Chapter 1: War and Peace
Kate and I just got off the train. I told our friends Marcel and Paddy, a golf-playing goose and his caddy, that Kate was to get married to Garth, the Alpha's son of the eastern pack. After which, I left. I almost hopped aboard a train leaving Jasper Park in hopes to be a lone wolf. My thoughts then sprung back into me. I rushed to the site of Kate and Garth's marrige. What did I see? War between our pack and the eastern pack. I noticed that Kate [the most beatiful wolf I'd seen, and my friend] turned her head down the valley. "Stampede," she shouted over the noise of the war.
Winston, Kate's father, and Tony, Garth's father, both shouted "Run and get to higher ground!" Just then, when Tony began to run, his back pulled a muscle again. I jumed down to get a better view point. Kate also had gone to the same cliffside. "Humphrey," she asked and I replied with "Kate." I noticed the log sled my friends, Mooch and Salty, and I used. "I have an idea," I told Kate as I pointed to the sled. In a minute, we were heading down the semi-steep cliff face.
"You're getting good at this," I said. She replied with "I had a good teacher." She noticed how close the caribou were to Tony and Winston, who never left Tony's side. "We'll never make it," she cried out. "I have an idea," I said as I angled the sled toward the two trapped Alphas. The sled hit the ground, providing shelter for Winston and Tony. Kate and I began to crawl low back to the log when she was knocked upside the head by a caribou. She was thrown a couple yards. "Kate," was all I could scream. I rushed to her and covered her body with mine to protect it. The caribou finally passed.
I tried to nudge Kate awake with my nose, but she was still out cold. I hugged what I thought was now a corpse. "I love you, Kate," I whispered. I then sat up straight and began to howl. Before long, everyone was howling. I looked down at Kate. Her eyes were... they were open.
"Kate," I exclaimed quietly, joy noticible in my tone of voice. "Humphrey," she asked. "Is everybody staring at us?" "No," I said. "Not every...no yeah now every body is staring at us. "Dang. I wanted to tell you something," and whispered something in my ear that made my tail wag. "Really," I asked. She nodded. I whispered something to her and her tail wagged. Later on, Kate still hade a wedding, but I was the groom. Garth got married to Lilly, Kate's sister.
At the moonlight howl, we heared Lilly and Garth howl. "He's actually gotten better," Kate said. When Lilly and Garth finished, Kate and I howled a romantic tune and the moonlight howl was left. "What do you think we can do when we retire," Winston asked Tony. "Gentlemen," Marcel said. "Let me introdue to you: golf." He hit a stone and almost hit me again. "Let's go before we get hurt," I said to my new wife and in saying that, I made here laugh.
Chapter 2: Nightmares and day
Kate was held by the throat by a human with a gun. He must be a poacher I figured. I tackled him to the ground. Next thing I know, I'm shot through the stomach. As I bled, I was forced to watch the poacher kill my beloved mate. BANG! was the next sound I heard. Faintly, I callled out to her body, "Kate!" BANG!
I sat straight up. I checked my gut: no blood. I placed my paw on Kate's side: still breathing. "Just a nightmare," I told myself. The sun rose in a few hours. Kate awoke as the sunlight beamed on her beautiful face. "We have a long day ahead of us," she said. "Well," I replied. "I had a nightmare I want to tell you about."
My wife sat up and told me, "OK." I proceded to tell her what happened. When I was finished, she spoke, "I had a nightmare as well. We were walking through the forest just east of here when all of a sudden, a poacher shot you. The shot killed you instantly. I tried to cover your body but when I did he shot my paw. After such, he shot and killed me, too." My heart turned cold. I feared she may be in pain. I hugged my love.
I heard Winston call me to him. I walked to him slowly, wondering if I did anything wrong. "You better take good care of our Kate. If not, say goodbye to your tail," he warned me. "I will," I told him. "Good morning," Eve, Kate's mom, said to Winston and I as she woke up. "Humphry, come here! Salty and Mooch want to talk to you," Kate called. I began my way back to Kate when Winston said, "One more thing: protect her with you life." I nodded, understanding what I had agreed to.
"Hey man," Salty greeted me. "Kate's your wife now, huh," he asked. I nodded, a smile on my face. BANG! The air shattered into millions of fragments. I saw Witty, my friend from a long time ago, break from some bushes. Before long, the poacher stepped from the bushes. Before long, he spotted Kate and me. Knowing my promise to Winston, I stepped infront of Kate, protecting here from the poacher. BANG! I began to bleed from my chest. "Humphrey," Kate called. Her voice, it gave my mind reason yo live, gave me strength to stand. I leapt at the poacher, biting at his chest violently. BANG! He shot me through the rib and barely missed my vital points. Kate jumped dow to my aid and attacked the poacher. She bit his arm up pretty good and scratched up his face. He ran off, leaving me injured.
"I need water and, if there is any left, pieces of the poacher's vest, along with some vines or ivy, not poison ivy, either, Mooch" Eve ordered. I wondered why pieces of the vest would be on the ground. I felt a piece of something under my paw. It was part of the vest, big enough to cover my chest wound. But the rib shot left two wounds: one entry, one exit. Kate found a piece of vest four times the size my piece was.
We brought our pieces of vest to Eve. Winston brought four pieces of vine. Mooch and Salty brought in a bowl shaped piece of bark filled with water. "This will probably hurt a lot," Eve told me. "Ok. Let's get this over...owwwww," I howled. That hurt real bad. Durind my scream, she was applying the first vest piece to my chest. It was freezing from the water.
"Done with the first bandage," Eve told me. "Winston," she called. "Come hold this piece right here, please." She pointed to the exit wound. Winston held the vest piece, after it was soaked in water, on the wound. Eve tied the second vine around my stomach and back. She tied a third around my chest and a forth around my stomach and back. It hurt, but it would stop the bleeding.
"Humphrey," Winston said with sad look in his eyes. "Thank you for proecting Kate," "No problem," I responded right before I passed out.
Chapter 3: Attack's Aftermath
It was four weeks after. I'd been shot. My scars were almost gone. No one asked me if I was okay any more. Good. I didn't want to remember that day, four weeks ago.
We figured out Kate was pregnant. I would be a father, her, a mother. It would be the first Alpha-Omega mix pup in the history of our pack and the eastern pack, who was united with us by the marriage of Lilly and Garth, who would have the second Alpha-Omega mix pup.
Because Kate was pregnant, I had to do the hunting. Garth and I became very good friends, not as good as Mooch, Salty, Witty, and I, but close. He taught me how to hunt. We would practice by a sort of tag which was more painful. The wolf who was "it" was the wolf, the runner was the prey. He showed me how to actually hunt in the field. We ripped the caribou he caught in half to each bring back home.
I got the rear end of the caribou. When Kate asked if I found it laying on the ground inthe valley, I replied, "No. Garth killed it. We ripped it in two. Looks like we got the butt end of the deal, huh?"
I wondered if she understood the pun. She obviously did because she giggled a little. I walked out side for a little bit and found a purple flower. I remembered that she wore the same type in her fur on her first wedding night with Garth. The wedding failed completly. I picked the flower and brought it back in, being careful not to crush it.
I placed the flower in Kate's fur, right above her ear. "What's the thing you put in my fur," she asked. "A flower like the one you wore when you met Garth," I replied. Kate blushed, the red seeming orange due to her yellow fur. I smiled at this. She always looked so cute when she blushed like that. The night began to set in. It was time to make a quick howl and then sleep.
Chapter 4: A New Pack Member
I woke up to Kate screaming. "Kate," I called. "What's going on?" "I think the pup's being born," she replied in pain. Shortly after, a beautiful male wolf pup was stuggling to stand infront of Kate. "What should we call him," Kate asked. "How about Brandon," I suggested. "That sounds like a great name," she replied. "My sweet little Brandon," she said to the pup while nuzzling him. I laughed and said, "Is he just yours?" She laughed and said, "No. You're the father."
I walked up to Brandon and began nuzzling him. Eve walked into the den and was about to kill me until she saw Brandon. "Is the pup what the screaming was about," she asked Kate. "Yes," she replied. "Ok." She shot me a glance and whispered to me, "If you hurt her, I'll rip your tail off and shove it down your throat." I looked at my tail and gulped. Eve was a nice wolf but could turn agressive when she needed to. "Do you understand me," she asked. Shaking on my legs, I nodded, the life scared out of me.
I clumbsilly walked back to Kate. I stayed away from Brandon because I didn't want to fall on him. "Your mother really scares me sometimes" I told Kate. "I've noticed," she said, laughing. Kate fed the newborn pup and we all went to sleep.
The sun rose brightly. I walked out to the cliff at the edge of the den. Jasper Park looked beautiful. I looked at the lake about eight feet below. Salty, Mooch, Witty, and our other buddy, Shakey were swimming and splashing each other. "I'm going to go swim with my buddies in the lake below. If you want, you can keep an eye on me." "Fine," she replied. "But you can't jump from the cliff into the lake today if you don't shut the door." "What door," I asked. "Exactly," she said. I unerstood what she meant. I couldn't make a big splash by jumping into the lake from eight feet today. I slowly walked down the path leading from the cliff to the lake. The whole, time, I tried to remember what it looked like under the surface.
At the lake, I greeted my friends. "Hey, bud," Mooch said. "We heard Kate screaming last night," Shakey said. "You weren't killing her were you?" "No," I answered. "Kate had a pup." "Could we see her," Witty asked. "First off: If you can call him by the right gender. Second off: not right now. It might scare him maybe tommorow." "How about we see who can touch the bottom of the 12 foot area first," Salty suggested. Every one agreed. "3...2...1...go," Salty shouted. We dove down and I touched the bottom first. When I resurfaced, I noticed Kate at the cliff, tapping her front paw. Oh no, I thought. As the others resurfaced, she called down, "Can you turn the volume down? The pup's begining to cry." "Sorry," I said apologetically.
We got out of the lake and I headed back to the cliff. Kate went outside to check on me. She got scared when she didn't see me. She turned here head to the path and was relieved to see me half way up. "The water's freezing," I told her when I got in the den. "Well, yeah," Kate replied. "It's the middle of winter." Brandon walked up to me and nuzzled my leg. I bent down and nuzzled his forehead. "I love you, Brandon," I whispered to my son. Kate whispered to Brandon that she loved him, too. Dark clouds began to settle in.
Rain fell in huge droplets. Lightning flashed, making Brandon whimper. Ten seconds later, the thunder hit, making Brandon cry. Kate and I surrounded him, making him feel more secure. He stopped crying but kept whimpering anytime he heard thunder.
Chapter 5: After The Storm
The storm passed. I looked at Brandon. He was shivering. I couldn't tell if it was from fear or cold. Kate was asleep. The thunder wasn't even enough to wake her. "Kate," I said, nudging her. "What," she asked grogilly. "The storm has passed," I told her. I walked outside and saw the lake had risen a foot.
Caribou wandered every where. They were glad it rained. So was I. I like to be wet. "You hungry, Kate," a asked my beloved mate. "Yeah, kind of," she replied. She had just finished feeding Brandon. "I'll be back in about half an hour. I'm going to catch us some food," i said. Without another word, I rushed down the cliff path and toward the caribou. On the opposite end of the clearing, I saw Lilly and Garth. Garth was trying to pull something from Lilly's paw. I went to see what it was. It was a splinter. "Move over," I told Garth. I took two of my claws, gripped the splinter and pulled it out. "Your teeth won't do much good," I told Garth. He just laughed.
I darted toward a caribou. Luckily, I was running against the wind. My scent was carried away from the caribou, not toward it. I tackled the huge beast. Five minutes later, I took it home to my family. It was hard to carry it up the muddy cliff path. The caribou was weighing me down, making me slip. Finally, I reached the den. I let Kate take the first bite. After she had taken a few bites, I proceded to eat. "Looks like we have enough for tommorow," Kate said. "Yep, looks like it," I replied.
"Humphrey," Salty called. Brandon was startled and began crying. "Go see what Salty wants," Kate said. "I'll calm Brandon down." "Ok," I told her. "I love you." "I love you, too," she replied. "Love you, too, Brandon," I told my son and then left.
I reached Salty, Shakey, Witty, and Mooch. What did I find? Mooch was stuck in a hole in a tree. "Do I even want to know," I asked. "No, probably not," Salty said. "We need your help to pull him out. He's to big for us to pull him out alone," Witty said. "I heard that," Mooch said. His voice echoed through the trunk. "Let's get this over with, guys," I said. We all started to pull. The bark started cracking, and then shattered. We all landedin a wolf pile and as usual, we heard Shakey tell Mooch,"Get your butt out of my face." That made us all almost die laughing. Night was begining to set in. I headed home.
Brandon was already asleep. Kate looked at me and asked, "What did Salty want?" "Mooch got stuck in a tree," I said. "Omegas," she said with a "whatever" tone. "Nothing wrong with being an omega," I told her. She rolled her eyes, laughed, and said, "I love you. Goodnight, Humphrey." "I love you, too. Goodnight," I replied. I walked over to my don, kissed his forehead, and said goodnight to him. Kate fell asleep. Shortly after, so did I.
Chapter 6: Brandon is Learning
I got up the next morning. Kate was already awake. She was singing quietly to Brandon. I thought to myself that she had the most beautiful singing voice in the pack, maybe in the world. She sang like an angel. I picked up a few lines from the song:
And don't fear the night
For all the time
I'll be by your side
"Wow, Kate, you sound beautiful," I said. "Oh. I didn't know you were awake, Humphrey. You really think I sound beautiful," she asked. "Yep," I replied. "I think you sound wonderful."
Garth and Lilly were rushing past our den when Lilly spotted Brandon. "Aw, what a cute pup," she said. Garth turned to run back and see what she was doing. When Garth saw Brandon, he said, "Aw. And who is this?" "Brandon," Kate said. "This is your aunt Lilly and your uncle Garth." "Hello, Brandon," Lilly said and nuzzled our little pup on the nose. "Hey, nephew," Garth said as rubbed his paw once down Brandon's back. "H-h-hello," Brandon said. We were all astonished. Not even a week old and Brandon was finally speaking. "We need to get going," Garth said. Before they left, Kate said, "I need to say something to Garth real quick." Kate whispered to Garth the same threat as Eve told me. Garth began to quiver and left. "You definitally take after your mom," I told her. "I guess I do," she responded. "I'm going to get my friends so they can see Brandon," I told my mate. "Okay," she said. "Just don't let them crowd him." "I know," I told Kate. "I think they know that."
I slid down the cliff path on a log like the old days. When I reached the bottom, I saw my friends swimming in the lake. "Hey, guys," I called to them. "What is it Humphrey," Witty asked. I asked, "Would you guys like to see Kate's and my pup?" As I said this, they all got out of the lake and shook themselves dry. "Heck yeah we would," Salty said.
As we walked up the path, I said to myself, "This is SO much easier without a whole caribou." I told them, "Now remember: one at a time. We don't want to scare him." I let Mooch in first. "What's his name," he asked. "Brandon," she replied. "Say hello, Brandon." "Hello," Brandon said, shyly. Mooch patted Brandon's head very lightly and them went back to the lake. Soon after, everyone else got to see Brandon. "Well, good morning," Marcel said. Paddy was standing right next to him. "I thought you guys went back to Ida-whatever it's called," I said. "Idaho? No. Not yet," Marcel replied. "Brandon, this is Marcel and Paddy, our friends," Kate said. "Well, hello there," Paddy said. "Hello," Brandon said.
After Marcel and Paddy flew off, I suggested to Kate, "We need to start teaching Brandon how to speak." "Good idea," Kate said.
Chapter 7: Brandon Can Talk
It was the second day of teaching Brandon to talk. He already knew how to say words like water, fish, bear, caribou, mom, dad, and a lot more. He even knew what the words meant. I was teaching how to say salt and what it meant. I found it extremely ironic that my buddy's name was Salty and I was teaching him the word salt.
"Fore," is all I heard before being struck in the rib by a rock. I howled out, "Ow!" Marcel said, "Sorry, but I warned you." I just rolled my eyes and told him to be careful. If Brandon weren't there, I would have probably swore a bit.
"Now, say salt, Brandon," I encouraged him. "S-s-salt. Salt," he said. I told him what it meant. After teaching him what salt meant, I proceded to tell him what ocean meant.
"Brandon, Humphrey! Time for a little lunch," Kate called before we could even practice. When Brandon and I reached the den, I asked, "You catch a caribou or something?" "Yep," she replied. We bagan to eat. We could tell how hungry Brandon was by the way he ate. "He definately doesn't eat like an Alpha," Kate said. "More lile an Omega." I laughed and said, "He takes after me. Kate laughed and said, "But he looks more like me." She was right. His blonde fur, his eye color. They matched Kate's. "Touch ," I told her, and we both laughed.
When we were finished with lunch, Brandon and I practiced again. "Now say ocean," I encouraged. "Oash-oash. It's sort of hard," he said. "Let me help you," I offered. "O-shun. "O-shun," he repeated. "O-shun. Ocean!" We both celebrated the fact that he could say that. Now, I had to teach him what it meant, which was fairly easy. I proceeded to teach him words like friend, enemy, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, and cousin.
The sun was begining to set. "You want to head home," I asked Brandon. "Yeah," he said. I picked him up by the scruff of the neck, the way most mother wolves do and carried him gentely home. On the way, I thought, "The world is normal again." I remembered getting stuck in Idaho with Kate. I remembered jumping off the train and seeing a warzone. I remembered being shot. That was all past memories now.
Brandon whimpered and said, "It's getting cold." "I know, my son," I told him, careful not to bite down on his neck. I already lost my parents. I didn't want to lose my son, too. I swore to myself that if a poacher attacked my family (including my inlaws) I would kill it, or die trying.
"How is Brandon's progress," Kate asked after I set Brandon down. "Pretty good. He can already speak in short sentences. He already told me it's getting cold," I told her. She walked over to me, kissed me, and told me thank you. "For what," I asked. "For everything," she replied. "For saving my life in Idaho, for protecting me in the stampede, for protecting me from the poacher, and for teaching Brandon to speak." "Oh," I said. "No problem."
Dusk began to fall. They sky was turning from grey to black. It gave the night an erie look. It looked like undead animals were walking around. Occasionally, an animal would look at us and all we saw was two lit eyes on a black shape. Brandon whimpered. I curled up lightly around him to make him feel secure. "They look dead," he told me. "You could't have taught him a subsitute for dead," Kate asked. "Never thought to," I replied, blushing. The moon finaly rose. We had a short howl and slept.
Chapter 8: Lifegaurd Humphrey
A rooster crowed. Brandon was shaking. "Brandon," I screamed. He stopped shaking and woke up. "You have a nightmare or something," I asked. "Yeah," he said, sounding depressed. "But I'd rather not tell it." I understood. I really didn't like to share mine. I did on occasion though. "Well, looks like you'll learn to swim today," I told him.
We made our way to the lake. "Stay in the shalloew area right there," I pointed to a shallow point in the lake. "That's where I'll teach you."
I swam out to the part of the lake I designated, hold him by the scruff of the neck. I set him down. "Don't struggle," I told him. "Just let your body float." He relaxed. His body stayed afloat. "How am I floating," he asked. "I don't know," I told him. "I'm not a scientist."
I began to show him how to do a doggy paddle. He attempted it and was pretty good at swimming. Seeing fish under him, he began to panic. He wasn't used to seeing fish. He began to sink. I was resting on the shore. I heard the splashing and looked over to see my son drowning. Adreniline began to surge through me. I jumped in the lake and swam as fast as I could. Brandon was at the bottom of the lake when I reached him. I wrapped my front legs around him and swam up with my hind legs.
On the shore, I pressed on his chest. Nothing happened. I began to cry, "Brandon, wake up." Kate came down to the lake shore. "What happened," she asked. All I could do was point to Brandon. "This is all your fault," she screamed at me. "You had to teach him how to swim, didn't you?" I knew she was acting off emotion. A second later, she hugged me and began sobbing.
We heard a small cough from under us. We looked down to see Brandon coughing up water. "Brandon," we both yelled in joy. "Maybe we need to start you off in the pond. "Dad," Brandon began. "No arguing," Kate said. "I lost my parents when I was a pup," I told him. "I'm not about to lose you."
We began again in the pond. He started out pretty well again. He swam to the end of rhe pond and back. "Wow," I thought. "He's way ahead of where I was back then." Mabey Kate was like Brandon when she was that young. Maybe Brandon did take after his mother. He made it back to me and asked, "Can we go home?"
It was almost dusk. I had lost track of time. "Let's go," I said. I grabbed gently by the scruff of the neck and took him home. The darkness changed my vision. We made home, but not without running into a spider web. I had to keep myself calm, which was difficult. I had a deathly fear of spiders.
We went through the same routine as we did every night. We howled then slept. Before falling asleep, I asked, "Kate, do you mind watching Brandon tommorow? I kind of want to hang with my buddies. I haven't been able to in a while." "Go ahead," she said. "You haven't gotten to be an omega in a while and you deserve it." "Thanks, love," I told her and kissed her goodnight.
Chapter 9: Omega Mentallity
The sin rose. I awoke tovhear Kate singing again, but no the same thing. I heard her sing these lines:
Your strength can overwelm
Your sorrows when you're down
Just remeber your body is sound
I began to howl along with the tune. "Humphrey," Kate asked, then told me, "It's to early to howl." I told her, "Anytime I'm around you my heart howls." She laughed and said, "Mine does the same around you." "Morning, squirt," I told Brandon. "Good morning, oldie," he said and I couldn't help but chuckle. Still laughing a little, I said, "I'm going to go find my buddies." "Ok, sweetheart," Kate told me and kissed me. I gave her a hug and a kiss. I gave Brandon hi-fived and a hug. Then off down the trail I went.
I came across Garth on the trail. "Where have you been," I asked him. "I had to take care of Lilly while she was pregnant. She had her pup last night," he told me. "Come on," I told him."I jad to learn how to be an alpha for a little while, now I'm going to teach you how to be an omega."
We found Mooch, Salty, Witty, and Shakey in the valley. As we hoped down, Witty said, "Come on, Humphrey. You know alphas ruin all the fun." Garth began to growl. I took my position in case a fight broke out. "I'm kidding, bro." Witty said calmly. "We're omegas," I reminded him. "We make fun of eachother, just not all the time."
"How about we race to the other end of the valley and back," Salty suggested. "Nah," Mooch said. Him being his size, I couldn't help but laugh. The rest of us just yelled, "I'm in." This included Garth. I got worried looking across the valley. It was two football fields long. That would be running four football fields. I know I'm a wolf, but I was tired from walking up and down the path and I didn't feel like racing any more.
"Go," Salty yelled. I started off slow then realized everyone was beating me. Despite my legs being sore, I ran. I passed the others up quickly, touched the end, and ran back.
When the other omegas got back, Mooch yelled, "Wolf pile!" Every one jumped on me. Even Garth. Now I knew how Witty felt. He was always at the bottom. It hurt but I laughed. I laughed even harder when Salty once again commanded, "Get your butt out of my face. I slowlymade my way out. When i got out, I noticed the whole pile fell a wolf's size. "Get off of me," Salty said. The wolves began to disassemble the pile. Garth got off first, than Mooch, followed by Salty, Witty, and finally, Shakey.
"Hey, guys," Witty called. "Where the heck is our log sled?" I remembered using it to save Tony and Winston. "Let's find another one," I said. We found a hollow log. We finally got the lpg split in two. We pulled the two halves up the valley wall. "Witty, Salty, and Shakey in that one," I said, pointing to one log. "Mooch, Garth, and me on this log."
We all took our positions. When we hit bottom, we all flew out of the logs and hit the ground. Garth had to get up and shake it off. "Alphas," I said. "At least omegas don't need to shake off that fall." We all laughed. I looked at the sun. "Aw man," I moaned. "I need to get home so I can teach Brandon tommorow."
I left for home. Finally, I arrived. Kate asked me how my day was. I told her it was a fun day. Brandon was already asleep. I padded over to him and kissed hulis head. "No howl tonight," I said, and went to sleep.
Charter 10: Time to Hunt
I awoke to Kate singing alone. It was hard to hear what she said.
"Good morning," I told my darling Kate. She spun around, startled. Her brown eyes were wide and she gasped. "Humphrey! I didn't realize you were awake," she said. "Sorry," I told Kate. "It's okay," she told me. "Brandon's still asleep." I walked over to Brandon and put my paw on his ribs. Surely enough, he was breathing.
Eve walked into our den and said, "Good morning, Kate. Good morning, Humphrey. Good morning, grandson." "Good morning, mom," Kate and I said together. "Brandon's still asleep." "Hey, mom," I said. I called her mom because she served as my mom. "Can you watch over Brandon when we go hunting?" "Of course," she replied.
Finally, Brandon woke up. "Brandon, this is your grandma Eve," I told him. "She's my mother-in-law." "She's going to be watching you today," Kate told him. "Ok," Brandon said. "Nice to meet you." He took Eve's paw and shook it lightly. "You don't look old enough to be a grandma, though." I blushed. I hoped to high heaven she would not turn and growl at me. "Thank you, I guess," she said, which really surprised me. "Nice to meet you, my grandson."
"Ok, mom," Kate said. "We're going out hunting." "Ok," Eve replied gently and called me over to her. Her voice got very agressive. "Keep her safe. Remember the threat I made to you and your promise to Winston?" I nodded slowly and off Kate and I went, walking. We met Garth and Lilly at the bottom of the cliff trail. They were the ones we were hunting with. Garth was shaking and even under his reddish fur, you could tell his skin was red. Eve must have scared him galf to death, too.
"How are we going to split this up," I asked. "Omegas with omegas and alphas with alphas, boys with boys and girls with girls, or mates with mates?" "How about girls with girls and boys with boys," Kate suggested. "I would prefer boys with boys and girls with girls." It was easy to tell Lilly liked that set up. To make Lilly happy, Garth replied, "Ok." I didn't have a problem with it. After all, Garth was my friend.
"Garth and I will move up the west valley wall, you two take the east," I said. "When we get to them, we surround them. You guys ready?" Gart and Lilly replied with a simple, "Yep." Kate replied with an, "Oh yeah," in her typical game-on tone of voice.
We split up and started to climb the valley wall. "I'll need to teach Brandon how to hunt, sometime," I told Garth. "I need to teach mine sometime, too," he said. "You never told me," I told him. "What's your pup's name?" "His name is Benjamin. We just call him Ben, though," Garth answered. "Who's watching him," I asked. "Winston and dad," he replied.
We could see Lilly and Kate on the other side of the valley. The caribou were only a few yards ahead. As we got within a yard of the caribou, Lilly and Garth stopped and slowly headed down the valley wall. Luckily, we were going against the wind. Kate and I spread out and started to move away from the valley. After we spread out for ten yards, we fanned back towards the valley.
When Kate and I reached the valley walls, we darted down. The caribou would have aour scent when we hit the valley floor. As we touched the floor, the caribou darted away from us. As they saw Garth and Lilly, they turned and ran back our way. After this, the caribou realized they were trapped.
We ended up taking four caribou. That was good. We had enough food for Tony, Winston and Eve, Garth, Ben, and Lilly, and Kate, Brandon, and I.
The sun was begining to set. Kate and I carried two caribou. Garth and Lilly carried the other two. We finaly reached home. I dropped my caribou and said, "This is for you, mom." "I thought you said your mom was dead, dad," Brandon said. "Eve is basically a mom to me, now," I replied. "Thank you," Eve told Kate and I. "Good night, you three." Then, Eve grabbed the caribou and dragged it to her and Winston's den.
The moon finally began to rise. The moon was full tonight. It reflected off of Kate's fur beautifully. She looked hotter than ever. I realized she had the flower in her fur above her ear. "Shall we howl real quick," she asked, breaking my trance. "Sure," I replied. We howled for a minute. "Good night, Brandon. Good night, Kate. By the way, you look hotter than ever, Kate," I said. Right as I hit the ground, I fell asleep.
Chapter 11: Outcast
I woke up to Kate brushing back Brandon's fur. "Good morning, Kate and good morning, Brandon," I said. "Good morning," they both said. "Ahh! Get off me, dang southern wolf," we heard Hutch, another alpha of the pack, yell.
"I'll be right back," I said. I darted down the path and sprinted to Hutch. "I'm going to teach you not to mess with me," Hutch said. When I got there, surely enough, there was a white southern pack alpha on Hutch. I stepped back, darted foreward, and takled the alpha.
Suddenly, seeing his face as I pinned him, I saw under his scars that it was my brother, Dwindle. I couldn't kill my own brother. I don't know how I recognized him. I lost him when we were just pups. I got off of him and said, "Leave, Dwindle." When he refused to leave, I yelled at him. He got up and ran.
"You knew that guy," Hutch asked me. "Yeah," I said. "He's my brother." "Freak," Hutch yelled at me. "But," I began, but he was gone before I could say anything. Great. The place I felt welcome at the moment was home. That's exactly where I went.
I got to the path leading from the cliff. And what do you know? An alpha was waiting up on the cliff. I knew why. Either to kill me or tell me off. I cried, knowing I couldn't get home. Luckily, the alpha had bad hearing. Kate didn't. She walked outside and lopked down at me.
"Can you please leave," Kate told the alpha. He got up and walked down the path. I hid in the bushes near the path. When he was finally gone, I ran up the path and into the den. Once inside, I dropped to the floor, crying.
"What's going on," Kate asked. "Hutch is saying you're friends with a southern pack alpha." I shook my head. "You're not," she asked. "No," I said. "He's my brother." Kate and Brandon stumbled back, shocked. "Your brother," Brandon asked. "Yeah," I replied. "Dwindle. I... I almost killed him for attacking Hutch. I couldn't kill my brother."
Kate walked up to me. I expected her to yell at me for letting my emotions get in the way, but she hugged me. Brandon did his best to cheer me up, too. Neither attempt worked.
"Kate," Eve said. When she saw me, she bared her teeth and began to growl. "Mom," Kate yelled and stepped between me and Eve. "You're defending someone who's friends with a wolf from the southern pack," Eve asked. "Mom," Kate said. "It wasn't his friend. It was hid brother. Humphrey wouldn't kill his family." Eve's expression changed. Her face went from anger to pity. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's ok," I told her.
Eve brought Brandon, Kate, and I to her and Winston's den. "What are you doing bringing this filth here," Winston asked as he saw me. "Dear, he wasn't the southern wolves friend, they were brothers," Eve explained. Winston's expression changed, too. Garth and Lilly were in the den, too. Their faces were shocked. "I can't kill him," I said. "He's my brother." "I guess I'll tear his tail off and shove it down his throat," Eve said. "I don't have to watch, do I," I asked. Eve walked up to me and said, "No, you don't."
"Now I know what it feels like to be an outcast," I said. Just then, Kandoo, one of Kate's fellow hunters walked into the den with Hutch. "It's Humphrey. Let's kill him," Kandoo said. "Kandoo, Hutch," Kate yelled. "He's not a traitor!" "Explain to me what that was when I was attacked," Hutch attacked. "They were brothers," Kate screamed. "Emotions, emotions," Kandoo said. I began to growl. "You'd have more feeling if you were me, you heartless alpha," I yelled. "Omega coyote," he snapped back. If Kate hadn't stepped between us, a fight would have started. I swung. I almost struck Kate but pulled back before I hit her.
"Some people are gripped by emotion more than otghers, idiot," Kate said. She turned around and hugged me. "Ahh," she screamed. I looke past Kate to see Kandoo with his clws covered in blood and blonde fur. "You know I don't let anything get in the way of my kill," Kandoo said. "Nice job attacking a girl from behind," I taunted. I jumped and pinned Kandoo. Garth pinned down Hutch. I scratched at Kandoo until he stopped struggling. I hopped off of him. He weakly sttod up. "Let's go, Hutch," he said. Hutch hesitated before saying, "No. No matter if he didn't kill the other wolf. He saved my life. Humphrey, I'm sorry." "It's ok," I told him.
Kandoo turned and left. I opened my mouth to say something but Kate snapped my mouth shut with her paw.
Eve returned with blood on her paws and mouth. "She litterally tore the southern alpha's tail off and shoved it down his throat," Winston said with a shocked, scared look on his face. "Come on, dear. Get some sleep. We'll explain this to the rest of the pack," Eve said. "You three can sleep in our den tonight." Kate, Brandon, and I howled shortly and then hit the floor. Shortly after, we fell asleep.
Chapter 12: Redemtion
The sun arose the next day. "What," I called. "Where am I?" "In our den," Winston replied. "Remember?" "Oh yeah," I said. "I'm still tired and my minds not straight yet." "Time to explain to the rest of the pack what happened," Eve said.
As Eve walked, I followed her, hidden in the bushes. Mooch smelled me. Obviously the pine trees didn't cover my scent. "Hey," Mooch said to me with a nervous tone. "I'm not going to hurt you," I told him. "When was the last time I hurt you while not playing one of our games?I don't think I have." Mooch eased up. "It's just the story Hutch kept telling.," Mooch said.
We had to reach the valley before we found any one. I stepped put of the bushes. The wolves on the other side of the valley smelled me. They growled and howled. Kate began to dart down and across the valley. Suddenly, a stampede of caribou rounded the corner of the valley. "No," I screamed. "Not this again!"
I darted down the valley wall. I stepped infront of Kate, who was frozen in shock. "I lost my parents," I told her over my shoulder. "I'm not going to lose you." Suddenly, I took a blow from a caribou right to the ribs. Next thing I knew, a caribou stepped on my leg, breaking it. Kate rushed to my side. It was her turn to protect me while I was knocked out.
I woke up with a strong, stiff srick tied to my broken leg. "What... what happened," I asked. "One of the caribou knocked you out," Kate replied. "Thank you for protecting my daughter," Eve said. "No problem, mom," I said. "Why is it every time something like this happens, I'm the one that ends up injured?" I pondered for a momont then shrugged. Shrugging sent pain up my leg.
"Ow," I yelped. "Stupid caribou." "On the bright side," Eve bagan. "Nobody hates you anymore." "They still consider you a nobody, though," Kate said. "Good," I replied. "I don't really want to be a somebody." The sun was begining to set. We all howled shortly. I had to howl while laying on my side. We all fell asleep and awaited the new day.
Chapter 13: Mellowed Omega
I woke up. Every body else was already awake. Kandoo walked into Eve's and Winston's den. When I saw him, I growled. "I bet you just protected Kate to show off, huh," he taunted. "If I could get up," I threatened. "I would rip your throat out." Eve bagan to growl and Winston advanced toward Kandoo. Kate walked beside him. Kandoo backed away and ran. "That's right, run," Kate yelled after Kandoo.
"One wolf hates me," I said to Eve. "That's never hurt you before," Kate said. "And it still doesn't," I replied. Shakey, followed by Salty, Witty, and Mooch entered the den and asked, "You alright, man?" "Yeah," I replied. "Guess I'm just happy to be breathing." "We're going out hunting" Kate said. "Garth will watch over you and Brandon." "Why does he need to watch over me," I asked. "Your leg, maybe," she said. "True," I replied. The last I saw of Kate that morning was her walking out of the den to head to the valley.
Tony walked into the den. He lightly touched my broken leg but pulled back when I yelped. "Your leg's obviously killing you more than my back ever did," he said. "Good morning, dad," Garth said. Tony turned to Garth and said, "Good morning, Garth." I noticed a skelleton of a caribou not too far away from me. I pulled a rib bone over to me and began to gnaw on it. I pulled a smaller bone towards Brandon in case he wanted to gnaw on one. The bone tasted of dried blood. I didn't care, though. I was used to the taste after eating caribou so much. Actually, I was thinking about becoming vegitarian like a couple wolves in our pack. That's what eating caribou for every meal does to you.
I ended up gnawing the bone in half. I started to chew on the joint of the bone when Garth said, "A bunch of southern wolves are advancing. They're following a white alpha with no tail." "Aw, come on," I yelled. "Can't my brother stay in his own territory?" "Lost sight of them in the forest," Garth said, looking at me.
Suddenly, Dwindle jumped into the den and swiped at Garth. The blow was enough to knock him out. Dwindle then began to advance toward me. "Do you know what it's like to have your tail shoved down your throat," he asked in his gruff voice. "It hurts. And so will you when I'm finished." I let out a distress howl. The valey wasn't even a mile away. The others could get here in half a minute.
My howl was cut short. Dwindle hit me and knocked me out. I remembered hearing paws treading and my brother screaming when I was knocked out. I woke up. "Where's my brother," I asked. "He ran off like the wolf pup he is," Kate replied. I noticed Garth was awake. He had a scar across his face. I felt my face with my good paw. I felt a burning pain. I knew I had been scratched there.
The night began to set in. Kate walked up to me and dropped down beside me. Neither she, Brandon, or I howled. "Get better soon, sweetheart," Kate told me. "Yeah. Get better soon," Brandon echoed. "Good night, Kate. Good night, Brandon," I said. I started to think. I was lucky. Kate had agreed to marry me not even a year ago, I was a father, and I was breathing. Kate kissed me on the forehead, taking care not to touch my wounds. "Good night, sweetheart," she said. "Good night," I replied. "And thanks for protecting me." Brandon nuzzled my leg and I hugged him with my good leg. We all fell asleep to await the next day.
Yes There Will Be A "A Wolf's Heart Chapter 14 And Maybe Even More Just Wait!
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