Dog Season (Discontinued)

Part I: Chapter Twenty

     "Charity, wake up!" A low snarl startled the female dog as she opened her eyes. Instead of seeing the speaker, she found her vision clouded by a red and black mass. Once she carefully lifted her head, Charity realized Sky was laying across her muzzle sleeping. She let the sleepy pup slowly roll off her nose. The runt of the litter groaned but her eyes remained shut.
     "Charity! Dammit, listen to me when I'm talking to you!" The growl sounded again and this time Charity lifted her head and spotted a very angry looking Omega. Right away, she scowled, not enjoying the presence of her ex-mate or his time of voice. The Alpha rose to her full height, only a claw-length taller than the lower-ranking male, and glared down at him.
     "That's Alpha to you, Omega. What the hell do you want?"
     The Shepherd let out an amused snort. "What I want are my pups!"
     "Your pups? Since when are they your pups?"
     "Since I bred with Scarlet and created them! Now I want them back!
     "Why are you so desperate, hmm? You're ex-ex-mate and her mate are killed now you think you can just bully me until I give up and let you take the pups? That's not happening!"
     By now the two dogs' argument had awakened every pack-member, who were now making a small circle around both of them. The pups, who were in the middle of the whole thing, watched the two dogs as they yelled at each other back and forth.
     "I'm their father-dog, they're my kin, and I'm their only parent-dog left! So it's appropriate that you no longer take care of them and give me the responsibility to do so!"
     "You're not our father-dog!" Storm butted in. "River was, but now he's dead!"
     Omega's eyes softened when he stared down at the pup who little like a miniature version of himself  except for the missing ear. "Then who is now, my dear pup?"
     "Beta! And our new mother-dog is Alpha!" Fawn snarled at his blood-father.
     Charity's breath hitched in her throat.
     They're calling Cori their father and me their mother?
     A new rush of affection surged through the Alpha for each little pup. They all stood up to Omega, with their fur on the back of their necks forming a spiked ridge. Sky curled her lip, showing her tiny, but sharp, puppy teeth, and let out a small growl. June, Crimson, and their brothers joined their little sister, acting like they were prepared for battle.
     The male dog shook his head. "I'm not taking no for an answer." He reached to pick up Storm but was soon stopped when Charity stepped over the pups, sheltering them with her body.
     "You touch them, you're dead." She let out an open mouth snarl, showing every one of her teeth.
     The Omega didn't look convinced. A flank brushed the Windhound's. She glanced to her right to see a glimpse of Cori, who joined her with protecting their pups.
     "Touch her or them and you're dead." The Beta hissed threateningly.
    "Why are you protective of them anyway?" Omega muttered when he signaled to Cori.
     "Because Alpha promised Scarlet and River that if anything bad happened to them, she would take care of their pups. Then Alpha asked if I'd take care of them with her and I agreed."
     All aggressiveness left the German Shepherd, his eyes filled with hurt. "Scarlet...Scarlet didn't ask me?"
     "After what you did to her, I don't blame her." Charity admitted while she stared at her ex-mate with serious eyes.
     At that point, Forest's doings and the death of his ex-ex-mate finally hit him like a gunshot. He dropped his head shamefully, tears falling out of his eyes. The two leaders didn't dare approach him, nor did any other dog. Without another word, he backed down. He walked a good ten dog-lengths before laying down silently with his back turned to his pack.
     Charity felt no pity towards the sad male.
     He did this to himself. He should've been a better mate.
     Cori brushed his muzzle against his mate's then went to go chat with Kimora and Hunter, with the pups trailing close behind their father-dog. The two mates were laying too close for Charity's comfort. She watched them clean each other's ears until the Beta approached them. They halted their ear-washing and began to talk quietly with their second-in-command.
     I'm still iffy about Hunter. There's just something about him that makes me uneasy.
     She was about to join her Beta when a soft female voice interrupted her: "Alpha?"
     The Silken Windhound turned around to see Thyme, who looked like she didn't get a wink of sleep and her cheeks were tear-stained. "What can I do for you, Thyme?"
     "W-Well I thought I treated everyone from their wounds but then I noticed you have a gunshot wound on your left hip and I'd like to treat it so it won't get infected."
     Charity looked towards her rump to see that she did in fact have a wound, its blood staining her white and brown coat. She recalled getting it when everyone was running out of the forest from the humans when the bullet scraped her flesh. "Yeah, go ahead, Thyme-"
     Before she could even finish her sentence, an explosion rang out and a cloud of dirt puffed close to the two female dogs, making them both jump. Pack- members behind them yelped in surprise. Above the horizon, the Alpha spotted humans on top of strange objects with large, round, black paws. They hung on to the odd-looking antlers of the devises. The circular paws helped the humans easily travel across the rough terrain of the prairie.
     "Everyone grab a pup and run for your lives!" Charity howled over the explosions of the guns and roars of the humans' vehicles. She didn't have to repeat herself. Suzie, Kimora, Cori, Dash, and even Forest ran back to grab the pups. Cori hung back to wait for his mate while everyone weaved past him like mad dogs. The Silken Windhound caught up to her Beta who held Crimson in his jaws. They sprinted side by side with their pack desperately running in front of them. The roars behind the leader drew closer and closer while the bullet wizzed by, making more dirt clouds. By now, Charity could feel her hip wound stinging but she knew that if she stopped she'd get either ran over by the machines, which edged closer and closer with every heartbeat, or shot to death.
     We can't outrun them. We need a distraction.
     With a heavy heart, the Alpha realized what she must do. She turned to her Beta and had to yell over the commotion behind them. "I'll lead them away!
Find a new hiding spot and I'll catch up to you!"
     "No! I'm coming with you!" Cori's whimper was muffled with the little pup in his jaws.
     "Don't do it, mother!" Crimson yelped while bouncing up and down in her new father-dog's mouth.
     "I have to! I'll be back, I promise!" Before anyone could respond she broke away from her family and barked madly, trying to get the humans' attention. She began to drool, trying to make it look like she had rabies, making her a more likely target. Inside their machine, the humans barked at one another and began to drive straight towards Charity. She smiled, glad her plan worked, then began to sprint back to where they were settled, towards the forest. There must've been a path paved for human machines because a part of the forest was cleared out and the dirt looked like it had been packed down.
     Charity dug her claws into the dirt and turned her body toward the path. She leaped onto the road and began to sprint as fast as her legs could carry her, dust flying from underneath her paws.  She tumbled a bit over a small bump on the road but continued to keep her distance from the machines.
     With humans getting closer, a click sounded behind her. Right when the human was about to shoot, they drove over the bump Charity stumbled over. The impact caused it to pull the trigger, and a painful yelp sounded in form of them.
     Though severe pain seared through her back right leg, the Alpha continued to limp as fast as she could with her wounded leg in the air. She sprung into the brush next to the road, losing the humans, who speeded past their wounded prey, figuring she'd die anyway.
     After catching her breath and making sure the humans were long gone, Charity smelled the air, looking for any sign of her pack but all she could smell was the eye-watering vehicle smoke, gunpowder and her own blood. She quickly hobbled out of the forest and searched again with her nose. This time, she caught a whiff of Cori, who must've left marks.
     She journeyed toward the spots, the scents of her pack getting stronger with each stride. A hill with forest on top of it lay before her, then she recalled being on that hill when she first met her Beta. Charity smiled at the memory while sensing that she was drawing closer to her mate and pups. As she climbed up the hill, Kimora came into the view.
     "Charity!" She sighed with relief as she guided her wounded sister up the hill, not caring if she got blood on herself.
     "I've never been so happy to see you." The Alpha wheezed, her voice weak with exhaustion.
     Once they got over the hill and into the forest the whole pack came into view. Everyone was still panting from their journey and was sprawled out across the forest floor.
     "Thank God!" Cori leaped to his feet and trotted over to his mate then immediately stopped, his eyes bulged and were glued on his mate's right leg.
     "Yeah, I got shot no big deal." Charity insisted.
     "Thyme!" The Beta yelled for the nurse dog, who's eyes got large as well.
     She rolled her eyes. "Haven't you guys seen a gunshot wound before-" The Alpha's words stopped on the tip of her tongue once she stared down at her so-called gunshot wound. Where her right back-leg use to be, stood a nub starting ing right above where her hock was. Blood pooled out of it, showing no signs of stopping. She stood there, realizing that she would live the rest of her days as a three-legged Alpha, if no one would challenge her that is. She knew that there would be no way a good, strong pack like this would want to be led by a cripple.
     With so much blood pouring onto the forest floor, the shock of her right back-leg missing, and the possibility of the loss of leadership, the great Alpha collapsed, her world fading into darkness.

End of Part One