Redhawk Caldera Throwback Thursday

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He heard the patter of footfalls just seconds before Gannet's head butted into his shoulder. Although the impact jarred him and made his head throb, Peregrine honestly couldn't have been more grateful for the easy display of affection. He growled approvingly and bent to nibble fondly at his son's ear. Peter, Ferret and Jack were gone. Whip was a mess. But here was one sprog who hadn't gone horribly wrong. The Alpha punctuated his affectionate gesture with a lick to the boy's nose and a quiet, "Heya."

Then Elwood and Eljay were stirring. Well, the Beta male stood and came to greet him but his eldest son hung back looking utterly bereft. Peregrine gave him a sympathetic look and then focused his attention on Elwood. He saw the Beta looking at his shoulder and he rolled it to show that it was more or less healed. He would bear the scars forever but the pain was minimal at this point.

He opened his mouth to answer with some platitude or other but Peregrine glanced at Gannet, then back to Elwood before admitting, "Whip tore himself up last night. I don't really understand what's going on with him." He paused. "Aside from this one here," he added, bumping his shoulder against his pale son's as he tried to make light of a very dark situation, "this year's litter was a bust, I guess." His jade eyes dropped, realizing the tastelessness of that joke. He sighed and shook his head at himself.

"How are you guys? Hanging in there?" he asked, lifting his head and gazing past Elwood's shoulder to look at Eljay again. "How're the twins?"