Redhawk Caldera Catharsis

With food slowly becoming readily available, the puppies had more energy again and Peregrine spent the evening playfully wrestling with them to get them back to strength. But when Ferret bit him hard enough to tear a chunk out of his foreleg and leave him bleeding profusely, the Alpha male put a kibosh on playtime and sternly barked for all three of his sons to go to bed. When they obediently (if sullenly) piled up nearby, Peregrine moved away to tend his wound, cursing his eldest under his breath.

The damn thing had nearly stopped bleeding when Shrike's ululating howl broke through the darkening air. It shook tellingly and Peregrine jumped to his feet, favoring his stinging leg slightly as he made his way toward the caldera's borders. He expected to find Shrike there. Instead, he spotted his silhouette several hundred yards beyond. Peregrine's brow furrowed and he paused, his eyes taking in the slumped form at his pack mate's feet. His heart began to race as he hastened toward Shrike.

He didn't even notice the Gamma's sorry state, as his dead-eyed gaze immediately settled on the corpse. "This is her?" he asked, a savage edge to his voice. "This is the bitch who killed my son?" Unfortunately, she was already dead but already Peregrine began formulating plans to desecrate the corpse.