The dingo opened his green eyes slowly and looked around the dark bedroom. His eyes first rested on his mate, and for a few moments, he couldn't help but stare at her snow white fur. Once again Dundee was reminded of how beautiful the husky was when she slept, then again, she was beautiful all the time.

He glanced up at the bed where Jake was supposed to be, but sheets were empty. Coupling that with the argument he heard earlier on the phone, made the dingo concerned. He carefully got out of the pup bed Jake made for him and Everest, and walked toward the door to the room. He glanced down the hallway and noticed a light on in the cabin's small living room, so he quietly moved toward it.

As Dundee reached the living room, he looked around. The dingo realized the fireplace was lit, and giving off the glow, and noticed a familiar figure standing at the large front window. He walked closer, and after a moment, he spoke. "Jake, are you okay?"

The young man turned the face the ginger pup. "Hey, Dundee. . . Did I wake you?"

The pup shook his head. "No. . . Not really." He walked into the room and stopped at the opposite end of the sofa from the human, and asked again. "Are you okay?

He looked down at the pup, then back out the window. "Yea dude. . . I'm fine. . ."

"You are not okay." A voice behind Dundee spoke. He turned to see that Drake had followed him down the hallway from the guest room and into the living room. He turned to the young man with a small smile. "Is that enough stealth for you, Jake?" The human only stared, so the wolf cast his silver eyes on the dingo's green ones. "I heard him yelling at his phone the other day. . ." He looked back at Jake. "He didn't want to talk about, so I let it go."

Jake looked back out the window into the darkness. "I'm okay . . . just a little frustrated."

Dundee shot Drake a look, then walked to the young man and stood next to him. He cast his eyes out the window as well. "I overheard the phone call yesterday."

"And. . ?" Jake didn't looked back at him.

"And I want to know what could make you, the calmest and most relaxed person I've ever met get that angry?" Dundee tried to catch the man's eyes, but was unsuccessful.

Drake walked to the other side of Jake and looked straight into the man's blue-grey eyes. "I'm sorry; tact has never been one of my strong suits . . ." Jake continued to look out the window. "Dundee and I are worried about you. . . And if Everest finds out you've been yelling at your phone, she'll worry about you too."

After a long moment of silence, Jake signed. He turned around and sat down on the sofa. Dundee followed and jumped upon the sofa next to him. Drake sat down on the floor next to the sofa and looked up at the man. Eventually, the Jake started to stroke the dingo's ginger fur. "Do either you know the story about Jake's Mountain?" When the two pups shook their heads, Jake continued. "Well, to make a long story short, my Grandpa Jake used to own the Mountain."

"Wow," Dundee remarked.

The human smiled at the memories that flooded his mind. "We were," he swallowed hard, "very close. . . When he passed away. . . He left everything to me." Jake smiled. "The mountain and enough money to build and run the small Ski Lodge I've always wanted to, and then some."

The wolf smiled. "He wanted you to have your dream."

Jake nodded. "Now, my lodge has been open for almost five years."

"Wow." Dundee said again.

"This lodge . . . this mountain, is my life." Jake smiled and the ginger pup noticed tears start to form in the corner of his grey-brown eyes. "Last year, Jake's Mountain was declared a National Park. . . It was a huge honor for me, and for Adventure Bay. They both became tourist destinations, like, overnight." The smile faded slowly, and it was easy to hear the anger in his voice when he spoke again. "Three months ago, a hotel developer approached me with a deal. He wanted to buy my lodge and make it bigger. . . Make it like a ski resort, you know."

The ginger pup raised an eyebrow. "How can he buy the lodge, if the lodge is part of land that was made a national park?"

Jake shook his head, making a piece of his light brown hair sway, then fall in front of his face. "The land that the lodge and this cabin are on," he pushed the piece of hair back up with his hand, "aren't part of the park, they're two separate things." When the dingo flashed a confused look, Jake chuckled. "There's a whole bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. But in a nutshell, the park can't be sold in any way. But when the mountain became a national park, the government let me keep several acres of land for myself to build the ski lodge and the cabin. . . It's my land and I can do whatever I want to do with it." He flashed a smile, "within legal reason, of course."

The dingo nodded solemnly, "of course."

Jake's eyes fell on the stone fireplace, and they narrowed in on the fire. The two pups fell silent, and gave the human some time to figure out what to say. After a few long moments, Jake sighed. "It started about three months, while you and Everest were with Ryder." He looked from the dingo to the wolf, "and before you came along. I got a visit from a real estate developer. He told me my land was worth millions, and that he had a buyer who would pay ten percent over what the land is worth." He shook his head. "At the time, I told him I would think about it."

"But you already knew you would never sell. . . This place is your legacy, part of your history, part of you." Dundee said.

"Right, I know I'll never sell . . . Never . . . The next time he called, I told him that, and he walked away." He sighed again, "then a week later I got a call from him. . . He came up on the offer, but I still said no." He stood up and walked to the window again. "I've been getting a call every couple of days since. Every time, he offers more money. And every time, I refuse."

Drake saw where this was going. "But they keep calling."

Jake looked at the wolf, and then cast his eyes back into the fire. "Now I just want him to go away. . . But he won't."

The wolf looked from the dingo to the human and back. "Can the police do anything?"

Jake shook his head making the same lock of hair fall in his face again. He blew out a breath making it fly up a little. "I asked a friend and he said that the police couldn't do anything without proof."

Dundee narrowed his eyes. "Do you think Rocky might have something you could use to record the next phone call?"

The human continued to look out the window and gave a small smile. "He probably does . . . somewhere."

The ginger pup smiled as well. "Alright, we'll call Rocky in the morning and-"

"I don't want them involved," Jake interrupted. "In fact, this conversation never happened."

The pups exchanged glances. "Okay. . ." Dundee finally said.

Jake turned around abruptly and started walking down the hallway. "Goodnight, guys."

The two pups started to wish him goodnight as well, but Jake had already gone down the hallway and closed the door to the bedroom.

"What'd I say?" Dundee asked as he turned to Drake.

The wolf's eyes were filled with concern. "I don't think it was you. . . I think there's more to this than Jake's letting on."