Sara

Sara stepped into the clearing, scent of smoke still clinging to her fur. She had no idea where she was, or how she'd gotten there. The trees rustled in the winter breeze, and she wondered where the house had gone. Her people would need her, surely. A fire like that would terrify the human pups. 

She lifted her muzzle to the sky and sniffed for any sign of familiar land. Nothing but the faintest traces of rabbits in the woods. 

Wait. That one was familiar. Her girl, her Maggie had a rabbit. JoJo, that was his scent somewhere on the breeze. Sara quickened her pace, nose to the soft earth as she searched. 

Finally, she found him, huddled in a terrified ball under a honeysuckle bush. "JoJo," Sara woofed softly, surprised at how strange she sounded. 

"Who are you?" The terrified rabbit trembled.

"It's me," Sara explained, crouching down to appear less intimidating to a small creature. She didn't recall her legs being this long. "Sara."

"No you're not!" JoJo twitched his nose and huddled farther back into his hiding place. "Sara's a dog, you're a wolf!"

Sara sneezed in surprise. "What? I'm a dog! I've always been a dog!" 

JoJo thumped his leg adamantly. "No, look at yourself. You smell like Sara, but Sara's ears flop. Besides, she's dead. We all died. Don't you remember?"

Sara sat up straight. "Dead? We can't be dead. We're..." she scratched one ear, which was indeed pointed as it had not been before. "I don't know where we are," she admitted. "But wouldn't I know if we were dead?"

JoJo thumped again. "One would think." Then he scoffed. "Of course, I die and I'm stuck with the dog out of everyone. What did I do to deserve this?" 

"Nothing." 

The voice surprised them both, sending Sara stumbling into an embarrassing heap. 

A wolf with fur like glittering stars and shining rivers appeared as if from nowhere, her paws aglow with a blue smoke. 

"It wasn't your fault. An accident." She sat in front of them "So you get another chance. To live, outside this time. No burning home to trap you, the only risks your own choices." 

Sara curled her lip. "Oh, of course! This is absolutely good enough," she snapped. "My girls mean nothing, apparently." 

The stranger said nothing. JoJo hopped carefully to settle between Sara's front paws. "Will we see her again? Ever?"

The starlit wolf bent to look him in his small, dark eyes. "Yes, little one. Many years from now. Every creature, even the humans, will become one with us. You will see yours again. But for now," she straightened and looked at Sara, almost a question, yet undeniably the only choice. 

"Honor her with your life. Honor your own memories. The good, the bad, the hope for the future. Do not let grief for what you lost distract from what you are." 

Her voice gentled. "It will hurt. It always does, and that is as it should be. The hole will not fill, but your heart will grow to make room for your new pack."

"Pack?" Sara tilted her head. 

"Yes, pack. Nightflower Pack will be your home now. You will run with the pack, hunt with the pack, sleep with the pack, sing with the pack." She touched her nose to Sara's, and a cold electricity coursed through her like stars and the sound of her girl's laughter. 

"Are you ready?" 

Sara thumped her tail. "If I must be."

"Wait a minute!" JoJo pawed at Sara's chest. "What about me?"

The glittering wolf huffed a little laugh. "Little one, you will come too."

"I think not!" He protested. "They'll eat me!" 

Sara snarled at the suggestion. "They will not!"

The strange wolf laughed again. "I think you two will fit in just fine.