sighing as I knew what he was thinking. Steele and his team raced passed and Balto grinned as he raced after them. I rolled my eyes before following after him. I ran up beside Balto as we raced beside Steele.

"Hey, out of my way, lobo." Steele snapped. Balto glanced at him but only smirked as he sped up, snatching the hat off the ground before it was ran over and jumping to the sidelines, with me following him. I smirked at Balto and nudged him before we trotted over to Rosy and Jenna.

"Balto! What a crazy thing to do, just to show off to a pretty girl." Rosy teased. I sat beside Balto as he and Jenna stared at one another. "I'm sure Jenna would love to have you on her team." Rosy said as she tried putting the harness around Balto but her father ran up and moved Rosy away from us as he kicked snow at us.

"Hey, hey! Rosy, stay away from him! He might bite you, honey. He's part wolf." Rosy's father said as he stared at Balto before looking at me. "And that one is even more dangerous. She's a full wolf. Stay away from her." Rosy's father warned as he started dragging her away. I frowned and pressed my ears to my head as I started to walk away, with Balto following me sadly.

"Oh, now you've hurt their feelings." Rosy said to her father. I heard Steele trying to seduce Jenna but I ignored it as I walked away, Balto following me with his ears down and a sad frown on his face. I lead us into an alley between houses as Boris caught up to us and we walked together in silence. Boris tried to say something but he couldn't come up with anything to say. Balto's ears perked up when he heard Rosy calling Jenna's name. Boris and I ran after Balto as he ran to the end of the alley where he slid and accidentally touched noses with Jenna. I stayed hidden as Balto and Jenna stared at each other but when Jenna looked away when her owners called her name, Balto used that chance to hide. Jenna looked back and tried searching for him but had to return to her owners when they called her name again. Balto frowned as he joined me and Boris again as we continued walking.

"Balto, there's some things I can't do for you. I'm goose, not Cupid." Boris told Balto.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Balto mumbled.

"Didn't make the team, Bingo?" We heard Steele mock behind us. I growled lowly as we stopped walking.

"Don't listen to him. Don't look at him. Live a long life." Boris whispered to us.

"My name's Balto." Balto corrected with a growl as we turned around to glare at Steele.

"But you can call him 'idiot'." I heard Boris mumble. Steele walked towards us as he shook his head mockingly.

"I'm sorry. Balto. Balto the half-breed." Steele said. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star came from around the corner, laughing at Steele's jab. "Frail goose, you a half-breed too, huh? Part turkey?" Steele teased mockingly as he shoved Boris onto a silver platter and the lid fell on him, trapping him inside.

"Good wordplay there, boss." Nikki complimented.

"You are the wittiest, the quickest. You are the drollest, the cleverest, the sharpest. You are the most 'hilariousest'." Kaltag rambled.

"You crack me up." Star laughed before Kaltag knocked him on the head.

"Leave him alone." I snarled as I bared my teeth at Steele.

"Oh. The wolf." Steele spat out the word like it was poison.

"Steele, just leave her out of this." Balto said as he stepped in front of me.

"Oh, Balto, I've got a message for your mother. You too, wolf." Steele grinned as he turned to the other three dogs and started howling mockingly. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star laughed before they joined him in howling. Balto and I growled as we glared at them as we walked towards them.

"Hey, Balto, translate this for me, will ya?" Kaltag teased before he howled again.

"What's Wolf for 'go chase your tail'?" Star laughed.

"I'll translate it for you." I snarled as I bared my teeth and stalked towards them, Balto right beside me.

"Get them." Steele ordered. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star jumped in front of us and started barking at us while Steele grinned maliciously.

"Get out of here, wolf dog. You two better get back to your pack." Steele spat and hit spit landed on Balto's snout, which he shook off.

"Maybe it's the unrelenting fear talking, but I'm seeing wisdom in this advice. Maybe we go now, huh? Now!" Boris stammered as he shoved me and Balto away.

"I'm thinking Balto's friend's got his feathers ruffled." Kaltag teased as he, Nikki, Star, and Steele kicked snow at us.

"That gets your goose! I get it!" Star laughed. A rock was suddenly kicked and it hit Balto, making him fall before he got up and ran away with Boris. I shot a glare over my shoulder with a snarl at the four, locking eyes with Kaltag, before racing after Balto and Boris.