Later that night, Arrow slipped outside. A bitter wind was blowing and the shadows made everything look larger than it was. The tiny pup shivered in fear. "They took the bait," she whispered to the shadows.
A black dog emerged from the shadow beside her, like a ghost materializing out of thin air. "Good," he growled.
Arrow jumped. "Y-you can tell him they don't suspect anything," she stammered.
The dog bared his teeth. "Will it be true?"
"Trust me," Arrow affirmed. "They know nothing."
"Good." The black dog retreated into the shadows, as if he had ceased to exist. "Remember," his voice called out of the blackness, "if those dogs don't keep their noses out of our business, there's only one alternative."
Arrow shivered and quickly disappeared inside. She scampered upstairs to Connie's bedroom, where Luna lay slumbering atop the blankets. Somehow, she managed to climb up on the bed, where she crawled under Luna's foreleg and tried to warm up.
The touch of cold fur awoke Luna, and she looked down to see Arrow. "Huh?" she asked, momentarily confused.
Arrow looked up at her innocently. "Mom?" she groaned as if just waking up.
As Luna's brain dragged itself into greater alertness, she remembered why Arrow was there. "Arrow," she yawned, "why are you so cold?"
Arrow stared down. "I, uh, had to go to the bathroom, so I went outside."
Luna tilted her head in confusion. Even as sleepy as she was, she saw the hole in Arrow's story. "Since when are you housetrained?"
Gah, thought Arrow. That was a dumb story. "I, uh, know a few dogs who got booted out of their homes for going in the house, so I went outside," she lied.
"Oh," Luna yawned, laying her head back down. A moment later she was asleep again.
Arrow curled up and tried to go to sleep too, but it took her a lot longer.
Over the next few days, as she saw less and less of the street dogs, Arrow began to relax. Toby and Luna were friendlier to her in one day than any dogs she'd ever known had been in a week. They were always willing when she wanted to play, always concerned when she hurt herself, and always listened when she needed to talk. Luna kept her warm with her fur at night, Toby kept her spellbound by day with stories―from which she learned with amazement that Luna was not only part-wolf but Chase's niece―and she learned that Luna's humans were nicer than she'd previously thought people could be. By the end of a week, Arrow had all but forgotten about the strays and the rebellion.
Then her brother showed up to remind her. "Hey, Arrow!" he whispered one morning as she was out enjoying the sun.
She whipped her head around and saw him peeking around the corner of the house. "Sammy!" she exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here? You'll blow my…"
"Come on," Sammy told her. "Groven wants all strays together now."
"Oh…okay." Arrow knew what was expected of her, but was reluctant to do anything of the sort. The time she'd spent with Toby, Luna and the Calvins had shown her another, better kind of life beyond the strays. A life full of love, compassion and kindness. A place with food she didn't have to fight for; a place where she got more affection than she could ever remember getting; a place where she could sleep without having to worry about what was around her and actually wake up rested.
She made her way with Sammy to the main entrance to headquarters, where two dogs were guarding the entrance. "The kid can go back to her job," growled the one on the right.
Sammy blinked. "Nobody told me that," he protested.
"Straight from the top," the one on the left emphasized. "The kid stays at her post."
Sammy heaved a sigh, irritated at having been sent to fetch his sister for nothing. "You might as well go back," he told her.
Arrow nodded, but now her curiosity was piqued. So she headed to the back door and slipped through. Once inside, she stayed on the edge of the crowd near a wall, ready to bolt for the exit and praying she was the only one who knew where the back door came out. The strays surrounded their leader, who stood on a makeshift stage assembled out of empty crates and boxes. The furry bodies packed together like fans at a rock concert, although the hushed conversations were more akin to what might go on right before a choir performance.
Groven barked to the assembled strays, "Soldiers―and I'll only call you that for a little while longer ―the time has come to make our move."
A cacophony of howls and barks went up from the group until someone asked, "How are we gonna take 'em out?"
The leader of the rebel strays paced the stage once as he spoke. "Chase's dogs are better trained, more organized, and they have us outnumbered. A direct assault won't work."
That quieted things down a bit. Several dogs stopped barking and exchanged uneasy looks. "So what will we do?" asked one of the strays.
Groven smiled, showing all of his teeth. "Simple," he replied. "We'll use a superior battle plan."
Arrow shivered as she listened further, and a knot formed in her stomach as the boss explained his scheme. Why did I agree to this? she asked herself.
The following afternoon, Arrow tried to relax and enjoy resting next to Luna=s head as she had so often wanted to do with her birth mother, but pestilential unease kept addling her brain. She doesn't know, she thought to herself. She trusts me, she loves me, but she doesn't know me. She tried to drive it from her mind by thinking about Chase, the cause of all of this. It has to be done, she told herself. That wolfdog is pushing us strays around, and she's got to go.
She's not pushing you around, a voice in her head argued. She's a peacemaker, and a good one too. Groven's the one pushing everybody around.
Chase is a wolfdog, she told herself. Why should half-breeds matter to real dogs?
Luna's part-wolf, but she matters to you and you know it, her conscience snapped back. Look at you! She loves you more than both your parents put together, and you're using her emotions like a toy! If you let Groven go through with his plan, you'll be free of Chase, but then Luna would be devastated and you'd be chained down by guilt. Is that the kind of freedom you want?
The dam broke, and she cried out in a mad combination of pain, aggravation and distress. "I can't take it anymore!"
Luna jerked her head back like a gun had gone off right next to her ear. "What? What?"
Arrow bolted to the door. "It's your aunt, Chase. She's in big trouble, I'll explain later!"
Luna didn't have the slightest idea of what to make out of this, but she recognized the urgency in Arrow's manner and didn't ask questions. Hurriedly, she picked Arrow up by the scruff of the neck. "Where should we go?" she asked.
"To the alley where she runs the army from!" Arrow replied.
Like an enraged bull, Luna bashed the pet flap open―barely taking long enough to lift Arrow over the bottom of it―and bolted out the door and into the snow.
As Arrow hung swinging from Luna's teeth, she had a fleeting image of someone being hanged. I just hope it isn't me if we don't get there in time, she thought.
They passed Toby, who whirled and raced to catch up with them. "Luna, what's going on?" he asked.
"Chase is in trouble!" Arrow explained as she bounced in Luna's teeth. "There's no time to explain now, but we need to get there fast!"
Toby nodded. "Where?" he asked.
"At her headquarters. Groven sent a messenger to challenge her to a one-on-one match in half an hour, but he's really planning an ambush."
Toby nodded. "We'll have to get some backup. Luna, you and Arrow go get my dad and tell him to meet us there with as many dogs as he can round up. I'll go see what I can do."
Luna nodded just a little, not wanting to shake Arrow any more than necessary, and dashed off. Toby ran too, heading for Chase's headquarters. How does Arrow know so much about Groven's plans? he wondered.