Redhawk Caldera Another ocean of fiction blue

Six days didn't seem too long, though it definitely wasn't an overnight or even weekend trip, either. "We'll start worrying when we hit the double digits," Peregrine said lightly, hoping to put Elwood's mind at ease for at least a few days. If the Beta female didn't turn up after the better part of two weeks, then the Alphas would surely start worrying too. But Peregrine was confident she would return by then, safe, sound and ready to settle down with her husband and child for a little while again.

"I know, right? It stresses me out that it doesn't stress them out," he mused wryly. "There's so much more danger out there than there is here. At least here, they'd have a pack to back them up. I'd better not think about it too much," he quipped, his tone a playful grumble. Truthfully, embracing his child's wanderlust was one of the hardest parts about fatherhood, though he had done it before, with Junior and the others too, to some extent.

"I have a feeling she might leave the caldera once she's a little older," Peregrine said, not that it was a much better topic. "What about Elwood Jr? Think he'll stick around and be a mama's boy forever?" Although some might consider that a derogatory thing to say, the Alpha male smiled fondly as he referred to the boy's bond with his mother. It was very sweet and a little unexpected for the otherwise wild Finley to have developed such a deep bond with her sole offspring.