pair came to the meet-up point. Saphrina sank down to her stomach, knowing Solo would collapse too. She had noticed that somewhere in between fighting off the wolves and getting caught by the dogs, he’d re-opened his shoulder wound. While they waited, Solo tried to clean the matted fur on his front leg and shoulder.

“Why’d you kill Shooter?” Saphrina asked suddenly, not knowing why the question had popped in her head. Solo stopped mid-lick and raised his eyebrows.

“What?”

“You could’ve just gone after any of us”

“I hated him. So did you. Why do you care?”

“Hating and killing are two different things”

“He deserved it. If I didn’t do it, I can guarantee you someone else would have done it eventually”

Solo returned to cleaning and once his leg was spotless, he tried to lick his shoulder. Wincing, he was too sore to stretch and reach it. Agitated and uncomfortable, he dropped his head between his front paws. Saphrina raised her eyebrows. She rose to her feet, growling hatefully at herself, and plopped down next to Solo. The wolf watched her out of the corner of his eye, and was surprised when the dog started to clean what he couldn’t reach.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t know” Saphrina replied between laps. “I still hate you... but I figure you might as well be as comfortable as you can be before you know... you...”

“Thanks for that comforting thought” Solo grumbled. 

Once Saphrina was satisfied with how clean the wound was, she moved away a little but still stayed near Solo. Even though she was close to town, she was still far enough away that she felt safer next to the larger canine. The moon was almost in the middle of the sky and Saphrina figured that the others would be back in another hour. Her blue eyes drifted from the moon back to Solo. The cuts that Captain had given him seemed to have faded. All except the one going across the bridge of his nose. Absentmindedly, Saphrina rubbed her paw across her matching one.

“That was supposed to be just a warning” Solo said softly in an apologetic tone.

“It still hurt”

“I figured you were brave enough to get in my way, you’d probably be tough enough to take that too”

Saphrina looked away unamused. Solo leaned closer and licked across Saphrina’s nose where he had bitten her, making Saphrina open her eyes wide.

“What are you doing?!”

“Making up for before?”

Saphrina and Solo stared at each other. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all... what was she thinking?! Saphrina shook her head and got up, stepping away. When she looked up, she spotted Nimbin coming back and relaxed. 

“You got ‘em!? Good job Saphi!”

Saphrina wagged her tail, forcing herself to not look back at Solo even though she could feel him watching her.

“Ridge an’ Loki are on their way. Not sure where Captain, Duke an’ Blue are though”

“That’s good” Saphrina breathed uneasily. “I want to go home”

     The three waited in silence until the rest of the dogs got back, Saphrina ignoring Solo the entire time. Ridge and Loki smiled proudly when they saw that Saphrina had caught Solo. Even Captain mumbled something. But it all went over Saphrina’s head as they began to head back. She didn’t want to be involved in this anymore. She didn’t want to be involved with Solo. She didn’t even want to think of Solo. She hated Solo!... right?

Saphrina was so busy wrestling with her own thoughts, she hadn’t noticed that they had returned to the porch of Phil’s cousin’s house. Captain’s bark snapped her out of her thoughts and for the first time since they had been alone, she flashed a look at Solo. His face was blank, eyes pinned on the door. No one came at first and Saphrina wondered if anyone was even awake. She flashed another look at Solo and this time, caught his eye, but turned away quickly before any glances could pass between them. Should she just let him get away? He did, after all, save their lives when the wolves came to attack. Captain barked again and this time, Blue and Duke chimed in, making Saphrina wince at their annoying bays. 

The front door swung open and Phil’s cousin stumbled out with a gun. When he spotted the wolf among his dogs, he rubbed his eyes and yelled something back into the house. A few seconds later, Phil and John crashed out of the house too. 

“Get out of the way dogs!”

Saphrina jumped out of the way, heart racing, and closed her eyes tightly. But no shots were fired. The only sound she heard was a click. Followed by another, then a series of frustrated clicks. Saphrina opened an eye.

“I’m out of bullets!” Phil’s cousin exclaimed. “Phil, you got any?”

“We used them all up shooting at nothing, remember?”

Phil’s cousin grunted. “Shouldnna done that”

“The general’s stores not open now, what do you want to do with him?”

“The sheriff’s office is right in town. We’ll just lock him up in the shed ‘til tomorrow”

So while John and Phil fed the hungry dogs, Phil’s cousin threw a rope around Solo, strapped on a muzzle Saphrina had bet he’d used on Shooter, and tied the wolf to the side of the porch away from the dogs. Saphrina scarfed down her dinner and plopped down on the ground, eyes flitting between her empty bowl and Solo. Did he really deserve to die?

Phil’s cousin thought so. He snatched Solo’s rope and the three men headed for the nearby town. The dogs followed a short distance behind, Saphrina as quiet as ever.

“What’s botherin’ ya?”

Saphrina looked at Nimbin and faked a smile. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been yer best friend for yea’s! I think I’d be able to tell if somethin’ was wrong”

“I guess I’m just tired from the trip” Saphrina lied. “I’ll be fine once we get back”

     The procession came to the closest building and walked through the open gate to the backyard. An old shed stood right behind the house and Phil happily opened the door, letting his cousin lead the wolf in. 

While the humans put Solo away, the Sheriff’s dog, a large white German shepherd, watched calmly. On the other hand, his enforcer, a buff-looking Rottweiler, was clearly on edge. 

“Is that him?” the Shepherd asked.

“Yep” Captain replied. “He killed four wolves and Shooter while we were bringing him in”

The Shepherd frowned. “Well it’ll be a thing of the past tomorrow. We’ll round up a few dogs to keep an eye on the shed”

Saphrina watched the men fiddle with the shed door, unable to keep a blank face. When she returned her look to the Shepherd and Rottweiler, the buff black and rust dog had noticed. But before they could say anything, the three men had finished. They closed the door, placing a nail-shaped object between the two metal rings, and locked the door closed. 

“It’s finally ova’!” Nimbin breathed. “We get to go home!”

The three men laughed as they began to head back to the house, the happy dogs following after they bid the two other dogs a good night.

“Yeah” Saphrina chipped in, unable to be as happy as everyone else. “It’s over”

     Back at the farm, Saphrina couldn’t sleep. Everyone else was out. Ridge and Loki were curled up together. Nimbin was next to Saphrina. Captain, Blue and Duke were snoring on the porch. Saphrina was tired out of her mind, but sleep was just something she couldn’t find. She knew what was keeping her up... maybe Solo didn’t deserve that hard of a punishment. A bullet to the shoulder was bad enough. And he’d saved their lives too. That had to count for something! Saphrina lifted her head off of her paws and glanced up at the moon. She knew what she had to do...

Muttering to herself, the dog picked herself up and carefully snuck away, glad everyone else was in such a deep sleep. 

     Shaking her head at her own stupidity, Saphrina finally came to a stop at the Sheriff’s building. The gate was still open and no one seemed to be around. So cautiously, Saphrina stepped into the backyard. The Shepherd and Rottweiler were nowhere in sight. They were probably still rounding up dogs to guard the shed. The blue-grey dog made her way to the shed and studied the lock, remembering how John had locked it. She stood on her hind legs and using her nose, tipped the nail out of the two metal rings. Then she stood back, letting the door swing open on its own. At first nothing happened. No sounds. No glowing blue eyes. Just silence. For a moment, Saphrina was convinced the wolf had already escaped. Then Solo limped out into the moonlight, curiously scanning around until his eyes rested on Saphrina.

“What are you doing?”

“Letting you go” Saphrina answered, eyes on the ground. “Don’t say anything else. Just get out of here before they come back. I don’t want anything else to do with you after this. Go away... and stay away from me and my farm”

Saphrina looked up, making eye contact with Solo. The expression on his face was a mix of gratitude and hurt. 

“Just go”

Solo didn’t say anything else and limped off. Saphrina