Chapter One: It Began With A Promise
(Flashback)
Watching the Alpha-wolves hunt was all I could think of doing when Kate was not with me. She was down there, with her fellow Alphas. Kate and Garth were both great hunters — that was why they were hunting together. Those two had gotten used to working together to take down caribou. Garth had even saved Kate's life from time to time, making me thankful that he was around. Now, the two were at it again. Both were crouched low, so as not to alert the soon-to-be dinner. Kate moved a few feet forward, and waited a moment before motioning for Garth to move up. He nodded and moved up next to her. The two were side-by-side, crouched down, ready to attack the delicious meat that was standing about ten feet away. They always used the exact same tactics, but would switch places every afternoon so they would not have to take more credit than the other.
It was Kate's turn for the attack. Garth knew the drill. He stayed put as Kate crawled forward a bit more. From where I was watching, I could see Kate's tongue run across her lips as if she could already taste the caribou's blood. That's when she leaped from the medium-height grass, onto the back of the caribou. Kate sunk her sharp teeth into the animal's neck before it darted forward, bucking all over the place to get Kate to let go. It was a waste of energy. Then again, he was about to be dead soon. So why worry about using energy, right? I watched as Garth stood from the grass and followed after the caribou. His job was to stay in the back, and provide assistance if necessary. He followed and I stood up with excitement at what I was seeing. The caribou could not get Kate off of him. That is, until his eyes caught sight of a tree that had been there for decades. Maybe even centuries. That is how old it looked.
The caribou ran at the tree, ramming his head into the tree. I watched as the tree slowly started falling. Kate was flung off of the animal, thrown around the side of the tree, directly under the area it was falling to. I heard Garth yell Kate's name as he sprinted toward her. Not running, sprinting. He ran straight at her as fast as his legs could carry him. Kate was frozen in shock as she watched the tree falling down at her. Then she was pushed. Garth pushed her out of the way, only to get himself crushed by the large tree as he yelped loud in pain. That's when I stood up. I really wanted to go down and help, but I was just an Omega. I had none of those skills that they had. All of those stampeding caribou down there would have trampled me. All I could do was stay put and watch, at least until the herd was gone.
My eyes stayed on Kate. After being saved by Garth, she immediately ran to him, and pushed on the tree. She was trying to roll the large tree off of him, but she couldn't push it alone. Kate kept trying, and trying. Until a caribou jumped over the log, kicking Kate in the process. She was sent backwards, landing on her back. In the path of the stampeding caribou. I couldn't watch, I turned away with my eyes closed. Not seeing anything, I still had the ability to hear. What I heard was Kate's yelp of pain as the caribou trampled her. After a moment, I opened my left eye to take a peek at the scene. The caribou were gone. Dust was hanging in the air. I couldn't see anything. I waited for the dust to clear, which took a minute. Once it was gone, I could see Kate. She was slowly moving. Kate was still alive!
I ran down a slope, making my way down to the valley where the scene had just occurred. I approached the fallen tree, which was closer to me. I walked around to the other side, to see blood. Garth's blood formed a puddle around him. Blood dripped from his mouth. I immediately knew Lilly was going to be severely upset about this... Garth was dead. I closed my eyes, and turned away. I opened my eyes to see Kate, moving towards me. I walked toward her. I put my paws under her head, helping her look at me. I wanted to cry at how she looked. A trickle of blood was running from the corner of her mouth. I could see bruises all over her body. Her legs broken, I could tell from the distorted look of them. I told her, "You're going to be all right, Kate. Don't worry."
"No, I don't think so..." Kate coughed, "This looks like the end for me."
"Don't say that... Please, don't talk like that. You are going to survive." I tried to reassure her.
It didn't work, I couldn't convince Kate. I knew she was right though, this was the end. I just did not want to believe it. She said, "Just do one thing for me."
I asked, "What is it?"
She smiled at me and said, "Take care of my sister, keep her safe..."
I nodded, and said, "I will, I promise."
Tears started to form in my eyes. With that, Kate's eyes closed. That was when the tears started coming. The small droplets of water rolled down my face, falling on to Kate's golden colored fur, on her chest. I let my wolf nature do what it thought was best. I took a deep breath, lifted my head to the heavens, and howled a low-pitched howl of sadness. I was giving a signal to the packs that an Alpha had died. When I finished the howl, I took another breath and repeated the process to show that a second Alpha had died as well. It was not long before the packs came to the area, gasping when they realized who the wolves were. I turned to see Lilly crying. She had lost more than I had. I had lost a friend and a loved one. Lilly had lost a sister and a loved one.
I walked over to Lilly, putting my front right paw around her, hugging her close. She turned and put her face into my fur, crying into my chest. I let her. She was going through so much, just as I was. I tried to be strong for Lilly. I was going to keep my promise to Kate. I was going to take good care of her sister.
(End Flashback)
That was about five months ago. Most of the wolves were still grieving over the losses of the two Alphas. Lilly and I were effected the most by their passings. I've been living with Lilly, Winston, and Eve. They allowed me to stay with them after I explained about my promise to Kate. It was in the middle of the day. Eve and Winston were eating their caribou. I took a bite of my own piece, before looking over at Lilly. She had not taken even a bite of her own food. I swallowed the chunk I had eaten and asked Lilly, "Is there something wrong with your piece?"
She nodded her head left and right.
I asked, "Why aren't you eating then?"
Lilly answered, "I'm not that hungry..."
Lilly did not eat much ever since Kate and Garth had passed. She would only eat just enough to keep herself alive. I was worried for her. I took another bite of my piece of caribou and chewed a moment before swallowing. I stood up and walked over to Lilly. I said, "If you don't feel like eating, would you like to take a walk with me?"
I figured it could be good. A walk out in the fresh air would be nice. It would clear our heads; maybe even help Lilly get over the losses of her sister and her boyfriend. She slowly stood up and nodded. The two of us walked toward the mouth of the cave. We stopped when we heard Eve's voice call out, "Don't go too far."
I looked back and said, "Don't worry. I'll take care of her."
I actually would too. No matter what happened, I would take care of Lilly. It was a promise that I was going to keep. Forever. The two of us walked out of the cave, and turned to the left. I was walking to Lilly's left side. We had no idea where we were walking to. We just walked, and walked, and walked. Eventually, we walked down hill, and came to a little grassy area. This place was familiar to me. It was where Saltey, Shakey, Mooch, and I all slid down the hill on a piece of wood for the first time. That was also... the last day I saw Kate before she left for Alpha school. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to hold back a tear. Lilly knew what was going on. She put her left arm around me and said, "Let's go somewhere else."
I nodded and we continued walking. After about another ten minutes, we ended up at a valley. The same valley where I first thought I lost Kate, before we declared our love for each other. That was also the same day that Garth announced his love for Lilly. I looked to her, seeing a small tear roll down her cheek. I lifted my right paw, and wiped her tear away. She turned to look at me. I could tell this was too much for her, so we continued walking. We passed some trees and boulders for about fifteen minutes before we approached the river that was the boundary of Jasper National Park. We both took a drink from the river, and looked up to see the Howling Rock. The only reason we could cross the boundary was to go up there for the Midnight Howl. Which brought back more memories. Kate and I, along with Lilly and Garth, would go to the Midnight Howl any chance we had.
I looked to Lilly, more memories of the two Alphas came to us both. We were both obviously upset. We turned, and continued our walk. The next area we came to was unfamiliar to Lilly. It was a small little area. Flowers covered the ground like a meadow, but it was secluded by a ring of trees. The only light was that of the sun, that shone through the leaves of the many trees, causing many beams of light spread out through the area. Lilly had no idea where we were, but this is where I was the most upset. Kate and I would come here all the time at night. We would lie next to each other on our backs, and look up at the starry night sky and the large glowing moon. This was our own little area where we could be together in private.
Lilly saw the sadness on my face, or in my eyes. She asked, "Was this place special to you?"
I nodded, "We would come here at night to watch the stars and moon..."
She continued to look at me. Lilly did not even know this, so I told her, "Lilly, I was going to ask her to marry me. In this spot."
Lilly looked at me with sadness in her eyes. The two of us quickly got out of there before we started crying. If I had been there any longer, I would have broken down, crying. After about a half hour of walking, we finally managed to get back to Lilly's home around noon. Lilly went over to the back of the den, and laid down. I lied down next to her. For some reason, I was never comfortable when laying down with nobody next to me. I put my head on my paws and closed my eyes. I did not fall asleep. I just did not want someone to bother me when I was thinking. I liked being alone when I was thinking things over.
Jasper National Park. There were too many memories of Kate here. The walk I took with Lilly showed me that. Everywhere we went would show me that, and I did not like it one bit. There were memories of us as pups. Images of Kate ran through my head, along with the echoes of her laughter. Destiny was not being pretty good to me or Lilly right now. It was torturing us with memories from our pasts. Fate had taken Kate and Garth from us, leaving us in mourning. That was when I made a decision. I was going to leave the territory. But what about Lilly? I promised Kate I would take care of her. How could I just leave her? It was a difficult decision for a wolf to make alone. I had to leave, but I could not and would not just leave Lilly here... Even if she did have her parents to protect her, I had made a promise to Kate. I was going to keep that promise no matter what.
I felt Lilly's paw run under my right eye for a brief moment. I opened my eyes and looked at her. I must have let a tear escape my eye, for I saw a little drop on her paw. She said, "I miss them too, Humphrey..."
I was not thinking about how I missed Kate and Garth. I was thinking about leaving the territory for a while. But, how could I tell Lilly that? Unless...
I looked to Lilly and asked, "Lilly, would you like to come with me?"
That confused her. She did not know what I was talking about. I helped her out, "I'm leaving Jasper for a while. Since I promised Kate I would take care of you, I can't leave you here."
"W-why are you leaving?" Lilly asked, stunned by the news.
I stood up and said, "There are too many memories here. I have to get away for a while to clear my head."
"Sounds like a good idea. I'll go, you could use some company. There's just one problem. What about my mother and father?"
"I'll talk with them about it. I'm sure they'll be okay with it..."
"No." Eve and Winston both answered at the same time.
I pleaded, "I'll take care of her. Please? She told me herself that she wants to go."
Lilly was sitting at the mouth of the cave, staring outside up at the clear blue sky. Her parents looked over me at their daughter. Winston told me to give them a private talk with their daughter. I nodded, turned around, and walked over to Lilly. I said, "Your parents want to talk with you."
She sighed and said, "Okay."
Lilly stood up, turned around, and walked back to her parents, leaving me alone at the mouth of the cave. I could hear their voices, but I was not able to make out what their words were. It was a private conversation anyways, so I decided not to listen. I just looked up at the sky, thinking things over. I tried to think of answers for some questions. First, could a wolf with a broken heart continue to love? I do not know the answer to that, but once I figure it out, i'll let you know. Second, why did fate have to take Kate from me and Garth from Lilly? I do not know that answer to that either.
Hearing footsteps coming toward me from behind, I turned around to see Lilly. I asked what happened and she answered with, "They're letting me go with you."
I looked back at her parents and gave them a smile and a nod of thanks. I turned back to Lilly when she asked, "When are we leaving?"
"Anytime you're ready."
"How about tomorrow morning?"
"Sounds good," I nodded.
Even though it was still in the middle of the day, Lilly and I went to the back of the den to lie down and get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a big day that we never thought would have happened. We were leaving Jasper Park. For how long, we do not know. I guess as long as it takes to get over Kate and Garth. There was one thing I would always do for Kate. Keep a promise. I would definitely keep her sister safe, no matter what happens.
