Hey all, I finally got round to posting this chapter up. I intended to post it up two weeks ago, but planning and creating it took longer than expected, and then when I did have it finished last week, I decided to just tack part of what would originally would have been the following chapter onto the end of it, so I had to go back and re-write it.. Anyway, I have finished it now, so enjoy.
Chapter 13: The not so happy reunion
It was now midday and the entire pack had gathered to celebrate Humphrey's return. Everyone was gathering around Humphrey, welcoming him back and asking all sorts of questions. Humphrey was feeling rather claustrophobic with everyone gathered around him and he didn't want all the attention, his body was screaming at him to run and find somewhere to hide, but there was nowhere to go. Thankfully, Sasha came in and dispersed the crowd. "Now come on, I know you're all happy that he's returned safely, but don't suffocate him, give him some space." Sasha said, shooing the wolves away.
Humphrey thought back to his time growing up with just him and Felix, now that was a sweet set-up, no annoying wolves pestering him or pretending to be his friends simply to improve their own status in the pack, lying and scheming, only to ditch him when they realised they could make bigger gains cosying up to Zeke. When he was with Felix, there was no pack law governing what he could do, what he couldn't do, who he could make friends with or who he could be. Even now, he couldn't help but wonder if Felix had managed to get away from those wolves, not that it would matter, it wasn't like he would see him again.
"So Humphrey, you were going to tell us what happened after we lost you." Zeke asked, snapping Humphrey out of his thoughts. Humphrey sighed and began telling them what happened, he spent the rest of the afternoon telling the story of how he met Felix, how he ended up living in the Western pack as an Omega and of course how he and Kate got taken to Ideho, how she used him to get back and just when he believed she loved him too, she dumped him for Barf. He told them of how he and Lilly decided to go traveling together, he did however leave out the parts with him howling with Kate and Lilly. By the time he had finished the story, everyone had crowded around him again, asking him questions, saying how sorry they were that all that had happened to him and that they sympathised with him. Humphrey didn't want any of it, he didn't want their pity, they didn't know what he had been through, they didn't understand any of it, he needed to get away.
He saw Lilly walking away from the crowd and pushed his way through to try and get to her, but he was blocked by the one wolf he didn't want to meet. "Hey Humphrey" Jaina called in a deceptively sweet voice, she was practically giggling and bursting with excitement and enthusiasm. "What do you want?" Humphrey growled, not bothering to hide his displeasure at seeing her. "I just wanted to say how happy I am to see you and welcome you back to the pack." Jaina continued, either not noticing Humphrey's displeasure or not caring. "Oh you'll never guess what happened whilst you were away." Jaina said, starting to tell several stories that Humphrey really wasn't interested in hearing, he decided that now was as good a time as any to sneak off whilst she was distracted. Humphrey slipped out of the clearing, stopping to check that Jaina hadn't noticed, before he ran off after Lilly.
He found Lilly a little further on, lying down by the river and decided to go and talk to her. "Hey" Humphrey said, trying to spark up some sort of conversation, but not knowing exactly what to say. "Hey." Lilly replied, continuing to watch the water flowing by, Humphrey could tell she was upset about something and decided to find out what. "Hey, is something bothering you?" he asked. "I'm glad that you finally found your parents and your pack, but I fear it'll be that Alpha and Omega thng all over again, I don't want to lose you too." Lilly sighed, her concerns matching those of Humphrey, he hoped that she wasn't correct.
Humphrey spent the rest of the day hanging around with Lilly and speaking to the various members of the pack. by the time evening came around and the sun had started to dip below the horizon, Humphrey had seen the whole pack territory, including some places he had never seen as a pup. the two wolves made their way back to the centre of the pack, where Shaun was waiting for them. "Come on Humphrey, let's get inside before it gets dark. "What about Lilly, can she stay our den tonight, she has nowhere to go?" Humphrey asked, hoping that Shaun would say yes. "she will stay with Sapphire tonight and I'll get one of my wolves to help make her a den tomorrow." Shaun replied, leading Humphrey back up to his den.
When they arrived, Humphrey found his mom and his brother already waiting for him. "Come on in, we kept your spot in the den exactly as you used to like it, even whilst you were gone, it was our way of remembering you and keeping you with us." Sasha said, Humphrey slowly made his way to the back of the den where there was a bed of moss, leaves and grass, he walked over to it and curled himself up on it and smiled, it felt so warm and soft, just like his mother's or Lilly's fur, he remembered that he always insisted on sleeping on it when he was a pup. "Still like your comforts I see. We tried to convince you to stop sleeping like that, but you refused." Sasha chuckled. Humphrey looked up at the wall next to him and saw something faintly carved into the stone. He moved so as to get a better look at it and found it was a drawing of two young wolf pups, smiling and playing together whilst their parents looked on, then he noticed that the entire wall was covered with similar drawings showing the two pups as well as other wolves and a host of other creatures including birds, fish, bears and caribou, he remembered drawing each and every single one. "Goodnight Humphrey, get some sleep now, you'll be up early tomorrow." Shaun said as Humphrey curled up on his bed and closed his eyes.
"Humphrey, Humphrey dear, wake up" Sasha called softly. Humphrey slowly opened his eyes. "Ugh, just five more minutes." Humphrey moaned. "No, you need to get up now." Shaun said, walking in with Zeke. Humphrey followed his parents and his brother out of the den to find that the sun was only just coming up. "What are we doing up this early? Never-mind, I'm going to go and check on Lilly" Humphrey asked whilst yawning. "No, it's time you grew up and stopped acting like a pup, you're going to be the next pack leader, which means having a lot of responsibilities, it also means not wasting precious time hanging around with useless Omegas. Now come on, you're going to lead the morning hunt." Shaun snapped, turning to exit the den. "But...but I..." Humphrey protested before being cut off by Shaun. "But nothing! You need to learn how to behave like a proper Alpha and that starts today. Now come on, we're keeping the others waiting." Shaun replied, Humphrey reluctantly following behind him.
Shaun led Humphrey towards the hunting grounds where the other wolves were waiting. And that was how Humphrey found himself stalking through the long grass with several other wolves. He was nervous, he didn't have much experience in being a leader, even in the Western pack, he had only really been the leader of the Omegas in name, now he was expected to somehow lead these other wolves in a hunt, if there was one thing that reassured him though, it was that his parents had assigned Sapphire to the hunting group in order to keep an eye on him and help him out.
Searching through the options, Humphrey decided to go for the easiest one, choosing one of the older Caribou, he ordered some of the wolves round either side to entrap it, and surprisingly they followed his orders without question, very different from trying to order the other Omegas to do anything. Everything was going well until someone stepped on a twig, sending an echo like a gunshot around the clearing. The Caribou's head shot up and it made a break for it. "Get it!" Sapphire yelled out to the wolves that were closest to it, the wolves got up and leaped at it, but the caribou simply jumped over the wolves, causing them to land on top of eachother. Sapphire put her head in one of her paws as she watched the chaos unfold, but she was distracted when she saw Humphrey go racing off after the escaped caribou alone.
Humphrey was not going to give up. what would his farther think of him if he failed such a menial task as hunting? No, he was going to get this caribou whatever it took. He was gaining on the Caribou which was desperately juking around trees and making sharp turns in a bid to lose him. Humphrey lost track of direction as he chased the caribou through the trees. Suddenly Humphrey and the Caribou emerged from the trees, right in the middle of the pack den area, wolves and pups scattered as they scrambled to get out of the way as the raging Caribou charged through, trampling several dens as it went. Humphrey skidded to a halt as he watched the chaos unfold. "Oh no, what have I done? Dad will never forgive me for this" He thought. As if on cue, Shaun, Zeke, Sapphire and the rest of the hunting party arrived to a scene of utter slowly backed away, trying to find somewhere to hide when suddenly he was stopped in his tracks. "HUMPHREY! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Shaun yelled, Humphrey gulped as he walked towards his farther, not daring to look him in the eye.
Evening found Humphrey lying outside the den, inside he could hear his farther still ranting and fuming."WHY THAT LITTLE USELESS EXCUSE FOR A WOLF! How can a runt like that be our son? I wish now that I had chosen Zeke as the next pack leader. If only Humphrey was half the son Zeke is" Shaun fumed. Humphrey rested his head on his paws as Shaun continued to list all his faults, he raised his head as he felt the presence of someone behind him, raising his head, he found that it was Zeke. "Well, I sure messed that one up huh?" Humphrey said with a chuckle, although Zeke knew it was half-hearted, he had heard the things his farther had said about his brother and he couldn't believe what he had been hearing. He knew that had it been him who had done that, then Shaun wouldn't have reacted quite as harshly, it was unfair, it was not right how Humphrey had always been treated like that, always overlooked and cast aside by Shaun, Humphrey may not have noticed it, but Zeke certainly did. "Listen Humphrey, it's not your fault..." Zeke started before being cut off by Humphrey. "No, he's right, it is my fault , I should never have chased that caribou, I just didn't want to disappoint him again, instead I made things worse. He's right, I am useless and good for nothing." Humphrey interjected. "Don't talk like that, you're not useless, you've helped me more times than I could count, hell, without you I wouldn't be the wolf I am today. Promise me that you won't let him get to you." Zeke pleaded, trying to cheer Humphrey up, Humphrey simply nodded in response as Zeke made his way towards the den. "By the way, I for one am glad that you're back and alive, it has been too quiet and boring around here without you." Zeke stated, before entering the den. Humphrey laid his head back down onto his paws, wondering how Lilly was doing, he hadn't been able to see her all day. Finally he drifted off to sleep.
This is xXShadowTheWolfXx signing off.