Chapter 20: The Nightmare
"Uh…where am I?" Humphrey asked as he looked around. He found himself in a dark forest, with fog blinding his sight. He couldn't see twenty feet in front of him. He then began to hear noises. "Who's there?" he asked, looking all around him, to make sure no one sneaked up on him. He heard the noise again, and this time with growling.
"I'm warning you" Humphrey said, starting to freak out. He then heard a blood-curdling laugh which sent him running, he didn't know where, he just started running. He ran for who knows long until he stopped as he was out of breath. "What just happened?" he asked himself. Terrified of where he was.
He then heard this swirling noise and looked to his right and saw some sort of images of pups being killed by wolves, four images to be exact, of two female and two male pups being killed. "Wait, are those…" but the images fade away before Humphrey could finish his sentence. Then another image of a young grey, dark blue pup with his mother and father appeared. The pup was crying intensely into his father, and he heard him say for the mother to take him away to the west.
The father was his fur colour and the female was a pure silver colour. "Mom…Dad?" Humphrey said as the image began to fade away. Humphrey ran for the image but it disappeared when he was just a few feet away. "What's going on here?" he asked yelled, hoping to be heard. "I'll tell you" he heard a voice say. He looked behind him and saw a dark coloured wolf leaping for his neck…
Humphrey shot up from his nightmare, sweat pouring from his forehead. "It was all a dream" he kept telling himself…but it seemed so real. He buried his face in his paws and to recap what happened. He saw images of four pups and recognized them but doesn't remember from where. The two elder wolves he saw were his…mom and dad? "I have to tell Winston about this" he said. He forgot about his earlier injuries and when he tried to get up, he fell back down with a cry, at which moment Mark came in.
"Good to see you're up but I'd take it easy if I were you" he said as he helped Humphrey get on all fours. "What happened?" he asked. "Eve tried to kill you, but Kate managed to tackle her off you before the damage got too severe" Mark explained. Then yesterday's memory came back to Humphrey and shivered a bit in remembering Eve trying to kill him.
"Do you know where Kate is?" Humphrey asked. "I think she's with Winston" Mark replied as he went back to his work. "Ok thanks" Humphrey said as he slowly walked into the daylight. As he exited the den, he saw wolves going about their usual business. He then saw his three friends walking in the distance and called out to them. They heard him call and jogged to him.
"Hey Humphrey, you alright?" Salty asked. "Yeah, these cuts still sting a bit though" Humphrey replied. "Well that's what you get for mating with the pack leader's daughter" Shakey said. "Yeah I guess…wait, how do you know me and Kate mated?" Humphrey asked, surprised they already knew what happened. "Dude it's going around the whole pack, everybody knows" Mooch said. "This is just great" Humphrey said face pawing himself.
"Don't worry Humphrey, they're not making a big deal of it" Shakey said, trying to bring some good news to him. "Why should I care anyway, me and Kate mated and now we're truly mates" Humphrey said trying to forget the embarrassing fact that everybody knows. "There you are Humphrey, already looking at the bright side of things" Shakey said patting his back.
"Anyway, have you guys seen Kate?" he asked. "She's right over there with Winston" Mooch said pointing to the main alpha den, where Humphrey saw Winston and Kate talking on the ledge. "Thanks guys" Humphrey said and began walking there. "You know you were right" Shakey whispered to Salty. "Told you that bluff would work" Salty said triumphantly. "I can't believe you guys stayed calm when he said they mated, I was expecting one of you to 'I win'" Mooch said.
"Now that you mention it, YES I WIN! TOLD YOU SHAKEY!" Salty yelled. "You had to tell him that" Shakey said looking at Mooch.
Meanwhile, Humphrey had just reached where Kate and Winston were. "Hey Kate" Humphrey said as he came beside her. "Humphrey! How are you feeling?" Kate asked as she looked over him. "I feel great, except the fact that your mom tried to kill me" he said. "I'm sorry about that Humphrey. Eve is just over-protective" Winston said, hoping Humphrey doesn't have any hard feelings. "That's an understatement" Humphrey said with a smile. Winston and Kate both laughed a bit at this.
"But I understand sir, she's just worried about her daughter" he finished. "Thank you for understanding Humphrey" Winston said. "Anyway what were you guys talking about?" Humphrey asked. "Our patrols have been reporting that a wolf has been coming and going as they have found the same scent on the edge of our territory. I have doubled the patrols but that wolf still seems to get through somehow" Winston explained.
"You think he's from another pack?" Kate asked. "Definitely cause a lone wolf would never do this" Winston said. "Anyway why don't you two enjoy the rest of the day" Winston said. "Uh sir, is it alright if I can have a word with you in private?" Humphrey asked. Winston could sense the urgency in this. "Of course Humphrey" he said. "I'll see you back at the den Humphrey" Kate said and gave him a lick on the cheek. They both smiled at each other and Kate left to their den.
"So what was it you wanted to talk about Humphrey?" Winston asked. "Well sir…it was about a dream I had…more of a nightmare" Humphrey said. "Go on" Winston said eager to hear. Humphrey hesitated for a second before he said, "I wasn't born here sir, was I?" he asked Winston, never breaking eye contact.
Winston tensed up a bit. He knew Humphrey would find out eventually. Guessed he should have been prepared when the time came. "I had a dream where I think I saw my parents and some other pups, who I think were my brothers and sisters" Humphrey said.
"Let me answer your first question Humphrey. Yes, you were not born here. We found you and your mom…" Winston said but was cut off by Humphrey. "Did she have a pure silver coat of fur?" he asked. "Yes she did Humphrey. She died a few minutes later because a neck wound, but before she closed her eyes, she asked me to take care of you" Winston explained.
"Then what about my dad?" he asked. "I'm sorry Humphrey, but that's all I can tell you now. When you're ready, I'll tell you the rest of the story" Winston replied. It looks like he knows more about Humphrey than he's letting on. "Ok, I understand, but I'll tell you one more thing I saw…another wolf…he was dark black and had a scar that ran on the left side of his face" Humphrey said. Winston just noted this in his head.
"Anyway, thank you for listening sir" Humphrey said and began to walk away to his and Kate's den. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help right now Humphrey, but you will get my help…I promised your father that, remembering Chris. Just then he remembered something. "Humphrey!" he called out. Humphrey heard him call and he stopped and turned around.
"Eve would like a word with you the next time she sees you" Winston said. "Would that involve her ripping me apart?" Humphrey asked with a joking and serious face. Winston just chuckled a bit. "No Humphrey, she just wants to talk about Kate's present" Winston said with a wink. Humphrey was just blushing a deep red, before Winston walked away back to the main den, laughing to himself.
Humphrey soon reached his and Kate's den which was in its own section away from the pack but within the territory. "Hey beautiful" Humphrey said as he entered the den and saw Kate curled up waiting for him. "Hey yourself handsome" Kate replied with a smile and nuzzled him. "So what did you want to talk with my dad?" she asked. "Oh…nothing much, just a normal guy to guy talk" Humphrey said as he didn't want Kate to worry about him.
"Humphrey, you know you can tell me anything right?" Kate said, reminding him that she would always be there for him. "Yes Kate, it was nothing serious" Humphrey said, as it was just a dream after all, but it seemed like section of a lost memory. Kate snuggled up against Humphrey and the two wolves prepared themselves for the night.
Meanwhile
Shade was making his way back to the pack. He was to do more recon in the unified packs to see the new lifestyle and to find weak points in the packs. He made his way through the feeding grounds in his pack where he saw some females talking and playing with their pups. All the males were alphas. They never killed any pups if they were on their way in becoming omegas. It was just the genes they passed on always enforced their pups being alphas.
He soon met up with Axle. "Anything to report Shade?" he asked. "Just the same, they seem to be doing well with the marriages and I still can't find any weak points" Shade answered. "What about that grey omega who is now mates with the leader's daughter" Axle asked. "I couldn't find him today" was Shade's simple response.
"Cause Cutter is now giving you special orders to find him and report on him only" Axle said. "Why would Cutter want me to scout on a stupid omega?" Shade asked. "That's his choice, now do you understand!" Axle asked, shocked that one of his own wolves would be questioning their leader. "Yes sir" Shade replied with his head turned away.
"Good, now head back to your den need rest for tomorrow" Axles said and soon they went their separate ways, and Axle was heading to Cutter's den. The main alpha den was in the middle of the pack and was on top of hill. Axle entered the den and saw his leader sleeping. "Sir!" he responded strongly to wake him up.
"What do you have to report?" he asked waking up. "Nothing much on the unified packs but I have passed on your orders to Shade about that grey omega, but sir…if I may ask…why are you focusing on that wolf?" Axle asked, hoping his leader would not be angry. "Because I need to see if he's not Chris's son" the wolf simply answered as he walked outside. "In fact, I think I'll have a look for myself" Cutter said with a smile as he sat on the ledge overlooking his territory.