THE YARD

Chapter 11

Shadow and Flare were close friends from the start, so when they started sleeping in close vicinity to each other every night, it wasn't surprising.

Though Flare wasn't sure how, she often awoke with Shadow's flank pressed against hers. The tan dog rarely moved in her sleep, so she assumed that the late-night cuddle attempts were his doing.

They hadn't spoken about it, which was fine with Flare. The friendly gesture didn't bother her, and she always made sure to move away before Shadow awoke. The young male was a heavy sleeper. He almost always woke up after Flare did and more often then not took naps throughout the day. Flare did the same when she became bored of talking.

Mocha, just as Jax had predicted, grew an exceptionally larger belly. She moved slower and hardly stood up. Every dog knew that her puppies would come soon. The brindle-and-white dog talked about them often, proving that she did in fact think about her unborn pups. Grey Dog begrudgingly let her drink as much water as she wanted, and actually held back during feeding times to let Mocha scavenge first. He talked about being the father of the pups often, a proud aura often around him. Grey Dog admitted that this would be his second litter of pups with Mocha, to which she affirmed that this was her third time having puppies.

Flare couldn't imagine having puppies three different times (let alone once), and knowing that time and time again the puppies would be taken. She had no form of a bond to be compared with anything like that, but already she knew that her puppies should've stayed her's, not given away to random humans.

And White Dog had become less confrontational with Shadow. It seemed that the male was becoming more docile in his old age. When The Man brought Shadow and White Dog to the shed for a fight night, Shadow came out victorious again. He didn't gloat, but kept his head high.

Many fights had proceeded before and after this one. The Man and woman still argued often, their jeers and jabs being heard by the dogs more than once. Jax had still not won a fight, which was a constant source of his irritable comments.

Since Flare's heat had ended two months ago, the attention she had gotten from Jax and White Dog was ceased to a halt. Jax rarely made comments directly to or about her, and only did so when Shadow wasn't around. If she could've guessed, Jax was apprehensive about seeing Shadow overpower White Dog and assumed the same would happen if he challenged the larger male.

The leaves and flowers on trees had become full-bloom, to the point where even Flare lifted her nose high to appreciate their earthly-sweet scent. The weather was most often hot and dry, although a nice breeze occasionally made its way through The Yard. The grass had grown taller, and would-be out of control if the dogs didn't trample on it all day. Flare's spot near the porch, which was usually muddy, had dried into a light-colored dirt with edged cracks.

It was another warm day with a light breeze when the humans came outside, together this time. Flare couldn't recall that ever happening, so they had a clear intent from the start. The Man and woman headed straight for the tires by the fence, one with a leash and one with a collar in hand. The woman dressed and acted a lot different from The Man. She wore light-colored tight pelts that contrasted the man's dark baggy ones. Speaking of, as The Man walked, he slammed down his feet. As the woman walked, she picked up her feet carefully through the yard-probably avoiding the multitude of dog feces piles.

Then the female stoped to clip the collar around Mocha's neck, and The Man clipped the leash onto the curved bar of metal that was apart of it. Mocha was tugged off the tire faster then she could move her feet, so she stumbled under the weight of her huge belly.

The brindle-and-white Pitbull was led to the back door with uncertainty painted all over her face. She halted several times, but the leash tugged her forward. Grey Dog called her name, and kept pace with her and the humans.