Chapter 9 Unveiled feelings and dangers

Kate's POV

I looked at Grace warmly and said, "Tomorrow we can go see if your parents and brother are looking for you. I'm sure that if we escaped it so did they." Grace smiled and said, "Thank you Kate." Humphrey grinned and said, "That's a great idea, I'm sure there fine." Grace looked doubtful but I told her, "If Humphrey could outrun it, then I'm sure your parents did it to." Grace looked at Humphrey and said, "I think your right." Humphrey looked hurt and said, "Hey, give me a little credit." Grace laughed playfully and said, "I was just kidding."

I started to feel more attached to the pup and laughed as well. Humphrey looked at me strangely and I asked, "What's wrong?"He scratched the back of his head and answered, "Nothing, just been awhile since I've heard your laugh." I decided that I couldn't wait any longer and shook my head and said, "Can we talk?" He looked at me confused and said, "Sure, grace could you go into one of the side tunnels for a minute." Grace nodded and said, "I guess so." I went over and sat by Humphrey and asked, "Do you know that you mean more to me then the entire world?" He looked surprised and I saw confusion in his eyes.

I continued, "Humphrey I did try to leave you at the canyon but I wasn't thinking. I just didn't want to have the packs go to war. But when I left you I didn't realize how attached I had grown to you." He looked at me disbelievingly and said, "Then who did you say your heart belongs to, and which alpha did you fall in love with?" I shook my head and said, "I never fell in love with an alpha." He asked me clearly confused, "So why did you say your heart belongs to someone else?"

I almost punched him but instead I calmly said, "It belongs to you." He stiffened and I saw his mind working not believing what I had said but at the same time I saw hope in his eyes. I smiled and recognized the hope that had been there since we were pups. He whispered, "You love me?" I nodded and said, "Yes Humphrey, I do love you." He started to cry and said, "I'm so sorry for thinking that you were being selfish." I shook my head and said, "It was the pack leaders who were being selfish." Humphrey looked at me and weakly asked, "What do we do now?"

I almost couldn't believe what he had said. I jumped on him and attacked his lips. He seemed surprised bur accepted my kiss. I broke off and asked, "Does that answer your question?" In a daze he nodded, "Yes." I laughed and crawled off him. Humphrey shook his head and asked, "But what do we do now?" I answered, "We go home." Grace ran in and shouted, "Stop, you can't." I looked at her confused and asked, "Why?" She looked terrified and answered, "The forest won't let you." I laughed and told her, "It'll be fine, and we can travel and be gone before dark." Grace shook her head, "My family and I have been stuck here for years surviving." Grace stuttered, "The forest trapped us here and we haven't been able to escape."

Humphrey looked surprised, "But it's not that big an area." Grace shouted, "The forest will destroy you if you don't have something to live for." I sighed, "Grace, we'll make sure you're ok." Grace almost started to cry, "But we have been trapped for years, the Terror isn't the only danger."I started to feel scared and asked, "What else is out there?" Grace shook her head, "There are even worse monsters and strange things out there." Humphrey choked up, "Were stuck here?" Grace nodded, "The forest has always won." I asked her, "Where exactly are we?" Grace looked at us sadly and answered, "Were in the forest of tears." I looked at her shocked, "That forest doesn't exist."

Humphrey nodded vigorously, "It's just a legend used to scare pups." Grace shook her head, "Its real, the Terror is only one of its inhabitants." Grace was starting to really scare me now so I asked her, "What else lives here?" Grace with tears in her eyes answered, "I don't know, but the stories say…." I clamped a paw over her mouth and said, "I know the stories." Humphrey looked confused, "I haven't, and they could help us get out alive."

I took my paw off Grace's mouth and said, "Ok, tell it to Humphrey." Grace looked annoyed but nodded and started, "The story says that long ago a forest was once the home of a peaceful pack called the nightwalker pack. The pack lived in peace until its wolves began to disappear. Each night a wolf vanished the pack would howl and cry at the loss. Later the packs alphas began to report strange creatures just outside the borders. Soon the pack lost contact with the neighboring packs and nobody has heard from them since. Some still say that at every full moon the nightwalker pack cries and it can be heard by anyone in the forest. They cry in joy that you will be joining them soon." Grace finished.

Humphrey had frozen in fear. He asked, "So what is the Terror then?" I answered, "I think it's a predator that preys on weaker animals that have been injured by whatever wiped out that pack." Humphrey whimpered, "So there's an even fiercer killer on the loose out there?'' Grace shook her head, "The forest itself is the killer."


(How will they escape the Forest, will Kate and Humphreys love be enough to escape its terrifying clutches or will the forest prevail once more?)