Redhawk Caldera scapegoat

Maybe @Elwood ?

Was it true? Immediately after bidding farewell to her Alpha, Grimm put her nose to the ground and began the hunt for Elwood. If there was anything between the two Betas, she could at least stop pursuing a man that was already spoken for and save herself some unwanted bad press (never mind the feelings of the other two parties; they were grown-ups and in charge of their own decisions).

As she stalked through the forest, Grimm's mood evolved from shocked to angry.

So this is before the Finley blowout, lol.

Elwood hadn't actively sought out Grimm, but he wasn't avoiding her either. He didn't realize that the shit would hit the fan in a day or two; for now, he hadn't considered the serious repercussions that were coming his way.

As it were, he was returning from a hunt with a fat hare clutched in his jaws. When he saw Grimm, he drew up short with a friendly wave of his tail. He felt a little awkward coming face to face with his one-time partner, but he wondered if she would feel the same. Her face did look a little stormy...

Elwood wasn't hard to find. His gave a pleasant, non-committal wave of his tail upon seeing her that brought the taste of sick into the back of Grimm's mouth. Not because she was particularly infatuated with her very first lover, or expected anything, but it still hurt not to be the object of someone's desire. Especially when his one true love was the other goddamned Beta.

"Is it true?" she hissed at him, stopping at a distance. "You and Finley?" Peregrine's exact words had been 'sorta kinda maybe', but Grimm had forgotten that fact almost instantly.

As Elwood drew nearer, Grimm's unhappiness became more evident. He drew up short, the smile fading from his face as she rounded on him and shot an accusational question in his direction. The sharpness of her words caused him to drop the hare to the ground; it landed with an unceremonious plop.

"Me and Finley? What about us?" he asked, wondering who or what had put the idea in Grimm's head. Hadn't he explicitly stated that they weren't an item? "Whatever you heard, it isn't true," he insisted honestly; the story was a lot more complicated than he let on, but in its most basic form he was right. He was not -- and had never been -- officially romantically involved with Finley.

"Me and Finley? What about us?" Pause. "Whatever you heard, it isn't true."

Grimm's expression softened, but her ears remained pinned to her head. She was not exactly a girl's girl, but certain patterns of behaviour were hard-wired. You could smell attraction. It heated the air, raised the hairs on the back of your neck - and that was just those that witnessed it transpire. Peregrine had sensed something.

"So if I told Finley about our casual boink, she'd laugh it off?" Grimm asked nastily, but answered for him with a frustrated noise and a sharp shake of her head. "If anyone finds out, I. Am. Fucked." She would be on the receiving end of the entire leadership's disdain - if not worse. "You'd better keep it to yourself."

"Well, I -- I don't know," he replied, surprised by Grimm's suggestion and the tone of her voice. Would Finley laugh it off? (No, no she wouldn't, answered Future Elwood.) But either way, did it matter? It wasn't like they were involved -- he hadn't cheated, and Grimm hadn't done anything wrong, either. Just because Fox and Peregrine and whoever else harbored hope for "Finwood" didn't mean it would necessarily work out.

He shook his head, now feeling concerned. Grimm was obviously worried, though he couldn't imagine why she thought she would get in trouble. It wasn't like she had screwed Peregrine (only in her dreams!), and they were both consenting adults. She hadn't been in heat -- there were no puppies to be had. Besides, what were the odds that Elwood had "scored" anyway? It had felt good, but he really had no clue what he was doing.

"I'm not telling anyone, but I don't think you need to worry," he said, frowning.

Grimm stared at Elwood's stupid, good-natured face. She had been here all of five minutes and had already gleaned from second-hand information that Finwood was written in the stars. Peregrine - blessed be, amen - didn't seem like the gossip-mongering sort, and it all made sense, didn't it? "You are such a guy," Grimm snort-laughed, overwhelmed by the whole thing and turning to humour in defence. "And so is Finley! How long have you Beta-biz-ed together? Months now?" A second burst of shrill laughter left her, and with a rueful grin to go with her sad eyes, Grimm turned around to leave.

She laughed, and he took a step back. Her behavior was making him feel uneasy -- but really, her emotional rollercoaster was nothing compared to the one he would soon experience with Finley. Elwood shook his head again, harder this time, as Grimm insisted that he and Finley had been fooling around for months.

"We haven't done anything," he retorted, now starting to feel a little frustrated. But she was turning to leave, and he didn't move to stop her. Since when had a little innocent intercourse become such a complicated thing? Not that he had any prior experience to refer to, but wasn't "hooking up" supposed to be just that -- no strings attached?

Normally, he might have understood her consternation, but it seemed that the logical portion of Elwood's brain had decided to take a week-long hiatus.

"We haven't done anything," Elwood countered irritably, and Grimm dissolved into fits of HAHAHAHA as she picked up the pace, her white hind leg flashing between the trees. "EXACTLY!" she yelled over her shoulder, and disappeared from view.

That night, huddling near her intended den - where a black bear still slumbered sweetly, unaware of it's impending diarrhoea death - Grimm allowed the fear to take her. Would she have to leave? Should she leave, to save face? The thoughts milled like a cloud of bees in her head, drowning out everything else.

Elwood watched with a slackened jaw as Grimm retreated, her dark figure quickly melding into the shadows of the trees. What the hell was her problem...? After that interaction, he didn't feel quite right about what they had done -- and that would only intensify over the next few days.

But he resolved to leave Grimm alone -- obviously she wanted nothing to do with him. He wasn't too heartbroken over it, but he would soon have bigger fish to fry. So he huffed and turned on his heel, trotting in the opposite direction.