Jenna, Rosie, Dixie, Sylvie, Steele, Kaltag – © Universal

Sethla and other random characters– © Tromacom

The warm firelight flooded the room, bright enough to see by, but not so bright that I was blinded by its muted glow. My gentle breathing disturbed the dust caught in the corners and cracks, and the hot glow caressed my face with its soft fingers. Behind me I could hear the rhythmical snoring of my human family. Outside, the snow swirled gently, frosting everything it touched. I felt safe and warm, comforted by the fact that this was where I belonged and I need not be anywhere else. I had my family, they were all I needed and no matter what might happen, I would never leave them. I shut my eyes and just listened, the fire crackled happily and the sound of wind whistling sounded more like the gentle crooning of a mother bird to her chicks, rather than a cold shrill whistle. Sleep came easily that night, but I remember that in the moment before I became completely oblivious to the world around me, another noise cut through the air, one that sent shivers down my spine. The wolves were out that night.

“Jenna! Jenna wake up!” The loud giggling woke me and I slowly and reluctantly forced my eyes open to see a smiling pink face right up against mine, reddish hair tied up neatly in a ponytail and big green eyes sparkling with excitement. I had slept a lot longer than usual, and I had paid the price for it by waking up hungry. The loud rumble that followed was answer enough for Rosie who laughed loudly, patted me on the head and skipped into the kitchen. I could already feel my legs begin to ache at the mere thought of standing up and leaving my soft, warm bed, but the tearing grumbles of hunger forced me to my feet. I let my front legs slide along the floor until the fur on my chest was stroking the polished floorboards, and stayed in that position for a few seconds while I felt my spine click into place. I had never liked mornings but stretching had always helped to wake me up, as well a big bowl of food. I blinked a few times, yawned loudly and padded slowly into the kitchen. My claws clicked across the wood, but the sound became muffled as I crossed onto the linoleum. I saw Rosie balanced on the very tips of her feet, straining to reach a can of dog food off one of the higher shelves. She just wasn’t quite tall enough and I could see she would hurt herself if she tried to reach up any higher. I trotted over and gently tugged on the sleeve of her coat, pulling downwards to stop her falling over. Rosie looked down at me and laughed her little laugh, throwing her arms around my neck and squeezing me tightly. Her arms didn’t quite meet around my neck; she was still only a very small human pup. She let go of me very quickly, and then careered out of the doorway and into her father who was bringing in the morning paper. She beamed up at him, her cheeks pink with the cold, and they both spoke a few words to each other. My Master seemed to be telling Rosie off, but not in the angry way that he normally scolded me. I felt a small pang of jealousy, but brushed it aside quickly. It was silly to be jealous of humans. Master approached me, and I could tell from his face that he had had a hard night in his workshop. Mistress often sat by herself in front of the fire, stroking me or knitting, and would wait all night for Master if she had to. I sat and wagged my tail quickly, and his face brightened into the same beam that Rosie held. He stretched out a hand and patted me on the head, quite roughly, then walked over to the shelf and pulled down the dog food. I didn’t move, I knew the routine, and watched as he poured the food into my bowl. As soon as he pulled away, I dove forwards and rammed my muzzle into the bowl, my jaws snapping rapidly in my rush to eat breakfast. It wasn’t as if I had competition from a house-mate, but I had places to be.

It wasn’t long before I finished, the bowl was licked clean for any last scraps of food before I finally left it alone. I took a few lapfuls of water, and then headed for my dog door. In my hurry, I hit the flap with my head and winced as a bolt of pain ran through my skull. I made a mental note to not head-butt the flap so hard next time. I scrambled out into the street, cleanly lit by the morning sun and shining with the new snowfall. I hated snow, the way it stuck to your fur and melted slowly to chill you to the bone. I began my morning with a walk, something to get the heart going, and to meet friends and catch up on overnight gossip. I wasn’t really allowed out at night, being a house dog, so there were a lot of things I missed. Of course, there were a number of things I was glad I was missing, like over excited males…and the dark…and wolves. I don’t know what it was about their howls, the way they echoed through the still night perhaps, or maybe the fact that they could be watching you but you couldn’t see them. I turned a corner and ended up bumping noses with Dixie, which was quite hard as she was half the size of me. Sylvie hovered at her side.

“Well hi Jenna, we were just going to come and get you. You will never guess what’s been floating around” she said, her face splitting into a secretive smile. I nodded at Sylvie, and she nodded back. Sylvie had never been very talkative.

“No I probably won’t Dixie, but I think you are going to tell me. Am I right?” I replied, giving her a knowing wink. Dixie ruffled her fur and took a deep breath, the grin still plastered on her face. She exhaled loudly to eye a rather handsome male that happened to be walking past at that point, making him lose his footing and stumble.

“Alright, so first of all everyone is saying that Holly has spent a night in the boiler room with Reon, and also that Drift is going to be leaving town soon to go to New York or somewhere like that” Dixie said, keeping her voice low and muttering it right into my ear. She stepped back and giggled, that coy and secretive smile returning to her face.

“And…?” I questioned. I knew she wanted me to ask, she looked about to explode with the secret. Dixie was the biggest blabber-mouth I knew and couldn’t keep anything a secret for more than a day. The male from before poked his head round the corner and gave a small bark that sounded pretty pathetic, more of a yip than a bark, and scrambled off before we turned to look at him.

“Honestly, some boys are so immature these days” Dixie said, clicking her tongue and shaking her head in exasperation. She turned back to me and winked. “And… a new dog sled team is coming into town tomorrow, and as far as I heard it has some very good looking guys in it. Maybe we can find you someone Jenna, you have rejected everyone else so far” she said, her smile flickering near the end and her voice turning more serious. I rolled my eyes, that was my normal reaction to things and I had heard some of the dogs in town say that if you got the ‘Jenna roll’ then there was no hope. At least with what the boys wanted.

“I don’t know Dixie, as you said most of the boys are so immature, why would these be any different?” I sighed, beginning to walk deeper into town. Dixie had to hurry to catch up with her short little legs, and for the first time remained silent. That in itself surprised me, I wondered if me meeting a nice guy meant more to her than she was letting on.

We walked and talked for a while, passing the usual faces on the way to our favourite spot in town. The Alley. The Alley was where every dog that wasn’t a nobody went to hang out and meet new people, but newcomers didn’t come around very often. As we neared it, the male came back again, and this time there was no playfulness in his attitude. He eyed all three of us with a serious eye, and without warning he lunged at Dixie, snapping at her neck. I had always had a more aggressive side that I never really liked to show in public, but this dog’s display of temper towards my friend flared up my own anger. I barrelled into him, knocking him flat onto his back. He lay there stunned for a few moments, obviously surprised at my strength, before scrabbling to his feet and growling loudly. Unfortunately for him this attracted the attention of the dogs already in the Alley, who swarmed out like bothered wasps to form a protective barrier between us and the dog. Sylvie and I ushered Dixie through the broken fence posts and into the safety of the Alley.

It wasn’t much to look at inside, a huge pile of cardboard boxes dominated one end, and a few upturned bins lined the walls. I nudged Dixie over towards one of these bins and settled down next to it just as the dogs began streaming back. Dixie giggled as a friend of ours, Holly, strode past with her head and tail held high. The rumours were probably true. I watched silently as everyone settled into their places, the friendly chatter creating a warm atmosphere. A few asked Dixie if she was alright, and Dixie being Dixie she lapped up the attention. For one dog she rolled onto her back and gave a loud whimper to show how painful the bite was, but when I looked afterwards there wasn’t even a mark on her skin. The Alley was another great place to catch up on gossip, and that is exactly what I did. I picked up my red and white self and sidled over to a group of girls I knew quite well, but not as well as Dixie or Sylvie. They were laughing about something that had happened to them last night, but when the last one had finished their laughing one of the girls began mentioning something about the dog sled that Dixie had been talking about.

“It is arriving tomorrow and I can’t wait to see what the boys are like. As far as I heard they are all pretty good looking