unlocked, it was way too high for Melody to jump through it without hurting herself.
Cobalt raced back to Melody. She was panting vigorously. "Can you make it to the boiler room?" Cobalt asked. The boiler room was always open because dog teams were always coming and going and needed somewhere to rest.
Melody shook her head 'no' and hissed in pain. Cobalt leaned in and licked her head. The only thing they could do was go under the house. "Come on," he urged her, helping her stand. They carefully walked down the short steps of the porch and went to the side of the house. He took his paw and pried one of the side boards of the house down until it fell with a soft thump. Under the house it was dark (with the exceptions of the light coming in through the cracks in the floor above them), still cold, but it was out of the wind, and it would soon warm up with Melody and Cobalt's breathing. Their ceiling was low, but that was alright. Melody would need something to lay on. The ground wasn't going to do at all, it was too dirty.
Cobalt looked up at one of the cracks and saw a corner of a floor mat barely stick through it. That'd work just fine, he thought. He quickly grabbed the corner with his teeth, having to push his nose against the wood, and pulled. He kept pulling until the entire rug came through the crack (which had been forced bigger).
Neither of them could believe they had to go through this. If Melody wasn't in so much pain, they would've felt like a couple of filthy animals. Cobalt ordered Melody to put herself on the mat and she did, just then crying out loud.
By the time Elizabeth and Rodney came home, they were wondering where their dogs had gone. Rodney saw a pair of tracks leading to the side of the house and when they followed it, they were surprised to see Cobalt and Melody under the house. There were three little bodies at Melody's side, both whimpering as they ate from their still-rough-looking mother. Cobalt was still a bit concerned about her, but everything had gone well, thankfully.
Melody was so relived it was over. She was still breathing heavily and the pain wasn't gone yet but that wasn't going to stop her from looking over her puppies. She licked them clean before looking down on them taking in the pride that was upon her.
"Look at them!" She whispered to Cobalt who was watching over her. She nuzzled deeply into his neck trying to over come the tiredness that was taking over her body.
"Can you believe we made them?" She asked slowly closing her eyes and letting go of Cobalt to lie down on his paws. Both Rodney and Elizabeth watched them worried. They were to scared to move them because the pups were so young.
Elizabeth ran inside to call the vet but Rodney stood outside watching them.
From behind the next house someone was watching. Growling angrily to himself. Hank saw how Cobalt was looking over Melody. Jealousy was over taking him but he couldn't do anything there because of Rodney. He slowly walked away.
Cobalt saw Hank leave and growled to himself. But he wasn't going to let that dog ruin this time with his mate and his offspring, who will soon grow to be big and strong and beautiful. Rodney helped carry the three pups in his shirt and transported them inside the house in the spare room. Melody was still very tired, so he carried her after them. Their spot was a bundle of blankets in the far corner of the room, where they all slept soundly.
Cobalt stayed up and watched them from the doorway with Rodney and Elizabeth who decided that the pups would need names. One pup was blonde and looked like Cobalt, they decided to name her Sadie after Elizabeth's mother. The second pup was all black with a brown patch on his back, and resembled Steele the most, so Rodney named him after Steele, the dog who inspired him to want to race. Cobalt was satisfied with that name. He was very proud to have a son named after his own father.
The last pup was brown, but they didn't know what to name him right away. Rodney and Elizabeth went back and fourth with names, not really knowing why they were being picky about a name for a pup. They eventually wrapped up the name with calling the pup Jade after the couple's favorite gemstone. And that was that. Neither parent objected to their perfect children's perfect names.
Five weeks past and Melody and Cobalt watched their pups grow proudly. They were still to young to be left alone so Melody and Cobalt were always watching over them.
But now Rodney, Cobalt and Iron were training hard for a big race. Which left Elizabeth and Melody alone at home with the attention seeking puppies.
But Hank wasn't making it any easier on Melody. More than once Elizabeth had to run outside to shout at Hank to keep away, but he kept coming back so Elizabeth started keeping Melody and puppies inside the house only letting them out when she was close by.
Melody worried what he could be capable of and if she even sensed him near she ran to her pups and told them to keep close.
She only hoped Cobalt would soon finish his hard training and be with her as often as he once was.
One day, when Elizabeth was letting Melody and her pups outside for a romp, Hank sat at a corner between two houses, watching the family. No man in sight. No Cobalt in sight. He sat and waited to see if Elizabeth would leave, because otherwise she'd end up chasing him away if he got too close.
The phone rang from inside the house and Elizabeth turned around to enter. Melody tried gathering her pups up to make it inside, because she knew if they didn't get inside, Hank would surely come around soon. "No, Melody," Elizabeth said, stopping her at the door. "Just wait, I'll only be a minute." And she left. Melody walked off the porch to keep an eye out, while Steele, Sadie, and Jade stayed on the porch.
"Finally," Hank thought to himself. "It's my lucky day." And he marched himself over to Melody with his head held high. "Hello, there, Mel." he cooed.
Melody stood in front of her pups and snarled towards Hank. "Go away Hank!" She said as her pups shivered behind her knowing that their parents really disliked this dog. Melody nodded towards them and whispered to them to get closer to the door. The puppies did as she told them and Melody walked slowly behind them never letting her sight down on Hank who was still smirking in front of her.
Hank eyed the dog in font of him, then licked his lips. "So, still with that son-of-a-lowlife? Or are you free for the pickings?" His smile grew at the thought of the latter. He tried forcing himself on her with utter urgency. Melody hollered and not even a second later, Cobalt tackled Hank into the railing of the porch with a snarl.
"What the!?" Hank exclaimed, struggling to get out from underneath the younger, yet taller dog.
Cobalt dug his teeth into Hank's flesh, but only enough to get a grip on him, and didn't draw blood. But they were both struggling and Hank was beginning to get violent.
"Melody! Run to the back! Get Elizabeth!" Cobalt ordered through grunts of frustration. It was hard enough escaping training when he felt that something was wrong, but it was turning out that this fight with Hank was proving to be one of the most difficult things he'd ever done.
Hank whipped his head back and bit Cobalt on the face. The malamute/collie mix cried out in fright rather than pain, even tho blood was drawn, but like last time, he charged forward, pushing Hank onto the porch, adding his fangs to the situation violently. Cobalt didn't know where the pups were, but they would have to be safe from Hank no matter what. If they were smart, they'd have followed their mother.
The new father managed to crush Hank into a corner in the porch and bit at him until he blubbered in mercy. Cobalt let him run, but not before chasing him a few feet, and snorted in his direction before turning back to the porch. He saw Sadie stick her head out from underneath the porch, wide-eyed, and she ran to her father with a snivel. Jade soon followed after her. Cobalt reached down and licked his two children to assure them they were safe.
"Where's Jr.?" Cobalt asked. Sadie and Jade looked at each other, then behind them. They didn't know where he was, so Cobalt walked towards the porch to look for him.
He looked under the porch and he wasn't there. He didn't follow Melody, he knew that now, or else Sadie and Jade would've been with him. Where could that boy be? He called for him, then walked back on the porch to retrace his steps, and gasped. To his horror, he saw the small black and white body of his son Steele, smashed and mangled into the exact same corner Cobalt pinned Hank in.
He couldn't take his eyes away from the gruesome sight. He hadn't looked where he was going! He--He thought all of the pups made their way to safety! How--How could this be! Cobalt's mouth trembled in disbelief and dread. What could he do!
Melody had ran of at once when Cobalt had arrived thinking that all the pups had followed. When she arrived to Elizabeth she barked loudly to get her attention which worked and Elizabeth ran out after Melody. At that moment Melody realized that her puppies hadn't followed.
Her heart started beating faster as she thought about the possibility that Hank had got a hold on them. Her fur bristled and she ran faster through the house.
When she came on the front porch she was so relived to see her mate standing there okay. But she figured something was wrong the second after. Looking over to him she could see the figures of two of her children hiding behind their father but came running to her as she approached.
"Cobalt?" She asked realizing Steele was missing. But as soon as she was standing next to him she could she her youngest son lying on the ground. His body was badly shaped like something heavy had fallen on top of him.
Melody gasped in horror. Tears started to build up as she nuzzled her mates fur for
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