Blacktail Deer Plateau i shot down the sun with bow and flame

At his brother's warm and open greeting, a wide grin split Atticus's face. He was glad that the issues between them -- mostly caused by his own dickheadery -- seemed for all intents and purposes to be done and over with. A small, lumpy pile of puppies lay sleeping soundly behind where Peregrine had lay. They smelled sweetly of warm earth, soft fuzz, and milk, and he brushed them ever so gently with his snout, their velveteen fur tickling his nose. He already loved them so much, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that if push ever came to shove, he would gladly lay down his own life to protect theirs.

"Just didn't want to startle you, bro," he commented after a moment, by way of explaining his hesitant approach. "Wasn't feelin' getting my ass kicked today." He chuckled and flashed a grin at Peregrine. He started to open his mouth and ask how things were going with the kids, how Peregrine was taking to fatherhood (and boy, could Atticus go on and on about how fatherhood was affecting him these days), but Peregrine beat him to it with some startling news about Crete.

"Crete…what?" A true look of what the fuck? came over Atticus's face as he took in the news that his brother had up and left. Judging by the look on Perry's face, Atticus guessed that their mute brother hadn't said any goodbyes to him, either. Why would Crete do that? Was it possible that he'd been angrier about Peregrine's promotion to Alpha than he'd let on? Or was it something else? Atticus truly didn't understand. This wasn't something that he'd ever expected from his cool, level-headed brother. "No," he said after a moment, his brows knitting together with mixed anger and confusion…mostly confusion. "I haven't seen him since the day you got promoted. That's fucked up. I wonder what the hell possessed him to just leave."