One night, Dub turns up a rabbit in the snow. Unfortunately, he makes a complete hash of catching it, so the other dogs immediately spring into action to go get it. The sixty-strong pack, led by Buck, strains every sinew to hunt down the rabbit, but it's so quick that it always remains tantalizingly out of reach.

But Buck's in his element as he leads the pack on. Not for the first time in the story, and certainly not for the last, he's getting in touch with his inner wolf, and it positively thrills him. Although Buck may be the head of the pack, he still has a rival in the shape of Spitz. Spitz isn't much of a team player, as he proceeds to demonstrate by breaking off from the rest of the pack and hunting down the rabbit by himself. After he breaks away, Spitz cuts across a narrow neck of land, heading off the rabbit as it reaches the bend. Just before the other dogs arrive, Spitz has killed the rabbit.

Buck is furious at Spitz's behavior. He understands, even if Spitz doesn't, that in a dog pack, everyone must work as a team. Just as they ride together, they hunt together: one for all, and all for one. Buck is so angry at Spitz's going off on his own that he brutally attacks him, letting him know in no uncertain terms who's boss. In the ensuing fight, Buck breaks both of Spitz's forelegs, condemning him to almost certain death out in the middle of the icy wilderness.