While Connor and the two moonbloods were settling down from their intimate encounter Tiny was in the living room sighing to himself. He was all alone in there, thankfully the fireplace crackled with sparks or silence would have reigned. It helped a little, but what he really needed was the company of someone else.

“There you are,” Halftail said as he entered the living room, it was a surprise to the akita who nearly had gotten lost in his thoughts. The bear dog wore a kind, loving smile, something rare for him to do so openly.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Halftail noticed the look in Akita's eyes “Why is always when I find you alone that you seem so sad?”

“Oh… you know how it is…” Tiny deflected. “If a star’s without an audience, is he a star at all?”

“You are to me,” Halftail chuckled, getting close enough to nuzzle his mate. “Audience or not.” 

“Oh, Halftail, you are truly my valiant knight in shining armor,” Tiny swooned. 

The bear-dog didn’t completely understand what that meant but the loving tone in Tiny’s voice told him that his mate was glad to have him nearby. But he couldn’t help but notice how adamantly Tiny avoided talking about what truly upset him by being alone. It was the one secret he had never divulged to him, no matter how close the two of them were. 

“Err...my great warrior...why are you looking at me like that?” Tiny asked a little nervously.

“I won’t force you to tell me what is troubling you Tiny, but I just want you to know you can always talk to me,” Halftail offered. 

Tiny squirmed a little, it had been eating at him for quite a while, but he never quite had the courage to ever talk about it, even to Halftail. But...he had grown hadn’t he? He...he could do this! No more shying away from the spotlight due to a little stage fright!

“Halftail...there is something…” For all his usual glamour, Tiny for once couldn’t find the right words. These weren’t the rehearsed lines of a performer, they were true to himself, his own reality. 

“I-...I never told you why I keep breaking the silence have I?” Halftail blinked at the question and at how different Tiny carried himself.

“The truth is...the silence reminds me of...my lowest point. The one moment where, after being in the spotlight constantly, I found myself utterly alone…Now I often found myself in the back of a van, going to a place unknown. It was always me and me alone… Sometimes it would be for hours, other times days upon days. They had locked me away, to freight me like a commodity, and I was alone with the dreadful silence, save the ambient noise. I never realized just how much I could miss the company of another canine…” Tiny admitted. 

“But none of that compared to the day I went out of style. Instead of a van, it was a small cage in an empty room. No other voices, no wind, no anything… It was just me alone in there...I ended up talking to myself in a desperate attempt to break the silence, until...my voice gave out on me after hours of muttering to myself. Total silence, I never experienced anything so terrifying, so...lonely.” The akita took a moment to collect himself before smiling. “But now it’s not so bad…I can often avoid long periods of silence easily, I even got Jenna to talk to now.” Tiny shifted and tried to play it off, he didn't like feeling so open and vulnerable.

Unexpectedly, Tiny felt himself get dragged closer to the bear-dog. “Tiny...You don’t ever have to worry about being alone, nothing would ever make me leave you.” Halftail heard sniffles coming from the former show-dog as he held him. 

“I-I’m not crying!” The akita insisted as he sobbed into the bear-dogs pelt. Halftail just smiled as he just held the smaller dog.

“Of course not. You are very strong.” ‘Oh...what did I do to deserve someone like Halftail?’ Tiny thought as his mate held him calmingly.


In the dog’s room, the others were made aware of Balto and Steele’s return. Upon entering the room, Steele broke away from the wolfdog’s side and went to his two loving mates for some extra aftercare. Being alone in the doorway, Balto looked to the malamute with longing in his eyes. Despite how much fun they just had, the wolfdog had been hoping for a bit more…wished he could be part of that, but that felt like a betrayal of his mate Jenna. After gathering himself he went to her. 

Jenna waited for him, wanting to say something to her returning mate. The two of them ignore the muffled pleasured noises that came from the other three canines and were pressed against each other in their bed. 

“Jenna I…” Balto began but he was cut off.

“It’s okay, Balto…” Jenna said. “I understand. There’s so many dogs here...and they’re so open… And Steele… It’s clear that he’s not the same malamute he was before. I can’t blame you for being a little infatuated with him. You two have grown very strong bonds with each other, he was there the most for you when you were drowning in anger, never giving up on you despite how hard you tried to push him away.” And they had a strange bond with each other through Connor, she couldn’t quite wrap her head around it yet. And honestly she would have gotten more worried if her mate hadn't gotten at least a little hots for the malamute after how close they had gotten. 

“I want you to be happy, Balto. And if that means joining Steele’s little harem, then I’m okay with it,” Jenna chuckled. Through and through, she knew that her Balto was a special dog. He needed the love of both her and Steele, two halves that could keep him whole after the town broke his heart. 

She chuckled a little at his surprised face and actually encouraged him onwards, smiling as Steele and the others let him into their little intimate circle. As he joyfully rolled around with them Jenna took the time to take a little nap. After her wolfdog was finished with those three she would certainly have something in store for him…Tiny had secretly been teaching her a few tricks, she could not wait to see his reaction…


Night soon fell and after so much time of intimacy and pleasure, Steele, Mince, and Rodger were perfectly content with finally curling up against each other. As the malamute was sandwiched between the husky, wolfdog and elkhound, he began to wonder just what would have become of him if he had never ran away. He certainly never would have come across the canines that held an immensely special place in his heart. He was truly content with how things were now, he couldn't imagine wishing for anything more.

As he settled down next to Steele, Mince was also reflecting. For a long time he felt held down by his past. Sure he could talk about it but none of the other canines could quite grasp those heavy, wrenching emotions that came from being betrayed by one’s own owner. But that’s when Steele came into his life. He could sense that they shared a similar pain, and sure enough, Steele not only listened to his plight but could relate with him as well. It made the husky feel not so alone after so long. It was only natural that he would grow attached to the malamute, holding him dear in his own heart. He had helped him grow out of his depressing stagnation, lift burdens that were crushing him and help him overcome some parts of his past and dropping the worst aspects of his dark coping mechanism. When he was with the malamute, the husky's world felt less dark and gloomy, and overcoming his usually daunting issues felt surmountable. Steele was a light in his normally dark world, giving him hope that tomorrow would be better and for that he would forever be grateful to Steele

And nearly drifting off to sleep at Steele's other side was Rodger. The elkhound felt as if he owed everything to Steele, his love and hero. From saving him from a wandering bear to somehow making his night terrors go away… Time and time again, Steele went above and beyond for the elkhound. Rodger wanted to repay those favors but he wasn’t as strong or talented as Steele. But there was something he could give the malamute without a shred of doubt or fault: his undying love and affection. And the moment Steele returned his feelings, Rodger literally followed Steele around like a lost dog. As far as the elkhound was concerned though, as long as the malamute was near, he would never be lost again. 


It was the middle of the night when Steele roused, he heard a door carefully being closed. With all the dogs present around him he knew it had to be Connor. A little worried, he got up and followed his trail to just outside the house. 

Connor turned as he heard the malamute draw near and smiled “couldn’t sleep?” he asked.

“I was about to ask you the same question.” Steele huffed.

The werewolf in human guise turned back to look at the night sky. “The moon is full tonight, I often cannot sleep when it is.”

“Mind if I keep you company a little then?” Steele asked, sitting down next to him. Connor smiled and nodded, all too glad for the company. 

He might have fooled the others, but Steele understood that Connor was the most broken out of all of them, he and Balto had helped him get a little better, but the loss of his kin had all but shattered the werewolf’s soul. He kept going only for their sake, not his own.

As the two of them finished watching the moon and were getting ready to retire to bed again a howl was carried across the wind. 

Steele had never seen Connor flinch so intensely.

“Th-that wasn’t a wolf howl…” The malamute could hear the desperate hope in his voice.

Connor quickly discarded his clothes and transformed, howling back in the direction from where they had heard it. Connor’s howl was deep and long, striking Steele to his core. He had never heard such an emotionally filled noise. 

They stood there...waiting, with each passing moment Steele could almost feel the despair sinking into the werewolf. Just as it seemed they would not get a response, another howl filled the night. Connor immediately replied, tears dripping from his eyes.

After Connor finished his correspondence, he turned to Steele and the malamute was struck by how alive Connor’s eyes suddenly seemed.

“Not in the coming days, but in the near future...we are going to get a visitor.” The two of them went inside with lighter hearts, to their home, their family.