Ouroboros Spine Oh, in time you'll see

Mordecai's body hitched and she almost lost her grip, but Sialuk clung on until the Alpha male freed his legs. He seemed to stumble forward with an awful sucking noise as the mud finally relinquished him. Sialuk felt herself tugged along and promptly let go of his scruff, dancing on her paws until she reached safer ground.

When she looked up again, Mordecai was smiling at her. She let her eyes fall respectfully but couldn't help her own lips from splitting into a grin. She was much muddier than when she began, but Sialuk didn't mind in the slightest. It was easy enough to clean off, and if it dried it would come off in flakes anyway.

"I'm rethinking my decision to hunt here," she breathlessly admitted as she lifted one foreleg and shook a particularly heavy clump of muck off it.