Redhawk Caldera the body

In general, Shrike had found it much easier on his nerves to stay as far away from Fox and Peregrine during the mating season as possible, as he certainly was not interested in seeing or hearing his cousin and her mate going at it. He mostly kept to himself, continuing his search for Lucy though his hopes had begun to flag as he knew now that Lucy had disappeared from Allure's pack and would be much harder to find now that she was out, roaming anywhere in the world. She had survived the abduction, which was a blessing in and of itself- but it did not mean that she hadn't fallen prey to yet another kidnapping, or injured while she was out on her own. Surely she would look for a pack, he thought, if she was capable of doing so- so he would have to continue journeying from pack to pack to see if she had arrived at any of them. 

Having caught a rabbit just outside the pack's borders, he'd been on his way to the Rendezvous site to devour it when he caught the scent of Fox and several others in the area. Curious and wondering if he'd missed a call, he hastily dug a hole in the ground, stashed the rabbit for later and after he kicked some dirt over it, Shrike picked up a jog and casually followed Elwood's scent toward where the others must have been gathered. 

Nothing could have prepared him for the scene he came across. His eyes were drawn immediately to the form of Peregrine lying far too still on the ground, and then to Elwood who was digging. Panic gripped him and his knees buckled for a moment before he was able to catch himself. He felt cold sweep over him when he looked at Peregrine's body again, and his breath hitched. "No," He whimpered, his voice barely a croak. A heavy lump formed in his throat and he swallowed hard. Tears pricked at his eyes when he looked at the dark, lifeless form, and he felt his lips quiver. Be strong, he told himself, but Shrike was not used to experiencing such a strong emotion. His first feeling when he'd seen what had happened to Peter was anger- but Peter had been killed. Though a quick look to Fox revealed injury, he somehow did not suspect that Peregrine had been killed. Everyone was far too sombre, and no angry calls had been sent up. Without asking, Shrike seemed to sense that Peregrine's body had simply given up, as unfair and unreal as it seemed. 

Whip had curled up next to his father's corpse and was crying into the cool fur of his neck, and Gannet looked almost deadpan, an expression which warned Shrike against moving closer to comfort the boy. He couldn't bring himself to meet Fox's gaze, and he more or less completely ignored Trick. Part of him wanted to help Elwood, but he did not want to step any closer to either the grave or Peregrine's body, for fear of upsetting Fox. Timidly, he crept toward her as she stood by Gannet, ears flattened and tail limp, ready to halt or move away should she lash out in grief. "Fox." He choked out, quietly. "I'm so. Sorry." He did not reach out to touch her, but stood ready should she want an embrace or a shoulder to lean on. Oddly, he found himself craving contact, which would have been quite obvious by his deflated stature. He found himself wishing Allure was there, or Sassafras- someone he could lean on, but he knew that it would be more important for him to be a shoulder for Fox, should she need it.

His eyes roved once more to the figure of Peregrine lying on the ground, as he still tried to process what had happened. Their alpha was dead. His cousin was dead. He was reminded of the conversation he'd had with Peregrine when he'd joined the pack- about how he'd wanted to have more children than March Owl, and his heart sank. Peregrine's life had been cut far too short, and Shrike struggled to process what had happened and scrambled to think of what would happen next to their family and their pack.