Hey, everyone. It's that time of year again and Christmas will be here tomorrow. And I got you all the perfect gift this year; a special Alpha and Omega Christmas two-shot! Here's Part 1, and Part 2 will follow shortly.

Now don't say I never got you anything nice for Christmas...

Kate and Humphrey slowly made their way up the path leading toward Eve and Winston's den. It was Christmastime in Jasper, the first Christmas since Kate and Lilly had moved into their own dens, and Kate was looking forward to returning to her parent's home for the holidays.

Humphrey was, however, much less thrilled. As he looked around at the tall snow-drifts, Humphrey thought about how he had to drop out of the traditional holiday log-sledding with Salty, Shakey, and Mooch. Nor was he keen on spending the next several days with Kate's volatile mother-in-law. He remembered the day Eve came to their den and invited them over for the holidays. Kate had been out hunting, so Eve directly addressed Humphrey.

"Humphrey, since you're now a part of the family," she had said, "Kate's father and I thought it would be nice if the two of you could spend the Yuletide with us."

"Um, thanks," Humphrey had said as politely as he could, "but I kinda already had plans. Maybe next year."

Eve had smiled sweetly at him and even chuckled a little. But just as Humphrey started to believe his life wasn't in danger, Eve had said, "Let me rephrase that. If you dare so much as think about keeping my baby away from her family on Christmas, I will rip out your kidneys, pound them into jam, spread it on bread, and force it down your throat!"

Humphrey didn't really see a way he could argue with that. So here he was, walking slowly with Kate, fully expecting twelve days of torture. At least Garth would be there, so he'd have someone to pull Christmas pranks on. That would be fun.

As Humphrey silently plotted out how to make Garth's holiday life miserable, he felt something rush past him. He had no idea what it could be, since he hadn't seen anything coming his way. A quick glance over his shoulder didn't reveal anything either. Funny, it felt just like a small wolf had rushed past him but no wolf was anywhere to be seen.

"Lilly, wait up!" Kate called down the path. And suddenly, Humphrey saw two lavender eyes seem to appear out of nowhere, followed by a round black nose. Humphrey laughed at himself as he realized what he should have known all along; Lilly had rushed past him but he hadn't noticed her because her white fur blended in so perfectly with the snow.

Lilly now came back toward them. "Where you going, sis?" Kate asked. "Mom and dad driving you crazy already?'

Humphrey smiled. Under his tutelage, Kate was starting to develop a sense of humor.

Lilly trotted up to them and smiled. "No, I've got something really important to do! I've got to get my letter to Santa Claus before Christmas comes. How else is he going to know what I want? Hey, sis, did you already get your letter sent?"

"Uh, yeah," Kate lied. She, of course, did not send letters to Santa Claus, but she didn't want to spoil Lilly's fun.

"You're always on time with everything," Lilly said with a smile. "I bet Santa's already got all your presents ready! I've got to hurry so that he doesn't forget about me too!"

On that note, Lilly turned around and practically skipped down the path.

Humphrey turned to Kate as they watched her go. "Santa Claus? Really?"

Kate smiled bashfully. "You know Lilly, Humphrey. She's still a puppy at heart."

"She's practically a pack leader now," Humphrey countered as he paced around Kate. "Don't you think it's time she learned the truth about Santa Claus?"

Kate shook her head. "Come on, Humphrey. What's the harm in letting her think Santa Claus is going to come and bring her presents? It makes her so happy."

"Okay," Humphrey said, obviously not agreeing, "but she's going to have to find out eventually. We all have to grow up sometime."

With that, the Alpha and the Omega continued upward toward the den.

"You'll make sure to get this to Santa, promise?" Lilly said as she handed off her letter written on a piece of bark.

"You have our word of honor," Paddy said as he took it from her. "We'll be certain to hand it to him personally."

"Paddy, please," Marcel said as he stood on a tree branch above them, practicing his golf swing. With this caddy silenced, Marcel proceeded to repeat the exact same thing as though he was the one who thought of it. "Rest assured, mon chéri, we'll be certain to hand it to him personally."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Marcel, Mr. Paddy!" Lilly said as her tail wagged furiously.

"Oui," Marcel continued, "we promise that we'll get it there no matter what. Even if it kills Paddy, that letter will end up in Papa Noel's hands."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lilly shouted before kissing Paddy on the cheek (Marcel being too high for her to reach). Paddy threw up his wings in front of him to protect himself, the natural response to the mouth of a large predator nearing him, but relaxed when he realized that she meant no ill-will.

He smiled and nodded as he took flight. "It will be good to get back to the North Pole. We haven't been there since 2006, if memory serves."

"It was 2007," Marcel said, taking flight as well. "But it was never the same since the ice-cap melted away. No room for a golf course, then."

"I hear they've remodeled since then," Paddy said. "Water-proofed the rooms and everything."

"Well, they'll certainly need it," Marcel said, "if they want my business again."

Lilly watched the two fowl fly off and disappear into the sky, carrying on their vigorous discussion all the while. She felt her heart grow warm as she turned to head back to her parents' den, to head back home.

As Lilly returned to the den, she was surprised by the sight she saw. Humphrey and Garth were currently working together to string up painted acorns on the walls. There were no arguments, no practical jokes, no witty barbs between them, just complete cooperation. If she didn't know better, she would have thought Humphrey and Garth were friends. Lilly was wondering what could have caused this Christmas miracle when Eve walked by, singing an old carol to herself.

"Deck the halls with Humphrey and Garth's skulls if they do anything to mess up our Christmas, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la."

"Oh, that's why," Lilly quietly said to herself.

Suddenly, however, Garth stopped what he was doing. He had picked up a familiar scent being carried into the den by the wind. He closed his eyes in disgust. "Edgar," he mouthed.

Sure enough, Edgar immediately burst into the den. "Hey, family, are we ready to get this Christmas party started?"

"Edgar, we are not your family," Garth said. "Why don't you go home to your real family?"

"I don't like any of them," Edgar said.

"You don't like us, either," Humphrey observed.

Edgar smiled in embarrassment. "Yeah, but… as long as I'm here, Sweets and Candy won't come after me!"

"Oh, Edgar, you're not in debt to them again, are you?" Garth said in exasperation.

"What can I say?" Edgar said. "I had a hot tip that didn't pay off. That's the last time I take bets on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir."

"So, now what, Sweets and Candy are going to try to break your legs again?" Humphrey asked.

"And my tail," Edgar said.

"Your tail?" Humphrey and Garth said together.

Edgar nodded. "They said that, since it's the holidays, they should offer a little something extra for their clients. See, that's why I like them. You wouldn't get that sort of generosity from most loan sharks."

Eve had now realized that a foreign element was disturbing her perfect Christmas scene. "Edgar, go home," she said, "or I'll be the one to break your legs and your tail right now… and your spine… and your ribs… and, well, you get the idea."

Edgar did indeed get the idea, but he decided it would be better to try winning over Eve than facing Sweets and Candy. To this end, he held out a platter he was carrying. "But… but I brought cookies!"

Eve took a cookie and examined it. On it was a picture of Garth and Lilly from their wedding. Eve also noticed that the same picture was on the platter.

"Edgar's parents make commemorative plates," Garth explained helpfully.

"And they baked the cookies, too," Edgar said. "I thought it would be the perfect gift since you're always saying how much you want to bite off Garth's head!"

Eve smiled as she took the platter. "How sweet! Now go home or die."

Edgar realized that maybe it would be better to take his chances with Sweets and Candy. He quickly ran off before Eve could decide to make him into Christmas dinner.

Kate had been here the whole time, but she hadn't really been paying attention to what was going on. Rather, Humphrey's words kept repeating over and over in her mind. "She's practically a pack leader. Don't you think it's time she learned the truth about Santa Claus?"

Kate knew that Lilly was going to have to take over the United Pack with Garth some day and she would need to act like a responsible and mature adult to do it. But Lilly had a lot of growing up to do. Kate knew that she would have her work cut out for her in getting her sister ready to be her partner in governing the pack. So maybe it was time that Lilly learned the truth about Santa Claus after all. Kate hated to do this to her, but it might be the only way to get her to grow up. It was necessary, for the good of the pack.

"Sis, can I talk to you?" Kate said, getting up and walking toward Lilly.

"Um, sure," Lilly said, sensing that something was up.

"Let's go for a walk," Kate said. "It's kinda something I need to tell you alone." She knew her parents would disapprove of her ruining Lilly's Christmas, so she decided it would be best to tell Lilly in private.

"Okay…" Lilly said, following her. She had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

What did Kate tell Lilly? And how did Lilly respond?

Read on.