Title coming soon

by Balto678

This is the sequal to 'Kodi's Big Mistake'. After it's surprising ending, Kodi spends the next few weeks trying to get threw the days without much conflict. Now considered a pariahsocial outcast among most dogs, but he's got far greater problems than dogs

Chapter 1

He couldn't believe it. The words Asher had spoken repeatedly played over and over again in his head. Kodi! Im pregnant and the pups are yours. It had to be a mistake. He couldn't be a dad. He wasn't ready. He didn't know anything about parenting. Breathing out a sigh he spoke in a raspy voice "But what choice do i have?"

Kodi was out on the beach, pacing up and down it, milling over what Asher had told him. Though it was late and the wind blew fiercly while snow fell endlessly on him, Kodi hadn't payed any attention to it. He had become too submerged in his own thoughts to even acknowledge it. Besides, he'd had to run threw these kind of conditions before. On more than one occasion he and the rest of the team had had to run threw snow storms like these for hours before stopping. He'd grown used to them.

A Mistake. . .

That's what this whole mess was. One big mistake. The biggest mistake he'd ever made and it was all his fault. He had the scars to prove it too. He knew he couldn't get mad at Asher for this but. . .gosh. He was in a mess. Asher seemed under the impression that, since she was pregnant with his pups, Kodi would leave Dusty and. . . and devote himself entirely to her. But Kodi wasn't sure if he could just forget about Dusty. She ment too much to him for him to give her up so easily. To Kodi, Dusty was the Holy Grail. He felt angry at himself for making such a stupid mistake. As much as he liked Asher, he didn't love her like Dusty. His feelings for Asher were those of only a friends.

Coming to a stop in his pacing, Kodi sat down. Still paying no attention to the snow and wind. He didn't even notice the sheet of snow stuck to his coat of fur. Inside his mind, his thoughts had sifted over to Dusty. How could he tell her something like this? Shoot, how could he not tell her something like this? How do you tell this to someone anyway? There was no way he could hide this from her. She'd see right threw him in a heartbeat. But he had just promised her he wouldn't have anything to deal with Asher anymore.

Literally, just barely under a minute before Asher had told him about his pups, he had promised Dusty that Asher was out of his life completely. Now, how could he turn around and go back on his promise only hours after he'd made it? Hanging his head low, he frowned even further. His cheeks falling to an all time new low. He couldn't do it. He cared about Dusty too much to break her heart again.

Letting out a sigh, Kodi shook his head and closed his eyes, "What am i going to do?"

While he sat there, his head lowering ever more, he heard a whine. Coming from his thoughts, he looked around for the source of the noise, thinking he had company or maybe he wasn't the only one out here. However, It took him only a few seconds to realize he had made the sound. His ears flatened against his head as he frowned down at the ground. He could already picture in his head what would happen once he returned home and told Dusty about the pups.

Walking inside, Kodi looked around for Dusty. He felt slightly relieved when he saw that the purpleish dog, Dusty, wasn't in the room. He would tell her later. But she must have heard him enter because, quite suddenly, she appeared in the hall giving him a cheery smile. "Kodi, you're back!" But once she saw the frown on Kodi's face, her cheeks fell to a perfect mirror of Kodi's frown. Something's wrong

Kodi didn't take but a few steps into the house before he sat down. His rear landing on the damp welcome mat infront of the door. Dusty could tell something was definatly wrong now. Kodi wasn't being himself. Concerned about him, wanting to cheer Kodi up and find out why he was so depressed, she approached him slowly. Looking him over for anything that might help her figure out the reason for Kodi's mood. Anything that might help, weather it was a bruise or a cut that would show he was in pain or something else. But what she saw only told her that he had been outside. She could see white flakes of snow in his fur. "Kodi? What's wrong?"

Kodi didn't reply. He didn't say anything at all. He just looked into Dusty's eyes with a sarrow expression then his eyes fell to the ground. Dusty was beginning to feel worried about him. She could tell by the frown on his face and the look he had given her that he had bad news. This bad news must have been really bad because just then, she heard Kodi whine. The high pitched, sad note reaching her ears, she asked again "Kodi, What is it?"

When Kodi finally spoke, his voice was very shaky. Sounding as if he was about to burst into tears. "Im sorry Dusty"

Unable to make sense of this, Dusty tilted her head. What does he have to be sorry for? He's already made it up to me for cheating on me. But before she could say anything Kodi spoke again:

After a slow steadying breath, he said "It's Asher. . ."

Dusty's mood changed to anger before Kodi could even blink. Her caring eyes flaming up in anger. "Kodi! What have you been doing for the last few hours?" But she didn't give Kodi time to answer "Oh god. You didn't!" She backed away from him, starring wide-eyed at Kodi like he was some kind of disgusting monster.

After realizing what Dusty was thinking, Kodi's eyes widened too. Shaking his head and taking a few steps towards her, he tryed to explain it to her. "Oh, no no no no no no no Dusty. No, not that"

But she wouldn't listen. She didn't believe him. She refused to listen to him, he'd broken his promise already! "You promised me Kodi. You promised you wouldn't have anything to deal with her. I can't believe this. Why Kodi? Why? Why her? What has she got that i don't?" She was tearing up now but her voice grew louder and louder until it got to the point where Kodi cringed, the volume of her voice making his ears ring. Finally Kodi had to shout to make himself heard. "DUSTY, ASHER IS PREGNANT WITH MY PUPS!"

There was a silence after these words, broken only by Dusty's gasp. She starred at him with a mixture of anger, and dissapointment. She looked like she was having a hard time deciding weather she should break down and sob, or growl. Apparently she chose growl because after a few seconds of awkward silence, she started to growl. Then Dusty walked up to him. Giving Kodi a look of pure rage, she raised a paw and slapped him. Hard. His head swung to the side by the force of the blow.

Coming back to reality, Kodi felt something wet hit him on the nose. Blinking he felt it again. There was a small splash on his nose as a droplet of water hit his nose again. Kodi looked up, searching for where the droplets were coming from. Instently he spotted it. An icecicle hanging off one of the rafters from his father's boat seemed to be melting. As he looked, another droplet fell and hit him square between the eyes. He blinked and stood up. Walking away, he felt a droplet of water hit his paw. He looked up again but there was no icecicle or anything that could have dripped water above him. He finally figured out where the water had come from though. It was a tear. He had unknowingly shed a tear which had fallen down his cheek, from his chin, and onto his paw.

That was about as acurate a guess as you could get. He knew that once he told her, she was going to slap him. It was a given that he was going to be slapped quite a few times in the near future. Raising a paw to his cheek, he rubbed it. As if he could already feel the stinging a slap usually brought. He could feel the scratches the last slap had given him. It had been right after he'd told Asher that the other night had been a mistake and she had gotten angry. That conversation ended with a particularly painfull slap to Kodi's cheek. Mainly because she had also cut his cheeks with her claws.

Starring out at the ocean threw the snow and wind, Kodi watched the waves rise and crash on the sand below it. The tide was in right now so, from Kodi's spot, the waves would rush up the sand and stop just before it reached him. It would then fall back and repeat this again and again. Kodi became entranced as he watched it. He found that at times, it could sooth his mind and relax his body. However, his mind was somewhere else, going back over everything that had happened over the last few weeks which had led to this moment. The last thing he wanted to see right now, was Dusty's heart-broken face. He was thinking this one threw. Trying to find a way this could be resolved without hurting anyone else. The last thing he'd done without thinking had screwed his life up. Because he didn't think, he was now going to be a father within one year. And the mother was going to be a female he'd only just met. "Once these pups are born, one thing i can never tell them is, they were a mistake." He couldn't imagine what it must be like, growing up knowing your father had never really wanted you.

Realizing how late it was, he groaned. However much he wanted to, he couldn't stay out here forever. If he stayed her all night, that would only worry Dusty and she'd come looking for him. And, of course, she'd find him. That nose of hers could pick out his scent like a lie detector. Unfortunatley, her ears and eyes were just the same. Once look at him and she'd start asking questions about why he hadn't come home. She would know if he was lieing or not. But if he went home, he'd have to tell Dusty and hurt her again. There was simply no way around it. Dusty was going to find out. Preferabally, Kodi wanted it to be him who told Dusty. Someone had told Dusty about him cheating on her before he could last time. He didn't want that to happen again. If he didn't tell Dusty, Asher was sure too. Besides, if he did hide it from Dusty, how was he going to hide it once Asher began to show. Once the pups were born and he had to take care of Asher and the pups, how was he going to explain away his being out late every night to Dusty.

It was hopeless. Well. . . I guess i should be getting home now.

After shaking the snow from his fur, Kodi turned to face the town of Nome. Looking at it in the semidarkness. He breathed out a sigh and reluctantly started forward. He wasn't looking forward to getting back home. The whole way, he kept his head low and his nose down toward the ground. Trying to ignore the starres he was getting, Kodi only began to feel worse. They know what I did. I can see it in their eyes.

Some of the dogs seemed to worship him and the fact that he had managed to win the hearts of the two best looking dogs in Nome. Others seemed disguested by him. Few were on his side though. As far as he knew it consisted of only four dogs. Balto, Jenna, Kalgorn, and Dusty. Last time he'd gone to go see his brother, Misty hadn't been too pleased to see him, but she didn't say anything rude to him. But she hadn't let her and Kalgorns son, Togan, come near him. Even when he was on the team, neither Ralph or Kirby would listen to him. Whenever he spoke to them, they pretended they couldn't understand him, like he was speaking some long forgotten language. When he had tried to make a friend out of Sasha's replacement on the team, he didn't even say his name. All the black and blue dog did was threaten to kill him in his sleep. He knew it was a bluff but this dog obviously didn't like him either. Every now and then, one of his worshipers would stand infront of him and bow before him. This always made Kodi feel uncomfortable, but at least they weren't shouting insults at him. He'd managed to become both infamous and famous at the same time.

Walking past a dark alley, Kodi had a flashback to his punishment from the street dogs:

It had been just another one of his normal days. Well, for Kodi, a normal day now ment a day where no one bowed to him. He and the team had just finished one of thier mail runs and had returned to Nome late at night. Dusty had had a sprained paw at this time so Kodi was anxious to get back home and check up on her. She'd been on his mind all day. Once Kodi and the rest of the team had been unchained and unstrapped, everone had walked off in differant directions rather quickly. Kodi stood their frowning. Turning his head back to the position Sasha had once held, he knew that if she had been there, she wouldn't have despised being near him. At times, Kodi had felt that she was his only friend. But now that was gone. . .

His ears flattened down. Deciding to not think about it anymore, he turned around slowly and walked down the street sidewalk. Trotting so as to get home alot quicker than walking, he kept his head low. Everyone concidered him a pariah. Why couldn't he be forgiven for his mistake? He really was truely sorry about what he'd done. In his sadness, he had come to a stop and he now stood at the mouth of a dark alley. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Just as he let it out he heard the sounds of several pairs of footsteps. He opened his eyes again and looked into the alley. Lifting one paw up off the ground.

As he looked, he saw the figures of at least four dogs approaching him. There was one Akita, two Dobermans, and one Great Dane. Knowing these street dogs only ment bad news, Kodi looked away and started down the street again. But he had barely taken two steps before he felt one powerful set of jaws bite down on his tail. Wincing, Kodi tugged trying to free himself, but two more of the dogs jumped on him and forced him down to the ground. Surprised, Kodi tried to kick free but the two vicious Dobermans held him down. "Get off me!" Kodi snarled after his chin colided with the ground. He was a pacifest so his snarl only ment he was angry, Not that he was going to fight them but he hoped the dogs didn't know that. Once he got the chance he was running, you couldn't reason with these street kind.

A large shadow cast Kodi into darkness, making him look up. He actually had to strain his neck to see the dog that stood over him. The massive Great Dane dog stood, looking down at Kodi with an evil look in his eyes. Then the Akita appeared briefly beside him, snarling at Kodi. The Akita was roughly about the same size as Kodi and, compared to the Great Dane, he was tiny. The tip of the Akita's ears barely came up to the larger dog's shoulders. He disappeared from Kodi's view, but less than half a minute later, he felt the dog give him a painfull kick right in the hip. Kodi whimpered and struggled to free himself from the Dobermans grips. They seemed to be fed up with his struggling though and one bit him in the side. The other started clawing at his sides. The claws going deep enough to draw blood.

Kodi felt another kick from the Akita, this time right where his stomach would have been if he had been on his side. The pain Kodi was experiencing only made him more scared of what the Great Dane was planning to do to him. He whimpered and tried to defend himself. But it was useless, he was at their mercy. He would have to endure this until they stopped. Or he lost consiousness. Which ever came first.

The Great Dane watched the three dogs attack Kodi. Letting them have their fun. But once he saw that hopelessness in the dogs eyes, it was his turn. His anger at what this dog had done flaming in his own eyes. After a little over five minutes, Kodi's sides were raw red, his legs and waist were beginning to show signs of swealing and blood streaked his already red fur. Kodi was experiencing some pain in his tail as well. He thought his tail bone must be broken. He was hoping that they were threw with him but then the Great Dane stepped forward and he remembered. Now it was the giant dog's turn.

Kodi gulped and watched terrified. He then felt the Dobermans forcing his paws out infront of him, and though he didn't know what the reason for this was, he was sure it was not going to be pleasant. The Great Dane lifted both its paws up into the air, standing up on it's hind legs. He seemed to double, no, triple in size. Letting his body fall back down, the Great Dane put his entire body weight on his front paws, and stomped down on Kodi's.

The pain was so intense, Kodi howled in agony. Tears streamed down his cheeks, mingling with the old ones and once his howl ended, it was replaced with long high pitched whines. But this was only the beggining of his suffering. The Great Dane lifed his body up and stomped on his paws again. This time, he drove his claws into the flesh. There was a sickening, crunch noise as the Great Dane's paws crushed Kodi's. He was sure this dog wouldn't be running the mail for awhile now. Heh, forget running. How bout walking?

Kodi's paws hurt worse than anything he'd ever felt before. However, the Great Dane still wasn't threw. He bent down toward Kodi. Getting close to the husky's face, he growled then barked loudly. Apart from giving the dog a fright and a ringing in his ears, this was only ment to install more fear into the dog.

Kodi could smell dog's repugnant breath and whined, turning his head away from the Great Dane's. "You know why we are doing this don't you"

The deep voice sounded in Kodi's ears making him whimper again. Flattening his ears, he nodded his head. Afraid he would hurt him more if he didn't answer. But he did know exactly why he was being attacked. Im sorry Dusty! Really, I am. The Great Dane hit Kodi in the cheek with his paws so forcefully that Kodi acctually saw stars infront of his eyes. What the dog did to him next happened too fast for him to catch. All he knew was one second, he was growling and the next, The Great Dane had his jaws clamped tightly over Kodi's muzzle. The sharp teeth pierced the thin layer of skin and, while Kodi shook his head in every direction, the teeth sawed threw the skin.

The Great Dane had his jaws shut so tightly over Kodi's muzzle, Kodi felt sure he was trying to bite it off his face. Once Kodi's whimpering had started again, the three other dogs joined him. The two Dobermans bite his ears and pulled them back, as if they were determined to rip them off. The Akita was left to cause Kodi as much pain as possible wherever he pleased. After stomping on Kodi's tail, he leaned over Kodi, and sank his claws into both of the dogs sides. Dragging them back, ripping the flesh. Leaving a cut nearly eight inches long. The cuts were deep enough to draw plenty of blood, but they wouldn't leave scars. In time, the wounds would vanish entirely. But all the same, it was still painful.

It was too painfull for Kodi. He could feel his body getting ready to shut down. If the dogs continued, his punishment would end up being death.

Kodi was lucky though. The Great Dane released Kodi's muzzle from his jaws and gave three loud barks. "Enough"

The memory still gave him nightmares that caused him to wake up shaking in the middle of the night.

While none of the injuries he'd recieved were pemanent, and none of his internal organs were damaged, only his tail and paws had needed treatment. Both of his paws and his tail had been broken. Though in many ways this wasn't a good thing, he did at least get to spend alot of time with Dusty during the time he recovered.

Not wanting to have another encounter like that, he ran. But since half of him still wasn't welcoming the idea of walking threw the door and into his home, he didn't go far before he slowed down. Once he'd slowed to his original pace, he heard several barks and someone call his name. Kodi payed no attention to it. He knew it was just another dog wanting to shout at him. Apparently this dog wasn't going to let Kodi just ignore him like this because he snuck up behind him then, before Kodi could do anything, jumped onto his back. His weight was to great for Kodi's legs to support, despite the strength he had, the dog weighed too much. The wind was knocked out out of Kodi when his chest colided with ground. This caused him to cough several times as well as gasp for breath.

Kodi felt the dog's claws pierce his skin. The dog then dragged his paw back, pratically reopenning the wounds from the Akita. Trying not to yelp, Kodi turned it into a growl.

While his legs were trapped underneath him, he was unable to fight back. His tail was free but what was he supposed to do with that? He could feel the dogs breath on the back of his neck and knew what was about to happen, he was unable to hide his fear this time.

The dog heard Kodi start whimpering and with enjoyment he listened. It was like music to his ears. The dog opened his jaws and was about to bite down on the husky's neck when he felt another dog bite down on his tail and pull him off Kodi with surprising strength.

With the absence of the heavy dog ontop of him, Kodi would have been able to stand up had his legs not been crushed underneath him for so long, they had gone numb. He tried to stand but couldn't. He had to wait for the blood to flow back to his legs, which didn't take long. Still, during the brief period where he was stuck on the ground, he had to watch his rescuer fight off his attacker. Because of the direction he was laying towards, Kodi had to turn his head around as far as he could to see who was defending him. In the darkness, he was unable to make him out clearly. If only he would step out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Just back up a little bit more.

Finally the dog stepped into the light, now illuminated, Kodi realized who it was. It was his brother, Kalgorn. He was clearly visible only for a second before the Anatolian Shepherd, the dog that had attacked Kodi, tried to take Kalgorn down by biting him in the back of the neck. His teeth found their target but his eyes fell apon Kalgorns mark. The Z stood out impossible to miss even in this darkness. It almost seemed to give off it's own light.

Wanting to help his brother, Kodi tried standing again. He felt relieved when his legs supported him. A bit shaky, but they still kept him up. His eyes fell on Kalgorn, still standing but his head low to the ground. The dog standing over him, his teeth digging into Kalgorn's neck, pushing him down ever lower. In his urgancy, he ran towards the shepherd and forced his head into the dog's side. The wind knocked out of him, his jaws let go of Kalgorn and he fell to the ground.

Not wasting anytime, Kodi nudged his brother away from the dog. "Come on, he's not worth it" Then without giving Kalgorn time to protest, he ran away from the windswept dog. He was recovering quickly so Kalgorn, deciding to follow Kodi, had to run fast. "that's Kodi for ya" Kalgorn chuckled while he ran after his brother. He didn't consider Kodi a coward though. More of a peace loving type. He was always trying to solve things in a non-violent way, which Kalgorn looked up too. Even when that person got angry, Kodi always found a way to calm him down. If a fight started to break out Kodi would step in and try to stop it. Kalgorn tryed to do the same thing but he didn't have the self-control Kodi did. His anger always got the best of him whenever someone insulted him or hit him and most of the time, his attempt at stopping a fight, often started a larger fight. A brawl.

Though Kodi's legs were still a little wobbley, he could still run pretty fast. His legs propelled him forward at a surprising speed. This must have had something to do with the adrenaline he felt rushing threw his veins. Just when he wanted to stop, he saw the Anatolian Shepherd step out in front of them. Kodi's jaws fell, this dog wasn't going to give up. "Fight you coward!"

Kodi started to say "I don't want any trouble, just-" but the dog didn't want to talk. He wanted to fight. It was lucky Kalgorn was with him because he was the fighting type, while Kodi hated fighting. He had had to fight in self-defense only days ago, and hated every painfull moment it had lasted. Worst of all. . .he'd lost Sasha that day too.

Kalgorn had pinned the dog down with a series of clever moves, hitting nearly all the weak points of the dog's body. He now had him down with a paw to his neck. Kalgorn bent down towards his neck, baring his teeth. For a moment Kodi thought Kalgorn was going to kill the dog but then he snarled "Leave us alone!"

Kodi had seen enough fighting for one night. He stepped over to Kalgorn and gave him a quick tug on his tail. "Come on Kalgorn, we've gotta go. He's not worth it."

Kodi's words caused Kalgorn to calm down. The anger that had built up inside him had been extinguished. So, letting his lips fall back over his teeth, the muscels on his muzzle vanished beneath the skin. He turned around to face Kodi but saw he was already running. Just before his tail vanished around the market building, Kalgorn got a glimps of it. Then he heard the sound of running behind him. Turning his neck around quickly, Kalgorn looked for the Anatolian Shepherd. He spotted the dog's figure running in the opposite direction and at first, but only for a moment, he thought he was after Kodi again. But he was headed in a completely different direction. Once the dog's silhouette turned down another street, he knew that even if his goal was to go after Kodi again, he'd never catch up. Kodi was probably already home now. Once the sweet aroma of food reached his nose, he realized that Kodi's house wasn't but two maybe three blocks from here. Kodi was safe now. What had started as a trip outside to relieve himself, turned into a rescue mission.

He felt tired anyway. There was no point staying up any later acting as a vigilante. It was extremely late and he know Misty would throw a fit if she found him sneaking back in at this hour. He figured, he'd try and sneak in though. If Misty did catch him, he had a good reason for being out so late, and if she didn't catch him, well that just ment he wasn't in trouble. Everyone knows you're only in trouble if you get caught.

Kodi slowed to a stop once he'd reached the street his and Dusty's house was located on. He hoped she had gone to sleep instead of staying up and worrying about him. He knew that if she got worried enough, she'd come looking for him. He walked up the street as slowly as he could, hoping, praying she was asleep. He knew it would only be worse the longer he didn't tell her but he didn't want to lose Dusty again so early. She and him had only been on speaking terms again from maybe a week.

Slowing to a stop, Kodi looked up from the ground and saw Dusty's house only a few feet infront of him. He groaned and let his head fall. He took his last few steps slowly, then jumped up the stairs of the wooden porch. It was common knowledge to him that all three of these stairs squeeked loudly when someone stepped on them, and his goal here was to remain as quiet as possible.

Standing infront of the dog door, ontop of the welcome mat infront of the door, he took in a final breath, let it out heavily, then stepped inside. The plastic sheet sliding down his back as he slipped quietly inside.

Chapter 2

The distorted image of the houses contents, through the semi-transparent plastic sheet of the dog door, cleared once Kodi stepped through. Knowing that the dog door always squeeked when it swung on it's hinges, he was careful to lower it slowly with his tail. Just as a precaution to make sure that, if Dusty was asleep, she stayed that way. Since he was too busy with the task at hand(or paw), Kodi didn't notice Dusty, who, had curled up and fallen asleep on one of the sofas in the den. When he finally did spot her, he gasped and, accidentally, let his tail fall. Allowing the dog door to swing shut and squeek several times. Wincing, he put a foot to the door to stop it and shot a glance at Dusty to see if she'd awoken or not. But he couldn't tell because her face was hidden underneath her tail. Frozen stiff so as to not cause anymore noise, he shut his eyes and, not moving a single muscle, prayed Dusty hadn't heard the noise and awoken.

But it was in vain. He heard movement and several grunts come from Dusty. He frowned and waited several seconds before opening his eyes and looking towards Dusty. She was still asleep but now she lay on her back. Her paws in the air and her tail hanging over the end of the couch. She looked at peace with everything, like she didn't have a care in the world and all her problems were over. In short, she looked happy.

Letting out the breath he'd been holding since he had spotted her, Kodi lowered the sheet to it's resting position then walked slowly and quietly towards the second sofa across from the one Dusty slept on. In Dusty and his home, their master had two sofas facing each other. In between the two sofas, was a glass topped coffee table. Once Kodi had reached the couch he bent down and jumped up onto the cushioned seat and, once he'd finally gotten into a comforable position, layed down on his side with all four of his legs bent upwards towards his chest, he looked straight ahead at the husky across from him.

How could i have done something like this to her? Dusty of all dogs! If anyone didn't deserve something like what i've done, it's Dusty. She's always been a peacemaker. For as long as i've known her, i've never seen her hurt anyone except me. Which I deserved though. Hell, that time she growled at me was the first time i've seen her upset like that. He shook his head sadly as he looked at her. He felt bad that, while he loved her and knew he deseved it, he'd been the first she'd growled at or hit. Just seeing her so peacefull made Kodi decide he couldn't tell her about the pups. He refused to cause her anymore pain. But what about Asher? It's not like she's the bad guy here. I can't just ignore her, pretend i don't even know her, and leave her to take care of the pups on her own. Im going to be there for my pups. . .even if they were a mistake. It's not their fault and they shouldn't have to suffer because I made a bad decision. That means im going to have to spend most of my time with Asher. . . Dusty and I would hardly ever see each other. The few times she might see me, im sure i'll be worn out.

There was absolutely no answer for this one without hurting someone. If he didn't tell Dusty, they'd be seeing less and less of each other and she'd think the whole time he was gone, he was cheating on her again. Which would upset her. If he did tell her, she would be heart broken. Upset. Ignoring this problem wasn't the answer either, He'd be hurting Asher. She'd think he didn't care about her anymore. Upset. This would in turn effect the pups. They would eventually learn about their father ditching them before they were even born, causing them to think that they weren't important enough for him. Upsetting them.

He closed his eyes and shifted his position. Now laying on his stomach, his head rested on the sofa cusion between his paws. This was one whopper of a mess he'd gotten himself into. The only answer Kodi was drawing was that he had to tell Dusty. He figured, mainly hoped, that once she got over the shock of the news, she'd become depressed that she'd lost him. Kodi didn't know about this part though. Maybe when he told her he'd gotten Asher pregnant, she'd hate him and never speak to him again. He really hoped this wasn't what would happen but he wouldn't be surprised. That period of time when Dusty had refused to even acknowledge his presance when he tried talking to her had been some of the worst weeks he'd ever had. Even when he had had her attention, she refused to listen to him. Though, with the way he was getting treated now, he was sure it would soon be pushed down to second place.

The memory of her slapping him still stung his cheek everytime he thought about it. He had known he deserved it, but being slapped by Dusty had been. . . painfull, and shocking. Both his cheek and his heart had hurt after this, and he was not eager to relive the memory either. He wanted to enjoy some time with Dusty before breaking the news to her. Yet he knew it was only going to get worse the longer he waited to tell her. . . but who wouldn't want to spend time with their love before having to give them bad news? Bad news that could permanently end their relationship.

Outside the window, the moon steadily dropped down the sky in the east. It would be too long before the sun rose on the west side and lit everything up, eliminating all darkness. It hadn't been long before Kodi started to felt fatigue take him to dreamland either.

He felt himself leave his body behind on the sofa and, like an explosion, everything turned white then vanished, he now found himself running along dirt roads that went on as far as the eye could see. He didn't know why, but he had a powerful urge to find Dusty. This was why he was running. He couldn't explain why he was looking for her but neither could he explain how he knew where she was. To him, it wasn't a I-think-I-know-where-she-is idea. He was positive of where she was, it was solid fact. He ran on, trying to get to her before it was too late. He knew she was in trouble and every passing second brought her closer and closer to a horrid fate. After only a few minutes of flatout running, his legs were already beginning to get tired but he still had some distance to go. So he pressed on, determined to reach Dusty before time ran out. No matter how exhausting the effort was. He feared the worse and some how knew she wasn't alone. She was in the company of. . . a male dog. It was like suddenly, Kodi was telepathic and could just absorb things he needed to know from the very air around him. After a flash of red light so bright he was rendered temperarily blind and his vision returned, Kodi suddenly found himself infront of Dusty's home. He had no idea what had just happened but wasted no time thinking about it. He ran up the three porch stairs and dove through the dog door. Upon entering he heard several gasps and Dusty's voice. It sounded shocked, surprised, and scared "Kodi!"

What he saw was too much for him to take in. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him. There was another male dog with Dusty. She lay on her back in a submissive position, the male dog standing over her. Well . . . at least that's what Kodi thought at first, Dusty was on her back with a dog over her, but he had his jaws around her neck, a small stream of blood running down it. Slowly but surely he could see the life leaving her eyes. A slight gurgle came from the the albino dog as he growled. His teeth sinking deeper and deeper into her throat, cutting off her oxygen supply.

Horrified, Kodi stood frozen to the spot, watching the dog move it's paws to Dusty's throat as well and laying them on top of the jugular vein. Realizing what the dog was about to do, Kodi tried to run to knock the dog off her. To save her. But he found he couldn't. His legs seemed super glued down and they wouldn't budge. He then found out he couldn't move at all. Not even to turn his neck and look away. He was going to have to watch the love of his life die. His vocal cords weren't working either. He was unable to say a single word. Everything was silent except the gurgling growl from the albino and the whimpers from Dusty, but inside Kodi's mind he screamed DUSTY!

The dog started pulling its head up, stretching the tissue and muscle he had in his jaws to the point where it ripped. Kodi couldn't believe what he was seeing. This dog had just ripped the throat out of Dusty! Dusty! The person in the room who least deserved such pain and suffering. The bloodflow increased drastically, now pooling out of her throat. Within seconds Dusty lay in a massive puddle of her own blood. Kodi who was stuck in this position saw the blood reach his paws, soaking them. His eyes dampened, with nothing to look at but the gaping hole in Dusty's neck. Now all he could think was, why? Why Dusty? Why kill someone so peacefull, instead of someone who'd two-timed both the best looking dogs in Nome? Why did the price for his sin have to be Dusty? Why couldn't it have been him?

He tried again to move, hoping that maybe Dusty still had a chance . . . it was a long shot . . . but maybe she could still live. Even if he could never hear her voice again. With an effort, as if by some miracle, his legs lifted from the blood-soaked ground and with his eyes pratically streaming at the sight before him, he ran towards her. Blood splashing over his paws, legs, and underside on every step.

Though the room wasn't that big and he was running as fast as his legs could carry him, Dusty seemed to only get further and further away. Try as he might to reach her. Then, not knowing how, he heard Dusty's voice call for him. A scared, pain and tear filled, and distant call. This call was only more reason for him to get to her. If there was anyway she could be saved. . . Now the amount of blood had increased so much that it now rose high enough to soak his belly, staining his already dark red fur. Finally, it got to the point where he had to dog-paddle just to keep his head above the surface. The thought that he was swimming in Dusty's blood toar at his heart. Tears fell as he struggled against the current of this sea of blood. Dusty's blood. . ."If there is a god, please let him save her. . ."

She couldn't die. Not now. He still had to make up to her for his mistake. He didn't want his last memory of her to be that, because of his mistake, someone had decided to punish him by taking her away.

While he paddled, he began to get the curious sensation of falling. Beginning to panic, he thought to himself surely this blood isn't increasing any more. He never knew the dog's body could contain so much. Suddenly, out of nowhere he felt a terrible pain in his head. It came so suddenly, that Kodi stopped paddling. Resulting in him starting to sink, The red liquid rising up his neck and skull until he had to point his head straight up to maintain his breathing threw his nose. His entire head was submerged with only his muzzle remaining above the surface, allowing him to breath.

"Kodi?"

He had no idea what he had just heard but whatever it had been, it had had the voice of. . . Dusty!

Kodi's eyes snapped open, and he found he was no longer in a sea of blood, meerly, a pool of blood. The incredible agony ripping his head open still lingered and though he was soaked, it was not with Dusty's blood. It was persperation, sweat. It had all, thankfully, been just a dream. A nightmare fright. Well, at least most of the dream. The pain in his head, his soaked fur, the blood. It was all real but the blood. . . it hadn't been Dusty's. It was his own.

"Kodi!"

Dusty stood over him, staring wide eyed down at him. Those deep purple eyes of hers filled with a mixture of fear, worry and even a tear. Sure the pain in his head was almost enough to bring him to tears, but Kodi was over joyed that Dusty was alive. His dream had shaken him and now he was doing his best to calm down. Telling himself that it was a dream, none of it was true and he should get a grip. But he did do one thing before he could stop himself. He put a paw to her chest, testing to make sure she was really standing over him and that he wasn't imagining her. He was assured it was her when his paw touched the warm fur of her body and the solid frame of her chest bone, easily felt underneath her skin. Closing his eyes, he uttered one word in a weak and quiet tone "Dusty."

The one thing that scared him now worse than anything was that the dog that now licked sweat from his face had had her throat ripped out in his dream by a dog that he now recognized. It had been the Anatolian Shepherd he'd been attacked by earlier that night.

Fifteen minutes later, Kodi lay unconsious on the cushion that had been originally made as a bed for Dusty. A Piece of cloth, folded over and covered with a patch, now stuck to the back of his head where the bleeding had been. Over the course or these fifteen minutes, Dusty had made so much noise that the owners had awoken to her barks and whines thinking she just had to go to the bathroom. They were not sure why she didn't just go out the dog door, it was left open for them almost all the time so that they could come and go as they pleased.

The wife, Monica, was the first to get up. Moving slowly in her sleepyness. After all, this was well past two in the morning. Once she reached the door and turned the doorknob, Dusty fell from the door and back down onto all four paws. Looking urgently up at her, she backed up, giving her a very scarred look, and ran down the stairs into the den again. Monica followed behind her thinking maybe her husband had closed it on accident or something. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was a little annoyed when she saw that the dog door was still open and sucked her teeth. "Dusty, you know the door is open if you have to go so bad"

She said this as she turned into the den, looking for Dusty. But what she saw was not what she'd been expecting. Gasping, she saw their newest member to the family, the rust red colored heir to the town's hero and mail dog lay on the floor in a pool of crimson blood. The sight made her heart skip a beat and her breath caught in her throat. Frantic, she ran over to the dog. The adrenaline flowing threw her veins now had awoken her completely. Falling to her knees when she'd reached the dog, she looked over him and threw his fur. Searching for the bleeding. The white fur of his underside was basically clean, so she assumed this blood wasn't coming from there. It had to be somewhere on his back. But it was in a much worse place than what she'd expected.

She ended up locating it on the back of his head after lifting his heavy body up, the fur on his back entirely soaked with the red substance, the blood flow dribbled down the husky's fur. Soaking it even further. Worried and scared, she trembled as she went to work to stop the bleeding. Not being a doctor, she did her best. She didn't know much about this kinda thing but she hoped she knew enough to save Kodi. After she'd put a handcloth folded over twice against the wound and pressed it down, the whines Kodi made were almost enough to bring her to tears. Holding them down, and after putting a patch over the cloth, she placed a bandage over it to hold it in place. She now did have tears in her eyes and while she rubbed her hand up and down the side of Kodi's bloody, furred neck, running her fingers threw the fur, she kissed him between the eyes saying "you're going to be okay. You're going to be okay Kodi, don't worry." Taking care to be as gentle with him as she could.

Now with Kodi's blood all over her hands, her arms began to shake and tremble too violently for them to be of any use. Hurridly she rinsed her hands in the sink before she cleaned the blood from Kodi's fur. After carring him gingerly to the bathroom and setting him down in the tub, she used a sponge to gently rub his fur, washing away the blood. This bath wasn't as hard as it usually was to wash Kodi. His hatred of water had always made it difficult to wash him completely and everytime she always seemed to get cleaner than Kodi by the time the bath was done. When she finished, she used a towel to rub his fur dry. She had to go pretty easy on Kodi and though it took awhile, she got his fur dry before gathering Kodi up in her arms and carefully carried him to the cushion Dusty normally slept on. She wasn't about to let him sleep on the sofa again. She had found what had caused the injury. Aparently Kodi had rolled over and off the couch. While he fell, his head hit the corner of the coffee table, cracking the glass top and causing him to black out while blood poured out of his head. Kneeling down, she laid him slowly upon the soft cushion and, bowing her head before Kodi, she said a silent prayer for Kodi.

Dusty, who had gone unnoticed since she had shown Kodi to Monica, sat watching the female nurse Kodi until his bleeding had stopped, then pitched in a bit of her own help when washing Kodi by licking his face. Kodi, be strong like you've always been. You can recover from this, i know you can. Just don't die on me, im not ready to lose you! Dusty thought hesitantly, sitting beside Monica. Both praying for the dog before them.

After sheding a tear, Monica sniffed once then kissed Kodi's cheek before raising to her feet. Her frown morphing into a smile when she saw Dusty lick Kodi right after her kiss. Bending back down she wrapped her arms around Dusty's neck, hugging her. "try not to worry about him too much girl"

With that, she planted a kiss on Dusty's head and turned to head back to bed. Just before leaving the room, she looked back at the two dogs. She had to smile at what she saw. Dusty had curled herself up behind Kodi and now rested her head on his shoulder. She licked Kodi several times before settling down and closing her eyes. Her chin laying against the soft cushion of fur, and relaxed muscle of his shoulder.

Looking away, she turned back toward the stairs and walked back up them one by one. Both exhausted and worried. She wasn't sure if she would get much sleep, but she was too tired to remain awake all night. She would get fired from her job tomorrow for sure if she showed up half asleep. It was either get some rest, or guzzle down about two liters of soda. Since she really wasn't too fond of caffine, she preferred the sleep. "Healthier"

She'd have to try and put Kodi out of her mind. As well as make a mental note to re-arrange the furniture in the den. Monica wasn't up for having this happen to Dusty next either. To her slight surprise, when she layed her head down on the soft pillow on the bed, she felt sleepy. Letting the sleep overcome her, she closed her eyes. Drifting off to sleep.

Little did anyone in that house know that something much worse than hitting her head on a coffee table would soon happen to Dusty. . .

Chapter 3

The next morning, Kodi remained out of it. He lay there completely still. Hardly even moving a muscle. You would have thought he'd died had it not been for his stomach rising and falling with his breathing. Dusty however, had things to do. For one thing, she was still a member of the sled team. Kodi was not fit for running the mail that morning but she was perfectly fine. As much as she wanted to remain there in bed with Kodi, she simply couldn't. She hadn't busted her head open, and therefore, she had to go. After all, she'd made a comitment to getting the mail to its destination every day by joining the team. She wanted to be there with him when he first came to. Monica would take good care of him though. But she couldn't afford to take a day off from work. They were running out of money, and food.

To help with this situation, She and Kodi had decided to share bowls of food. This way they didn't have to spend money on dog food so much. And while they were saving money, the results were beginning to show on Kodi. He always insisted that Dusty eat until she was full. Even if that ment the whole bowl. Because of this, he was beginning to thin out. But their owners were too busy to notice. Monica however noticed this as soon as she checked up on Kodi that next morning. The first thing that she noticed was how his rib cage was almost visible threw the fur on his exhales.