Chapter Three

I was still a very small puppy and he was waving his fists at me I was terrified. I knew I was too small to defend myself so to my shame all I could do was lower my head and back away from him my tail between my legs. I cowered into my blanket I had no idea why he was so angry with me until he slammed the door behind him and I heard him say.                                                                                                                 ‘That’s better you little runt now keep it fucking quiet, we are trying to sleep or you will find it will get a whole lot worse for you’                                                                                                                                   He turned to his mate,                                                                                                                                ‘When did you say that damned Commander was picking that weird little shit up? I swear if he does not come tomorrow I will strangle the little fucker myself’                                                                                    He shouted at her angrily as they stamped back up the stairs.  I did not hear her reply the male was still muttering furiously but I could have set his mind at rest if I had wanted to. I knew the Commander would arrive when the sun came up the next morning he would never let me down.                                                  I sat patiently waiting throughout the rest of that cold lonely night, watching the door as the sun rose in the sky turning the dark room bright with colour.   I knew when he arrived at exactly the time he said he would, he came striding through the door and did not stand on ceremony scooping me up into his arms without a word to the humans who owned my Mother. He tucked me into his coat and accepted the puppy pack from my human, politely thanked her for caring for me, and then turned on his heel and walked out again not saying a word to me. He waited until we were alone in his car and driving back to his home leaning forward he closed the grill between us and his driver then turned slightly to one side so the man could not see his face,                                                                                                                                 ‘Sirius, are you okay? Do you remember anything?’                                                                                        He was looking at me anxiously and I put him at ease,                                                                                     ‘I am fine Commander and yes, I remember almost everything’                                                                        I spoke to him with my mind, the Commander and I and been linked since he was a young soldier, a link that had never been broken even with my death,                                                                                              ‘I am still remembering, the process is not yet complete, I believe it will take a few more months as I mature’                                                                                                                                                              He nodded and replied,                                                                                                                                      ‘I have so many questions my friend’                                                                                                                   I chuckled and licked his hand,                                                                                                                     ‘Not as many as I have but they must wait I am still a young puppy, we need to be patient Commander’       The driver took us to the secret military base were I has been born the first time, he parked outside the large house I remembered in my dreams. The Commander carried me up the steps and into the drawing room.  Putting me on the floor he strode across to the table and poured himself a large tumbler of scotch, my puppy instincts took over and I padded around the thick carpet reacquainting myself with all the familiar smells. After half an hour I told the Commander I needed to relieve myself and we went outside into the large garden at the back of the house, again I pottered about sniffing and remembering but I was tired. My young body needed plenty of rest, it would be some months before I would become the Sirius they knew. It took me a few weeks to acclimatize to the routine of the base again, I was growing, and maturing fast, quickly losing the cuteness of puppyhood. I trained with the soldiers, running around the track, and building up my stamina and strength. They had been surprised to see a white puppy joining them but the Commander had explained I was being trained for special duties. They all made a fuss of me and enjoyed having me running alongside them. Good-naturedly arguing amongst themselves about who I most liked and who I preferred to train with, it took their minds off how hard they had to work.                     I liked the Squaddies, they always had treats for me and I soon got to know their different personalities. It was part of my training to get humans to trust me and let me into their lives, I moved freely about the base wandering into offices and dormitories and listening to conversations. Very few people knew of my true existence, apart from the Commander and his wife only two other humans knew of me and they were the scientists who were establishing what I was capable of. I learned a lot as people spoke freely in front of me they did not know I understood them and if I discovered anything I reported it back to the Commander.       The Commander had the Squaddies build me an agility course on some spare ground, the scientists had decided to see how far they could push me physically while my brain matured and my memories returned in full. In my doggy life, I was about six months old and much taller than the average German Shepherd, my coat was a long, thick, pale silvery grey, my eyes were deepest blue and the Squaddies called me Wolf-Dog. My genetic breeding became more evident as I matured, I was clearly more Wolf than Dog which confused me,                                                                                                                                                                ‘How is this possible?                                                                                                                                           I asked the Commander,                                                                                                                                 My Sisters are all pure German Shepherds, their bloodline untainted, why am I different?                              He could not answer and took me to the scientists who looked at each other and then slowly explained what they had done,                                                                                                                                     ‘Your DNA was implanted in the German Shepherd bitch you call Mother, it was the only way we could save your existence. She was already pregnant with your step sisters it was quite a simple procedure for us to encourage your regeneration alongside them. Genetically you are not related to any of them, you are you, Sirius, unique and original, there is only you, we could not let that life force be extinguished.’                I digested what they had said and shook my head trying to dispense the buzzing in my ears, I should be able to understand this. It was not a difficult concept to assimilate but my brain had not matured enough and I struggled,                                                                                                                                                 ‘So you are telling me my Mother is not my Mother?’                                                                                        I could not explain why I felt a deep sense of sadness at this, my mind threw up pictures of the beautiful gentle bitch snuggling me close. Patiently listening to my questions and explaining her answers so I could understand them, she never got angry with me. Never refused to give me the information I sought, while my sisters played like the ordinary puppies they were. She never questioned why I did not play or why I was so very different from them. Nor did she question that I had known the Commander would be coming for me. She had loved me unconditionally as Mothers do and I could not stop the tears that trickled down my nose. The Scientists gasped and quickly took photographs recording my very human emotion to what they had told me, looking up at them I replied,                                                                                                    ‘She knew’                                                                                                                                                      They looked at me in surprise,                                                                                                                    ‘What do you mean Sirius, what did your ‘Mother’ know?’                                                                          ‘That I was not hers, that she was not my Mother and they were not my sisters, she knew and yet she still loved me unconditionally’                                                                                                                                   I turned away from them and padded over to the door,                                                                                     ‘I have had enough for today’                                                                                                                             I looked at the Commander and he stood up and walked over to me,                                                            ‘I think he needs time to come to terms with this, he needs to rest, we will continue tomorrow’                      It was something I kept hidden from the scientists, I could block their minds so they did not hear me. There was much more I could do and it was all coming back to me but right then I was hurting and my shoulders slumped and my tail drooped between my legs,                                                                                       ‘Come on Sirius let's go home’                                                                                                                       He walked ahead of me and I trotted after him my head hanging down not taking anything in all I wanted was my bed. The Commander seemed to understand, thanks to our connection he could feel my dejection and he was gently settling me in my bed he covered me and said softly,                                                      ‘Let it go, Sirius, it is what it is, we had no choice we just wanted to save you. Get some rest and I will explain the rest tomorrow’                                                                                                                              He closed the door and I was alone and just like the first time I was completely alone my Ancestors came to  me and I howled my pain to the full moon. This time no-one came to shout at me, I was left with my Ancestors.