that?" Whiskeyjack asked.

"Langt borte." He said.

"He said, ‘far away’." Another voice said.

"Oh, Whiskeyjack this is Marc. He’s from Sweden, and knows English and Norwegian."

Whiskeyjack saw a Finnish Spitz walking up to them. "What did he say before?" Whiskeyjack asked.

"No silly im from Norway. And before that he said, So this is the little puppy that I’ve heard so much about." He translated.

"Marc this is Whiskeyjack." Dawn said.

"Ah, the new member. I can already tell you’ll be a very good at hunter. You got the ambition and strength."

Whiskeyjack enjoyed the praise, as all puppies do. But he also liked the fact that he was making new friends.

"Im gonna be one the of the best hunters ever, you’ll see!" The pup said happily.

Both Sandstrom and Marc laughed.

"Now that’s the kinda attitude that will get you far in life. This pups a regular firecracker." He said as he rubbed the top of Whiskeyjacks head.

"Well im going to go introduce him to the others. We’ll talk to you two later." Dawn said

"Alright, you two take it easy." Marc called out.

Both Dawn and Whiskeyjack made their way to the living room.

"They were nice." Whiskeyjack said.

"Yes, they are. For as long as I known them they’ve always been the same go-lucky dogs." She replied. They came across two other dogs that were in the middle of a conversation. Dawn didn’t want to be rude and interrupt, so she just told them their names.

"See that Belgian Malinois? That’s Xavier, he pretty much keeps to himself, but he’s nice when you get to know him."

"What about the other one?" Whiskeyjack pointed to a Great Dane.

"That’s Tank. He’s bigger than all of us put together. But don’t worry, he’s a gentle giant. He may look big, but he’s really a big hearted lug." She said.

As soon as she said this, the Dane let out a loud laugh from whatever he and Xavier were talking about.

"There’s two others I want you to meet." She said with a smile. She led him to two Canaan dogs that were chatting up a storm to each other. "Randy, Kelly. This is Whiskeyjack."

"They both stopped their conversation. "Hi Dawn!" They said together.

"Their twins." She whispered in his ear.

"Whiskeyjack huh? He’s the new guy right?" Kelly asked.

"Of course he his! Who else could he be?" Randy said as he smacked the back of Kelly’s head.

"Hey, That was unnecessary." Kelly joked.

"I think it was in order." Dawn teased.

"Your no help!" Kelly replied

"Oh, get over it ya wuss." Randy said as he put an arm over his shoulder.

"Well we gotta go. We’ll see you soon." Dawn said.

"Ok. See ya later!" Kelly called out.

They walked past the fire and Stone. As they did, Stone got up and approached them. Whiskeyjack hid behind Dawn. He wished he wasn’t so small, then he could do something. Dawn thought about what Jason said, she wouldn’t allow him to hurt Whiskeyjack.

"It sure is cold outside, I could use someone to warm me up." Stone acted like he was smoother than ice.

"Then go jump in the fire." She replied walking past him.

"You cant protect him forever. Soon he will learn who is the real leader around here!" Stone became furious.

Dawn turned around and became just as angry. "If you think that I will let you hurt him, you are mistaken! I will protect him, and I will never be your mate!" She barked out.

They walked away and laid in there bed. Stone laid back down as well, he whispered to himself,

"Ill kill him. And if you are fool enough to stand in my way, ill show you the error of your ways."

Whiskeyjack was worried about Dawn, he saw Stone was serious. If being around Dawn meant risking her life, he would no longer stay here. She was curled around him, protecting him from the outside world.

"Dawn....im worried." He said to her.

"Im here for you. I will always be here, no matter who or what thinks." She whispered to him.

"Im not worried about myself, im worried about you. I cant stay here, not if it means putting you in danger."

"I’ll be fine, I promise. As long as im around, we will be together." Dawn couldn’t understand why these things were happening to someone so young as himself.

Whiskeyjack didn’t want anything to happen to her. He promised himself as he grew older, he would protect and love her. But for now he would have to be careful of Stone. He buried himself next to her dense fur.

"I promise, ill protect you. I wont be the same helpless pup as I am now. I need you." He tried as hard as he could to not cry, to him, it was a sign of weakness.

Dawn was the same. She tried not to cry as well but she couldn’t. She silently cried and tried not let Whiskeyjack see. But he did see, he let his tears go as well. He tried to comfort her the best he could. He nuzzled and even kissed her. She did the same back to him. The night engulfed the world, it slowly crept into the house until it became dark. The night was sad and full of sorrow.