HOWL

“Zip it, Alita!” I barked.

Starting a howl at this point would alert the entire town of our whereabouts, but she couldn’t resist screaming her lungs raw at that silvery moon.

Biscuit gave her a quick nip in the leg to shut her up.

“Sorry,” Alita whimpered.

Alita cowered whenever I stared at her.  Most dogs did.  It went more than my intimidating appearance (sleek doberman face scarred from long ago predators) it was a fear that came from respect.  I was the alpha.  The pack relied on me for food and protection, and they knew that if I ever decided to throw them out in the cold, the cold was where they’d stay.

I was in complete and total control.

“Can we go now, Alpha?” Carlitos asked, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

Carlitos did not have an intimidating appearance.  He was about one quarter my size, even further behind in weight, with giant cartoonish ears that stuck out of his head like a fruit bat.

Had I been interested in his physical strength, I would’ve left Carlitos in the cold a long time ago.  But Carlitos was smart.  He was a survivor.  And now, he was one of the changed.

“No!  We wait for Snowball!” I ordered.

“Snowball’s been gone for a while,” Biscuit growled.  “What if she’s been taken.”

I bared my teeth at him and he slinked aside.  Biscuit was my number two.  He was loyal for now, but only because he was afraid of me.  He was changed like me, and I could see in his twisted little head that as soon as he thought he had the upper hand, he would take me out.

“Snowball’s smart.  And she’s strong.  She’d never allow herself to be r- rescued.

I could barely even say the word.  It makes it sound like a good thing.  Poor little rescue dogs get taken in by big, strong humans.  If you claw at the couch, no food.  If you use the bathroom inside (even if they never let you out) they kick you.

Humans were the most dangerous creatures of all.  So hard to understand.  Sometimes they pretend that they love you, but in the end they will always leave you with scars.  Although mine are more visible than most.

After I escaped their cruelty, I ran into the woods.  I became my own master.  I could do whatever I wanted.  But the humans follow you everywhere.

I had already established a small pack when the green river came, but it didn’t truly expand until after.  After the river changed me, there was no denying I was meant to be Alpha.

Alita sniffed the air.  Being a bloodhound, she was our best sniffer.  “Snowball’s coming,” she announced excitedly.

Sure enough, there she was.  Snowball came bounding up the hill right to us.  She only ran for a few seconds at a time, though.  That was how she was changed.

Snowball could vanish, and reappear a long way in front of her.  She could pop up anywhere that she could see from where she vanished.  This made her an excellent scout.

Snowball was a beautiful creature.  Black fur framed her sleek white face, and her bright eyes were a color I couldn’t quite describe.  They looked the way the river used to.

“Are we clear?” I asked her.

She nodded her head.  “They are mostly in their houses.  They will be easy to kill.”

The other dogs yipped excitedly.

“Good,” I growled.

“It is time for me to see my master again.”

I steadied my paws and used my gift.

One bark so loud it could be heard through the entire town.  One bark that could be heard by the hundreds of dogs crowding the treeline around it.