wolves mated for life and accepted their decision.

The pack had been traveling for a few days and Miksa immediately recognized the area. He was on his old master's property. He had almost forgotten about his teammates and his family. Well....his OLD family. Even if they weren't as important as they were, they were still important to him. He told Aniu that he would be back with her before sunset and he went off towards the farm. He wondered if Watson, Tazwell, and Storm would recognize him because he was alot more muscular than he used to be. Nobody seemed to be in the house, but he heard a noise come from inside the barn. He peeked in and without warning, Storm barked and snarled at him. She looked at him again and her eyes widened.

"Miksa?" she gasped.

"Hey, Storm!" he exclaimed happily. "How've you been?"

"Where WERE you!" Storm cried, pushing her face into his shoulder.

"Sorry, Storm," Miksa sighed. He looked around. No one else seemed to be in the barn. "Where are Watson and Tazwell?"

"Oh yeah!" Storm's voice grew cold and angry. "See, what happened while you were SIDETRACKED, they got bought and sold!" When Miksa heard this, he lowered his head. He felt like he had betrayed them somehow.

"I'm...sorry." he said.

"Psh, yeah, like sorry's gonna bring them back," Storm scoffed. "Also, while you were gone, David's wife sold you too."

"What? How could she sell me if I wasn't here?"

"Because we all knew you would return." Storm sniffed. "She may not have been close to you like David was, but she knew that since you were his dog you wouldn't possibly leave this place forever."

"Well, when--" Miksa heard a car pull up outside of the barn. Two humans were making their way to the barn and before Miksa knew it they entered. One of them was David's wife and the other seemed oddly familiar.

"Ah, see? I told you he'd be back." David's wife said in a quiet tone.

"Wow, look at him," the man went up to Miksa and let him sniff his hand. Miksa did, and realized that it was the same man who killed David, only this time he was more trimmed up and well-dressed. The man ran his hands up and down Miksa's body and looked inside his mouth for any infections or signs of rabies. "He's perfect. He's just what I need for my team. I'll take him." Miksa growled and tried to run out of the barn, but David's wife grabbed him by the scruff and pulled him back in. Miksa would have easily been able to slip out of her grasp, but when she said "Whoa," he instinctively stopped what he was doing. For the first time he cursed David's command training.

The man slipped a rope around Miksa's neck and whenever he tried to get away, the rope tightened around his neck. He was practically dragged to the truck and he pulled so tight that the rope was taught around his neck and cut off his oxygen supply. He tried getting away from the man, but the lack of air was getting him to tire. Miksa cried out Aniu's name a few times, but speaking only tired him more. Before the man even reached the truck to put Miksa in the back, Miksa passed out from the struggle and lack of oxygen. |

Storm gasped and went to go to Miksa's side, but she was stopped by David's wife and was put in the barn. The man lifted Miksa up and put him in the back of the truck.

"Now, where did you say you were taking him?" asked David's wife from outside of the truck.

"Juneau," he stated. And drove away.

******

Sunset had passed, and Aniu layed on the ground waiting to sense Miksa coming. But she couldn't hear, smell, nor see him anywhere. She sighed and layed her head onto the ground of the small cave she was in. She was by herself in the front of the cave, while the other members were crowded together in the back. She wondered where Miksa was. She knew that there was no way Miksa couldn't find them because he had excellent tracking skills.

"Something must have happened to him." Aniu thought, trying to hold back a tear so that her father wouldn't see.

Lokesh walked up to her from the back of the cave and looked out into the distance with his daughter. "I can't believe that he backed out on his promise. But I'm afraid that if he isn't back by the morning, I'm going to have to believe it."

"I refuse to." said Aniu.

"Well that's your decision." Lokesh turned around to go into the back of the cave again.

"Father?"

Lokesh turned again to face Aniu.

"Couldn't we wait until..." Aniu sniffed. "Couldn't we wait for a while? Maybe about two weeks...a month? Because...because I think something has happened to him."

"One week." Lokesh decided, and disappeared into the cave's darkness.

******

The first week passed and the pack wandered towards the ocean. Aniu always travelled last, in hopes of letting Miksa catch up. But he never appeared behind her. More weeks passed. And months passed. And then it was finally time for Aniu's puppies to be born. The pack took shelter for her to give birth in a small cave outside of a town near the ocean. Her father, who was waiting outside, was uneasy for his daughter. He paced the area outside of the cave, waiting for any sign. Aniu wasn't worried at all because she gave birth nice and easy, to four beautiful puppies. There were two girls and two boys. One girl was light brown, and the other was white. One boy was also white, but his brother was all brown. Once she cleaned her young, she smiled upon them when they began nursing. She looked up and said a prayer to Miksa, wherever he was, and thanked him for a beautiful and healthy litter.

******

Aniu and her pack members stayed put near the ocean. Although the pups were two months old, they weren't ready for days of non-stop travel. She was still afraid for their safety because they were close to humans in the town. She would teach them all she knew about the humans and the dogs that lived with them. Lokesh was against those teachings, but Aniu insisted that they would help them later on in life. Food was scarce in the area, but a few pack members managed to catch and eat some birds and rabbits. One pack member ate a dog from the town and Lokesh punished him for it because the humans would not be happy about it.

One foggy early evening, Aniu was sitting near her pups in the cave while they slept. A few pack members were outside keeping watch while others hunted and scouted the area. Aniu never liked the fog because she was afraid of not being able to see her surroundings, but as long as her pups were sleeping soundly, she was unafraid.

She was about to fall asleep, herself, until there was a gunshot from nearby. She jerked up and looked around. Her puppies were whimpering from the unfamiliar noise. She tried calming them down by nuzzling them with her nose.

"What is that noise?" asked the brown puppy.

"Shh," Aniu quieted him when a pack member walked into the cave.

"We have to get out of here, Aniu." he said. "Hunters are nearby, tell the puppies to stay put."

"NO," Aniu exclaimed. Just the thought of what happened to her mother and siblings wanted to make her cry, but she stayed calm for her pups' sakes.

"Get two more of the pack to get back here." The wolf called for two others to enter the cave. Aniu said, "Take one of each of my puppies and run. I don't want the hunters getting them." Aniu picked up her brown cub and ran into the fog. It wasn't long before she lost track of her pack but she could hear the hunters coming nearer. Where could she possibly go to keep her pup from being seen? The hunters wouldn't dare go near the town so she ran in that direction. She would have to find a spot outside of the town, because her and her cub would surely be killed in the town itself. She ran, but without even paying attention, her feet splashed into ice cold water. Judging by the salty smell, it was the ocean. She cursed herself for getting her feet wet and not being careful. Soon her feet would become numb and she wouldn't be able to run as fast.

She ran back towards where she came from and heard three gunshots and cries of her packmembers. She held back some tears thinking that they were the same ones who possessed her puppies. The fog had become worse and she wasn't sure of the whereabouts of her other three cubs. But all she knew was that she needed to get the one she had to a safe place. The fog cleared up a bit and Aniu looked up at the structure in front of her.

It was a large, ruined boat. It didn't look safe to use, but it would have to be safe enough for her cub. The hunters chasing her were way too close for her to hide in the boat, so she placed her cub in what used to be the captian's quarters. She licked his head and nuzzled him.

"Mama?" asked her cub. "What's going on?"

"It doesnt matter now," she whispered. "Just keep living and remember everything that I've taught you." With that she heard another gunshot and ran way from the boat before her pup could see her cry. She ran and ran until she reached an open meadow. At least she thought it was a meadow, but she still couldn't see anything from all of the fog. She stopped to take a breath and to give her aching feet a rest and heard a click. She began to sprint, but then she heard a gunshot and felt the bullet go into her and she collapsed and died in the fog. Her last thoughts were of what her family would've been like if Miksa hadn't left for his old home. She could hear her puppies bark and hear Miksa's kind voice.