Chapter Four

I walked to the patio doors and used my nose to open them, looking out across the base I saw it was lit by the huge blood moon. My canine instincts took over and I ran, loping along in the wolf gait that would carry me for miles without any effort. As I entered the woods my Pack linked and ran with me, streaking shadows of the palest silver we raced to the top of the nearby hill. I took my place at the front of my Pack, I was their Alpha, their Leader. I lifted my head to the Moon and howled my pain, my anger, and my sadness because I remembered. My memories were complete, I knew who I was and it was time to take my rightful place. My Pack bowed their heads in submission to me and my Beta Anders came strode forward lowering his head and submitting to his Alpha,

‘Welcome home Alpha.’                                                                                                                                   He said lifting his head to look at me,                                                                                                              ‘It is good to see you again, if a little strange.’                                                                                                     I chuckled and shook myself, my silver-white fur fluffing out,                                                                       ‘Try going through puppyhood again my friend.’                                                                                              It was his turn to shake, his dark grey fur making him almost invisible in the darkness,                                     ‘I’d rather not if you don’t mind.’                                                                                                                       I paced a little in front of him my Pack watching me closely hardly able to believe what they were seeing, their Alpha was alive. I did not have time for explanations so I turned to Anders and said quietly,           

‘It is not my time to Lead them just yet, Dog has other plans for me. My life is entwined with the humans for the time being. Will you care for my Pack until I am freed from this bond?’

Anders bowed his handsome head,

‘It will be an honour my Alpha’

I nodded and he bared his neck and the rest of my Pack submitted to my rule, one by one they knelt and bared their necks,

‘Anders rules in my place until the bond can be broken and we can truly be free’ I told them and they accepted my word, all knew my story and my sacred bond to the humans. I had no choice and neither did they, we were the Dog’s chosen Pack.                                                        

The Commander stood by the window watching me ascend to my rightful place, a shiver ran down his spine as he listened to the unearthly howling echoing hauntingly around the base,                                        ‘Welcome back Sirius’                                                                                                                                       He whispered quietly and then returned to his bed curling against his wife he held her close letting her quiet warmth infuse him. He kissed her shoulder tenderly and she stirred but did not wake,                             ‘I love you’                                                                                                                                                       He told her and closed his eyes but it did not stop the tears trickling down his chin he knew the road ahead would not be easy and he knew his destiny was waiting.

As the sun began to peep above the horizon I returned to the house and curled in my bed this time sleep claimed me quickly and I did not stir until the Commander came down a few hours later. ‘Welcome back Sirius’ He repeated sitting at the table with his coffee, ‘I think it is time for our work to begin again my friend’ I looked at him and saw what he had been keeping hidden, ‘You should have told me Commander’ I told him and he smiled, ‘Why worry unnecessarily? I knew when you remembered you would see and there is nothing that can be done, it is why we must get on and finish our work Sirius’ I closed my eyes and entered his mind, he resisted at first but then allowed me access knowing he could only prevent me for a short time. I moved through him entering his bloodstream and flowing through him to the cancer that was killing him. I looked around watching it attach itself to his organs feeding off his body. It was everywhere and there was nothing I could do to stop it, frustrated I pulled back, ‘Why did you not tell me sooner, you know I could have stopped it?’ It was true because I could enter the human mind I could travel through their bodies and heal them if they needed me to but only if it was early enough. In the Commander's case, the cancer was far too advanced, it was end-stage five. I had the ability to delay the inevitable but only if the Commander asked me to and we both knew he would not do that ‘I have come to terms with it Sirius, I am not in any pain. There is no point in speculating about what might have been, it took so long to find you that it had already taken hold and established itself before they found it. I am just relieved we did find you before it was too late’ He smiled at me and stood up, ‘Come on the Scientists are waiting let’s go to work’ We walked over to the labs where the Scientists greeted us enthusiastically, ‘Welcome back Sirius, it’s great to have you back up to speed, Shall we begin?’ I jumped up onto the gurney and lay down while they attached the probes to my head, it was all top-secret high-tech equipment, developed especially for me by the two of them. I put my head on my paws and closed my eyes, ‘Begin’ I told them and jumped slightly as the electrical impulses connected to my brain, the pain was brief as I moved into the computer and linked myself to its data banks. Once the link was fully established the information began to d******d into my brain, the exchange was swift and I felt myself growing stronger, my powers increasing as I fed off the electricity pumping through my body. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and lifted my head the interchange was complete, ‘Release me’ They removed the cap and stood back, ‘Sirius?’ The Commander looked at me and raised his eyebrow, ‘My powers are far greater than we originally thought Commander, the time is coming when I will no longer have to hide, I am not afraid of facing them they will have no power over me’ He was not happy at that, the Canine 01 Project was so secret none of our Allies knew of my existence, especially not the USA who had tried to develop a similar prototype and failed miserably. ‘I cannot condone that Sirius, we do not know what they have developed and if they discover you they will stop at nothing to possess you that is how we lost you the first time and I will not let it happen again’ I jumped off the table and stretched I needed to burn off some of the energy fizzing through my body and told the Commander that it was time to test out my new agility course, The Scientists followed us and filmed me as I sped round the course, it came as no surprise to me that I could run faster and further, as well as jumping higher than any ‘normal’ dog. They watched in amazement as I performed like a circus animal showing off my prowess, they wrote everything down, how high I could jump, how far I could jump, how fast I could run, and how long I could run for. At least they tried to record it all but I could have run all day without stopping if I chose to do so. When I did stop it was because I did not want them to know the full extent of my abilities. It was important for me to keep some control and if they knew the true extent of what I could do they would have been worried and perhaps even scared and that could cause me problems. I trotted back into the house and found the Commander lying on his bed, I was shocked, this told me he was much worse than he had admitted to me. When I checked in on him he was sleeping, I felt a deep sadness in my heart as I looked at him. In sleep, he looked younger but I could now smell the decay in his body, the cancer was spreading quicker than he had admitted to. I did not need to enter his body to know this, he was dying and it hurt me as I could do nothing to help him, even using all of my powers he would not survive. I rested my head against him and closed my eyes, I could not prevent the inevitable but I could make it easier for him so I entered his mind and turned off his pain receptors, he would not live any longer but he would not feel any pain, he would not suffer. I nudged him gently and he opened his eyes, ‘Hi Sirius, sorry about, that bloody medication makes me so tired, thought I’d have forty winks old chap’