(Author's Note) Before I start this, I'd just like to say thanks to all the readers supporting my stories. The reviews that I receive are what keeps me writing. So, thanks to those of you that leave positive reviews. I am glad to say that I have never received a negative review and hope that I never will. Without further ado, here's Chapter Six...

Chapter Six: Two Options

I was running through a forest. I have no idea why I am running, but something was telling me not to stop; so I continued with my running. And for once in a long while, Lilly was not with me. I guess that was why I was feeling worried at this moment. If Lilly was not around me, where was she? If something had happened to Lilly, I do not know how I could live with myself... If something happened to her, I would be breaking a promise to Kate. That was the one thing I would never do.

I could hear twigs snapping, along with my fast breathing, with every step that I took. Those two sounds were not the only things I heard. As I ran, I heard growling. Then, I heard Lilly's voice scream, "Help!"

I yelled for Lilly to hold on. My body was able to gather energy to start sprinting even faster. The next thing I heard made me more worried than before. I heard Lilly say, "Please, Zak! No!"

That could not be a good thing. Earlier, I had gotten in to a fight with Zak. And now, Lilly was with him without me around. And she sounded scared... Next thing I heard was the growling get louder, followed by a scream, and then painful-sounding whimpers. Not good... I knew for sure that it could not be Zak who was whimpering, when Lilly was the one that sounded scared. I wished I could run even faster. Faster would be good. I am glad to say, that did not matter because I finally approached the scene, to find the last thing I wanted to see. There, right in front of me, was Lilly. She was lying on her side on the ground. Covered with blood. Eyes closed. Not moving. A pool of blood surrounded her. Coming from the puddle was a trail. My eyes followed the trail, to see Zak. He was standing there, smiling. Looking at me. Blood was around his mouth. I stood where I was for I do not know how long. Lilly was innocent of everything in her whole life. She did not deserve to die so young, let alone be murdered.

He laughed. I was experiencing multiple emotions right now. I was sad over Lilly's death. I also felt guilty about it. I had promised Kate I would keep her sister safe. I had somehow let Lilly out of my sights, and could not reach her in time to save her life. I would have grieved over the death. But, the last emotion was the main one that overpowered the others. It was hate... anger... I was angry at Zak. Lilly was the only wolf I had left in my life, and he killed her! My blood was boiling. I felt myself getting angrier with each passing second. I lifted my right paw up to my face and looked at it. I watched as I let my claws slide out. I let them slide back in to my paws before forming a fist and slamming in to the ground. I asked myself, "Why her? Why couldn't it be me? WHY HER?"

To tell the truth, I much rather me be killed than Lilly. If it would keep Lilly alive, then I would sacrifice my life for hers. I rose my head back up to look at Zak, still smiling at me. I was getting really sick of this guy. How could anybody be such a cold-hearted killer, and smile with the blood on their mouth? I took a step toward him, and stopped when a bright flash of light appeared behind him. He took a step back, his smile growing a bit as the light engulfed his body. He turned into a black silhouette. After that, he disappeared. I expected the light to disappear, but it did not. After about ten seconds, another silhouette arrived. They stepped forward, to reveal Kate. That was when I figured out that this was another dream. Well, more like nightmare since this was not pleasant. I turned around to face Lilly's body again. Kate stepped forward, stopping when she approached my left side.

She asked, "Would you really sacrifice your own life to save her?"

I nodded and said, "Of course I would."

I looked to Kate. Before I could say anything else, she asked, "You're really intent on keeping your promise, aren't you?"

"Well, yea. It was a promise to you... I definitely can't break it."

Kate smiled at that and said, "Garth and I have been watching over the two of you. I am glad to see that you aren't protecting only Lilly. You protected Hailey and Linda as well."

I smiled at that.

"Even though Garth and I are gone, I am glad to see that you have not changed much."

Before I could respond to her statement, Kate took a few steps back, letting the white light engulf her body and turning her into a black silhouette. Eventually, she disappeared. Followed by the fading of the light. Lilly's voice spoke to me, "Wake up, Humphrey..."

My eyes slowly opened. My vision being blurry, I blinked a few times. Once my vision had cleared, I turned my head to see Lilly. She was alive. I thought back to remember where I was. I was in Kovu and Hailey's cave. I looked around, finding that they were gone. We had been waiting for the howl to signal the Southern pack meeting. I must have dozed off. I looked to Lilly and asked, "What is it?"

Lilly opened her mouth to answer, but got interrupted by a howl. She closed her mouth and gestured her head toward the opening of the cave as she said, "The Southern pack meeting is starting. Kovu, Hailey, and Linda already left while I woke you up."

I stood up, only to give myself a painful reminder that my back-left leg had been broken by Zak. Lilly quickly put herself under my front leg, catching me from falling. I gave her a thanks before we started our way out. The two of us walked outside the cave and looked around to see where everybody was heading. The two of us had no idea where this pack had their meetings, so we had to look at the traffic flow to figure it out. We turned left and followed the crowd along a pathway, leading down to the grass. That was where I saw a large group of wolves all gathering in front of a boulder. They all seemed to be deep within conversation; probably about what the meeting was about. I looked at the boulder to where three other wolves were standing. I recognized the three standing on the large boulder. They were the two Head-alphas and their daughter that I had seen earlier that day. The three of them were waiting for everybody to gather.

Lilly and I continued walking; still looking for Kovu and Hailey. I was concentrating mostly on the faces of the black wolves to find Kovu. If I could find him, I would also find Hailey and Linda. They were nowhere to be found... Where could they be? That was when I saw them. Kovu stood on his hind legs and waved his paw at me, yelling for me and Lilly to go to him. I gave Lilly a nudge and gestured to where Kovu was at so she knew where to go. She helped me make our way toward him. We walked past some other wolves of all fur colors and sizes. We dodged around one last wolf before we finally made it to Kovu. Next to him were Hailey and Linda, talking to each other; probably about what all the others in the pack were talking about, the meeting. Lilly made sure I was okay before taking herself out from under my front paw. Kovu asked, "What do you think this is about?"

I said, "I have no idea."

I looked to Lilly for an answer and she just shrugged. I expected no more than that. Lilly was not much of a talker anyways. Kovu, Hailey, Linda, Lilly, and I waited a couple minutes. Once everybody noticed that the whole pack had gotten outside, all wolves of the Southern pack went silent. The head Alpha-male began the meeting with, "I bet you are all wondering why we are having a pack meeting."

Well, of course we were. What kind of start was that?

He continued, "Well, it's because of a message we have received from the pack of the North. They recently sent a messenger wolf with this message. They want to unite the packs."

The large group of wolves whispered to one another; possibly making sure they heard him right. There were a few comments yelled by random wolves like: "No way!" "They treat us like we're just trash!" "Why would they want to unite with us?"

The alpha-female stepped up, making the group go silent. She said, "They have told us that if we do not unite the packs, they will wage war against us. Do we really want that?"

The male spoke again, "That is what they have offered us. We have two choices; Marriage, or war. We all know that war is never a good thing, but who do we have to offer for a marriage?"

There was a moment of silence.

After about a minute of waiting, a female voice finally spoke from the crowd with the sound of nervousness, "I'll do it."

A pathway formed down the middle of the crowd as a female wolf with grey fur stepped forward. She walked from the back of the crowd up to the head-alphas. The alpha male asked, "Are you sure?"

The girl nodded and turned around before saying, "If it means protecting this pack from having to fight a war, then I would gladly be married to anybody they have chosen."

"Very well..." the alpha-male said. He lifted his head back up to speak to the crowd, "Two days, when the sun is highest in the sky, the two packs; North and South, will be united by marriage."

The crowed cheered loudly with, "Woohoo!" and "All right!"

After a few minutes, the pack finally went quiet before the head-alpha female announced, "You are all free to go."

The three members of the head-alpha family turned and walked away. I turned my head to Kovu and said, "Do you really think that the Northern pack would have began a war with the Southern pack if there was no marriage?"

"Depends on who is in charge over there. It sounded like it was pretty serious though, so I would guess that they would."

I looked back over to where the grey-furred girl was to see her surrounded by other wolves; probably telling her that she was brave, or thanking her for stepping up and getting married to a stranger. She looked at me with a smile on her face, proud of what she was doing. When she saw me, though, her smile went away. She stared at me and looked as if she was trying to figure out who I was. I did not blame her, Lilly and I had just gotten here so I did not expect others to wonder who we were. I turned my head to Kovu, Hailey, and Linda, who were already leaving to go back home. I looked to Lilly and said, "Let's go."

Lilly put herself under my paw again for support because of my broken leg. The two of us went the same way we had come, only we were going the other way. We walked from the soft green grass over to pathway with a sloped incline. The two of us made our way up that slope, making sure not to bump in to any wolves. When we did, we both apologized and they would turn back to whatever they were doing. I looked to the sun to see that it was beginning to set. I had slept the day away. After a short time, Lilly and I finally made it to back to the cave. Kovu, Hailey, and Linda were all lying down for some sleep. I told Lilly I was going to stay outside for a bit to watch the sunset. I had expected her to go inside for some rest since we had traveled a lot today. I was wrong. Lilly said she was going to watch with me. I smiled, happy that I would not be alone for a bit.

Lilly and I laid down, with her on my left, outside Kovu and Hailey's cave, and watched the sun set. It cast a beautiful mixture of a red and orange glow over Glacier Park. I looked over to my left at Lilly to see her eyes closed with a smile on her face. I smiled that she was not the upset wolf that she was back in Jasper. Seeing your old friend will tend to do that to you. I asked, "You like watching sun sets?"

She opened her eyes, looking up at the sky. Without looking at me, she said, "Yea. Garth and I would watch them every night, together. Now, watching the sun set again... It brings back memories... Good ones."

I smiled that Lilly was happy now. I told her, "I know what you mean. Kate and I would do the same thing."

The two of us said nothing more to each other. We just stayed there, watching the sun do its natural thing. Lilly and I had laid there for I don't know how long before another cold breeze flew by us. I noticed Lilly shiver a bit. I broke the silence, "You cold?"

She nodded her head. I suggested, "Let's go inside and get some sleep."

"Alright."

I lifted my paw and put it around her as I got up. I hate having a broken leg. Lilly helped me in to the cave, and we chose a spot to sleep. I laid down, and Lilly laid down next to me for warmth. To tell the truth, I was actually growing more fond of Lilly. There was just something about her that I liked.