Welcome to the penultimate chapter of Book the Third.
After this one, things will never be the same again.
As Lilly stormed off, as all the other Jasper wolves watched her go, none of them bothered to look upward to a higher cliff, where Benny was standing just out of view. As he listened to the last notes of the commotion, his snout curved into a smile.
"Interesting," he said. "The Emperor is going to want to hear about this!"
Down below, all the Jasper wolves stood in silence, each one waiting for someone else to break the awkward, perhaps even eerie, calm.
"So wait, Miss Lilly didn't murder Miss Melanie?" Edgar asked at last, displaying once more his skill for making awkward moments even more awkward.
"Oh, you finally caught on to that, did you, Columbo?" Claw said dismissively.
Edgar looked confused, perhaps even upset. He shook his head. "But, if Miss Lilly didn't murder Miss Melanie, than she's not the bloodthirsty, heartless psychopath I believed her to be! Having just seen what she did to Kate, now I have to believe that she's just a small, delicate, innocent little thing who would never hurt a fly!"
"You certainly do have an interesting way of making your conclusions, I'll give you that," Scar responded.
"But how can that be?" Edgar continued. "I'm never wrong! My conclusions and observations were always so accurate before!"
Claw raised the closest thing a wolf has to an eyebrow. "Oh, you mean the observations you used to completely miss the fact that I'm a girl?"
Edgar now stared at her blankly. "What, still?"
Claw snarled and growled. "Yes, still! I'm not a starfish; I can't change my gender whenever I feel like it!"
But by this time, Edgar had lost interest in her again. He was once more shaking his head in profound disbelief. "But this means all my basic ideas about life are wrong: Miss Claw is a girl, Miss Lilly is not a vicious, sadistic serial killer, and gambling is apparently illegal in most parts of Canada! I don't have anything to believe in anymore!"
But, this whole time, only the Betas had been truly listening to him. Garth, Humphrey, and Kate had been busy exchanging uncomfortable glances, none of them wanting to be the first one to speak but knowing that somebody had to. Finally, Garth spoke. "Well, I hope you're proud of yourself, Kate!"
Kate was offended. "You think I wanted this to happen? I would have told Lilly a long time ago except that mom and dad told me not to!"
"And do you always listen to what mom and dad say?" Garth shot back.
Humphrey put on a half-hearted smile. "Now, come on, Garth! Considering who her mother is, I think Kate has a valid point there!"
Garth looked down. He did not want to admit it, but Humphrey made a compelling argument. While he felt like he could never forgive Kate for what she did to Lilly, Garth knew that he too would never get on Eve's bad side if there was even the slightest chance of avoiding it.
"Speaking of which," Humphrey said, turning to Kate, "I've been meaning to ask you about that. Melanie's death, is that the reason your mother is–" At this point, Humphrey mimed the claws and sharp fangs of a giant, vicious monster to get his point across.
"My mother is what, Humphrey?" Kate asked, not sure what Humphrey was getting at but not enjoying the insinuation.
"You know!" Humphrey said, now going for even more exaggerated monster-type motions.
Kate shook her head slightly and glared at Humphrey. Having her Alpha tail thoroughly handed to her by the gentlest and least-threatening Omega in Canada had not robbed her of the ability to convey 'Don't cross me' with a single glance.
Humphrey was now at a loss. With a final few half-hearted gestures, he said, "Is that why's she's such a violent, rage-filled tornado of bloodshed?"
"What are you trying to say about my mother, Humphrey?" Kate asked, tapping her paw in annoyance on the ground and having completely forgotten about the rather generous serving of blood she had recently deposited there.
"Ooh, somebody's gonna get it!" Garth mumbled with much too great satisfaction.
"Oh, like you weren't wondering the same thing!" Humphrey retorted.
"Humphrey, my mate just left in a huff after demolishing her sister, breaking your nose, and, worse of all, threatening me with divorce! I've got a few more important things on my mind than Eve."
"The way I see it," Hutch said, "you two are both dead when Eve hears about this anyway."
"Funny, I don't remember asking for your opinion," Humphrey responded.
"Nobody ever asks for my opinion," Hutch replied. "That's why I'm a Beta."
"Well, since Humphrey did ask," Garth said slyly. "Fess up, Kate! Is Melanie's death what made Eve so… um…."
"Loco?" Humphrey suggested.
"Yeah, that'll do," Garth said. "Thanks, Humphrey."
Kate sighed, realizing that there was no real way to get out of this. Here was another uncomfortable thing she would have to explain. "Mom was always tough, to an extent, but I think it was Melanie's death which really pushed her over the edge. I think she was so horrified by what happened to one daughter she decided that she'd do anything to protect the other two."
Humphrey smiled in satisfaction. "Finally, the reason me and Garth have to live under constant threat of impromptu pneumonectomies. I mean, she's even started giving us lists every month of all the new and creative ways she's come up with of torturing us in the last four weeks if we even so much as look at you and Lilly wrong. It's always a very long list!"
"Supporting my argument that you and Garth don't have very long to live when Eve hears about this," Hutch interjected.
"Still not asking for your opinion," Humphrey said.
"Still not caring," Hutch replied.
"Personally, I think the big news," Can-do volunteered, "is the way in which Lilly completely annihilated Kate. I used to think Kate was the toughest wolf ever, but if she can't defend herself from Lilly, I don't know anymore."
Kate sneered. "What? I wasn't trying! I couldn't hurt my own sister, no matter what she's trying to do to me! I had no choice but to take it!"
Can-do simply blew this off. "Whatever, ma'am. That's what all the washed-up fighters say when someone better comes along."
Kate rushed into his face with surprising speed for someone with a wounded paw and a even more heavily-wounded face. "Who you callin' washed-up, huh? Certainly not me, considering that I'm your pack-leader and could have you exiled on the spot!"
"There you go again," Garth said, "throwing your title around. Isn't that what got us into this problem in the first place?"
Kate fell silent and looked to the ground in shame. She knew Garth was right. "Sorry, Can-do," she muttered.
"Guys, aren't we forgetting who the real victim is here?" Humphrey asked. "I know she pretty much totaled us all, but Lilly's the one who's really suffering! Can we blame her after what she's had to live with because of this? And then to have it all come out so suddenly, I probably would have gone just as crazy."
"Except that you punch like a girl," Garth remarked.
"Hey, Lilly punches like a girl and we're all worse for it!" Humphrey exclaimed.
"Hey, Miss Claw can do one better," Edgar said. "She actually is a girl! Even though she looks like a guy!"
"Yep, I can do one better!" Claw said with surprising enthusiasm. "You wanna see how a girl punches?"
She threw out her fist to the left and knocked Edgar out cold.
"Wanna see it again?" she asked as the look in her eyes just dared the other wolves to make an issue of it.
"Well, all I can say," Garth said, glaring at Kate, "is that I hope you're proud of yourself, Kate. After everything you did to Lilly, I hope you're proud of yourself!"
Kate shook her head in disbelief that this was all coming back around again. "But, I didn't mean to cause all this! I was just trying to do the right thing by her!"
"Yeah, after ruining her life," Garth quipped. "But I had better go get her. It's dangerous for her to be by herself in the Yukon."
He turned to go. But just as he was about to leave, he felt a paw on his shoulder. He looked to see Kate gently holding onto him.
"You're right, Garth," Kate said with as much of a smile as she could muster. "It is all my fault. I did completely wrong by Lilly and I should be the one to make it right. Please, let me talk to her first. I need to try and make things up. If I can get through to her, it'll make things easier for all of us."
Garth looked into Kate's eyes and saw that she was in earnest. He did not know what to do. Lilly was his mate, but he understood that Kate needed to do this to make everything right, for Lilly and for herself. Finally, he nodded.
"Thank you, Garth," Kate said with genuine appreciation. She then did something which no one ever expected her to do. She hugged her brother-in-law.
"Hey, group hug!" Humphrey called out as he quickly joined in.
Garth tried to wriggle out of the hug as Humphrey wrapped himself around Kate. "Um, thanks, Kate. But… um… you really should be going to catch Lilly!"
Kate nodded and began to move swiftly up the path. As she did so, she was surprised to see Humphrey right by her side. That he would want to follow her was not surprising, but that he could keep up with her and even come by her side without her seeing was truly an impressive feat.
"Hey, Humphrey, where you going?" Garth asked indignantly.
"Kate needs my emotional support," Humphrey said matter-of-factly. Then he winked and added, "Besides, somebody needs to keep order in case those two come to blows again!"
"But if you're going, I should, too!" Garth made to catch up with Humphrey and Kate.
"No, big guy, it's alright," Humphrey said. "I'll just be waiting in the background for Kate to have her heart-to-heart. Besides, I think you're the best person to keep the Betas from – I don't know – burning the mountain down or something."
Garth considered this. "Well, you've got a point there. I am the most responsible one of all of us…."
Humphrey somehow managed to sneak in an eye-roll Kate's way before turning back to Garth and saying, "Yeah, of course you are. So why don't you stay here and we'll work everything out. I promise that me and Kate will make sure nothing happens to Lilly. And you know that I always keep my promises."
Garth seemed uneasy, but he finally nodded and turned back toward the Betas. Without more words being shared, Kate and Humphrey rushed off toward in the direction Lilly had disappeared in.
Lilly sat high above the valley on a rocky outcropping. It was a secluded spot, the type she always liked to find when she needed to be alone. And now she needed to be alone more than ever.
Tears fell from Lilly's eyes in torrents. Though she was sobbing quietly, as though she thought there was someone around whom she did not want to hear, she was still releasing quite a flood. But she had every right to, all things considered.
Lilly, at this moment, hated life. Lilly, at this moment, wished she had never been born – or star-born as the case may be. Lilly, at this moment, wished she was dead.
As she cried, she thought she heard something behind her. Lilly had always been more perceptive than anyone gave her credit for and was quite capable of telling when someone was sneaking up behind her. And in these harsh northern climes, anyone in need of stealth probably had dark intentions.
"Wh-who's there?" Lilly said as she turned around, unable to hold back a further sob despite the danger she now recognized that she was in.
Much to her surprise, when she turned around, it was Tarquin that she saw.
Lilly immediately paced backward toward the cliff, unsure of what to make of this new visitor. She lowered her head and tail and arched her spine somewhat. She did not want Tarquin to know she was scared, but it was something that could not easily be hid, especially by her.
"Don't worry, little one," Tarquin said with a smile. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"B-but you hate us Jasper wolves!" Lilly managed to choke out.
Tarquin chuckled. "Kate is my enemy, not you – er, Lilly is it? Especially not now that I know how she's done such great wrong to both of us."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Lilly bleated out, still not willing to trust Tarquin. But she could not help admitting that she was curious about what he was saying.
"That rat Benny overheard the whole conversation and explained it all to me," Tarquin said as he approached Lilly.
Lilly tried to back away slowly, but Tarquin was moving much more swiftly. So she picked up the pace and tried to keep herself at a safe distance. That is until she felt one of her back paws come down on finest air. She was at the edge of the cliff and one more step would be fatal.
In fact, the surprise of now only having three legs for support caused Lilly to lose her balance. She panicked and cried out as she felt herself beginning to fall. But she was more capable of taking care of herself than many would give her credit for. Lilly hurriedly managed to steady herself with minimal effort.
And then she felt Tarquin's paw upon her shoulder. She began to panic again, but he released her as soon as he was certain that she would not fall.
In the excitement, Lilly's bangs had once more fallen over her left eye. With his paw, Tarquin now gently pushed them out of the way once more. As he did so, Lilly's eyes locked with his.
"I… I don't understand," Lilly said softly.
"My dear," Tarquin said with previously-unsuspected politeness, "would you walk with me awhile?"
Lilly looked down, still unsure. She did not trust Tarquin, but she knew she was practically at his mercy here. He could easily push her over the cliff without anyone being the wiser. But he had chosen to try and save her life, not end it. Lilly sensed that there was more here than met her previously-covered eye. Finally, she nodded.
"You and me, we're not so different," Tarquin said as they began to walk. "Actually, we two are very much alike."
Lilly was looking down and away from Tarquin. "But… you're supposed to be evil," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Tarquin smiled slightly as he looked ahead. "I understand how you could feel that way. I haven't been the most civil host, have I? But you have to understand how great my need to get back at Kate was, how great the wrong she did me was. I know you can understand that. Don't you feel that way, after what she's done to you?"
Lilly now looked him in the eyes. She nodded. "Yeah," she said.
"Kate is my enemy," Tarquin said. "Kate and those who choose to ally themselves with her evil. I could never treat you like that now that I know that she's made you suffer just like she has me."
"It wasn't fair," Lilly said, barely holding back tears. "After everything, it wasn't fair. She ruined my life and killed my sister, all because she had to be the best! And she let me believe it was all my fault."
Tarquin grunted in anger as he heard this. "Kate is sick and depraved. She must be stopped. My whole purpose here was stopping her before she ruined anyone else's lives."
"Too late," Lilly muttered.
Tarquin smiled. He felt like he was getting through to Lilly.
He continued, "And that's what we can do, together. Lilly, you're just the person I need to bring down Kate once and for all. Then the whole world shall see her villainy for what it is. What do you say?"
Lilly hesitated. She did not look up from the ground. "But… but… if you were just doing this to get back at Kate, why did so many others have to die?"
Tarquin shrugged and smiled. "Collateral damage."
Now Lilly finally lifted her head up. And she shook it fiercely, so fiercely in fact that the lily-shaped tresses atop her head went whirling this way and that. "No! You can't just kill so many and say it's collateral damage! That's not right!"
Tarquin's smile became more devious. "Right? Was what Kate did to me right? Was what my father did to me right? How does the world have the right to tell me what is right? Why is it even right?"
"But… those people, all those wolves, the never did anything to you! They were innocent! They didn't deserve to die and that's the truth!"
Tarquin now let out a laugh that suggested he was rather amused by Lilly's view of things. "Oh, really? What is truth?"
Lilly now locked eyes with him. Somehow, despite being where she was and feeling all of her old timidity, Lilly could not let this stand. Not when there were lives at stake, innocent lives. "Truth is compassion for everybody who never got the chance to choose their own destiny. You know, the people like you claim to be!"
Tarquin rolled his eyes and nodded his head. He seemed to be, overall, enjoying this little exchange. "You just don't get it, do you? Without me, those people are as good as dead anyway. You think wolfkind can survive much longer like it is, with all these tiny little packs? When the humans and the dogs are constantly invading our homes, taking over, and forcing us out? How long do you think anybody's going to last now?"
Lilly was silent.
"Exactly," Tarquin said. "That's why they need me. The packs are weak and divided. What they need is a leader who can turn them into one so that they can resist annihilation. And only I can do that. Only I have the vision, the foresight, the power to unite all the packs of Canada against our foes! And that's why I am destined to reign as Emperor of All Wolves forever and ever!"
Lilly was looking away, over the cliffs to the rugged wilderness below. She was too wrapped up in these words to even notice that they had now come to the large cliff in front of Tarquin's den. "There has to be a better way," she said softly.
"Oh yes," Tarquin mocked. "Why don't we all hold hands and promise to share and share alike, I don't think! There is no other way. All those who you say I killed – maybe I did! But they were as good as dead anyway! They may have died, but it was necessary so that many more could live! Everything I did, no matter how 'evil' or 'brutal' it may seem to you, was absolutely necessary to unite all the packs! Anyone who stands in the way of my vision deserves to be crushed underfoot anyway! And sometimes a little brutality can go a very long way."
Lilly shook her head a little, as though she still could not believe (even after everything) what Tarquin was saying. "You sound like such a monster!"
Tarquin approached a nearby rock. "Maybe I am a monster," he said as he climbed onto it, "but this world needs its monsters. Because, contrary to popular belief, it's not the heroes that maintain order in this world, it's the monsters. Has anyone ever done anything because they were inspired by a hero?"
"Y-y-yes?" Lilly sputtered out.
"Well, maybe so, but so many more people have been moved to act not by any hero, but because they feared the monsters out there in the darkness. It's the monsters that keep society running. Face it, Lilly, any truly strong and healthy society needs its monsters, no matter what you or anybody else says."
Tarquin, standing upon the rock, now turned toward Lilly and threw out his forelegs in a grand gesture as he spoke. "The truth is, for the ship of state to make it through all the stormy seas of this world, it needs to be resting upon the back of the Leviathan!"
Lilly found herself backing away. She could not believe what she was hearing, even from Tarquin. She felt as though she could not find the words to answer him, but she still would not accept what he had said. No matter what, she would not accept it. And that way, he could never win.
Tarquin now jumped off his rock and began to approach Lilly again. As she continued to back away, he held out his paw toward her. "But I don't want to do it alone. I need – well, I don't need anyone but – I'd like to have someone by my side who understands my vision and the things necessary to achieve it. Someone like you."
Lilly shook her head again. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? "Are you… actually…."
"Yes, Lilly," Tarquin said. "Every Emperor must have an Empress if he is going to build a lasting dynasty. And of all the wolves I have ever met, you are the only one who has experienced what I have, so only you can understand me. That's why you should be the one to build a newer, better Canada by my side."
"But… but… but… I'm already married!"
"Hmph! Like that means anything!"
"It… it does…." Lilly closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to remember all the good times she had with Garth. But, as she opened her eyes, she realized that the pain she felt was too great for her to bring up those memories.
Tarquin gave Lilly a tilt of the head and a knowing glance. "Does it? Married to a wolf who has never appreciated you, a wolf who would not even stand up for you when you needed him! Didn't you try to tell him the truth, and he just brushed you off? Didn't you?"
Lilly looked away. "Well… yeah…."
Tarquin nodded. "So, he's just as bad as Kate is! Well, no one could be just as bad as Kate, but he clearly does not deserve you. What type of mate questions their partner when they should be backing them one-hundred percent?"
"A very shabby one!" Lilly exclaimed unexpectedly, letting her pain get the better of her for a moment. When she realized what she had said, she tried to backtrack, "I mean…."
Tarquin now circled around Lilly and rubbed his body against hers as he came back to her side. "Come on, Lilly, you have to admit that I'd make a much better husband than Garth ever would. What does he have that I don't, anyway?"
Lilly now looked away from Tarquin again, being unable to bear looking at him as he was now right on top of her. "Well, um, he's… well…."
Tarquin smirked. "At least I'm not too pretty and I'm not too proud. I would never betray you like that worthless cad did. So, what do you say? Accept my offer?"
Lilly was silent as so many emotions seemed to whirl around like a maelstrom in her mind. But Tarquin was an impatient wolf. He put his foreleg around Lilly and said, "All you have to say is yes."
However, before anybody could say anything more, a shout came from the path. "Tarquin, unpaw my sister!"
Tarquin quickly lifted up his foreleg to lock around Lilly's throat as he perned the both of them to face Kate and Humphrey swiftly approaching. He began to step backward toward the cliff as they rapidly approached.
"Stay back, dogs!" he barked as he held the jeweled end of his scepter to Lilly's throat. "Stay back or I dispose of this little white rat once and for all!"
This forced Kate and Humphrey to stop in their tracks. They realized that they did not have much of an advantage here.
"Tarquin, let her go," Kate said. "I'm the one you have the grudge with, remember? Do whatever you want to me, but leave her out of this."
"Oh, how kind of you to say so, Kate," Tarquin said. "As though you ever actually cared for your sister in the first place! After you killed your other one and put all the blame on her."
Kate was stunned. How could Tarquin know about what had just gone on? Her mind raced to try and process this fact and find a fitting rebuttal. But as she was doing so, moments of silence passed.
"You see," Tarquin whispered to Lilly. "I told you she doesn't care about you. She can't even speak up when I confront her with it. Neither of them can. That's why you'd be better sticking with me. Just say the word, and we can teach Kate a lesson… together."
After a moment, Lilly began to say, "Ye-ye-ye–"
Humphrey realized how much difficulty his mate was having in responding. So, as he always seemed to find himself doing in these situations, he would help Kate out. Looking squarely at Tarquin, he yelled. "And what do you know about love? After you killed Rosaline?"
That story, which Tarquin himself had told, flashed through Lilly's mind, as well as memories of everyone she had ever heard of being victimized by the self-proclaimed Emperor. And she realized that, no matter her problems with her family, she could not stand by and let Tarquin hurt anyone else.
"No!" she yelled as she delivered a powerful elbow to Tarquin's gut. This forced him to release her and she was now free.
But Tarquin's rage allowed him to recover much faster than even he would have thought possible. With a loud scream, he batted the side of his scepter into Lilly's face, sending her flying.
Kate's eyes grew wide as she realized what was happening, what was happening for a second time. "Not again," she said quietly. Quietly, but with the strongest feeling of determination she had ever known.
Then Kate burst into the air and twirled toward the cliff-edge as Lilly went spiraling over it. Even as Lilly's gentle, fluffy body seemed to hang suspended in the air like a cloud against the blue sky, Kate knew she would not fall. Kate would save her sister this time; she knew she would. As Lilly began to fall beneath the cliff, Kate threw out her paw to grab onto Lilly's. Lilly threw out her own paw to grasp Kate's. Their paws came closer and closer, until….
Kate fell to the cliff in pain. She realized that, in her determination to save Lilly, she had left herself wide-open to an attack and Tarquin had used the opening to thrust the blunt-end of his scepter into her stomach. In truth, it had only been enough to wind her, but Kate knew that the act must have cost her vital seconds. She crawled to the edge of the cliff and threw her front-half over. She reached out her paw and screamed, "Lilly!"
But it was too late. The last Kate saw of Lilly was her white form disappearing into the white clouds below, those lavender eyes looking up at Kate with fear and with sorrow and with so many questions about why her big sister had not saved her, why her big sister had let her down… again.
Kate had seen such a look once before, and in the exact same situation as this. Now she had lost two sisters this way, and she felt like she was all alone in the world.
Tears filled Kate's eyes and began to roll down from her face down toward the white clouds which her sister's form had just so tragically become one with. "Lilly..." she said quietly, imploringly, little more than a whisper. But she knew it was too late.
Is this the end for Lilly?
And what will become of the United Pack without her?
How will her family deal with her loss?
Read on.