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“Don’t leave me.” Her nightmare intensified, as she bargained with the unknown to try to keep someone close to her. She wasn’t winning. I put my paws up on the bed. I wanted to protect her, make this vision go away.
    Trina peeled one eye open, realizing she had an audience. “Oh fine,” she mumbled, seemingly unaware of her nightmare. “Come up here, Smoky.”
    Didn’t have to tell me twice. I crawled into the bed and let Trina put her arm around me.
    I won’t leave you, Trina.
    I don’t remember the last time I slept so soundly.

Chapter Six
    T rina
    “It’s a full moon.” I collapsed on the couch, exhausted. Smoky climbed in my lap, nudging me with his snout. Super needy today.
    “How can you tell?” Lyssie asked. She had two of the other dogs by their collars. We liked to let everyone out of their crates as much as possible. Animals didn’t belong in boxes. But today almost everybody was on lockdown.
    “They’re all nuts!” I laughed, roughing up Smoky’s fur. I was getting attached to this guy, big time. And the feeling was mutual. He’d hardly left my side, except for when he fought with some of the other wolves. Until they started fighting, I could almost forget they weren’t like the rest of the dogs. It was going to break my heart to set them free. It had to happen soon. I couldn’t believe how fast they were healing. It was already hard to tell they’d been involved in a dogfighting ring. “It happens every month. When you leave tonight, look up, I guarantee it.”
    “I never noticed, until we had the big guys in here.” Lyssie gave up refereeing and started crating everyone. She was covered in end of day filth. “I thought it was just me having a bad day.”
    “Nah, we’re probably all off.” I barely had the energy for the last round of the night. Everyone needed fresh food and water, and food was getting scarce. The wolves had changed everything. In the morning, I needed to make some phone calls, pull in some favors, and figure out how to get some cash for this place. Since the dogfight, it was almost impossible. Everything in town had been weird. Doors slammed in my face, people ignoring me at stores, the cashier putting my eggs under the cans at the supermarket. A whole bunch of passive aggressive bullshit I was getting real tired of. Not to mention the girls’ flat tire and the roadkill left at the shelter door. “Ready for rounds?”
    “You’re actually leaving tonight?” Kiera raised an eyebrow. The full moon affected me, too. I focused on my work, keeping my brain busy as possible. I’d slept shitty the last couple nights, dreaming of the accident, not being able to stop the car from veering into the tree, powerless but always waking up just before impact. I had this nightmare a lot, but I was never able to bring my fiancé back.
    “Yeah.” It didn’t sound convincing.
    “I’m proud of you, T.” She came over and gave me a hug. We separated quickly, neither of us were very touchy. “I know how hard this is. When was the last time you went to therapy?”
    “A while ago.” I didn’t even like talking about the fact that I went. Kiera and Lyssie were much more open about it. Every time I saw the therapist, she made me feel worse. And she’d bitch at me about drinking. I didn’t want to hear it. I was dealing with everything the best way I knew how. Everyone else had suggestions, but they weren’t living my life. What looked good on paper didn’t always work in reality. At this point, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get better. I didn’t know what better was anymore. That’s what had led me here. The animals helped piece me back together.
    In my dreams, Ryan was still alive. But the reality was I’d killed him. Black ice and too much champagne shattered what should’ve been the happiest night of my life. The car accident replayed in my nightmares like I’d hit repeat. It didn’t matter how far I ran away from it, the memories followed me. His spirit