Chapter 10 : Failure

Garth entered his den and found Lilly sitting infront of the entrance with a worried and puzzled expression, and it disappeared when she noticed his return.

'Where were you? You had me worried when I returned back here.' She asked curiously as she got up and walk towards him.

'Sorry Lilly, went to take a drink at the waterfall.' He lied as he doesn't want her to know that he doesn't trust Rex, thinking that he might steal her heart away from him, but he felt relieved when Rex assured him that he doesn't have any intentions on that.

'I'm glad that you're back. I hope you don't mind about me howling with Rex.'

'It's fine. Like I said to Humphrey and Kate, I will support you in every decision that you make.'

She smiled and they shared a quick but passionate kiss before going to bed.

'Goodnight, Lilly.' He said.

'Goodnight, Garth.' She replied and they drifted to sleep.

The silver moon began to set from the night sky and the bright sun rose to take its place of the day, showering the peaceful green land with its luminous light. It crawled into the entrance of the den of two wolves and shone on the face of a female omega wolf. She opened her eyes and raised her head slowly to examine her surroundings with her charming violet eyes. Her mate was missing beside her, probably out for his morning patrol, so he got up and stretched her muscle and yawned sleepily and left the den.

The sun was bright and the sky was clear today, showing that this was another beautiful day in Jasper. She began to walk while breathing in the fresh air and her mind replayed what she did with Rex last night on their way to Humphrey and Kate's den. She was worried if Garth was jealous about this, and feared that this might break their relationship, but she assured herself that he supports her in everything and wouldn't be that sensitive. The howls of last night rang in her mind as she sang well with Rex at the peak of the Howling Rock, but she knows that she's not better than Rose as she's his mate and the wolf whose voice mixes with his well. It continued to play in her mind but stopped when she arrived at her destination. As she walked up the steep dusty road, she noticed that Humphrey and Kate were already awake and sitting at the overhang, chatting with each other and they stopped when they noticed her presence.

'Morning sis.' Kate said as she turned towards her sister.

Lilly replied the same as her and they hugged each other for a few seconds before pulling away.

'So, where's Garth?' Humphrey asked as he noticed Garth's absence.

'He probably have duties today. Have you guys seen Rex?' She asked and they shook their head.

'Where could he be?'

'I don't know. Maybe he's waiting for us at-' Humphrey stopped when he caught sight of something moving towards them from afar.

The others followed and saw Rex dragging a Caribou with a few ladies beside him, probably trying to ask him out on a date, but to Humphrey, Kate and Lilly, those ladies are wasting their efforts. When Rex finally dragged it up the steep road and dropped it infront of them, they noticed that those ladies were omega wolves Sweets, Candy, Reba and Janice, the wolves who tried to get his attention once back at the Moonlight Howl.

'Well, I guess you're pretty busy, Rex.' Humphrey said with a smile.

'Where were you?' Kate asked curiously.

'Well, I was at the feeding ground doing my workouts till these ladies appeared and circled around me for the whole time. So I made a quick hunt and began to drag this Caribou back to you.' Rex said, turning towards the four omegas who were still behind him.

'Can we stay with you for a little while, handsome?' Sweets said in a lustful tone which made Rex's eyes widened.

'Look ladies, Rex can be with you later in the afternoon, okay?' Humphrey said and Rex eyed him at such sentence as these ladies are just flies to him.

'Really?' Candy said with her eyes full of hope, so as the others.

'Yeah, right Rex?'

He elbowed him in the ribs and he felt nothing and looked back at the omegas.

'Yeah.'

The omegas screamed in joy and began to walk away, discussing about what they're going to do with Rex in the afternoon and they kept looking back at him as they walk down the steep road. When they're out of sight, Rex turned towards Humphrey with a frown.

'That wasn't very helpful, Humphrey.' He argued.

'Look on the bright side, they won't bother you now.' He replied with a smile.

'Yeah, but in the afternoon, evening and night, I think they will.'

'Come one Humphrey. Let's eat.' Kate said, ending the argument.

Humphrey walked towards her and sat beside her and they began to eat. Rex on the other paw sat at the overhang and looked at the den ground below. He listened to their conversation that was all about what they're going to at the pond as Kate needs to make a regular visit there while examining every wolf walking around in the den ground. When they're done, they began to head towards the pond with Humphrey and Kate leading while Lilly and Rex having their conversation at the back.

'So, how are you feeling?' She asked and looked at him, starting the conversation.

'Better than before.' He replied, looking back at her.

'I'm glad to hear that.'

'So… did Garth behave unusually last night when he returned to your den?'

'No, why?'

'I feared that he will have a misunderstanding, you know, between us after last night.'

Lilly was silent for a few seconds as she lowered her head, and looked back at him.

'No, he won't.'

'How do you know?'

'I understand his behavior, and I'm sure he won't think in a negative way.'

'I see. Good to know.'

'By the way, there's one question that has been in my mind for a long time.'

'Well, ask away.'

'Have you ever studied the inner parts of a wolf?'

'Well, yes.'

'You studied the dead bodies of your pack?'

'No, of course, as that would disrespecting the pack members. Surprisingly, by parents found two lone wolves, both with brown coats, but the female has orange eyes and the male has green, lying dead in the woods. My parents basically… slice open the parts of the wolf and taught me everything about it.'

'How did the lone wolves died anyway?'

'Well, my parents didn't tell me how they died, but I could tell by studying the body that the female was raped before killed and the male's leg bones broke with an open wound on his throat, so as the female.'

Lilly's eyes widened and pitied the lone wolves for having such a horrible death, and he continued his theory.

'It's impossible that the male raped the female as his legs were broken, so somewolf else did it.'

'Who could it be?'

'I don't know, but it doesn't matter now.'

'Hey, are you two coming?' A voice shoutout from afar.

They turned towards the source of the voice and found Humphrey and Kate already further ahead of them.

'Coming!' Lilly shouted back and turned towards Rex. 'Let's go.'

Rex nodded and they ran to catch up with them. They finally arrived at the pond and Kate sat in the cool water with her whole body submerged and watched as Rex gave her sister and mate their training of the day.

'Humphrey and Lilly, try out your silent stalk and pounce on me. I would like to see your results before making any decisions.' He said and received a nod from them.

He watched as his students made a good distance from him and he turned around to let them perform what they had learned. Humphrey and Lilly gave a nod to each other and began to crawl silently towards Rex. Kate was amazed as they were crawling with speed and maintain silent at the same time, which a normal wolf couldn't do. It only took a few seconds for them to reach Rex and stopped when they're a few centimeters away. They powered up their hind legs and when it's fully charged, they pounced at him and as usual, Rex side-stepped it smoothly and they landed on their legs without collapsing in a clumsy way like before. Rex looked at them with pride.

'Good job. You've performed both skills well.' He said and Humphrey and Lilly gave each other a high-five.

'So, can we play now, like a reward?' Humphrey said with a smile.

'Yes, but not now. You must continue your training since you've made a good progress.'

'Fine by me. What's next? I'm totally ready.' He said as he stood in a ready position, prepared for anything that Rex's going to throw at him.

'I hope so, 'cause today you'll be learning basic combats.'

Humphrey jumped in excitement as this was a game to him, but not to the alphas.

'Sit down, Humphrey.'

'Yes sir.' He replied and made a salute gesture that made Lilly and Kate giggled.

Rex noticed and it reminded him of his past again, but it made him smiled as he remembered the beautiful and charming smile of Rose that would never fade in his mind. Humphrey sat down and watched with Lilly as Rex circled around them.

'I'll be asking you some questions first.'

'Aw come on. Can't we skip to the combats?'

'No. First question, where is the most vulnerable part of a wolf?'

'It's neck!' Lilly said before Humphrey could.

'Good. Second question, what should you do when you got a grip on the throat of your enemies?'

'Never let go till its body stops moving.' Lilly answered once again before Humphrey could as she heard it from her mother before back when she heard Kate having a short chat with her mother before heading towards the 'arranged date' with Garth during the Moonlight Howl and Kate giggled as her sister's answering more than him.

'Correct. Last question before we start our training.' Both omegas listened carefully as Rex speaks his question. 'What should you do at all times?'

'Um…' Lilly thought for a while, but Humphrey's face lit up immediately.

'Look around your surroundings!' He said in excitement, feeling very confident with your answer.

'Hmm. Close, but not the answer that I'm expecting.' Rex replied and turned towards Kate who was expecting the same answer as him.

'Keep your guard up?' Lilly said without confidence, but she smiled when Rex's face lit up.

'Correct.' He said and she jumped happily.

'Aw come on. Mine's correct too.' Humphrey said with a frown.

'Yes it is, Humphrey, but you can't just look around without preparation for anything that's about to throw at you.' Rex reasoned.

'Fine.' He replied, feeling annoyed by his reply.

'Don't worry, I'm sure you'll perform better in physical training instead of mind-thinking.'

Humphrey's face lightened up a bit as his sentence gave him hope that he might perform better, and Rex began to teach them the basics.

'There's three basics that you have to remember before going through the advanced. First basic is to examine your enemy's body and look for any signs of injury, and use it to your advantage.'

'What if there isn't any?' Lilly asked, participating in learning what he's teaching her.

'That's the second basic. If there isn't, then fight your enemy, but try to avoid using your fighting techniques as your enemy is studying your moves, and you're doing the same thing to him or her too.'

'Got it. What's last?' Humphrey said with a smile as he noted down these basics in his mind.

'The last is to show no mercy to your opponent.'

Humphrey and Lilly's face expression froze at this as this is hard for them to do; omegas are hard to be merciless, especially facing against an enemy. Rex and Kate understands what their difficulty was and Rex spoke up.

'I know it is hard to be merciless, 'cause don't forget that I'm an omega too. But I understand a fact that you should too, and that is either kill or be killed.'

Humphrey and Lilly looked at him as they began to understand his fact, and nodded when they finally accept it.

'Good. Don't worry, I'll be helping you in getting through it.'

Rex stood infront of them and began their training.

'We'll be learning how to dodge first, and attacks next.'

'I'm very good in dodging.' Humphrey joked and Kate and Lilly giggled.

'Really?' Rex replied, playing along in his joke.

'Yeah.'

He noticed some pinecones beside a tree and thought that it would be a good item to be thrown at him.

'Lilly, could you gather those pinecones with me?' He said, pointing at where the pinecones are and she nodded.

They gathered it up as fast as they can and placed it beside Rex. Rex watched as Lilly picked up one pinecone with her mouth and Humphrey stood infront of them.

'Throw it at me.' He commanded, and Lilly threw it as hard as she could.

Humphrey began to dodge each and every one of it easily, and made several hilarious pose that made Lilly and Kate laugh. Rex expressed a grin and decided to make it harder. When Lilly threw a pinecone at him, Rex moved forward at top speed.

'How about dodging this?' He said as he punched to pinecone with his paw.

It turned into tiny bits and flew right at him. Humphrey shielded himself with his paw as he's unable to dodge the sudden boost of bits of pinecones flying at him and Kate and Lilly stared at Rex with their mouth wide opened. Humphrey looked back at him with a frown.

'Hey, what gives?' He said and Rex laughed in an alpha way.

'I was just wondering if you're able to dodge stuff like that.' He replied.

'Of course I can't. Those were tiny bits.'

'But you can use your tail and body to reflect them, am I right?'

'What?'

'Let me show you.'

He smashed the rest of the pinecones into bits and Lilly was amazed by such strength; he did it as if he's smashing an ant. She looked up from the bits of pinecones to him and received a smile.

'Would you do the honour of throwing it at me?' He said and she nodded immediately.

Rex stood a bit further from her position and she picked up some bits with her paw and threw it at him. Amazingly, his tail swing across his face, deflecting it easily. They stared in amazement as Lilly continued to throw with Rex continuously deflecting and dodging it at ease. Lilly made a final throw at him and he jumped and made a horizontal spin, deflecting it away and he landed on his legs. Humphrey and Lilly walked up to confess their emotions.

'That was amazing.' Lilly said as she never seen this before.

'Thank you.' Rex replied with a smile.

'So… you can dodge bullets now?' Humphrey asked as he already knows the answer.

'No, of course. Our body cannot reflect bullets, unless your eyes are sharp enough.'

'Can you?'

Humphrey edged his face closer to his and Rex frowned.

'Maybe, I don't know. I haven't met a human for a really long time.'

'I see. Anyway, that was really good though.'

'Thanks. Shall we start?'

'Sure.'

They started off with deflecting using their tail as their tail is thick and easily used to deflect incoming objects than the body, and after minutes of training with the sun in the middle of the clear blue sky, Rex decided to let them play for the rest of the day as they deserved it by performing their first lesson well.

'Okay. Time to rest, and you can play for the rest of the day.' He said and Lilly and Humphrey jumped into the cool water happily.

Kate shielded her face with her both paws from the splash of water and they laughed. Just when they're about to start their play of the day, a howl for help broke out from afar and they looked at each other.

'It came from the feeding ground.' Kate said.

'Let's go. Humphrey, stay here with Kate. She's not in the condition to run.' Rex commanded.

'No, I can go.' Kate argued.

'You can't.'

'You're not my parents!' Kate shouted as she walked out of the water and towards Rex.

'But I'm your doctor, so it's my responsibility to look after you!' Rex shouted back.

'What does it matter to you!'

'Because I don't want you to suffer the same consequences as Rose!'

Silence descended upon them and Lilly and Humphrey were terrified by their argument, their eyes widened and their tail between their legs. Kate began to understand how Rex was feeling as he doesn't want her to suffer the same fate as his mate, and she lowered her head in disappointment.

'I'm sorry.' She said.

Rex let out a deep breath and looked at her.

'It's fine. Just… listen to what I tell you, okay?' He said in a calm voice and received a nod from her.

He looked at Lilly and forced a smile.

'Come on Lilly. Let's go.' He said and began to run towards the feeding grounds.

Lilly stopped beside her sister and patted her back.

'I'll let you know what happened when we return.' She said and ran to catch up with Rex.

Humphrey walked towards her and sat beside her, and their eyes met. He noticed her watery eyes and hugged her.

'I can't believe I said those to him.' She said sadly.

'It's okay, Kate. I understand.' He replied as he pat her back. 'Come on, let's get back into the water.'

He felt a nod on his shoulder and they broke apart and sat back into the cool water. He told her a few jokes which made her laugh and stopped her tears, and they had a pleasant conversation while waiting for Rex and Lilly's return.

Meanwhile, Rex and Lilly were almost at the feeding ground and Lilly's heart was beating at top speed. She was worried that the injured wolf may be Garth as he's gone for morning patrol and might head to the feeding ground with his friends.

Oh Garth, I hope you're okay, she thought in her mind.

When they arrived at the clearing, they caught sight of several alpha wolves in the form of a circle and the scent of blood hit their nose. They stopped behind them and tried to break through.

'Make way, healer here!' Rex shouted and the group followed.

Lilly caught sight of Garth in one of them and jumped at him by surprise. He lied on the ground with her on top and they kissed before she pull away.

'I'm so glad that you're okay. You had me worried.' She said in a worried tone.

'Of course I'm fine, but my friend isn't.' Garth replied and turned towards his friend.

Rex was horrified by what was lying infront of him. A male brown alpha wolf had an open wound at his stomach where another alpha wolf is exerting pressure at with a pool of blood below him and he began his rescue.

'Keep the pressure on that wound!' He commanded and the wolf who was doing it nodded. 'I need some long grass and a pine needle!'

The other alpha wolves nodded and began to search for his needs immediately. Rex continued to examine the rest of the body.

'How did this happen?' He asked.

One of the group stood beside him and explained.

'We were hunting a Caribou for lunch and its horn hits my friend's belly when he pounced at it and his belly began to bleed, so we dragged him out in the open immediately and called for help.'

The scavengers returned and gave Rex his requirement. He took a long grass and used his claw to tear it into thin strips and tied it to the pine needle. He gripped it with his paw and asked them to stand back, including the wolf who was helping on the wound. They watched as he began to stitch the wound and continued to make strips out of the long grass.

'Someone calm him down!' Rex commanded as the injured was panicking.

One of them stood above the injured wolf's head and did what he was told, and noticed that his friend's eyes began to close.

'We're losing him!' He shouted.

Rex tried to work as fast as he can as the wound was big and he was running out of time. Unfortunately, the wolf's eyes closed and died due to loss of blood and his friends began to cry. Rex's body froze as this was the second time that he couldn't save somewolf; the first was his mate, which was a huge pain to his emotions. Silence descended upon them with wolves crying for their dead friend and Lilly leaned her head on Garth's chest to gain comfort while Garth expressed a frown at such incident. Rex felt knives stabbed into his heart and ran away from the bloody scene with blood stained on his paws and coat. Lilly tried to chase after him, but was stopped by her mate.

'Let him calm down for a while, Lilly. We'll look for him later.' He said and she nodded slowly.

A few minutes later, Tony, Eve, Winston, Hutch and other alphas arrived and their widened when they saw the bloody scene of a dead wolf. Tony, Eve and Winston stood forward to examine the body.

'What happened here?' Winston asked.

'He died due to a blow at the belly by a Caribou's horn and bleed out, dad.' Lilly said sadly, looking at her father.

'Who did this?' Eve asked as she noticed a thick line of grass at the closed wound.

'Rex did it.' Garth replied.

'Where is he?' She asked, turning towards him.

'He ran into the woods, probably blaming himself for not being able to save him.'

'Let's prepare for the funeral.' Tony said sadly and the alphas began to carry the body to its burial.

'You two better go and check on Rex, who know what he might do to himself.' Eve said before walking away with her mate.

Lilly and Garth did what they were told and as they went deeper into the woods, they noticed claw marks on every tree they passes and followed the trail as it will eventually lead them to Rex. Finally, they heard slashing sounds getting closer and stopped when they caught sight of Rex, slashing a tree with his claws in anger.

'Why can't I save him?! Why does this happen?!' He shouted in anger and pain and made a deep slash at the tree.

He sat on the ground panting in exhaust and crying at the same time and Lilly and Garth thought that it was the time to walk towards him. They sat beside him and Garth placed a paw on his shoulder.

'It's okay man. Don't blame yourself.' He said.

'I know how you're feeling, Rex. Calm down.' Lilly said.

Rex wiped his tears and looked at them with a frown.

'It's just that… it's very painful for me to not able to save a wolf and it made me felt useless.' He explained.

'You're not useless, Rex. You're a good friend, great teacher and an amazing healer.' She replied and Garth nodded in agreement.

'Really?'

'Yeah, all you have to understand is accept death as part of life, like how you told me to be merciless to my enemy.'

That reminded him of his parents as they did told him about this too and he wondered how he was doing now that he isn't there to look after them, and they must be in tears when they know that he murdered his own mate, but surely they know that he has his own reasons. He returned to reality and looked at Garth.

'Do you want to attend the funeral? You can choose not to if you can't.' Garth asked.

'It's fine, I can. I must attend this as I've tried to save your friend, Garth.' Rex replied.

'I'll go and tell Humphrey and Kate about this.' Lilly said and received a nod from them.

'Oh, and Lilly, if Kate wants to attend the funeral, tell her that she can't. I'm sure she understands her current condition.' Rex said.

'It's fine. I might not attend the funeral and stay with them.'

'Okay. I'll get back to you once it's done.' Garth said and they went their separate ways.

Lilly completely understood what Rex was going through as every healer has feelings like that, and hoped that he will get over it soon. She continued to head towards the pond in silent, knowing that Humphrey and Kate will be shocked when they hear the bad news that she's carrying…

Well, looks like there's a lesson here that everyone or doctors should know, 'Accept death as part of life'. Hope you like this chapter and thank you so much for the support so far. I'm very happy to see this story progressing smoothly and as always, leave a review/follow/favourite. I really appreciate it and have a pleasant day. Peace out. -LoverWolfs1121

P.S : The next update might take a while, but I assure you that I will finish this story, so don't worry.