Chapter 3, out already? I am on a roll!
A herd of terrified caribou stampeded through the valley, raising dust in all directions. Out of the dust darted the figure of Kate, bouncing and flipping off of any available high point in order to keep the caribou running and afraid. Normally, Kate would not have been so flashy, but she had an audience to impress this time.
She had specifically refused to use Hutch and Can-do to help her, just so she'd have an excuse to show off her moves…
As Kate made a particularly high and impressive flip, high enough that she nearly eclipsed the sun, Humphrey smiled in admiration. He, Lilly, and Benny were sitting on a nearby hill and watching. Lilly even managed to shake off enough of her shyness to clap and show pride for her sister. Benny tapped his paws and looked around impatiently, as though he was thinking of all the other things he could be doing.
Just as the caribou came to a small part of the pass, a number of heavy logs flew into their pat, blocking it completely. Atop the logs leapt Garth, smiling proudly as he puffed out his chest. On the hill, Lilly leaned her head against Humphrey's shoulder in dreamy admiration for her own mate. Humphrey wasn't sure he was thrilled by this, but he decided it was better to let Lilly do it than hurt her feelings. Benny yawned in boredom.
The caribou were now trapped between Garth's wall and the speeding bullet that was Kate. They're only chance was to try to leap over the logs. But this was just what the Alphas had wanted. As Garth leapt up and snagged one in the chest, Kate came down on its back. After that one was immobilized, they wasted no time in taking down a few more. Once they had finished, it was clear that the pack would have a good supper.
Benny meanwhile had become somewhat distracted in his attempt to remove a long strand of grass which had gotten stuck under one of his claws. It was obvious that he considered this the more interesting activity.
Kate and Garth stood proudly over their kills and smiled to one another. They were sure this combination of their best moves would be enough to impress their guest. They walked over together.
"How's that for hunting? I bet they don't have moves like that in the frozen north!" Garth said, sure that he had proven the superiority of his pack.
"I've seen better," Benny responded without looking up from his claws.
"Let me guess," Humphrey said. "It wouldn't happen to be a pack in the Yukon, would it?"
"As a matter of fact, it would."
Humphrey laughed. "Gee, I must be psychic!"
Benny ignored him. "The Yukon Pack could have wiped out that whole herd without breaking a sweat! You only got seven caribou – big deal!"
This made Kate angrier than ever. "Listen, you little toad of a wolf, we could have killed that whole herd easily! But we didn't because we actually need to conserve our supply so that, you know, we don't starve!"
"The Yukon Pack doesn't need to worry about starving," Benny said. "They have billions of caribou that just lie down to be killed."
"Billions, there can't be billions!" Kate said. "There isn't anything near that number of caribou in Canada!"
"Kate, Kate, Kate," Humphrey said, "don't let it bother you. I mean, who really cares how many caribou they have?"
"Better listen to your mate," Benny said. "It's pointless to even count the number of things the Yukon Pack can do better. You can't match them in anything! Especially not when you can't do anything but some lame flips…"
Kate let out a yell and pounced at Benny. Nobody insulted the moves she worked hard every day to perfect. She was only held back by a combination of Garth and Humphrey, and then only barely. She definitely had her mother's strength when in a rage.
"Kate, remember our laws!" Garth said. "We can't go around mauling strangers we've placed under our protection! We'd be throwing away our honor!"
Kate realized that Garth was right. This was one time when she couldn't let her emotions get the better of her. It would reflect badly on the whole pack. This managed to calm Kate down, mostly. She decided to walk away before Benny could say anything that would cause her to lose her cool again.
Benny chuckled. "Well, I guess the Alphas can't do anything right. I could almost believe the Omegas would do better!"
"Well, I am pretty good at log-sliding, if I do say so myself," Humphrey said. "Just get me and Salty, Shakey, and Mooch together, and there ain't no one who can outrace us!"
Benny rolled his eyes. "How nice! Except… the Yukon Pack could. They're log sports are ten times more awesome. And you, what do you do?" He was talking to, or more like yelling at, Lilly.
Lilly quickly ran behind Humphrey. "I just do turtles," she said quietly.
Benny stared at the part of her still visible. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," he said.
Garth stepped forward. Humphrey realized that he must be upset about how Benny was talking to Lilly and that he looked like he was about to forget everything he had just told Kate. Humphrey knew he had to act fast to avoid an incident. So he jumped in between Garth and Benny, trying to think up a joke to defuse the situation. However, he had to admit that even he was at a loss for words this time.
And then, out of nowhere, he was saved. Saved by a loud, piercing scream.
Garth closed his eyes in exasperation. "Edgar…" he muttered.
Sure enough, Edgar came running down one of the ridges and toward the valley floor. Behind him pursued Claw and Scar, both grinning mercilessly, anticipating the imminent destruction of their prey. After arguing for some time, the Alphas and Omegas had decided to take the King Solomon interpretation of Lilly's suggestion and divide Edgar himself in two. They figured he'd have to be a lot less annoying that way.
Even Lilly walked out from behind Humphrey, trying to see what was going on. Humphrey took the opportunity, while Garth was distracted, to pull him away from Benny and to try to get him to calm down. Meanwhile, Edgar ran up to where Lilly and Benny where still sitting.
"Miss Lilly! And small gray wolf I've never seen before! Save me!" Edgar pleaded. "They're trying to kill me!"
And he quickly scurried behind Lilly's back, hiding his face in her white mane.
Claw and Scar came to a dead halt in front of Lilly. Naturally, the little Omega was surprised by all of this, but she did her best to maintain her composure and sort out the situation. She smiled at the two impatient Betas.
"Claw, Scar, were you two trying to kill Edgar?" Lilly asked in a sweet voice.
Claw shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no…."
"Yeah, a little," Scar volunteered. Claw promptly elbowed him.
"Claw, Scar, you two know that you aren't supposed to be killing other pack members," Lilly said. "It's not nice."
"Hey, he probably still wouldn't have shut up if we did get to tear him in half!" Scar said. Claw once again elbowed him. She quickly shushed him and nodded to Lilly.
"Now I want you two to come up with a nicer way of dividing Edgar," Lilly continued. Meanwhile, Edgar was busy peeking out through the strands of her mane to see how they'd respond.
"We could knock him out with a rock first!" Claw said with a smile. Edgar yelped and proceeded to try and hide himself under Lilly's tail.
Lilly shook her head. "No, I mean, dividing his time… without killing him! I want you two to figure out something with the Omegas without killing Edgar. Is that understood?"
Claw and Scar looked at each other and then nodded. "Yes, Miss Lilly," they glumly said together. And then they slowly sulked away.
Edgar, realizing it was safe, came out from behind Lilly's back. "Um, if it's okay," he said. "I'm gonna hang out with you guys for a while."
Kate, Humphrey, and Garth were watching this in awe as they walked over.
"Wow," Garth said, "Lilly's getting the hang of leadership quicker than I thought!"
"I've seen better," Benny remarked rudely. Hurt by the insult, Lilly hid her face and quickly backed away. "If the Yukon Pack had a problem like that they'd– ahhh!"
Benny fell to the ground, having just received a fist from Edgar.
"Edgar, what are you doing?" Humphrey said, horrified that all his hard work keeping the peace had just gone down the drain.
"What?" Edgar said, apparently not realizing what he'd done. Then he looked down at the small wolf. "Oh, I did it again, didn't I? I always punch out wolves I don't know when I'm nervous."
"Kate, Garth, do something!" Humphrey said, hoping that they would restore order.
Kate and Garth, however, did nothing.
"I know I should be mad about pack law being so flagrantly broken," Kate said, "but the only thing I'm upset about is that I didn't get to do it myself.
"It was surprisingly cathartic," Garth said. "Edgar, remind me to consider promoting you back to Beta."
Humphrey, as a last resort, turned to Lilly, hoping that here he'd still have an ally. Unfortunately, Lilly had taken the opportunity to leave before she could be insulted again and was now chasing after a butterfly on another hill. Humphrey was once again outnumbered.
"You lunatics!" Benny yelled as he got up. "You broke my nose! You broke my– efh!"
Benny fell back down. Edgar stood over him, his fist out once more.
"Edgar!" Humphrey said in a sterner tone than he had probably ever used in his life.
"What?" Edgar said. Then he realized what he had done. "Oh, oops! The nerves are really jumpy today!"
Benny now quickly crawled away. "You wolves are sick! Here, I come into your valley, just seeking a little friendship and maybe a place to stay for a few days. And then, for no reason at all, you break my nose! If that's the way you're gonna be, I'm leaving before you have a chance to do any more damage! And don't think the other packs won't hear about this!"
Benny quickly got up and ran off without taking a look back. He continued to complain, however.
"Oh, shut up!" Garth yelled. "Our pack is number one and if you don't like it, we're glad you and your broken nose are going elsewhere!"
"And don't bother ever coming back!" Kate added. "We won't be in such a charitable mood next time!"
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out, I guess?" Humphrey said. He was now truly at a loss for words.
Nobody heard anything more from Benny and, within an hour, he was out of the valley completely.
"Well, I guess that takes care of that, and good riddance, right?" Humphrey said as he and Lilly walked behind their mates. Kate and Garth were leading the way back to their dens and both of them were still in a very dark mood.
"I mean, I guess we showed him, right?" Humphrey said again, trying to cheer them up. "Right, guys?"
"Shut up, Humphrey," Kate snapped.
Far in the north, several days later – in a journey that should have taken weeks if not months – Benny had just managed to reach a cave in the side of a large mountain. He was panting heavily, having given himself barely any rest since leaving Jasper and having just run all the way up the mountainside.
But before he could catch his breath, he heard a voice from within say, "Enter!"
He dared not disobey. When he entered, he saw four large wolves standing around the sides of the cave, motionless as guards at Buckingham Palace. In the center of the cave was a large stone. Sitting atop that stone was a golden wolf, hidden mostly in the shadows. In his paws was a long wooden rod. Tied to the end of that was an incredibly large diamond… with an incredibly sharp point.
"Bow down!" the mysterious figure commanded.
"If… if… I could just… just catch my breath… my breath first…" Benny said.
The figure made a gesture to one of the wolves with his paw. The wolf bounded over and slammed Benny to the ground.
"When I say bow, you bow!" the seated figure barked. "Now, tell me, how did Kate and her little friends respond to your visit?"
"It worked just like you said it would," Benny said from the ground. "Kate and the others were so offended that they ended up breaking my nose!"
The figure laughed. "Excellent! I couldn't have hoped for better! She's playing right into my paws. Now it's time for the next part of my plan to unfold!"
Benny looked to the left of the large stone. There, in a piece of large tree-bark, was painted a portrait of Kate. It was so well-done that it looked just like her in every way. It was so lifelike that Benny had been able to recognize her on sight.
The figure, meanwhile, continued speaking as he waved his staff around menacingly. "Finally, Kate shall pay for what she did to me! I shall be avenged for everything that she did! She shall pay for it all… with her life!"
With that, the figure took the staff and threw it like a javelin straight at the portrait of Kate. The rod sailed into its target, the diamond point embedding itself directly into her forehead.
Who is this mysterious figure and what are his plans for Kate?
Read on.
