A wretched yelp of pain from his love woke Duke up faster than anything else had in his life, sending adrenaline coursing through him. He sprung to his paws, staring in horror as Duchess desperately tried to shake the rat off of her neck… her teeth tearing into her flesh, releasing copious amounts of blood… He was hardly aware of the blurring of his surroundings and the movement of his body as he thrust towards the rat, ripping her off of her before ripping into her with all the strength and rage that he possessed. Rage towards her, but mostly towards himself, for allowing this to happen… this was all his fault… if he had just left her behind, lived up to his duty of protecting his girlfriend from problems like this, especially those he had brought into existence… this wouldn't have happened… Duchess would have been safe… Duchess… he felt Duchess gently place a paw on his shoulder, restoring his vision and causing him to realize that he had reduced the rat to a mere pile of scraps of viscera and flesh, completely unrecognizable as what she had once been, unable to hurt Duchess or anyone else now… if he had just done this earlier, when he had had the chance… when she had been knocked out and defenseless…
Duchess' mouth hung open, the reassuring words that she clearly wanted to say for him, for them not coming to her. How could they, in this miserable situation? He never should've gotten involved with her… of course nothing good could come of one of the surface, especially someone as wonderful as her, being around a rat like him… he shouldn't even call himself a dog, he wasn't, could never be in the same category as her… the disparity between them was even clearer now that he had done this to her… Duke instinctively jerked away from her as she attempted to nuzzle him, knowing that he was undeserving of her comfort and presence, and she looked at him in tearful shock, blood dripping from her neck and chest. After a long moment, she dipped her head to him, trying and mostly succeeding in suppressing further tears with a grimace. "I get it, of course you don't want to risk getting rabies from me… especially when you're so close to getting the wonderful future you deserve… I'll tell you how to get to the suburbs we were going to and leave, okay? Maybe I'll be able to find someone to help you before it… sets in…" Duke stared at her in horror for a long moment, hardly able to comprehend what was suggesting, before eventually managing to force himself to move to her side. He nuzzled up against her comfortingly, doing his best to embrace her despite his small stature after she shakily lay down.
"Duchess, I'm not leaving you to deal with this on your own, especially when it's my fault in the first place. No one deserves to… go through… that alone, let alone you. I'm… I'm sorry…" He scrambled to his paws as she abruptly stood up, making her way to the cage, which now had a bar that had evidently been chewed through in the night, with labored strides, much slower than her usual speed. They gazed at it, processing what had happened, before Duchess responded. "It's not your fault, Duke… but I can't stay with you; I won't be able to control this forever… she made that clear… and I can't give it to you, I just can't…" Duke padded towards her, reeling from the cruel truth that he was now faster than her despite his injuries and size… he had hurt her so badly… and reached her, standing up on his back legs so that he could nuzzle and lick her chest reassuringly. "Duchess, that future would've been nothing without you. I would've been nothing if I had never met you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'm staying with you no matter what. If I can give you a fraction of the security you've given me, my life will have been meaningful." She gently rested her head on his for a moment before backing away from him, forcing him to the ground.
"No, I can't let you do this… Goodbye, Duke-" With that, she spun around and attempted to run, struggling through the deep cuts that now marred her throat and chest, that were now pouring even more blood due to the strain of her efforts, even more blood than he had seen come out of the original Duke… Alarmed, he quickly caught up with her, causing her to stop in her tracks. They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, both aware of the impasse that they had now reached; she wasn't escaping from him this time. Eventually, her expression softened, tears falling down her face as she lay down and curled around him, still minding his injuries despite everything that had happened. He quickly lay down as well, melting into her solid presence and pouring all of his love and reassurance into licks that he drew along her perfect lanky muzzle. She sighed, hesitantly giving him a lick in return before placing her head on her front legs. "I love you so much, Duke." He gave her one last lick… for now… before resting his head as well. "I love you too, Duchess. Always."