understand what he reminds you of.  And I know that you're scared.  I'm sorry that your owner forced you into this.  And, because of all that, I am NOT going to let him anywhere near you again."

His little speech stunned me.  Oso was going to protect me.  He hated Zephyr because of his father.  Maybe that wasn't entirely fair, but I hated him, too.

The familiar sound of a truck I dreaded slowly made it's way to me ears.  I froze, shaking slightly.  Oso took a step in front of me, fangs bared.  The man hopped out of the vehicle right when Allen came out of the house.  They exchanged a few words, laughing every now and then.  Allen then turned to where I was still shaking, and called my name.  For the first time in my life, I disobeyed him.  I remained rooted to the spot, refusing to move.  He called my name again, with some force behind the voice.  I made no move to tell him I had heard.

He was now growing angry.  He tramped over, grabbing my collar, while kicking snow at Oso.  Oso backed away a few paces, snarling.  Allen lead me over to Zephyr, and clipped on a short leash to my collar.  Zephyr's owner did the same, and Allen tied both leashes to the truck. 

Zephyr took a step forward, but was stopped by Oso's quick, powerful bark.

"Stay away from her, you worthless excuse for a dog!"

Zephyr smirked, then took another step.

"What're you gonna do about it?  You move one inch, and I'll bark, and the Master'll come and shoot ya.," the husky then grinned evilly, "Or worse," he whirled and clamped down on my neck with huge force.  I yelped in surprise and pain.

'Why is he attacking me!?' I thought frantically.

"I can kill her very easily.  The Master specifically asked her owner if we could be mates.  That's what humans do.  They pair purebred dogs so they can have pups."

'Pups!?  Allen expects me to have pups with him!?'

"NO!" I screamed, "I am not having pups with a crappy, stupid, worthless-" Zephyr had squeezed his jaws more tightly together, making it so that I could barely breathe.

"Stupid, am I?  I wouldn't say that if I were you.  Not with your very life in my jaws."

I let out a cough, trying to breathe and save oxygen at the same time.  He truly was going to kill me if I made a bad move.  Struggling was out of the question, he would only tighten his already painful grip.

A shadow fell over the husky, and suddenly Oso was biting viciously at Zephyr's back and lower neck.  Zephyr screamed, releasing me to turn and try to remove Oso.

The husky managed to grab ahold of the shepherd's back leg and bring him down, laughing.

"You couldn't beat me last time, and you still can't!"  Zephyr bit onto my leash, and dragged me so that I was in an awkward sitting position.

"This is what our owners want.  You are not going to disobey your owner again." he whispered, his voice silent but deadly in my ear.

And, for the second time in my life, the husky got on top of me, squishing me into the snow.  I froze, horrible memories flooding back.

"NO!" I somehow rolled over, kicking him off of me.

"I TOLD YOU, I AM NOT HAVING YOUR PUPS!!!" I screamed as loud as I could. "I don't care what my owner says, you will always be the same b*st*rd your father was!"  I went insane, biting and ripping at his neck, leaving marks that would probably be there forever, a living reminder of my hatred for him.

Zephyr screamed as his own fur was stained red with his own blood.  He tried to run, but I wouldn't let him.  Suddenly, for some reason, I stopped, taking control of myself.  Just that space of time was enough for him to snap up and once again bite into my neck, only this time his intention was my death.  He let go of my fur for an instant, to start biting at what seemed to be every part of my body.  My vision started to get blurry, and I felt dizzy from blood loss.  The only thing I remembered was a flash of brown and cream before everything blacked out.

Everything everywhere hurt.  Bad.  I groggily opened my eyes.  There was a sort of reddish light coming from a roundish thing that glowed bright yellow.  My vision cleared, and I realized I was in the boiler room, my head resting on a thick cushion.

"Oso?" I whispered quietly.

"I'm here." said a voice near my head.  I turned to see him, a few drops of dried blood in his head.

"What...What happened?" I said, trying to remember.

"Well, while the husky was attacking you, I very nearly killed him.  He ran away, the coward.  Then, I noticed you on the ground, not moving, so I panicked, picked you up, and took you here.  You've been asleep for a few hours now."

"It...It happened again, didn't it?  He was just like his father..."

Oso nodded slowly.

"I only wish I could've killed him sooner.  This would've never happened, you wouldn't have been hurt again..."

"It's okay.  I got my revenge."

"What, with his neck?  You basically pulverized that.  He might have breathing problems later."

"I don't care.  He deserves it."

Oso nodded again.

"He certainly does."

I was about to say something when a glint of light caught my eye.  It was then that I noticed a small, square tunnel that lead underneath the hospital the boiler room was connected to.

"Huh?"  I got up, wincing.

"Lucy, what are you doing?  Do you want to re-open your wounds?"

I paid no mind to his comment, instead squeezing through the tunnel entrance.  The underside of the hospital was dark and gloomy, spiderwebs everywhere.  Light filtered down from a grate in the floor of the hospital, hitting a pile of broken glass bottles that projected...

"Oso!  Come here!  Quick!"

He hurried over, confused. 

"Look!" I said excitedly, pointing with my tail at the wall.  The light from the grate illuminated the bottles which sent an array of colors on the wall, like a miniature version of the Northern Lights.

"Woah.  It's pretty.  I never knew it was even here."  Oso said, clearly amazed.

"Yeah.  Somebody must have put those there." I said, nodding to the bottles.

"Mm." Oso's eyes were unfocused, so I stayed quiet, letting him think.

"Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

He gulped nervously, and he shifted slighty.

"Um, well...I, uh..."

I blinked.  "Oso, spit it out.  You can tell me anything."

He smiled a little, even laughing.

"Im sorry," he said, his smile dissapearing,"It's just that...What I want to tell you...It's kind of hard to say."

I was beginning to get annoyed.  "Well, if it's so hard to say, don't say it!"  I got up, and began trumping over to the tunnel entrance, ready to go back home.

"Wait, Lucy!  Just...Just listen!"  I slowed a little, wanting to ear what he was going to say, if he said it.

"I, um...I..."

I began walking normally again.  He obviously wasn't going to say it, whatever 'it' was.

"I love you."

The shepherd froze in mid-step, unable to move.  A tiny shiver went through her body.  He loved her?  She turned her head a fraction of an inch, trying to read his expression.  He looked relieved, happy, and hopeful at the same time.  He took a breath, as if to continue his sentence.

"I...I love you.  And...I would like it very much if you would be my...mate."

My eyes widened.  No way.  He...hadn't just said that, had he?  No, he couldn't possibly...I must have heard wrong...

But I hadn't.  I was sure of it.  Oso had just asked me to be his mate.  How could I answer him?  Was I even ready for this?  One thing I did know was that I suddenly felt very happy, and I realized something.  I loved him, too.  I hung on to that single thought.  If I loved him back, I must be ready for a mate.

I turned my full body so that I was facing him.  Slowly, a small smile broke out across my face, betraying my feelings.

I ran over to him, burying my whole face in his furry neck.

"So, what is that, a yes?"  he said, trying to crack a joke.

I nodded, not moving from my position.  I don't know why, but I seddenly felt a storm of emotions rage through me, all of them positive.  I had a sudden urge to run, to get the newly-found energy under control.  I pulled away suddenly, playfully jumping around and yipping, brushing my tail under his jaw.  He grinned and got the act, chasing me through the tunnel entrance, out of the boiler room, and into the cold outside, where dawn was breaking.

We leaped around, stopping to lick or nuzzle one another.  Finally, we stopped to enjoy the pink sunrise that was slowly giving way to morning.  I couldn't belive I had ever been sad about leaving Oregon.  Nome, along with Oso, was where I had belonged my entire life.

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I hope you liked the story!  It sure took a long time to write XD

Characters and story (c) Spirit_wolf12