Gus, Eryn, Iron, Quinn (c) Catwhohas14tails

Moose, Giulia, Jacob, Harlo & Novak (c) Wicked_Innocence

Moose paced back and forth anxiously along the shoreline. Her auburn coat was soaked from the sea spray. She'd been there all morning waiting for him, so where was he? She positioned herself towards his father's boat and sat down. Moose could feel the swells breaking softly over her back. Just as she was beginning to lose hope, she saw a blur of red fur trotting towards her.

The Chinook mix stood up. "It's about time you showed up, Gus!"

The wolf dog stopped in his tracks and yawned. "Sorry Moose. I overslept."

Moose rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure you did."

The red dog slumped his shoulders. "I did! Stephen's mom forgot to let me in the house last night and I couldn't fall asleep!"

The female turned away from him. The warmth of the sun beat down on her as its rays illuminated the beads if moisture on her fur. The summer weather did little to warm her though and she began to shiver from being cold.

Gus nudged her. "Are you mad at me?"

Moose whipped her head around. "Why should you care?!"

He lowered his ears. "Because you're my friend and I feel bad for making you wait. And look, you're soaking wet. I don't want you to get sick."

Coincidentally, Moose crinkled her nose as a sneeze forced its way out. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah." Moose sniffled.

"Still feel up to going running?"

She shivered. "No. Not really. I think I'm going to just go home."

Gus smiled. "I'll walk you."

The pair made their way up the beach, past Balto's boat and into town. Luckily, Moose's owner was a fan of fishing and it wasn't terribly far from the shore. Gus delivered her home safely and began to wander. It was still early. Why not visit Eryn?

He was getting close to her house now. Just a quick jog down the alley and he should be there in no time. Unless...

"Going to see your human, wolf-dog?"

....Iron ran into him. Gus lowered his ears as the blonde and white malamute mix began to circle him. "M-maybe."

Iron rolled his eyes. "You're STILL going after her? Man, I thought by now you'd find a female to have a little fun with! You must repel them or something..."

"Not exactly." Gus mumbled.

The bigger dog raised his eyebrows disdainfully. "Oh really? And who in their right mind would chase you of all canines, hmm?"

The red hybrid shifted uneasily. "Kaltag's niece. Moose..."

"Moose!" Iron bellowed. "Well it's better than nothing. If anything, I'd take advantage of an opportunity if I were you, mutt. A chance like this might slip away..."

"It's not like that though!" Gus retorted. "I mean, I like Moose as a friend but-"

"But what?"

Gus swallowed. "She's too controlling and pushy. She's just not my type!"

Iron turned his back and scoffed. "Beggars can't be choosers."

******

The next morning greeted Moose with the sunlight bleeding through the kitchen window. She felt much better this morning and felt like a walk. The morning air was crisp and felt refreshing. She could tell today would be interesting. She'd round up Gus and they'd go running like she wanted yesterday.

Moose strolled up to her friend's front door and started to scratch. No answer. She began to whine as she continued scratching. Still no answer. Usually he would have been let out by now.

'Fine.' She thought. 'I'll just go find something else to do.'

The female began to walk towards Balto's boat in the hopes that she'd find Gus visiting with his father, though she knew she probably shouldn't get her hopes up. As her paws touched the sand she stopped in her tracks. Gus was running in the surf after a stick with a human girl. A human!

Just then he stopped and looked directly at her. He'd caught her scent and the human began speaking softly to him as she stroked his crimson fur. She'd spotted Moose too.

Moose had never seen this girl before, so why was Gus hanging around her? She didn't recognize her as one of Stephen's family members, and she knew that they hadn't sold Gus. What was going on?

Before Gus could make any moves towards her, Moose stormed off to the boiler room to think. None of this made sense to her. Sure, she spent a lot of time hanging out at Gus's house and his human family welcomed her, even treated her like their own. But they'd never acted as close to her as this human was acting with Gus. She sighed as she sunk to the floor and buried her face in her paws.

"What's the matter, mutt? Can't hold onto a man?"

Moose whipped her head around to see Iron. "Well look who's calling who a mutt. Hello pot, meet kettle."

Iron growled at her. "At least my mate isn't some kind of freak who's got a human fetish!"

"He's not my mate!" She snarled. "And what are you talking about? What do you mean by 'human fetish'?"

The malamute mix smirked. "You saw that girl he was with down by the beach? He loves her. And not in the normal way, if you catch my drift."

"That's a lie." Moose said. "No dog in their right mind would fall in love with a human!"

Iron smirked. "And he's not in his right mind. You haven't noticed it?"

Moose just stared at him before he continued. "The only way you'd be able to break this craze is if you were having his puppies."

Moose snapped out of her trance. "Puppies?! Gus would never go for it! He's... He's too shy."

"I never said they had to be Gus's puppies, idiot." He snapped. "Get someone else to father them and tell Gus they're his!"

Moose looked appalled. "It'd never work. He'd know they weren't his."

Iron rolled his eyes. "Not if the father looked enough like Gus. That way the pups would resemble him and there'd be no denying it." He paused. "I'm done trying to help you. It's just not getting through your head."

Moose didn't notice him leave. She was still thinking. There weren't too many other red males in Nome. None that weren't related to Gus, anyway.

A sudden noise alerted her to another dog's presence. She sat up straight and turned to see two males in the doorway. One was rather bulky and brownish while the other was slim and... Red. She recognized them as Kirby and Gus's brother Kodi. Their eyes met and Kodi whispered something to the other male. He nodded and left.

"Hello there Moose."

And then it clicked in her head. The defensive expression on her face melted away to... seduction? and she strode to Kodi's side.

"Hey there." She said winking at him. There was a hint of lust in her voice. It was making Kodi uncomfortable and he began to squirm.

"What...What are you doing?"

The brown dog straightened up and all traces of her earlier intentions were gone. "I have a proposition for you, Kodi."

Startled, Kodi tried to slink away. "And what might that be?"

"You see," Moose began, "lately Gus hasn't been paying as much attention to me as I'd like him to."

"And how would I be able to fix that?"

As if turned on by a switch, Moose's "loving" personality was back and she was inches away from Kodi's face. "Pups."

Kodi's eyes went wide as the words trailed out of her mouth. "How would that solve anything?!"

The female chuckled. "Because I'd tell Gus they were his, of course."

"He's not stupid, Moose, he'd know if they were his." Kodi argued.

The charm switched back off. "Not if they looked enough like him."

"He knows how that works, Moose. I think he'd remember something like that."

She began to circle the red male, flicking her tail under his nose playfully. "But how would he deny it if the proof were right there?"

Kodi shook her off. "And what makes you think I'd be willing to help you?"

Moose smirked. "Because if you don't, everyone in the town will know about your little," he laughed, "romance, with Kirby."

His jaw dropped. "My what?!"

"You heard me!" She growled. "If you don't, I'll tell everyone that you and Kirby love each other!"

"But that's not true!" Kodi sputtered.

"Then I guess you should give me what I want then."

Kodi swallowed hard. "If I do this." He swallowed again. "If I do this, you'll stay quiet though? I mean, you won't ruin my reputation by lying about me?"

Moose smiled. "Of course not."

The male's eyes darted back and forth across the boiler room. If he didn't comply, Moose would spread a horrible rumor about him and his reputation would be shattered. But if he did, he'd be hurting his brother.

"Well?"

Kodi sighed. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Oh, and Kodi?"

"What?"

"Not a word of this to anyone, or I WILL make sure you're ruined."

******

As the weeks went by and Moose's owner noticed she'd put on a bit of weight. Not too noticeable, but it was enough for him to take her to the vet. Upon a closer examination of the canine, it was confirmed that she was carrying puppies and that she’d be having them quite soon. Moose was ecstatic at the news. Now Gus would have to stop chasing that human.

She was careful not to go out much while she was carrying "Gus's" pups. That way, It'd be more of a surprise. She'd wait just long enough until she was ready to give birth to tell him about "his" pups and this meant that she had little interaction with anyone.

Towards the end of her term, she heard something rustling outside of her house early in the morning. She rose from her bed and stretched. Her belly scraped along the