Blacktail Deer Plateau It's wild like the river, it's warm like the sun

It would be fine, he told himself. Everything would be fine. It wasn't the first time he'd lost an opportunity at love, and it wouldn't be the last. He barely knew Hawkeye, didn't even know her surname or where she was from or what her favorite kind of meat was or…anything, really. The woman he lusted after was just that – a woman he lusted after. The more he reminded himself of this, the easier it was to accept things as they were. In her presence, of course, it was different. It was so hard to be reasonable and think with his upper head when he was shipwrecked, adrift and lost, in the tide of her intoxicating pheromones.

So a little genuine warmth crept into his previously empty smile, and a tiny bit of light kindled in his eyes, as he began to forgive his brother. The friendship and comaraderie they shared, and the ridiculous jokes that quickly resumed between them, helped a great deal. If things could just stay the way they were, Atticus could deal with Peregrine being a mated man. Of course, right now, he didn't put two and two together that by becoming Hawkeye's mate, Peregrine would become her Alpha male. That would be a huge problem for Atticus, but he didn't know that yet. He didn't make the connection between mate and rank.

For now, the brothers shared a hug, and Atticus laughed with a mixture of mock horror and genuine amusement at Peregrine's feigned declaration of gay love for his brother. Atti placed a forepaw companionably on Perry's shoulders and, gesturing…downward with his pale eyes, commented, "Just keep…that…away from me, 'sall I ask. I already have a colossal shlong that drags the ground behind me. I don't need another one." His face lit up in a wicked grin, the evil, mischievous gleam reserved exclusively for his brothers creeping into his eyes. There was no wound that penis jokes couldn't heal.