All the dogs slept uneasily that night, most of all Flare. The light of the moon breaking through the clouds always glinted in a dog's eyes while they moved. Crow, the newest male in the yard, seemed to hardly sleep that night. The male had moved about constantly, waking Flare and the other dogs- occasionally even staring over at them.

When dawn broke the yard, Flare's muscles felt heavy and stiff. While she sat up, her ill-rested limbs felt a throbbing, dull ache.

Flare yawned and went to relieve herself. She then sniffed about the yard for a few minutes, straying to one side so she could catch the sunlight as it hit the first corner of the yard. After that, she padded back to the porch and settled down to wait. The tan dog kept herself busy with idle chatter towards Shadow as he also awoke, but it seemed quite reserved. Is it because of Crow or the other thing?

She fretted for awhile, but worrying about Shadow's feelings or potential loss of them just put her nerves on end. She could never quite put into words how she felt. 

Well, there was always one thing providing an easy distraction from nervous thoughts.

Soon enough, I'll get food. She wagged her tail just thinking about it. I wonder if there's a place out there where you get scraps every day?

Unfortunately for Flare, she still hasn't had the chance to taste a real dog treat.

"Here comes the other dogs," Shadow said breezily. Flare flicked her ears back, slightly nervous again. Her eyes were on the black male with long fur- and small but intimidating copper eyes. Yesterday, he'd proven to be merciless, and Flare could easily recall him attacking after Grey Dog had turned his back. He might have a few more schemes to play out.

"Listen up." His furry frame stepped around Jax and closer to the outcrop of the stone porch. Crow was panting in-between words, even so early morning. Because his coat is thick and dark, and the sun has just hit this side of the yard. As Flare was looking at him, the devil himself flicked his head ever so slightly and was suddenly staring at Flare. She reverted her eyes onto the swirly patterns of the fence wood immediately.

After a moment, the black dog flicked his ears and glared at the rest of the dogs. They had all assembled on this side of The Yard, knowing The Man would soon enter and feed them.

"I get whatever food the human throws out. If I see any dogs near my vicinity, I'll slash their whimpering muzzles." Flare believed it, seeing how cut up the dog's own nose and muzzle was. She faintly wondered who'd scarred him. Was it other male dogs? That'd be her first guess.

"Wouldn't we be whimpering after you bit us, and not before?" Jax's retort was so spot-on and smart-alik that Flare was taken aback. He'd even used Crow's own drawn-out, malicious tone.

"You're lucky I'm too starving to tooth you now, pup. But from the looks of it, other dogs here have already done that, haven't they?"

Jax licked his lips as he glanced at White Dog and Grey Dog. His wounds from yesterday were still raw, but underneath that were countless scars that almost blended in with his half-white face.

Both of Jax's only companions- if you could even call them that- sat alone, noses tilted slightly in the other direction. The silence said spoke volumes.

"Well- O-of course they have," Jax stammered in a defensive tone. "Dogs are supposed to fight and breed around here- that's why The Man put us all in The Yard together, and that's why he takes us to the shed to-"

His reply was cut off by a harsh snap. Crow had narrowed his eyes and lifted his lip just enough to show his long, off-white canines. The ends of them curved into a polished white tip.

"I don't need to hear your speech, dummy-dog! Are you saying I don't already know how this place works?" He took a threatening step closer, even from a distance appearing to tower over Jax like a mountain of black menace.

Flare knew the situation was strained. Jax shrank back as if he regretted his words, just as the black German-Shepherd dog reached him. Thrusting his muzzle into the black-and-white bully's face, he exposed his lips fully this time. The younger dog turned his head away, silent as they all stiffened close by.

Just then, the door swung open and the tension was whisked away like a breath of fresh air. Flare bounded to the back porch right away, heeled by Shadow and the other eager members of The Yard.

The Man smelled sweaty and powdery like wet chalk, as Flare sniffed the air to try and catch traceable whiffs of dog food. Though the dogs had no way of knowing, his career of choice was construction work- Outside of his side-hustle, which was to fight dogs and make money from the bets that his audience placed. 

All of the canines wagged their tails close to the human. He didn't even bother closing the door, and White Dog tentatively stuck his nose through the opening to sniff about. Flare could see the white tiles of a kitchen floor, and the sharp edges of a kitchen counter poked out from around the corner of the doorframe. However, as she heard the bowl rattle with food her distractions dissipated like mist in a sunny morning.

White Dog stepped away from the opening as he heard it, too. His bony haunches wiggled with excitement, the most anyone had seen him move around since yesterday's feeding.

The following seconds were nothing out of the normal- a bit of chaos on the dog's end, after The Man flung the entire bowl just over the edge of the porch. He retreated inside quickly; for some reason he liked to stay and watch the dogs fight, but not squabble over food.

Flare headbutted Shadow's flank as she tried to dash her way around him, and the other dogs were a blur of motion as well. Jax stopped around a dried-out patch of grass, thrusting his face through it's stems. White Dog spun in circles, flicking his tongue out to catch bits of food from the dirt. Grey Dog zigzagged his way around the other dogs, even nosing through Jax to pursue a tantalizing scent.

"STOP!" An ear-splitting howl sliced through the air like a sharpened katana. Flare's eyes searched for the source of the sound, but it was soon obvious as her eyes fell upon the menace of a dog. 

"What did I just say, right before this?" He stopped and let his arrogant gaze travel from one hound to another. Flare's annoyance spiked as his eyes fell upon her, disapproving. Even White dog and Shadow had uneasy, yet stubborn postures. 

"I eat first." I dont think anyone is going to let you do that, Flare thought on impulse. For once, she actually wanted the other dogs to act out against Crow- even if it would mean a fight. She could feel the annoyance flowing through her limbs, giving them adrenaline. Her stomach ached with hunger pains.

Flare tried to force her neck fur flat, but wasn't sure if it had worked. She moved her eyes back to the other dogs, waiting to see their reactions and gauging her own off of theirs.

White Dog, as usual, didn't look well. But he was standing with his head lowered and jaw aggressively thrust forward. Jax had his ears cocked, listening intently as White Dog began speaking in his short-of-breath grumble. 

"You can't tell us we can't eat." Exactly!

"I agree," Shadow jumped in. Flare glanced at him, surprised he'd spoken openly against Crow. "Because then one dog would thrive while the rest of us starve," he finalized. 

"I'm quite tired of putting up with you, anyways. You're just out of adolescence, same as most of the other dogs in this Yard. Every time a new male shows up, they act like they own the place." White Dog's voice rasped on a syllable, and he took a pause for breath. The ghostly thin male had chosen a smart tactic of keeping his eyes on Crow, since the male had proven to be a trickster before. 

"You have a place here, but it doesn't mean you own everything. I know there's a reason you're in this Yard. After all, The Man willed it when he brought you here. He wants to use you for fighting, and probably having pups with Flare since you look marginally similar to her."

This time, Flare's hackles rose and she could not force them down. That's why he looks like me?  Feeling embarrassed and repulsed, Flare flattened her ears and tucked her tail. 

Shadow was within a few feet of her, and she looked up as she sensed his movement. He had walked over to her, and lowered his head to whisper into Flare's ear. 

"That won't happen." 

It was hard to hear his sympathetic comment over the other dogs spitting hostility at each other. They were all more touchy than usual, with food laying on the ground and not being eaten. Flare could smell it beneath her muzzle. Still, she acknowledged Shadow with a tiny nod and stood up straighter.

As she did, she saw Jax flattened almost horizontally against the ground. He nipped at any food through the grass that wasn't near the other dogs, then circled back around them. As she watched, the bully breed slowly followed his nose closer to the arguing dogs, then leaped back and away as he realized he may be noticed.

Most of the food is near their paws, Flare thought with a faint ache in her belly. Since Crow had arrived, everything seemed to have gotten thrown into chaos. And now even the daily feeding time was ruined.

"Stop arguing, you two. It's getting nowhere," Grey Dog put in with a snarl. After that, the irritation seemed to reach it's boiling point. 

"Well, I'm tired of this!" The much older male exploded. "There's food right beneath our noses, and everyone's forced to sit here and watch while he eats it? I say dung to that!" White Dog surged forward. He seemed like a different dog as he stretched to his full height and raised his blocky muzzle. Though his bones still poked out, his sheer size always got to the nerves of any opposing aggressor.

"That's how it worked in my old yard, and that's the way our ancestors did it," Crow snarled with a lip-curl.

Interestingly enough, he didn't cower. His teeth were white and flashy in the morning sun, and White Dog stopped just short of the male to listen. 

"Alpha eats first, and when they're full the rest of the dogs can eat." He insisted with a defiant glare up at the mastiff. However, Crow's tail was down- and his head stood much lower than the male's.

"I'm not buying that load of-"

"I'm not either," Grey Dog interrupted. "We know you'll just eat all of it. And this is our Yard; we've always done it our way."

"Well, unfortunately for you, we're going to start doing it my way. Alpha's don't starve their pack. They just eat the most because they are the strongest of the group, and the only ones who can have equally strong pups." Twice with the mention of pups, Flare noted with an unsettling feeling.

"That's bewildering," White dog said sharply. He took a breath before speaking calmer. "Then only one male is well-fed enough to fight in The Shed. We aren't our ancestors, and we don't do things the way they did when they were free."

"Right- we aren't them. We aren't even wild anymore," Shadow put in. He watched the assembled dogs calmly. White Dog nodded in his direction, agreeing.

"And this is a different Yard, not your 'pack of dogs'. We-" 

He was interrupted with a high-pitched bark of rage. Immediately after came the thunk of two bodies colliding, as the black German Shepherd tried to knock White Dog off his feet. 

It didn't work. White dog swung his head around and bared his fangs, reaching for the black dog's ears. His teeth found purchase with the forehead instead, but Crow ripped away. Tufts of fur came out in White Dog's teeth, exposing a bald spot as the shepherd turned his head away. 

Though he wasn't wounded, he backed away rapidly, into the legs of Flare and Shadow themselves. Flare flinched back, while Shadow stepped over the fleeing male dog.

White Dog was pursuing. He zig-zagged around Shadow and tentatively bit Crow's lower back, along the bony part of the spine. The black dog yelped nervously, seemingly more out of fear than pain. He flicked his neck back within a second and latched onto White Dog's lips in a much fiercer attack than had been inflicted upon him.

The much larger male pulled back immediately, only worsening the outcome of his wounds. But Crow held fast, his fangs sunken deep enough to pierce holes through the lip. As White Dog flipped around, Crow was being dragged. White Dog's lips were stretched taunt, but Crow showed no signs of releasing. 

"Let him go!" Shadow called as White Dog began whimpering and panting in a freak-out. He jerked out his front legs to try and dislodge Crow.

"Don't tell me what to do," was Crow's immediate response as he opened his jowls. White Dog fell back on his haunches, painful looking holes leaking blood from his lips and chin. 

"And you," he said with a head-swivel towards the old dog. "Don't question my reason again. Any of you." Flare swallowed nervously and sat down, her heart racing.

"Honestly, how many times do I have to defeat one of you to show that I'm the Alpha? Who's next; Jax?" She glimpsed towards the other side of the Yard, mindful of Jax again. He was sitting in the shade of a doghouse, licking his lips and watching Crow.

I doubt Jax forgot how you tore his face up yesterday, brute.

"I don't think I can tolerate these situations anymore," Shadow said in a low tone at Flare, with a thoughtful edge. "How do you feel about it?"

She looked over at the chestnut-brown male dog, his eyes kind and searching. His muzzle was inclined down at Flare, because she was slightly shorter. 

"I never wanted to arrive here in the first place," she admitted. When she thought of being forced into this life as a puppy, it made her stomach form a hard knot of resentment towards humans. Or at least The Man.

"Then we should leave." Shadow said simply. Taken aback, it was Flare's turn to search his eyes. 

"How? I thought about doing it myself before you arrived, but- nothing ever worked out. In fact, the reason I crashed into you when the door opened is because I meant to get outside through the den." Shadow began to look skeptical about this idea, but Flare continued explaining anyways. She found her voice becoming more defensive. 

"The Man leaves every day through a front door, and it's where we were all brought into The Yard from." 

"I know," he said patiently. "But I think we should try to get out through the fence or otherwise, because if the humans see us in their den they put us back in here."

"I know that, too." Flare said with a slight tone of impatient annoyance. "That happened when I tried it before."

"But there's two of us now," he commented sincerely. "And if there's a will that's strong enough, there's a way. We're smart enough to figure it out." Shadow looked towards Crow and the other dogs, who were standing back as their new 'alpha' ate. 

"As soon as the tension dies down, it'll be as good a time as any."

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Shadow