(Rose)

Evening falls over New York and we make it back to the houseboat. Everyone had gone inside with the ribs Whisper had gotten. I knew that something like this would happen. Deep down I had a feeling… and after that encounter, she won't be alone anymore with the food runs. But I'm honestly kind of grateful that Beau saved her from whoever was chasing her. I didn't want him to see though.

The white shepherd starts going inside the barge. Growling, I jump in front of him and give him a hardened glare. After what happened, he's not coming inside the boat house. "You stay out here. You're not to be trusted.." Dodger scolds, giving him a glare. We then go inside the houseboat without saying another word to him.

(Whisper)

Mom and Dad still don't trust Beau. Even after he saved me from those dogs. With my ears lowered, I watched as he lays down a few windows away from the doorway with his forelegs crossed. I felt bad for him honestly. Even though he's with that other gang, I couldn't help but feel for him. I had to talk with him since I never properly thanked him for it.

I stand in front of him. He notices and looks up at me. "Hey, I never thanked you for saving my butt today." I say. "Pfft. What kind of street dog are you, husky? Running from dogs you've never met wasn't smart. You made it worse for yourself. You wouldn't last a single day out in the city on your own." he said distantly. He sits up with his ears lowered.

"Oh? And I suppose you know what you're doing also?" I say, taking a couple of steps towards him. "Yeah. Your gang had been with you whenever you went out I'm assuming. They've treated you like you were a pup." he said a bit coldly. I looked away for a moment, indicating that that was true.

"Whisper!" Dad called. "I'm coming!" I say, glancing behind me. I start to head back into the houseboat. But I stop when I make it a few steps. "Beau?" I say, glancing behind me. "What?" he replied. "Let's get out of here tomorrow morning. I know a place where we can go." I say in a low voice. He was surprised but remained quiet.

Back on the boardwalk, both Ednis and Odin watched as the Siberian Husky talked with the American White Shepherd. Ednis grinned down with a poisoned evil written all over it. Her plan was going perfectly. "What is this? He let her go, Ednis. He should've killed her right then and there." Odin growled. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Calm yourself, Odin. Our plan is going just as we intended. Rose and Dodger fell for it. Raven, you, and Rebel did a fantastic job leading Beau to where he is now. Now, the more he connects with their daughter, the closer he will get to them. Once he's got them all alone… he will make his finishing move." Ednis says calmly. To signify what she meant by his finishing move, she grabs a large stick that was laying on the ground and she snaps it in two with just her jaws.

(Rose)

The next morning, the air was chilly. I step outside to get some fresh air. I stretched my old limbs and walk up onto the boardwalk and go to watch the sun rise up. Since I've come close to reaching my elder stage, it's become my favorite pastime. The array of colors in the sky made me smile. It was mixed with orange, yellow, pink, and blue. It was absolutely marvelous to witness.

"Enjoying the sunrise, Rose?" Rita's voice catches my attention. I glance back at my old friend and smiled. "Yeah, I just love the colors." I reply, looking back ahead. She takes a seat next to me. "It's really beautiful this morning." she tells me, looking up. "Yeah it is." I reply, giving a relaxed sigh. We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Rose?" Rita said. "Hmm?" I reply, lifting my ears a little. "You did the right thing." she said. "About what?" I ask. She looked at me and said, "By taking Beau in the way you did. He might be telling the truth with leaving Ednis' gang." I sighed and gazed down for a moment. "But what if he's working with her secretly? I mean, surely there are secrets he's hiding." I replied, having doubts.

"You worry too much, Rose. We haven't heard anything from her in over two years. Surely she had forgotten about us." Rita assured. "I highly doubt it. She wouldn't give up that easily. Dodger and I don't trust Beau around Whisper though." I say, my voice tightening. "He saved her, Rose. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have done anything. Besides, I can tell he's a good kid. And even though Whisper's your adopted daughter, you guys need to give her space to help her grow as a tough street dog. That's what we did with you at her age and look where you are now. You've matured a lot since you were much younger." she said smiling.

I grinned at this. She wasn't wrong about that. I was just like Whisper at her age. But with the much needed space and the valued teachings of the gang, I learned to not be weak in this city. "Yeah… I guess you're right. She does need her space. Dodger and I shouldn't smother her. And as for what you said about me maturing, that is true also. These streets don't scare me." I said with confidence. "There you go. Now, enough of all this worry. How about we have us some girl time? Been a while since we got out and wandered the city." Rita suggested. "I'd like that." I agreed.

The two of us stand and walk away from the boardwalk with Rita a step ahead of me. It felt good to have Rita talk me down. And having some girl time with my best friend will do me some good as well.

(Whisper)

I could hear Mom and Rita talking up on the boardwalk. Although, I couldn't make out what they were saying. Beau was starting to make his way up there. Tilting my head to the right, I wondered what he was doing. I trot up to where he is as quietly as I could to where he was at. He seemed to be transfixed on something but whatever that was wouldn't keep us from hanging out.

"Good morning!" I say, coming up beside him. He jumped out of his fur and was close to falling into the water. "Don't do that!" he scolded. I giggled at this and made my way in front of him with my fluffy tail raised. "I hope you didn't forget about that trip I mentioned." I remind him. He shook his head for a moment. "Oh, no, I didn't forget. Just wanted to get a head start is all." he said, his voice slightly on edge. But I just brushed it off.

"Well then, follow me. It's not too far from us." I say, starting to walk up the boardwalk while looking back at him. He grins slightly and soon follows me. Surely he'll love the place that I'm taking him.

The Brooklyn Bridge was my personal choice to hang out. It gave us a great view of the bay below us as well as the city on each side of us. "Wow, this is actually… pretty nice." Beau said, sounding pleased with the view. "Yeah… my mom always brought me here when I was a pup. It's her favorite place to come too when she wants to think." I said, taking in the view. But my sight seeing didn't last long as I saw Beau gaze down in guilt.

"What's the matter?" I ask, looking at him. "Sorry, I gotta ask. Why do your parents hate me?" he asked, getting my ears to drop a little bit. "It's not that they don't. They just… have a hard time trusting you because you were apart of The Liberated Wolves. Which begs the question, what made you leave them anyway?" I ask. Surely he had to have a reason as to why he left.

"It's my mother. She won't stop at nothing until she gets her way. But… what that reason is I want to keep to myself. She's nothing but a controlling, selfish, brute. I couldn't handle it anymore so I ran away. If I told her that I wanted to be on my own, I'd get a bite from her or from the other members. She's too manipulative so talking with her is like finding a needle in a haystack." he said, looking from me to the view ahead. "Oh… I see. That must've been unfair to you…" I say with empathy.

"Psh… it was. But I hope she'll stay out of my life for good." he proclaimed, gritting his teeth. I sigh and look away for a moment. Then it clicked, Ednis and Beau were too completely different dogs. So how would they be related? "Look, I don't want to interrogate you with all of these questions but… how is Ednis your mother? You two don't look anything alike." I wonder. He perked up at my question. The look on his face showed that he was unsure of telling me.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I tell him. "No, no it's fine. I'll tell you." he said, putting his forepaw on mine. The second our paws made contact, I felt my face heat up heavily. Thankfully, he didn't notice. "The reason I wound up with her and The Liberated Wolves in the first place… was because my real mother… died when I was just a pup. My mother died from being beaten to death by unruly humans. I was hungry, alone, and cold. About a week after it happened, Ednis had found me and she took me in. Now… I'm wishing she had just left me on the street to die." he said, looking down.

Looking at him, he had silent tears flowing down his cheeks. He's been through a lot like I have… "Oh… I didn't realize… that's what you meant by…" I start, feeling my heart breaking with each word. "Don't. You don't have to say it." he stopped me.

It was silent for a few minutes but I had decided to change the subject. We continued to talk until the sun was at its peak above the city. And while I got him out here, I believe it's time for me to show him how to loosen up in this city to help him relax.