It felt wonderful to be back in the safety of the Pack after the hardships since he had left.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Mickey whined. “The city was worse than it had been the last time we were there. All the front yards are wild, and the streets have even more wounds in them—with foul liquid pouring out.”

“There was no sign that the longpaws had returned?” asked little Sunshine as she miserably tugged at a burr caught in her filthy white tail. “Not one?”

“They can’t have come back,” Mickey yowled. “Everything there was stale or wild.”

“It’s still hard to think of the city without longpaws, even though I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” said Bella.

Mickey sniffed. “There were some longpaws—a couple at least.”

Bruno pricked up his ears and Daisy jumped to her paws.

“But they were not good ones,” Mickey added quickly. “These longpaws were mean and angry. They were the kind that want to hurt dogs.”

“The scary ones with the yellow pelts and black faces?” asked Bella.

“No, these longpaws were scraggy and old. They were entering houses and stealing things! We defended my house, didn’t we, Lucky? I—I mean Omega,” the black-and-white dog added.

Lucky gave him a nod. It’s all right. I agreed to be Omega—let Alpha have his rules.

Mickey’s black ears fell as he went on. “But the house was all broken, and then it caved in. It was horrible. All of you were right—there’s nothing for us in the city anymore.”

Lucky lifted his muzzle and gazed into the sky. The Sun-Dog was starting his slow descent over the high white clouds. Lucky’s head sank back against the moss, his eyes closing. It had been a long few days and it was pleasant just to sit and think.

“So they really have gone for good,” said Bruno sadly.

“Well,” sighed Sunshine. “We have to do our best to put them completely out of our minds. That is the only way we can survive now.”

Lucky opened one eye and looked at her. He was impressed that she, of all the Leashed Dogs, would show such resolve.

Sunshine noticed him looking at her. “Omega,” she began nervously. “What made you decide to come back? Oh, I’m so glad you did but . . . I didn’t think that you would.”

Lucky sighed. “It’s like Mickey said, the city is ruined. And then we found the pups. We knew they’d be safer here.”

Mickey yipped in acknowledgment.

Sunshine cocked her fluffy white head. “Is that the only reason?”

Lucky was about to admit that he’d missed the Pack when he was distracted by a distant thrumming that reminded him of fluttering bugs he had once seen in trees. His ears pricked up and he raised his snout.