Redhawk Caldera There was a shift in the paradigm

Uncle Peregrine sat down in front of them, and daddy followed suit. Eljay sat down next to daddy, touching his fur to daddy's as he lightly leaned into him. Peregrine asked how they were doing and if there was anything they wanted, and all Eljay bitterly thought was, Mommy. He didn't say this, however, because Peregrine was obviously not here to bring back mommy, so it was pointless to ask that of him (even though Eljay felt that the pack as a whole could do a little more looking-for-mommy and less going-on-with-their-lives).

"We're not okay," Eljay said, an angry frown on his face as he looked up at daddy — an accusatory look on his face, as though his father had lied about something terrible. "Hunting was stupid. I didn't catch anything." Today had been pretty good so far, but Eljay felt resentful towards daddy and uncle Peregrine for pretending to move on with their lives (too young to understand that he was moving on himself by going hunting and other places with daddy). The hunting was mostly just scary, but being away from daddy was scary too. Eljay hadn't done very well, clumsy and too loud to catch anything more than a spider, and while he hadn't taken it too harshly at the time, in hindsight it seemed pointless; particularly now that the boy had been reminded of the missing mommy-shaped hole in his heart.