Redhawk Caldera Sequestration

Peregrine's tone sent Nightjar's ears back and he tucked his tail and head, acknowledging the alpha's right to admonish him. But if Peregrine thought his words and reasoning would change the way Nightjar handled the situation, or how he would handle a similar one in the future, he was mistaken. Nightjar was hardwired to treat wolves as either comrades within the same pack or rivals. There was no in-between for him. There was no dallying around on the land of one alpha while entertaining the idea of following another. It was black and white to him; always would be.

"She already decided that alpha's better than you," he reasoned despite Peregrine's admonishing tone, "else she wouldn't have wanted to leave." Was that the real reason Wildfire left? Definitely not. Any other wolf probably seriously doubted the possibility that Wildfire could view another alpha as better than her father. But Nightjar's view of the world was coloured in instinct, not feelings, so that was the only logical way of it. Wildfire felt a different alpha was more worth following than Peregrine. It was her decision, but Nightjar knew where his loyalties lay, and anyone who questioned Peregrine's and Fox's rule was definitively not permitted here.

He wasn't the alpha but he felt he had a right to that decision. Maybe one day, his cockiness about it would get him chucked out on his ass. But the future was out of his grasp and it wasn't something he would ever think about anyway.

His father changed the subject, directing it now at the cubs they'd thought would soon be on the way. The male frowned and let his lips pull downward, but didn't say anything. So far, his track record with cubs was abysmal. He despised Elwood Jr. and it was likely by now that everyone knew it. But his younger siblings, blood of the alphas and blood of his own? It would be an entirely different story, and he was genuinely disappointed to hear they wouldn't be coming. He didn't really know the nitty-gritty details, being sexually immature and therefore not interested in such things, but he did wonder how it was possible that they wouldn't be here after the many, many times he'd watched his father mount Fox (and then walked away with a strange sensation in his stomach).