The darkness was broken from a small ray of light as he lifted his eyelid. The light hurt his eyes, he waited until they adjusted.

"Where....where am I, what’s going on?"

The young pup said. He realized he had many questions.

"And who am I?" As hard as he thought, nothing came to his mind. No name, no memories, he couldn’t even remember his parents. All he knew, was that he just existed. As he got up, he looked around and saw grass and a large cliff that stood over him. It was a beautiful place, wild flowers and large trees with an inviting smell.

"Is this where I live? Should I stay until my mother comes?" Did he even have a mother? He decided it would be better to leave and try to find some food. Somehow, he had a natural instinct to survive, he made decisions that a young pup as himself, would not dare to make. As he got up, his leg hurt really bad, and blood rushed to his head causing a painful headache. His nose twitched as a somehow familiar smell filled his nose. He didn’t know what or who it was, but he knew it from somewhere. He decided to leave it be and move on.

"Why am I in such pain? What happened to me?" Still, even with such pain, he pushed forward. He was hungry, but he did not know how to hunt.

"I would do anything to have some deer right now."

‘How do I know the taste of meat? I don’t remember eating deer.’

Even though he knew this, the taste still lingered in his mouth. He started to quiver at the thought of food. But he could not have it, he was still to young. With his size, and his injuries, he had no chance to take down a strong buck, or a doe. He had no choice to become a vegetarian, for the time being.

"What could I possibly eat around here?" It was close to winter, and most of the vegetation was dead or frozen. Besides, he knew nothing about plants, or eating it for that matter. He managed to find a small plant and he ate what was left of it. "BLECH! How can anyone eat this junk?" For the rest of the day, he would go without eating.

"At night, the winter winds will freeze me to death. There must be a place to sleep for the night."

He was really surprised on how much he knew about survival, he was not even a year old. There were no caves or shelter around. He ripped at the grass and branches so it would provide some warmth against the elements. Before he fell asleep he said to himself.

"The night will swallow me, and before I will see the dawn, I will probably be dead."

The cold was unbearable, it stopped his blood, making it harder for him to breathe. His life felt like it was getting shorter with every breathe he took.

The sun was a miracle for him. As he awoke he knew he survived, but he could not keep doing this. His hunger was to much for him. He would do anything to sink his teeth into some meat. His nose twitched with enthusiasm. This smell...it was amazing....food!

"That’s the best thing I’ve ever smelled!" It was cooked meat over a fire. No matter what, he was going to try and grab himself a little bit, just the smallest amount would be enough for him. He followed the smell. As it became stronger, his hunger drew him to do whatever it took to taste that meat, even if it meant killing. He hid in a bush to see how he could grab some.

"Good, only one man. If he tries to catch me, ill make sure he knows that he made a mistake."

The man was pushing the embers with a stick under the roasting meat. He was tall, and had a strong figure. In his late 30s to early 40s, he wasn’t some weak old man. He had to be careful of him. He made his way out of the bush and slowly approached the man. The man turned around and saw the young pup, it was to late to turn back now. The young pup growled with teeth baring, and muscles tensed. For a moment, the man showed the same hostility, and pulled out a large knife. The mans expression changed from hostility, to friendliness. He saw how young the pup was, skinny, and injured. The man put the knife away and smiled at him.

‘What’s he planning? Does he believe that I am fool enough to trust him?’ He thought.

He did not change, he was still ready to fight. The man turned around and grabbed a large piece of meat off the carcass. He knelt down and held out the food for him. The pup still held his ground, but was confused.

"Its ok, I can see how hungry you are." The man said.

‘He’s offering me food? Why would he do this?’

The man still knelt there waiting to see if the pup would accept his offering.

"Im not going to hurt you, I just want to help."

The pup found himself taking small steps forward. His hunger was driving him insane. Why should he steal food, when it was being offered to him? As he came closer to the man, he hoped he was not making a mistake by trusting him. He was now in front of the mans hand.

"Go ahead, its ok." The man encouraged.

The pup smelled the cooked food, it was mesmerizing. He grabbed the food from his hand and enjoyed the taste.

"There you go, good boy." The man said as he patted him on the head.

He looked at the pup and saw he was injured.

"You must have been through a lot lately, your not lookin so good."

He didn’t feel so good as well. His head felt like a wet bag of cement. He looked up at the man, his eyes were friendly and he showed no threat to the pup. The man gave more food to him until he couldn’t eat no more.

"Where is your mother? Wolfs don’t usually travel alone, especially at your age."

He wish he knew, he wish he could remember his family, anything at all. But he couldn’t. But now he knew one thing, he was wolf, at least he knew that. The man looked at him and said,

"Funny, you look like a dog, but your larger and stronger. Maybe both."

‘Great, im a mutt. I cant even be proud of myself.’ He thought.

The man petted him,

"You’ll never survive the night in this condition. Maybe you shou-" He suddenly stopped what he was saying and looked straight into his eyes.

‘What is he doing? Does he hate me now?’

The man sat up and had a questionable look on his face.

"I’ve never seen this before. I’ve seen dogs with different colored eyes but, one is red, blood red."

The man stared deep into that blood red eye. His eyes suddenly grew with fear, a panicked breath came over the man. The pup couldn’t understand what was going on. The man shook his head and went back to his old self again.

‘Was it my eye? What did I do to him?’

The man covered the eye with his hand.

"As I was saying you should come back home with me. You will never go hungry, or sleep in the cold again."

The pup wagged his tail. Someone wanted him, the man didn’t care if he was dog or wolf. For the first time, he felt....happy.

"Come on, I don’t live far from here."

The pup followed and was eager to see his new home. The man was right, he didn’t live far at all, only twenty minutes or so.

"Welcome to your new home, boy." The man said as he opened the door.

The pup looked around. The house was in very good shape. It was well cleaned and organized. He smelt around and looked in every room. This place was new to him, he smelt something else to....others. When the man walked in, he shut the door and the noise echoed through the house. Other dogs came from the rooms he had not yet looked in. They did not seem to care about him, they walked past him and greeted the man.

"Hey...there’s my group! You all been good while I’ve been gone?" The man said as he petted and greeted them back.

"Everyone, meet the newest member." He said. He picked up the pup and set him down in front of everyone.

The pup was scared to be surrounded by much larger dogs than him. The man walked away and went into the kitchen. The dogs looked at the pup with question and interest.

"He’s quite large for his age."

"He might be a wolf."

"You think he’ll be a good hunter?"

Some of the dogs said.

"Out of my way! Ill be the judge of this whelp!" A stern, hard voice said. Other dogs moved out of the way to let this large husky through. He walked up to the pup, he looked at him for a while and the sniffed him.

"Pshhhh! Thompson really dug deep into the trash for this garbage." He laughed. Some of the other dogs laughed with him.

Thompson must have been the man, now he knows his name. The pup felt so worthless and weak. The large husky must have been the leader, if he judged him wrong, then noone would like him.

"Leave him be Stone! He’s still a pup." A voice spoke out.

Everyone turned to see who would speak out against Stone’s judgement, except for Stone, he could tell who it was.

"Ahhh Dawn...your looking incredible."

"Save it, you’re the last person I would ever want to be with." She growled at him. Dawn was a slender husky as well. She had more reddish fur though, something the pup has never seen before.

The pup didn’t quite know what was happening, but he understood what she was doing. She walked towards him and sat next to him. She smiled and asked him,

"Hi there, im Dawn, what’s yours?"

"I...I...I don’t know." He said shamefully.

"Great, we got stuck with a real genius." Stone laughed.

He couldn’t see but he could tell Dawn was giving him a scorn, because he stopped laughing.

"Its alright little one. There is no need to be scared." Her eyes were deep blue and full of love.

"I cant remember anything.....who I am, who my parents are, nothing."

Dawn noticed his eye, how one was blue and the other red. But she paid no attention to it. She curled up around him and nuzzled him.

"Im here for you. I wont let anything happen to you. I promise."

Dawn was only a year old or so, she always wanted pups of her own, she happily accepted him as her own. He could not remember his own mother, but she cared for him as her own. Stone watched from the other room, he became angry.

"How could scum like that win her over so quickly, when I’ve been trying for years?" He said to himself. He snorted and walked away.

Thompson walked in from the kitchen with a glass and a bottle. He saw how Dawn was curled around the pup, he smiled.

"Found yourself a friend already young one?" He said.

"Well you made a good choice. Dawn is one of the kindest dogs I’ve ever had."

He sat down in a chair next to a fire. He grabbed the bottle and poured it into a cup with ice. A golden liquid substance came out and raised the ice to the top of the glass. For some reason, this intrigued the pup.

"What happened to you out there, how did you find Thompson?" Dawn asked.

He explained and told his story to her. She felt bad for the pup.

"What was Thompson doing out there?" He asked.

"He’s a hunter. You must have caught him in the middle of something he caught."

He made a small whine as he looked at his leg. It still bothered him. Thompson heard it and looked at the pup.

"Oh, I completely forgot all about your injuries. Wait here, ill be right back."

Dawn looked at the pup.

"What’s the matter? Are you hurt?"

"Just my leg." He replied.

"Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Thompson knows how to deal with these sort of things." She assured him.

Thompson returned with a box with a red cross on it. The pup looked at Dawn with a worried look.

"Its ok, you’ll be fine, I promise." She said nuzzling him.

He felt so protected around her. Thompson slightly squeezed his leg to see where the most discomfort was. He saw the pups expression change to pain.

"I guess that’s were it hurts the most. This should help." He injected something from a vile into his leg. "Nothings broken, just a sprain I suppose." He said as he patted him on the head.

The pup looked at dawn. "What did he do?"

"Im not sure, but he’s done the same to me before. The pain should stop by tomorrow."

Thompson put the vile away and looked at the pup.

"We still got to give you a name. Hmmm...I guess we’ll wait till you get older." He walked away and sat back down in his chair. The pup yawned and began to feel sleepy.

"Its late. You should get some rest." She said nuzzling him.

"Where do I sleep?" He asked her.

She smiled at him and picked him up. She placed him on a bed that was much to large for him. She laid down and curled around him.

"You will sleep with me." She said nuzzling him.

Her fur was soft, she was warm. He buried his head into her chest. Before he fell into slumber he whispered.

"I love you mom."

"I love you to." She replied kissing him.

It was not long before he fell asleep, her love made it easy to dream. Dawn watched him sleep, she loved him as her own.

"Awww...isn’t that a sight." She turned around to see Stone smirking at them.

"What do you want Stone?" She growled.

He walked towards her with a smile. "Just wondering what you and me would be like."

"Back off creep!" She barked.

"Don’t be mad at me, its that worthless mutt right? What can he possibly have that I don’t?" He asked.

"I told you, we can just be friends. But your about to loose those chances as well."

Stone would have killed the pup if Dawn was not here. He was actually threatened by the pup. He knew if the pup lived long enough, he would grow bigger than himself, and he might take his place as the leader. He was already big for his age.

"By choice, you will be mine." Stone walked away with a grin on his face."His life is mine. I just need to wait." He whispered to himself. He walked into the other room until Dawn could not see him anymore.

The pup was awoken by a nudge from Dawn. He lifted an eyelid and could see her smile.

"Wake up little one. The sun has risen." She gave him a kiss on the muzzle.

"How late is it?" He asked with a tired voice.

"Not late at all, in fact its early." She nudged him to get up with her. He stretched and followed her. He started to wonder why Stone has not made a sarcastic remark towards them.

"Where’s Stone?" He asked.

Dawn looked at him and said, "He is out with Thompson, hunting."

"Hunting?" He said with confusion.

"Yes. You see, Thompson took us all in because he needs help with hunting. He takes one of us a week to go with him. He has many reasons for this. We are his protection, his companions, and his family. I’ve never seen his family, so I think were all he’s got. He also said he wants to keep us in shape, and lets us run free. Once you are old enough, he will take you with him."

The pup wanted to go with him. He wanted to see what it was like.

"I cant wait to show him how useful I can be, ill be the best I can be!" He jumped with excitement.

Dawn was glad to see him so excited about this. It showed her that he was ready for every challenge.

"Im sure you will do just fine." She said nuzzling him.

"But I want to prove to Thompson, to Stone, and to you, that I will be the best."

She was proud of him. To see him promise, to prove himself to her.

"Dawn! Hey Dawn, can I talk to you for a minute?" One of the other dogs called out.

"Ill be right over Jason! Go look around the house, ill be right back." She said.

The pup took her advice and did just that. He went into the kitchen and saw something. A bottle, the one Thompson had from before. The golden water danced around inside the bottle. Still he had no idea why, but still this intrigued him.

"What’s the matter Jason?" Dawn asked.

"Its your little pal."

"Oh, Jason not you too! Don’t be like Stone." She said to him.

"Im not, im worried about you and him. Its just.....its just unnatural. Me and the others have been talking and its great that your helping him out and all, but there’s something were all worried about."

The pup noticed the bottle was still half full. It was tipped over and made a large puddle.

‘If Thompson could drink it, why cant I?’

He started to drink what was left, and he probably drank it to fast, but it tasted really good. After he was done, his head felt light, his headache was gone. He felt better than ever. He got up and stumbled a little bit, and his sight was fuzzy.

"What could you all be worried about?" Dawn asked.

"You safety. You know Stone is not taking a liking to him. We figured its best if you let him go."

"Let him go? What do you mean?" She was shocked by the decision they all made.

"Kick him out. Boot him. Send him away, its what’s best for everyone. Stone might try to kill him, maybe even you."

"But why? Why should I leave him he’s...."

"He’s a threat. Have you looked into his eye? The red one, I looked into it, there’s something about it that........"

"I don’t care! He loves me, and you just want me to throw him out like that?!"

"I am sorry. Were not forcing you, its just what we think. I hope you take this into consideration."

She knew they only thought this because of Stone. He was the leader, and noone dared to deify him. They had to stay on his good side so they would not have to fear him.

"Thank you for thinking about my safety, but I promised him I would be there for him, no matter what."

Jason sighed and looked at her with disappointment.

"Im sorry you see it that way. But if Stone does anything, we can not help."

She did not answer him, but walked away. She thought a lot about what he said. But the thought of leaving him never crossed her mind.

The door opened and a guest of wind followed in. Thompson and Stone walked in with frost on there face.

"I really thought this season would have been better." Thompson said.

Stone walked next to the fire and shook the snow from his body. He laid down and let the fire warm his fur. His blood began run again.

"Ill just clean these and get started on dinner." Thompson walked into the kitchen with the hare they caught. As he walked in he saw the pup staggering, he looked at the empty bottle and instantly knew what happened. He was not mad, in fact he blamed himself for leaving it in such easy reach. He also noticed how only that particular drink was gone, and not the others. He smiled at the pup.

"I cant believe you drank all that whiskey. I think I found a new name for you."

The pup looked at him, waiting to hear his new name. He had a somewhat stupid smile on his face, and his eyes were drooping.

"I’ve had the name Jack for awhile. But now your name is Whiskeyjack."

‘Whiskeyjack. That’s not a bad name.’ He thought.

Dawn walked in the kitchen and saw Thompson and him.

"Dawn, our little guy finally has a name now. Whiskeyjack." Thompson smiled and walked outside to go clean out the hare.

Whiskeyjack looked at Dawn and asked.

"What were you talking about mo-I mean Dawn." He caught himself. He almost called her mom again, but he couldn’t help it. She loved him like her own. He never knew his real mother, so she was a figure of sorts. He staggered a bit, but acted like nothing happened.

Dawn looked down and smiled at him. "Don’t worry. It was nothing." She nuzzled him. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to him.

"By the way, who was that?" Whiskeyjack asked.

"Oh, that was Jason. He’s an old friend of mine." She replied.

"But who are the others?"

"I think im going to show you." She said smiling to him. She ushered him to follow her, and he did.

She led him back to Jason. "Jason, this is Whiskeyjack." She said to Jason.

"Well, glad to see you have name." He said jokingly. "You can always talk to me if you need a friend." He said cheerfully.

"Thanks, I will!" Whiskeyjack replied. Maybe now not everyone will hate him like Stone.

She began to walk around the house, showing him the others. "That’s Drake over there." She pointed to a Akita sleeping.

"This is Sandstrom." She introduced Whiskeyjack to a Buhund. Although his breed are short, he was a lot taller than he should be.

"Sandstrom, this is Whiskeyjack." She said.

"Så dette er den lille valp som Ive hørt så mye om." He smiled down at him.

Whiskeyjack looked up at him with a blank stare. He leaned into Dawn’s ear. "Is he sick?" He whispered.

"Ingen dum, im fra Norge." Sandstrom said with a chuckle.

Whiskeyjack closed his mouth rather fast knowing that he heard him.

"No dear, he’s from Norway. He dosnt know English, but he can understand it very well." She explained

"Nor..way? Where’s 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.