Blacktail Deer Plateau the devil put dinosaurs here

Day broke over the wilds and the Alpha pair's den began to fill with soft lavender light. Everyone remained fast asleep, save for little Osprey Jr. Her eyes fluttered open and she grunted as she rolled from her back to her belly and stood on all fours. She gave her plump little body a quick shake, then began to nose toward the den's entrance. Little did she know that one of her father's dusky eyes cracked open to watch her.

She sniffed her way to the doorway, then stepped just beyond it and squatted to tinkle there, having only recently begun to prefer toileting outdoors versus inside the den. Once she finished her business, she scraped some dirt and grass over the puddle, then turned and bounded back inside. Her mouth opened to unleash a loud bark but her father's paw suddenly struck out and pinned her to the den floor, effectively silencing her.

Little Junior grunted and squirmed. Peregrine's grip slowly loosened and she managed to slip away and stand up with an indignant huff. Turning, she trotted back to the den's mouth and stepped outside, refusing to turn and acknowledge the sounds of her father rising behind her. She twitched slightly when his cold nose brushed the top of her head.

With an eye roll intense enough to knock over buildings, Osprey Jr. hopped into the world at large and began to trot around the den site, her gait uneven due to her over-sized paws. She was now very familiar with the invisible boundaries and didn't need the adults posted to remind her of them. Although she toyed with the idea of making a break for it, she felt her father's watchful eye on her and, for the time-being, was happy enough running around the small dooryard.

After letting her play a while and burn off some of that inexorable energy, Peregrine glided to stand over his young daughter again, causing the pup to freeze and peer up at him. Motioning for her to follow, he began to trot across the center of the clearing. Osprey Jr. bounded happily after him, looking like his shrunken shadow. When he led her right through the invisible fence, she didn't even pause, though wonder filled her tiny breast as the Alpha male led her a little ways into the woods, just far enough for the den site to disappear from view.