(-continuing from the last part...)

***

     As the sky began to darken, the group had found a somewhat clear space to fall asleep in. Now that the sun was gone, the tall grass seemed even creepier and more foreboding then before. Saphrina scooted a bit closer to Loki and Nimbin moved closer to Saphrina, making them feel more secure. The sky was cloudy, bringing back the threat of snow and blocking out the only source of light the dogs had used the past few night. 

“Who wants to watch it first?” Captain grumbled.

“I will” Saphrina answered. “Might as well get it over with sooner then later”

The rest seemed okay with it, and almost everyone slipped into sleep right away. All except Solo. But as Saphrina rested her head on her stubbornly crossed paws, she promised herself that she wouldn’t let Solo get to her. She would not talk to him either! But after a while, it seemed like the dog didn’t have to worry. Solo was sitting up straight, ears flicking this way and that, picking up sounds that Saphrina didn’t recognize. Saphrina watched curiously, trying hard to keep her questions to herself. Solo paused, noticing the dog watching him.

“Habit I picked up from my parents” Solo shrugged.

Saphrina raised her brows. “The ones that taught you to hop from one girl to the next?” she asked carelessly.

“No. The ones I didn’t really get to know too well because they were too busy to notice they had pups to care about. Probably dead for all I care”

Saphrina raised her head, shocked and unsure what to say.

“Doesn’t bother me. I didn’t know them. I don’t miss them”

Saphrina bit her tongue. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have no family, much less not care about them. She’d been close with her family ever since she was born. She only got to see them when John and Wendy visited Nome and she still missed them terribly even though she knew they’d be waiting for her. No wonder Solo acted the way he did. Even though she wanted to hate the wolf, Saphrina felt like she needed to make up for what she said.

“Well, you had siblings, right?”

“Yeah” Solo said, not really paying attention. “A few brothers and sisters... most of them were taken away too. And I left the others behind as soon as I was old enough to leave”

“By who?”

“Another wolf. Things like that happen all the time out there. My family was big. It was bound to happen to some of us sooner or later”

Saphrina wasn’t sure how to reply. What was there to say after hearing that?

“Sorry” she finally said softly. Solo stopped fidgeting for a second and paused, looking at the smaller canine.

“What about you? Got a family?”

“A big one” Saphrina chuckled. “All back in town. I don’t know what I’d do without them”

Solo smirked. “Well at least your family looks forward to you coming back”

Saphrina tilted her head curiously. “They won’t take you back?”

“I dunno” Solo replied absentmindedly. “I left them as soon as I was old enough to and never looked back. Never said anything either. They probably think I’m dead too and I doubt they’d care if I was”

Saphrina was about to reply when Shooter started to snicker darkly. Saphrina and Solo’s conversation had woken him up.

“I know I wouldn’t want to take you back” Shooter remarked, usual gloating grin on his face. “We barely know you and we want you dead”

Saphrina sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well since you’re awake, why don’t you take your shift”

“Just go to sleep sad eyes” Shooter shot back, completely ignoring Saphrina. “I think me and mr. sad-story have some catching up to do”

Solo looked unamused and turned away, attempting to sleep. Saphrina closed her eyes and started to drift off too. The last thing she heard was Shooter jeering, “Don’t be fallin’ asleep now! If I have to be awake to watch you, you’re gonna be awake too...”

     Saphrina ran fast. Faster then she ever had before. So fast, it felt like she was floating. Something was chasing her and she was too afraid to look over and find out. Somehow, she knew it was the forest. The woods, like some dark, shadowy wave, were trying to swallow her up! Suddenly off to her right, she saw her family; Jade and Kit huddled together and a terrified Clover scrambling in place with Saphrina’s six other siblings who couldn’t get out of the way. Saphrina tried to yell “run” but all that came out of her mouth was a choking noise. It sounded so real... She couldn’t talk either! Desperately digging her feet into the ground, she tried to turn. To just save her family. But it was like running on ice! As the dark, tree-filled wave engulfed her family, Saphrina’s choking noise only got louder then faded altogether in a deafening crash!

     Saphrina jumped awake. The crash turned into an eerie silence until Captain yelled, jarring everyone awake. Saphrina jumped to her feet, whipping around just in time to see Captain tackle Solo, who was on top of Shooter. While Captain took his anger out on the wolf, biting and hitting whatever parts of the wolf he could reach, Saphrina felt herself go numb when her eyes passed over Shooter’s dead body. His eyes stared up at nothing and his white fur was stained, the dark night making it look like black paint had been spilled over him. The same shock seemed to cross over the other five, forcing them to freeze and gawk. Finally, Ridge tore his eyes from the scene and returned his attention to Captain, who’s anger still didn’t seem to be drained. 

“Get off him” Ridge said softly. Captain ignored him, going in for another hit. “Get off him! There’s less of us, and I’m not dragging him!”

Captain finally stepped away, wanting to hurt the wolf one more time, but holding back. Saphrina had finally forced herself to look away from Shooter too, so she looked at his killer instead. Solo still hadn’t gotten up, eyes closed, but a smile was spreading across his red-streaked face until he finally let out a dry laugh. Saphrina’s numbness faded into chills and shivers. This couldn’t be the same wolf she was talking to earlier...

“And you get up” Ridge muttered to Solo. Still grinning, Solo rolled to his feet. His shoulder seemed to have finally gone numb with cold. Somewhere else in the sea of grass, a spooky, hollow howl rose up, making the dogs fidget.

“We’re going to have to move” Captain growled, shoving Solo roughly forward. Duke went to get Shooter’s body but Captain snapped, “Leave it there! The other wolves are just going to smell him and catch us faster”

The dogs hurried through the marsh until morning had lit up the sky a little more. But with the dark, snow-filled clouds, the sun wasn’t able to light their way as well as they had hoped. Besides Solo, who seemed to be rejuvenated by his latest kill, the dogs were so tired from lack of sleep and hunger, they were ready to drop. 

“We need to stop” Ridge finally managed, voice cracking.

“Not until we’re out of here!” Captain argued, clearly as worn-down. 

“Why don’t you guys take a well-deserved rest, and I’ll keep an eye on things” Solo interrupted with a pleasant smile. Captain and Ridge both gave the wolf dirty looks, then continued arguing. Saphrina yawned and sat, staying out of things. Solo, who had been standing next to her, sat down too, leaning over to talk to her.

“Look, we match!” he said in a goofy voice, motioning to a gash Captain had given him across the nose. Self-consciously, Saphrina rubbed the nicely-healed cut that ran across her own and hissed in reply, “Except mine was given to me by some psycho”

Solo considered it thoughtfully then shook his head. “No, they aren’t that different then”

Saphrina turned away, giving him the cold shoulder. 

“You were so eager to chat last night” Solo snorted. Saphrina turned to stare angrily at the wolf, but one look at the wolf’s now scratched up and dirtied face brought back flashbacks of Shooter. 

“Fine, we’ll stop here for a while” Captain finally announced, giving in to Ridge’s stubbornness. “But those wolves are going to catch up with us, and when they do, you can blame yourself”

With that said, Captain collapsed and was snoring before he hit the ground. Ridge snorted and muttered to himself before settling down next to Loki. Nimbin was exhausted but Saphrina was practically a zombie.

“I’ll watch ‘em” Nimbin finally grumbled, laying his head down on his paws. “Git some rest”

Saphrina smiled thankfully and fell asleep almost immediately. This time, the dog found herself in a dreamless, soothing deep sleep and no one woke her up to watch Solo.

     After what seemed like hours, Saphrina woke up as refreshed as she could be out in the wild and found that snow had begun to steadily fall. She looked over to Nimbin, who’s shift had apparently ended. He was still sound asleep. Saphrina smirked to herself and glanced over to where Solo had been resting. Nothing was there. Solo was gone!

Saphrina leapt to her feet, looking around when someone gently put their paw on her back and lowered her to the