body.

Most of them were deep.

Dash couldn’t even see any of her beautiful gray fur, as she was drenched in her own blood.

Tears came to Dash’s eyes, as he realized what was going to happen… if it hadn’t already.

Dash looked at her chest, and was surprised to see it rise and fall.

“She’s breathing!” He thought.

Shasta’s eyes fluttered open, then closed half way.

“D… Dash?”

Dash tried to stop crying, so that she wouldn’t see him.

“Shasta?” He said.

She tried to smile, but wound up wincing instead.

Dash leaned down and nuzzled her, shivering slightly as he felt the amount of blood that was in her fur.

“I’m going to kill him Shasta.” Dash said.

Shasta’s strength was quickly being sapped away, with every beat of her heart, more of the precious fluid, and her life with it drained out on the cool rock.

Shasta tried to pick up her head, but could not.

Dash watched his mate… his best friend in the world, as she tried to move, but she couldn’t even roll over.

Shasta opened her mouth as if to say something, but all that came out was blood.

Dash closed his eyes,

He opened them again, as he heard a hoarse cross between a gurgling sound and a whisper.

Shasta moved her head, trying to pick it up out of the pool of blood that had formed beneath her.

Dash scooted over and let her lay her head on his legs.

She looked up at him; it took her several tries, before she was finally able to.

Her mouth moved, and a barely perceptible sound came from her.

Dash leaned his head down near her nose.

“Lo…love…. Yo…. I… lo.. love… y…you…”

Tears streamed down Dash’s face, as Shasta’s head rolled off of his legs, and was still.

Her eyes stared back at him, as they would for all eternity.

Dash couldn’t believe what he was looking at.

He stood up slowly.

“Steele!” he yelled.

A fire burned in his eyes.

“I’m gonna kill him!” Dash thought.

“Aww,” a voice behind him said, “you didn’t like my gift?”

Dash turned around.

Steele was there.

Before Dash could say or do anything, Steele hit him……

Then blackness…..

 

Dash shivered as the memory passed.

The next thing he remembered was waking up to find that Steele had attacked Aleu, and… and had killed her.

That coupled with the death of Shasta almost broke him.

He thought, as he continued to stare at June, about what would have happened had she not been there for him….

 

Dash stood some distance from the cave, looking down a waterfall.

At the side were jagged rocks.

“That should do the job.” Dash thought.

He’d realized that life just wasn’t worth living anymore, not without Shasta, and… and Aleu.

It was just better this way.

“Shasta,” Dash thought, “I’m going to be with you again soon.”

That was another good thing about this.

Dash firmly believed that they would see each other again someday, and well, that day was going to come sooner than he’d actually planned.

“Can I really do this?” He thought.

The drop had to be over two hundred feet.

He closed his eyes, and jumped.

 

June was walking through the woods, trying to find Dash.

Somehow, though no one understood it, Aleu had returned.

They’d all seen her just a few days ago, and she was certainly dead then, but… well, somehow she’d returned, and was just fine now.

Her death, together with Dash’s mate’s had torn Dash up, and she was a little worried about him.

She’d always liked Dash, He and her mate had been best friends, and she always enjoyed talking to him.

She had a thought in the back of her mind that she had as yet refused to acknowledge, too filled with her own grief to realize it just yet.

She and Dash should get together.

They were already great friends, and both had just suffered terrible losses, something which might be easier to deal with together.

June stepped through some bushes, and saw Dash just ahead, no more than ten feet away.

He was staring off at the waterfall, and she knew what must be running through his mind.

June was glad that she would at least have a little bit of good news for him today, he needed it.

She started to walk toward him, and then… he jumped!

June sprinted toward him, sliding to a stop just short of going over the drop herself.

She snapped out, and caught Dash’s shoulder.

He yelped, as her teeth dug into him.

She drug him back up on the ledge.

“What are you doing?!” She yelled.

“It’s over June,” he said, wincing a bit at the pain in his shoulder.

“I… I can’t live like this.”

“Dash, I… I can’t believe what I just saw, what… what you just did, you.. you have kids!”

Dash hung his head.

“Dash,” June continued, “do you know how many you would have hurt had I not just walked up?”

Dash sighed again.

“Who?”

There was such a deep sadness in his eyes when he looked up at her that she almost felt it herself.

“Well, what about your kids… and Timbre, Melody, Shadow… and…. and me.”

He looked up at her, a little surprised at this.

She too was surprised, having not realized her feelings for him just yet, and shrugged them off again.

“Dash, I.. I came to tell you that… I.. I don’t know how it’s possible, but Aleu is back.”

“What?” Dash asked, unbelievingly.

“I know, I… I wouldn’t have thought it possible either, but… but I saw her with my own eyes.”

Dash sighed.

“Let’s go back then.”

June nodded, and the two of them walked away from the cliff…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three

 

Dash shivered again, as he thought of what would have happened had she not walked… walked up on him.

He smiled, as he remembered the times the two of them had spent together since then.

He had fought the idea of moving on, of taking another mate, for a while, but then… he’d realized how much he loved, not just liked, but loved June, when he’d thought she had died.

“I guess the old saying “you never know what you’ve got till it’s gone” holds up pretty good.”

Then, he and June had become mates, and he was glad, it felt good to move on.

Dash had most certainly not forgotten about Shasta, he never would, but… well, he felt she’d want him to move on.

Dash knelt down and gently nudged June awake.

She opened her eyes, and blinked a few times.

“Dash?” She said.

She yawned.

“It’s really early, what’s up?”

Dash sighed.

“The… the team got attacked.”

June jumped up and was instantly wide awake.

“How.. how bad is it?”

Dash hung his head.

“The team is now me, Timbre, Lightning and Shadow.”

“Oh my goodness.” She said, “the rest of them, are they…”

Dash nodded.

“We lost thirty two.”

“Who… who did this?” She asked.

“We don’t know, Shadow thinks he Uniea clan… but… but Timbre doesn’t think they could’ve done it, and I tend to agree. They were very fast, and very good.”

“So you’ve got to go tell everyone huh?”

Dash nodded.

“I’m supposed to meet Timbre at Lightning’s chambers; I just wanted to let you know.”

She smiled.

“Well I’m glad you’re alright, I… I love you Dash.

He smiled.

“I love you too.”

He sighed again.

“Look, I know that now might not be the best time to bring this up, but… well, Talkeet has been wanting to join the team, I... I guess because I’m on it, but anyway, Shadow’s going to be looking for new members, and I think he’s old enough….”

June stepped up closer to him.

“You’re asking me?”

Dash nodded.

She laid her head on his shoulder.

“Well, I… I don’t really like it, but… well, I suppose if he wants too, well, as long as you and Shadow trained him well, I suppose I could live with it.”

Dash nodded.

“I’ll talk to Shadow, don’t tell him yet. I don’t know what Shadow has planned.”

June nodded.

Dash smiled.

“I’ll be back shortly, and then we’ll go on a walk. I… it was too close this morning.”

June nodded.

“Okay.”

Dash licked her muzzle, and turned, walking out of the chamber.

 

Dash walked up to Shadow.

“That’s all of them, isn’t it?”

Shadow nodded.

“Thankfully.” He said quietly.

“What do you want us to do?”

Shadow sighed.

“I don’t think that they’ll attack us here just yet… take the day and spend it with your family’s, just… just stay in this general area.”

Timbre nodded, and headed off.

Dash watched him for a moment, then turned back to Shadow.

“How are you planning on re-bolstering the team?”

Shadow sighed.

“In times such as the ones that I fear are coming, it is

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