Blacktail Deer Plateau Doompy poomp

"She's an excellent mother," Peregrine answered, "to all four pups. We treat them as our own, of course without edging Kisu out of the picture. He's staying with us. I feel so damn bad for the guy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose a mate. This is actually the second time he's been widowed; his first mate died too." The swarthy male shook his head lightly. "Hopefully his kids keep him sane and marginally happy."

When she stepped closer and touched noses with Osprey, a soft smile played across his lips. He approved. And a thought that had floated through his head before suddenly burst from his lips. "Just out of curiosity, have you ever thought about leadership before? I don't mean to get you all excited or flustered or anything but I've been thinking you'd make a great Beta female. I haven't talked to Hawkeye about it, though, so I have no idea what she thinks. And I'm not even sure the two of you know each other very well...?" He trailed off, letting her answer to that.

Meanwhile, he wiped the rest of the dampness off his leg by dragging it through the grass, then swept onto his belly again, cradling Ty, with Osprey curled in a ball just beyond his black toes. Both pups were half-asleep in the lovely April sunshine.