Second Thoughts

Garth was many things. He was a red wolf. He was a member of the eastern wolf pack of Jasper Park. He was the son of Tony, the alpha male of the eastern pack. And he was himself a fully trained alpha. But at the moment, the thing he was most was conflicted.

His father and Winston, head of the western pack, had arranged for Winston's daughter, Kate, to marry Garth, uniting the two packs. Garth wasn't exactly pleased at the fact of marrying something he hadn't even met, but as an alpha, his duty was to ensure the wellbeing of the pack, so he grudgingly went along with it. Meeting Kate at the moonlight howl, he was pleasantly surprised to see how cute and friendly she was. But then, halfway through their date, she went to get a drink, and never came back.

The next day, when both packs were baying at each other, blaming the other for Kate's disappearance. Winston's other daughter Lilly, an omega Garth had briefly met the night before, offered to show him around, while everyone else tried to find Kate. Again, Garth only went along reluctantly, but he quickly found out that Lilly was a fun wolf to be around; Her turtle impressions made him laugh, so he returned the favor by trying to teach her some of his alpha moves. Her first try didn't work out, so Garth decided to help by pushing the fur out of her eyes.

And that was he when saw them: The most beautiful eyes he had ever seen in his life. Vibrant purple, like orchids, and warm as a summer's day. His heart pounded in his chest, and his head felt warm and fuzzy. He was just barely able to pull himself together enough to ask Lilly to try the move again.

As the day wore on, Garth's feelings for Lilly grew stronger. She wasn't just funny, but sweet and caring. Before long, Garth realised he was falling in love with her.

'But that's crazy!' he thought. 'I'm an alpha, and she's an omega. It's against pack law! Besides, I'm supposed to marry Kate.'

His head tried to remember his obligations, but his heart betrayed him; He started to imagine himself marrying Lilly instead.

'Who am I kidding?' bemoaned Garth, shaking the vision from his mind's eye. 'For the sake of both packs, I HAVE to marry Kate. If she ever comes back, that is...'

Lilly then bounded up to him, having successfully pulled off one of his alpha tricks.

"How was that?" she asked excitedly, her eyes twinkling.

"Great." Garth replied, fighting the urge to gaze deeply into her shining irises. "I knew you could get the hang of it, with the right teacher, of course."

"Got that right." Lilly grinned. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Well..." winced Garth.

"Well, what?" Lilly pressed.

"My howl." Garth couldn't believe he had just that.

"Your howl?" Lilly repeated.

"Yeah." sighed Garth. "It's terrible." Garth knew full well how awful his howl was, but pretended not to, hiding the truth behind bluster and posturing. He secretly feared that it was his dreadful howling that had driven Kate off.

"Well, I'm sure it's not that bad." said Lilly. "Maybe I can help make it better."

"You really think so?" Garth asked hopefully.

"Why not?" Lilly declared. "If you can teach me some alpha tricks, I can teach you how to howl."

The sun slowly started to set in the distance.

"Come on." Lilly beckoned with her nose. "We'll go to Howling Rock and practise."

Lilly made her way to the rock, and Garth followed.

'If she can really make my howl better, then that'll be it.' Garth decided. 'Marriage or no marriage, pack law or no pack law, I will love her forever, and I won't care who knows it.'

The End

(Alpha and Omega and all associated characters are the property of Lionsgate)