Channeling Miyagi [meeting]

When he'd chosen to den outside of the castle, it had been for security reasons. If everyone was tucked up safely in castle walls, they would all be partially shielded from danger, but they would be unable to see or hear that danger coming. So the elder Abraxas had silently volunteered himself as a forward scout and chosen a den out fairly near the border beneath some large boulders that appeared to have been part of an old ruined wall. He knew it wouldn't be quite as comfortable as being inside walls, and possibly dangerous.

But he hadn't thought that danger would be from one of his own grand-nephews. Or to his sleeping furs.

When he'd first come across the rawhide lynx pelt laying battered and chewed on in a puddle, he'd thought it had been a damned wolverine, stealing from his den as they did on occasion. Then the fox fur, and three rabbit furs, and then there was the culprit, still gnawing on a deer hide. He'd delivered a blistering lecture that consisted of a bare two sentences, and marched the boy up to the castle to attend the meeting the pup hadn't even heard called.

Eligos slunk over to sit next to his siblings and watched miserably as Apollo stepped up to talk quietly to Malleus, but the elder didn't spare him a glance. "The borders are clear," he rumbled. "But the rains are getting to be a problem. I have seen signs of more predator activity in our lands than is usual. I believe they are seeking shelter from floodwaters elsewhere. It could prove dangerous to the pack, particularly the pups." Dipping his head respectfully after delivering his news to the Emperor, he moved to sit among the pack. And no, he didn't say anything about the furs. The boy had agonized about it enough on the way there to be punishment enough for such a small infraction, and it certainly wasn't anything that needed his father's attention. He would make the boy replace the furs, and that would be that.