Scarface was furious. He could feel the fur on his back bristling as he crouched low in the bushes. In front of him, next to the lake, he could see his son talking in a low and hushed voice to one of the red foxes. From the look of Ranger's stance, Scarface knew that his son wasn't arguing or even having a normal conversation with the red fox. The solicitous way Ranger seemed to allow Charmer to drink before him and to have the first nibble of the dead vole; it was enough to make Scarface sick.

Fuming, Scarface made his way back to his den where his mate, Lady Blue, was waiting for him. She was lying down at the den entrance, on her paws, her eyes darting around constantly, taking in everything.

"You look upset," Lady Blue observed. "What's the matter, my love?"

Scarface gave an angry swish of his tail. Usually, he didn't mind his mate and her ministrations, however, right now, he didn't want her sympathy. "That red fox," he growled.

"Oooh, you poor dear," Lady Blue said sympathetically. She sidled up to him and licked the side of his face.

Scarface turned away but not before seeing the hurt look on her face. "Not now," he said gruffly. "Where is that Ranger of ours?" He was careful to keep his tone even. He didn't want to make his mate upset. She particularly doted on Ranger.

"He said he was hungry," she said.

"Hungry, is that right?" Scarface said, with a snort. From what he saw of Ranger and that little red fox, his cub was hungry, all right. Just not for food. "I'll give him hungry."

"My love?" Lady Blue said, sounding alarmed.

Scarface turned his head and nuzzled her briefly. "Don't worry." She settled down next to him and after a brief pause, he let his body relax. He would deal with Ranger when he got back.

Author Notes: I've had this idea in my head for ages, and I'm hoping to make it into a much longer, novella-length story. Updates should hopefully be frequent, but since I have other stories that I'm working on, they will probably be a couple of times as a week. This is more movie canon rather than book canon as I haven't read the books since I was a kid. It's AU anyway so will be diverging quite a bit!