Saphire hoped she was hidden well enough. She was playing hide-and-seek with Aspen and Bramble. They were her best friends and possibly the only other wolves near her age. Bramble was the one trying to find them. Saphire was hidden not far from her den because her mother insisted she stay close to the den.

The male pup had his nose to the ground, tracking both females down. He found Aspen first. "Ha found you!" He barked happily wagging his tail.

Saphire howled happy that she hadn't been found first. For a second she almost forgot she was playing hide-and-seek. Then remembering they were playing hide-and-seek she ran to find another spot before Bramble found her.

"Hey!" Aspen let out a small whimper of annoyance. "I'm always caught first!" To be fair, her hiding spot had been behind a yellow flower in the short grass, so she hadn't exactly been difficult to find. "I think I heard Saphire though- she must be nearby somewhere." Her short, cream tail wagged back and forth with excitement.

"I'll find her!" The male barked following her scent to her hiding spot. "I win I found both of you!"

"You can't win in Hide-and-Seek, silly!" Aspen teased, bouncing around in the flowers. "I mean, you have to keep looking until you find the others, so there is no choice but to win! So it wouldn't be winning!" She rambled on and on, nudging Bramble with her nose.

"Well he could just give up then it would be failing" Saphire replied. "Let's play again. Aspen you have to find us this time. Since Bramble found you first!" Without waiting for anyone to answer she took off towards the edges of their pack's territory barking happily every now and then.

"See I did win!" The male pup said before dashing off. He himself made his trail harder to find by running through a few puddles. By the end of it he managed to his much farther away, in a small hollow of a tree.

Sahpire ran until she was on the edges of the pack's territory. She stepped out of their territory by a few feet not realizing it.

Although Aspen wasn't supposed to cheat, she did anyway, peering out at the directions the other two pups were running in through one eye. When she was done counting- in the wrong order, may I add- she went sprinting after Saphire first.

"Found you!" She caught up to the other pup but as soon as she stepped out of the territory to follow her, she felt the smells of their pack fading slightly. Confused, she tilted her head.