Panting hard, I made my way along the fence, my ears folded back, tail between my legs. Where was Winter? I had no idea what I was running away from. I'd just felt something wrong—very wrong.

I found her standing inside the fence brushing the tangles out of an old gray horse's mane. She seemed preoccupied,  oblivious as I  raced towards her. The sight of her calmed my nerves,  I was able to breathe again, my gait slacking.

The horse, Old Earl, was the oldest of the refuge horses. He had an air of royalty about him, despite his slight limp, and blind right eye. His ears bent forward as I approached and he snorted. Do you bite, little dog?

An understandable question considering he'd endured years of Barnabas's relentless tormenting.

No I don't bite, I assured him, coming to a halt near the fence. My tongue hung limply out my mouth as I worked to still my racing heart.

Satisfied now that I was near Winter, I settled down in the soft grass and let the warmth of the sun spread on me, gathering my thoughts. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Sheldon leave the barn with a can of beer in one hand,  a manure shovel in the other. I breathed a sigh of relief when he headed the opposite direction, didn't want whatever happened in there to happen again.

Concentrating hard on my past, I tried to dig up as many memories as I could to give me some kind of direction. I'd had several chores handed to me when I started rooming at Rose Family Animal Refuge. Among them was shoveling manure from the barn stalls and fields—not one of my fondest memories.

I do not like the big dog who bites. Old Earl continued, bringing me out of my thoughts.

He stomped his hoof, creating a loud thud and a cloud of dust. I sneezed violently for several minutes.

I like this girl who brushes me. This brushing is much better than biting.

I sighed. Yes, I bet it is.

The lack of intelligent conversation was wearing thin. But, I suppose it could be worse. There could have been no one to talk to at all—or I could have been dead—permanently.

My eyelids grew heavy and before I knew it, I'd drifted off to sleep. It surprised me how easy it was to sleep as a dog—when evil things weren't peering in the window.

I awoke to a new scent, and the sound of footsteps. Winter's brother Lance was trudging up the hill with none other than José, my long lost friend from years ago. Barnabas followed close at their heels, his graying head turned in our direction, eyes locked on Old Earl.

Don't move or I'll bite you, Barnabas projected.

Old Earl whinnied and shook his head, knocking the brush out of Winter's hand.

"Earl, what is your prob..." She stopped when she noticed Barnabas and the boys coming.

Bad dog, bad biting dog! Earl's good eye widened and he pounded his front legs on the ground, stirring up the dust around him once again.

"Calm down Earl," Winter soothed, stroking his gray speckled neck. " I won't let Barnabas chase you."

"Hey Winter, long time no see." José hoisted himself up on the fence and straddled it.

I cringed. José had always been overbearing.  Probably to compensate for his awkward looks. He was built like a wrestler, but his round baby face and smooth, hairless skin mismatched his body. I couldn't remember if his face had ever grown into that body of his. 

Lance was nineteen, about two years older than Winter. He shared her dark features, but he was big and burly, with short tightly curled hair, the thick neck of a jock. I don't remember much about Lance from my past life, but he seemed like a nice enough guy.

"Hi José. Hi Lance." Winter bent down to pick up the brush. "Did you get the dog food we needed?" She directed the question towards Lance, who was bending to pick me up.

"Yeah it's in the truck, I'll unload it in a minute."

As his massive arms lifted me off the ground,  I had a new appreciation for all dogs who don't like to be held. It felt like I was looking down from the roof of a house.

" So, where's that lazy, freeloading friend of mine?" José swung his legs around and jumped off the fence to stand next to Winter.

I growled, but it sounded more adorable than ferocious like I intended. Backstabbing prick! It shouldn't have been too surprising; José had always been quick to throw someone under the bus, if he stood a chance to earn a leg up.

"I bet he's somewhere around here drinking a beer, figuring out the right way to ask your old man for a loan." José jeered, rolling his eyes. "I don't know why I let him talk you into staying here. The guys a real low life." 

I wanted to tear his face off, but I was currently equipped with baby teeth.

"If you're looking for Sheldon he's in the field across the barn." Winter turned her back and began brushing Earl's mane again, deliberately ignoring José.

Undeterred, he reached over and pushed a wisp of hair out of her face, taking a step closer.

"I'd really rather talk to you," he said in a sultry voice.

Winter stiffened, and I growled again.

Lance swooped in, a strong arm grabbing Jose by the shirt, pulling him backwards. " Yeah—not gonna happen with my sister." He gave him a threatening look. "Let's go get Sheldon to help get this stuff out of the truck."

José gave Winter one last fleeting smile before Lance roughly steered him away, and we headed towards Sheldon; who I realized I was not going to be able to avoid.

"Just so that you don't make that mistake again, my sister is off limits," Lance warned in a voice low enough that Winter wouldn't hear.

Jose was smart enough to shut up after that. 

Once again, the questions sprang to my mind. Why was I here? What was I supposed to be doing? Why did the spirit beings choose to drop me at this exact time?

It was possible that I was put there to keep Sheldon from making the mistakes that had ruined his chance with Winter. But, I suspected there was a deeper purpose than that. My instinct told me I needed to protect Winter, which was crazy because nothing in my memory gave me any reason to believe she was ever in danger. The whole thing was a freaking mystery, and the two meddling spirits who instigated this whole disaster had conveniently disappeared.

My heart sped up as I spotted Sheldon in the field. An old cow and  a couple of scraggly looking goats milled around him. He was leaning on the fence with a beer in his hand, the unused shovel propped beside him. From the looks of it, he'd had a little more than one beer since I'd left. His eyes sharpened as he noticed me in Lance's arms.

"Keep that thing away from me," he slurred, pulling himself off the fence unsteadily. "There's somethin' wrong with that dog—the way it looked at me."

"O-kay..." Lance set me down on the grass with a sigh.

"God—he's wasted." José laughed disgustedly, running his hands through his hair. "Lay off the beers, Sheldon. You know you've got a problem when puppies start scaring you." 

Sheldon's expression turned a little sheepish, but he still avoided looking my way, for which I was grateful. "Shut up, Jose," he muttered.

"Look at you." Jose ignored him, pressing on.  "I can't believe I talked Winter into letting you stay here. I put my reputation on the line, and here you are, pissing it away. She's too good for you." 

Fuming at José's words, and currently lacking decent decision making skills, Sheldon staggered over to him and attempted a wide right hook, missing horribly. I cringed. It was painful to watch.

"That's enough, you idiots," Lance spat. "If you're gonna go fight, do it somewhere else."

"You didn't do nothin' for me! It was my turn! I don't owe you nothin'," Sheldon shot drunkenly at Jose.

"Okay, okay." José held his hands up, grinning. "Have it your way. But you try to hit me again, you're gonna regret it."

Sheldon lunged forward,  sloppily attempting another swing. 

Clearly, my drunken self needed help. Sensing that now was as good a time as any to step in and fulfill my purpose, I went to work, barking and making a scene. Rushing forward, I clamped down on José's pant leg, and tugged as hard as I could.

"What the— " He staggered, trying to shake me off.  I growled, tugging harder. "Get the hell off me!" José lifted his leg and gave me a hard kick, sending me sprawling to the ground, yelping in pain.

"What the hell is your problem?" Lance grabbed José by the shoulders and slammed him against the fence, his eyes blazing as he lifted up his fist, ready to strike.

" I—it tried to attack me!" José stuttered, his eyes wide.

"It is a damn puppy!" Lance spat, lowering his fist. He shook his head in anger. "Get the hell out of here."

José eyed him, his fists clamped tightly at his sides. Lance was built like a brick wall. Clearly he wasn't crazy enough to take him on. 

"Get off me." He pushed Lance's hands off of him and stormed down the hill.

My side aching, I turned towards Sheldon. He was leaning against the fence watching Jose disappear, a slow smile spreading across his face. I suppose he was relishing in Jose's defeat.

Lance came over and looked me over. Other than having the wind knocked out of me, I was fine. He scooped me up and turned to Sheldon.

"If you have to drink, do it after you're done for the day. You're frickin' useless to us as a drunk," he snapped. "Now come on and help me unload this stuff off the truck."

***

Back in the refuge stall with my siblings, I buried my head in the blankets, hoping desperately to be ignored. My side was still throbbing, but it wasn't the pain that had me so utterly depressed. I hadn't accomplished a thing the whole day, in fact, I may have made things worse. Then there was the fact that I'd just witnessed first hand how useless I'd been in my former life. It was depressing.

Winnie slid her head under the blanket beside me and licked my nose with her little pink tongue. Are you badly hurt?

She was the only one of my siblings with clear blue eyes; pure white with a little pink nose. Everything about Winnie was sweet and nice; she would have made a beautiful person. If things could go in the reverse, beings like Winnie deserved more of a chance than me.

It's okay, I'm fine. 

Winnie scooted closer to me until I could feel the warmness of her breath on my ear.

Don't worry, I'll help you. I will guide you.

My ears slid forward and I sat up on my haunches, creating a tent-like effect under the blanket as I looked into her eyes, searching.  There was something different about Winnie.

Hi there, I hope you are enjoying this story! Hope you weren't looking for werewolves...it's not that type of story. Let me know you like it by clickin' that little star on the bottom! See you next chapter!