CHAPTER 8

Hutch's POV

I noticed as i was walking beside fitz that the two had their tails twined, and were close up against each other. I have to admit, i was happy for them. I remember walking past kate's den a while ago… she was in the corner with a few tears strolling down her face. She was staring in the corner at the wall. Than her parents walked in the den with very worried glances. This was when they thought he was dead. I sat beside her and listened as she cried for the rest of the night. Me and winston cried a bit too, but ive only ate at the leftover caribou from the other night. I stroked her back and winston hugged her as she completely lost it. She eased up later when winston told her me and my troops didn't see them really. She still cried. I growled at some wolves who thought now that her "love" was gone they could ask her out now. They all walked up with smirks on their faces and winston lost it. He chased them so far away i swear we never saw a couple again. Every moonlight howl was worse. Wolves tried and tried to get her out but she refused. She decided to watch her sister once with her mate. I watched over her in the shadows on purpose to make sure no one came up. I noticed she looked over at a log on top of a small cliff. She sighed and walked over to it. She rubbed her paw against the log and let a tear drop. She looked at me nodding showing it was time to go. I saddened a bit and nodded.

"Where are we going?" fitz asked interrupting my thoughts.

"Your dad's taking us to a good spot for lunch." i chuckled. He smiled with a nod.

Humphrey's POV

Kate's tail was twined around mine, so i nuzzled into her. She rubbed her cheek against mine with a smile and so did i. Fitz jumped on my back and looked at my eyes with his head upside down. "How much farther?" he asked with a whine. Kate giggled when i side glanced at her. "Don't worry… we're almost there." i chuckled. Ne nodded accidently bumping me on the nose and bounced off. He ran up to hutch.

"TAG!" he giggled. He ran up ahead and hutch followed.

I wrapped my arm around her neck. "Remember that? With lily?" i giggled pointing towards the two tumble through a bush. "I remember, and it was good." she giggled.

"When you went to that alpha school of yours, i thought you would forget me when i came back." i chuckled with a small wince. She looked at me shocked.

"You… you missed me?"

"Of course i did!" i chuckled looking to the side.

"Your hiding something… spit it out!" she giggled. I blushed and she could see it.

"What?" she asked with a bit of worry and anticipation.

"Remember when i said i've liked you since we were pups?"

She nodded with a small blush and a giggle and waited for me to keep going.

"I meant love." i sighed. She didn't know what to say. I looked at her scared as we kept walking. I thought she was upset or mad. I started to look back forwards when she grabbed me head and slapped me lightly.

"That was for not telling me sooner." she giggled. Then she pulled me into a kiss.

"That was for being here with me." she giggled after a few minutes. I stuttered in shock staying in place. She kept walking and giggled when i focused and caught up with her.

"Um… wow." i uttered. She giggled and nudged me. I shook my head.

"So i was thinking, since fitz is at hutches tonight, maybe we could go on a little date?"

I chuckled nervously. "YES! I mean… yes!" she giggled with some embarrassment in her voice. "Really?" i asked with a bit of a joke.

"Are you kidding?! YES!" she responded with amazement.

"Cool! After lunch you go home and get ready and i'll pick you up when the moon comes out!" i chuckled. Her ears drooped and she made a puppy face.

"Aww, do i have to weave you?" she teased.

"I'm gonna admit, your super cute right now." i bit my lip.

"I know i am." she giggled. I sighed.

"What?"

"I'm just surprised you missed me… i thought no one cared about me."

Kate's POV

What he said than was heartbreaking. Even though he's said it before, it was still touching. "What?! Of course your cared about!"

"No, not really. Your mom would know." he shook his head looking at the ground.

"What do you mean?" i asked a little worried.

He looked me dead in the eye with a couple tears.

"Your mom threatened to kill me unless i made her pups happy." he sniffed a bit.

He continued before i could break down.

"What she didn't know was i loved you and really when she thought i was making you happy i was really just wanting to be close." he chuckled with a sigh.

I lined up my head with his. Our foreheads were pressed against one anothers as were the top of our snouts. "You are cared about." i stared him in the eye directly.

"No, i'm not." he sighed letting a teardrop.

"Yes you are." i said a little sternly by accident. He understood that was an accident and kept talking.

"Name one wolf." he saddened with a weak smile. I grinned.

"Me."

His eyes widened. "You… you care about me?" he stuttered a bit.

He was so in shock i let a few tears away.

"Humphrey, i love you, and so does your pup even though he's adopted."

He nodded and i hugged him.

"You are cared about… a lot." i added. I felt a few tears stroll down the back of my neck from him. He looked at me with a weak smile. It was nice to see his dark blue pools in his eyes again instead of looking directly into some wasted fabric. He licked me on the nose and i giggled as we ran up to fitz and hutch.

"Congratulations sir!" hutch joked.

We looked at fitz standing on top of a dead caribou. His teeth were drenched with blood and he was smiling.

"How exactly?" i chuckled astonished.

"I threw him up when it wasn't looking, and he bit right on a weak spot in the neck."

He chuckled giving fitz a nod. "Takes after his dad." kate giggled giving me a nudge.

My ears drooped when she said that. "Not again." fitz sighed rolling his eyes.

We all turned to him. "Go kiss my dad somewhere else, not here."

The three of us broke out laughing as fitz shook his head.

I started to walk away obeying his orders grabbing her tail and she giggled at me.

"Aww… you never come." i made a fake puppy face. Hutch rolled his eyes and began to devour the lungs. Fitz ended up falling in the stomach due to ts size. He popped out a minute later with some blood and a piece of intestine or something hanging from his ear.

"Eww." i chuckled weirdly. Kate nodded agreeing and hutch just laughed cause… he's hutch i don't know. He jumped out and danced around me for awhile.

"Grossed out?" he giggled. I picked off the gut on his forehead and hung it in front of my snout. "A little." i chuckled with a wince. Kate rolled her eyes laughing as she took a few bites. "Coming?" she giggled. "I'll wait till your all done." i sighed putting my paw up.

She made a sad face on purpose with her ears drooped. I rolled my eyes and walked over. She giggled and nudged me as i ripped out a collar bone.

"Not my fault us omegas are told to eat last." i chuckled. Fitz didn't care and kept eating but hutch and kate winced shooting each other a glance. She wrapped her arm around me. "When your around me, your more than an omega." she giggled blushing. I smiled at her with blood and marrow dripping between my teeth. She smiled with a wince when a piece of the heart fell out after i licked her on the cheek.

"That was gross but worth it." she joked with a chuckle. I rubbed it off her cheek and she giggled at the feel of my soft paws. She stopped giggling when her cheeks puffed up. She darted off into a bush. I raised an eyebrow and looked at hutch. He just shrugged and kept eating. Fitz wasn't even paying attention, he was just chewing on the jaw, teeth falling out occasionally. I worried a bit and quickly pleaded over to threw up on the ground as i entered the bush. "You okay?" she looked at me with a weak smile.

"A little, been feeling a little weird after last night." she winked at me. I chuckled with a slight eye roll and nudged her. "You think your gonna be okay for tonight?" i asked with a wince. I wonder what her dad's reaction would be if it didn't happen… probably punishment. She shook her head back to reality.

"Yep! Yep yep yep!" she laughed. "Alright then… back to the meat."

I chuckled booping her on the snout. She sneezed which was kind of cute and i giggled.

We walked out of the bush and hutch snickered. "What were you two just up to?

We both looked at each other blushing. "No! Nope nope nope. it wasn't that way!" i responded with a little panic in my voice. Hutch rolled his eyes finishing his bites on the bloody limb of the left leg… a few veins popping here and there.

Kate looked at shaking her head smiling. I smiled back as she walked off to tear the head off. It came off with a air-smashing CRACK and poured out the remaining blood in the neck. I winced a little and so did fitz. We weren't really used to seeing things pour blood. I don't think kate was either since she took a few steps back in shock. I walked up and poked at the neck bone. "Are we done?" i chuckled nervously. Fitz walked up with his eyes pleading. "Uh… i have one more request?" he chuckled. Kate and hutch giggled as they walked up while i ruffled his hair. "And what's that?"

"Leader winston always told us 'bout your favourite sport… log sledding?"he tilted his head in confusion with the name. I grinned widely and looked at kate. She rolled her eyes with a giggle. "Fine, but i call riding with you." she pointed at… FITZ?! Damn i thought she was going to pick me. I'll admit, as fitz walked over to her i pouted a bit. She looked at me putting him on her back. "You'll get your turn." she giggled giving me a wink. I smiled as i let my tail wag. "Come on, mister proposal."hutch chuckled as the other two ran up the nearest cliff. "SHHH!" i yelped at him. We met the other two at the top, and when hutch and fitz went off to find logs for each other, something weird happened. Me and kate? We just stared at each other with big smiles not letting go. Our snouts were almost pressed which made me feel warm inside. "FOUND A COUPLE!" fitz yelled from the other side of the cliff. We shook our heads and giggled when we realized we were really out of it. As we walked over a rabbit bounced by. I wasn't ready for it and yelped, falling on top of her. "Uh, sorry? Heh…" i chuckled a little embarrassed.

She giggled and stroked the back of my neck. "Just like the howl's den." she giggled with a wink. I smiled blushing as she walked off. I don't know what was with her, but it was almost cute. Hutch was explaining something to me, but i wasn't listening. I was looking at her daydreaming about tonight. She looked at me and realized i was lost. Brushing her tail on my snout, i shook back to reality. Hutch kept talking without notice. Kate giggled when i nodded my head in agreement.

"...and make sure to-"

"Waitaminute… whos made up these rules?" i raised an eyebrow. Hutch and kate looked at each other. Than back to me with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, after you left…" hutch started.

"... i told dad to make your sport an actual daily activity." kate blushed with a nod. My ears perked up with a smile. "Seriously?"

She nodded and hutch smiled awkwardly.

"I'm starting to see a lot of this pack of yours copying… me?" i chuckled with a bit of hesitation. "Well, i can say most of that is kate." hutch chuckled motoning towards her. My ears managed to perk up and droop. "You? Of all wolves?".

Whoops. That was a bit crushing. "Uh… yeah?" she giggled nervously.

"Sorry… that wasn't the way i was going to say that." i sighed.

She breathed in and walked over. Hutch and fitz rolled their eyes and went to prepare the logs for their dooming flight. She pulled me in like she did earlier before the caribou, our snouts pressed against the top of each others once again.

"When you… left, i panicked the pack would forget you. So my first act WAS to tell mum, but i realized she would just tell me to move on and that i'm a non-crying alpha, so i went to dad. He understood and his first go was telling the pups stories about you. Later a few caught on to the log sledding idea and tried it out for themselves, and surprisingly, dad thought it was a good idea. The idea was later promoted to all schools as a sport. The first thing i did was keep looking for you. Mum kept me in some boundaries so i wouldn't get lost…" she trailed off a bit.

"I think eve didn't want you to find me, that way i would die off somehow… at least, that's what she thought." i chuckled laying the news over her before continuing.

"Face it. Your mum hates me and there's nothing doing that she's letting go." i sighed with a small tear. I feel like this might affect a few things later on if we do get married.

She looked down nodding. I put my paw against her cheek and raised her head.

"Just your mom though, i think winston seems to like me a bit." i chuckled hesitantly.

She smiled weakly and nodded. I pulled her into a hug. "After this why don't you go get ready for tonight? Make it longer that way?" i chuckled with a tilt in my head. She grinned and nodded.

Kate's POV

Hutch was about to push himself off when we came up.

"Finally… can't you love each other somewhere else?" he made a "blagh" face.

"For the last time you two… it's not like that." humphrey sighed rolling his eyes. I nudged fitz into the log as humphrey readied up theirs. Fitz gave me a sly smile as we took off.

"What?"

"I know why you picked me." he giggled a little evilly.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. just hurry up before i have to get ready.

"For what?" he giggled raising an eyebrow.

"A… a date. Let's hear it, cousin." i chuckled. He frowned knowing that was true.

"What would you like to know first?" he rubbed his fingers together like some info dealer.

"Does… did he talk about me when you came in on him?" i giggled a little.

He made a nervous little squeal.

"What?"

"Uh… he… he was afraid, afraid of your name."

That hurt me a little. "W-why?"

"He thought you were with uncle barf as he calls him, so he kinda tried to rid his mind of you." he sighed. I looked down as the log hit a bump. "...a-and everyone else!" he added quickly. I nodded looking up at him again. "But… when i told him you weren't with big red and stupid, he might've done what any wolf would do after their first kill."

"But… they would jump around in excitement." i raised an eyebrow. He smiled.

"Exactly!". It took me a few seconds to put it together. Before i could respond we were reaching the end of the trip.

"Just letting you know he cares about you a lot." he nodded as we came to a stop. Hutch and humphrey came barreling down laughing… well, at least humphrey was. Hutch leaned over and threw up. He sat up chuckling though at least. Humphrey smiled as he pleaded over to me. "As much as i hate to say it, maybe it's time to go get ready?" he blushed oddly enough. I sighed nodding with a smile.

Hutch and fitz said their goodbyes to us and walked off. Humphrey walked me home.

As we entered my parents den, mum growled lowly.

"Surprise. Not dead." humphrey rolled his eyes shaking himself up to show his healed wounds. Mum was going to bark when dad interrupted. "Any plans for tonight?" he chuckled. Humphrey gave me a wink before i could respond.

"Big plans, sir… big plans."