Blacktail Deer Plateau pearls and swine bereft of me

Although his brother's touch warmed his blood, Peregrine gently pulled away. "Don't do that," he said in a gentle voice. "I may be the Alpha and you may be the... whatever your rank is," he said, snorting quietly at himself, "but I don't want you—or Crete or Osprey—to treat me any differently than you did before. And I don't plan to treat any of you differently. My leadership is a formality and there is nothing formal about my relationship with any of you guys. If you're gonna kiss me," he said evenly, "the cheeks and mouth and ass are all fair game." Finally, he snickered and added, "But none of that under-the-chin bullshit."

He realized the mistake now and nodded. "I'm sorry too," Peregrine repeated, looking into Atticus's face. "I know it isn't my fault—that's why I've been so butthurt about all of this—but I am sorry for what Tyrannus did. I'm sorry for everything that caused it to happen this way. But," he continued in a more upbeat voice, "the storm is over now, right? It's passed?" He looked at his brother hopefully, his tail waving tentatively as if asking, It's all good?