ordered.

“Well, I got Toby to give me some pointers and then went to see if I could get her back.  She told me to go pick a fight with a wolverine, so I asked Toby to see if he could soften her up.  And then that Ewok husky outside came and said you wanted to talk to me and Toby, and now here I am.”

Rex shook his head, deciding not to correct Pete about Ewan’s name.  “Pete, Miss Trixie asked that you leave her alone.  That should have been enough.”

“Yeah, but I wanted another chance.  That’s all I was asking for.”

Rex remained silent for what felt like an eternity, and as he did so Pete realized the irony of discussing second chances with a dog he’d never even given a chance.  “But,” he admitted, “maybe I don’t deserve it.”

Rex shook his head.  “I assume you realize I can’t go easy on you just because you’re Terry’s son,” he said.

Pete saw an opening.  “Why not?” he asked.  “Mom would want you to.”

“Your mother understands that I have a duty to Nome and all its residents, human and canine.  As a dog, I want to give you a chance for her sake.  As your stepfather, I want to give you a chance.  But as an officer, I can’t.”  Rex took his attention off Pete and called to the door, “Ewan, bring Toby in.”

Toby entered, followed by the officer.  The two of them took their places beside Pete.

“I have reached a decision,” announced Rex.  “Pete, Toby, because of your behavior you will share the same sentence: restraining order.  Neither of you is to go near Trixie or her home at any time or for any reason.  If you do, either of you, you will be punished accordingly.”

“But…” Pete protested.

“That is all,” Rex cut him off.  “You may go.”

“Wait a minute,” demanded Pete, “I’m just asking for-”

Toby grabbed him by the collar and yanked hard, cutting off the rest of the words.  “Pete, you’ll be asking for trouble if you keep at it.  Now let’s go.”

“Oh, and Peter,” Rex added, “The next time you choose to bother a girl, don’t pick the daughter of one of my officers.”

“What?” Pete asked, even as Toby and Ewan ushered him out the door.

It was a tense meeting the two dogs held outside after Ewan and his fellow officers had left.  “What was that stuff about an officer’s daughter?” asked Pete.

Toby shrugged uneasily.  “I noticed a resemblance between Trixie and Exile,” he confessed, “but I never really knew until now.”

“I can’t believe you,” growled Pete.  “You should have told me.  You shoulda stood up for me.”

“I couldn’t,” Toby replied.  “Dad’s right.  Sexual harassment is against the law.  You broke the law, and I helped you.  That’s all there is to it.”

“I did it for Trixie!” Pete protested.  “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Toby sighed.  Heaven only knew how far he had gone in the past – how far he would go if asked – for Luna or their pups.  But that was no excuse.  “I’m sorry, Pete” he replied, “But there’s nothing either of us can do but accept this for what it is.  I’ll help you find another girl if you want, but…”

“You know what?” Pete snapped.  “Just forget it.  I don’t want your help anymore, so just get out of my life.”  And with that he turned and stormed away.

“Pete…” Toby called, but that was all he got out before his brother whirled around and hurled himself at Toby like a runaway tank.  Toby fell sprawling in the snow, and as his brother stood over him with his teeth clenched Toby briefly wondered if Pete meant to kill him.

“I said get lost,” Pete growled, getting off of him with plain contempt.  “Lousy mutt.”

Terry sat next to Alicia’s chair by the fire, enjoying the feeling of the woman’s hand running through the fur atop her head.  She let out a contented sigh and tilted her head to guide the hand toward an itchy spot behind her left ear.  A spell of peace and contentment seemed to rest on them both…

CRASH!

… until a splintering sound from behind the house shattered the spell like a shotgun blast through a glass plate.

“What in the world?!” cried Alicia as she rose to her feet.  Grabbing a poker from the rack by the fireplace, she dashed to the back door and flung it wide with a bang.

A sight of sheer madness greeted them.  The cross marking Yukon’s grave, a memorial which had survived year after year of brutal weather, had been ripped from its moorings and was now in the mouth of a furious dog, who appeared to be intent on tearing it to pieces.  With a vicious snap of his neck, the dog flung the cross sideways and tore it in two.

“Bad dog!” screamed Alicia, running at the dog and waving the poker (which is a very foolhardy thing to do).  Fortunately for her, the dog dropped the cross and ran off into the night with a parting snarl.

Alicia dropped the weapon and fell to her knees in the snow, staring in disbelieving grief at the splintered remains.  After a moment, tears began to well in her eyes.  “How could this happen?” she sobbed as the falling snow soaked her nightgown.  “Why would…” but the rest of her sentence was lost in sobbing.

Terry stared in the direction of the vandal’s departure, as devastated as her mistress.  “Why, Pete?” she whispered.

If Pete had even heard his mother’s question, he wouldn’t have known how to answer.  He felt no better; indeed, he was angrier than before.  Not overtly angry at himself for what he had done, but at the world in general.  Angry at Rex for the restraining order, Toby for not being a good enough teacher, and his own father for never having been there to teach him himself.  He hated everyone, and he was convinced everyone hated him.

It was only when he passed close to Trixie’s house that he remembered the situation he was in.  As if to emphasize, there was Trixie talking to another girl dog – her cousin, if Pete remembered correctly.  Acting quickly, he ducked out of sight.

To this day even Pete cannot say for certain what thoughts were in the wild mix swirling in his mind as he listened.

“He is such a jerk,” Trixie was saying, “But then I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  Every guy I date is like that.”

“Aw, come on, cuz,” urged the other girl.  “You’ll find the right boy eventually.”

“No I won’t,” retorted Trixie.  “I’m through with guys, through with everything.  No matter what I do, I just feel like everyone I meet wants to use me somehow.”

Trixie’s cousin shook her head.  “You’re talking crazy, girl.  Listen, go home and get a good night’s sleep.  Think it over.”

Trixie sighed.  “O-okay.”  She turned and left.  Pete followed at a distance, so many things shooting through his mind that he wasn’t sure of up from down.  Finally he stopped where he was and watched her disappear.

It was only then that it dawned on him, Trixie wasn’t heading for home.

‘Oh, man,’ he thought.  He started after her, then realized he would need some help.  Instantly his eyes shot to the only place he had any hope of getting it from.

Toby sighed as the flames crackled in the hearth, warming the fur of his back.  What could he do?  He had tried everything, and all he had unearthed was failure.  Granted, at least now Trixie would be free of Pete’s advances, but was this the cost?  He had failed.  Failed a dog who, for the first time in his life, he had actually felt a connection to.  A brother.  His brother.

A banging sound snapped him out of his thoughts as the pet door flew open with such momentum that it slammed against the door itself.  Pete came stumbling in, panting furiously.  “Toby!” he barked.

Toby groaned.  “What now?”

“Bro, I need your help.”

Toby looked at him incredulously.  “What’s this ‘bro’ business?” he asked.  “And since when do you…?”

“Look, I’ll do whatever you want, but you’ve gotta help me.  Trixie’s run away, and I’m pretty sure I know where she’s going.  I think she might…”

Toby cut him off.  “Wherever she is, we can’t follow.  Dad said…”

“I know what Dad said!” snapped Pete, not even realizing what he had just called Rex.  “But this is important, and there’s no time!  I’m going to go after her before it’s too late, and I need you to get your old man and any of his officers you can, and tell them to follow me.”

Toby stared at Pete as if he had sprouted antlers.  “Pete, this is crazy.  You’re going to violate a direct order from my dad, and you want me to go and tell him where to find you?”

“Toby, I know where Trixie went.  And if she’s there for the reason I think she is, we don’t have much time.  Now are you going to help me or not?”

Toby’s mind flashed back to Luna’s words.  “What would you do if they could see and hear you right now?”

“I don’t want my puppies to have a criminal for a father,” he excused.

Pete was almost at the end of his wits, but he knew he had one last card to play.  “How about a coward?” he challenged.

Toby’s features hardened.  The gauntlet had been cast.  He looked Pete in the eye and said, “Tell me where you’ll be.”

“He’s really gone too far this time,” Rex growled.

“Rex, I’m sure there’s a reason,” pleaded Terry.  “There’s got to be something we can do to help him.  I know you’re a police dog, and I said the day we agreed to be mates that I would respect your duty, but doesn’t family mean anything to you?”

Rex hung his head.  “Sweetheart, I want to help Pete, but you know my duty.  I’ll go easy on him if I can, but this kind of behavior cannot go unpunished.  Trespassing, defacing a grave marker, and…”

The pet flap flew open and in tumbled Toby, going so fast he could barely stay on his paws.  “Dad!” he yelled.

“Toby!” cried his parents in