Their voices blended harmoniously in such a way that made the heavens weep and put angels to shame so beautiful was the song that the pair sung. It was truly a remarkable spectacle- an alpha and an omega, two polar opposites, forbidden from love since the beginning of time, howling together to the moon that they had shared separately for so long. The pair's voices rose to a zenith, Kate hitting a high note which blended perfectly with the low pitch that Humphrey sung in a chord which would eventually fade out and finally bring their song to a close.
As the last notes reached a decrescendo and finally faded out completely, the two opened their eyes and turned to face each other, Humphrey gazing upon Kate with a huge smile spread across his face.
"See?" he asked her enticingly, "that wasn't so bad now was it?"
Kate did not know what to say, for she could not believe what had just occurred. In the heat of the moment following their near miss with a group of ravenous bears, she turned her nose to the sky and howled alongside an omega, something that she swore she would never do, for law strictly forebode such actions.
But despite the rationalist controlling her mind which told her that she was a disgrace to all of wolfkind for what she had just done, there was a flutter coming from whatever controlled her heart the likes of which she had felt only one other time before, when Humphrey comforted her the previous night. She did not know how to explain what she was feeling and it almost made her sick, only this sickness was not of disgust, or revulsion, but of a certain sensation that she felt in the deepest depths of her stomach, almost as though she had a million butterflies beating about inside of it. What could this all mean? Why is it that she felt this way? What was wrong with her?
She pondered these thoughts thoroughly, drawing up a number of potential answers as to why, but the one that stuck out to her the most was also the one that she had most dreaded.
Was it possible that she had fallen for him?
All of these thoughts she had constructed and sorted out in a matter of only a few seconds and she focused intently upon Humphrey, finding that as her eyes met his, the fluttering in her heart and in her stomach intensified.
"No," she answered softy, slowly for she was still in the process of trying to make sense out of all of this, "it was... actually... pretty amazing."
Humphrey's smile broadened and he felt his heart begin to flutter as well, something that he felt any time Kate's name was even spoken and became nearly unbearable every time he was in her presence.
"You really think so?" he asked her with excitement, the tip of his tail beating back and forth behind his body.
Kate, however, could not return such emotions of elation, for she was still laced in confusion and denial.
No, it was not possible that she had fallen in love with him, she tried to reason in her head, she was just... shaken up a bit, nervous because she had just broken another of the Sacred Laws, making that two violations in a matter of forty-eight hours. She just needed a minute to settle herself was all; a quick breather and she would be right as rain.
But then... why was it that she could not look upon him without feeling the peculiar sensation she felt grow stronger?
"Yes," she replied, though distantly.
Humphrey picked up on this and began to feel a weight settle upon him, almost making him regret having talked her into howling with him.
"Is everything okay?" he asked her hesitantly, for he feared her response.
"Huh?" Kate asked, for she had once again drifted away into the recessions of her mind, and lifted her head to him, but once his question registered, she nodded, "oh yeah," she replied quickly then slowed herself down, "I'm just a little bit tired is all," she lied, "bit of a long day, ya know?"
"Yeah," Humphrey replied, doing his best to conceal his cognizance of her lie, "it certainly was, that." he paused and looked down at his paws for a moment then lifted his eyes to Kate once again, "if- if you need to take a short nap, feel free," he told her, "I'll keep an eye on things for you and wake you up when we get to Jasper."
"You sure?" Kate asked him, "I mean, aren't you tired too?"
"Nah," Humphrey replied with an exaggerated sideways roll of his head, "are you kidding? My blood is still pumping from escaping those bears, how could I possibly sleep?"
Kate could tell that he was hiding something, but dared not press the envelope any further and allowed a false smile to form upon her lips.
"Alright," she said to him, "guess I'll be seeing you in a bit."
She rose to her paws and moved until she was near the stacks of hay against the wall of the train then began to lay herself down.
"Goodnight," she said to him as she laid her head down and closed her eyes.
"Goodnight," Humphrey replied, and once he was certain that her eyes had closed, he allowed his smile to slowly fade from his face and promptly replaced it with a look of distain.
His eyes remained fixed upon Kate for a matter of about three minutes and then he allowed them to move away, but even though his eyes were no longer on her, she remained on his mind, and as he turned away from her, taking his seat near the opened side of the train car, he allowed a sigh to pass over his lips as he watched the landscape roll steadily past.
Though Kate lay perfectly still on the floor, sleep eluded her, for her thoughts were far too loud to ignore or silence, and it seemed that the harder she tried to force them away, the louder they screamed. She took in a deep breath, and released it quickly, expressing her discomfort, and this breath caught Humphrey's ear, causing him to turn to her, but he did not speak, for he did not wish to disturb her further. His eyes remained fixed upon her for a moment and then he turned away from her.
For the better part of an hour he sat motionless before the opening of the train car, watching the land as it steadily rolled by, but it all seemed to pass by as spirits pass through the night, and then finally he laid himself down, though sleep would not come for another half hour or so and was even then achieved accidentally. He found, however, that sleep did not allow him to escape his inner turmoil, for as soon as he slipped into the third stage of sleep, his dreams were of Kate and of the beautiful moment that they shared earlier that evening. The scene seemed to play on a loop through his mind. He could remember everything, every note, every sweet imperfection that still blended so perfectly with the other, every single smile the two shared as they sang their song to the moon that seemed to smile upon them from above. It was almost as an ordinance, or at least that was how he saw it, and this in turn brought pressing questions to mind.
Should he be forward with Kate about how he felt about her, or should he simply remain quiet and hope for the best, because, after all, he had not a clue as to if she even felt the same way about him.
But then again, the scene came back to mind and he was quick thereafter to make his decision, for he could not bring himself to believe that there was any other way she could feel. After all, she howled at the moon with him.
"Just do it," he told himself as he slept, "she howled at the moon with you..."