3. The Flower
Kala waited impatiently for the rest of the wolves to awake. It was so boring when everyone was sleeping! She had always been an early riser and couldn't stand to sit around waiting for the rest of the pack to wake up. When she had been escorted back to Garth and Lily, she had asked Scourge if he'd play with her. Unfortunately, he denied her request and sent her back, leaving silently. She tried to fall asleep, but her excess of energy always prevented her from doing so.
She tossed and turned, groaning as she waited for someone to wake up and play with her. She wouldn't even care if Firetail wanted to join her in play; she needed away to put her energy to use. She laid her head down her paws and closed her eyes. She let her mind run free and she imagined what her parents may have looked like. She knew that her mother was a beautiful, tawny-furred she-wolf with white chest and belly fur and amber eyes. She had a howl that could stop a wolf's heart from the pure beauty of the sound, and a smile that could send chills down the spine of any wolf that looked at her.
The description of her father, however, was significantly vaguer than that of her mother. All that Kala had been told was that he was a light-hearted, grey-furred Omega. When Kala had discovered what the difference was between an Alpha and Omega, she was dumbfounded. After all, what were the chances that the two wolves would ever become mates? It surprised her just as much when she discovered that it was a very similar case with Lily and Garth.
Aside from that, however, she knew nothing of her father. No one would tell her anything about him for some reason and she didn't understand why. She began to wonder if he had done something that made the rest of the pack hate him. Was he, perhaps, a bad wolf? No, no he couldn't be a bad wolf! She shook her head, ashamed that she had even considered the possibility that her father could be bad. Still, the thought lingered in her mind like a dark cloud over her conscience. She began to feel tired and let herself slip into a deep state of dreaming…
She was standing beside a river, the bright sunlight shining off of the small waves lapping peacefully on the small shoreline of sand.
Kala began to walk along the shoreline, looking around at her mysterious surroundings. She had never been to this place before. An expansive number of trees stretched out beyond her she assumed that this was what was called a 'forest.' She grinned in excitement and dashed forward, sprinting with all her might into the trees. She leapt gleefully into the forest, smiling ruefully. She padded through the forest, trying to pick up a scent. This, however, was a dream; scents, sights, tastes, and feels were all probably much different than that of a real forest. She walked forward aimlessly, exploring the vast expanse of forest. Every rock, plant, tree, root, river, stream, and pond varied as she walked about. She loved the forest with all of her being, her heart beating heavily against her chest. She felt as though she would burst with excitement and joy just by being in the forest despite that it was nothing more than a dream.
She padded into a small clearing and looked around. Sunlight streamed through the light foliage cover above, illuminating the area around her. She looked down and saw sever beautiful, violet flowers growing from a small part of the ground. She smiled at them and picked one, placing it in her fur just behind her right ear. She smiled, wondering if she looked pretty or not.
Suddenly, a young pup crashed through the bracken in front of her. Kala hid in the bushes behind her as she watched the newcomer in her dream. She was at least one moon younger than she was with a glorious, tawny pelt with a white chest and belly. Beautiful amber eyes glimmered and she wore a mischievous grin on her face as though she had done something that she knew she should not have. Kala watched the young pup with interest as she sat down in the clearing, relishing in the heat of the sun as it warmed her fluffy pelt. Kala stepped out and approached the pup, but then took a nervous step back. What if this she-pup was not friendly?
Then, she heard a sound from her right. Both of them looked to see a young grey-furred pup with blue eyes step out of the forest. The two pups that Kala did not know seemed to be very surprised to see each other. The grey's eyes widened and his guard hairs stood on end in fear. The tawny she-pup smiled in glee and approached the young grey.
"Hi!" The tawny pup greeted. The grey pup hid further, causing the tawny pup to frown. She smiled and perked up her ears. "I'm Kate! What's your name?" He crawled forward a bit, allowing her to see the pup's face.
"I-I," the pup stuttered. "I'm H-Humphrey."
"Hi, Hahumphrey!" She exclaimed.
"No, it's just Humphrey," he corrected her. She was surprised to hear that she got his name wrong. She could have sworn that he said Hahumphrey!
"Oh, sorry!" She apologized. "Hi, Just Humphrey!" He gave her a quizzical look and slowly came out.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"Oh, I know that one!" Kate said joyfully. "You're in Jasper Park, Canada! But you can also call it Canada, Jasper Park! Or you can call it Jasper Canada Park, or Park Canada Jasper, or Park Jasper Canada, or you can have a lot of fun a say it backwards! Do you know what it is backwards?" He shook his head. "I do! It's Krap Adanac Repsaj!"
Humphrey's face contorted and he rolled on the ground laughing. Kate joined in and laughed along with him. After its convulsing laughter subsided, it stood up and looked at her.
"You're funny!" He said.
"You are, too!" She countered. "What are you anyway? You're a weird looking pup!"
"I'm a wolf!" Humphrey exclaimed. She shook her head.
"No! I know that part! I'm a she-wolf! But what are you? You don't look like my mom or sister; you look more like my dad!"
"Oh, I'm a boy," he explained. Now she understood. When he said that, she became very wary of him. Her mother always told her, 'Stay away from boys! They're nothing but trouble!' Was she going to get in trouble for being around him? He didn't seem bad!
"Where are your parents?" She asked. "Pups can't be out unless they're three moons old!"
"I'm almost three moons," Humphrey told her. "I'm two and a half!" Kate was astounded to hear that he was older than her. He was almost allowed to leave his parents' den without their supervision! She wasn't even allowed to with her parents!
The two heard a crack behind Humphrey. He turned around and Kate caught a brief glimpse of a large wolf standing over them.
Kala awoke to see Garth, Lily, and Firetail gone. For once, however, she was not interested in getting up. She always loved to have dreams; she adored the feeling of being in another place in her sleep, to have the ability to let her mind adventure and burst with excitement just as much as she did in reality. Sometimes, she felt as though the dream world was preferable compared to the real world. This, however, was far different from any other dream.
She had never seen that place before, nor had she seen those pups before. Yet…the names sounded so familiar. She couldn't place her paw on it, but she knew that she had heard their names from someone or somewhere. Then, it finally hit her: Kate was her mother's name and Humphrey was the Pack Leader! She had had a dream about the two of them when they were pups! She wondered if it was an actual event or something her mind had created on its own accord.
A new question entered her mind: had her Leader Wolf known her mother? She had never come across the thought of it before, but she always felt as though Humphrey knew something that the rest of the pack refused to tell her. Perhaps she could ask him about her father and where he was! She smiled at the thought and padded into the clearing with the rest of the wolves. Lily was lying on a rock, basking in the sun as it shone off of her beautiful, luxurious white fur pelt. Kala loved the pretty look it gave Lily. It was just so…so pretty! She smiled and approached her aunt.
"Aunt Lily!" Kala yipped. Lily made no response, Kala frowning. "Aunt Lily, wake up!" Lily brushed her fur over her eyes and continued to sleep. Her tail, however, moved slightly. Kala grinned and pounced on it, playing with her tail. Lily groaned and Kala leapt forward, meeting Lily nose-to-nose. Lily brushed away the fur, looking at Kala through her beautiful violet eyes.
"What is it, Kala?" She asked, forcing a friendly-yet still clearly annoyed-smile.
"Where's Uncle Garth and Firetail?" Kala asked her curiously.
"Your Uncle took Firetail out to practice hunting tactics," she replied. Kala frowned in despair.
"They went without me?" She cried.
"You're too young to be learning hunting tactics, Kala," Lily replied, sitting up. "Your time will come soon enough."
"Okay," she sighed miserably. She looked down at the ground pitifully and Lily cocked her head to the side, noticing something different about her.
"Where did you find that flower?" She inquired. Kala looked up at her aunt in confusion. She scratched at her fur and found a violet flower over her ear. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the flower. How in the world had it gotten there? That was just in a dream that she had had; not real life!
"Ah, well," Kala stammered. "I, uh, I just found it and wanted to see how it looked. Sorry, Aunt Lily, I didn't mean to get in trouble." Lily smiled, amused.
"I think it makes you look absolutely beautiful, Kala," Lily complimented. "I really like it! Did you know that your mother used to do that exact same thing with a violet flower just like that?"
"Really?" Kala asked.
"Really," Lily replied. "She looked amazing on her own, but the flower truly added a nice touch to her appearance." Kala smiled, happy to look like her mother in a way. Suddenly, she heard a howl come from the rocky rise in the center of the Small Grounds. Lily beckoned Kala and they gathered in the heart of the Small Grounds. The other thirteen wolves appeared, Humphrey and Scourge standing atop a rocky rise.
They looked up at the Leader Wolf expectantly, Humphrey looking out over them. His gaze swept over all of the wolves, but he avoided Kala's eyes. Her eyes flattened and she looked away in sadness; despite what Scourge had said, she knew that Humphrey didn't like her. Whatever she had done, it must have been really bad. Her own Leader Wolf hated her and she still did not know why. What did she do wrong?
"I've been looking around the grasslands," Humphrey spoke. His voice was cold, somewhat flat, yet still contained the strong, masculine nature of a male wolf. "The prey is beginning to leave. The ash is blowing in to the plains and poisoning their food. They've moved north to find new food and shelter. Ever since we left, we had planned on moving as far north as we could in search of the Pack of the Winter Mountains, but we've held back so we could regain our strength and wait for the pups to grow older. We've allowed that to happen and winter will be approaching soon. We can't live in the Small Grounds forever; we have to go find shelter in the mountain pass."
"How long will it take us to get there?" Asked a white-furred wolf; his name was Dmitri.
"If we keep a good pace," Humphrey replied. "We should reach the mountain pass within a week or two."
"When do we leave?" Winston rasped.
"Within the hour," Humphrey replied. The wolves nodded in understanding, none of them arguing with that. They were unflinchingly loyal to Humphrey and would follow his orders without question. "Gather any belongings you have and eat whatever you can take. We leave soon." The wolves dispersed wordlessly.
As they left, Kala caught Humphrey's eye. His gaze hardened as he saw her amber eyes and the violet flower in her fur. He glared at her intently, his eyes boring into her. She returned the gaze, flashing him an innocent, small smile. He turned away immediately and stalked away. Kala turned away and followed Garth, Lily, and Firetail. Humphrey was, indeed, a very troubled wolf.
**A/N: There you have it everyone! Short chapter, I know, but even the short chapters have significant events going on! So Kala saw how Humphrey and Kate met yet still has not made the connection between the two. Humphrey is being haunted and they have decided to move north to the mountain pass like they had originally intended. Several people have said that without Kate, the interest in this story won't be as high. Let me just say this: Kate won't be absent from this story, not exactly. I won't go into detail with how Kate will be implemented but at certain points of the story, she will. They will be there, but not very much.**
**Also, Dawn Walker Wolf pointed out my last chapter sounded a bit like his Dead Space/Alpha and Omega Crossover story, Dead Wolf. I hadn't read that story before and went to go check it out and did see some similarities in it. This will not, however, change how the story goes. Anything that happens between this story and any others is purely coincidental; I intend for this to be a fully original story and I don't want to take anything from any other story. Ideas pour out of my head all the time and just go right out onto the paper, so if I accidentally write anything that seems like it's a copy from another story, I don't mean to be doing so. Thanks to chiefdaniel117, the dark shadow, LoyalWolfHumphrey, the silver wolf, imjustlikehumphrey, Dawn Walker Wolf, and Alexander for reviewing my last chapter! Until next time!**
**-The Dishonored Wolf**