doing!  It’s like she’s part wolf or something.”  She wisely decided not to mention that between her and Luna, the evasive routine had become sort of a game.

The boss’s ears pricked up at this.  “Part wolf, did you say?” he asked.  “Interesting…”

Arrow didn’t know what was going on behind those glinting eyes, but just thinking what it could be made her shiver as if the north wind were blowing right through her very soul.

“Luna, you know this is a bad idea.”  In the den at Toby’s house, he and Luna were having an uneasy discussion of Luna’s recent visits with Arrow.

Luna nodded, a mixture of sadness and joy in her manner.  “I know, but I really feel like I’m having a breakthrough,” she rationalized.  “She trusts me, Toby, I can feel it.”

“Luna, I know that.  It’s not you or her who I’m doubting here.  You can’t forget, Groven's still on top of that end of the situation.  If you get careless, it could be bad for…”

He was about to say “bad for Arrow,” but a scratching at the door cut him off.  “Can I come in?” called a voice.

“Arrow!” Luna exclaimed.  “Come on in!”

The brown and black pup slipped in through the dog door.  “I hope I didn’t come at a bad time.”

Luna shook her head.  “No problem,” she replied.  “Are you still hungry?”

“No, I just wanted to ask you something.”  Arrow stirred a paw one the floor uncertainly.  ‘This is wrong,’ she told herself.  ‘I shouldn’t do this.’  “Um, I decided I don’t want to be with Groven's army anymore,” she began.

Luna’s ears pricked up and her tail began to wag ever so gently.  “Do you mean…?”

Arrow nodded.  “I want to stay with you.”

Luna let out a cry of pure delight and ran to nuzzle Arrow.  “I’d love it,” she beamed, almost crying with sheer joy.

Arrow smiled at the feeling of Luna’s muzzle rubbing against her head.  It was almost real.  ‘Mom never did this,’ she remembered.  Her parents had always taken care of her, but they had never been so close, so kind.

Toby walked up, smiling a little uncertainly.  “Are you sure this Groven won’t come after you?” he asked.

Arrow shook her head.  “No, he never pays much attention to me,” she lied.  “That ugly mutt won’t even know I’m gone.”

Toby nodded.  “Well, as long as it’s safe,” he replied.  “I don’t want you getting in trouble on our account.”  ‘Or us on yours,’ he mentally added.

Arrow smiled.  “Thanks, Toby.”

In spite of his nagging sense that something was amiss, Toby smiled.  “You’re welcome,” he replied.  “And call me Dad if you want.”

Luna decided to keep Arrow out of sight until the evening, when her family was gathered in the living room.  Then she strolled over to the couch and poked her head under.  “Okay,” she whispered.  “It’s show time.”

Arrow hung back, both guilty for what she was trying to do and afraid of what would happen if she couldn’t pull it off.  “What if they don’t like me?” she whimpered.

There was some room for doubt.  Even though Luna had spent a good hour or two combing Arrow’s fur as best she could with her claws, the pup still wouldn’t look too presentable to a human.  And in retrospect, having her hide in all the dust under the couch had been pretty stupid too.  But Luna smiled and reassured her, “Don’t worry.  They’ll love you.  Now just come on out and remember to be nice.”

She withdrew her head, and just as Connie’s father started to ask,” What were you doing under there, girl?” Arrow emerged.

Connie’s father stared in surprise at the dusty pup.  Connie’s mother happened to glance up from the quilt she was making and copied her husband’s wide-eyed stare.  Not to be left out, Connie and Eugene soon noticed the newcomer in their presence and did the same.

“A puppy!” exclaimed Connie.

“Now how’d you get in here?” asked Connie’s father, getting up from his chair and peering down at Arrow.  Arrow, intimidated by the man’s large size, backed up under the couch again.

Connie reacted quickly and got down on her hands and knees by the couch.  “Come on out, puppy,” she urged in a cooing voice.

Luna stuck her head in.  “It’s alright,” she whispered.  “This is Connie, my girl.  She’s nice.”

Arrow hesitantly came far enough forward to allow herself to be scooped out of hiding by the girl, who picked her up and cuddled her against her chest.

“Connie!” exclaimed her mother.  “You’ll get your dress filthy!”

Arrow, not sure if this was an insult to her or just a comment on all the dust on her, looked to Luna for her cue.

“Better not get Connie’s dress dirty,” Luna whispered as she hopped up on her hind legs and plucked Arrow from Connie’s arms.  Dropping back to all fours, she curled into a crescent position around the pup protectively.

“Luna, what in the world has gotten into you?” asked Connie’s father.

“I think she’s decided to adopt,” Eugene remarked.

“That’s right!” Connie agreed.  “Remember the vet said she couldn’t have puppies?”

“Oh, no,” groaned her mother.  “First kids want dogs, now dogs want dogs.”

“Can we keep her, please?” begged Connie, her eyes doing a pretty fair impression of puppy eyes themselves.

“How do you know it’s a her?” asked Eugene.

“Girl’s intuition,” Connie answered.

“Listen,” their father interjected, sparing Arrow from a severe embarrassment, “I really don’t think we can take care of another dog.”

“But you said I could have a puppy when I turned eight,” Eugene protested.

“You’re not going to be eight for another month,” their father reasoned.

The mother looked thoughtful.  “We can’t just turn the little thing out into the streets,” she reasoned, laying a hand on her husband’s arm.  “Why don’t we hold onto the puppy until then, and if things go well then Eugene can have her?”

He paused, considered, and finally nodded his head.  “Alright,” he conceded.  “If she behaves.”

“Yay!” cheered Connie.  She bent down and patted Luna on the head.  “You hear that, girl?” she asked.

Luna had heard, alright.  Her thumping tail was proof enough of that.  Arrow had mixed feelings about the matter, especially when the next words she heard were, “First order of business is a bath.”

Later that night, Arrow slipped outside.  A bitter wind was blowing, and the shadows made everything look at least twice its normal size.  The tiny pup shivered in fear.  “They took the bait,” she whispered to the shadows.

A black dog emerged from the shadow beside her, like a ghost materializing out of thin air.  “Good,” he growled.

Arrow jumped.  “Y-you can tell him they don’t suspect anything,” she stammered.

The dog bared his teeth.  “Will it be true?”

“Trust me,” Arrow affirmed.  “They know nothing.”

“Good.”  And the black dog retreated into the shadows, as if he had ceased to exist.  “Remember,” his voice called out of the blackness, “If those dogs don’t keep their noses out of our business, there’s only one alternative.”

Arrow shivered and quickly disappeared inside.  She scampered upstairs to Connie’s bedroom, where Luna lay slumbering atop the blankets.  Somehow she managed to climb up on the bed, where she crawled under Luna’s foreleg and tried to warm up.

The touch of cold fur awoke Luna, and she looked down to see Arrow.  “Huh?” she asked, momentarily confused.

Arrow looked up at her innocently.  “Mom?” she groaned as if just waking up.

As Luna’s brain dragged itself into greater alertness, she remembered why Arrow was there.  “Arrow,” she yawned, “Why are you so cold?”

Arrow stared down.  “I uh, had to go to the bathroom, so I went outside.”

Luna tilted her head in confusion.  Even as sleepy as she was, she saw the hole in Arrow’s story.  “Since when are you housebroken?”

‘Gah,’ thought Arrow.  ‘That was a dumb story.’  “I, uh, know a few dogs who got booted out of their homes for going in the house, so I went outside,” she lied.

“Oh,” Luna yawned, laying her head down again.  A moment later she was asleep again.

Arrow curled up and tried to go to sleep too, but it took her a lot longer.

Over the next few days, as she saw less and less of the street dogs, Arrow began to relax.  Toby and Luna were nicer to her in one day than any dogs she’d ever known had been in a week.  They were always willing when she wanted to play, always concerned when she fell, and always there when she needed to talk.  Luna kept her warm with her fur at night, Toby kept her spellbound by day with stories (from which she learned, to her amazement, that Luna was not only part wolf but in fact closely related to Chase), and Luna’s humans were nicer than she had ever thought people could be.  By the end of a week, Arrow had almost forgotten about the strays and the rebellion.

Then her brother showed up to remind her.  “Hey, Arrow!” he whispered one morning as she was out enjoying the sun.

She whipped her head around and saw him peeking around the corner of the house.  “Samy?” she asked in surprise.  “What are you doing here?  You’ll blow my…”

“Come on,” Samy told her.  "Groven wants all strays together now.”

Arrow nodded.  “O-OK,” she agreed with some reluctance.  Make that a lot of reluctance.

She made her way with Samy to the main entrance to headquarters, where two dogs were guarding the entrance.  “The kid can go back to her job,” growled the one on the right.

Samy blinked.  “Nobody told me that,” he protested.

“Straight from the top,” the one on the left emphasized.  “The kid stays at her post.”

Samy shrugged and turned to Arrow.  “Well, you might as well go back I guess,” he told her.

Arrow nodded,