Two wolf pups were sleeping in a medium-sized cave, the golden furred one curled around the gray one in a protective manner. The gray wolf shifted in his sleep and the gold-furred wolf stood up beside him.

She shook the gray wolf's shoulder, "Humphrey, wake up."

Humphrey slowly opened his eyes, "Mm, good morning, Kate." He stood up and stretched his legs.

"Good morning, Humphrey. Did you have a good nap?" Kate asked him.

Humphrey nodded, "Yeah, it feels good to relax in the middle of the day. Why are you here, though, is something wrong?"

Kate shook her head, "No, I just wanted to see if you wanted to play. I had a bad dream, so I couldn't get back to sleep."

Humphrey sat down, "What was the dream about? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but it helps to get it off your chest."

Kate suddenly gave Humphrey a hug and started to cry softly, "It was awful. You and dad just died right in front of me, and I couldn't do anything about it."

Humphrey patted her back as she cried into his shoulder, "It's okay, I'm still here. I know your dad is old, but he's not going anywhere for a long time." he pulled her away from him, "Let's go see your baby sister, I heard that she opened her eyes finally. Who knows, she might turn out to be an Alpha."

Kate stopped crying and nodded, 'Maybe Lily will become an Alpha. Then the crisis may be averted, but it will take some interference for it to work right.' Kate thought to herself. "I hope so." she said to Humphrey...

Humphrey and Kate padded into the Alpha den, seeing a snow-white wolf pup suckling at Eve's belly. Eve moved one of her front paws towards them, but Kate immediately took up a defensive stance in front of Humphrey.

Humphrey tried to look around Kate, "Hey, I can't see." he protested.

Eve gave her daughter an odd look, which was answered with a silent threat. "Well, have you come to see the newest Alpha?" Winston asked, walking up between Kate and Humphrey.

Humphrey nodded, "Yeah... I mean, yes sir. I heard that she finally opened her eyes this morning."

Winston laughed, "No need to be so formal, Humphrey. I certainly hope that she displays the traits of an Alpha, we need more of those in the pack."

Kate smiled at Humphrey, "Humphrey, let's go. I thought of an awesome game we could play." Humphrey's face brightened at the thought of games, and he followed Kate out of the den.

Eve lowered her voice as she spoke to Winston, "I think that Kate would make a fine Alpha. I was raising my paw to tell them to be quiet when they entered; but Kate stepped between Humphrey and I, she even barred her teeth at me."

Winston's eyes grew wide, "She must have taken that dream more seriously than I thought. She dreamed that Humphrey was bleeding out in front of her; apparently, I had already died in this particular dream. I think that she loves him, even if neither of them realize it yet. She couldn't protect him in her dream, so she feels as if she has to in the waking world." Winston sighed, "What about that deal I made with Tony? If Lily doesn't have what it takes to be an Alpha, Kate will have to marry his son."

Eve gave him one of her trademark creepy smiles, "Don't let Kate hear you say that, she'll rip the fur off your body and use it to line her nest."

Winston gave a nervous chuckle, "I know, she would not be happy with me if I told her she might have to get married to somebody she doesn't even know. If Humphrey ever has feelings for her, I would hate to be the one to decide whether or not she had to marry Garth or not. If I made the wrong decision, I would have the eternal hatred of at least two wolves."...

Kate led Humphrey to the highest point in the territory, except for Howling Rock, and instructed him to get a large piece of bark. She positioned the bark so that it would fall off of the rock they were standing on and got in, "Come on, Humphrey. This is going to be fun, get in."

Humphrey warily sat down in the log, and Kate pushed them off the rock and down the hill. Humphrey screamed in terror the whole way down, Kate, however, was laughing the entire way. Kate turned the log left and right to avoid trees and rocks in their path, but when she saw a huge rock in their path, she grabbed Humphrey and pulled him into a tight hug.

The log hit the rock and shattered, sending Kate and Humphrey flying through the air. They landed with Kate underneath Humphrey. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his nose was touching Kate's. He quickly got off of her in embarrassment, "Wow, Kate, that was fun."

Kate stood up beside him, "Did you think I was lying to you?" she asked.

"No, but I would have sworn you were crazy, we could have died up there."

Kate silenced Humphrey by putting her tail over his mouth, "I wouldn't have let you get hurt," she said, "I won't ever let anything hurt you, Humphrey. That's a promise." Kate nuzzled Humphrey's shoulder as she spoke.

Humphrey blushed, but he didn't know why. 'What is this weird feeling?' he thought to himself.

Kate nudged him out of his thoughts, "Come on, it's time to go back."...

When Kate and Humphrey got back to the Alpha den, Eve and Winston were speaking in low voices. "Mom, dad, I'm back." Kate called.

Immediately the talking ceased, Winston turned to Humphrey, "Thank you for escorting her home, but we need to have a family meeting."

"Oh, okay. Bye, Kate, see you in the morning." Humphrey called as he went back to his den.

After Humphrey had left, Kate turned to her parents, "So, what's going on?"

Winston took a deep breath, "The Eastern Pack is running out of food. Tony, their pack-leader wants us to unite the East and the West, but to do that, we need a marriage between one of my daughters and his son."

Kate responded quickly and adamantly, "I won't do it. There is only one wolf I will ever think about marrying, and it is not that Easterner, Garth. Lily will have to go to Alpha school, because I will not leave Humphrey alone again."

Eve looked at Kate oddly, "What do you mean again? How did you know about Garth, we never said his name around you."

Kate knew that she was caught, "It is a very long story. To give you the shortened version, I have already lived the life of an Alpha. I sacrificed my life to protect dad and Tony from a stampede of caribou. I was resurrected by the Alpha's warrior spirit so that I could live with my mate again, but in the end, I had to watch him bleed to death while I was giving birth to his pups. I will never go back to the life of an Alpha, I sacrificed too much just to sacrifice again."

Kate sat down, finished with her story when they heard a voice say "What?"

Humphrey ran back into the den and skidded to a halt beside Kate. "I can't believe you!" he yelled at Winston and Eve, "You would force your daughter to marry someone when she just told you she is in love with somebody else? That's the lowest thing I've ever heard of."

Eve stared straight into Humphrey's eyes, "Were you eavesdropping on our family conversation?" she asked in a voice that promised pain.

Humphrey just glared at her, "Yeah, I was. A good thing I was, too. I can't believe that after the story she just told you," Humphrey looked at Kate, "which was very beautiful, you'll have to give me the details later." He turned back towards her parents, "You would still force her down a path she doesn't want to take!"

Kate rested a paw on his shoulder, "Calm down, Humphrey. I would never marry Garth, as I said, there is only one wolf for me."

Humphrey seemed to relax a little, "Oh yeah, that reminds me, who is that wolf you love? I'd really like to meet him."

Kate's jaw dropped at this statement, Winston slapped a paw to his forehead, and Eve began to giggle girlishly. "Humphrey, honey, you already know who it is." Eve told him, "You've known him since the day you were born."

Humphrey thought about it for a second, "Oh, you mean Hutch! No, that can't be right. He's an Alpha, and Kate's an Omega, that's against the rules." He began to scratch his head, "Don't tell me, I know this one."

Kate stood there for almost five minutes as Humphrey named off every male in the pack, disregarding them for different reasons. "Okay, Humphrey, are there any more wolves in the pack?" she asked.

"Not that I can think of, just your dad and I." Kate waved her paw in little circles, urging him to get the point. Humphrey's eyes widened, he looked at Winston and back at Kate, "Oh, that's just nasty!" he exclaimed, "Kate, are you serious, your dad?"

Kate slapped her paw to her forehead, "No, Humphrey, it's not my dad. Who else is there?"

Humphrey looked slightly annoyed, "I already told you, just me and your dad. Oh, I get it now. You're in love with a lone wolf!"

Kate was so annoyed by Humphrey's thickness, she was ready to slap him, "No, Humphrey, I'm not in love with a lone wolf. There is only one wolf left on the list, what is that wolf's name?"

Humphrey took a step back as realization hit him, "What, me? Seriously, you're in love with me?" he began to back away from Kate like she was going to hit him.

"Humphrey, come back." Kate said, "There's nothing to be afraid of. I love you, Humphrey."

Humphrey stopped dead in his tracks, his best friend had just told him that she was in love with him. He looked back and forth between Kate and her parents, confusion raging through his mind. 'Kate is in love with me? I know that we're best friends, but I never thought about her in that kind of a way. Come to think of it, I really like her, but...'

Kate pushed Humphrey's shoulder with her paw, "Are you okay?" she asked.

Humphrey jolted back to awareness, "Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I think I'll go take a nap now." He stretched, acting if the conversation never happened. He turned to walk back to his den, but as soon as he got out of the Alpha den, he collapsed.