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As soon as we reached the other bush. You had a bit of fluff sticking out between the branches.

Guess Papa didn’t do as good of a job hiding as he thought he had. You, on the other hand, did a wonderful job not letting the pups know so Acer could find me himself.

He followed your whole trail, even the twisty parts.

Rusty rubbed noses with Acer again before licking the pup until Acer shook his fur and bounded away in pursuit of Baz, leaving Rusty to find another hiding spot. Soft clicking from the phone on Roark’s camera preserved the moment, his mate chuckling at him as he followed the pups.

“Next time hide all of your tail,” Roark said as he leaned over and caressed Rusty’s ears. Or I might be tempted to shift and nibble on it.

And how would you explain that to the pups?

Taste testing?

No. Now behave. This is pup time.

Awe. Way to stifle all my fun.

Not stifling…just postponing.

I’m going to remember that one for the next time you try to take my paperwork away from me.

That’s different.

Why?

Just is. Now git so I can find a more comfy hiding place.

Don’t forget to tuck your tail.

I’m going to tuck your tail if you keep it up.

Roark’s laughter trailed behind him as he followed the pups, while Rusty searched for a spot that would conceal him and his tail better.

Yes.

Snow had bent the blackberry bushes to the point where the tips were touching the ground. Trapped leaves had formed a canopy of snow over them, creating the perfect dome, provided he could just squeeze in without displacing any of it. Rusty glanced around, making sure no one was watching as he crept through the hole and curled up in the snow. This time he draped his tail over his nose to make certain it didn’t poke out anywhere, but only after he used his paws to carefully pile snow up in front of the hole he’d crawled through. There, now he should be sufficiently covered.

Rusty heard Acer’s excited yipping a short time later and knew he’d found Baz, which meant the pups would be back on his trail again.

Now what do we have here?

Logan? What are you doing to my thicket?

Inspecting it?

I thought you were helping Kale set up the den for movie time?

We’re done. This is a good hiding spot. Is there enough room for two?

I wish. I barely squeezed in here myself.

Logan’s paws appeared first as he cleared away the snow Rusty had so carefully positioned. Then his snout appeared, followed by mischievous sapphire eyes framed by silky midnight fur.

Toasty, Logan declared, trying to squirm further into the thicket.

This is not going to end well for either of us.

Probably not, but the pups were headed in the wrong direction when I spotted them.