Redhawk Caldera Couldn't Forget You if I Tried

Forward-dated a couple days. :) @Peregrine Maybe Remedy would like to throw @Fox in at some point, as she would be nearby too? You wouldn't have a problem with that Kat, would you?

The scent of pheromones around the Peregrine's and Fox's den made it obvious that Fox had began her baby-making time period. To Somnia, that meant steering clear of the two lovebirds so they could do their thing without being interrupted by a pesky subordinate. But today, she actually dared to get closer to the den's location than the past couple days. Somnia had a good reason too.

She had just been hunting. A rabbit hung from her jaws, still warm and bleeding. The rabbit was to be placed in the cache nearest to the Alpha's den. Her way of congratulating them, for this better have resulted in future offspring, as well as showing them that although they had secluded themselves during Fox's heat, the rest of the pack still cared about them. Well, Somnia assumed it was the rest of the pack, and not just her.

She had just placed the rabbit in the cache and was turning around to leave when she saw the black figure of Peregrine nearby.

I wouldn't mind at all, though Remedy's going to be absent for a few days, so I intend to power play Fox mercilessly. ;)

He stuck to his mate's side like glue, coupling with her as frequently as possible. Occasionally, the mind was willing but the body wasn't. Now was one of those times. Fox was exhausted and Peregrine was hungry. After tucking her into bed, the Alpha went on a quick jaunt to the nearest cache to grab a bite to eat. He frowned when he was met with a single dead hare. It didn't look appetizing in the least and he knew he should save it for her anyway.

Well, he would just go hungry then. There was no way he would venture further from Fox during her heat. For the moment, asking for help didn't even cross his mind. The whole way back to the den, he was kicking himself for not stocking the closest cache better in preparation for this. They wouldn't die of hunger in a week, of course, but Fox at least should be well-fed as she prepared to house their offspring.

When he spotted someone near the den, Peregrine snarled loudly without even thinking. "Get away from there!" he shouted, running nearer. When he recognized Somnia, he relaxed slightly, though his fur remained puffed. Although she was female, he circled around to put himself between her and the entrance to the den. He didn't want anybody near his mate right now, disturbing her much-needed sleep.

"Som—" he began after a pause, his voice sounding apologetic. That's when he noticed the fresh rabbit. "You brought that?" Well, of course she had. "Thanks. Sorry I growled. I just... testosterone, you know." He shrugged his shoulders, telling himself to relax and reminding himself of the very important fact that Somnia didn't even have a penis to be threatened by.

Oh, ok. ^.^

Peregrine then noticed her, greeting her by charging at her as if he were going to kill her. A big black Alpha charging her was enough to paralyze Somnia with fear. Luckily, he didn't attempt to kill her, otherwise he would've easily succeeded. She did manage to unfreeze herself when Peregrine settled for placing himself between her and the den. The apology also helped.

Somnia's ears pinned themselves to the back of her head, her tail held low between her legs, and her head hung with averted eyes. She also took a few steps back, trying to assure Peregrine with body language that she wanted nothing to do with Fox. The only thing she wanted was to escape this encounter with her life.

"Yeah... I know..." Somnia said skeptically. "Umm, the cache was a bit empty, maybe I could back to hunting and catch a few more things to fill it up more for you?" She offered, trying to find reason to leave. Even though the offer would require her coming back, it would get her out of here for the moment.

Probably, she didn't know. Yet she didn't seem to hold it against him. Her body language begged to differ, though. Peregrine felt rather bad when he saw the quivering Delta submitting as if she feared for her life. He wished he could take back his impulsive, overly aggressive approach. She hadn't deserved that, especially not since she'd come bearing gifts.

"Thank you, Som. I was a dingus who didn't really think about how, ah, busy we'd be or how reluctant I would be about leaving Fox's side." Just as he hadn't thought of asking for help, it didn't occur to him that they could leave their den together in search of food. For now, he had a very single track mind. "We'd really appreciate anything you bring. If all goes well, she will be pregnant soon. Hell, she might already be pregnant," he realized with a happy little jolt. They had been at this for a few days now.

"This is actually happening!" he squeaked with sudden, unbridled joy, beaming at Somnia. Remembering to keep his voice down, he padded over to his pack mate and gave her a happy nudge. "It's actually happening," he repeated in a loud whisper.

Somnia further relaxed herself as Peregrine showed no more signs of being suspicious of her. She lifted her head up as he spoke again.

The Great and Mighty Alpha admits he's a dingus! A voice commented in her head. Her lips twitched slightly as she tried to give Peregrine her full attention. Somnia nodded in understanding as he said anything she brought would be appreciated. Then, Peregrine got excited.... Which included squealing like a little girl for a moment.

The urge to get away forgotten, she accepted his happy nudge. "It is happening," Somnia said at first as she thought of something to say. "Which means you better get her pregnant so that there will be little adorable buttheads running around the Caldera!" Somnia was excited about it too. Who didn't want to see mini Peregrine's and Fox's running around?

"I'm doing my best!" Peregrine assured her, happy that Somnia relaxed and joined in his celebratory spirit. "We've banged like, I don't know, a hundred times? Maybe more!" he shared cheerfully. "She's got to be pregnant, unless I'm shooting blanks!" he yapped, tail fanning the air so swiftly that it stirred up a chilly breeze.

"The only reason we're not at it right now is because she's exhausted," the Alpha male informed the Delta in a conspiratorial tone. "And I'm starving," he suddenly remembered. "Hey... I can trust you to stand guard for a minute, right? I'll be right back."

Now that there was a fresh rabbit for Fox, as well as the promise of more food to be delivered, he helped himself to the frozen rabbit carcass after all. He picked it out of the stockpile, then hurried back. He dropped it and it fell to the ground like a plank of wood. It wouldn't thaw anytime soon, so he would just have to nibble off frozen chunks. Delicious.

"Want any?" he asked Somnia, although he was fairly certain she would decline.

"That's wonderful!" Somnia responded with fake enthusiasm as she tried not to get weirded out at the excessive amounts of information that could be categorized under TMI.

Somnia gave a nod when Peregrine asked her to stand guard. She gave the area a quick scan, even though she doubted anything would be lurking around, waiting to steal Fox the moment she let her guard down. That came to an end quickly as Peregrine returned with a frozen rabbit, which she got offered a bite of.

Even though Somnia had ate a bunch of frozen rabbits before, as anything that spent more than half a day in the caches would end up frozen, she still found them unsavory. "Thanks, but no thanks." Somnia replied, watching him chew frozen pieces off.

He didn't press the matter. Peregrine flopped down on the ground just beyond the den's mouth and grappled the frozen hare between his large black forepaws. He began to gnaw at its long hind feet, his eyes all the while flicking intermittently to his guest.

"On the subject of lurve, have you talked to Ashton yet?" he wondered between bites. He managed to snap off a decently sized chunk and began to chew on it. It was like chewing a gigantic, splintery ice cube. He fought the urge to gag and eventually choked it down. He had to bend over and lap up some snow to wash it down all the way.

Just watching Peregrine choke down the frozen rabbit was enough to make Somnia scrunch up her face. Food was food, and it would be eaten if it kept you alive, but that didn't mean that you could absolutely despise it at times.

Somnia still had to pick out a day to spend with Ashton and access their situation, and then ask who he liked at the very least. Preferably sooner than later. "No, but I'm planning on doing it soon. I'll make sure that you're the first one to know if something does happen." She told Peregrine. Chances were she wouldn't come running to tell him if Fox was still in heat when it happened, but she would still make sure no one else knew if it happened during that time period.

"Ah," he replied, still wrestling with the frozen rabbit meat. He managed to tear off another tough strip and swallow it. "I haven't seen much of him lately. I wonder what he's up to? I picture him playing the part of mad scientist in a lab deep inside the caldera," he mused with a small smirk. "Or maybe he's gone into hibernation... he strikes me as a summery surfer dude. Maybe he only comes out when the sun's shining?"

Deciding he'd had enough of the rabbit, he pushed the remains aside and sat upright. "What do you think of the name Wildfire?" he asked, recollecting his recent playful banter with Finley. Honestly, he'd been considering that name before he'd found out his friend's hot sauce preference. "I was thinking Firebird would make a cool name," he continued, which was ironic because Finley had come up with that one too, "but I think we've already started to refer to all of them as firebirds, collectively, so that's out."

Somnia laughed at Peregrine's mental image of Ashton being a mad scientist in the Caldera. "It's pretty dark and cold down there, -- I recently went on an exploration with Elwood, -- so if he doesn't come out unless there's sunshine, I doubt he'd want to inhabit there. I mean, besides the wind and snow, it's nearly as bad down there as outside."

Somnia stayed silent for a moment to think before she responded to Peregrine's question. "I like how it sounds, but if that pup ended up being the most docile, quiet wolf in the history of wolves, would you regret giving her such a spunky name?" It was Peregrine's and Fox's call in the end, so it wasn't up to her, but if it were Somnia, she would've wished that she had given the pup a name that had the connotation of a wild, rebellious troublemaker. "Maybe you could use Wildfire as more of a nickname for the spunkiest pup?"

Somnia raised some good points. Peregrine chewed on them for a moment before saying, "I was thinking I'd use that name if one popped out looking like her mom, so it would have less to do with her personality than her appearance. Does that make sense? In any event, with the two of us for parents, what are the odds that any of them will be docile? I'd say zero." The Alpha stuck out his tongue, which had little specks of rabbit meat stuck to it.

He heard a shuffling noise in the den and stiffened, ears twisting to listen. He then turned and sniffed. He shouldn't have done that. His mate's scent filled him with arduous desire. Peregrine peeked inside. She was still asleep. She needed her rest, he told himself. He totally shouldn't wake her for a quickie. That would be really selfish...

"Som, I think I'm gonna join Fox for some shuteye. Like I said, if you wanna bring around anymore food, by all means... it will not go to waste. And we won't forget your service." He stood, tail waving, then barely managed a parting woof before he dove into the den to tackle his unsuspecting and delicious-smelling woman.

"Yeah, it makes sense." Somnia replied with a nod. The chances of the future pups being docile did seem small, seeing who their parents were. Then Peregrine stuck his tongue out at her which had chewed up pieces of rabbit. Somnia scrunched up her face in an unnatural way, showing mock disgust for Peregrine's tongue.

Somnia watched Peregrine get distracted as his ears turned. Curious as to what he heard, she listened too. She recognized the sounds of movement from within the den. Peregrine quickly excused himself, so Somnia, getting to her feet, gave some last parting words as he disappeared inside the den. "Ok. I'll try to keep you stocked. Bye!" Then she trotted away.