THE YARD

Chapter 5

"I do!" barked the make dog loudly. He flashed his teeth as a night bird flew out of some nearby tree, screeching in alarm.

It appeared that Jax had the sense not to speak out again this time. He was silent.

"Remember that I can mate with her by myself if I wanted to. You can't beat me, runty mutt!" Flare thought she saw him smirk, but couldn't be sure because his jowels were so floppy and scarred. White Dog was usually even-tempered, but he clearly intended to use his power over Jax if he needed to.

"Females don't mate well when they're all nervous and jumpy," he said matter-of-fact. "But then it's not like you would know since you're so young and have no experience. You can't just fight them and bully them like other male dogs, or they get all hysterical or too submissive." He didn't look Flare's way as he spoke.

Jax had no answer for him, although after they made it to the dog houses Flare heard him mutter "sorry..." to White Dog. His apology hadn't sounded very sincere.

Flare's stomach flipped upside down. The water no longer helped her feel any better, because she knew her chance of escaping The Yard before having puppies had just run out. She was stuck here until these dogs bred with her, and she had their puppies, and then her puppies would be stolen from her and given away to other horrible humans.

She felt herself shutting down involuntarily. Flare's haunches sank to the ground and she sat, holding herself halfway up with ragged breaths of panic and disbelief. This couldn't be happening to her.

This can't be happening to me! She repeated with a shriek in her head as Jax pawed at her face and back, clearly attempting to make her stand up again. It was dark in the shadows behind the dog-houses, and all she could make out was the shape of their rotting wood and the other two wet dogs close to her. White Dog's scent flared up through the heavy smell of wet grass and fur, as if he were becoming impatient or excited too.

"Go over in the dens for a moment, Jax. You can have her after me."

"No way!" He said, flipping around from where he stood next to Flare. He was about a head shorter than her, but his paws were a lot larger and had tan hair caught between them where he'd idly scratched at her flank. Flare didn't know if he'd broken skin or not; all she could feel was her own pinched nerves, knowing that her hair would've been standing on end if she weren't soaked.

"I'm mating with her first!" He looked small and non-threatening in front of White Dog, who simply stared down at him pointedly. Jax had an ugly grimace on his face that was slightly unsure.

All the while, it was clear that Jax wouldn't stand down. White Dog snorted and lowered his head to barrel into the offensive male. His head and tail had been completely stiff and high a moment before; now they ducked low as White Dog thrust his head and chest forward.

The two dogs hit each other chest-to-chest with a wet smack. Flare tried to back farther away as they snarled and snapped at each other's lips, but she was caught up in a dog's leg. Jax came crashing down from a heavy paw-thump a second later, close to her face.

Flare yelped as she was moved from the dog's heavy flank bumping into her. She'd just flanked so roughly that she felt his ribs graze against her own.

White Dog must have finally finished whatever blows he was landing on Jax, because he then stilled.

"Okay, Jax! So you'd like a wound to match the one from earlier?" He snarled in question but didn't wait for an answer. Flare shut her eyes tight as her body was spun along the ground, and then a different rib squashed painfully by one of their paws. They were fighting on top of her. She fought the urge to whimper like a scared pup. Her teeth clenched and she tried feebly to crawl away.