Blacktail Deer Plateau Beyond the veil

He left his family slumbering peacefully in the dark and set out at daybreak to perform a quick patrol before hunting down Pied to check on his expecting niece. By the time he tracked her down to her burrow near the rear of the territory, dawn light brightened the sky in the east. He yawned idly as he approached, though his jaws snapped shut with a sudden and loud click when he seemed to hit a wall of scent. Blood, he thought with trepidation.

Creeping closer, Peregrine froze when he heard a small voice issuing from within the lair. "Please... take them... Hawkeye..." He remained very still for a beat, his heart pounding, before abruptly leaping toward the den's mouth and crashing down the narrow tunnel, practically landing on top of Pied's prone body when he landed.

"Pied!" the swarthy Alpha male gasped when he saw her lying on the floor, two damp pups wiggling at her side. There was blood everywhere. "Oh, shit... shit!" he yelled inanely, stepping closer to her and touching his muzzle to the side of her neck. She was warm, yet he felt no pulse. Panicking, he moved his nose in front of hers. No breath. He realized with a start that her eyes were open and staring.

"Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck," he muttered as the realization dawned on him: she was dead. He stared at her face for a moment, then gently prodded her just to be sure. His stomach now in his mouth, he then backpedaled a few feet, blinking in shock at his niece's dead, deflated body.

Then he noticed the two puppies again and Pied's words—her last words—ringing in his ears. "Take them to Hawkeye," he murmured to himself. "Hurry." They would need warmth, care and sustenance immediately.

He grabbed the first puppy, a blueish gray boy, and lifted him. Quickly, Peregrine scurried out of the burrow and paused outside its doorway. He set the newborn puppy gently on the ground, then hesitated before lifting his head and issuing a powerful, distressed howl over the plateau. "I need help at Pied's den! Come immediately!"

Shifting restlessly for a moment, Peregrine deliberated before leaving the small pup near the den's entrance, crashing down inside again, then retrieving the pale female as well and bringing her to the surface. The Alpha male then stood over both newborns, waiting for help to arrive and trying not to let the harsh reality of the situation overwhelm him just yet.