lowered her to the ground.

“Shhhhhh”

It was Solo. He was so close to Saphrina, she could feel the spiky fur on his injured shoulder against her clean fur. The wolf was on his stomach too and he had a look on his face that Saphrina had never seen before. For some reason, Saphrina felt herself trusting the wolf’s judgement. The hair on his back stood on end and his ears twitched even though the only thing Saphrina could hear was the uneasy quiet of falling snow. The thick snow was blocking out the sight of the far-away Alaskan mountains so it looked like the surrounding tall grass was the only thing that existed. Solo tilted his nose up in the air. Suddenly, a long-drawn out howl vibrated in the air. A few others joined in, making everyone else wake with a start. 

“Four” Solo muttered under his breath.

“What?” Saphrina asked, turning her attention back to the wolf.

“There’s four of them”

Duke and Blue huddled together, shaking uncontrollably but Ridge, Loki and Captain looked like they wanted to fight. Nimbin looked like he wanted a fight too, but Saphrina knew the dog enough to know he was just trying to act like Ridge.

“Stick together now!” Ridge growled. “We might have to fight our way out of this one!”

“You don’t stand a chance” 

All eyes turned to Solo. “There’s no way” he continued. “These four are all males, probably as big as me. They know how to work together and you jokers have had a hard enough time just watching me”

“Then what do you suppose we do?” Captain growled skeptically. 

“I can take care of them...” Captain and Ridge both started to object, “...or you can get torn to shreds on your own and I escape anyway”
Captain and Ridge exchanged looks, but Solo didn’t wait for an answer. He left Saphrina’s side, leaving the dog feeling unsafe and cold, and snuck forward, focused on the tall grass. He slipped out of sight through the thick snow and grass, leaving the six dogs shivering in silence. For a few moments, no sounds escaped from the grass around them. No smells of blood. Nothing whatsoever.

“E’s not comin’ back... is ‘e...” Nimbin finally said aloud.

“Nope” Ridge answered. “I bet the other four were his friends too”

“Or he just left us to get eaten” Captain grumbled. Saphrina looked between the other dogs. She wasn’t so sure about what they were saying. She doubted he was going to come back with them... but he didn’t look like he was acting. 

“Well we better get moving then” Captain said gruffly. He started off, passing Duke and Blue who were still shivering. “Get a grip you two! Get up and get moving!”

The two hounds reluctantly followed, whimpering. Another howl floated into the sky and Saphrina started to shiver. Maybe the others were right after all. Suddenly the howl was cut short with a yelp. Captain paused and Ridge tilted his head. 

Then, the silence was shattered. Snarls could be heard not far away. 

“Now let’s really get moving” Captain said, jogging away. Not wanting to be left behind, Ridge, Loki and Nimbin hurried after. Saphrina paused for a second, not sure what or who she was waiting for, then followed too. The snow fell harder and harder until the dogs had to walk so close, they were touching each other. 

“So much for a light autumn snow” Loki smirked. Saphrina didn’t mind. She loved snow and cold. She always got too hot in the spring and summer anyway. She took her eyes off of Nimbin for just a second and when she focused back on her best friend, he had simply vanished into the white. 

“Nimbin?”

No answer.

“Nimbin?!”

Saphrina’s ears flickered but Nimbin still didn’t respond. “NIMBIN?! RIDGE?! LOKI?!”

Someone called her in the distance and Saphrina rushed through the grass toward the noise. 

“Wait for me!!”

With a final leap, Saphrina jumped through a bunch of tall grass and was out of the marsh. The snow was starting to let up and Saphrina could see the silhouettes of the others. Once they spotted her, they trotted back, feeling much braver now that they were out of the marsh. Something rustled in the tall marsh grass and Saphrina glanced over her shoulder, expecting Solo. Instead, she found herself looking at another wolf. One she didn’t recognize. His slate grey coat almost seemed to melt into the dark of the grass behind him, but Saphrina could see that he was roughly the same size as Solo. The wolf lowered itself to the ground and sprang at Saphrina only to be knocked right out of the air by a golden blur. Saphrina had never been more happy to see Solo! The two wolves tumbled on the ground, breaking apart only to get a better look at who they were attacking, then Solo made a dive toward his attacker. The rest of the group rushed to Saphrina and froze when they saw Solo and the other wolf locked in a fight. Finally, the grey wolf lay still and Solo stood up and staggered back.

“Five in one day... “ he panted, trying to keep the weight off his bad leg. Then he looked up, the mischievous light returned to his eyes. “Well, nothing personal, but I think it’s time we went our own ways”

The dogs didn’t say anything but when Captain took a step, Solo whipped around and took off, limping badly and disappearing in the snow. The group watched him go then Captain grunted. 

“Alright, let’s go get him”

“What?” Nimbin yelped. “Can’ we just go home already? E’s long gone!”

“He’s limping badly and it’s only a little bit of snow. It’ll lighten up soon enough”

They followed Solo’s faint scent for a while and as Captain had said, the snow let up. However, the snow had coated the ground and none of Solo’s tracks were visible. In the distance, they could see the lights from town. 

Once they lost track of the faint trail, Captain ordered for the group to split up to search and meet back up where they had separated when the moon reached the center of the sky. Saphrina didn’t mind. She wasn’t afraid of Solo anymore. He wasn’t going to hurt her. 

     The sun got lower and lower in the sky and soon, Saphrina found a set of footprints. Saphrina smiled at her luck. Maybe they were Solo’s! She picked up an easy jog and followed the prints, slipping under some other farmer’s fence as she did. Soon enough, voices reached her tawny-tipped ears. None of them were Solo’s... but maybe the owner of the voices could help.

A short distance away, two dogs, a Burmese mountain dog and some kind of tan herding dog were talking to... something.

“Excuse me!”

The two dogs whipped around, but relaxed when they saw it was just a dog.

“Can we help you ma’am?” the tan herding dog asked politely.

“I need some help...” As Saphrina got closer, she could see what the dogs were talking to. Solo’s blue eyes stared up at her, mouth closed tightly. Barbed wire was wrapped around his legs. The dogs’ eyes followed Saphrina’s eyesight and both smirked.

“Got himself caught in some extra barbed wire from the fence!” the mountain dog chuckled. 

“That’s a coincidence” Saphrina replied politely. “He was what I was looking for”

The two others frowned. “I don’t think you want him back... he’s pretty dangerous”

“I know”

“There used to be three of us. He killed our friend”

Saphrina glared at Solo. The wolf shrugged. “Actually, that time was in self-def-”

“Shut up” the mountain dog snapped. “Do you want us to help you? We were just gonna kill him here”

“I need to bring him back to my owner for a reward” Saphrina said. “Thank you for your offer but I couldn’t possibly drag him all the way-”

“We’ll carry him for you”

Saphrina frowned. 

“Man you guys are determined, aren’t you?” Solo marveled.

The two dogs ignored him while Saphrina tried to think up another excuse. “My owner will get extra money if he comes back alive” she lied.

The two dogs exchanged glances but shrugged. “As long as he gets what’s coming to him”

Solo breathed a sigh of relief and the two dogs wandered off. “Let us know when he’s dead!”

“Okay! Thanks for your help!” Saphrina replied, getting close enough to Solo to start gently pulling the barbed wire off.

“Why do humans make this?” Solo sputtered once the dogs were out of earshot. “All it does is hurt you!”

“It’s supposed to keep animals like you out!” Saphrina said through her teeth as she removed the last wrap of wire. Solo groaned and stood up gingerly. “Thanks... uh, for that”

Saphrina gave him a half smile and pushed him. “Just get going”

“You’re not still going to bring me back, are you?” Solo yelped in shock. “You just saved me! That means you like me!”

“That means I’m repaying you for saving me before... which means that you like me. Not the other way around”

Solo made a face, but Saphrina gave him another push, making him start to walk. 

     The trip back hadn’t taken too long and when the pair came to the