won’t be disappointed.” Chandler said, breathing a small sigh of relief. He really didn’t want to have to do overtime; his normal shift was hard enough. “They’ll be here soon; it’s a bit of a far distance away.”
  The older hound nodded before turning back in his seat and gulping down more of his drink that he had left on the counter. Chandler watched him a moment to see if he would give him instructions before heading to the back room, grabbing a new table cloth and placing it on the table Elliot had left.
  When the table looked ready for another customer, he went back out the door, starting to head back to where Zero and Elliot were waiting with the kids. He knew Charlie would be surprised, and he was sure he’d let the meals off the hook.

***

  “… Meph! Meph, wait up!” Duncan called as he followed his sibling. Meph didn’t stop, though he did slow his pace, not looking back but knowing his brother would want to talk to him. The red-eyed canine stepped up to his side, lightly panting. “Thanks…
  “Meph, you can’t keep doing this with Mel.”
  “Why not?” Meph growled, turning his only working eye to look at Duncan. “I might have pulled his tail out of the jaws of his buddies, but that doesn’t mean I like him. I only did it for her, and I’m pretty sure that he’s still out to get her. He’s always looking suspicious!”
  Duncan had the urge to claw his brother’s muzzle, taking a deep breath. “We’ve been over this you knucklehead.” He said slowly, like he was explaining a simple math problem to a child. “He looks so suspicious because he’s scared stiff when you walk into the same room or in a ten foot radius of him!”
  Meph growled deeply. “What does he have to be scared of?! If he’s fine, he’d relax!”
  Taking another breath, Duncan sped up and circled around so he was in front of darker furred brother, making him stop walking. “Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?” He said, steeling himself as he saw Meph’s eyes narrow, his left one a milky orb that was unnerving to him.
  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Meph said softly, but the smaller hound could sense his aggression rising.
  “Meph… I’m not going to lie to you, but you look scary.” Duncan said, continuing on. He fought back against his nervous urges from when he was a pup, wanting to get through his brother. “You never smile now. The last time I saw you smile myself was when I saved you from being drowned.”
  Meph didn’t say anything, Duncan continuing on, “And when you even get a glance of Phillip, you growl at him. You don’t act friendly except when I’m around alone with you. I get the feeling that you just aren’t happy, even when I’m here.”
  Meph’s ears gave a slight twitch, his eye scanning Duncan’s face. He gave a quick huff and stepped around his brother, continuing to walk. “Go home.” He said flatly. He heard Duncan breathe in to say something but cut him off, “I don’t want to hear it, I’ve heard enough.” The red-eyed hound’s ears drooped low, knowing he had said the wrong thing, but he didn’t dare apologize since he could still sense how angry Meph was.
  He turned his attention to the alley across the street, and he saw a scrawny looking canine staring at him. He was alarmed at first, but before he could get a good look at it the dog turned tail and scurried off, shaking. It was too warm for it to be shivering, and he had the eerie feeling that it was laughing. Duncan pushed the feeling from his mind, telling himself that the dog was just shaking from nervousness. His eyes darted to his brother’s retreating figure before he turned and started for home.
  Back at the Fleabite, the Shepherd brothers had led Elliot’s small pack back to their home, the pups looking curious. The big mutt looked stiff, not knowing whether or not to be ready to fight but he kept his expression calm. Zero gave him a reassuring smile as they followed Chandler, silently telling him it was okay.
  “We’re back!” Chandler called as he stepped into the Fleabite, a wide grin on his muzzle. Zero followed him inside, Casper on his back, the pup looking eagerly around. Behind him, the other two pups entered the restaurant, seeming shy while Elliot nudged them forward reassuringly. Joey leaned over past Charlie, getting a look at the visitors.
  “Hope you have another room open, boss.” The Doberman said, a grin coming on his muzzle. He had a good feeling that this would cheer Charlie up. “We might have some new guests staying with us.”
  The mutt raised an eyebrow, turning in his seat to look at the newcomers. Figuring he wouldn’t need any more alcohol with kids around, Joey swiped Charlie’s latest glass and drained it himself before getting a new one full of water and set it down behind Charlie. The older mutt ignored the water, looking surprised since none of the pups, or even the new guy, seemed to be related.
  He hopped down for his bar stool and went to go meet the group, and the Doberman behind the counter noticed he seemed to be energized now. He gave a smile and pushed the water to a different hound that passed by, watching how Charlie would take the new guests.
  Chandler stepped beside Charlie, looking at the group. “Here ya go boss, the guy and some pups he wanted to feed.” He said proudly, his scruffy tail wagging.
  Charlie looked at Chandler a moment, seeming to frown in thought. Zero watched the older hound, hoping he would let Chandler off from paying the bill. His brother had explained it to him on the way back, and he would help repay the costs if he had to. Charlie did something that surprised the both of them: he grinned widely and started laughing, giving the Shepherd a playful punch on his arm.
  “Alright buddy, you convinced me. Come on, you and Zero need to get back to work or ya won’t be paid for the full day!” Charlie walked past Zero, up to Elliot. “I’ll take the kids off your paws; show them to your room.”
  Surprised by the hospitality despite his thieving, Elliot gave a nod. “Thanks.” He said simply, looking down at the two pups. “You can go with him, its okay.”
  Hadley gave a nervous sort of nod, looking up at Charlie, who turned and started heading towards the building. As he passed Zero again, Casper hopped onto his back, panting happily and looking eager. The other two followed on foot, looking anxious but just as eager as their adopted brother to see their new home.
  “He’ll probably want to give you a job to do here.” Chandler said when Charlie was out of earshot. “It’s how we pay for our place, so maybe he’ll give you something. Oh hey, Duncan!”
  Both Zero and Elliot turned, looking as the mutt came inside the Fleabite, looking upset. The marked Shepherd tilted his head. “What’s wrong Duncan, you alright?”
  The red-eyed hound looked at them, shaking his head. “I upset Meph again… I didn’t mean to, he just won’t quit picking on Philip and I want them to get along…” His ears drooped, remembering what he had said to him. “I’m worried about him going alone, you two know that there are some mean dogs waiting out there, Bane and Ashton, Uncle Andrew, and who knows who else, maybe even some of his street rivals.”
  “He really needs to think before he goes out like that; he’s the one always preaching to you guys about how you need someone to watch your back.” Zero said, shaking his head.
  Elliot gave it some thought before he decided to join in. “Which way did he go? Maybe I can talk to him; I felt the same way he did once.” When the younger hounds looked at him, he shrugged. “He thinks he’s the exception to the rule. You say he street fights?”
  Duncan blinked at being addressed by this stranger and nodded. “Yeah, he used to, and he’s slowly getting back in it.”
  “Then he thinks he can handle himself. Where do you think he’d go?”
  Duncan gave some thought to which way he was heading. “He was heading the direction of the city dump last time I saw him. It was a few blocks away, but he wouldn’t go too far.”
  Without another word, Elliot turned and went back to the sidewalk, running off in the direction Duncan had come from. He had been to the dump himself a few times to hunt for scraps of food, so he knew which way to go.

***

  “… I don’t see why everyone is falling for all that doe-eye stuff Philip is doing… I can see right through him, he just needs to come out with it.” Meph was grumbling to himself, walking into the dump. He was so distracted he didn’t notice he was being followed, or where he was even going.
  “Enemies are everywhere, even in our family… Andrew killed Sam’s mate, and he seemed completely unhinged by it all…” The green-eyed mutt shook his head. “And even with that, Mel is so damn accepting that she won’t see reason when it comes to Philip.”
  He thought back to when he saved Philip from Bane and Ashton. He had no reason to go after him; he could have just let him die like he wanted. But he had sniffed him out and found him, tried to make sure he got back to her safely. At first he wondered if he was