Moon's Hope Wiki

Allegiance

Sky a black and white female border collie with blue eyes

Ace a yellow male Labrador with dark brown eyes

Axe a yellow male Labrador with blue eyes (Sky and Ace’s son)

Carter a yellow male Labrador with dark brown eyes (Sky and Ace’s son)

Bullet a black and white male border collie with dark brown eyes (Sky and Ace’s son)

Lola a black and white female border collie with dark brown eyes (Sky and Ace’s daughter)

Moon a black female borador (border collie Labrador mix) with a white chest and front left paw with blue eyes (Sky and Ace’s daughter)

Fern a pale gray tabby she-cat with golden eyes (a part of Sophia’s family)

Sophia a 50-year-old female human with light skin, blond hair and blue eyes

Robert a 48-year-old male human with dark skin, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes

Sally an 11-year-old female human with light skin, blonde hair and blue eyes (Sophia and Robert’s daughter)

Timothy a 12-year-old male human with light skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes (Sophia and Robert’s son)

Bold a brindle and white male boxer with dark brown eyes (a part of Olivia’s family)

Vole a fawn and white male boxer with blue eyes (a part of Olivia’s family)

Olivia a 45-year-old female human with dark skin, black hair and hazel eyes

Jake a 47-year-old male human with dark skin, dark brown hair and green eyes

Jessica an 11-year-old female human with dark skin, dark brown hair and hazel eyes (Olivia and Jake’s daughter)

Prologue

Sky was running in fear through the burning forest, trying to keep her scared pups close. Her mate, Ace, lead them, but the sparks hissed and snapped, causing the Labrador to stop.

“We need to keep going” Ace barked. “Ok... I'll try” Sky whimpered and started picking up her pace.

The border collie focused on the male yellow dog and her five pups ran beside her, staying an inch close to the border collie’s paws. Ace stopped at a very tall cliff and his mate and pups stopped behind him. Fire was burning around it but there was an open path directly below.

“C'mon!” Ace barked, jumping down and then looking back up at Sky and the pups.

“Coming, Daddy!” Carter announced, jumping forward.

“Wait!” Bullet, the oldest son barked with worry and tried to stop his brother. The ground cracked and broke and the two male dogs fell.

“Mom!” Carter cried.

Bullet grabbed his younger brother’s scruff and held him tight. Sky tried to catch them, but she missed. Ace lunged forward and tried to catch them, but the fire blazed in front of him, knocking him back and made a big burn on his face.

“No!” Sky howled.

She grabbed the scruffs of the three remaining pups and jumped down. Sky let go of her pups and looked down at Ace. His dark brown eyes looked filled with pain, and he groaned, trying to ignore the growing pain from his burn. The Labrador looked up and smiled weakly at his mate.

“Just run and let me die”.

“No, I won't leave you here” Sky whimpered back.

The three pups, Moon, Axe, and Lola looked in fear at their father and gave small whimpers.

“Please......go.” Ace whimpered calmly. Sky took a long moment of silence but then sighed, running away. The pups ran next to their mother and watched carefully for any flames that were trying to catch them.

“We are close to the end of the forest” Sky announced. A tree suddenly creaked and started falling. Fire was burning the bark and it made the tree weak and forced it to fall. “Faster, now!” Sky howled. Moon, Axe, and Lola tried to run even faster but their legs ached, and they slowed down. The tree fell and was going to land right over them. Lola bravely pushed her siblings out of the way and the tree than hit the ground, crushing the little border collie. Axe and Moon stood next to their mother who looked in shock. The border collie puppy’s eyes were an inch open and a smile was on her face as she died under the burning bark.

Moon was close to crying while Axe was hovering over his sister. Sky wanted to cry too but shook if off and demanded her pups to follow her. As they reached the end of the forest, a gorge laid between the forest and a field. Dangerous rushing water was making a loud noise at the bottom. “C'mon” Sky barked and jumped, landing without a problem at the other side.

“But what if we fall?” Moon whimpered.

“Don't worry sis, we just need to believe" Axe promised.

Moon smiled at her brother and felt hopeful as the Labrador puppy licked her. Moon gave a sigh and lowered her body. She kept low but then sprang into the air, reaching out with her front paws. She kept her black claws stretched and focused on the other side of the gorge. Sky caught her daughter by the scruff and placed Moon onto the ground. Moon looked at her brother who lowered himself, ready to jump. Fire was starting to reach him.

“C’mon brother! Quickly!” Moon barked.

Axe looked at the huge yellow orange-red flames racing towards him and then looked back at his mother and sister. The young male Labrador than jumped, reaching out with his black claws. Sky took a step closer and opened her mouth to catch her son but the ground beneath her paws was weak and broke. The black and white border collie jumped back, watching the small bits of ground crumble down the gorge. Sky and Moon suddenly noticed Axe miss the other side.

“Axe!” Sky howled and Moon also looked down. He was gripping on the wall of the gorge, but his claws were starting to slip off and a sharp stone sliced his back, making him loose strength.

“C'mon, grab my paw” Sky barked. She stretched her front left paw, also extending out her white claws. Axe whimpered and his flopped ears flattened harder on his head.

“It's too late, I don’t have the strength to climb” Axe whimpered.

“Don't you say that to your own mother! Just grab on!” Sky howled. Axe slipped but was able to catch the wall again with one paw.

“I love you mommy and sis” Axe whimpered and let go.

“Brother!” Moon howled.

Her black fur rose uneasily, and her gaze was wide with fear. She watched the yellow Labrador disappear as he went further down the gorge. Moon could feel her mother pick her up and noticed that Sky was taking Moon to a spot where there were houses everywhere. A tall building with a fancy circle on the front stood up high at the end of the town. Huge cars and trucks zoomed by on a road and Sky dashed forward. She carried Moon over to a house. The house was blue with a gray roof. Sky placed Moon on the top step that laid in front of a yellow door.

“I love you so much honey, but I must give you to the humans. Have a great life here my princess” Sky whimpered sadly and gave Moon a lick on the head.

Moon wanted to say something, but she instead whimpered and laid down. Sky scratched the door and rushed off, disappearing in a couple of heartbeats.

“I love you mommy” Moon whispered and closed her eyes.

She could hear the door open and a female human speaking with worry. She felt careful hands grab her. A long moment later she felt a soft bed and gave a comfortable groan. There was also something like another little soft body rubbed up against her. It made a purr and Moon felt it curl around her as if the other animal was cuddling her.

After a minute of being patted and gently cleaned a little by the other tiny animal that Moon was too tired to open her eyes and see, she fell into a long deep sleep like nothing bad had happened.

Chapter 1

Moon yawned and stretched, getting up and walked off her bed. She immediately walked to a small wooden house where her cat friend who was named Fern was sleeping.

“Wake up, lazy cat!” Moon barked and smiled.

Fern smiled back and yawned, walking out of her cat house and looked up at Moon. Fern’s pale gray fur glowed, and her golden eyes glimmered. Fern was a Maine Coon. Moon loved her bestie and wagged her tail.

“Another morning of being woken up by my bestie” Fern meowed.

“C'mon its breakfast time! I can smell bacon!” Moon announced with excitement.

The sound of their kibble being poured made Moon and Fern both scamper into the kitchen. Moon gobbled up her food like crazy and noticed Fern taking her time with her food.

“You better hurry up before I make that food my second dish” Moon joked.

“Just try it!” Fern dared.

Moon turned and noticed Sally and Timothy racing each other up the stairs.

“Hello, Moon and Fern!” Sophia, the mother, spoke calmly and gave each of them a pat on the head. Moon loved pats and complained that Fern would sometimes refuse a pat. This time Fern let Sophia pet her. After they finished their breakfast, Fern headed to the window and jumped onto a post that was in front of it.

“Want to come see what Sally and Timothy are doing?” Moon barked.

“Isn't that your job? You’re a dog” Fern meowed back.

“Good point” Moon replied and headed to the stairs, running to the top and headed into the bathroom. Timothy was just finishing with his stick in his mouth, but Sally was taking her time.

“Hello, Moon girl” Timothy spoke and gave her another pat on the head. Moon wagged her tail and then went to Sally who was now finished with what she needed to do. She placed the stick that she had in her mouth, and she spat into a sink. Water splashed out of a faucet and then she wiped her mouth.

“Hey, Moon” Sally said and gave her multiple pats down her back and on her head. Moon followed the two kids and noticed that they had bags on their backs.

“Have fun at school!” Moon heard Sophia yell cheerfully from the kitchen. Moon walked out a doggy door and followed them to the end of their driveway. A large yellow bus was coming and made a loud noise as it stopped. Sally gave a big hug to Moon and kissed the borador goodbye.

“Goodbye, Sally! Goodbye, Timothy!” Moon howled happily. She watched them walk in the bus and watched the huge yellow machine drive away. She sat and enjoyed the noise of the singing birds and the heat of the sun. Flowers were blooming on the grass, but they attracted bees which she did not like. Moon remembered when she got stung by a bee on her nose when sniffing a flower.

“Moon!” Sophia’s voice called. Moon turned around and rushed through the doggie door, noticing that the mother was all ready to go to work.

“I will be back soon, guard the house while I'm gone” she explained, and gave a few pats before walking out of the door.

“Another day with just you and me, Fern” Moon then barked to the pale gray tabby she-cat who was sunbathing on the post of the window.

“Yup” Fern replied and yawned.

“It feels like we are not alone sometimes” Moon felt concerned, so she listened to Fern’s reply.

“You really shouldn't be scared Moon. Dogs are meant to attack humans if needed”.

“But I don’t like fighting” Moon whined.

Fern turned her head to Moon and jumped onto the ground. She walked and sat in front of the black borador.

“I guess its ok to be scared, but you will have to learn to be aggressive sometimes” Fern meowed. “For example, I get aggressive when you try to steal my food every morning and night!” she hissed.

“Don't think that’s over, missy!!” Moon looked at her friend and looked as if she wanted to challenge Fern.

“Anyway, could you try growling at least?” Fern meowed.

“Are you sure? If I scare you don’t blame me” Moon barked.

Fern gave a scoff and waited patiently. Moon bared her teeth and her flopped ears flattened hard on her head. Her tail was up high which meant aggression. Her claws became more visible, and a low and dangerous noise formed in her throat and then came out of her mouth. She growled but noticed that Fern was not scared at all.

“Good” Fern meowed. “If a stranger were to break in, just do that”.

The she-cat then turned and started walking away.

“But, if it doesn't scare you then how can it scare a stranger?” Moon barked, following her furry friend, and looked up at her when she leaped up on the post.

“You growled a lot at me when you were a puppy and I'm used to it now” Fern replied.

“Heh.....do you forgive me for that?” Moon stammered embarrassedly.

“Yeah” Fern replied and then turned her face to the window. “Besides, you were just scared. It took a little while for us to get used to each other” Fern added, and Moon smiled.

The black borador decided to head to Sally and Timothy’s room. She noticed two big beds laying close to each other and two closets that had their names labeled on them. Sally’s closet was full of pretty dresses and regular clothes. Timothy’s closet had just clothes in his. There were comfortable slippers and fancy shoes that they wore to events in both closets on the ground. Moon hopped on Sally’s bed and smelled her scent. She did the same with Timothy’s bed and then noticed a picture on the wall. It was a picture of Moon when she was a puppy. Sally and Timothy were in the front while their parents, Sophia and Robert were standing in the back. 'Wow! Fern looks so cute in that picture' Moon thought to herself when she noticed Fern as a kitty in Timothy’s hands. There I am! Moon noticed her puppy version in Sally’s hands. Moon’s puppy fur was very short and fuzzy and now her fur was medium size and smooth.

She headed out of the room and walked into Sophia and Robert’s room. Their room was big and very neat. 'Sally and Timothy’s room is better than this. Too dark and clean' Moon thought and headed out of the room. She walked downstairs and came to a window next to the door. She looked through the window and noticed a rabbit nibbling on the grass on the front lawn.

“Fern I will be right back!” Moon howled but Fern did not answer. She was sound asleep, and Moon knew that she was in a deep sleep and would not notice. Moon sneaked out the doggy door and immediately started creeping towards the rabbit. She noticed that it was already running and chased it. “You can't outrun me!” Moon playfully barked. She did not notice that she was running far from the house. The rabbit was picking up pace and Moon stopped. She noticed that she was a little ways from home and tried to find her way back.

She noticed that she was on the lawn of Sally’s friend, Jessica. Her two boxers, Bold and Vole, who were two of Moon’s best friends, were napping outside. Olivia, Jessica’s mother, always stayed home so it made sense that Olivia took them outside so they could relax in the sun.

“Bold! Vole!” Moon barked, walking towards the two big boxers.

“Moon! What are you doing here?” Bold woke up and noticed the borador. He got up and walked towards Moon. Vole did the same and opened his mouth.

“You're a little far from your home.”

“I was chasing a rabbit, but now I'm trying to find my way back” Moon barked, looking a little embarrassed. The two huge and strong-looking male boxers looked as if they understood and Bold spoke.

“Just follow the sidewalk and your house will show up”.

“Ok, thanks. Bye, guys!”

Moon looked thankful and turned, walking onto the sidewalk, and walked fast. She quickly turned and saw the two male boxers wave their tails goodbye and walk away. She could see her house up ahead but then felt nervous when she noticed that Sophia was home. Oh no! Moon thought with worry and saw Sophia run towards her.

“Moon! Bad girl! Come with me” Sophia yelled and sighed.

Moon followed her owner and tried to tell her that she was sorry, but it came out as whimpers. When they entered the house, Sophia went on her knees and commanded Moon to sit.

“I'm not mad at you. I know you love adventuring but since you gave me a heart attack when I noticed you gone; I will have to lock the doggie door for a week” Sophia sighed. Moon wanted to complain but she lowered her head and stayed silent. Sophia gave her a good scratch behind the ears and walked away.

“Moon, is everything alright?”

Fern meowed. She was now at her scratching post. She was in the middle of sharpening her claws.

“I'm ok...” Moon whimpered.

“C'mon, tell me” Fern begged.

“I can’t use the doggie door for a week” Moon sighed. Moon then spoke again. “I'm going to take a nap. Could you wake me up when Sally and Timothy are back?”

Fern gave a nod and continued sharpening her claws. Moon closed her eyes, entering her world that was full of dog dreams.

Chapter 2

Moon suddenly felt soft paws rubbing her back.

“Moon?” Fern meowed. The borador lifted her head and looked around.

“Are they back?” Moon turned her head to Fern.

“There back but they did not come in yet” Fern replied.

“I wonder what they're doing out there” Moon barked, looking curious.

“Maybe they are playing right now” Fern meowed.

“Ok,” Moon replied, and got up. Fern quickly jumped off and followed Moon to the window next to the door.

“They aren't out there,” Moon noticed, feeling a little worried.

“Let's check the backyard!” Fern meowed.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about the backyard” Moon smiled and rushed to the back of the house. This time the kids were outside, playing on a playground. Moon barked from the window, hoping to get their attention.

“You’re right, their bags are outside and everything. Do you think they want to play instead of seeing us?” Moon barked.

“Kids are playful like puppies and kittens; they need their exercise!” Fern meowed.

“Was I playful when I was a puppy? I don’t remember” Moon looked curious at her cat friend.

“Oh yes. You used to always chase Sally and Timothy around and steal their stuff when you were young,” Fern purred. Moon was about to speak again but she then noticed that Sally and Timothy were running to the door.

“We’re back!” Sally giggled as she walked through the door. Moon excitedly jumped and ran around. Fern gave a rub on the leg of both kids and walked away.

“Come here Fern!” Sally spoke, following Fern and picked her up. Fern gave a little purr but then meowed and Sally put her down. Timothy was putting his bag and coat away and then he ran into the living room. Moon chased him and noticed that he had a ball in his hand.

“Go get it girl!” Timothy said and tossed the ball. Easy! Moon thought and stood on her hind legs, catching the ball in her mouth. “Good catch girl!” Timothy cheered, giving Moon a gentle stroke down her back. She laid down and let him rub her belly. Sally walked in and joined in with her brother. The two little humans got up and sat next to each other on the couch. Sophia walked in and gave them a kiss.

“How was school?” Sophia said to her children. Moon wanted to listen, but she instead picked up half of a very hard peanut butter flavored bone. The other side was chewed off and missing, but she was still happy with her half bone. She growled and tried to break another piece of the bone on her bed. She gripped her claws into the bone so it stayed still, and she could chew it easily. Moon stopped chewing the bone and looked at Fern’s cat house. She got up and walked to the entrance. She noticed that Fern was not in the cat house.

“Fern?” Moon looked worried.

The silver-gray tabby she-cat was not on the window post or at her scratching post either. Moon headed upstairs and went in Timothy and Sally’s room and saw Fern on Timothy’s bed. She was napping on his blue covers. Moon was going to ask Fern why she was up here but then the door downstairs opened. Moon barked and rushed down and noticed Robert.

“Robert!” Moon barked.

“Hey! The man of the family is here!” Robert spoke. Moon let him rub her belly and she went back onto her paws.

“I have a treat for you,” Robert told Moon, holding a dog treat in his hands. He tossed it and Moon caught in in her mouth easily.

“Dad!” Sally and Timothy cheered, giving their father a hug.

“How is my queen doing?” Robert said when Sophia came over to him. “Good!” Sophia replied.

“Hey, Fern kitty” Robert spoke calmly as Fern walked down the stairs. She let Robert pet her once but then she ran.

“Since its Friday, I'm thinking about a family dinner, family breakfast tomorrow and a trip to the dog park” Robert suggested.

“Yes! Dog Park!” Moon barked with excitement and even though the humans do not understand her, they knew that she was excited.

“Hey Moon! Want to go play some fetch?” Timothy called to her. Moon wagged her tail and followed her favorite boy and excitedly waited for Timothy to get the ball. When they were outside, Moon immediately started running around. She sped up and caught the ball when it was thrown. She brought the ball back and sometimes she did not, and Timothy would have to chase her. Moon never wanted to stop playing but she did when Sophia called Timothy and Moon for dinner. Moon rushed to the door and walked in. She noticed that the food bowls were full, and Fern was already eating.

“How was fetch?” Fern meowed.

“I got to say that fetch is my second favorite thing to do. My first is the dog park” Moon replied. She started chomping on the tasty kibble and licked her mouth with her tongue afterward.

“Mom?” Moon heard Sally start talking.

“Yes honey?” Sophia said.

“I have a softball practice tonight. They decided to move it to tonight” Sally spoke.

“Oh, ok. After dinner, please get ready” Sophia replied. Moon and Fern were now in the living room, relaxing on their beds. Fern was grooming herself in her little wooden house. Moon was laying down, keeping her eyes open in case if anything happened. Moon felt tired after a few minutes and closed her eyes.

When Moon opened her eyes again, it was early morning. Sophia and Robert were up, making a drink that they call coffee. Moon decided to visit Sally and Timothy. She slowly walked up the stairs and slowly opened the door with her head. Timothy was still asleep, and Sally was awake. Sally was playing with her toy called a phone.

“Hey Moon” Sally whispered. Moon wagged her tail and stood next to her bed, letting Sally pet her. Timothy was just waking up and Moon jumped on his bed, immediately begging for love right when he opened his eyes. Moon came back downstairs with the two children behind her. Fern was awake now and was laying down on a rug that was in front of a sofa. A big and bright tv was shining and the parents were sitting on the sofa, drinking their coffee. Moon walked to Fern and laid down next to her.

“Good morning, Fern” Moon barked with excitement. Fern looked at the borador and yawned.

“Good morning.”

Moon looked up at the tv and tried to understand what was happening. A man was talking about weather and some other stuff. Bright colors flashed behind him, but it seemed boring to the borador and she got up. She followed Sophia into the kitchen and watched her refill her cup with the brownish drink.

“Good morning, girl” Sophia spoke, and gave Moon a pat on the head. The black borador wagged her tail and followed Sophia back to the sofa. Moon jumped on the sofa and laid down next to Robert.

“Today will be an exciting day” Robert promised, petting Moon. '''I wonder who will be at the dog park. I cannot wait to see Bold and Vole again. I also wonder if there will be new dogs there''' Moon thought excitedly and gave an exited bark. The doorbell rang and Moon immediately rushed to the door windows. She saw that the mail carrier was putting mail in the mailbox. She gave a couple of exited barks and jumped when she saw the man look at her. He waved and left to his truck. Sally and Timothy rushed to the door and opened it, getting the mail for their parents. After a couple of minutes, the family went into the kitchen, and they now were making breakfast. The weekend has begun.

Chapter 3

Moon was sitting at the door, waiting patiently for Robert, Sally and Timothy to get ready. Sophia was staying home with Fern. Moon barked impatiently and heard Robert.

“Coming girl!”

He went to go grab Moon’s leash while Sally and Timothy were standing at the door with the borador. Moon wagged her tail and tried to run when they were outside but was pulled back.

“Calm down” Robert reminded her.

The kids hopped in the car and Moon jumped in the car as well, crawling to the middle of Sally and Timothy. She wagged her tail and looked around. As they were moving, Robert made the windows go down. Moon stuffed her head out of one of the back windows. So many smells! Moon stuffed her head back in the car and laid down. She tried being patient and noticed the car stop.

“We’re here!” Robert announced.

“Yes!” Moon barked happily and rushed out of the car when the door opened. Moon ran to the entrance of the fenced field that was full of other dogs. When her owners caught up, Robert opened a latch and the door opened. Moon trotted in and was ready for the last door to be opened. Other dogs started coming and started barking and wagging their tails. The door opened and Moon bolted out like lightning. She loved running around and stopped when she found Bold and Vole talking to a couple of other dogs.

“Hey Moon!” Bold barked happily when he noticed Moon walking towards them. “Who are they?” Moon looked curious, fixing her blue gaze at six other dogs who smiled back at her.

“Moon, meet Skunk, Storm, Patch, Rose, Gold and Peanut” Bold barked. “And all of you, meet Moon” Vole added.

Skunk was a black and tan male beagle with dark brown eyes. Storm was a black and white male jack Russell terrier with dark brown eyes. Patch was a red male retriever with dark brown eyes. Rose was a fawn and rust female doberman with dark brown eyes. Gold was a fawn and white female akita with dark brown eyes. Peanut was a fawn brindle female whippet with blue eyes.

“Now that we are all friends and we now know each other, let's go play!” Bold stepped forward and wagged his tail. Vole playfully pounced on his adopted brother and the two boxers tumbled around. Skunk, Storm, Gold and Rose joined them and made teams, but Patch and Peanut instead walked to Moon.

“Are you new?” Patch asked the black borador who smiled.

“No, I come here every Saturday”.

“I guess we aren’t the new ones then. You should know one thing” Patch explained and walked closer to Moon, but he did not notice that Peanut was close enough to hear.

“Peanut is one tiny dog.” Moon saw the female whippet look insulted and growled.

“I am right here!” Peanut pounded on the male retriever who growled playfully at the whippet.

Moon smiled and joined in. The three dogs were wrestling each other but it ended up with Moon and Patch pinning down Peanut.

“Oh c'mon! This isn’t fair!” Peanut growled.

Moon rolled her eyes and she and Patch let go of Peanut. The whippet got up and shook her fur and licked any part of herself that she could reach to make herself clean again.

“You're such a baby!” Patch joked.

“You're such a jerk!” Peanut mumbled.

“I think that it's cute that your owners named you Peanut” Moon complemented.

Peanut gave smile and replied. “I was the runt of my litter, but I was still adopted!”.

Moon froze in silence. 'What was my family like? Was I the runt of my family?' Moon thought but her mind was interrupted by Peanut who pounced on her.

“I will win this time!” Peanut growled playfully. Moon gave a smirk and kicked Peanut off with her back legs softly and clawed her down.

“I don’t think so” Moon replied.

“Try wrestling me” Patch barked.

Moon got off Peanut who went onto her paws and sat by a tree. Moon bounded forward and reached out her claws. Patch stood on his back paws and lashed his front paws. The borador crashed into the retriever. The two strong dogs growled playfully and rolled around with each other. Patch used his whole strength and pinned Moon down. Moon scratched Path’s stomach softly with her back paws and then kicked hard enough to make him let go and tumble backwards onto his back. Moon and Patch both got up and stood as if they were ready to tackle again but a loud scared howl interrupted them.

“Demon dog is coming!”. A mahogany female Irish setter with dark brown eyes was the one that howled. Her dark brown gaze looked worried, and her fur bristled uneasily.

“Demon dog?” Moon barked with confusion, slowly walking towards the female Irish setter who investigated Moon’s blue gaze.

“A black brindle male Pitbull with dark brown eyes named Bull comes to the dog park and he is a very mean dog” the female Irish setter explained. Moon nodded and noticed that Bull has entered and was sitting in front of his owner who was sitting in one of the chairs. Moon slowly walked towards Bull in interest, but Vole saw her and rushed in front of her.

“Don't go near him! He is dangerous!” Vole barked.

“I won't go too near” Moon promised and passed him.

Vole sighed and put a paw on Moon’s shoulder. Moon stopped walking and looked back at her friend.

“Be careful. Once a black and brown female Dobeagle (Doberman beagle mix) with dark brown eyes named Jessie wanted to sniff him and he bit her hard at the head. After that, she and others have been very afraid of him. Jessie didn’t come to the dog park anymore and the reason is that the gash on her head was very deep, and she had to be put down.” Vole explained and whimpered. Moon started feeling scared too, but she shook the feeling away and slowly walked towards Bull. His dark brown gaze became focused on her.

“Hi. You must be Bull the Pitbull that everybody is afraid of, but I don’t think you can really be so scary” Moon smiled, wagging her tail.

“I can make you scared of me” Bull growled. Moon ignored the insult and kept on talking.

“I'm Moon, no point in needing to say my name.”

Bull rolled his eyes, looking annoyed. His owner was paying attention to Bull. His hands were holding Bull’s leash tightly. The Pitbull’s ears flattened, and his tail wagged in a way that made Moon know that he was getting annoyed but ignored the signs that the Pitbull was showing her.

“Could we try being friends?” the borador requested the Pitbull.

“Hmm, no!” Bull growled and tried to jump at Moon, but he was pulled back by his owner.

Moon backed up and sighed. “If you ever change your mind then I'm open to be your friend” Moon promised and smiled. Bull growled and turned his attention away from her. The female borador sighed again and walked away from the Pitbull. Moon glared at the ground, angry that Bull tried to attack her and was snappy at her.

“You ok Moon?” Patch barked from behind.

“When there are dogs who are kind to me, I am” Moon smiled, nuzzling her friend. She saw Sally talking to Jessica and Timothy was kicking a ball around with some older boys. A black and tan male German shepherd with blue eyes was watching them and stole the ball a couple of times.

“Do your owners have any kids?” Moon barked.

“They have a son named Will. He is one of those bigger kids over there that is kicking the ball with the other boys” Patch replied.

“My owners have a daughter named Sally and a son named Timothy” Moon explained. “Do your owners have any other pets? I have a cat friend named Fern” Moon added to the conversation.

“Will has some goldfish in a tank in his room but trust me, they are not interesting at all” Patch replied and rolled his eyes about the fish.

“I'm surprised that you don’t mind that I have a cat as a housemate” Moon joked and saw Patch smile and speak.

“I’m not one of those dogs that would hurt cats!”

Moon smiled and started walking, waving her tail for Patch to follow her. They walked next to each other by the fence. They headed to the entrance doors since there were more dogs coming. The entrance doors opened, and all the dogs gathered around it. Moon was excited and nervous at the same time.

A black and tan male dachshund with dark brown eyes, a brown male doxle (beagle dachshund mix) with dark brown eyes, and a huge broad-shouldered black and white male daniff (great Dane mastiff mix) with a torn left ear with dark brown eyes walked out of the entrance with a female human holding their leashes. The female human took their leashes off and walked away, immediately joining in a big conversation with the other owners.

Bull and his owner also left as the three new dogs came in. The huge mix breed was staring at the others while the two smaller dogs were standing very close by.

“Woah!” “Look at him!” “Let's play!”

Dogs were barking and started crowding the three dogs.

“Eek!” the small dachshund whimpered as a young white and black male American bulldog with brown eyes sniffed him.

“Hey back off!” the daniff dog growled, whipping his body towards the American bulldog. The young male dog backed up, crouching down. A big blue and rust male Doberman with dark brown eyes stood protectively next to the little bulldog as if he was the young male dog’s friend. The huge mixed breed moved away from the fence and walked out a little bit and sat on the grass. He moved the other two closer to him with his paw and started speaking to the other dogs that crowded him for explanation.

“Listen up! I'm Rover, my two little brothers and I…“  Rover spoke but then was interrupted by a big black chow chow with hidden dark brown eyes since fur was bulging over his eyes on his head but somehow, he could still see.

“How are they your brothers? They are different kinds of dogs!” the chow chow looked confused at the huge mixed breed.

“I know that they aren’t my real brothers! Now listen!” Rover replied and started speaking again. “Me and my little brothers are new here. Introduce yourselves you two”. Rover looked down at the two little dogs who started speaking.

“I'm Root” the dachshund barked.

“I'm Scout” the small mixed breed replied.

“They are so cute” Moon whispered into Patch’s ear.

“I know” Patch whispered back.

“Stay close to me you two!!” Rover barked to Root and Scout and then walked away. All the dogs did not follow or sniff. Instead, they separated and went back to doing their own things. Moon left Patch who was walking to his owner, and she headed to Rover. She walked slowly and carefully so Rover did not see her as a threat since the mixed breed acted very protective of his two little adopted brothers. Rover’s dark brown gaze became focused on Moon and the borador smiled.

“Hi there. I'm Moon”.

“Ok” Rover replied but looked as if he wanted to know more.

Moon was going to speak again but she then heard Robert call her name.

“Bye!” Moon barked and did not mind that there was no answer.

She wagged her tail and let Robert put her leash on. Sally and Timothy headed over to them and then they headed for the exit of the dog park.

Chapter 4

Moon yawned and laid down in the car. She shook and licked the dust off her black fur and felt tired. She could not wait to see Sophia and tell Fern how many friends she made at the dog park. She sat up and noticed that they were close to their house. She was ready to run to the door and did when the car door opened.

Moon looked at the doggy door and nudged it with her head. It would not move, and she looked disappointed. Sophia didn’t remember still! When Robert opened the door, Moon rushed into the living room where Sophia was typing on a computer.

“Hello Moon” Sophia spoke calmly and turned around, petting Moon and went on her legs, letting Moon lick her face a couple times. Moon rushed past the other three humans who were heading to Sophia and went to find Fern.

The pale gray she-cat was playing with her mouse toy but stopped when she saw Moon.

“Hey Fern!” Moon barked with excitement.

“So, who did you make friends with today?” Fern meowed.

“Well, Bold and Vole were there, and I met six other dogs! There was this huge mixed breed named Rover and two little dogs named Root and Scout there too!” Moon explained.

“Ok” Fern replied and headed to the kitchen.

Moon followed her and they both walked around. Fern waved her tail for Moon to follow her upstairs.

“I did hear Sally and Timothy talking about a barbecue with other families tomorrow night” Moon barked.

“Really?” Fern looked surprised.

“Yup” Moon barked with excitement and wagged her tail.

“I can’t wait to see you, Bold, and Vole make a stampede everywhere you go” Fern joked and rolled her eyes.

“You question our playfulness?” Moon tested her cat friend playfully.

“Yup...Tag!” Fern meowed and touched Moon with her paw and ran.

Moon immediately started running after her.

“Get over here!” Moon growled playfully.

Fern swiftly turned and darted passed Moon. The female borador turned around but stopped. Moon waited until Fern was close enough and she pounced, clawing her down before she could run.

“Ha! Got you like every time!” Moon barked with joy.

“Yeah but watch this” Fern meowed and unleashed her claws.

She scraped Moon’s paw gently but did not break the skin. Moon yelped and backed up, but she laughed afterward and wagged her tail. Fern sat up and looked proud.

“I’m happy that I have you to be with” Fern purred.

“Me too!” Moon replied.

The two friends nuzzled each other, and they headed downstairs.

The parents were working in the kitchen while Sally and Timothy were on their phones on the sofa. Moon headed for the backyard door and sat. She whined and wagged her tail as Sophia opened the door. The kids rushed after Moon. A fence blocked them all from escaping the backyard.

Moon chased Sally and Timothy around but then she noticed them climb up on a ladder into a small structure. A big slide stood at the side. She watched them go down the slide and do something called parkour that was next to the structure. She wanted to try the slide but the only way to enter it was to climb the ladder. She headed over to the ladder and clawed on the ropes, climbing up onto the structure. The entrance of the slide looked small, and Moon knew that she would get cramped and hot. There was dirt on the material as well. Moon turned and jumped off the structure, landing on her paws. She decided to run next to the fence and do some laps.

As she was running she was thinking about Patch and Peanut. 'I can’t wait to see Patch and Peanut again! They are such great friends! I wonder if they will come to the barbecue tomorrow. Does Robert or Sophia even know their owners?'

Moon stopped running and saw Timothy bouncing on a big bouncy structure called a trampoline. It looked fun but the noise of the old structure startled her.

She saw Sally walking up to her with a ball. Moon excitedly jumped and wagged her tail. She then sat and waited for Sally to throw the ball. She rushed after it and she stopped it when it landed on the ground. Moon brought it back and let Sally take it out of her mouth.

After a few hours, the sun started to set, and Moon was laying down while watching Sally and Timothy play with a big ball on the front yard. They shot the orange-colored ball with black stripes through a big hoop that was connected to a long pole. A big flat stand held the pole in place.

They were outside until Sophia called them. Moon was surprised of how fast the day had gone by and that the memory of the dog park from the morning was still in her mind.

When she walked in, she saw Fern taking a nap in her little house and the kids rushed to the kitchen. She followed them, and noticed that Fern’s bowl was still full. She walked to her sleeping friend who opened her eyes an inch to see who was coming towards her.

“Are you coming to eat?” Moon barked.

“I’m not hungry” Fern meowed.

“Ok,” Moon smiled but she still stood in front of Fern.

“Go and enjoy your own food. Maybe I will come in a little bit” the pale gray she-cat promised.

Moon wanted to speak more but instead nodded and padded into the kitchen. The brown kibble was crunchy, and it tasted like meat. When Moon was done, she walked to the table and peeked on the top of it. She wagged her tail at the sight of food and tried to jump on the table.

“Down girl” Robert spoke and caught her.

She wanted to try again but also did not want to make them annoyed. She walked out of the kitchen and noticed Fern still sleeping in her house. Moon walked onto her bed and noticed that the pale gray tabby she-cat came out of her house and walked towards Moon.

“You feeling hungry?” Moon barked.

“Not really. I feel tired” Fern meowed, sitting in front of Moon’s bed. Timothy walked towards Fern and picked her up. “C’mon girl, you got to eat your food if you want to be part of the park trip” Timothy spoke and carried Fern into the kitchen.

Moon wagged her tail, but she relaxed back down and patiently waited for a sign that they were getting ready.

After a few minutes, the kids rushed out of the kitchen and went up the stairs, laughing and made exited noises. Sophia called Moon to follow her and the female borador got up, following the female human up the stairs and into the bathroom. Sophia grabbed a wet cloth and rubbed it on Moon’s fur. Moon then noticed Sophia squirt a white foam that felt very soft on the wet cloth. Moon patiently waited for her bath to be over and then when Sophia stopped, Moon walked out of the room. She saw and followed Sally and Timothy down the stairs and noticed that they changed into different types of clothes. Fern was letting Robert put her in a little crate. Moon wagged her tail and smiled as Robert put her leash on her collar.

The door opened and Sally and Timothy rushed inside the car in excitement. Sophia was carrying the crate that had Fern inside while Robert held onto Moon’s leash. Moon laid down in the middle of Sally and Timothy while Fern was resting in the crate on Sophia’s lap. The car started moving and Moon stuck her head out of the window. She noticed that the sun was starting to set but it created beautiful colors. Moon felt the car stop in front of a big pole with some lights hanging down from it. The color was red which means stop. A brown and white male Azawakh with dark brown eyes was walking on the sidewalk with a male human walking him.

“Hi!” Moon barked.

The male Azawakh looked at her and gave a little smile. He waved his tail which meant hello, but the car that Moon was in started moving and the male dog and his owner were out of sight.

They arrived at a parking lot and the doors opened. Moon jumped out but was caught by the collar by Robert and let him put her leash on. She felt sand and grass rubbing against her paw pads at the same time, but she was focused on the water that was flowing around. She noticed that they were heading to a bench and Robert took off her leash.

“You can go run around but don’t go too far girl” Robert said.

Moon wagged her tail and rushed past them. She sprinted around, jumping over some big rocks. She saw some other humans sitting on blankets and walking around. Her gaze became focused on a big dog that was sitting by a tree. Familiar black and white fur and a shredded ear made Moon think hard. Her gaze then widened as she then noticed two dark brown eyes staring down at two smaller dogs who were play-fighting with each other. Rover? Moon thought and walked slowly towards the big breed.

“Are you Rover?” Moon barked and noticed the male dog look down at her.

“Yeah, hello Moon” the mixed breed replied. Root and Scout wagged their tails and walked towards her.

“Woah a mixed breed!” Root looked curious.

“Yup. I’m a borador, a Labrador border collie mix” Moon explained.

Rover smiled and spoke. “I’m surprised that they aren’t scared of you Moon. Usually they are very shy with other dogs”. Rover then added. “If you like, I can tell you the story of how we all became a family”.

“Sure” Moon wagged her tail and laid down. Rover laid down in front of her. Root and Scout snuggled next to Rover’s fur.

“My owners adopted me as a puppy from a shelter. I had a great childhood with them but one day as an adult, I ran into a big mean dog that was as big as me at the dog park. I don’t remember his name or what breed he was but he was very snappy and shredded a part of my ear off. Luckily, I can still hear good and it wasn’t very much that was ripped off. My owners than heard about Root and Scout” Rover explained his story. “They are not brothers, but best friends and they were in the shelter, and they were found as strays, but our family adopted them and ever since that day, I became very protective of these two”.

Moon nodded. “Interesting story” she thought. “Well, I should head back to my owners” Moon barked and turned around, walking away. As she was walking, the Pitbull named Bull noticed her and started sneaking up on her. The Pitbull’s owner did not notice because he was talking to a couple of other humans. The black brindle male Pitbull growled and pounced. Moon howled in pain as his claws stabbed her back and she fell on the ground. She noticed Bull roll her over onto her back and her scared gaze looked directly into the Pitbull’s dark brown gaze. Bull growled, ready to tear her throat.

Moon growled and slashed his cheek and kicked him off. She got up and ran, hearing the Pitbull start chasing her. She stopped at the edge of the stars that led to the beach and turned around. She saw Bull slowly walking to her and he glared in hatred at her. Moon stood still, not letting her blue gaze leave the Pitbull. The two dogs stared down at each other and Moon darted forward. Bull jumped and dodged Moon. Moon stopped running and turned. She saw Bull already in front of her and he snatched her collar. Moon growled and slashed the Pitbull’s face. Bull refused to let go and kept on tugging at her collar. The two dogs kept on growling until Moon kicked Bull in the stomach, sending him flying and Moon’s collar snapped off. Her collar landed on the ground, shredded off. Moon got up and looked at her collar with sadness. She closed her eyes and glared at Bull who got up and glared back at her. She darted forward but Bull dodged and bit her tail. Moon howled and felt Bull let go of her tail. She tumbled down the stairs and groaned in pain at the bottom. She got up onto her paws and saw Bull running down the stairs.

She dashed to the water and splashed a big wave of water into Bull’s gaze. “Ahh” Bull growled, getting stung in the eyes from the salt water. He tried to wipe the salt water out of his eyes. Moon glared at him while standing in the water and the Pitbull pounced again. Moon ran underneath him and the Pitbull landed in the water, face first. Moon quickly rushed up the stars and took a breath of relief. She was about to head back but Bull slammed his big body into Moon and the borador slammed onto the ground hard and felt weak. She groaned and felt Bull roll her onto her back. He growled and snatched her neck, digging his jaws. Moon tried to kick him off but she felt too weak and howled as Bull sank his teeth even deeper into her neck. In the name of the dog heavens somebody help! Moon thought and howled, struggling under Bull’s grip. She closed her eyes and she felt Bull get kicked off.

The sound of the other dogs' bark made her feel safe, but she still laid silently on the grass, her neck bleeding. The other dog’s owner grabbed his collar and pulled him back. Bull tried to run at Moon, but the Pitbull’s owner grabbed his collar and pinned the Pitbull down. The sound of Sophia and Robert’s worried gasps and Sally and Timothy’s cries hovered over her, and Fern was meowing and licking her fur. Moon opened her eyes a bit and noticed that she was being carried back to the car. She groaned and closed her eyes, falling asleep.

Chapter 5

“Moon? You awake?” Fern’s soft meows made Moon start to wake up. She opened her eyes and noticed that she was on her bed with Fern lying next to her. The borador’s fur bristled and she put her paw on her neck. Some flat and wide cloth was tied around her neck. It felt comfortable but the wound underneath it still ached a bit.

“It’s ok Moon. You just fainted from the gash that’s all” Fern purred.

Moon started feeling calm and started speaking. “Why would Bull do that to me?”

“I don’t know but I do know that Bull won’t be anywhere for a long time” Fern meowed.

“I hope” Moon barked. The borador sighed and spoke again. “I felt Bull get kicked off and I am pretty sure it was Rover. Was it him?” Moon looked at Fern.

“I don’t know who this Rover is, but a black and white male dog did save you. He kicked that Pitbull off you” Fern meowed.

“That’s Rover” Moon smiled and felt grateful that she was saved by him. Fern nodded and rubbed her head against Moon’s head.

“Wait! My collar! Bull ripped it off!” Moon whimpered.

“Well, I know that Sophia and Robert will buy you a new collar” Fern promised. Moon nodded and asked another question. “Is Sally and Timothy ok?”

“They are fine, but they were super worried last night” Fern replied. Moon nodded and sighed, resting her head on the soft bed. “You were very brave. I would never do something like that. You are good at fighting Moon” Fern purred. Moon smiled but she than was focused on the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs. Sophia showed up and walked over to them. She went on her knees and patted Moon on the head.

“It’s ok girl. This wrap will help heal the gash and the gash won’t leave a scar since the vet was able to take care of it so it wouldn’t give a big scar on your neck” Sophia said and sounded calm. Moon smiled and licked Sophia’s face.

Robert walked down the stairs and joined them, giving Moon some treats. Fern curled her soft body next to Moon and purred. Moon wagged her tail slowly as Sally and Timothy walked down the stairs and walked towards her. “I hope that Pitbull gets put down! Nobody hurts Moon!” Sally spoke angerly. “Now honey, we don’t talk like that about dogs even if they attack others like Moon” Sophia reminded Sally.

“We will have the barbecue next Saturday kids” Robert announced. The kids did not get sad since they understood why Robert cancelled the barbecue this Saturday. “Am I going to have to stay in bed for a long time?” Moon whimpered. Sophia did not understand her, but she looked down at her like she knew that Moon was worried and scared. “The vets told us that the injuries will fully heal in a couple of days” Sophia spoke and smiled, rubbing Moon’s back but she was a little careful. Moon noticed that there was a couple of scratches from Bull’s claws. They were covered in little bandages but there was not many, and some were not even covered since they did not bleed but they did hurt. They were also very little so they would not turn into scars. Moon suddenly felt dizzy and closed her eyes, hearing the others walk away. Fern’s soft fur made her feel comfortable and fell into a deep sleep.

She woke up and noticed a purple sky with bright white stars. The long flowing grass calmed down as she walked around. Is this the dog heavens? Moon thought but she then noticed that a spirit was walking towards her. The spirit was a black and white female border collie with blue eyes. “Hello there, Moon” the border collie barked calmly. “How do you know my name?” Moon felt nervous and confused. The female border collie smiled and put her tail on Moon’s shoulder. The border collie looked beautiful, and her tail fur was incredibly soft. Moon looked at her and felt as if she has seen the border collie before. “Don't worry about that sweetie. I do need to tell you something though” the border collie replied and started speaking.

“The next parts of your journey will be tough and exiting. A dark spirited dog is trying to kill you but if you find the light, he will defeat the evil dog and you will be in peace.” Moon looked confused. She wanted to say something but she noticed that the spirit disappeared and then everything else. Her eyes opened and she lifted her head. She looked around but nothing changed. Just a big living room with the sun shining through the windows.

“Fern?” Moon barked to her friend who was sleeping next to her. She yawned and looked up at Moon.

“Yes?” Fern meowed.

“I had a weird dream. It looked like I was in the dog heavens and a black and white female border collie with blue eyes visited me and told me the weirdest thing!” Moon explained.

“What did she say?” Fern meowed, sounding confused and worried at the same time.

“She said that the next parts of my journey will be tough and exiting. A dark spirited dog is trying to kill me but if I find the light, he will defeat the evil dog and I will be in peace” Moon explained.

“Sounds like a vision. When something is happening to a dog or a cat, they will have a vision from the dog heavens or as cats, we call it the cat heavens, and get a prophecy” Fern told the borador.

“She told me that I had to find this light. I need to get out of here” Moon barked and growled, getting up and walked to the door. Fern looked down at her paws like she knew what Moon’s prophecy meant.

“Fern?” Moon barked, walked over to her. “There is something I should’ve told you a long time ago...” Fern meowed. Moon nodded and sat.

“Tell me...” the black female borador begged.

“The dark spirited dog...is Bull” Fern whispered.

“Really? How do you know this?” Moon barked.

“You really want to know?” Fern meowed, looking concerned.

“Fern! This could be a serious thing! Tell me!” Moon demanded. Her gaze went sharp and her flopped ears flattened. Fern gave a nervous look and sighed.

“I had a vision too actually. It was my mother. She told me that the dog named Bull will try to kill Moon but if I help her, she will be able to find the light and the dark spirited dog will be destroyed” Fern meowed. “So, you know about this?” Moon barked in surprise. “Yup” Fern replied. “We need to find a way to escape” Moon growled. “Let’s just rest and try figuring it out later” Fern meowed. Moon stared at her friend for a couple of heartbeats but then she nodded and then walked back onto her bed. They cuddled each other and fell back to sleep.

Chapter 6

Moon was eating her breakfast on Tuesday morning. Neither she nor Fern had found any way to escape but Moon knew that on Sunday, she would be able to go through the doggie door.

Fern was finally eating and was less tired. Sally and Timothy were all ready for school and Sophia was waving goodbye to her kids. Moon’s neck wrap was off and the little scratches on her back were all healed too. After breakfast, Moon gave Sophia a goodbye lick and watched her drive her car out of sight.

“Another week of just you and me!” Moon barked.

“Yeah” Fern replied and walked towards her.

“That female border collie in my vison, she knew my name and she had the same eye color as me” Moon barked. Fern nodded and listened. “Could that dog possibly be my mom? No, no way! How can she be my mother if she is dead and I’m alive. Also, if she was my mom, why do I remember nothing about her?” Moon growled to herself and scoffed. Fern nodded again and walked to her house.

“Where are you going?” Moon barked. “Going to take a nap” Fern meowed. “Aw come on! Let’s play or talk about our visions. We still need to make a plan to escape without being caught” Moon barked.

“I do have an idea” Fern meowed.

“What is it?” Moon replied.

“Maybe at the barbecue on Saturday, we can sneak out at the end of it” Fern meowed.

“But how?” Moon barked, looking confused at her tabby friend.

“When I was outside to get some fresh air, I went to the backyard fence and found a weak part of the fence behind some bushes and we can make a hole and escape without being seen” Fern meowed.

“Good idea but now I'm thinking that this is a bad idea” Moon whimpered.

“Why?” Fern meowed.

“I don’t want to leave Sophia, Robert, Timothy and Sally!” Moon barked.

Fern placed one of her pale gray paws on Moon’s only white paw. “This prophecy is a serious thing. Bull has ways to come and kill you and if you want to live and find the light, we must do it!” Fern meowed but then she purred calmly. “I don’t know what I would do if you were dead. Moon. I rather lose my life to help you then having this blood-thirsty Pitbull kill you”. Moon smiled gratefully and licked Fern on the head and followed her on another sofa with a big window above it.

They jumped on the top of the sofa and looked out the window. Fern and Moon licked each other and wrapped their tails.

The door opened behind them, and Sophia walked through. She looked very happy and came over to Moon and Fern. “I signed you up for a place called Ruff Life!” Sophia announced. Moon knew what Ruff Life was. People take their dogs there and they spend all day playing with each other. Moon wagged her tail and barked happily. She followed Sophia into the kitchen and noticed Sophia grabbing a couple of treats. “Sit!” Sophia ordered. Moon sat and then noticed that Sophia wasn’t done with orders. “Lay down” Sophia said. Moon laid down and then she was told to roll over and go back into a sitting position. After all the commands, Sophia lowered her hand and Moon took the treat. “Fern! Want some treats?” Sophia called.

Fern walked into the kitchen and sat next to Moon. Sophia lowered her hand and let Fern take the little treat.

Moon and Fern walked to the windows that were next to the door and waited for Sally and Timothy. After a half an hour of relaxing and waiting, the bus came, and the kids rushed to the door. Moon jumped and barked happily as Sally and Timothy walked in. They then went and patted Fern who was laying down.

After a couple of hours and after dinner, Moon was sleeping on her bed but she was moving a lot in her sleep. Everything around her was dark and silent. She started walking slowly and then a light shined near to her. She rushed towards it but stopped in horror. Standing in the light was Bull pinning down Patch. Peanut was laying down in a corner. Gashes, bites and scratches covered her body and her eyes were only an inch open. Peanut! Moon thought worriedly and she felt even more scared when she saw Bull pinning Patch down and was gripping his claws into Patch’s head. Patch was looking up at Bull with hatred and tried to get up but the Pitbull was too strong. “One day, this will be you!” Bull growled and he moved his paw. A snap boomed in Patch’s neck. Patch became lifeless, blood pouring out of his mouth. “No!” Moon howled. Moon woke up and was breathing hardly. It was dark and distant cricket noises were the only sound that she heard.

Fern was still asleep in her house and there was no sign of Bull. Moon whimpered and fell back asleep.

Chapter 7

Moon was waiting by the door, waiting for Sophia to take her to Ruff Life. The nightmare from last night still made her shiver but she tried to think about other things like making new friends.

“Alright, let’s go girl!” Sophia said but she let Moon walk to the car by herself since her collar was ripped off. They headed inside the car and Moon wagged her tail when the car moved. Moon noticed buildings standing next to each other and then Sophia drove her car to a parking lot. When Moon walked outside, the building was large and there was a cage next to it. Dogs started coming towards the gate and barked.

Moon walked up some steps and followed Sophia through a door. They were now inside the building. A tall lady walked toward Moon and Sophia. She had light skin, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.

“Is this Moon?” the lady said.

“Yes. Here are the papers about her” Sophia spoke and gave the lady the information about Moon. “She does not have a collar” Sophia said.

“That’s fine, we have extra collars for dogs” the lady replied and pointed to a pile of collars. There was a pile of small collars that must be for small dogs and then the rest were bigger for big dogs like her.

The lady picked up a big pink collar with a gold ring at the front. Moon let the lady put the collar onto her neck and then the lady grabbed a leash and hooked it onto the gold ring. “Bye Moon. Have fun!” Sophia called. Moon gave a bark and wagged her tail. 'This is going to be great! I can’t wait to see who is here!!' Moon thought and noticed a small door. The lady unhooked the door and it opened.

Moon slowly walked through and noticed that she was in the outside gate. She wagged her tail as some dogs started walking towards her. “Who are you?” a red and white ticked male English coonhound with dark brown eyes barked. A small white miniature poodle with dark brown eyes, a liver and white female Brittany with blue eyes, and a black and tan doborder (Doberman Labrador mix) with dark brown eyes joined the English coonhound. “I’m Moon” the borador announced. “I’m Fox” the English coonhound barked. “I’m Cotton” the miniature poodle barked. “I’m Song” the Brittany barked. “I’m Rifle” the doberdor barked.

“So, what do we do here? This cage looks not so big” Moon looked confused and curious. “I can show you around and explain” Fox barked. Moon nodded and followed the handsome male English coonhound. The other three went back to talking with the other dogs.

“The people put us in here because this is like the waiting cage. After all the dogs show up, they split us into two enormous pens. One is for big dogs like us and the other one if for small dogs like Cotton” Fox explained.

“Cool.” Moon felt exited and wagged her tail.

Moon suddenly stopped and saw a retriever. The retriever had familiar red fur. Two dark brown eyes appeared too, and Moon knew who it was.

“Patch!” Moon barked with excitement and rushed towards the male retriever. Patch turned his head and before he could speak, Moon pounced on him and they tumbled on the ground. Moon let Patch get up and she nuzzled Patch. Patch rested his head on Moon’s head, and they gave each other a lick.

“I didn’t know you went to Ruff Life!” Moon spoke, barking happily.

“Me neither!!! I can tell that it’s your first day here” Patch replied.

“Yeah, it is” Moon smiled and wagged her tail even more. “Does Peanut come here?” Moon then asked, and Patch replied to her question.

“No, she told me that at her house they do have a grandma and she stays home to look after her”. Moon sighed, but she was still excited that at least Patch was here!!!

“Come all doggies!” another lady yelled from the door. Moon stayed near Patch as they walked with the other dogs. There was a passageway to the two pens and there were ladies helping the dogs go through the right one. Moon walked on the bigger dogs’ passageway without any help and when she got outside, the place was huge.

“Woah!” Moon looked excited, wagging her tail. “Let’s play!” a couple of bigger dogs barked and then the stampede of playing dogs have started. She wanted to join but then she wanted to tell Patch about her vision. She looked uncomfortable and swept her tail on the ground.

“You ok Moon?” Patch barked, walking towards her. “Yeah...” Moon sighed.

“It’s ok. First days may look tough at first but then they get better immediately” Patch promised. “Hey Moon! Patch! Want to join us?” Fox caught the borador and the retriever’s attention. Song and Rifle were standing next to him, waving their tails. “See? You're already making even more friends” Patch whispered to Moon. “Yeah. Let’s go!” Moon smiled and felt confident.

She and Patch headed over to the other three. I will wait to tell him about the vision.

Moon thought.

Moon and Patch heard Fox start speaking. “Let’s go race!!” The others nodded and they took off, racing beside the wall. Moon was a very fast dog and she was in the lead. Rife caught up to her and barked. “I am a mix of Labrador and Doberman. Want to see if you can still beat me?”. Moon scoffed. “I’m Labrador and Border collie. Border collie is a type of herding dog. I will beat you!!”.

Moon and Rifle were now going hyper speed. Other dogs were barking, howling, and cheering as they raced. Moon was panting very hard, but her legs never stopped, and she dashed right through the wind. Rifle was doing the same, but he was starting to win. Moon decided to stop and was panting very hard when she stopped. Patch caught up to her and sat next to her.

“Wow. You and Rifle are so fast!” Patch barked. “Good job, Moon!” Rifle cheered, sitting on the other side of her. “Thanks” Moon barked. Fox and Song finally caught up to them and they sat with them. “That was fun. Who wants to play-fight?” Fox looked curious at the others. “Me!” Song replied.

Rifle joined in and Patch and Moon also joined in. “Song and I will go first!” Fox explained to the other three. Song stood next to her opponent and looked confident about play-fighting her friend. Rifle, Patch and Moon nodded and laid down next to each other under a tree. Fox and Song were five fox-lengths away from each other, both crouching. “Howl, could you be the one that commands the two fighters to go?” Fox barked to a wolf-grey male Eurasier with dark brown eyes. “Sure” the big male dog replied and walked towards them. “Fox and Song, fight!” Howl commanded.

Moon saw Fox dash forward and Song also ran forward. She swiftly dodged and turned quickly, pouncing on Fox from behind. Fox fell on the ground and Song held him down on the ground, clawing his back. Fox growled and used his strength to push his body up and knock the Brittany off. Song tumbled onto the ground but got up and striked, slamming her body into fox. Fox snatched Song with his claws and both dogs tumbled with each other. Fox kicked the snapping Brittany off and slowly got up, panting hardly. Song landed on her paws and panted. She and Fox stared at each other for a long moment and they both ran at each other.

Before Fox could snatch Song, the Brittany jumped and clawed the English coonhound’s head, making him fall onto the ground. She warned Fox by baring her teeth and Fox smiled. “You win, Song!” Song wagged her tail and helped Fox get up. “Hey Moon, want to be next?” Song called to the borador. “Sure!” Moon replied and got up, taking Fox’s spot. Fox walked under the tree and laid down with the other male dogs.

Moon waited for Howl’s command.

The wolf-gray Eurasier than spoke. “Fight!”

Moon darted forward, going for a pin at Song. She dodged and pounced on Moon. Moon was pinned to the ground, but she used her strength and lifted her legs, knocking Song off her. Moon got up and saw Song run at her. Moon spun and slammed the Brittany onto the ground with her hip. Song rolled on the ground but got up. She noticed Moon tackle her down and the borador pinned the Brittany, growling for her to forfeit. “You win Moon. Your pretty good at play-fighting" Song barked calmly. “Thanks” Moon replied and helped Song get up onto her paws. “Great job, Moon” Patch cheered. Moon smiled and the two dogs gave each other a friendly nuzzle.

After a couple of hours playing, the humans gathered the dogs and brought them back to the waiting cage. “Today was a blast!” Moon barked happily as she was laying down next to Patch, waiting for Sophia to arrive. “Yeah, it was even more fun with you here” the retriever looked even happier than before. Moon smiled and blushed, but she shook it off and noticed a familiar car arriving.

“Sophia is here! Bye Patch!” Moon announced and got up, walking towards the door.

“See you tomorrow Moon!” Patch howled to his friend.

The same lady from this morning put a leash on her collar and Moon followed the lady inside. Sophia was at the front desk, smiling as she saw Moon. Moon barked and jumped, wagging her tail. “Moon can keep the collar and this leash” the lady spoke and handed a yellow leash with white stripes. “Thank you,” Sophia replied. They walked out of the door and down the steps. Moon looked at the gate and noticed Patch sitting by the gate, smiling and waved his tail. Moon waved her tail as well and she then looked away, marching next to Sophia back to the car.

Chapter 8

Moon wagged her tail and barked happily when Sally and Timothy came into the car from school. They laughed when she licked their faces, and she enjoyed the pats and kisses. The car came to a stop at their driveway and Moon jumped out, running to the door and sat, waiting for Sophia to open it. Sophia pushed in her keys into the handle and the door creaked open. Moon pushed it the rest of the way and wagged her tail as she saw Fern walking towards her.

“How was Ruff Life?” Fern meowed.

“Amazing! I saw my friend Patch!” Moon replied.

“I bet you are very tired with all that running around,” Fern meowed.

“You are right. I’m definitely taking a nap” Moon smiled and yawned.

“Ok” Fern replied and watched Moon walk to her bed and lay down.

Moon rested her head and closed her eyes, drifting off into a dream. In the dream, she was at Ruff Life but there were no dogs or humans, just a dark and scary looking building. She walked up the steps that made creepy creaking sounds and managed to push the door open. It was dark and silent inside and she walked to the entrance of the waiting cage. The door was suspiciously open, and she walked through. The tiny field was silent and there were no dogs. She walked a little more and then the door behind her slammed shut. She spun around, her gaze sharpened with fear and her ears alert. Her flopped ears flattened, her fur bristled, and her claws became more visible from her paws for safety. “Anybody there?” she whimpered. She noticed a big dark dog figure appearing. Dark brown eyes were the only thing that was not shadowy. “Bull?” Moon looked confused and scared.

“Hello Moon. I bet your wondering why it’s so quiet around” Bull growled. “What have you done?” Moon growled, her worried gaze becoming angrier. Her fur bristled angerly and she scraped her claws on the ground. “Why would I tell you?” Bull growled but then he let out a loud laugh. Moon howled in rage and pounced, stretching out her front paws. She noticed that she pounced right through the figure, and she slammed on the ground.

Moon tried getting up but a strong paw stopped her by slamming her on the back. The male Pitbull lowered his muzzle and put it next to Moon’s ear. “I would watch out Moon. I’m coming for you...” Bull growled and after a heartbeat, the Pitbull was gone.

Moon woke up and heard Robert. “Hello girl!” Robert spoke. She wagged her tail, but she was not as excited. “Did you enjoy Ruff Life today?” Robert said, petting her ears and head. “It was very fun!” Moon barked. Robert understood that she was excited and chuckled. He got up and walked upstairs to put away his bag that he takes to work and to change into other clothes.

Moon looked down at her paws and sighed. 'I can’t handle these nightmares! I hope that border collie comes back when I’m sleeping tonight. I need more information from her.'

Moon saw Fern walk to her face and gave a friendly nuzzle. “Are you ok?” Fern meowed. “We need to start making that hole” Moon barked and got up, walking to the backyard door. Fern rushed after her and heard Moon whine and beg. Sophia opened the door and the borador and Maine coon rushed out. They acted normal when Sophia watched but when she was gone from the window, they ran through the bushes.

Moon noticed that Fern had made a hole in the fence already. It was not big enough for a dog yet, but it was big enough for cats to crawl through.

“Let’s begin. I will try making the hole wider while you try making it taller” Fern meowed and started snapping pieces of fence off with her teeth. Moon nodded and used her teeth to tear off big clumps of wood. They continued until Sophia called them. The rushed out of the bushes and walked inside.

When Moon and Fern were eating, they were also whispering to each other.

“The hole looks big enough for both of us” Moon whispered. “Maybe after dinner, we can both work on the hole even more,” Moon added to her idea.

“Sure” Fern agreed.

When they finished, they walked to the back door. Robert noticed them and he opened the door. Moon and Fern waited for Robert to be out of sight and when he was, they walked to the other side of the bushes. The hole was much taller and wider, and they started making it even more big. Moon tried crawling through and noticed that it was quite easy. She immediately crawled back in and followed Fern back to the door. When they were inside, Moon laid down on her bed. Fern walked inside her house and she laid down. Her silver tail was still sticking out since the house was starting to get small. Sophia, Robert, Sally and Timothy headed upstairs, and Moon stayed in her bed and fell asleep. Goodnight Patch wherever you are Moon thought happily and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 9

Moon woke up on Friday morning, yawning and stretching. Thursday was surprisingly fast and full of playing at Ruff Life. The nightmares weren’t happening anymore, but she was still alert. She was exited that it was already the end of the week and she waited for the sound of her food being poured. Fern was sharpening her claws on her scratching post. After a couple of minutes, the sound of her food appeared and she got up, walking into the kitchen. She wagged her tail and started eating but she tried to saver it a bit. 'When we go into the forest, there won’t be any kibble. Just animals like rabbits and squirrels that wild animals hunt and eat.' After she finished, she walked over to Sally and Timothy and gave them a lick goodbye. “Goodbye Moon!” Sally said and hugged her. Timothy did the same and they then left. “Have fun at Ruff Life Moon” Fern meowed. “Yeah but….im just so nervous of everything that will be happening” Moon whimpered. “It’s ok Moon. Were together and I won’t let anything bad happen to you” Fern purred. Moon walked over to Fern and wrapped a paw around her. Fern walked closer until their heads were nuzzling each other. “I love you Fern” Moon barked. “I love you too bestie” Fern purred. They let go of each other and then Sophia came and put Moon’s leash on her collar. Outside, little droplets of rain fell from the sky but the borador didn’t seem to mind very much and jumped into the car. Moon looked through the closed window and noticed that the sky was covered with dark clouds. It’s been a while since rain happened. Moon heard the car screech to a stop and then the big building was in sight. After a couple of minutes, Moon walked into the waiting gate, noticing Patch walk towards her. “Guess what is happening today!” Patch barked excitedly. “We're going to be dog-napped?” Moon joked. “No!” Patch laughed. Moon could tell that Patch knew that she was joking. “I heard the lady say to my owner that they are going to put a roof over the fields, so we don’t get soaked” Patch announced. “That's good because this cage is very bad with blocking the rain” Moon barked and growled as rain drops splashed on her fur. “Hey guys!” Fox barked, running up to Moon and Patch with Song and Rifle by his side. “Navy is joining us today!” Song announced. “Nice! Finally, he is back!” Patch wagged his tail with excitement. “Who is Navy?” Moon barked. “Navy is a brindle male Hokkaido with blue eyes who had surgery for his back left leg and today he is finally back!” Patch explained. Moon nodded and noticed the brindle dog that Patch was just talking about. He limped a little with the leg that they did surgery but there was no trouble with the others. “Hey Navy!” Fox barked. “What’s up bros?” Navy greeted his friends and wagged his curled tail. “Navy, Meet Moon, and Moon meet Navy” Rifle told the borador and Hokkaido. “Hi there” Navy barked and smiled at Moon. “Hi” Moon replied shyly. “I really hope that they let us go into the indoor fields soon” Song hopes. “Me too!” Moon agreed. After a few minutes, the ladies finally called the dogs and Moon rushed inside, wagging her tail when she was in the field. A huge roof was hovering the whole thing, and nothing was wet. “Feels much better in here huh?” Patch smiled at his friend. “Yup” Moon replied. “What should we do now that our bro is back?” Rifle looked curious, walking next to Navy who smiled at his friend. “Well, I do have a question” Moon barked and walked in front of Navy. “How did you hurt your leg?”. “Well, it was 2 weeks ago when it happened. I was out on a walk in the forest with my owner. She took off my leash so I could take a run in the forest. After I chased a squirrel and went to the bathroom, I was heading back when two dogs attacked me. One was a black and white male whippet with scarred ears and a long scar running across his muzzle with dark brown eyes and the other one was a black and tan male king shepherd with dark brown eyes. The whippet was the one injuring me and the king shepherd bit at my leg, breaking it. They told me that I was on their pack’s territory and if I did not leave, they would kill me. I ran off and when I came back to my worried owner, she was terrified and then after that, I was brought to the hospital and I needed surgery on a bone that was cracked” Navy explained. “I’m so sorry to hear that” Moon whimpered. “I have a scar on my leg to remember that huge deadly beast” Navy growled, and he lifted his leg. A long scar stretched on the back of his leg. “They said that their names were Pepper and Axel and I immediately told them my name. Ever since that day, I was very scared to take walks. After a couple of walks. I got used to it again and I never saw those two dogs again” Navy barked. Moon felt scared. “I need to go” Moon whimpered. “Are you ok Moon?” Navy barked. Moon ran off as he took a step forward. “I will go check on her” Song barked. The Brittany walked over to the borador who was laying down next to the fence. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Song looked worried for her friend. Moon looked up at the female Brittany. Her calm blue eyes kept on staring down at Moon’s blue eyes. “Nothing, I..I’m just having thoughts” Moon explained. “Like what?” Song asked, looking concerned. Moon flattened her flopped ears and looked down at her paws. She felt Song lay down next to her and moved her blue gaze directly at Song’s blue gaze. The two dog’s fluffy tails wrapped over each other and Song gave a comforting lick on Moon’s black fur. “Is there something going on? If there is a secret that you have, you can tell me. I’m good with keeping secrets” Song promised to the borador. Moon gave a quiet growl. “You wouldn’t believe it”. “Yes, I would. I trust you” Song promised, looking sad and hopeful. Moon sighed and looked sadder then scared. “I’m sorry Song but…I just don’t trust you. I don’t know you well enough to trust you. You did nothing wrong to make me not trust you but…I would be very happy if you could get Patch. Again, you did nothing wrong and I love having you as a friend” Moon explained. Song smiled and placed her head under Moon’s head and the two female dogs gave a long friendly nuzzle and licked each other. Song than got up and walked away. After a couple of heartbeats, Patch was calmly walking towards Moon. The male retriever laid down next to her and he gave a comforting lick on Moon’s cheek. “What’s wrong?” Patch barked. Moon looked at her friend uneasily, but she took a deep breath and spoke about the prophecy, about Bull trying to kill her and the escape plan that she was making with Fern. Patch said nothing, just a confused and silent stare at Moon. “I..I just want to go home. I feel scared" Moon whimpered and got up, walking away. Patch got up and sat, watching her leave. Moon walked to a lady that was standing beside the door and she gave a whimper. “What’s wrong girl?” the lady said, going onto her knees and gave Moon and big pat on the head. Moon really wished the lady would understand her and she tried making the lady notice that she wanted to leave. Moon faced towards the door and whimpered. The lady looked at her like she knew a little bit and then she brought out her phone. A minute later, a noise came out of it and noticed that she was calling Sophia. Moon wagged her tail a tiny bit, but she still felt sad and scared. After a few minutes, Moon was walking to her car with Sophia. Moon laid down right when she got in the car and sighed. When Sophia got in her seat, she turned her head, looking at Moon. “Don’t be sad Moon. I can stay home from work and we can relax together if you like” Sophia said. Moon wagged her tail and barked happily. “Yes please”. When they arrived at the house, Moon walked next to Sophia and she still followed her when they went inside. Fern jumped off the post of the window and she glanced at Moon worriedly. “You ok Moon?” Fern looked confused. “Yeah. I’m just going to stay home” Moon explained and headed over to Sophia who was on the sofa. Moon laid down next to her, placing her head on Sophia’s lap. Sophia petted Moon’s black fur and massaged her one white paw and Moon wagged her tail. Fern jumped on the sofa and snuggled agenst Moon’s stomach. Moon wrapped her tail around Fern and they both fell asleep while snuggled with Sophia. Moon could hear the tv in the backround, but the sound of dreams took over the noise. After a few hours, the door opened, and Moon immediately woke. It was Sally and Timothy. She got up and jumped off the couch running right at the kids. Sally and Timothy giggled and started petting her and gave her hugs. Fern slowly walked over and gave a purr as they petted her head and back. “Now your purring when they pet you” Moon noticed. “Yup” Fern replied. Moon laid down on her bed and was thinking. 'Tomorrow is the day, but Patch now knows about everything! Will he want to come? I will have to wait and see.' After a little while of playing with Sally and Timothy and greeting Robert, Moon was eating her dinner next to Fern in the kitchen, listening to the conversation behind her. She lifted her head and gave one big look at the backyard and the bushes that had the hole behind them. I’m ready to fulfill this prophecy but...how can I do it with just me and Fern?

Chapter 10

Moon was relaxing on the sofa with Fern, Sophia, Robert, Sally and Timothy. The parents were watching the tv while Sally and Timothy were on their phones. Fern was lying next to Moon, cleaning her paws and fur. “Exited to go to the dog park this morning Moon?” Robert said. Moon wagged her tail and barked. “Absolutely”. Suddenly, the memories of Bull made a cold shiver in the female borador’s spine. “In a little while we will go” Robert spoke and got up, going to refill his cup. Moon felt Fern brush her fur up agenst the borador’s fur and they smiled at each other. “Tonight, is a big night. Will you be able to handle it?” Fern meowed. Moon nodded, “I’m ready”. After a couple of minutes, Robert, Sally and Timothy were getting dressed while Moon sat patiently by the door. She looked down at her feline friend and they gave each other a nuzzle and a lick. Robert finally walked down the stairs with Sally and Timothy behind him. Robert grabbed Moon’s leash and they the left. Moon was exited but also scared about Bull. As they arrived, Moon walked slower than usual but she wagged her tail when dogs started appearing at the fence. “Have fun girl!” Robert spoke and took off her leash. He opened the door and Moon bolted out, running like the wind. She stopped and looked at the spot where the owners were sitting. She walked towards Jessica’s mother, Olivia, who gave a warm smile. “Hi there girl!” Olivia said and gave her a belly rub. Moon wagged her tail and then got up, shaking the grass off her fur. She walked in a straight line, passing the owners curiously but then she stopped. She flattened her flopped ears hard on her head nervously and swished her tail close to her legs. Bull was sitting in front of his owner, giving a hatred glare at Moon. “You…” he growled, getting up. Bull’s owner, an old male human snapped at Bull to be silent. Bull gave a deep growl and barked. Moon backed up but she didn’t run away. She stood still, acting like she was not afraid of him. Bull tried to ambush at Moon, becoming crazier. The man yelled, yanking Bull backwards. Moon noticed Patch and Peanut running towards her, fear in their gazes. Bull turned around, barking at his owner and tried pulling himself backwards. His collar suddenly slipped off and the human yelled with rage. Moon noticed Peanut and Patch get close and she growled. “Stay back!” Moon warned since she didn’t want them to get hurt. The other owners started murmuring nervously as they watched the aggressive Pitbull bark at his scared owner. “Bad dog! Bad!” the man yelled and tried to grab him. Bull lifted one of his paws and swiped it. The man immediately backed up, just an inch away from being slashed from Bull’s sharp black claws. Moon ran and whimpered. Bull noticed her run away and started running towards her. Peanut left Patch’s side and growled, tumbling down with the aggressive Pitbull. Bull kicked her off and got back up, running right at Moon. Moon’s gaze widened and she ran even faster. She looked up, noticing the fence. If I jump over, I could escape Moon thought and when she got close enough, she quickly crouched, leaping into the air. She perfectly jumped over the fence, landing on her paws. She turned around and noticed Bull smash right through the wall and pounce on her. The two dogs tumbled down a small hill. Moon kicked Bull off and got onto her paws. She noticed Bull get up and glare at her. He walked towards Moon and put his muzzle next to her ear. “I will let you live now but when we meet again, things won’t be so easy” Bull growled. Moon’s gaze widened and she backed up. Patch and Peanut rushed next to her, their fur bristling and their claws more visible than they usually are. Their eyes were full of anger and they thrashed their tails. Bull gave a growl and turned around, running into the forest. Moon breathed heavily, lost in space as she stared at the forest. “Moon?” Patch looked concerned at his friend. “You ok?” Peanut barked, giving a little whimper. “I’m fine. I need to go” Moon replied and started running back up the hill. Peanut and Patch followed her. The pieces of fence was scattered everywhere and most of the owners were standing worriedly at the spot where the broken wall was. Robert rushed over to Moon and looked relieved. “You’re ok! Poor girl”. “Just take me home” Moon whimpered. She followed Robert and noticed that Sally and Timothy were next to her. She noticed Patch with his worried owners, same with Peanut. The male human was throwing out Bull’s collar and leash and angerly murmured something that Moon obviously couldn’t hear. When they got to the car, Sally and Timothy cuddled her. Moon felt better and smiled, putting her tail on them. Moon still remembered the warning that Bull said to her, but she knew that Fern was on her side. “Were home” Robert announced. Moon wagged her tail and got up, jumping out of the car and walked in front of the door. Sophia surprisingly was the one that opened the door and she smiled down at Moon. She barked with excitement and wagged her tail. “That was fast to the dog park. Is everything ok?” Sophia said to Robert. “We need to talk” Robert spoke to his wife. Sophia nodded and Moon walked to Fern who was sitting at her scratching post. Her claws looked like bladed knives now, but Fern retracted them like magic. Moon’s claws were not as sharp but they are still sharp enough to give a big injury to another animal. “Hey Moon, I didn’t expect that you guys come home like only a half an hour after you left” Fern meowed. “It was Bull” Moon barked. Fern got up and smiled. “Don’t worry Moon” Fern purred. “I’m not worrying” Moon lied. “Let’s relax together” Fern decided, walking onto Moon’s bed. Moon nodded and wagged her tail, laying down on her bed and rested her head. Fern cuddled up agenst her and Moon put her tail on the pale gray tabby she-cat. After hours of relaxing together and playing, the sun was starting to set, and the barbecue was starting. Moon wagged her tail, running around with excitement as she saw Bold and Vole arrive. “Guys! You made it!” Moon looked a happy as ever. “Of course, we did!” Bold barked happily. “We would never not come!” Vole barked. “Let’s go to the backyard!” Moon barked, rushing across the house to the back door. Bold and Vole were behind her and they rushed out, immediately wrestling with each other. Fern also came out and laid down, watching the three dogs play. “Tag your it!” Vole barked, touching Moon with his paw. “I’m coming for you two!” Moon barked happily and chased her friends. She jumped and got a hold on Bold’s leg. He yelped surprisingly and Moon let go. “Your it now!” Moon barked, wagging her tail and ran off. After a couple of hours playing, the barbecue was starting to end. “Moon!” Fern meowed. Moon froze, noticing that it was time. She nodded and followed Fern. “Where are you guys going?” Bold barked. “Yeah! Can we see?” Vole begged. “Ok” Moon smiled and the two boxers smiled with excitement. Fern gave them a long stare but then she nodded in agreement. Bold and Vole wagged their tails as they noticed the big hole. They squeezed through and looked down at Moon and Fern. “Ok, there we go! You should head back to your owners now” Moon barked and lowered her ears sadly. “What makes you think that we are leaving? Come out guys!” Bold barked and then howled while looking at some big berry bushes. Moon’s eyes widened with surprise and confusion at the same time. It was Patch, Peanut, Skunk, Storm, Rose and Gold. “Were coming with you” Vole announced. “Umm” Moon looked concerned. “I did tell them but don’t worry. We did not tell anybody else. We promise” Patch barked. “We just want to help you and Fern” Peanut promised. Fern looked like she did not mind, and she was happy. “We should take off our collars. If we come across a pack, they will think of us as dog-pets” Skunk barked and gave a little growl. Everybody ripped their collars off and made a pile except for Moon who looked nervous. “Hey, its ok. We are all together. We can do this!” patch promised, giving his friend a lick. Moon smiled, her eyes shining happily. She sighed and split her collar in half and caught it with the tip of her tail. She placed it down on the pile. Moon took a deep breath and looked at the group of dogs and Fern. “Well team, let’s go” Moon barked proudly and turned around, leading her and the others into the forest.

Allegiance

Moon’s Pack

Moon a black female borador (border collie Labrador mix) with a white chest and a front left paw with blue eyes

Fern a pale-gray tabby she-cat with golden eyes

Bold a brindle and white male boxer with dark brown eyes

Vole a fawn and white male boxer with blue eyes

Skunk a black and tan male beagle with dark brown eyes

Storm a black and white male jack Russell terrier with dark brown eyes

Patch a red male retriever with dark brown eyes

Rose a fawn and rust female doberman with dark brown eyes

Gold a fawn and white female akita with dark brown eyes

Peanut a fawn brindle female whippet with blue eyes

Buster’s Pack

Buster a blue merle and white male Australian shepherd with blue eyes

Ray a red-fawn female greyhound with blue eyes

Matthew a red and white male Pembroke Welsh corgi with blue eyes (Cody’s brother)

Cody a red and white male Pembroke Welsh corgi with dark brown eyes (Matthew’s brother)

Ivy a black and white female husky with a blue left eye and a dark brown right eye

Timber a blue merle male Aussie Siberian (Australian shepherd husky mix) with dark brown eyes (son of Buster and Ivy)

Dove a black and white aussie Siberian (Australian shepherd husky mix) with dark brown eyes (daughter of Buster and Ivy)

Tucker a red male poodle with dark brown eyes

Blue a blue female blue lacy dog with blue eyes

Grace a black, tan, and white female American foxhound with dark brown eyes

Owen a red male german pinscher with dark brown eyes

Tiger a broad-shouldered black and tan male pitbull with blue eyes

Copper a red male whippet with dark brown eyes

Toby a white male Labrador with dark brown eyes

Violet an orange and white female pointer with blue eyes

Cherry a chestnut female Irish setter with dark brown eyes

Shark a black and white Alaskan malamute with light brown eyes

Raven a black, tan, and white male rough collie with blue eyes (Wasp and Ellie’s brother)

Wasp a sable and white female rough collie with dark brown eyes (Raven and Ellie’s sister)

Ellie a sable and white female rough collie with blue eyes (Raven and Wasp’s sister)

Sunny a fawn and white female American bulldog with brown eyes

Mountain a broad-shouldered black, rust, and white male Bernese Mountain dog with dark brown eyes

Onyx a dark gray tabby tom with yellow eyes

Marble a white she-cat with emerald green eyes

Molly an all-black she-cat with yellow eyes (daughter of Onyx and Marble)

Kiki a gray and white she-cat with yellow eyes (daughter of Onyx and Marble)

Roxy a dark gray tabby she-cat with white paws, tail tip, and ear tips with emerald green eyes (daughter of Onyx and Marble)

Liam a yellow and white tom with green eyes

Chapter 11

Moon was walking on a dirt path with dead leaves scattered around. The leaves crunched under her paws. A lot of different smells filled her nose and she growled as bugs landed on her. “We should find somewhere to stay. The sky is pretty dark” Bold barked to Moon. “We also need to hunt soon. I’m getting hungry” Storm added to the discussion. “I’m sure that we will find something” Moon promised, sounding a little panicked. Fern padded to Moon’s side giving a little purr. “It’s ok. Let’s not panic and try finding a place to stay at”. “Ok” Moon replied and took some deep breaths. Patch and Peanut were alert, keeping a lookout. “I think I see something up ahead” Moon barked, walking faster. The others started going faster too and after a minute of fast walking, a big cave was standing close by. Big rocks were on the entrance and inside was like a huge room that was made of stone. “Woah!” Peanut looked amazed, looking around. Patch joined in and then Rose started speaking. “There are cobwebs up there though”. “Oh, please your scared of everything. A leaf that fell on you startled you like you were being attacked” Gold barked. “Take it back!” Rose growled playfully, crouching low and waved her tail. Gold wagged her tail and crouched down low. “Never!” Gold growled playfully to her friend. “Enough you two. We need to focus right now” Moon commanded, walking towards the two female dogs. “Were just playing” Gold barked. “Moon is right. We never know if something already claimed this cave and we need to be on lookout. We also need to hunt” Patch barked demandingly. Rose and Gold sighed and got up, walking to the others who were conversating about what they should do. “How about this. Has anybody ever caught a mouse or rabbit or any kind of prey before?” Moon barked. The group was thinking silently but then Storm lifted his head. “I killed a mouse once” Storm replied. “Perfect. Do you remember how to kill the prey without scaring it off or messing up?” Moon looked at the jack Russell terrier who looked as if he was thinking hard. Storm than looked confused. “I don’t remember but I do remember having a mouse in my jaws once” Storm replied to Moon. “It’s ok. We will try to find out” Moon promise. “Fern, Peanut and Skunk, come with me” Moon demanded. The two dogs and cat nodded and followed Moon outside of the cave. “Fern, could you try sneaking up on that rabbit over there?” Moon barked, looking at Fern and then the brown rabbit that was nibbling on the grass. “Ok” Fern replied and walked close to it. She then crept down low. She noticed that her tail was brushing the grass a bit and kept it steady. She kept her stomach over the ground and kept her rear from sticking out and watched out for anything like dead leaves and sticks. Fern started to realize that what she was doing, was working. She then pounced, clawing down the rabbit. She bit into the rabbit’s neck and refused to let go until the rabbit was limp. Moon, Peanut and Skunk wagged their tails as Fern carried the rabbit towards them. “That was smart!” Moon looked proud. “Thanks” Fern purred. “Could I try?” Skunk barked with excitement. His gaze was focused on a small gray mouse. It was walking around in the grass, sniffing for food. “Ok, watch me Skunk” Fern demanded. Skunk walked next to Fern, copying her stance. Skunk swished his tail excitedly. “Keep your tail still! We don’t want to scare the prey away!” Fern hissed. Skunk immediately stopped and was focused on the mouse. “When the moment comes, pounce!” Fern meowed. Skunk nodded and waited for the mouse to be completely distracted. The male beagle then pounced, landing on top of the mouse and snatched the mouse. Instead of killing it by digging his teeth into its neck, he shook it like crazy while sinking his teeth. The mouse let out a couple of squeals and then it became limp. Skunk proudly trotted over to the others. “Good job Skunk” Moon looked proud and gave her friend a lick on the head. Skunk raised his head and tail proudly. “Skunk, take the prey back to the cave while Fern, teach us how to do it too” Moon barked. Skunk nodded and walked off, carrying the dead mouse and rabbit in his jaws. After Fern taught Moon and Peanut and spent a couple of minutes hunting, there was now a small pile of fresh killed prey. There were some birds that Fern hunted since cats can climb trees and dogs cannot. “Woah, this is great!” Peanut barked. “We still haven’t even tried prey yet!” Moon noticed. “Should we save the prey for breakfast? It’s very late now” Fern meowed and looked up at the night sky. “Oh yes, let’s bring the prey back and go to sleep” Moon decided. The two dogs and cat helped each other grab some prey and bring it inside the cave. The others were sleeping, and the dead mouse and rabbit were piled together at the back-right corner. A couple of leaves were under the prey. They quietly brought the rest of the prey to the corner and added to the pile. Moon walked over to where Patch was sleeping. She laid down next to him. Patch’s eyes opened and gave a smile. Moon smiled back and then they got into a cuddled position for the night. Moon was in the same place with the purple sky and the bright white stars. The long flowing grass calmed down again as she walked around. This must be The dog heavens! Moon thought and then noticed three spirits. A yellow male Labrador with blue eyes, a yellow male Labrador with dark brown eyes, and a black and white male border collie with dark brown eyes were standing only a fox-length away from her. She heard the male border collie start speaking. “Hello there Moon.” The other two then said hello. Moon was confused and wanted to ask the same questions as she did with the female border collie. The yellow male Labrador with blue eyes spoke. “You’re doing great Moon. We are proud of you.” Moon did not know or even remember seeing them, but she barked, “Thanks?.” Finally, the other yellow male Labrador with dark brown eyes barked. “You’re doing great so far but the dark spirited dog is catching up. Your chance to find the light is not over though.” Everything started to disappear like the dog heaven dream from last time. “Wait!” Moon barked but the spirits and everything else were already gone. “Moon!” Patch’s bark interrupted her. She woke, noticing daylight striking into the cave. Patch was looking at her and he smiled. “What happened?” Moon barked. “I was trying to wake you up!” Patch replied. “It’s time to try prey for the first time!” Patch added. “Ok” Moon replied, sounding a little nervous and they got up. The fresh kill pile looked smaller since the other dogs were already eating. Moon grabbed a mouse and Patch snatched another mouse. They laid down next to each other, dropping their prey. “Time to try” Moon announced and sniffed the dead mouse. The scent of it made her drool and she took a small bite. She smiled and wagged her tail. “How is it?” Patch barked, lowering his head to take a bite out of his mouse. “It’s great!” Moon replied and started feasting on her breakfast. After eating the mouse, Moon got up and walked outside, sitting in front of the cave. The warmth of the sun made her give a happy and tired yawn. The black mixed breed’s white chest and front left paw glowed from the sun. Peanut walked outside and sat next to Moon. “This is great Moon! All of us together, roaming the wilderness” Peanut looked excited and happy. “I know it’s way too early to say this but soon we will need to find somewhere to go so we can start finding this light” Moon barked. “We will figure out something” Peanut promised. “I hope no humans come near our cave. I wonder if our owners even sent anybody to search for us” Fern meowed, walking next to Moon. “Possibly” Moon and Peanut replied. Patch joined in and then the other six dogs joined in. “It’s weird that I’m the only cat in this pack” Fern meowed in embarrassment. “It’s ok, none of us will attack you” Moon barked. “Whoever does try to attack me will regret it. Cats can be dangerous too” Fern hissed. The dogs, including Moon rolled their eyes. “It’s a great day to teach the others to do the hunting crouch. I decided to name it the hunting crouch. Do you like it?” Fern meowed. “I think it’s great” Moon barked happily. “Yeah, fits very well” Peanut barked. “I’m thinking that we should all make territory markings around our territory so other dogs or animals know that this spot is already claimed” Moon explained. The others agreed and nodded. “Bold, Patch, Rose and Storm, you will make some territory markings at the south of the cave. Patch, Peanut, Fern, and I will go north of the cave. Vole, Skunk, and Gold, you will go east of the cave. We don’t need to worry about the west because the first group that finishes will do the west” Moon demanded. The others nodded and got into their groups. Moon and her group started walking, marking everything. “Let’s go a little ways and stop at that huge rock over there” Moon barked, pointing her nose towards a huge rock that was standing close by. “Moon?” Peanut barked. “Yes?” Moon barked back. “Why do we need to make our territory very big?” Peanut looked confused. “Because we will need a lot of space and I would like to have a big territory” Moon replied. Peanut nodded and continued marking the ground. After a while of making the territory, everybody was back inside of the cave. Skunk and Storm were napping next to each other and Peanut was eating a dead crow from the fresh kill. Moon noticed Bold and Rose talking to each other. Moon could see Rose blush a bit but Bold never noticed. Vole watched in amusement but whenever he tried to say something romantic about them, Bold would give his brother a slap with his tail, telling his brother to be quiet. Gold and Patch were outside with Fern. 'Fern is great! Teaching them one at a time!' “Hey guys!” Moon barked. “Hey Moon!” Fern purred. “Did you two try the hunting crouch yet?” Moon asked. “I did it, but I messed up a little. I stepped on a stick and the mouse ran before I could pounce on it” Gold replied, looking embarrassed. “It’s ok. Everybody messes up” Moon barked. Gold smiled and wagged her tail. Moon noticed Patch crouch down and after a heartbeat, he pounced. When he lifted his head, Moon noticed a dead shrew in his mouth. “Good job Patch!” Fern cheered. “Yeah, your very good at hunting” Moon smiled. The borador and the retriever nuzzled each other. “You can go rest Fern. I can help Gold” Moon barked. Gold wagged her tail and smiled at Moon who smiled back. “Ok” Fern meowed and walked towards the cave. The she-cat disappeared into the cave and the two female dogs started.

Chapter 12

“Great job Gold!” Moon looked proud for her friend. Gold walked towards Moon with a big plump black rabbit in her mouth. “You’re learning fast” Moon barked. “Thanks Moon” Gold replied, trying to speak with the rabbit in her mouth. The two female dogs walked into the cave and Moon watched her friend place the rabbit on the fresh kill pile. “Who still needs to learn the hunting crouch?” Moon announced. Storm raised his tail. “Just Storm?” Moon looked at the jack Russell terrier. She scanned the crowed again and Storm answered. “I guess so”. “follow me then” Moon commanded, walking back to the entrance of the cave. The male jack Russell terrier followed Moon and headed off into more of the forest. “Stop! I see prey!” Moon barked, noticing two voles. Storm’s gaze widened with excitement but stayed focused and listened for directions from Moon. “Alright, first lets crouch down on the ground, keep your tail above the grass so it does not make any noise and don’t put your belly on the ground” Moon explained. Storm nodded and did the right thing. Moon then noticed that Storm’s rear was lifted. “Keep your whole body down. The ground is your friend so stay close to it” Moon barked. “Fern is good with teaching” Storm whispered. “Yeah, she’s smart but let’s focus” Moon whispered back. Storm nodded and started crawling closer to the voles. “When the moment is right, pounce on one of the voles” Moon barked. Storm was focused on the brown vole since it was closer. Storm than pounced, trapping the vole under his paw. The other vole ran off and the vole that was captured let out scared squeals. Storm than snatched the vole in his mouth. “Swing it around and dig your teeth in it at the same time” Moon barked. Storm swiftly shook his head. His teeth slowly sank into the flesh of the rodent. After a couple of seconds, Storm returned to Moon with the dead vole in his jaws. “Great job!” Moon smiled and wagged her tail. Storm proudly lifted his head and wagged his tail. When they returned, Storm laid down and feasted on his fresh kill. Moon walked over to Vole who was talking with Patch. “Hey Moon!” Patch barked happily. Moon smiled and sat next to the two male dogs. “Me and Patch were talking about exploring more of the forest” Vole explained. “Maybe we could find other packs or very big animals like deer” Patch looked exited. “Maybe tomorrow after breakfast, we can have a trip to search more of the woods” Moon decided. “But what about our cave?” Peanut suddenly barked behind her. Moon, Patch and Vole did not get mad that she was eavesdropping, and Moon answered, “Our territory markings will keep the predators out and if there are some dogs that want to stay, that’s even better”. “Ok” Peanut looked like she understood and wagged her tail. “You know, there is still a lot of day left. Could we do the trip today?” the whippet barked. Moon thought silently, swishing her tail. 'We could go today but I think it would be better if it were tomorrow. I just want them to focus on hunting so our pile can get stacked!' Moon than looked at the whippet again. “Today I want to focus on hunting and making our fresh kill pile large” Moon explained. “Its fine” Patch barked from behind. “Yeah, we can do it tomorrow” Vole smiled and agreed with Moon. “Ok, should you send patrols?” Peanut asked. “I will” Moon replied. Peanut nodded and walked away, heading towards Gold who wagged her tail as the fawn brindle whippet approached her. Moon noticed Fern napping at the other back corner. Moon walked over to her and sat. “Hey Fern” Moon barked. “Hey Moon” Fern meowed, waking up. “Do you want to be part of a hunting patrol?” Moon asked. “Could I nap for a bit?” Fern replied. “Ok, its fine” Moon smiled and walked away. She walked to the entrance of the cave and turned around, facing the other dogs. “All dogs that want to be part of a hunting patrol, gather next to me” Moon howled. Vole, Skunk, Storm and Peanut headed next to Moon while the others stayed at their spots. “Alright, you four will go and hunt prey for the pack. Try not to get too far from the territory but you can pass the territory markings if you want” Moon explained. The patrol nodded and left, disappearing when they passed the trees. After a couple of hours, it was finally dinner. Everybody grabbed one fresh kill from the pile since the meat was super filling. Moon took a thrush and laid down next to Fern who was busy eating a rabbit. “Today was a good day” Moon barked happily. “Yup. Every day will be a good day” Fern purred. Moon smiled and started eating her delicious thrush.

Chapter 13

Moon was walking around the whole territory while the morning sun was warming her up. Today they were going to be taking a trip to explore more of the woods. She finished taking her morning walk and walked into the cave, grabbing a thrush from the fresh kill pile. These birds were her favorite fresh kill. The meat was very sweet, and the feathers are very soft. The pack of dogs and Fern were laying down next to each other in a circle. “Listen everybody, after we finish our food, we will be going on a trip to explore more of the forest, if anybody wants to stay at the cave, please get up” Moon explained. Storm and Gold were the only ones that got up. “I would love to come but..I like to just stay at one spot” Gold explained. “Me too. I am also a little scared” Storm explained and whimpered. “That’s ok. You two can stay here and guard the cave” Moon barked. The akita and jack Russell terrier nodded and laid back down and continued eating their food. After the dogs and Fern were done eating, they were all gathered at the entrance, waiting for a command. “Let’s head out. Gold and Storm, keep the cave safe!” Moon barked, looking at the two dogs that nodded and the borador headed out, hearing the paw steps of the others dogs. Fern walked next to Moon, excitedly purring and was focused on everything around her. “So far its mostly trees and bushes” Moon barked. “Maybe we will find something cool like another pack!” Vole looked curious and exited. “Even better, maybe we can explore an abandoned house!” Bold barked happily. “Finding another pack would be cool but with the abandoned house, I can name a lot of reasons why I wouldn’t go to something like that” Moon barked and gave a scared shiver. “Going to an abandoned house would be cool!” Rose barked and gave a little giggle. Bold smiled and the two dogs gave each other a lick. Peanut whispered into Moon’s ear. “Lovebirds!” she joked, wagging her tail. Moon gave a quiet laugh and agreed with Peanut. She suddenly noticed something that was not just trees and bushes. “There is a field up ahead!” Moon howled excitedly to the others. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go explore it!” Skunk howled and looked excited. “Hold on guys, let’s be careful. We don’t know if that field is part of a pack’s territory” Moon looked a little concerned. “I don’t think it is. Let’s go!” Fern promised and purred. Moon thought for a long moment but she than smiled. “Ok” Moon decided. The borador started running and saw the others run excitedly with her. They stopped at the beginning of the field and looked surprised at how pretty it was. The sun made most of the field glow. Prey was nibbling on the grass and roaming around. “Deer!” Patch barked, wagging his tail. Moon saw a beautiful female deer eating the grass near to them. “Let’s leave her alone” Moon commanded. The others nodded and they followed Moon a little farther. “You guys can explore the field but don’t go too far. Don’t forget that I’m leader” Moon explained. “Don’t worry my leader” Patch barked and nuzzled Moon. She smiled and wagged her tail. She laid down, watching her packmates scatter around and explore in awe. Skunk was chasing some rabbits and barked playfully at some flying birds that were not so high from the ground. Bold and Rose were sitting next to each other and were talking to each other. Vole joined in and looked amused like Bold and Rose were being romantic with each other. Patch and Peanut were crouching across from each other, about to pounce at each other and start a big play-fight match. Fern walked in front of Moon. “Come and play Moon. Just because your leader doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun!” Fern purred. Moon smiled and got up. “Tag!” She barked, tapping her paw on Fern and then took off. Fern purred and raced after her. The pale gray tabby-she-cat pounced and landed on Moon’s back. “Tag!” Fern purred and jumped off, running away. “I’m going to get you!” Moon growled playfully. “Hey, Moon you playing tag?” Skunk howled. “Yup and I’m it. You better start running” Moon barked happily and started running at Skunk. He wagged his tail and ran, laughing as he was chased. Patch and Peanut joined, and Peanut was then tagged. “I’m a very fast dog so watch out!” Peanut warned the others and started running. She was surprisingly fast, and she tagged Fern. Bold, Rose and Vole then joined in, barking with joy and wagged their tails. The dogs and cat played and played until they were too tired to run anymore. “This was great!” Bold barked. “We should go explore more of the field now!” Patch decided. “Great idea!” Peanut agreed. “Yeah, let’s do it!” Skunk wagged his tail and barked with excitement. “Alright, let’s go” Moon commanded, getting up and started walking. The others joined her and they headed farther onto the field. Moon noticed even more prey running around and some more deer that were far from them. Moon noticed something near to them. “Let’s start running!” Moon commanded again. She blasted forward and smiled when her friends ran behind her. They headed towards the spot that Moon noticed, and they saw that it was a cliff. The ocean was underneath. “Woah! Beautiful!” Moon gasped in awe. “Yeah” Fern agreed. The others agreed. “Is it only me or am I starting to get very tired?” Vole barked and yawned. “I’m getting tired too” Bold, Skunk, Peanut and Rose agreed. Patch, Fern and Moon were not that tired, but Moon did want to head back. “Let’s go now. This was very fun” Moon announced. “Yeah It was!” Peanut barked, walking next to Moon. When they went to the entrance of the cave, Gold and Storm came out of the cave to welcome them. “Hey Moon!” Gold wagged her tail and smiled. “You guys are back!” Storm barked happily. “Is the cave all good?” Moon barked. “A fox tried to get in but when it entered, I chased it off, definitely scaring it for life!” Gold barked proudly. “Great!” Moon smiled and then the pack walked into their home.

Chapter 14

Moon was eating with Fern, Peanut, and Patch at the middle of the cave. “What are we going to do today?” Peanut barked. Moon shrugged as a reply. The morning was rainy and not a great day to go back to that field. “Well, it’s definitely not a good day to play outside” Moon barked. “I agree” Fern meowed, finishing her mouse. Patch and Peanut also agreed and after they finished, Moon commanded the others to make a circle. After all the dogs and Fern were sitting next to each other in the shape of a circle, Moon started to speak. “Does anybody have any ideas of what we should do today?” Moon looked curious. “Should we possibly try finding this light that will help you?” Bold looked confused. “It’s pretty wet and muddy out there but I had another vision” Moon replied. “What was it about?” Fern meowed. “I was back in the dog heavens and this time, three spirits visited me. They said that I’m doing great so far but Bull is catching up” Moon explained. “At least we are catching up as well!” Patch barked happily. The others barked excitedly and agreed with the retriever. “I know a game that we can play!” Vole suddenly spoke. “What is the game?” Moon looked even more curious, listening to her friend. “It’s called truth or dare!”. Bold wagged his tail when he heard his brother mention the fun game. “I know a lot about that game!” Peanut looked exited. “Me too” Patch added with the conversation. “I play that game too” Storm wagged his tail and looked exited. “That game is fun!” Rose cheered happily. “Me and Storm would always challenge each other with so many dares!” Skunk explained, playfully nudging his friend. Storm smiled and wagged his tail. “I never played this truth or dare” Moon looked confused. Fern joined in with her. “I have heard about it before, but I don’t really know how to play” Gold was also confused about the game. “It’s ok. We will teach you” Vole promised and started explaining. “So, the way this works is that for example”. The boxer looked at Peanut and spoke again. “I say true or dare to Peanut. If she picks truth, I need to ask her a question and you need to be honest because being honest is a rule of the game. If peanut picks dare then I have to tell her to do something like slap bold”. “Ok” Peanut replied and walked up to Bold who looked nervous. She lifted a paw and swiftly moved it across Bold’s face. “Oww! I thought it was just to teach them!” Bold growled and whined. “Quit being a baby!” Vole growled playfully. “Alright, peanut you start” Vole than looked at the fawn brindle whippet again “Ok!” Peanut barked happily and looked around. “Gold! Truth or dare?” Peanut looked at the akita. “Dare!” Gold replied, wagging her tail. “I dare you to nuzzle Storm for ten seconds!” Peanut explained. “Ok” Gold barked, walking over to the jack Russell terrier. She wrapped a paw over his back and then the dogs gave each other a nuzzle. After ten seconds of endless nuzzling, Gold went back to her spot. Storm gave a smile, “Thanks for that”. Gold smiled back and then started speaking. “Bold! Truth or dare?”. “Truth” Bold replied. “Do you have a crush on Rose?” Gold barked, looking amused. “Umm” Bold stammered uneasily. He blushed and sighed facing Rose who gave a warm smile. “Ok, I do have a crush on you Rose” Bold explained but then he smiled happily when Rose gave him a lick. “I do too!” Rose smiled, her dark brown eyes glittering with love. “Patch! Truth or dare?” Bold looked to the red retriever. “Dare” Patch replied. “I dare you to go outside and roll around in the wet grass for ten seconds!” Bold told the retriever. Patch gave a disgusted groan, but he nodded and walked outside. Bold walked to the entrance and wagged his tail as he watched his friend get soaked. They then walked back in. Bold was laughing and did not mind that Patch gave him an irritated glare. “Your turn Patch” Bold barked. Patch turned his head towards Moon. “Moon, truth or dare?”. “Truth” Moon replied. “If there was one thing you would want to change, what would it be?” Patch barked. Moon thought deeply. I have a perfect answer. “Not having a dangerous Pitbull trying to kill me” Moon replied. Patch nodded. “Fern! Truth or dare?” Moon barked, looking down at her cat friend who looked back up. “Hmm, dare” Fern meowed. “I dare you to kiss Vole” Moon explained the dare. Fern’s gaze widened but she got up and walked in front of Vole. “Just close your eyes. It will go by quicker” Vole barked. Fern nodded and closed her eyes, slowly drifting her nose to Vole’s nose. They touched noses and after a couple of seconds they backed up. “See? All done!” Vole barked. “Yeah” Fern meowed and walked back to her spot. “Storm! Truth or dare?” Fern meowed. “Dare” Storm barked. “I dare you to stand on your back legs for twenty seconds” Fern told the jack Russell terrier. “Ok” Storm replied and got up onto his back legs and tried to balance. After the twenty seconds past, Storm went back on all fours and faced Rose. “Rose! Truth or dare?”. “Truth” Rose replied to Storm. “Were you ever in love with another dog?” Storm explained. “Nope. I was mate less until I met Bold. It’s like he was the one” Rose explained. Bold gave a little smile and the two dogs licked each other. “One more question. Are you guys mates?” Storm looked curious. The dogs wagged their tails and looked amused. Fern also looked amused. “Pretty much” Rose replied. “Is it ok if I can do a dare too?” Rose barked again. “It is agenst the rules but its ok. I dare you to run around the cave” Storm replied. Rose nodded and ran out of the entrance, immediately disappearing. After a few seconds, a howl interrupted them. “Rose?” Bold called, looking worried. Rose rushed in, panting and whimpered in fear. A scratch was bleeding on her neck and her front right paw was limping from a bite. “A huge badger! It’s coming!” Rose whimpered and rushed next to Bold. The brindle and white male boxer protectively stood with her and growled as the badger showed up. Huge black and white fur was bristling, and huge white teeth were bared. Huge claws on the badger’s paws were visible. It growled and then roared, storming right at the dogs. “Attack!” Moon demanded, watching her packmates run at the badger and start biting and slashing it. Skunk was going for an attack on the badger’s face, but the badger snatched him in his jaws and slammed him agenst the wall. “Skunk!” Storm barked, wanting to help his best friend but he stayed back, shaking in fear. Bold was baring his teeth and barked, blocking Rose who was crouched down low behind him. Gold, Vole, and Peanut were rapidly attacking the badger. The badger growled and dropped Skunk who fell on the ground, laying down still and bled. “Fern, help Skunk and Patch, help the others get out” Moon demanded. The two nodded and ran off. Fern grabbed the scruff of Skunk who was groaning from the huge gashes on his body. Moon noticed the badger slam the other dogs away and roared. “Attack!” an unknown bark came from outside of the cave as more dogs rushed in and helped with the badger. Even two cats appeared and hissed aggressively. Their fur made them look much bigger than usual and helped the dogs. Are these dogs and cats from another pack? Moon thought but she than noticed the badger snatch Patch. “No!” Moon growled and rushed forward, pouncing on the badger’s face, rapidly slamming her claws into the badger’s face. “Let go of him!” Moon growled. It roared and let go of Patch but also flung Moon off its face. She woke up, feeling dizzy from hitting the wall but she then noticed a blue merle male Australian shepherd with blue eyes help her up. “C’mon, we need to go” the male dog barked. Moon nodded and followed the Australian shepherd. The other unfamiliar dogs and cats were helping Moon’s packmates escape and she noticed Fern walk towards Moon. “Before you ask. Skunk is with Vole” Fern meowed. Moon nodded and noticed the injured beagle on the boxer’s back who was helping Bold and Rose along with some other dogs that were helping too. The badger roared behind them, but the dogs and cats ran and were now out of sight from the beast.

Chapter 15

Moon woke up, noticing that she was in a strange big den. A red-fawn female greyhound with blue eyes and a blue merle male Aussie Siberian (Australian shepherd husky mix) with dark brown eyes were putting strange leaves and flowers on her other packmates. Moon noticed that she and her packmates were on big mosses that were like beds. “Hey Ray! The leader is awake!” the mixed breed announced, walking over to Moon. She gave a confused look and then noticed Patch laying on the moss that was next to hers. He had a couple of cobwebs on some wounds. He was sleeping and looked peaceful. Fern, Peanut, Gold, Vole and Storm were awake as well, looking around nervously. Moon then groaned, feeling dizzy again. The young male dog placed down something that looked like a pile of green leaves. “Here, eat these. They will help with your dizziness” the mixed breed explained. “It’s not a trick right?” Moon looked nervous. “No! They are good herbs. I promise. This is peppermint. It will help” the mixed breed promised. Moon looked at the little mixed breed for a long moment but then she slowly snatched and chewed the little leaves. It tasted strange and she tasted a juice coming out of the leaves. “Once all of the juice is gone from the leaves, you can spit the leftovers on this big leaf here” the mixed breed explained, nudging a big dead leaf in front of Moon. The borador than spit the rest of the herbs and the mixed breed folded the leaf and carried it out of the den to throw it away. She noticed Bold lying next to Rose who was getting treated by the greyhound. The female greyhound first took little yellow buds off green stems and ripped all the yellow in little pieces with her claws. She than snatched the huge pile and then put the huge blob over the wound. Rose whimpered from the pain a little but was calmed down by Bold. The greyhound than put a cobweb around her leg to keep the herb in place. “Hello there” the same Australian Shepherd barked, walking to Moon. Moon got up and started speaking, “where are we?”. “We saved you and your in the medicine den. Welcome to our pack” the Australian Shepard explained and spoke again. “I’m Buster”. “I’m Moon. Is everybody ok?” Moon told her name and then looked at her packmates. “Your packmates are ok but one did not survive” Buster replied but then looked sad. “Who is it?” Moon demanded, feeling angry and worried at the same time. “Your little beagle friend lost to the wounds from the badger” Buster explained. “That’s Skunk” Moon whimpered. Buster nodded and sighed. “Your friend’s body is in good paws. We will make a burial later” Buster barked. “Thank you. We will definitely come” Moon promised. “Ray and her apprentice, Timber, who is my son are the medicine dogs for our pack. You can trust them” Buster explained about the two dogs that were using a lot of different kinds of herbs. Moon nodded and laid back down on her moss. “Patch?” Moon barked. The red male retriever lifted his head and slowly turned around, facing Moon. “Yes?” Patch replied. “Are you ok?” Moon looked at her friend with worry in her blue gaze. “Yeah. I’m just a little sore from the wounds” Patch replied. “Did you hear about Skunk?” Moon than brought up the news about their beagle friend. “No? What happened?” Patch looked worried. “He did not survive” Moon whimpered. Patch windend his gaze. Moon saw him shake in surprise and sadness but then he sighed and looked back at Moon. “He was a great dog. He was very brave and playful. He will be missed by all of us” Patch whimpered. “I’m going to find Buster. He is the leader of this pack” Moon barked and got up, walking out of the den. Their place was big and peaceful. Trees were all around the huge space and dogs were talking to each other. Moon saw the cats who were talking to each other as well. “Hey there. You must be the leader, Moon” a blue female blue lacy dog with blue eyes barked happily, wagging her tail. “How do you know my name?” Moon barked. “Buster had a meeting and he said that the leader’s name was Moon. I’m Blue” the blue lacy explained. “Nice to meet you” Moon barked. “Do you know where Buster is?” Moon barked again. “He is in his den that is under the tall rock over there” Blue explained and looked at a huge rock that was very tall. There was a big den that stood below it and Moon started heading towards it. Some of the other dogs looked at her. She lowered flattened her flopped ears and swished her tail and walked in front of Buster’s den. “Hello?” Moon barked. Buster walked out of the den and wagged his tail as he looked at Moon. “Your fully up!” Buster noticed and smiled. “I have been thinking that you guys should be a part of our pack. We are a kind pack with strong and protective dogs” Buster explained. “I’ll think about it” Moon replied. After a little while, Moon was gathering her packmates and they made a little circle with each other next to the medicine den. “We should join the pack guys. With a huge pack of even more dogs, we could fight off Bull and even if he makes a pack, this pack is huge, and he would definitely lose!” Moon explained to the others. They all surprisingly agreed but Storm lowered his head and his ears flattened hard on his head. “It will never be the same without Skunk” Storm whimpered. “It will be all right Storm. Skunk is up there in the dog heavens watching over us” Peanut explained. “He risked his life to help us. His death is legendary” Gold felt proud for Skunk’s bravery. “Is this Moon’s pack?” the medicine dog, Ray, barked from behind. Moon nodded and the others nodded too. “It’s time for the burial. Buster will lead you and we will show you what we do. We lost dogs of our own in this pack” Ray explained. “Ok, thank you” Moon smiled happily and waved her tail for the others to follow her. Buster walked up next to Moon. “Some of our warriors made a grave over here. You and your pack can circle the grave while we are behind you. Ray and her helper, Timber, will put some lavenders on the grave to make it look peaceful” Buster explained. Moon nodded and then noticed the filled grave. Moon and the others in her pack circled the grave. Ray and Timber had some flowers in their jaws and placed it on the grave and around it. They then backed up. Rose’s head was cuddled under Bold’s head, crying and comforting each other. Peanut, Patch and Fern were next to Moon, mourning their dead friend. Storm was silently crying while his head was down, and his ears were flattened very hard with sadness. Gold was comforting him, and she looked sad as well. “Skunk was such a great dog. We will all remember him and miss him. He is safe in the dog heavens and may he rest in peace” Moon whimpered. The others said things about Skunk as well. Moon noticed that the other dogs and cats were also looking sad for them. After mourning Skunk, Moon and her pack were standing with the other dogs while Buster was standing on the tall rock. “Attention everybody, let’s take another moment to think about this lovely dog that has passed on into the dog heavens” Buster explained. The warriors were silent, deep in thought and sadness. “Even though were very focused on this tragedy, we do have news that is exiting. Moon, may you come up here please?” Buster explained and called down to Moon who looked surprised, but she nodded her head and climbed up the rock, standing next to Buster. “I have requested if they wanted to join the pack. Moon, do you have an answer?” Buster barked. “Yes, I do, me and my pack have decided to stay. I honor your help and bravery and I cannot imagine that a pack would care this much. Thank you” Moon accepted the request. All the dogs and cats cheered, looking exited that new members were coming into the pack. “Meeting dismissed” Buster barked and then jumped down onto the ground. Moon jumped after him and then said, “Buster, I need to tell you something important”.

Chapter 16

After Moon finished telling Buster about everything that was happening, the leader seemed like he knew what this kind of stuff was. “You must be a chosen one. We will definitely help you find this light” Buster promise. “Thank you” Moon felt relieved and happy. “No problem. Can I give you a tour?” Buster asked. “Sure” Moon replied and followed the leader to the first den. “This is the nursery where queens care for their kits or pups. Marble had three kits 1 months ago. Aren’t they adorable?” Buster explained, looking at the three she-kits playing with each other and then the white she-cat who smiled back at them. “Yeah” Moon agreed. Buster started walking to the next den and Moon followed. “This is the warrior den. All the warriors have a moss where they sleep. There are empty one’s for you and your packmates in there” Buster explained. Moon nodded and followed Buster to the next den. “This is the apprentice den. My son is the only apprentice and my daughter named Dove is already a warrior. Timber sleeps in the medicine den with Ray” Buster explained. “Ok” Moon barked. “And then over there is the leader den” Buster barked, looking at his big den that was under the tall rock. Moon nodded and walked away, walking to where Fern was talking to a yellow and white tom with green eyes “Hey Moon! This is Liam” Fern purred. “Hi” Liam meowed. “Hello” Moon replied. “Hey Moon! Come join us!” Patch called to the borador. Moon noticed him, Peanut, and Vole sitting with some other dogs. She sat next to Patch and smiled. “Moon, this is Violet and Shark” Patch announced. “Hi” Moon barked, looking a little shy. “Hi” Violet replied. “Nice to meet you” Shark replied. “I’m still sorry for the loss of your friend” Violet whimpered. “It’s ok. It will be hard to live without him though” Moon smiled and sighed. Patch brushed his tail on Moon’s back and gave her a warm smile. “Everything will be alright” Patch promised. Moon hoped and smiled. 'Patch is the best. I think I have a crush on him!' Moon thought. “So, what do you guys do in this pack?” Vole barked. “We mostly talk with each other, go hunting and pups or kits would play in the clearing or nursery” Shark explained. “Speaking of kits” Violet spoke and noticed Marble’s three kits running out onto the middle of the clearing. “Come get me Molly!” the gray and white she-cat with yellow eyes meowed excitedly to her sister, an all-black she-cat with yellow eyes. “Don’t worry, I will!” Molly purred and started to chase her sister. Their other sister who was a dark gray tabby she-cat with white paws, tail tip, and ear tips with emerald green eyes was laying down, waiting for a chance to be chased around. “Molly! Kiki! Roxy! Come meet the new dogs!” Violet howled, walking to the three kits who looked up at her in excitement. “Ok!” Kiki purred. She and her other two sister chased towards Moon, Patch, Peanut and Vole who were looking at them in awe. “They are so cute!” Moon barked. “I definitely agree” Patch replied. “Who is their father?” Peanut asked. “I am” a dark gray tabby tom with yellow eyes meowed from behind them. “Daddy!” Roxy meowed happily, rushing over to her father who gave her a lick on the head. Molly was in front of Vole, sniffing him and was happily asking questions. Peanut joined in with having the little kit ask questions and the fawn brindle female whippet wagged her tail. “Be careful girls” the tom meowed. “Don’t worry daddy, these dogs are kind just like every single other dog” Kiki meowed. Moon noticed that Kiki padded over to her and put her tiny front paws on her single white paw. “What kind of dog are you?” Kiki meowed happily, her adorable yellow eyes shining up to Moon’s calm blue gaze. “I’m a borador, a mixed breed of a Labrador and border collie” Moon explained. “Woah!” Kiki purred. “Girls! Come back inside please! Time for a bath” Marble called from the nursery. “Aww” the kits groaned but then rushed off, walking back to their mother. Moon noticed Rose and Bold leaving the clearing. Moon rushed off, following them. Moon hid behind some bushes and saw the two dogs sit next to each other, looking into a little river. “I love you so much Rose” Bold announced. “Me too” Rose replied, and the two dogs touched noses. Rose’s injured leg was still limping but the scratch on her neck looked better. Moon turned around and snuck back into the clearing. She walked to Patch and Peanut who were talking with Violet and Shark again. Vole was eating a mouse with a red male German pinscher with dark brown eyes who was eating a plump pigeon. “Where were you Moon?” Peanut suddenly barked. “I saw Bold and Rose touching noses” Moon replied. “Lovebirds” Peanut joked. “Yup” Patch barked. Violet and Shark joined in and then the group of dogs started laughing with each other. Moon noticed Bold and Rose walk back into the clearing, but Shark’s voice interrupted her. “Who wants to go hunt?” Shark barked. “Me!” Violet, Patch, Peanut and Moon replied. “We should ask Buster first though” Violet explained and walked away, heading to Buster’s den. After a few heartbeats, Violet came back, smiling and wagged her tail. “Buster said that we can go hunting” Violet barked. “Yay, let’s go” Shark howled happily. The group of dogs walked out of the clearing, walking towards the trees. Moon stopped and noticed Skunk’s grave. The afternoon sun glowed on it, making some of the dirt sparkle. She walked in front of it and sat, starting to feel sad again. “Moon?” Patch barked, walking next to her. Moon sighed and did not answer. “I know. I feel the same way, but we need to move on” Patch explained. Moon looked up at her friend and placed her head under Patch’s head and they nuzzled each other. “I just hope that nobody like you or peanut or Fern will end up like this” Moon whimpered. “Don’t worry. Were safe with the pack now. I will never leave you” Patch promised, carefully wiping off Moon’s tears with his tail. Moon smiled and the two best friends walked next to each other, catching up with the others.

Chapter 17

Moon was crouching low on the ground, sneaking up on a rabbit. Moon then pounced, landing on the mammal. The hare squealed as Moon shook the life out of it. “Great job Moon!” Peanut barked. Moon wagged her tail and smiled. Moon placed the hare with a dead rabbit and a toad. “Peanut, it’s your turn” Shark announced. The little whippet wagged her tail and nodded, immediately noticing a squirrel. It was sniffing around and was twitching it tail impatiently for food. “Let’s do this” Peanut whispered and crouched down, slowly sneaking towards the squirrel. After a few second, she pounced landing right on the scared animal. She snatched it and shook it around and dug her jaws. “Nice one!” Violet barked. The others agreed with Violet. Peanut looked proud and wagged her tail, placing down the squirrel with the other fresh kill. After a little while of hunting, Moon and the others were carrying mouthfuls of prey back to the pack. When they placed it with the other fresh kill, Buster’s howl caught their attention. “Pack meeting!” Buster howled, standing on the tall rock. All the dogs gathered around the tall rock. “We will need more patrols to check out borders. Some of my warriors are noticing predators on our territory. We also need to make sure that the big badger doesn’t come to our pack” Buster barked. The other dogs and cats agreed and barked and meowed in approval. “I will call two patrols to check all around the border” Buster barked and scanned the crowed of dogs and cats. “Cody, Blue, Grace and Cherry, you guys will be in the first patrol. Peanut, Copper, Tiger and Moon, you will be in the second patrol” Buster announced. Moon wagged her tail and gave a little nod. “Pack dismissed” Buster howled and jumped down from the tall rock. As the dogs separated, Moon headed over to Peanut and the two other male dogs. Moon noticed that Tiger was a Pitbull and looked nervous. “You ok Moon?” Tiger barked. His voice was much calmer and kind then Bull’s voice, but she did not answer. “A Pitbull named Bull is trying to kill her. She is just scared” Peanut explained and gave Moon a calm lick. “Bull?” Tiger barked, looking surprised. Before anybody could speak, Copper barked, “We should get moving. Peanut, want to lead the patrol with me?”. Peanut wagged her tail and replied. “Sure”. As the group left, Moon glanced at Tiger who was looking surprised and mad at the same time. “Tiger?” Moon barked softly, still nervous. “Yes?” Tiger replied, looking at her with a calm gaze. “Do you know who Bull is?” Moon barked. Tiger sighed and nodded. “I can explain” Tiger barked and moved closer. Moon did not move away and started feeling less scared. “Bull, he is my brother. Our parents were very evil, and they tried to make us evil too, but it only worked for Bull. I refused to be evil and ran away, joining this pack. Here I am now, being kind, honest, loyal and brave to my pack instead of being a crazy, mean, blood-thirsty dog” Tiger explained. Moon nodded and felt much better with Tiger. “Let’s start searching” Copper barked. The other three nodded and they started sniffing the ground and looked around. Moon suddenly sniffed a strange scent. “Hey guys, I found a scent” Moon barked. Copper, Tiger and Peanut rushed next to Moon. Copper stepped forward and sniffed the ground, finding the scent as well. “Moon is right. We should follow this scent” Copper barked and started following the strange scent. The others walked slowly and quietly. After a long moment of following the scent, they noticed a fox trying to find their territory and steal their prey or even the kits that Marble gave birth to. “Stop right there!” Copper snarled, his fur bristling and his tail lashed. The other three stood next to Copper and growled angrily at the fox. “Stay back!” the fox growled, his fur bristling. The fox was a black with dark brown eyes. “You’re on our territory! How about you get out before I allow these three to make you leave!” Copper snapped. “I would like to see you try!” the fox replied with a growl. Before anybody attacked or spoke, the dogs from the other patrol ambushed at the fox. Blue pinned the fox down and Grace helped her. Cody growled at the fox from in front while Cherry made sure that the fox did not escape. Copper walked next to Cody and lowered his head to the fox’s head. “You still want to challenge us?” Copper growled. He placed a paw on the fox’s head. His white claws gripped the fox’s black fur. “No! Let me go!” the fox begged, trying to struggle out of Blue and Grace’s grip. “Fine, Moon and Cherry, escort this fox out of our territory” Copper demanded. Moon and Cherry nodded. They kept the fox close to them when they walked. “I don’t think so!” Moon growled, jumping on top of the fox who was trying to escape. She pinned him down and growled. “Don’t try to escape!” Cherry growled, walking next to Moon. “Fine!” the fox growled. Moon let the fox get up and when they reach the border, the fox started walking away. “Wait” Cherry barked. The fox stopped and turned around. “Consider this a warning” Cherry growled and pounced at the fox. The fox gave a shriek of pain as Cherry slashed his stomach. “Don’t come back!” Cherry growled and let go of the male fox who rushed off into the bushes. Moon followed Cherry back to the others who were walking towards them. “Were all set with the border. Did you guys get that fox out of our territory?” Copper barked. “Yup and I gave that fox a warning to never come back” Cherry barked and growled. “Good, lets head back” Copper barked and turned around. Moon walked next to Tiger and noticed him look at her with another calm gaze. “Are your parents still alive?” Moon barked, looking curious at the Pitbull. “I haven’t seen them in a long time so I’m pretty sure that they are dead” Tiger replied. After a couple of hours, it was time for dinner. Moon walked to the fresh kill and wagged her tail as she noticed how big the pile was. She grabbed a rabbit and sat, eating her rabbit. Fern, Liam, Patch, Peanut, Copper, Tiger, Blue, Bold, Rose and Vole joined with her and they created a small circle. “Today was fun. This pack is great” Peanut barked. Copper, Tiger, Ryan and Blue smiled from the complement about their pack. “I’m excited for tomorrow. Maybe we might find something exciting or go on a pack trip” Vole barked. “Me and Ryan hanged out with each other all day” Fern meowed, smiling at Ryan who smiled back. “Me and Cherry escorted a fox out of the territory today and that fox definitely won’t come back!” Moon barked. “Today was a great day for all of us. Let’s hope that tomorrow is even better!” Blue barked excitedly. The others agreed and after they finished their food and after a little while, the warrior den was full of sleeping dogs. Moon was looking around while laying down on her moss. She gave a yawn and closed her eyes. Soon everything will be even better once we find the light!

Chapter 18

Moon was sitting with Patch and Peanut, listening to Buster. “Today is going to be a fun day. I have some announcements to make!” Buster barked. The other dogs chatted excitedly and became even more focused. “First, Marble’s kits are now old enough to be apprentices and learn how to hunt, fight and be a great warrior!” Buster barked. The crowd cheered and Marble’s three kits, Molly, Kiki and Roxy sat in the front. Molly and Kiki held their heads high and looked proud while Roxy looked nervous. “C’mon sis! Don’t be nervous” Kiki purred, moving closer to her sister. “Yeah, were becoming apprentices together!” Molly purred, walking and sat on the other side of Roxy. Roxy gave a purr and looked excited and happy. “Molly, your mentor will be Dove. Kiki, your mentor will be Owen. Roxy, your mentor will be Gold” Buster announced. Molly rushed towards Dove who gave a smile. Kiki walked next to Salmon who looked exited. Roxy walked towards Gold who wagged her tail and gave a lick. “The next announcement is that Bold and Rose are officially mates” Buster announced and looked at Bold and Rose who smiled. “I have the feeling that the start of pregnancy is starting” Rose barked. The other dogs gathered around the mates for a moment. They congratulated the two dogs and then they went back to their spots and looked up at Buster. “The final announcement is that we will have a great day today!” Buster cheered. After dismissing the pack, Moon walked towards Fern who was talking with Liam. “Hey Fern, can I join you guys?” Moon barked. “Sure” Fern replied. Moon smiled and sat, looking at the two cats. “What should we talk about?” Liam meowed. “Let’s talk about each other’s backstories” Moon suggested. “I have a pretty good backstory if you guys want to hear it” Liam purred. “Sure” Moon and Fern replied. Liam laid down and started speaking. “Well, when I was born, me and my parents were strays. I had a sister but when we were 6 weeks old, she got sick and sadly died. When I was apprentice age, I decided to leave my parents and live my own life. After that I than met this pack and decided to join. After a couple of days, I decided to check out where me and my family lived but my parents were not there anymore. I waited there for an hour and then I knew that they were not out hunting. I did not find their scent leaving the den either, but I did smell dog scents around the spot. I am pretty sure they were killed by dogs, but it was not any of the dogs in my pack because the scent was much different. That’s my backstory” Liam meowed. “Woah” Moon barked. “Hey Fern. What is your backstory?” Liam meowed. “Yeah, tell us!” Moon barked excitedly, wagging her tail. “Ok, I’ll tell it” Fern meowed. “When I was a kit, I was in a shelter with my parents and siblings. When I was eight weeks old, I was adopted. When I came home my owners found Moon and I now have a dog friend” Fern meowed and purred. “That is my backstory” Fern meowed. “Cool, what is your backstory Moon?” Liam purred. Moon froze, lost in confusion. “I…I don’t remember my backstory” Moon barked softly. “Oh” Levin meowed. “It’s ok Moon” Fern purred, rubbing her head against Moon’s fur. Moon smiled and gave her friend a lick. “I’m going to find Patch” Moon barked and got up. “Ok” Liam replied. “Bye Moon” Fern replied. Moon wagged her tail goodbye and walked away. She saw Storm talking with Shark while Patch, Vole, Bold and Rose were talking to each other. She walked past the two male dogs that did not seem to notice her since they were very focused with each other, and she noticed the bigger group notice her. “Hello guys” Moon barked, sitting in between Patch and Peanut. “What are you guys talking about?” Moon barked. “Well, were really just talking about Bold and Rose’s future pups” Vole replied. “Cool. I’m still so happy for you two!” Moon barked and wagged her tail. “Thank you” Rose smiled. Bold wagged his tail and gave his mate a lick. “What should we do today?” Moon barked. “I don’t know” Peanut barked. “Maybe we can go visit that field again?” Bold suggested. “That’s a good idea” Moon barked. “Let’s invite some more dogs and after we have everybody that wants to go, we can ask Buster” Moon barked. The others nodded and they separated. After a couple of minutes asking Buster, the dogs that wanted to come sat in front of Moon. Patch, Peanut, Vole, Bold, Rose, Tiger, Blue, Grace, Cherry, Violet, Shark, Storm and Copper were in a group together. Moon walked to Buster and noticed the leader look at her. “be careful out there” Buster barked. Moon nodded and flicked her tail at the group. The others followed her, and they were out of sight, heading back to the field.

Chapter 19

Moon and the others behind her were walking over the crunchy leaves and dry ground but after a few heartbeats, the big and beautiful field brightened in front of them. “Wow!” the dogs barked with excitement. Moon wagged her tail and felt calm as the familiar gentle wind blew on her fur. The dogs started spreading out and explored the field. Moon noticed Bold and Rose walk around with each other. Tiger and Copper were wrestling with each other. Blue, Grace, Cherry and Violet were looking around and talked to each other. Shark and Storm were back to talking with each other and Vole joined them. Patch, Peanut and Moon ran around with each other. “This place is more beautiful than before!” Peanut barked. “Yeah, it’s like everything changed and became even better!” Moon barked as well. “I wonder how that spot with the water is” Patch barked. “Let’s find out!” Moon barked excitedly and started running even faster. The other two picked up their pace and the three dogs started running like the wind. They then noticed the beautiful spot but then noticed two dogs sitting at the edge. Patch, Peanut and Moon slowed down and stopped. “Hello?” Moon barked. The two dogs got onto their paws and turned around. One was a black, tan, and white male harrier with dark brown eyes and the other dog was a gray male cane corso with dark brown eyes. “What do you want?” the cane corso growled, glaring sharply at Moon, Peanut and Patch. “Were just coming to visit this beautiful spot” Moon barked. “Well, this is our spot now. Get lost!” the beagle-harrier snapped, scraping his claws on the ground. The cane corso bared his teeth and showed his claws as well. Moon felt nervous but she did not let these dogs scare her and she growled back. “This field belongs to every dog!” Patch barked. “Yeah, don’t tell us to leave!” Peanut agreed. The two male strays glared and then turned back around. “What should we do with these dogs Milo?” the beagle-harrier whispered. “I know. Let’s attack them. You try to push them off the cliff Kendrick” Milo whispered back. Moon waited patiently and her fur bristled as Milo and Kendrick pounced. Moon was pinned down by Milo while Patch and Leo were growling at each other while fighting. Peanut pounced on Milo’s back and dug her teeth. Milo howled and stood on his back legs, knocking Peanut off and turned around. He lunged on top of the whippet, but Moon got up to her paws and pounced on Milo’s back. She growled and dug her jaws into the same spot that Peanut bit at. Milo howled and then he snatched Moon’s paw. She gave a howl as she was flung down onto the ground. Milo was now pinning Moon and Peanut. Patch did not notice since he was busy fighting Kendrick who slashed his neck deeply. Patch howled and collapsed onto his side. Kendrick than tumbled onto him and he was now pinning Patch onto the ground. “Let’s bring them to the cliff” Milo demanded. The beagle-harrier nodded and let Patch get up, but Patch did not attack back and instead followed Kendrick’s demands. Milo let go of Peanut and Moon. Peanut growled but Moon gave her friend a calming nuzzle. “Don’t try to attack. It could become even worse if we do” Moon barked. Moon than noticed that she was standing at the edge, about to be pushed off. Patch and Peanut were terrified and the three dogs both turned around, noticing Kendrick and Milo blocking them from running away. Before Moon, Peanut and Patch were pushed into their death, a howl boomed from behind Milo and Kendrick and Moon noticed the other dogs running right at them. As Milo and Kendrick turned around, Moon, Patch and Peanut knocked them away, escaping and rushed to the group. The two male strays gave growls and then they started to run towards the group of dogs. Tiger pounced at Milo. The cane corso dodged but the strong Pitbull turned around and attacked Milo who growled and started slashing at Tiger who slashed and bit back. Kendrick lunged for Patch who growled and dodged, swiftly turning towards Kendrick who was turning around and pounced, biting hard into his back. Patch than flung Kendrick and watched the male dog land hard on the ground. Moon raced towards Milo and Tiger who were aggressively wrestling each other. Tiger slammed Milo onto the ground, but the Cane Corso glared up at Tiger with hate in his eyes. “I would leave if I were you!” Moon growled, glaring down at the gray male dog. “Fine…” Milo snarled and rushed off as Tiger got off him. Kendrick slowly got up but groaned. “C’mon Kendrick, at least we injured them a little” Milo barked. Leo nodded and ran after Milo and after a long moment, they were gone. “Are you three ok?” the crowed of dogs chattered. “Were ok. Patch might need some cobwebs for his neck though” Moon barked and looked at Patch who had a big bleeding wound on his neck. “Ok, lets head back” Copper barked. Moon was walking next to Patch and noticed him glare at the ground. “Are you ok?” Moon barked. “I’m ok but…those dogs. How did they have such power? They were strays” Patch barked. “Well, we showed those two and I bet that they won’t want to mess with us” Moon barked proudly. Patch looked at Moon and smiled. “Yeah, your right”.

Chapter 20

Moon was sitting in the medicine den, watching Ray put some cobwebs on Patch’s neck wound while Timber was sorting the herbs for the greyhound. “Timber is getting smart with these herbs” Moon barked. “Yeah, I think he’s ready to become a full medicine dog” Ray replied and looked at Timber who wagged his tail and looked excited at his mentor. “Who was your mentor Ray?” Moon barked. “A silver-gray female Weimaraner with amber eyes named Cinder was my mentor. She was amazing and I learned so much from her” Ray barked. “Why isn’t she around anymore?” Moon barked. “Well, when I was a full medicine dog, Cinder retired, and then old age took over. She had a death that most elder dogs have which is old age” Ray explained. “And I will soon be the new medicine dog” Timber barked proudly. “I’m probably going to stay as a medicine dog Timber. This pack would be even better with two medicine dogs and even right now, this is great!” Ray barked and smiled. “Soon I will be a full warrior and medicine dog just like my sister” Timber barked happily. “Alright Patch, you are all set. Just be careful with your neck ok?” Ray barked to the red retriever. “Ok” Patch replied and got up, following Moon out of the den. Moon noticed Patch walk into the warrior den to rest but she than walked towards Buster who called her name. “I want you, Shark, Ellie, Matthew, Owen, and Kiki to go on a hunting patrol” Buster ordered. “Alright” Moon replied and after her and the others were with each other, they left. Moon noticed that Kiki was getting much bigger. “How is Kiki’s training? Is she learning well?” Moon barked to Owen. “She is doing amazing. I think she is ready to soon become a warrior. I am also noticing that Molly and Roxy are doing very well as well” Owen replied. “It’s cool that even though were dogs and their cats, they can still learn easily from us” Ellie barked, joining in on the conversation. The pretty female rough collie’s blue eyes was fixed on Owen and then Kiki. “It may be confusing sometimes but I enjoy learning from Owen very much” Kiki purred, rubbing up against her mentor who smiled down at her. “I see some prey!” Matthew barked excitedly in front of them, wagging his little stub tail. “Let’s stay quiet so we don’t scare the prey away” Shark whispered to Matthew. After a while of hunting, a big pile formed beside them. Kiki was crouching down low on the ground, sneaking up on a crow. She than pounced, pinning down the scared crow before it could fly away. Kiki than sank her teeth into the crow and carried the dead bird to the others. “Good job Kiki” Owen barked. “I think we have enough prey” Moon barked. “Yeah, we should get the prey back to the pack. Everybody grab as much prey as you can” Shark demanded. Moon grabbed two mice, a rabbit, a big toad and a finch. They arrived at the pack and Moon let the prey fall into the pile. She than noticed Patch walking to the fresh kill pile. “Hey Moon. Back from the hunting patrol?” Patch barked. “Yup. There is a lot of prey now!” Moon replied. Patch wagged his tail and picked up the crow that Kiki hunted and walked back to the warrior den. Moon smiled and walked to Peanut who was talking to Molly. “Hi Moon!” Molly purred as she noticed Moon come towards them. “Hello Kiki, hello Peanut” Moon smiled and wagged her tail. “Hi Moon. I was just talking with Molly about the wild. Other Packs, predators and lots of prey” Peanut explained. Moon nodded but then the thoughts of the light flashed into her mind. “I’m going to go” Moon barked and walked away. She walked to Fern and Liam who were by a tree that was hidden a little. They were doing something that made Moon surprised. They were touching noses and purred to each other. “Fern?” Moon barked calmly. “Oh! Hi Moon, you probably saw us kissing huh?” Fern meowed, looking a little embarrassed. “I did but that’s ok. Carry on” Moon barked and walked away. She sighed and walked into the warrior den, laying down on her moss and fell asleep, taking a nap. She was in the clearing, but everything was dark around her and there were no dogs around. She than noticed a familiar Pitbull standing only a fox-length away from her. “What do you want now Bull?” Moon barked and growled after. “I’m just saying that you better start the adventure to find your precious light” Bull growled and faded into nothingness. Moon whimpered and everything turned bright and everything started changing until she was back in the dog heavens. She than saw the formillier female border collie with four pups next to her. “Hello Moon, you must start your journey soon. The dark spirited dog is getting stronger” the border collie barked and then everything turned into darkness. Moon than woke up and noticed that it was late afternoon. The sun was close to its setting spot. 'Wow, I guess I slept longer than I wanted to. I must tell Buster about the two dreams' Moon thought and got up and walked out of the warrior den. Buster was laying down on the tall rock and Moon climbed up, sitting next to Buster who got up into a sitting position. “Hi Moon” Buster barked. “I must tell you something” Moon barked. “Of course, tell me” Buster barked. “I had a nightmare and then a dog heaven dream. Both were about finding the light soon because Bull is getting stronger” Moon barked. Buster nodded in reply. “We need to make a trip to find the light!” Moon begged. Buster thought and looked at the ground for a long moment but then looked back up at Moon with a smile. “Ok, I will make a meeting about it tonight and tomorrow morning, we will go” Buster barked. “Thank you!” Moon barked. “No problem” Buster replied and stood up. Moon jumped down and sat under the tall rock. Some of the other dogs started to sit under the tall rock and then Buster howled for a pack meeting. “Attention all dogs, we will be going on a trip tomorrow to find the light in Moon’s prophecy. Everybody get a good night sleep; this is a serious thing and we need to help her” Buster announced and smiled at Moon. Moon smiled back and wagged her tail. Later at night, Moon was sitting on a rock while looking up at the night sky. Patch walked out of the warrior den and walked towards Moon. Moon turned around but took a calm breath as she noticed that it was just Patch. “You’re not tired?” Patch barked. “I am but….are you sure we will be able to do it? This is still making me so nervous” Moon whimpered. “Hey, its ok. Were here for you. I will not let anything bad happen to you. I promise” Patch barked. Moon smiled and looked grateful. “You know, you are such an amazing friend and I’m happy that I found you. I never knew that you cared this much” Moon barked softly and blushed. Patch smiled and then they touched noses. Moon smiled and they closed their eyes. “I love you Patch. I always loved you” Moon barked. “Me too” Patch replied and gave Moon a lick. Moon nuzzled Patch and she than rested her head on his paws. Patch put his head on Moon’s neck and wrapped his tail over her. The two new mates than fell asleep under the night sky.

Allegiance

Buster’s Pack

Buster a blue merle and white male Australian shepherd with blue eyes

Ray a red-fawn female greyhound with blue eyes

Matthew a red and white male Pembroke Welsh corgi with blue eyes

Cody a red and white male Pembroke Welsh corgi with dark brown eyes (Matthew’s brother)

Ivy a black and white female husky with a blue left eye and a dark brown right eye

Timber a blue merle male Aussie Siberian (Australian shepherd husky mix) with dark brown eyes (son of Buster and Ivy)

Dove a black and white aussie Siberian (Australian shepherd husky mix) with dark brown eyes (daughter of Buster and Ivy)

Tucker a red male poodle with dark brown eyes

Blue a blue female blue lacy dog with blue eyes

Grace a black, tan, and white female American foxhound with dark brown eyes

Owen a red male german pinscher with dark brown eyes

Tiger a broad-shouldered black and tan male pitbull with blue eyes

Copper a red male whippet with dark brown eyes

Toby a white male Labrador with dark brown eyes

Violet an orange and white female pointer with blue eyes

Cherry a chestnut female Irish setter with dark brown eyes

Shark a black and white Alaskan malamute with light brown eyes

Raven a black, tan, and white male rough collie with blue eyes (Wasp and Ellie’s brother)

Wasp a sable and white female rough collie with dark brown eyes (Raven and Ellie’s sister)

Ellie a sable and white female rough collie with blue eyes (Raven and Wasp’s sister)

Sunny a fawn and white female American bulldog with brown eyes

Mountain a broad-shouldered black, rust, and white male bernese mountain dog with blue eyes

Moon a black female borador (border collie Labrador mix) with a white chest and a front left paw with blue eyes

Fern a pale-gray tabby she-cat with golden eyes

Bold a brindle and white male boxer with dark brown eyes

Vole a fawn and white male boxer with blue eyes

Storm a black and white male jack Russell terrier with dark brown eyes

Patch a red male retriever with brown eyes

Rose a fawn and rust female doberman with dark brown eyes

Gold a fawn and white female akita with dark brown eyes

Peanut a fawn brindle female whippet with blue eyes

Star a red female retriever with blue eyes (daughter of Moon and Patch)

Cloud an all-white male Labrador with blue eyes

Mars a broad-shoulderd red and white male border collie with dark brown eyes

Chloe a brown and white female Boxerman (boxer doberman mix) with dark brown eyes

Jack a black and white male Boxerman (boxer doberman mix) with dark brown eyes

Onyx a dark gray tabby tom with yellow eyes

Marble a white she-cat with emerald green eyes

Molly an all-black she-cat with yellow eyes (daughter of Onyx and Marble)

Kiki a gray and white she-cat with yellow eyes (daughter of Onyx and Marble)

Roxy a dark gray tabby she-cat with white paws, tail tip, and ear tips with emerald green eyes with emerald green eyes (daughter of Onyx and Marble)

Liam a yellow and white tom with green eyes

Chapter 21

Moon was sitting with Patch and they were waiting for everybody to come. Moon was the one that is leading the group. “Is everybody all set?” Moon barked to all the dogs and cats. The huge group replied and Moon knew that they were ready. “Good luck Moon” Buster barked, sitting on the tall rock. Marble and Onyx were licking their daughters goodbye. “Be careful out there” Marble purred. “We will be ok mom and dad!” Kiki meowed. Ray and Timber were sitting next to each other in front of the medicine den, smiling at Moon and the others. “Alright everybody, lets head out!” Moon barked with excitement and started walking. The others followed her from behind and the trip to find the light started. Patch protectively walked next to Moon and some of the dogs behind her splitted away from the group to check the area. “Where should we go first?” Peanut barked, walking on the other side of Moon. “I don’t know. This forest is huge!” Moon barked. “We will still be able to find the light though. You have us!” Patch barked. Moon smiled and touched noses with Patch. Moon then focused on the woods that was ahead of them. Vole walked up to Moon and Patch and started speaking. “I think we are getting close to that cave that the badger stole”. Moon noticed that Vole was right when she noticed the huge stone cave and a slight sight of the badger. “Everybody let’s sneak behind the trees over here and we need to stay silent” Moon barked to the others. The giant group of dogs and cats were then crouching low behind the trees, making sure that they made no noise. Moon kept looking in the direction of the cave to make sure the badger did not catch them. Everything will be fine! Moon thought but then regretted it as a loud snap appeared. “Oops” Kiki meowed, looking embarrassed. Her paw was on top of a huge stick. It was snapped in half and after a moment, a loud roar startled the dogs and cats. The badger was looking straight at them and then it started thundering at them. Bladed jaws were shining, and claws were visible. “Run!” Moon howled and got up, running as fast as she could. Some of them were catching up with her but others were behind, having to fight off the badger to get away. Moon than howled and stopped, commanding the others to stop too. “I’m going to help the ones that are behind. Tiger, lead the others to a hiding spot” Moon barked. Tiger nodded in reply. “I’m coming with you” Patch barked to Moon. She nodded and they rushed off, heading towards the badger who was pinning Cherry down on the ground. The badger snarled and snapped. It lifted a huge paw and growled like it was warning the dogs that if they tried to help her, the badger would kill her. Blue, Dove, Raven, Shark, Bold, Vole and Rose were the other dogs that were trying to help save Cherry. Moon dared not move but the look on Cherry’s face made her struggle to keep still. “We will figure out a way” Patch whispered. Moon nodded and tried finding a way to sneak around. “Just attack the badger!” Cherry howled and whimpered as the claws sank into her. “No badger is going to tell me what to do, I’m coming!” Raven growled and jumped at the badger, resisting to stay back. Raven, wait!” Moon howled but it was too late. The badger lifted a paw and slashed Raven hard and the other front paw dug in even deeper until Cherry became limp. “No!” Moon howled. The badger gave one last roar and turned around, walking off into more of the woods. “Don’t go after the badger. Let’s just go” Moon barked to the others. The other dogs nodded and followed Moon and Patch. “Tiger?” Patch barked, looking at the huge trees and bushes in front of them. The broad-shoulderd Pitbull then emerged through some bushes and wagged his tail. “We are over here” Tiger barked to Moon and the others. After a couple of seconds, the huge group of dogs were in the hidden spot that Tiger and the others were in. “Kiki!” Mountain growled, walking towards the gray and white she-cat who looked nervous. “You messed up you stupid flea-bag!” Mountain snapped. “Get away from her!” Owen barked aggressively and stood in front of his apprentice. Owen growled and glared at Mountain who glared back. “She was the one that attracted the badger and I saw the badger kill Cherry and Raven!” Mountain growled. “Raven? He’s dead?” Ellie whimpered. “Yeah but it’s all because of this dumb cat!” Mountain growled and stared down at Kiki who was trying to hide behind Owen. The brave German pincher growled and lashed his tail. “It’s not her fault! She didn’t do it on purpose!”. Ellie started tearing up and stuffed her head in her older sister’s fur. Wasp rested her head on Ellie’s head and wrapped her tail around her sister. “Quit it you two!” Moon barked angerly and walked up to them. Mountain turned around and glared at Moon. Moon snarled and her blue gaze became sharp with anger. “Quit blaming your packmate! It was nobody’s fault” Moon barked. “Says the dog who lead us into this situation with the badger!” Mountain growled and snapped. Moon backed up but she bared her teeth and lashed her tail. “If this is how you want to treat us than get out of here!” Moon snapped. “Kiki may have attracted the badger, but she is still my apprentice and I won’t let you blame her!” Owen growled. The other dogs started growling at Mountain. Molly and Roxy walked next to their sister and glared at Mountain. “Make your decision Mountain. Either apologize or leave!” Patch barked. Mountain gave a scoff and turned around, running off into more of the forest. Owen turned around and looked down at Kiki who looked back up at the german pinscher. “Don’t worry about him” Owen barked calmly to his apprentice. “Thanks for protecting me! You’re the best!” Kiki purred and nuzzled her mentor. Owen smiled and gave Kiki a lick on the head. Moon noticed Ellie still nuzzled up against Wasp who looked down at her sadly. “C’mon, we should start moving” Moon barked. The others started walking behind her and the group left, continuing the adventure. After a while of walking and taking some hunting breaks, Moon and the others were in a very different and confusing place. There were huge and tall trees everywhere. “Why are the trees red?” Peanut barked confusingly. “I don’t know. This is new” Moon barked. “We should be careful. There might be danger” Patch barked. “Well, we should explore” Moon barked. “Are you sure? What if this isn’t the right way?” Vole barked calmly to his friend. “I know that this is the way, I can feel it” Moon barked proudly and flicked her tail for everyone to follow her.

Chapter 22

Moon was walking over the leaves, looking around and was in awe of the beauty of the forest. Patch and Peanut were looking around while walking next to her. Fern and Ryan walked nearby but they were mostly talking to each other. “Hey guys! Look at this!” Gold barked, standing in front of a tent. Moon and the others joined Gold and looked in confusion at the tent. “Do you think it belongs to the humans?” Gold barked. “Probably. Let’s leave it alone. We never know if it is dangerous” Moon barked. The others agreed and they then continued walking. Moon noticed some of the dogs spread out again to check around them. Moon then noticed Rose walking slower than usual but Bold tried helping her. Moon also felt like the start of being pregnant, but she ignored the feeling and heard Copper start speaking. “Want to hear a joke?” Copper barked to the other dogs. “Sure”. “Ok”. “Yes please!” the dogs chattered and listened to Copper. “Where do you find a dog with no legs?” Copper barked. Moon wagged her tail and knew it was going to be a funny answer. The other dogs looked at him excitedly and some of them started to quietly chuckle. “Right where you left him!” Copper barked. The other dogs started laughing. “Good one Copper!” Peanut barked. “Ooh, I got one!” Fern purred. “Go ahead Fern” Moon barked. “What kind of cats like to go bowling?” Fern meowed. “An alley cat!” the silver tabby she-cat added to her joke. The others started to laugh together and wag their tails. “I heard that joke once, but I never knew who said it” Fern meowed. “At least we know all these funny jokes!” Moon barked. “Hey Ellie? You ok?” Wasp barked to her sister. “The jokes cheered me up, but I will never forget the loss of Raven” Ellie replied with a whimper. “It’s ok. Your brother was brave to try fighting the badger” Moon barked. Ellie nodded but she stayed silent. “We have been walking forever! Is there anything else that we can do?” Molly meowed. “Yeah, I want to see if we can find something cool!” Kiki meowed excitedly. “Maybe we can find something along the way” Patch barked calmly to the she-cats. “Moon?” Bold barked. “Yes?” Moon replied, looking at the boxer. “We should be careful because Rose is pregnant and will have pups soon enough” Bold barked. “Don’t worry Bold” Moon replied. “I wonder what animals are in here” Ryan meowed. “Right now, I don’t see any, but I do hear birds” Moon barked. A sudden rustle appeared close to them. “What was that?” Moon barked. Suddenly, a little gray female bobcat kit with yellow eyes rolled out of a dead bush and meowed up at the dogs and cats. “A bobcat!” Molly purred excitedly and walked over to the little kit. “Hello there” Molly purred. Moon and the other dogs and cats were concerned but it all looked peaceful. Molly was crouching and purred at the little female bobcat who meowed and tried to play with her. “What’s your name?” Molly meowed. “Name?” the little gray female bobcat kit replied. Moon noticed the white male Labrador named Toby bristle his fur uneasily. “Is everything ok?” Patch barked to Toby but then as Patch looked in his direction, he looked concerned too. Moon tried to see what they were seeing but before she had the chance, Patch sprang forward. Moon now noticed a gray female lynx with yellow eyes, an adult version of the kit pounce right at Molly, but Patch slammed into the bobcat before she could get the black, she-cat. Molly backed up and crouched down low in fear. Blue and Shark stood in front of her protectively. Patch and the bobcat were howling, yowling, and growling but Patch kicked the huge female bobcat off and got onto his paws. Moon rushed at Patch’s side and glared at the bobcat. The little kit scampered to the bigger bobcat’s side and meowed happily. Another bobcat than appeared out of some more dead bushes and stood next to the female bobcat. He was a brownish-red male bobcat with yellow eyes. “How dare you get close to my daughter and attack me!” the female adult bobcat hissed. “Well, you were about to kill one of our own packmates!” Tiger growled back. “Well, you dogs are bad with keeping your precious cats away from strange animals” the female bobcat snapped. The male bobcat stood next to the gray female bobcat as if he were her mate and spoke. “You will pay for getting close to our daughter!” the male bobcat growled. “You two vs an entire pack of dogs and cats? You’re all mouse brained!” Patch barked. “Yeah, just leave! We can slash your throats out in moments since you are way outnumbered!” Copper snarled. The little kit’s mother took a long moment of glaring but then backed up. “Fine! But don’t even look at my daughter again!” the gray female bobcat growled aggressively and she than picked her daughter up by the scruff. The two bobcats and their kit quickly disappeared “Well, they are gone!” Patch barked proudly. “I definitely learned my lesson now” Molly meowed. “Yes, you did. Don’t hang out with kits that you don’t know because the mother could be nearby” Moon barked calmly to Molly who shook her head and got up to her paws. “I think we need a break. Even I’m feeling tired” Moon barked to the others. The others agreed and Violet started speaking. “How about over there in the shade?”. The pointer pointed her nose to a big shady spot not too far away. “Sure” Moon replied and waved her tail for the others to follow. Moon was than laying down with Patch and they both yawned. “I’m going to nap” Moon barked to Patch. “Me too” Patch agreed and rested his head. Moon smiled and put her head on her mate’s head. Their tails laid on each other and they both slept. Moon noticed that she was in the dog heavens again. Who is visiting me now? Moon thought and then the answer appeared only a fox-length away. A black and white female border collie with dark brown eyes was standing in front of her. “Hello?” Moon barked to the border collie. “Hi Moon. You did it. Just look for my light and you will find the real one” the border collie barked calmly. Moon had the feeling that she should wake up and when she did, nothing was there. She lifted her head and looked the other way. Her eyes widened as the same spirit was standing in front of her. “Follow me Moon” the female border collie barked and started walking away. “Guys! Wake up! Let’s go!” Moon demanded, getting up and started to walk. The others looked confused and tired, but they followed her. Moon noticed the spirit start running and Moon ran after her. She could hear her packmates start running and what was very important was finding the light. After a couple of minutes running, the spirit disappeared but she than became visible, but she was standing next to a yellow male Labrador with dark brown eyes. He was sitting, looking up at the sky. She smiled and then disappeared. The Labrador looked at Moon and the others and looked surprised. He had a huge smile and rushed towards Moon. “Could it really be you?” the male Labrador barked. Moon looked confused but listened. “Your Moon. I’m the light that you were supposed to find” the Labrador barked. “But why are you extremely excited?” Moon barked confusingly. “Because I know you Moon. I’m more than the light in your prophecy” the male dog barked and then walked closer and opened his mouth, “Moon, I’m your father”.

Chapter 23

Moon felt like she was going to cry and pounced on her father in happiness. Her father smiled and wrapped his paws over her back. Moon laid down and the two dogs hugged. Moon then let her father get up and smiled at her friends who looked happy for her. “Dad, meet my friends. I’m in a pack” Moon barked. The Labrador nodded and then looked at the others. “I’m Moon’s father, my name is Ace” the Labrador explained. The others started to talk and greeted Ace. Patch walked up to Ace and sat. “Hello, I’m Patch. I’m your daughter’s mate” Patch announced. Ace looked surprised and looked at Moon who immediately rushed in front of her father. “Are you pregnant?” Ace barked. Moon knew that she was pregnant since her stomach was bigger and she felt more tired. “Yes, I am, I’m pretty sure that very soon they will come” Moon barked and smiled. “I’m so proud of you! I bet your mother and siblings would be too!” Ace barked. Moon then looked confused. “My mom and siblings? Where are they?” Moon barked. “I will tell you on the way back to your pack territory” Ace barked. “Wait, you’re coming with us?” Moon barked and wagged her tail. “Of course!” Ace barked back. Moon felt happier than ever and after a while of greetings, the group of dogs and cats were walking back. “So, before I tell you the story, were you given to the humans or became a stray?” Ace barked. “Well, I was with the humans and they were the best. I have a cat friend named Fern who is mates with Liam” Moon barked and looked at Fern and Liam. Fern smiled at Moon and walked next to her. “Nice to meet you Fern” Ace barked to the pale gray tabby she-cat. “Greetings Ace” Fern meowed. “Dad?” Moon barked to Ace. “Yes?” Ace replied. “What happened to our family?” Moon whimpered. “Well, your mother was named Sky. She was beautiful and kind. She had you and four other pups. Three brothers and one sister” Ace explained. “We were trying to escape a forest fire and I got burned very bad. I was going to die but after Sky left, some people in big suits that must be fire-proof saved me” Ace barked. “I was than living in a huge building with huge red trucks, 3 friendly men, but the most amazing thing about that place was that I had a friend” Ace explained. “His name was Louie a white male dalmatian with black spots with blue eyes. He and I were best buddies, but I was also homesick and every day I would just sit, looking out of a window that was next to the door. It looked right at the woods and the people knew that my real home was the wild. I am a wild dog” Ace barked. Moon nodded and was still very curious. “After I was healed and I could breathe properly again since I breathed in a lot of smoke, they let me go. It was sad to leave Louie, but I was able to say a big goodbye to him. When I returned to the forest, everything was burnt and no matter how hard I tried, I could not find your mother or siblings. The only death that I did see was two of your brothers named Carter and Bullet” Ace explained to his daughter. Moon nodded and started speaking. “I had visions of some dogs that look familiar” Moon barked. “You had visions from your mother and siblings!” Ace barked excitedly. Moon nodded and smiled. Patch walked at the other side of Moon and gave her a lick. “Soon, everything will be much better with our future pups and having the light to help us” Patch barked happily. “Yeah, everything is turning out great!” Moon barked and they touched noses. Ace smiled and wagged his tail happily for his daughter. After a while of walking, they were back in their regular woods, but a dog jumped out from a pile of bushes. It was Mountain who looked regretful and his tail and ears were down. “Mountain? What do you want?” Moon barked. The other dogs started to growl. Molly, Kiki and Roxy glared while Fern and Ryan stood in front of them, hissing aggressively. “Listen, I have thought for a while and I’m very sorry. I beg that you all forgive me” Mountain whimpered. Moon was concerned of what she should do but she let out a sigh and looked very serious. “You can be a part of our pack but don’t blame your own packmates again!” Moon barked and gave a little growl. Mountain nodded and walked slowly to the others. Most of the dogs were glaring in untrust but they did not hurt or growl at him. “Were getting close to home” Moon announced. Moon suddenly heard Rose whimper and saw her slow down even more. “Moon! Rose is close to having to give birth!” Bold howled and whimpered. “Don’t worry, let some dogs carry her. We are very close to the territory” Moon barked. Tiger helped Rose get up onto his back while Toby and Bold helped Rose stay on the Pitbull’s back. “I’m surprised that you can carry me. I’m a doberman!” Rose barked weakly. “Well, I’m strong and even though you are heavy, I can handle it” Tiger replied. “Were also helping!” Toby barked. “Yeah, don’t worry my love” Bold barked and smiled to his mate who smiled back. Moon also had the feeling a little bit, but it rushed off as the clearing appeared. “Were back!” Moon barked excitedly. Moon noticed Ray, Timber, Onyx, Marble, and Buster appear and smile and cheer in greeting. Moon and Ace walked to Buster who looked proud at Moon and then looked at Ace calmly. “Buster meet my father who is also the light for my prophecy. Dad, this is my leader, Buster” Moon barked. “Nice to meet you Ace” Buster barked calmly. “You too” Ace replied. “Timber get the cobwebs!” Ivy howled in the medicine den. Moon was going to head over there but a striking pain started, and she howled. Moon laid down. “Moon!” Ace barked worriedly to his daughter. “I think it’s time” Moon whimpered weakly. Patch rushed over and helped Moon get up. Moon felt tired and her stomach hurt since it was time to give birth. “Ivy!” Patch barked. The female greyhound rushed out and looked shocked. “Moon!” Ivy barked and rushed over to her. “Don’t worry patch, I will handle her” Ivy promised. Patch nodded and let Ivy help Moon the rest of the way. Moon noticed Rose touching noses with Bold and two pups drinking their first meal. One was a brown and white female Boxerman (boxer doberman mix). The other puppy was a black and white Boxerman (boxer doberman mix). Moon was laying down on one of the mosses and could feel that it was starting. She whimpered and gave a couple of howls. Timber gave her a stick that would help her get distracted from the pain while Ivy was helping the pups. After a couple of seconds, Moon noticed that it was all done but she felt more tired than she ever felt. Patch and Ace walked in and they sat next to her. Moon looked down and her gaze widened with awe. Three small pups were suckling and gave little groans. One was a red female retriever, a white male Labrador and a broad-shoulderd red and white male border collie. “Congratulations Moon!” Patch barked and touched noses with Moon. I am a mother! Moon thought happily and proudly. “I’m now a grandfather! This reminds me of when you were born and cuddling with your siblings. You were so cute back then and now your even cuter!” Ace barked. “Congratulations Moon!” Bold barked softly. “Yeah, your pups are adorable like my two little ones” Rose smiled. Moon smiled happily and gave her little pups a lick. The small female retriever lifted her tiny head and gave a little squeal at Moon. “She looks just like you Patch but female version” Moon noticed and smiled. “And she is a retriever like me!” Patch barked happily. “The other two are the dog breeds that my father and mother are!” Moon barked softly. “What should we name them?” Ace looked curious. “My little girl is named Chloe and my little boy is named Jack!” Rose barked. “Those are great names!” Moon barked back. “I think we should name the Labrador Cloud. Look how white he is!” Ace barked and licked his grandson. “I like that name” Moon barked. “Me too!” Patch agreed. “We should name the border collie Mars. He looks strong and I love his red and white fur” Patch smiled and gave his son a lick on the head. “I love it!” Moon barked. She than looked down at her daughter who was wrestling Cloud, but they kept falling over. Moon licked her daughter and smiled as she gave a little adorable squeal. “I know what I’m going to name her” Moon decided. “What is it?” Ace and Patch barked curiously. Moon took a deep breath and opened her mouth, “Her name will be Star”.

Chapter 24

Moon was laying down with Patch, watching her daughter and sons play. Six weeks have passed and nothing bad has happened. Rose and Bold’s son and daughter, Chloe and Jack were also playing together, and they barked and growled playfully. Star and Cloud had blue eyes like Moon while Mars had Patch’s dark brown eyes. Chloe and Jack both had dark brown eyes since both of their parents also had dark brown eyes. Kiki, Molly and Roxy were also officially warriors and were talking to the other dogs. Copper and Peanut also were becoming romantic with each other. “Dodge this!” Star barked happily and pounced at Cloud. Cloud easily dodged and laughed. “Can’t get me!” Cloud teased but Mars than pounced on his brother and pinned him down. “I can though!” Mars announced. “Puppy stack!” Star barked and leaped on top of Mars. Mars, Star and Cloud were laughing with each other. Chloe and Jack noticed them and were creeping up on them. “Puppy pile!” Chloe barked excitedly. She and her brother pounced on the other three and then there was a pile of laughing puppies. They got off each other and sat in a circle. “Whoever lays down last is it!” Chloe barked happily and immediately went into a lying position. The others did the same, but Cloud was the last one. “Your it Cloud!” Chloe barked and the others ran. “Get back here!” Cloud growled playfully and chased after them. “Woah hang on there” Buster barked, walking to the pups who stopped and looked at Buster nervously and confusingly. “How about you guys play in the field that Moon found. I bet its great there!” Buster barked. “It is!” Moon barked happily, getting up. “Yay! It sounds fun!” Star barked happily. The other puppies started barking excitedly. “We need to come though so we can protect you guys” Patch barked. “Yup, you aren’t leaving without us!” Bold barked, walking with Rose towards the pups. “Wait, I’m coming too!” Ace barked as well, walking to the group. “Grandpa!” Star, Cloud and Mars barked excitedly, running towards Ace who smiled and gave his grandchildren a lick on the head. The pups than started following their parents. Moon noticed the pups run up in front of the adult dogs. “What is it like at the field?” Star barked curiously to Moon. “It’s amazing there, you will see” Moon promised. Star smiled and bounded up to her brothers. The field than appeared and the pups rushed ahead in awe. “Look at them go!” Rose noticed. Moon and the other adult dogs laid down with each other, watching the pups continue their game of tag. Moon smiled but than a sudden memory of her playing tag with her friends made her sad. “You ok Moon?” Patch barked calmly. “Yeah, I just remember when we played tag here” Moon barked. “It’s ok. I remember it too” Patch barked. “Got you Jack!” Cloud barked excitedly. Jack wagged his tail and started running after the others who were giggling excitedly. “I’m proud of Peanut. I know that she and Copper will be mates. Fern is mates with Ryan which is amazing!” Moon explained. “Yeah, everything is going very well” Ace barked. “I’m still concerned about Bull though” Moon barked softly. “It’s ok. Everything is going great so far. I know that we can defeat him!” Patch barked. Moon smiled and nuzzled Patch. Moon noticed that they were not playing tag anymore and were instead talking to each other. “They are a group just like us” Moon barked. Bold, Rose and Patch looked as if they remembered and smiled. “Moon?” Ace barked. “Yes dad?” Moon barked back. “When should we find Bull?” Ace barked. “I don’t know but we should do it soon” Moon replied. “Mommy!” Star barked happily, running up to Moon. “Hi sweety” Moon barked and gave her daughter a lick. Cloud and Mars than rushed towards them and barked happily. Chloe and Jack visited their parents as well. “Could we explore the woods?” Mars barked. “Please?” Star begged. “We want to see what is out there!” Cloud barked excitedly. “Ok” Moon barked and got up. “Yay!” Star cheered. Cloud and Mars wagged their tails and ran around with their sister excitedly. “Do you guys want to come explore the forest?” Moon barked to Bold and Rose. “No thanks, were going to head back to the pack” Rose barked. “Yeah, I think these two need a nap” Bold replied and looked down at his daughter and son who did look tired and they yawned. Moon, Patch, Ace and the three little pups were walking in the woods, looking around. “Woah! It’s so big!” Cloud barked. “Hey guys! Look at that!” Ice barked, staring at a black rabbit that was nibbling the grass. “What is it?” Star barked curiously. “That is a rabbit. It is prey that we hunt and bring back to the pack” Moon barked. “Want to watch me hunt it pups?” Patch barked. “Yes please!” Star, Cloud and Mars begged, wagging their tails and looked at their father. “Alright. Watch carefully” Patch barked. Patch crept down low and started sneaking towards the rabbit. After a long moment, he jumped and pinned the rabbit down. He snatched it with his jaws and shook it while digging his jaws. After another moment, the rabbit was limp in his Patch’s jaws. “Wow!” Star barked. Her brothers cheered. Patch put it down and started digging up a hole. He placed the rabbit into the hole and started covering it back up. “We will leave this here for another animal to find and have” Patch barked. After he filled it all up Moon started to speak. “Do you guys want to see something amazing?” Moon barked. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” the three pups barked excitedly. “Let’s go!” Moon barked happily. After a couple of minutes walking, Moon and the others were at the cliff. “Wow! It’s so pretty!” Mars barked. “I love it!” Star barked. Cloud rushed forward to get a better look but Ace blocked Cloud with his tail and picked him up by the scruff. He put Cloud down and smiled. “Don’t get too close to the edge!” Ace barked. After a couple of minutes looking at the beautiful and peaceful view, they were walking back to the pack. “I am hungry!” Cloud barked. “Me too!” Star barked. “I could eat a whole rabbit!” Mars barked happily. Moon, Patch and Ace smiled behind them and when they got back, the pups rushed over to the fresh kill pile. “Hello Star, Cloud and Mars!” Fern meowed. “Hi Fern!” the pups barked. “Take whatever you want!” Fern purred. The pups wagged their tail and started going crazy. Moon was looking for Buster, but he was not in sight. “Does anybody know where Buster is?” Moon barked. “He told us that he was going to go to the lake, but he hasn’t come back in a while” Violet barked. “The lake?” Moon barked confusingly. “It is not far. Just pass those trees and then you are there” Violet barked, looking at some very big trees in the south distance. “I will go check on him. Patch and Ace, could you come with me?” Moon barked and looked at her father and mate. “Of course!” Patch replied. “Yeah lets go” Ace barked. “Follow me” Moon commanded, and the three dogs rushed off. After a couple of seconds running past the trees, a huge sandy spot appeared with the lake ahead. Moon than looked in fear. It was Bull. Buster was under his paws and Bull was trapping his head underwater. “No!” Moon howled. Bull turned his head and smiled. He snatched a big chunk of Buster’s back fur and dragged him out of the water. He was not moving or even breathing. “You monster!” Patch growled. His fur was bristling, and his claws were more visible than they usually are. Ace did the same and looked like he was going to pounce. Moon could see the slightest bit of nervousness in the Pitbull’s eyes as he looked at Ace but he still growled. “This is a reminder that me and my pack are coming tomorrow!”. The pitbull than took off into the woods. Moon wanted to chase him, but she did not and commanded the other two with her tail to stay with her. They walked over to Buster’s body and started mourning him. “It’s time. They are coming tomorrow” Patch barked. Ace walked to Moon and looked serious. “It’s time Moon. Are you ready?” Ace barked. Moon looked scared and concerned. She thought about the possible loss of a ton of their dogs, but she did know that if she did not, Bull would kill her. Moon took a deep breath and looked up at her father. “I’m ready” Moon barked proudly. “Good. Let us head back and tell them. Tomorrow, the fight begins” Ace barked. The three dogs then rushed off back into the woods.

Chapter 25

The dogs and cats were sitting under the tall rock. Ace and Moon were standing on the rock. The morning sun was blasting overhead, and Moon and Ace looked down at the dogs and cats. “Today is the day. Today we will use our claws and teeth. Today we will risk our lives. Today is the day of the fight!” Ace barked. The dogs and cats cheered. “We won’t let Bull and his pack take over us and kill Moon. We will show them that this is our time!” Ace barked proudly. The others cheered and agreed. “Well, let’s go” Moon barked. Ace and Moon jumped off the tall rock. “Ray and Timber, keep the pups safe” Moon barked to the two medicine dogs. “We will” Ray promised. Timber nodded and wagged his tail as a couple of the pups walked over to him, playfully tackling his tail. Moon and Ace were leading the pack and they all left. All they could hear was the birds chirping but then they heard a howl. They were on the field and they noticed something. Bull and his pack were heading right towards them. The two packs were standing three fox-lengths away, glaring and growling at each other. “Moon” Bull growled. “Bull” Moon growled back. “I knew that you would arrive. How does it feel to be moments away from possibly losing your life?” Bull barked. “Be quiet! We could fight you and win easily!” Patch growled. Moon noticed Tiger walk next to her and glared at Bull who glared back. “Hello brother, miss me? Because I never missed you!” Tiger growled. “I didn’t miss you either traitor! Leaving me and our parents was a big mistake!” Bull snapped. “Actually, it wasn’t! I like this life! I am not a killer. I’m a fighter!” Tiger growled. Bull stared in irritation and rage. “You don’t stand a change Bull!” Moon barked. The dogs in Moon’s pack cheered and barked at Bull and his pack. The cats in Moon’s pack meowed and yowled at Bull’s pack. “Let’s see” Bull barked and took a step closer. Moon kept her stance and was ready. “Attack!” the two leaders barked at the same time and the two huge group of dogs pounced at each other, creating a war. Moon raced from where she stood, dashing by dogs, thrashing her claws at any dog who tried to leap at her. A blue-gray American bully clawed onto Moon’s back, digging his jaws into the female mixed breed’s shoulder. Moon snarled, grabbing the American bully’s scruff and flung him off. The American bully rushed back onto his paws, growling at Moon. Moon glared, reaching out a paw, slashing the American bully’s right eye. The enemy dog yelped, staggering back, blood spraying the grass. The American bully striked forward, digging his jaws into Moon’s shoulder again. Moon yelped, falling to the ground. The American bully growled, wagging his tail but not in a friendly way. Toby collided into the American bully and Moon got up, watching the male Labrador fiercely wrestle with the American bully. Toby grabbed the American Bully by the scruff, than slamming the enemy to the ground with a paw, tearing out a clump of fur. The American bully yelped, blood oozing badly from his neck where the fur was torn out. Moon felt two paws slam her in the face. The female mixed breed collided onto the ground again. Paws rolled her over onto her back, her throat exposed. Moon glanced up, her blue eyes filled with anger. A red male Rhodesian ridgeback with white paws and tail tip with blue eyes was pinning her down. A growl formed in his throat. “You and your pack should’ve backed down, we will win this fight!” the Rhodesian ridgeback snapped. Moon glared, thrashing a paw at the Rhodesian ridgeback’s cheek, giving a nasty scratch The Rhodesian ridgeback yelped and Moon kicked him off. The female borador sprang onto her paws. “Maybe you and your pack should back down! I am the leader of this pack and I will not let them down!” Moon snapped. The Rhodesian ridgeback glared with hatred, getting up. Toby rushed by Moon’s side. The American bully was dead and the Labrador was now ready to help out Moon. Patch rushed over to Moon, standing by her, glaring at the Rhodesian ridgeback. “Moon!” a yowl echoed through the barking and growling of dogs. Moon rushed off, dodging the Rhodesian ridgeback’s pounce and she could hear Patch and Toby attack the Rhodesian ridgeback. Marble, Molly, Kiki, and Roxy were on a tree, terrified and hurt. Onyx laid dead under one of Bull’s dogs. The dog, a brindle and white male cane corso with dark brown eyes barked up at the cats. “Moon!” the same yowl which was from Marble reached to the female mixed breed. The cane corso turned, noticing Moon rushed at him. Moon slammed the cane corso away, pouncing on the dog, digging her jaws into the dog. The cane corso growled, snatching Moon’s scruff, throwing her back. Moon tumbled on the ground, getting up quickly and dodged a pounce from the cane corso. Two dogs dashed over to Moon’s side, Shark and Blue. The three dogs battled the cane corso. The cane corso felt Moon and Blue both dig their jaws into his back and Shark knocked the cane corso off, going for the throat. Moon and Blue backed up, letting Shark finish the cane corso off. “Head back to the camp, it will be safe there!” Moon commanded to Marble, Molly, Kiki, and Roxy. The cats nodded, quickly climbing down the tree and they rushed off into the forest. The commotion behind the two female dogs died down and Moon turned, seeing the cane corso dead on the ground. Shark laid beside the cane corso. “Shark? Are you ok?” blue looked concerned for her packmate. “I did it…is the war over?” Shark seemed to have a very heavy breath and shaky voice. “What? No, there are still more dogs to fight, get up, let’s go” Moon nudged Shark but as she lowered her muzzle, she could see something streaming from Shark’s throat, blood. The cane corso bit off a huge chunk of fur from Shark’s throat. “Shark! Your bleeding!” Moon looked concerned. “I’ll get Ivy! She’ll know what to-“ blue gave a frantic bark, backing up but Moon interrupted her, “No…it’s too late, he’s already lost so much blood”. Blue looked concerned even more. “No! he can’t die! It’s just one little bite on the throat…” Blue denied it but the sight of the huge wound made her whimper in fear and disgust of the smell. “It’s ok…I at least got rid of one enemy, that’s one less enemy to fight, right?” Shark smiled gently, and his head than collapsed onto the ground. Moon nudged the Alaskan malamute, he was gone. “He’s gone…c’mon Blue, we can’t let this stop us” Moon nudged the female blue lacy dog and the two female dogs rushed back to the huge group of fighting dogs. Moon soon reached the middle of the fight, noticing Bull and Tiger. Tiger was bleeding from wounds on his back. Bull panted, glaring at Tiger. “I will kill you! You deserved to die a long time ago!” Bull growled, slamming Tiger down with his strong front paws, pinning his brother onto the ground. Bull growled and slashed deep into Tiger’s throat. Tiger’s gaze widened and blood bled out. “You wouldn’t! You wouldn’t kill your own brother!” Tiger snarled. “Yes I would! When you left me, I promised that the next time I see you, you will be dead, I enjoyed all those good times together but…it's time for you to go” Bull growled. “We never had any good times! You barely showed me any love and instead you bullied me, harmed me, and became a killer! Now you want to murder me. At least being in the dog heavens will be better than staying down here in the earth with you!” Tiger growled. Bull slashed a paw and raked the throat wound even deeper. Tiger choked out blood and collapsed onto his side. He looked up at Bull who glared back down at him. Tiger’s vision became blurry, and he choked. Tiger groaned as his gaze grayed up and his head fell, becoming fully motionless. Tiger’s death seemed to stop all the dogs and what they were doing for a few seconds. “No!” Moon howled out. She noticed Bull put a paw on her brother’s shoulder and he cackled out loud. The male pitbull than glanced over at Moon. “Your turn…” Bull snarled. He rushed towards Moon. The sight of Tiger’s death made Moon freeze, not even realizing that she should dodge. Ace rushed over to Bull, clawing him down, knocking and wrestling the pitbull away from Moon. Moon soon came back from shock, watching her father fight the male pitbull. The dogs were fighting again. Moon decided to help out more of her packmates. Moon rushed around, ready to attack an attacker dog. Moon suddenly tripped on something and she got up quickly, turning to see what it was. Tucker’s body laid on the grass, blood pooling from his neck. The little poodle dog had the scent of two attackers and Moon sighed, sorry for the little poodle being ganged up which must’ve been more painful than just one. Moon suddenly saw something like a spirit nearby. She rushed over to the scene and noticed Skunk’s spirit standing over Storm. Storm had a bad bleeding bite on his back right leg and it hurt too much for Storm to run on it. A tan male Kangal with dark brown eyes was the dog that injured Storm’s leg, glaring at the jack Russel and beagle spirit. Moon dashed forward, slamming her strong front paws at the Kangal’s face, sending the dog rolling back. Moon glanced back over to Storm. Skunk smiled with pride, proud of Moon. Storm looked thankful and he got up. “Guide him back to camp” Moon commanded to the beagle spirit gently. “Of course” Skunk’s spirit voice emerged and he protected Skunk and the two dogs rushed towards the forest. The Kangal jumped on Moon from behind, digging his jaws into Moon’s neck. Moon growled, rolling over and Crushed the Kangal. The Kangal released Moon and the female borador got back onto her paws, glaring at the male dog. The Kangal got back up, about to jump at Moon again. Fern and Liam’s yowl arose as the two cats leapt onto the male dog’s face, clawing and biting. “Go” Fern meowed over to Moon and the she-cat helped the tom. Moon ran off, going to find Bull and Ace. Moon saw her father standing over bull. A gash bled on the Pitbull’s throat and Moon rushed next to her father. “C’mon Moon, you must finish him” Ace spoke calmly. Bits and scratched bled on the Pitbull’s body but Bull still gave an evil smirk. “I’m...not…done!” Bull heaved, trying to get back on his weakened paws. Memories of everything Bull did flashed into the female mixed breed’s mind. Moon’s lips curled and she dug her jaws into the same wound. Bull’s gaze widened but the pitbull was silent. Moon let go, watching the dead pitbull fall lifeless against her paws. Bull’s pack members noticed their leader dead on the ground. They left the other dogs, circling around their leader. One of the dogs, Axel, looked nervous at Moon and Ace. Moon and Ace snarled, backing up. Their pack members stood by the two, glaring at Axel and the other members of Bull’s pack that were still alive. “Bull’s pack, retreat!” Axel commanded. The remaining dogs of Bull’s pack ran after Axel and disappeared. Moon and the others cheered and howled proudly. “Moon! You did it!” Fern meowed. “We all did it. Its finally over!” Patch barked calmly. “We should head back to our territory!” Moon barked and commanded the others to follow her. Ray and Timber ran to the others in happiness and relief. “We won!” Moon barked. “Mom!” Moon’s pups barked excitedly and rushed over to her. Patch joined them and the family nuzzled each other. Chloe and Jack did the same with Rose and Bold. Moon than walked to the tall rock and jumped on top of it. “Attention everybody. The fight was a success!” Moon barked proudly. “We only lost four packmates” Storm barked. “I know Tiger, Onyx and Shark died but who’s the fourth?” Moon barked nervously. “Tucker. He was killed. Two dogs teamed up on him and he couldn’t fight them off.” Toby barked. “Even though we lost some packmates, they are safe in the dog heavens” Moon barked. The other dogs and cats knew that their leader was right. “You know, me and my pack before we joined you guys were dog-pets” Moon barked. She noticed that the crowed did not get mad and instead they looked calm. “You are all still very brave!” “We don’t mind that you were dog-pets” “You are still amazing dogs” the crowed barked happily. “I think that we should visit the humans” Moon suggested. “That would be nice. I miss my owners” Peanut barked. The crowed of dogs and cats understood and then the meeting was over. “After everybody is all healed, we will go!” Moon announced happily.

Epilogue

After a few days, Moon and the others were walking towards the houses. “We’re close” Moon barked. They noticed that they were standing at an entrance of the woods that had all the houses around. Moon wagged her tail and looked happy as ever as her and other families started rushing towards them. The pack backed up in the bushes since they were wild and were nervous of humans. They still watched while hidden but Moon and her friends stayed out. Moon’s father also stayed out and stood next to the borador. Liam was also out from hiding, not scared at all. Sophia, Robert, Sally and Timothy were crying in joy. Moon rushed ahead and jumped, feeling their hands wrap over her. She smiled and licked them. “Moon! It’s you!” Sophia cried happily. Fern rushed towards them and they started crying happily and picked Fern up. Fern purred happily. Star, Cloud and Mars curiously walked to Moon’s side. Patch joined them and the humans looked surprised. “Moon had puppies!” Sophia said surprisingly. Star, Cloud and Mars started barking happily and ran over to them, wagging their tails. Jessica ran towards Bold and Vole who ran towards her. The two boxers laid down and they licked her face and let her hug both. Rose walked over with her daughter and son. “Bold! You had pups!” Jessica gasped. Jessica looked at Rose. The Doberman’s dark brown eyes gazed calmly to the girl and Rose wagged her tail and gave Jessica a lick. “Aww, you’re so sweet!” Jessica giggled, petting Rose. She than let the pups sniff her and then they started licking and wagged their tails. Olivia and Sophia were talking to each other and they made an agreement. “I will adopt Patch and one of the pups” Sophia said. Patch wagged his tail. “I will go. It’s not like we will be apart forever” Mars barked and looked at his siblings who smiled at him. “We know” Star smiled. “I will pick this little one” Jessica said, picking up Mars who gave an exited bark. More families came and checked out the dogs and cats. Liam and Copper appeared and walked to their mates. “Fern! You have a mate!” Sophia gasped, noticing Liam who smiled and gave a deep, loving purr. After a while, it was now just Sophia’s family. Fern, Liam, Star and Cloud were standing with Sophia, Robert, Sally and Timothy but Moon looked unsure. She wanted to be with her friends and pups, but she also wanted to be with the pack. She backed up and barked. “I want to be a wild dog like my father”. Even though Sophia, Robert, Sally and Timothy could not understand her, they looked like they knew that she wanted to be wild. “Bye Star, Mars and Cloud. I will visit you sometimes. Same to you Fern” Moon promised. The humans, dogs, and cats waved, barked and meowed goodbye. “Love you Moon” Sophia called. “Go have fun being a wild dog!” Robert chuckled. Moon wagged her tail and turned around. Moon and Ace than ran into the forest, immediately disappearing and the other dogs and cats of the pack joined them, disappearing deep into the woods. 'I was born as a wild dog and I will stay as a wild dog. Things may seem troublesome and lonely at first but once a door closes, another one opens. And nobody is gone forever. The dog heavens, my father and my packmates are with me and together, we are a pack!'

                                                                       The End!!!