Redhawk Caldera Heartsigh.

Someone savagely bit and then twisted Towhee’s nipple, jerking her awake from a dead sleep. A sound somewhere between a snarl and a squeak eked out of her before she could stop it, just like she couldn’t help the flinch or the grimace. She coached herself into staying still as Peregrine continued torturing her teat with his voracious suckling.

She held out as long as she could, though her entire underside felt like an open sore. Between the pups’ teething and the dry air as winter approached, her skin was painfully chapped. Barely swallowing a growl, she gently shook her son loose and stood. She couldn’t hear his indignant squall, though she didn’t miss the angry moue of his mouth nor the flailing.

-Hold on, asshole,- Towhee signed by rote before taking a deep breath, bracing her legs and bringing up her breakfast by force. -There. Eat that, you little prick,- she signed at him.

His muzzy blue eyes seemed to follow her paws’ movements, though how much he understood at this tender age, Towhee couldn’t be sure. She turned her attention to his sisters, nosing @Splendid Fairywren and @Tawny Lark awake so they wouldn’t miss out on this opportunity for a hot, juicy, preprocessed meal.