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For the first tieneral, but he did seem to enjoy the time he spent outside in the run The last ti a leash, he’d taken the dog for a long walk as a reward

Judging by the slow tail thuain That pleased hi

"Son, I don’t knohere you got your odsend around here I wouldn’t have given that fellow any chance of everhis peace with people, not after the way he’d been abused He still doesn’t like the rest of usto take a chance on you That’s so for him--Chance"

Larem didn’t knohat to say to that, but the vet’s validation of his worthti sword arood run, I’ll try to convince hiive his injuries a quick check"

"Sounds good" The vet turned his attention back to the s when Lare’s new naet you out of there for a while"

Chance lurched to his feet, favoring his right back leg The bones were healing up fine, but it was clear that it still hurt Laree door and set more treats doithin easy reach Eventually, he hoped the dog would accept the offerings directly fros

The two pieces of freeze-dried liver quickly disappeared, and then the dog walked right up to Lares Lareers snapped at for his efforts Still, the attempt had been only halfhearted, a reminder that they weren’t yet BFF

He sht, then, I’ll watch o"

Outside in the run, he let Chance off his leash and sat down on a bench to watch the dog explore his surroundings That in itself was a huge improvement The first ti had huddled in one corner and growled anytime Larem made a move in his direction

Larenoring hi sensed Lare his way around the pen, Chance sloalked toward Larem He stopped a few feet away, his head cocked to one side as he considered his next action Finally, having made his decision, Chance closed that last bit of distance and rested his head on Larem’s knee

This ti sighed softly and accepted the offer of friendship Lare hiht, healing light poured through hi bones to knit After a minute or two, Lareift was still too new for hi an ani, especially in Chance’s weakened condition Most of the ti trau an injured animal to accept care was half the battle

He still wasn’t sure what it was about this particular dog that was so special It certainly wasn’t his appearance, although the dog looked a whole lot better now than when he’d first arrived at the shelter That first day, the dog had been all bones and dried blood He’d already put on considerable weight but needed to gain a few h at the shoulder with an intelligent face, Chance bore a striking resemblance to a white wolf

When Larem had asked Dr Isaac what breed Chance was, the old vet just laughed "All I can say is that his ancestors weren’t very particular who they ot some Great Pyrenees in hi for sure He’s his own man and a loner by nature, I would say"

Now that Lareht just account for why he and Chance had hit it off Both of them had been hurt by those whoto find some peace in their lives

"How about we take that walk now?"

Chance agreed, whining softly as Larem snapped the lead back on his collar Lare to outdistance the restlessness that plagued hi at his side, he didn’t feel quite so alone

Sasha was about half a second fro stir-crazy What the heck had happened here in Seattle? She’d spent the past few days reviewing the budget andwith various department heads, and so far, it was unani ranted even half the requests, the Regents would fire her for incolance it was obvious that soht off the bat, she’d ordered all depart there was no way to tell as needed until she knehat they had

But it was definitely worrisome that she’d heard the same complaints from all corners Promises had been made but not kept Less important items had been stockpiled while orders for others, especially those crucial to the well-being of the Paladins, had been either delayed or out-and-out denied From what she could tell, jealousy and coed between the various factions No wonder the resulting work atmosphere had become so toxic

It was as if soent, roup to function Only the dedication and loyalty of the support personnel, not to anization perfor overrun with crazies

Throwing a temper tantrum would do little to alleviate the situation, no ht be The real problem was that she had no idea if this had all been part of Kincade’s determined efforts to screith the Paladins or just a series of unrelated events that had cos Clearly the entire sector had suffered fro the day-to-day ht now, she didn’t have tiate the history of individual probles back on track as quickly as possible Once shebasic services, then she’d start digging

At least the Regents had authorized a certain amount of discretionary funds for her to draw upon as she saw fit Although substantial, it wouldn’t even coaps