danger was, they’d deal with it.

“Now if only I could figure out what that danger is…” Timbre thought.

A green uniformed man lowered his binoculars.

“That’s them.” An older man behind him said, standing. “Tell your troops to get ready.”

The young man nodded once, and hurried off to do as his commanding officer had ordered.

The man turned back around and raised his own binoculars, looking at the two wolves walking silently through the forest.

“You’ll never know what hit you.” The man thought. “Just like Aleu and her precious mate Shadow… you will die.”

In his mind, Shade laughed.

Timbre jumped back, and Dash crouched down, ready to fend off an attack, as a crack resounded through the forest.

“It’s okay.” A familiar voice said. “It’s just me.”

Dash and Timbre stood as Lightning and almost twenty wolves materialized out of the foliage.

“What are you doing out here?” Dash asked.

Lightning smiled. “Just thought we’d meet you here.”

“Why the army?” Timbre asked, indicating the other wolves.

Lightning sighed. “There was a sniper out last night, probably the same one who took out Aleu and Shadow. He shot two of the sentries, killed them. We’re just being careful.”

A moment of silence passed, as if in memory of those who had died.

“…speaking of Aleu, how are she and Shadow?”

“They’re alright.” Dash said. “…at least, we hope so. They both escaped Doc. We were hoping she’d come back here.”

“Probably will.” Lightning said. “It’s good to hear she’s alive though, just the thought of the Talbourne without her… I can’t imagine.”

“Yeah.” Dash said.

An understanding passed between the two wolves, and they continued, talking of the past few days events.

“That’s them alright sir.” A young man said as he centered his scope on the wolf in front.

Shade smiled inwardly. “The ability to reach out and strike my enemies from a distance almost makes up for being trapped in this pathetic body.”

He patted the young man on the shoulder and smiled.

“Fire.”

Dash, Timbre and Lightning were interrupted by a gunshot.

One of the wolves near Lightning dropped, and the rest dropped to the ground.

“Where’d it come from?” Dash asked.

“I don’t know.” Timbre said; he turned his head to Lightning. “…you?”

Lightning shook his head. “No.”

“It was somewhere in that direction.” Dash said, tossing his head to the front.

“Let’s make our way over there, maybe we can get him.” Lightning said.

Dash and Timbre nodded.

“If we get spotted, run at him, maybe we can scare him that way. I’ll go to the left, you can keep going to the front. I’ll catch him off guard.”

Timbre and Dash nodded.

“Everyone hear that?” Dash asked.

The wolves all nodded silently.

“Who got hit?” Timbre asked.

“It’s Hilar.” One of the wolves said. “He’s dead.”

Lightning sighed.

“That’s the last wolf this guy kills.” Timbre said.

Dash nodded. “Let’s go.”

The wolves began to move forward.

Over the sights of his gun, a young man saw the wolves start to move up.

“They’re coming right at us.” The man said.

Shade walked over and looked through his binoculars. “Let them close to one hundred yards.”

“Then what?” The young man asked.

Shade smiled. “Light ’em up.”

The young man nodded and Shade walked away.

The man sighed and jacked the charging handle back on his machine gun, chambering a round. “Seems like an awful waste to just slaughter these poor critters.” He thought. “I wonder what these wolves did to make the U. S. Army involved.”

The group of wolves had covered almost two hundred yards without incident.

Dash looked over at Timbre. “Maybe he left already.”

Timbre shook his head. “He’s still there. I can feel it.”

The wolves took another step forward, and suddenly the trees in front of them lit up with orange flashes too quick to count.

Timbre and Dash were the lowest, so the first volley went over their heads and into the midst of the other wolves, killing some and wounding almost all.

The group split in two, one stayed with the original group, the other tried to seek refuge from the raining steel by running towards the tree line to the right.

They were caught out in the open and were being slaughtered.

Lightning was up on his feet and running before Timbre and Dash could tell him that they’d be dead before he could do anything.

The two of them crawled to a fallen log, finding refuge from the deadly hail of lead.

From there they watched, helplessly as Lightning tried to lead the wolves to safety.

He never stood a chance.

Lightning made it to the group of beleaguered wolves.

“Get out of here! Go to the left to the trees, go!” He yelled, standing in front of them. Stay low and…”

A new wave of fire ensued and cut him off in mid sentence.

Lightning fell to the ground in a cloud of red mist.

Timbre and Dash stayed out of the way of the humans as they finished off the rest of the wolves, then stood and walked forward, toward the cave.

Once they were sure that the humans were gone, Dash and Timbre walked out from behind the log that had by chance saved their lives when so many other’s had been lost.

Timbre and Dash stumbled through the clearing that had only moments later been a field of death, now… death was all that remained.

Most of the wolves were dead or dying. Many were torn asunder, so many shots having hit them that they fell in pieces.

Dash choked back a bile that rose suddenly in his throat as he made his way across the blood drenched snow.

Finally they stopped alongside their fallen comrade.

“Oh no…” Dash said.

Lightning opened his eyes and coughed.

“Lightning!” Dash said. “You’re… you’re alive!”

Lightning smiled, a thin red line running from his mouth to the snow. “…not… not for long… I’m… I’m afraid.”

Timbre sighed and turned, walking away from the scene.

Dash felt tears come to his eyes as he watched his friend.

“Lightning… you’re going to be fine.” He said, knowing even as he said it that it was a lie.

Lightning was covered in blood from his ears to his tail. There were at least fifteen, if not more, holes in his friend, and he was quickly losing blood.

Dash knew from experience, it wouldn’t be long.

“Lightning, thank you for all you’ve done for me.” Dash said. “You… you were the one that taught me all I know… I’ll never forget you. The one that turned a love-sick husky pup into a wolf.

Lightning smiled. “…and… and a… a pretty good one… at that.”

He took a deep breath and Dash could tell he was fading fast. “Take… take care of… of Aleu. She is the… the most important thing… more than you… or I…”

Dash nodded.

“You’ll… you’ll do fine. I… I think I can.. I can… entrust her safety… to… you…”

Lightning’s head slid to the side and he breathed his last breath.

Dash shut his eyes against tears and turned to see Timbre standing a little ways away.

He stood and walked over to him.

Timbre didn’t look back at his friend.

“He’s gone… isn’t he?”

Dash sighed. “Yeah.”

His voice cracked, and a tear slid down his face.

A moment of silence passed between the two, a time to remember their friend.

Dash saw a tear form at the corner of Timbre’s eye.

Lightning had been a friend… almost a brother to them both. It was Lightning who first accepted Timbre when he’d turned from the ways of Eiko so long ago, he’d also taught Dash how to act as a wolf when he’d first come to Aleu’s pack, following his heart, and a small female named Shasta.

Shasta’s name hadn’t crossed Dash’s mind in some time, and this thought brought still more pain into his mind.

Dash turned and looked back at his fallen brother, lying on the snow amidst a wide red stain on the satin snow.

“I’ll miss you old friend.” Dash thought. “I’ll certainly miss you…”

“Oh my God…” Drake said to himself, stepping into the small room.

“Who could have done this?” He thought.

Never, in all his years as keeper of the law had he seen anything like this.

“…not since Steele anyway, but it can’t be him, Jenna killed him.”

Drake stepped over a streak of blood as he continued across the room.

Soon, he reached the fallen dog’s side and looked down at her.

A wide pool of blood had spread from underneath Trina, and she was wounded severely on both the shoulder and the neck.

“The neck is probably what did her in…” Drake thought.

The wound to her shoulder was deep enough that Drake could see her shoulder blade glistening white in the morning sun.

He sighed and stepped over Trina.

Drake walked over to a broken window at the south end of the home.

“That must be how the killer made