Dogs of Denver- Surviving the Storm

Making the Choice (3)

{picture is of three dogs of the pack
that were introduced last chapter}

I woke up the next morning and lazily yawned. Blinking my eyes open I lightly panicked about where I was until I recalled the events of yesterday and sighed. As I glanced around I was confused, my brothers were gone, and there scent was a half-hour stale.

I stood up and shook off the tiredness. Padding out into the clearing i was struck by how empty it was.

"Did you sleep well?" A voice sounded from behind me and I jumped on suprise.

"Yeah" i woofed, laughing with him. "Do you know where my brothers are?" I questioned.

"Yes, they went on the hunting patrol through the woods, we told them that we could feed you all but they insisted to help" he explained.

"Sounds about right" I mumbled. Just then my belly rumbled and I realized how hungry I was.

Steel just smiled at me. And I returned it sheepishly " come on, there's a rabbit over here we can share" he padded off, not giving me room to object.

I followed him to a small hole in the ground. Where several small animals lay. He plucked a rabbit from the pile and beckoned me to follow him. We walked quite a short distance to a spot shaded by a giant oak.

"Here" he said, dropping the rabbit between us. We started to nibble on it slowly, enjoying the time together. It was still quite early, and the sun was coming up and with it the sunrise dissipated.

When we were done we just lay there, enjoying silent company. Until finally, Steel broke the silence.

"Have you spoken to your brothers about staying yet?" He asked, his Amber gaze steady.

"No, when I got to the den last night they had already fallen asleep." I answered shyly. I really wanted to stay, Steel and the other dogs were good company, I felt safer with more dogs around other than Cobalt and Kobi.
"But, I will try to make my brothers see that this is a good place to stay." I added, determined.

"I'm glad to hear it" he answered, his voice was warm. I simply smiled back to him.

"So, what does a dog do around here when the others are out hunting?" I woofed.

"Well, Oliver's probably sleeping, Sam, Charlie, and Terra are on gaurd, and we're watching over base." He spoke proudly, and he seemed really well organized. I could definitely tell that he'd do anything for his pack, although one thing he said had me confused.

"Guard? From what?" I blurted out, shuffling my paws a bit.

"Predators, Mountain Lions, Bears, but most especially those Junkyard Dogs. They're who you three met yesterday." He shuddered. "I've only heard of the terrible things they do to strangers, sometimes their own members too."

He seemed bothered by them. I felt bad about asking, seeing it upset him. But I wanted to know what I was going to be getting into if I am to stay.

"Why did you save us the other day?" I asked, fiddling around with my claws nervously. I hoped he wasn't getting annoyed by my questions.

"Because" he started. "I couldn't watch any dog get hurt, or even killed. Katya they are merciless monsters. We have a truce held up, they can come into part of our territory for food, and we can go into theirs for certain supplies we may need. Yesterday, Sam went off to see if he could find something for his den. It was nothing important, but one of those, those mutts got to him." He closed his eyes. As if in an attempt to bottle up his anger.