her crying her eyes out, all because of him.  ‘I never should have agreed not to tell her,’ he thought.  ‘It didn’t seem wrong at the time and yet…’

All the while that he was thinking this, something else was arising in the back of his mind.  What if Luna was so upset that she decided not to be his mate anymore?   ‘No,’ part of him argued.  ‘She’s not like that.  She wouldn’t do that, not to me.  Would she?’

Toby wasn’t the only one to suffer a troubled sleep that night.  At her own house, Luna was tossing and turning so much that although Connie kept silent, it was hours before the girl got any sleep.  Over and over the sounds she had heard Toby and… and Terra making behind that door played themselves in her mind.  It just didn’t make sense.  Toby had always been so open with her.  He was a loyal friend and a loving mate.  Why the change?  Was it something she had done?  True, she had joked about his appearance and manners from time to time.  But it had only been meant as humor, not nagging, and he always seemed to understand that.  ‘No,’ she thought, ‘there has to be a logical explanation for all of this.  But what?’  And in the middle of it, the vet’s revelation kept playing itself over and over in her mind, looming before her like a giant reaching out to crush her in its fist.

“Luna?” asked Connie.  Awakened by the constant movement of Luna’s tossing and turning, Connie crawled out from under the covers to pet her.  “It’s okay, Luna.  I know you’re sad, but you’ll be okay.”

‘Right,’ thought Luna skeptically.  As if the vet’s news was her real problem.  It wasn’t, it was just extra wood on the fire.  Her mind drifted over who she could possibly go to for advice.  Her sisters were sympathetic, but deep down this was just gossip to them.  Her parents had been supportive when they found out, but somehow they didn’t seem to be much help either.  Her brothers had promised to get revenge on Toby, but Luna didn’t want that.  Even if she had, promises of revenge could only go so far.  None of her brothers had ever actually been through anything like this.  Her parents had always been faithful to each other.  Even her sisters, who had been through more boyfriends than she could count, had never been betrayed in this manner.  Without Toby, Luna’s whole existence was falling apart.  For the first time in her life, she was truly and completely alone. 

The next day, Toby went to the granary as usual.  Sure enough, Terra was waiting for him.  “Ready to go?” she asked.

Toby shook his head.  “Not really.  Listen, we need to talk.”

 “Okay,” said Terra agreeably.  “But let’s do it inside, it’s warmer there.”

Toby followed her inside and sat down.  “Terra, I have to tell some dogs what we’ve been doing.”

 Terra’s eyes widened.  “But you promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!” she cried.  “What would happen to my reputation if word got out?  I’d never be able to show my face again!”

“Well right now, I can’t show mine,” Toby retorted.  “Disappearing for an hour everyday, going behind locked doors with a female dog who isn’t my mate… you do the math.  Everyone is coming to the conclusion that I’m two-timing on Luna.  Old friends, my brothers-in-law, they’re all turning against me!  All you have to worry about is some friends who might think you’re a lowlife if they find out.  But if I keep hiding the truth for you, I could lose my friends, not to mention my mate…” Toby frowned.  “Terra, do you realize what this is doing to me?  Everybody in town is giving me dirty looks.  Pete thinks I’ve turned into one of the ‘bad boys’ like him, and Luna is going out of her mind!”  He paused to let this sink in, then decided to pull out the heavy artillery.  “And I’m telling you right now that I am done giving you your lessons until this is over.”

 Terra stared at the ground.  “You’re right,” she agreed.  “I shouldn’t have made you promise to keep it a secret, especially not from Luna.  Come on, let’s go tell her what we’ve been doing before it gets any worse.”

Toby smiled.  “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

But when they trotted outside, they found themselves faced with a daunting crowd: Luna, Phoebe, Haley, half the town gossips, and all three of Luna’s brothers.

“There they are!” shouted Phoebe.  “Caught in the act!”

Luna looked like she might cry again.  “Toby, I thought you were better than this.”

“Come on!” said one of Luna’s brothers.  “Let’s get those two-timing rats!”

“Listen!” barked Toby as several of the dogs got ready to attack him.  “This isn’t what you think!”

“Oh, sure!” snapped one of the gossips.  “Face it, mutt, we’ve got you cold!”

“Listen,” said Toby desperately.  “I promise we can explain everything.”  As he surveyed the crowd, he realized they weren’t exactly eager to take his word for anything.  “And I can prove we’re telling the truth, too.”

“How?”

Toby looked desperately at Luna.  “Luna, would you please… no, I’ll go.  I’ve caused you enough trouble already.”  He turned to the crowd.  “I’ll explain everything, but first I need to get a couple of dogs who can back up what I’m going to tell you.”

The crowd parted with a concert of growls to let Toby leave, but closed shut before Terra could follow.  “We’ll keep her here until you get back,” snarled Haley.

Toby nodded, hoping that Luna wouldn’t let them hurt Terra.  “Alright,” he agreed.  “But if you guys do anything to her, you’ll answer to me and my dad for it.”  And with that he ran off down the street.

Luna stared after him.  “Please, Toby,” she whispered.  “Don’t let me down.”

Toby ran as fast as his legs could carry him to his mother’s house.  “Mom!” he barked, scratching at the door.

Terry came out and stared at him.  “Toby, what’s wrong?”

“It’s a long story,” Toby panted.  “But right now I need you and Dad to be witnesses at a trial.”

“A trial?  Who’s on trial?”

“Me and Terra.”

Terry blinked.  “You I can understand, but why Terra?”

Pushing aside a brief thought about wishing for once that his mother did stay up-to-date on gossip, Toby beckoned her to follow him.  “Trust me,” he said, “you’ll never believe what’s going on when I tell you.”

“With a son like you, nothing surprises me anymore.”

“I hope you’re right,” Toby answered.

Five minutes later they had convinced Rex to come with them and had returned to the granary, where the dogs still had Terra surrounded.  “Alright, I’m back,” said Toby.  “And I’ve got the witnesses.  Now, please let us through.”

The dogs allowed Toby to enter the ring, along with his parents.  The three of them took their place next to Terra.  “Now,” said Toby, facing the crowd, “I understand that you think I’ve been cheating on Luna.”

“We heard you two going at it!” barked several of the gossips before a loud bark from Rex silenced them.

“Let my son speak,” he ordered.

“Thanks, Dad,” said Toby.  Focusing on the crowd again, he continued, “Now, first of all I want to say that perhaps I’ve given you some reason for suspicion.  But as anyone who knows me would know, I would never think of hurting Luna.  And I certainly wouldn’t go with Terra, of all dogs.”

“Why not?” asked one of Luna’s brothers.  “She’s slim, silky-furred…”

“…and his sister,” put in Terra.

You could have heard a snowflake land in the silence that followed.  “Say that again?” asked Luna as hope began to grow in her expression.

“Toby is not my boyfriend,” clarified Terra, “and there’s not a chance in the world he ever could be, because he’s my brother.”

Terry and Rex nodded, confirming Toby and Terra’s story.

“Wait a minute,” said Luna as a thought struck her.  She focused her gaze on Toby.  “Now I remember you mentioning her.  Didn’t you tell me you freaked her out with a dead rat once when you were puppies?”

Toby smiled.  “They all freaked out,” he clarified.  “She just screamed the loudest.  I’m glad you remembered that, Luna.  Especially because that’s why we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing every day.”

“Which was…?” asked Phoebe.

“Chasing rats,” answered Terra.

If the crowd had been confused before, now they were downright baffled.  “Chasing…rats?” asked one of Luna’s brothers slowly.

“That’s right,” said Toby.  “You see, Terra’s owner recently inherited the granary from his late brother.  So he took over running it, and tried to have Terra deal with the rat problem.”

“The problem,” said Terra, “is that I’m… I’m…” she hung her head.  “Scared of rats.”

Two of Luna’s brothers started laughing, but the girls in the crowd quickly shushed them.  So, for that matter, did the third brother.

“That’s right,” Toby said, picking up the story.  “Ever since she was a puppy, she’s been terrified of rats.”

Rex and Terry nodded, again confirming Toby’s defense.

“So,” Toby continued, “she asked me to teach her how to chase and kill them so her owner wouldn’t be mad at her.”

“Then all that running and barking…” murmured Phoebe…

“Was just us chasing the rats,” finished Terra.

“What about all that stuff we heard you saying?” asked Haley.  “I remember you called her a feisty one.”

Toby paused for a moment, then laughed.  “I wasn’t talking to her.  I was talking to a rat that had just bitten me.”

“And all the secrecy?”

Terra hung her head.  “I didn’t want it to get out that I was a rat catcher,” she admitted.  “I was afraid that everyone would think I was some kind of low-life.”

“She usually hangs out