Shiloh stared at her mere bowl of food for a moment before digging in.

“Is this not good enough for princess Shiloh?” two pups, Mat and Grey, laughed from the sidelines.

The larger female dog growled at them and they shrugged, trotting away happily.

The brown-and-white war dog pushed her bowl aside and lapped up a few mouthfuls of water before padding calmly back to her master’s tent. He had just woken when Shiloh entered the tent.

He groggily rubbed her head just as the sound of gunshots filled the air. Yelps from the dogs and yells from the humans rang out everywhere as Strike Team Alpha rushed out to meet the attackers from Strike Team Delta.

Shiloh’s hackles raised and her master leapt from his bed. He stormed out of the tent with his gun at his side and received brisk orders from the chief.

Shiloh followed him out of the tent. He pointed at her, Mat, Grey and another dog, Bryce, and then uttered the words, “Bomb find, far.”

Shiloh rushed off and barked the orders to her team-mates. Hostility towards one-another was forgotten as the dogs rushed to defend their masters and friends.

Their noses were put to the ground and they trotted along the ground, tails down to avoid being seen. Shiloh put a paw on one patch of dirt and began to dig. A black timer sat there.

She let out a large, loud bark and two humans rushed over. They disabled the bomb and ran back to where they had come from.

Two more bombs were found within a mile radius of the campsite. The attackers had met Strike Team Alpha in battle far away from camp, in a large meadow between some mountains.

The dogs were pelting back home when some Strike Team Delta agents appeared from the undergrowth.

They yelled at one-another and shot at the dogs. Mat yelped as a bullet pierced his shoulder.

Shiloh leapt in front of Grey just as a bullet came shooting towards them. It shot right through her ear. She cried out in pain as her and her companions pelted through the undergrowth. No more shots were fired and they had run a mile from the sight of the shooting before they arrived at camp.

The medics rushed to treat their wounds. Mat was retired to the dog hospital for the rest of the battle, but Shiloh, Grey and Bryce were sent back out to search and find injured soldiers.

Shiloh saw grass rustling and she pelted towards it. A Strike Team Alpha agent was sprawled out with blood pooling in his shoulder. The dog grabbed the man’s shirt and began to drag him back to the campsite, as they weren’t too far. She arrived within five minutes and the medics set to treating him ASAP.

All at once, a surge of Strike Team Alpha agents came streaming back into camp. Shiloh spotted her master and let out a bark. He gave her the thumbs-up signal before walking to the medic’s tent.

“Totally bested them,” I heard a younger pup tell his friends, “Didn’t stand a chance.”

The other two dogs with the pup nodded and barked. Shiloh padded over to the water dish and lapped up a bit, lying down and splashing her face with water. Her ear stung and she whimpered.

“Pretty princess to weak for a stupid bullet wound?” Mat sneered with a large bandage over his shoulder.

“At least I went and helped my team while you whimpered in the medic’s tent!” Shiloh retaliated.

Her best friend, Java, bounded up to them and took Shiloh’s side, “Yeah!”

“And where were you during the battle?” Mat turned the conversation to the dark brown mutt.

“Helping out my master during direct combat,” Java boasted, and Shiloh noticed he was favoring a paw. It was wrapped with white cotton wraps and was stained red in one place.

“Mat! Grey! Dart!” one human called all three pups over. They bolted towards the person but Shiloh tuned them out as she turned to Java.

She rubbed her muzzle along his and licked his ear affectionately, “You’re okay, right?”

“Of course,” he nuzzled her side, “I wouldn’t risk wounding myself, right before I’m about to be a father.”

Shiloh glanced at her slightly bulging belly, “They’ll be strong, just like us. They’ll be top line fighters!”

“Of course,” Java repeated, lying down beside Shiloh. The husky set her head on her mate’s larger flank and the two dogs cuddled up.

Food rattled in tin dishes as the dogs were fed. Shiloh rose to her paws and stalked over to her bowl. She was chewing her first bite when Grey ambled up to her and swatted at her bowl.

“Hmm, chicken,” he licked up a pebble. Shiloh snapped at his ear. He took no notice.

He took another bite and Shiloh leapt on him. He was tackled to the ground with an oof and Shiloh was all over him, sharply nipping and clawing him.

Grey’s master rushed over and separated the two dogs. He glanced apologetically at Shiloh’s master before scolding Grey and dragging him away.

Shiloh glanced at her belly. It was bleeding from the younger pup’s teeth. She growled and padded over to Java, who had just finished his dinner. He went over to guard hers as she padded to the medics tent.

Her master followed her over and looked at her belly. He told the medic what happened and he quickly patched the cut and added some disinfectant. Shiloh barked appreciatively and padded off.

She finished off her food and then her and Java retreated to the main sleeping areas for the night. Deciding against sleeping with her master, Shiloh curled up with Java.

“Where’s your master?” she asked.

Java winced and suddenly Shiloh understood.

“Oh, J-,” she started but was cut off.

“It’s okay,” he murmured before curling up and wrapping his tail over his muzzle. Shiloh protectively laid over him and fell asleep quickly, the warmth from her mate’s body warming her.

…