Redhawk Caldera Scars to your beautiful

Peregrine felt oddly disconnected from everyone in the pack lately. Several of his pack mates—Finley, Shrike, Trick—were absent at any given time, off scouring the wilderness for the still missing Lucy. Elwood and Eljay were both keeping to themselves and the remaining Blackthorn pups, biding their time as they waited for news. Ferret and Jack were gone; Whip was distant; and Gannet probably just had better things to do than spend all his time with his old man. He barely knew Sassafras or Sasha.

And he felt old these days. He woke up stiff and sometimes sore each morning as the days grew colder. His body had healed from Ferret's attack but he felt like he was still in a bit of a funk over it. He still didn't think he and Fox should produce any more offspring. Well, she could—just not with him. Of course, that thought caused Peregrine's insides to twist. He could not bring himself to mention any of it to her, which created a distance between them even if she didn't realize it.

Trying to fight the depression seizing him, Peregrine forced the stiffness from his joints and headed toward the borders. He needed to do something constructive. He would start with a patrol and then maybe do some hunting afterward. The Alpha not so secretly hoped he would magically run into a pack mate somewhere along the way. Or, hell, even a stranger would do—anything to mix things up a little.