Sienna was second born to her litter of four. She was the first to be adopted and was proud of her heritage. Her father was the famous sled dog, Steele; her mother was a famous show dog. Perhaps knowing her bloodline and being daughter of two particularly stuck up dogs made her as stuck up as she was. Or perhaps, it was the fact that she was popular, and had the males of her hometown, Nome, falling at her feet.

Sienna had many friends, but there was only one that she trusted with her secrets, her best friend Kaya. Kaya was quite shy and bubbly and sometimes jealous of Sienna�s constant attention, but she was a good friend and loved to be known as �popular� which Kaya thought she was when she was with Sienna.

Kaya was a good friend to Sienna when she found out from Saba, that Saba�s brother Arrluk, who both females had a crush on, was interested in Sienna. It was on a summer morning in the middle of May when Saba had casually sidled up to Kaya to tell her the news. She thought it was odd that Saba had told her first but she passed the message on to her friend nonetheless. For Sienna, it boosted her ego even more.

�I can�t believe it! Of all the females in town he chose me! Me! Isn�t this brilliant Kaya?� she continued to ramble on about how brilliant she was, not bothering to wait for Kaya�s answer.

�Um yeah� just great,� Kaya replied, hoping her friend would drop the subject.

�I�m meeting him at the beach tonight; I mean that is just so romantic isn�t it?� and she continued on.

This time, Kaya just mumbled in reply and stopped listening. She was daydreaming about a parallel universe where she was popular and Arrluk was interested in her, not her friend. She snapped out of her thoughts when Sienna cried, �Look! There he is!�

Kaya followed Sienna�s gaze and sure enough, there he was. Arrluk, one of the most popular males in town, was down by the beach, next to his famous father Balto�s boat. She had heard many stories about the legendary half wolf. His son, Arrluk, was with one of his friends. Neither Sienna nor Kaya could remember his name but they didn�t care. They were interested in how calm and confident Arrluk looked, with his crimson fur sparkling in the sunlight and his bangs blowing in the cool breeze. He didn�t notice them and continued to walk by, but just as he was about to go, he turned and smiled at them. Both girls squealed.

Sienna couldn�t help but smile as she headed down to the beach that night. She was confident and she showed it with each step she took. Arrluk was already there when she arrived. He gave her a crooked smile. Sienna felt her heart pounding in her chest, she had always been interested in guys but she had never felt quite as excited with any of them as she did now with Arrluk.

�Hey there,� he grinned.

She sent a flirty smile back.

Arrluk took Sienna to a spot he knew of where they could watch the sunset. It was beautiful. It looked right over the ocean and the disappearing sun made the water sparkle and shimmer. The sparkling waves rolled and turned until they hit the shore where they turned to white foam. The sky was a mixture of pinks and oranges. Sienna sighed. It was perfect. She nuzzled close to Arrluk.

As the stars started to come out and twinkle, night fell and it began to get chilly. Sienna shivered. Arrluk noticed and decided to take her to the boiler room to heat her up. It was empty so they had plenty of privacy. The night swept the young canines away, and before they knew it, it was morning.

Sienna woke with a start. At first, she didn�t realise where she was. She looked around, confused. She noticed Arrluk still sleeping next to her. What had happened? She jumped to her feet which awoke Arrluk. He yawned and stretched.

�How are ya?�

Sienna looked at him, �What happened last night?� she couldn�t seem to remember.

At this, Arrluk only grinned.

Sienna got up and headed out of the boiler room. It was another beautiful summer�s morning and the sun was shining brightly. She decided it would be best to check on her owners, just to make sure they weren�t worrying about her.

She was just outside her house when someone ran up to her.

�So what happened then?� it was Kaya.

Sienna smirked, even though she was a little unsure, she decided to irritate her friend for a little while, �It was awesome and so romantic. He showed me the sunset and it was just amazing!�

At this, Kaya shot an envious look at Sienna. Sienna noticed this and smiled to herself. It was so easy to make her friend jealous. She sort of felt sorry for Kaya. She had always wanted attention but no one would give her the time of day.

�I�m sure someone will be interested in you eventually,� Sienna smiled at Kaya.

In return, Kaya snorted and muttered, �Yeah right!�

Sienna wasn�t very good at being nice to people but she wanted to comfort her friend, she just didn�t know how to. She headed back to her house, leaving Kaya on her own.

About a week later, Sienna was starting to feel nauseous and her stomach was bloating a bit. Her owners looked worried.

�Should I call the doctor Graeme?�

�Yes, I think you should, just in case,�

Panic gripped Sienna. Her owners� reactions weren�t helping. What was wrong with her? What if it was serious?

The doctor arrived about an hour later. He checked Sienna over. Sienna and her owners waited anxiously for the news.

�It would appear�� the doctor paused.

�What is it Doc? Is it serious?� Sienna looked from one man to the other.

�It would appear your dog is pregnant,� he looked at Sienna�s owners.

Pregnant. Pregnant. How on earth? Wait. No. It couldn�t be, could it? Sienna couldn�t believe those words were hitting her ears. She was far too young. What about Arrluk? Did she really love him? She started to feel scared, there was no way she could look after pups, and she was only young herself. She decided the best thing to do was to tell Arrluk and she headed off to find him before anyone could stop her.

It didn�t take long to find him; he was down by the beach with his friend again. Sienna hurried over to him. He smiled at her.

�I need to talk to you!� she hissed, �in private!�

Arrluk looked at her curiously. He nodded at his friend and began to walk with her.

�Wassup?� he asked

�Well� I don�t know how to tell you this but� I�m� I�m��

�Well?�

�I�m pregnant,� she waited, holding her breath, desperate to find out his reaction to the news.

�Wow seriously? That is a surprise,� he grinned.

Sienna breathed out a sigh of relief.

�So you�ll help me through this? I�m so glad your ok with it,�

�Whoa! No one said I had anything to do with the pups. Sorry, puppies are not my thing,� he continued to smile as if he hadn�t just said what he did.

Sienna blinked in surprise, �What!� she cried, �You just expect me to look after them all by myself!�

Arrluk nodded. Sienna fumed with anger.

�I cannot believe you! You aren�t who I thought you were!� she stormed off, hitting him with her tail as she went.

News travels fast and it wasn�t long before Sienna�s mother found out about the news. Still fuming from her previous encounter with Arrluk, Sienna wasn�t in the mood.

�How could you Sienna? He wasn�t even a purebred. What is becoming of you?� Her mother continued to lecture and rant, �Your father was the famous and fabulous sled dog Steele. I expected higher from you,�

Sienna glared at her mother, �Look I�m not in the mood, leave me alone!� she growled.

�Sienna! Don�t be so rude!� her mother was one for politeness and manners. Sienna, however, was already walking away, not listening to a word she said.

Weeks past and Sienna�s stomach grew larger with each day that past. Most mothers-to-be were excited about such things, but Sienna, no matter how hard she tried, felt no excitement whatsoever. She was scared, she didn�t know how to look after pups and she had no one to share her fears with. She dreaded the day the pups finally came. She was worried she wouldn�t be a good mother. After all, she was only disgusted with Arrluk and hoped she wouldn�t feel the same about the pups when they arrived. All she could do was wait.

Eventually, the dreaded day arrived. It was a chilly autumn morning and the leaves were no longer on the trees, but on the ground. They turned the ground vibrant shades of red and orange and made crunching noises when stepped on. Sienna was resting in her house by the fire when she felt her first wave of pain. Panic gripped her. The puppies are coming! She howled to get her masters� attention. Suzie, the wife of Graeme, came running. Unlike Sienna, she was thrilled about the news of puppies and had everything prepared for her pet.

Sienna struggled and tried to push. She was in immense pain and tears were streaming down her furry cheeks. She was panting with effort, her breath coming out in short shallow gasps. Eventually, after lots of effort and pain, it was over. Sienna eyed the two bundles of fluff warily. They had the same colours as Arrluk and herself but she couldn�t help feeling a sense of pride. She had to admit, they were beautiful. She decided there and then that she would show everyone: she was going to be a great mother!

Time does fly and it certainly did for Sienna and her two puppies. She had one son and one daughter. It had taken her a while to decide on names for her pups but she finally settled on the names her owner had chosen for them: Akiak and Nanuk. Akiak lived up to her name; she was brave and bold and loved to get her nose into everything. Nanuk was quieter and quite contented. Both were equally inquisitive as puppies are.

Sienna taught them everything she knew and even her mother helped her with parenting, which surprised her. Although she loved her puppies dearly, she felt sort of lonely. She had no one to share