Blacktail Deer Plateau rude awakening [m]

Peregrine came and went as Fox slept most of the time, presumably because she was physically recuperating and mentally exhausted. He knew how that went. Each time he returned, he brought with him a small bit of food from one of the pack's caches. This time, his offering was a fat squirrel, which he carried by its tail, leaving the body to swing like a pendulum.

When he arrived at her little campsite, she wasn't there. He dropped the squirrel and followed her scent trail, which led eastward. He found her fairly quickly and glided up alongside her, touching his nose to her hip before stopping parallel with her and tipping his black head.

"Looking for something to drink?" he guessed, then motioned for her to follow and padded toward a small creek nearby. Oblivious to his pack mate upstream, he stood on the shore and turned halfway, inviting his guest to drink.