Big Salmon Lake Blood stutter

Lasher lived up to his name, lashing out with ill will that went far, too far, into the realm of heartless cruelty. Even though Peregrine expected some backlash, the level of wicked hatred poured upon him took him by surprise. His former lover threatened all manner of horrible things upon the swarthy Alpha. Peregrine might have agreed that he deserved all of this, not so long ago, although for different reasons: while Lasher blamed him for Junior's death, Peregrine blamed himself for Wildfire's close call.

"Lasher," Peregrine spoke sharply, "why do you threaten me? Do you think I wanted to harm Junior? That day, I hoped to do whatever it took to earn her forgiveness. But then she tried to murder an innocent babe." His eyes shimmered with anger. Why didn't Lasher seem to care about that particular detail? Why did he jump so quickly to the defense of an actual murderer, a would-be child killer?

"I never claimed to be the best father. I'm not. And I only did what I had to do to save an innocent life. What would you do, Taltos, if Junior had come for your children? For Constantine? For Casmir? For Eilidh?" he demanded, beginning to shake with his own justified wrath. "What would you do if someone went for your baby's throat?"

But he answered Lasher's question for him. "I have no doubt you would do whatever it took to protect them, no matter the stakes. And no one could hold it against you if you killed a trespasser who tried to harm your family. So why should you wish such horrific things upon me? Threaten me? Call me a murderer? Put yourself in my place before you cast judgment, Lasher!" he barked with a deep scowl, fiery jade eyes boring into the ocher brute.