Redhawk Caldera to pronounce apathy

Now there was volume as well as venom. Peregrine took another step back. Disagreements were an inevitable part of a marriage, yet he had hoped to talk to his mate, not have a yelling match. It made it difficult to give her words proper attention, when all he could focus on was the fact that Fox was flinging them at him like flaming knives.

He hadn't known about their relationship, of course, but by the sound of it, neither had Fox when she had gone right ahead and made her decision. Peregrine wanted to point this out to her, yet Fox didn't give him the chance. She railed on him about how Magpie thought of him as a father. Clearly, Fox felt this obligated him, which was ludicrous. Her barb about killing Magpie made him visibly flinch. For whatever reason, he thought of Junior attempting to kill herself. How had this spiraled so out of control so quickly?

When Fox returned to the bone, Peregrine felt completely dismissed. He experienced a moment of rage. It balled up in his throat and he swallowed it like a gob of acid. Once more, he felt severely disrespected. Why couldn't they have an adult conversation? Why did she need to scream at him? If this was some sort of test of their marriage, he wasn't at all confident that they were going to pass it.

"I can't have another relationship like this," he said after a long pause. He wanted to turn and walk away, yet that hadn't worked out well last time, had it? Peregrine remained rooted to the spot, staring mutely at his young mate.