Alpha and Omega: Lone Wolf
Chapter 25: The Pursuit of Vengeance
A/N: Alright guys! Big chapter ahead of us. I had so much fun writing it and I didn't want to stretch the story out any longer. The time is right! I hope it is a good read too. Warning: This chapter is particularly gruesome contains characters beating the crap out of each other, highly detailed!
On the outskirts of a western forest two wolves raced out as the trees began to scatter. They raced past trees and boulders, jumped over logs and trenches before arriving at a clearing at the bottom of the foot hills.
"I am… never… doing… that again." Lily said as she gasped for air. She looked over at her sister who was just as tired.
"That we… can… agree on." Kate said as she moved closer to Lily; stretching her legs. "Ugh." Kate cursed under her breathe and curled in slightly as she walked.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked concerned as she moved over to her sister.
"It's nothing just got clipped from one of those damn dogs-" Kate said huffing in annoyance.
"Kate let me see." Lily said in a more insistent tone as she moved closer to inspect any wounds.
Kate sighed and relaxed exposing the scratch mark she had received from the dogs. Lily moved closer and touched it gently with her paw making Kate wince, she then moved in and quickly cleaned up the wound on Kate's side. Lily knew what she was doing she had seen cuts worse than this on omegas back when Garth was in charge of the packs. Lily shook her head trying to dispel the angry thoughts when Garth came into her mind. Kate suddenly moved away from Lily and Lily made an indignant sound when Kate moved as she hadn't finished cleaning the wound. Kate was looking this way and that before turning back to Lily with a look of fear that Lily hadn't seen very often.
"Where's Humphrey and Adam?!" Kate said getting more scared as she moved to look over boulders and look around the surroundings. "They were just behind us! Lily, why didn't you tell me they had fallen back?!" Kate shouted getting angry now.
"I don't know! I thought you would have been watching them." Lily was also worried for both Adam and Humphrey. Adam was a nice wolf but she didn't really know him. But Humphrey she cared deeply about. He had always been one to make her laugh even if he was different now she still hoped he was safe.
Just then the bushes rustled as Humphrey and Adam appeared out of the wilderness. Humphrey was walking a long supporting Adam who had a long gash across the top of his left shoulder and limping slightly as he walked. He leaned into Humphrey to stop himself from falling over but as soon as he entered the clearing he collapsed to the floor his white fur was stained with blood which made the wound look a lot worse. Lily quickly moved over to inspect Adam's wound and he hissed and snarled a bit as Lily looked it over.
"Humphrey! You're alright, I was so worried about you. I thought for a moment that…" Kate quickly moved over to Humphrey and embraced him before bringing him into a passionate kiss.
"I'm doing just find as well, thanks Kate." Adam wheezed as he tried to sit up and was promptly pushed back down quite forcefully by Lily.
"Don't move, I'm almost done." Lily said as she cleaned away dirt and dried blood using her tongue, she made quick trips to a nearby stream to clean her mouth as sanitizing a wound was never a hygienic experience if you were a wolf.
"Charming, this sister of yours." Adam said as he tried to lie still as Lily continued to work quickly on his wounds.
"Obviously, I was worried about you too Adam." Kate chuckled weakly as she looked at the wound that Adam had sustained. "Does it hurt?"
"Like hell but I'll manage. I would have been dead if it wasn't for Humphrey." Adam said as he weakly tried to look up at the pair of wolves. "Never thought I'd see a wolf stand up to humans like that before."
"It was nothing. I promised your parents I would get you back alive and that is what I plan to do." Humphrey said but he purposefully didn't try to make eye contact with Kate who was eyeing him with amazement and a little fear for how much danger her mate put himself into.
"How did you escape?" Kate said looking back and forth from Adam to Humphrey.
"When we approached the human camp I knew I must have been shot with one of their weapons as right after one of them fired I felt a searing pain in my shoulder and back that caused me to fall to the floor. I had managed to run a safe distance from the camp but the wound hurt too much and I fell back down. I thought it was over when the humans found me and pointed their guns at me. But then Humphrey came up behind them and knocked them over. I noticed another human had caught the rifle and shouted to Humphrey to watch out but he did the strangest thing he turned round and stared down the human even though he had a gun pointed right at him..." Adam was cut off as Humphrey closed his eyes as he sensed Kate was glaring him.
"Are you completely out of your mind?! What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" Kate shouted at Humphrey.
"Are you finished?" Humphrey sounded annoyed and Kate instantly regretted snapping at him. "It was the only way of getting to Adam and saving his life, they would have killed him otherwise." Humphrey looked back to Adam and smiled faintly.
Kate huffed agitated with herself for speaking so harshly and for Humphrey acting so recklessly but didn't say anymore.
Adam swallowed before continuing. "As I was saying, the human had a gun pointed right at him and the strangest thing happened. Humphrey gave him a warning growl and he seemed to understand and took a few steps back, lowered his weapon and turned away." Both Kate and Lily stared at Humphrey who kept his expression stoic. It was Lily who broke the silence "That was a brave thing you did Humphrey. I don't think there are many wolves that would stand off against a human even to save a friend, no offence Adam."
"None taken. Glad to be here." Adam chuckled.
"Right now that we are past the humans we should be able to ascend the mountain where Garth is hiding. What is Adam's condition?" Kate said stiffly, she had heard enough of how her mate put himself in danger. She couldn't describe what she was feeling maybe it was the fear of losing Humphrey as well as her father.
Lily and Kate were slowly becoming more accepting of each other, but it was hard to talk 'small talk'. After all, they were planning on hunting down Lily's husband and killing him. Plus, it was not long before that they had been fighting each other to the death. At the moment, they spoke to each other in a strictly business fashion.
"Stable. The wound was cauterised by the gun. It will scar over. He should be able to follow up the mountain now that he has had some rest. But I wouldn't recommend him combat anytime soon."
"Hang back. Right. Got it." Adam nodded and sighed. "I wonder what I'm going to tell Leo."
Humphrey had moved away from the group and was now looking up at one of the mountains that were closest to them "That can wait. I'm sure you'll receive an earful in due time. But we have more pressing matters to deal with now." Lily, Kate and Adam looked up and narrowed their eyes to see what Humphrey was looking at. There in the distance was Garth with several other wolves trailing behind him, they were trailing up diagonally on a mountain pass that was leading up to a steep gorge that was made up of the two largest interlocking peaks.
"Why is he going that way?" Lily said looking up at where the distant wolves were slowly making their way up the slope. "Doesn't he realise he is walking into an obvious trap"
Adam also moved up to get a view if a bit slowly. "He probably thinks it was the best way to bottleneck us to make it harder for us to track him down. But if what Hutch told me was true then that area works both ways. With us coming up from behind they will have nowhere to go but forward into the pass that will be extremely hard to navigate as there will be high winds at night." Adam spoke tactically of the situation, throughout their entire time in the pursuit for Garth, Adam had been the one to come up with most of the plans of attack along with help from Hutch.
"We need to pick up the pace if we are going to catch up. Are you gonna be ok Adam?" Kate asked concerned for Adam but also fighting the urge to race after Garth now that he was finally back in their sights.
"Yeah. I'll be fine. I'll try to match your pace but don't stop if I fall behind. I'll catch up besides I don't want that bastard to slip away from us again." Adam said as they started to climb the bottom of the mountain. They could move quickly here as the winds weren't as strong but as they got further and further up the slope the winds grew stronger, the ground became more rocky and unstable and the gradient of the slope became more unforgiving. Adam began to drop back as he started to feel too much pain in his legs and was gasping for air. True to their word Humphrey, Kate and Lily continued on without him. They could clearly see Garth on the slope ahead of them and they were yet to make the final ascent into the mountain pass. Humphrey, Kate and Lily now picked up the pace, they had to be careful on the slopes so they crisscrossed back and forth, jumping from boulder to boulder as they attempted to narrow the gap.
It was then that they heard something that spurred them on with renewed vigour. Becky and Hutch's howls. They had made themselves known almost at the exact same time so it was hard to distinguish whose howl was whose. Humphrey chuckled to himself and turned to look as both Kate and Lily running alongside him were both giving him puzzled looks. "I can already picture both Hutch and Becky already arguing about who got here first." Kate and Lily quickly remembered how much the two had argued and chuckled lightly.
All three wolves looked in the distance and felt a huge relief to see a large group of powerful wolves ascending on the slope that Garth was situated on. They were some of the strongest hunters and they could clearly see Hutch and Marc charging up at the middle of a spearhead formation of wolves. They weren't moving up the slope diagonally as most wolves would but they decided to push up the steep slope directly to quickly cut off any chance of Garth or his gang from escaping. At the same time, they could see Becky and her group descending from higher up the slope. Adam had cleverly organised them so that the fastest and most agile climbers only had to follow the mountain range up a much gentler slope in the northern part of the range which would give them enough time to replenish their stamina for the charge down.
Humphrey, Kate & Lily were still on the move and getting closer to Garth's group but they still had a clear view of the groups ascending and descending on Garth's group who were starting to panic and make a dash for the mountain pass, while others looked like they were going to attempt to run past the formation's that were closing in. Kate's eyes widened as she spotted a wolf that was unmistakable at a distance. Becky. "Wow, she's fast." Kate said and both Lily and Humphrey looked wide-eyed as they saw Becky moving down one of the slopes. She was running, no, sprinting down the steepest part of the mountain. It looked as though she was bounding down a vertical cliff face. Many of the other wolves had gone on safer routes except for a few other northern wolves that seemed to be able to run down the mountain in a similar technique to Becky but they were no way near as fast. The three wolves were close enough to hear Garth shouting at his group to move into the mountain pass but some were too panicked to listen and decided to stay and fight. This was a terrible mistake. Becky had reached her top speed and only an attack would slow her down now.
Humphrey, Lily and Kate watched in amazement, adoration and even a bit of fear as they saw the ferocity of Becky's charge. It was fast. Too fast in Kate's opinion as she was afraid that Becky would be injured on the descent and felt nauseous just watching it. Becky had stormed down the mountain literally jumping at a pair of wolves that hadn't even been looking high enough in her direction. The first wolf screamed in surprise and terror as Becky literally pinned them to the floor, it looked as though their neck was broken on impact. The second wolf wasn't able to react in time either as Becky used her body to halt her momentum by skidding and slamming herself sideways on into the side of the unsuspecting wolf. The wolf was knocked back by the force and the wolf's eyes widen as it realised it had leaned too far over a rocky overhang and only got the chance to yelp before it fell to its death far below. Becky turned to face off another wolf but as she did she noticed a wolf was charging directly at her. She was about to make a split second choice on how to deal with the situation when a black blur barged the attacker to the floor as it wrapped its jaws round their neck killing him instantly.
Becky was shocked at how close the wolf had got to killing her and was about to thank the wolf for saving her when she recognised his fur.
"What took you so long?" Becky smirked.
"You're welcome." Hutch huffed as he stepped over the wolf that Becky had crushed on her descent. "Then again if you hadn't rushed ahead on your little suicide run we wouldn't be having this conversation." Hutch smirked back.
They both looked as more wolves further ahead on the mountain pass came over ridges from below and above catching the dwindling members of Garth's gang off guard. "I had everything under control. I knew what I was doing." Becky scowled before smirking again "Admit it your just a sore loser. You don't want to admit it I got here first." Hutch was about to retort when three more of Garth's wolves had fled from the united pack higher up on the pass and almost ran into Becky and Hutch only to be slammed to the ground by three familiar wolves who appeared out of nowhere to both Becky and Hutch.
"I told you, they would be arguing about who got here first." Humphrey said as he turned and laughed to both Lily and Kate who giggled and shook their heads as they looked back from their kills at the shocked expressions that were now plastered across Becky and Hutch's faces.
"You three scared the hell out of me. Don't ever do that again." Becky said taking a breath deeply.
"You're scared? We saw you running down the slope and it was scary just to watch you move. I'm impressed." Kate said as she smiled at Becky. Becky suddenly looked sheepish at suddenly receiving a compliment from Kate and blushed as previously she had only glared at her.
"Woah, that's high praise! I advise you to remember this rare occasion. Kate doesn't even give me compliments." Teased Humphrey as he glanced over at his mate who made a rude noise and shoved him in his side.
"Sorry to… burst your guys…nice little chat but… you've got a villain to catch remember?" Adam said limping up to the group as he wheezed heavily.
"Adam! What the hell happened to you?" Hutch said as he saw the scar going across the top of Adam's shoulder and back.
"Present from the humans." Adam exhaled gaining his breath back.
Both Becky and Hutch's eyes widened and they stared at Humphrey, Kate and Lily. "I hope you didn't do what we think you did." Hutch said.
Adam smiled and nodded shakily "Oh yeah, ran right through their camp. They clipped me with a gun on the way out."
Becky couldn't help but make a light tease at Adam "I heard the humans can use magic you sure they didn't curse you with old age. All that huffing and puffing?" the group giggled at Becky's joke and continued when all Adam did was huff and make a grumpy face.
"Oh Ha-Ha-Ha so funny. Not." Adam replied sarcastically as he tried to crank his neck up as it was stiff from the wound.
"Alright enough talk. We need to get moving so we can get this over with." Lily said sternly. The group stopped laughing and refocused on their task. They all quickly assembled and started to race up the last stretch of the mountain trail to where the united packs were still trying to intercept Garth from going over the mountain pass.
"Where's Leo?" Adam called near the back of the group.
"He went to attack closer to the summit of the mountain with a detachment from our group." Becky called back.
Adam strained to hear what Becky said as the wind started to pick up again. "I hope he is ok." Adam muttered to himself.
"Don't worry Adam. Marc went up that way also with some of our best wolves he'll be fine." Hutch said as he sprinted next to Adam.
Garth's lackeys were fighting back like cornered rats. Both Marc and Leo had quickly joined together as partners in battle as wolves tried to charge at them on the now icy slopes. Both males had sustained a few cuts and bruises but they worked well together. Leo's agility could allow him to stun his opponents while Marc used brute force to simply crush those who had been stunned in his jaws. Their numbers were getting smaller thanks to a particularly viscous wolf that was tearing the other members of the group apart. The albino wolf had managed to kill five already and he was laughing manically as other wolves approached. They were at the mouth of the pass now but there was one last obstacle that Garth had to cross. A steep glacial slope that rose about the group. The build-up of ice and snow had one zigzag makeshift path that trailed up one of the vertical cliff faces. There were occasional ledges that jutted out of the ice wall but the strong winds withered away the ice continually. It looked extremely hazardous but to both Marc and Leo's horror Garth was attempting to flee up the path. The albino wolf had backed up to follow after his leader and another brown coloured wolf who was more scratched and bruised followed also but at a much more reluctant pace; cursing as he went. Just then Humphrey, Lily, Kate, Becky, Hutch and Adam turned up.
Leo quickly smiled to have reinforcements but frowned when he saw Adam. He moved closer to see what was wrong with him and his eyes widened "Adam what happ…?" Adam cut him off.
"I'll tell you later." Adam said waving Leo off with his paw.
"He's right Leo. Explaining will have to wait we have more pressing matters to attend to." Humphrey said as he and several others watched as the three worst wolves that they knew ascended the treacherous cliff face. Garth, Max and Candu.
Leo scowled at his mate who didn't make eye contact but listened to what Humphrey had to say.
Humphrey thought for a moment as he watched the villains slowly tread up the path way and watched as it creaked. "It's not going to be able to support all of us." Humphrey quickly scanned his surrounding, it was a blood bath. Wolves lay here and there but many of them were injured. "Becky, Hutch take care of the wounded sees if you can do anything for them they look badly wounded." Both wolves nodded and went to work trying to help some of the wolves that had fallen and been injured with deep gouges to their sides.
Marc spoke up "Watch out for that albino wolf, he may be small but he is not to be underestimated."
Lily turned to look at Marc and nodded with disgust and anger. "His name is Max. Back at the pack I would constantly get many omegas and even a few alphas with deep cuts and scratches on them. Max would say they were attacked by mountain lions but he always laughed when he told me. He likes killing but loves to inflict pain. I used to think why Garth kept him around but now I know they probably got along really well." Lily sighed. "Let's get that bastard, none of them deserve to live."
The wolves around her felt sorry for Lily but they quickly turned their attention to the path up the glacial cliff face and Humphrey, Kate, Marc, Lily, Leo and Adam started to ascend the winding path as fast as they could while Hutch and Becky stayed behind to look after the wounded. They had got quite far up the cliff face that they couldn't see over the path's edge. Suddenly, Leo yelped as something grabbed at his leg from behind and pulled him out onto one of the ledges. Adam turned and snarled breaking off the attackers grip on Leo and knocking him back from his mate. The rest of the group turned to see Leo and Adam facing off the wolf called Candu who was snarling and pacing back and forth in front of the pair.
"Go on we'll deal with him. Keep going!" Adam shouted at them as he got into his combat stance. Humphrey, Marc, Lily and Kate raced on leaving Adam & Leo with Candu.
Adam and Leo vs. Candu
Adam and Leo stood quickly to face off their attacker. Candu stood pacing in front of them trying to force one of them to attack. He looked back and forth at both wolves. He then smiled and licked some of Leo's blood off his muzzle and spitting it in the direction of Adam. "What are you waiting for? An invitation."
Adam snarled at Candu and moved forward to engage. They circled each other for a few moments without making a move. Both were badly injured but Candu's were the most recent. In a flash, they lunged at each other, grappling together to get a better position over their enemy. When Adam dropped back to the ground, he wasn't expecting for Candu to attack again so he hastily tried to block Candu as he was attacking from the left. Candu laughed when he actually feigned his left attack with a much more powerful right paw to the back where his sharpened claws quickly reopened the cut on Adam's shoulder. Adam yelped in agony and fell to the floor as blood dripped from his reopened wound. Candu tried to move in quickly to finish the job off but he heard a scream of rage off to his right and was tackled by Leo who quickly came to his mates rescue. Leo didn't let up and Candu and Leo fought locked together for longer than a minute biting and clawing at each other. They both suffered lacerations to the chest, flank and neck and then they finally parted after Candu was knocked to the floor. Now it was Leo's turn to move in for the kill as he brought down his jaws to clamp shut on Candu's throat. Candu managed to break free from Leo's grasp and using his hind leg dug his claws into Leo's lower abdomen. Leo screamed in pain from the blow and fell back to the ground curling into himself to stop the bleeding as Candu attempted to stand.
Candu wasn't any better off and teetered as he stood as blood ran down his legs and muzzle. He limped over through the howling wind and blood stained ice to where Leo was writhing on the floor in pain. "It was a good fight." He spat blood onto Leo along with a tooth. "You got a few good hits in I'll give you that." He chuckled; a horrible spluttering sound as he had been cut deeply in the neck and muzzle. "But no one can beat me. I have been the best fighter in my pack as long as I have lived. You Northerners have given us enough trouble as it is but that won't be a problem for much longer."
As Candu continued to gloat, Leo looked across to see Adam in a pool of his own blood begin to crawl towards where Candu stood. Leo tried his best not to give anything away but the agony in his stomach was unbearable he decided to keep Candu talking "Did you… really think you would have… gotten away with… what you did? You …ugh… someday someone would stand up against your evil ways and fight back." Leo said finding it hard to even speak.
Candu laughed "It's funny you should say that. Winston said something very similar before he died. Fitting don't you think?" the spluttering sound of Candu's throat made him breathe in deeply to try and get air to his damaged lungs.
"I am going to enjoy killing you." Leo smiled up at Candu's disfigured face.
Candu laughed horribly again. "And… how… you pathetic fool are you gonna do that?" Candu bared his fangs. Just then Candu heard a sound behind and turned to see where it came from "What the-?"
Adam had crawled several metres from where he had been wounded and quickly clamped his jaws around Candu's hind legs and rolled quickly to snap the bones. Candu howled in pain and fell to the floor. As he landed he came face to face with the golden eyed wolf Leo who bared his fangs and roared "Like this!" and lunged for his neck and bit down hard on his jugular before ripping away.
Candu seemed to look shocked back at Leo who lay beside him and blood poured from his neck. Leo watched in disgust and anger and also glared with satisfaction as Candu choked to death. But Candu's muzzle split in places as he attempted to smile at Leo in his last moments, the smile moved in the shape of two last dying words "Uck…well…uck…done…" Candu trailed off as his eyes rolled back into his head and he breathed his last guttural breath.
Leo moved to stand but the pain was too intense, he moved to see if he could see anyone through the white sheet of wind and snow that blurred his vision. He needed to find Adam. A shadow began to creep over the top his eyes as he tried to push himself to stand. But he felt he could go on no longer and his vision distorted and faded to blackness.
As Lily, Marc, Humphrey and Kate ascend up the cliff face they could hear the brutal sounds of Candu, Leo and Adam fighting below. It wasn't much longer when the sounds were starting to fade from below. Kate's heart raced as she followed behind Humphrey. The blizzard was getting stronger, Kate tried to cover her eyes from the ice and snow that was almost blinding her, but she had to look where she was going as it was undoubtedly a sheer drop only a few inches from where she ran. Suddenly, the blizzard stopped, her vision cleared and Kate saw that she was near the top of mountain pass above a cloud canopy. As she looked back she could see the Jasper National park lay out in front of her, the blizzard was only gathering around the mountain but in the distance she could see lakes and rivers illuminated by a full moon that made the night look like a calm blue version of the day. But Kate hadn't come to do sightseeing and quickly followed Humphrey up the final ramp of the passage way. The passage way opened up to a large flat glacial plateau. From here all four wolves could see the peaks of the western mountains and in the distance, Kate growled. They saw Garth running off, cursing as he went, he had clearly had an injury as he limped slightly as he ran. Humphrey and Kate took one glance at each other and ran after the fleeing form of Garth. They were getting close but then they both heard a sound from behind them and turned back to see what it was. Kate's heart thumped in her chest as she saw the albino white wolf appear out of a hidden crevice blocking Lily and Marc off. Max turned and looked directly at Kate with his burning red eyes and smirked. He licked his lips and then turned back and advanced towards her sister. Kate growled and attempted to turn back to help her sister but she had only taken a few steps when she stopped and looked back to see Garth still fleeing up the plateau. She was torn between two choices and snarled as she looked back and forth between her sister and Garth. On the one hand she could kill Garth and her sister may die or she could save her sister and let Garth escape.
Lily looked past Max at her sister and made a decision. "Kate go on! Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just make Garth pay for what he has done to our family!" Lily looked into the distance and could see Kate getting more frustrated, a solitary tear left the eye of Lily as she knew exactly how her sister felt. "Go on! Both of you! Do what must be done!" Finally, Lily saw them turn tail and run to catch up with Garth.
Lily and Marc vs. Max
Lily took a deep breath and turned to the large wolf next to her called Marc. "Are you going to stand with me against this psycho?" she smiled.
Marc chuckled and rolled his shoulders "Are you kidding? I'm not gonna let you fight him by yourself." Marc turned to smile at their opponent who stood now a few metres from their position a toothy grin on his face and burning red eyes. Marc spoke directly to Max now. "Plus I've got a bone to pick with him. He killed four of my friends. He's as good as dead" Marc's smile never reached his eyes.
Lily smiled at Marc "I'm glad you see it that way." Lily looked over at Max now and her smile fell away and her violet eyes ignited as she got into a combat stance. Marc stepped out to one side and paced for a few moments. He was white from head to toe completely, the only thing that stood out from him were his eyes that were mixed colours. One blue and one green that burned with the same intensity that Lily's did.
Max looked back from Lily to Marc his stance hardly changing. Then he nodded amused "This is going to be fun." He said gleefully as he crouched low into his combat stance. He moved forward quickly fangs drawn. Lilly moved quickly and in a crisscross pattern towards him "I can't be caught in a grapple with him he'll tear me to shreds!" Lily thought as she threw herself forward into her strides. She moved so quickly that Max didn't know which way to strike and when he attempted to strike at her he missed and paid dearly with a deep gash down his side. Max growled at being tricked and wounded and looked over his shoulder snarling at Lily.
"Woah! Good one Lily. He didn't know what hit him." Marc laughed and sent mock applause her way. "Tell me when you need a break and I'll jump right in." Lily laughed at Marc's joke as it seemed only fitting for Max to be the one being the joke this time. Max didn't like this one bit.
Max turned and snarled as he ran towards Lily who quickly managed to evade him again and give a matching deep cut on his other side. His eyes burned with rage as Marc continued to praise Lily with compliments for wounding him as part of their little game that they were playing. But he had a plan now. He smiled and charged again.
Lily attempted to evade Max again but he employed the same tactic against her and feigned an attack and managed to catch her with his claws. Max laughed as Lily yelped in pain and fell to the ground. Max moved towards her now and she watched in disgust as he licked her blood from his paws and licked his lips. He moved to go for one of her legs. All Lily could think of in that moment was "He's not going to kill me. He is just going to injure me. Badly. This is gonna hurt." But as soon he got close to her she was surprised to see Max catapulted several feet down the plateau.
"That's no way to treat a lady!" Marc roared standing over Lily as he just head butted Max down the plateau. Max staggered to his feet and looked dazed in the general direction of Marc and Lily. "Are you ok Lily? Can you walk?" Marc asked concerned
Lily looked up at the large white wolf who stood over and then back at where Max was still staggering up to meet them. "Yes I think I am fine, just a bit sore is all" she smiled "You must be really strong to have knocked him away that far."
"I don't care much for boasting. But Max is about to find out that big wolves aren't afraid of little wolves." Marc leaned down so he was close to Lily's face. Lily found herself studying his eyes subconsciously and was transfixed by the differences she saw.
Marc coughed to gain Lily's attention and smiled when she blushed madly "Mind if I continue. He's starting to make his way back here and I don't want to keep him waiting." Marc said in a deep and smooth voice.
Lily giggled and stood up slowly to look into Marc's eyes "Be my guest." She purred.
He chuckled before padding towards where Max stood. Max had the air knocked out of him and he looked bewildered up at the overbearing form that Marc created. "I never understood why so many little guys were always angry at me." Marc moved up behind Max and kicked him in the backside towards Lily. Max grunted as he skidded head first over the ice. "I mean, look at me. I'm a big guy but I try to be nice to everyone and I don't feel it necessary to pummel people to death just because someone looked at me wrong." Marc said as he moved back over Max to whack him in the back hard as he tried to stand. "Or is it because you feel you always were meant to be the tough guy and now you're just taking it out on anyone who says otherwise?" Marc said playfully and stopped again over Max's body as Lily approached Max from the other side. Max tried to stand again. "Well are you going to give me an answer little guy?" Max stood and looked up dazed at Marc.
"Fuck you, you filthy omega!" Max spat at Marc.
Marc wiped his face with his paw "Ha! I was wondering when he would catch on!" Marc slammed his paw in a downward motion knocking Max to the floor again. Lily had moved closer to Max now.
"You're an omega? If I had seen you in passing I would immediately think you are an alpha!" Lily asked astonished to find out Marc's rank in such an odd way.
"Yeah well, the Northern pack has never been big on pack laws. I prefer the fun life of an omega but I know in situations such as these for example sometimes my strength is needed." Marc looked down as Max started to get back up again "Care to join me?" Marc said.
"Love to." Lily said as Max finally got up into a sitting position only to be slammed across the head this time by Marc's paw. Max spun and gave Lily enough time to knock him back with her own strike. Max's teeth flew from his jaw and clinked off the snow as Marc and Lily battered him again and again. "I like being an alpha sometimes it can be quite therapeutic." Marc called over at Lily as Max staggered from blow to blow.
"I know what you mean!" Lily exclaimed. "Especially when they deserve it." Max had black eyes and a bloodied muzzle as he was knocked back and forth. Marc decided this was the best time for a head butt and moved in hard with his skull. Lily wasn't expecting it and had to quickly turn and kick him away with her rear legs. Max was knocked back from Lily's kick and staggered back before toppling backwards over a cliff.
A silence quickly came over the pair of wolves at what they had just witnessed. Marc looked at where Max had once been and stood paw raised waiting for another chance to slam the little maniac but instead stood there frozen, staring with his mouth open "Huh." Marc said breaking the silence.
Lily looked over at Marc "Oops." Lily said sheepishly.
"Oh it's not your fault he deserved it. Besides it was going to happen eventually we had our fun." Marc smiled strangely over at Lily.
Lily wasn't sure if this was the right time to smile. "Do you think he's dead?" Lily asked as they both moved towards the edge of the cliff.
"I'd hope so. Oh yep there he is!" Marc said pointing down as they both reached the edge of the cliff. It was a sheer drop to the bottom and Lily saw Max's lifeless form lying motionless far below… then a leg moved.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me. Why won't this guy die?!" Marc said moving over to a nearby boulder and started to push it from the ice it was stuck in.
Lily looked over at Marc "Hey, let me help with that." Lily moved over and helped Marc push the boulder to the edge of the cliff. Looking down she saw Max starting to bring his second foreleg up as he attempted to stand. She turned and glanced at Marc who nodded and grinned.
"Dodge this." Lily said bluntly over the edge and both she and Marc pushed the boulder over the edge. The boulder seems to float over Max and didn't even give his broken form the chance to cry out and landed with a resounding crunch.
An awkward silence crept over the pair of wolves quickly as they stood on the precipice of the glacial plateau. "We just killed someone and had fun doing it." Lily stared confused out at the horizon.
"Yep." Marc said nonchalantly but also shared the same confused look as he stared off into the horizon.
"And we got to know each other better doing it." Lily continued.
"Uh-huh" Marc said clicking his tongue to try and dispel the awkward silence.
"And you don't feel bad about what we did." Lily said as she frowned at nothing in particular on the horizon."
"Nope."
Lily looked away from the horizon and looked directly at Marc. "Do you want to meet up again sometime?" Marc looked surprised and Lily's eyes quickly widened and she added "I mean er- without the killing." She laughed awkwardly.
Marc looked right back at her and smiled warmly "Hell yes."
Kate & Humphrey vs. Garth – The Final Battle
Kate and Humphrey raced up the slope after Garth. They had stopped talking now, their entire mind could only concentrate on finally getting their revenge on Garth. He was running ahead of them but didn't seem to notice their presence.
Humphrey saw a path on the slope leading off to one side and quickly sprinted down it to overtake and cut Garth off. Kate was closing in and just as she was several metres away. Garth turned to see her sprinting right at him. He cursed and then turned and ran faster up the slope. They were nearing the edge of the mountain pass and Garth knew that freedom was close at hand.
Suddenly, Humphrey jumped into his path in front of him, cutting him off. Garth skidded to a halt "Going somewhere coyote?" Humphrey smirked as he began to advance towards Garth from the top of the slope.
Garth cursed again and growled at Humphrey. He turned back to see Kate almost on him. As he looked back and forth at the approaching wolves he made a split second decision and acted on it. Garth darted off to one side into a ravine. Humphrey and Kate faltered as they skidded to a halt where Garth had just been.
"Where did he go?" Kate said growling as they both stood at the edge of the ravine.
"Only one way to find out." Humphrey said as he and Kate jumped into the ravine after Garth. The ravine was quite shallow and they easily landed at the bottom. The floor seemed to slope down deeper into a tunnel and both wolves ran into it in search of their prey. The cave they entered was lit up by the ice above it in a blue hue that allowed both Kate and Humphrey to see exactly where Garth had gone. There was a large icy cavern that opened up at the end of the tunnel. A single icy bridge crept over a chasm below reaching over to another opening where the cave exited into another land on the other side of the mountain range. Where woods, lakes and rivers could be clearly seen in the distance. At the end of the bridge, Garth stood waiting for them.
"I'm done running. You two have given me nothing but trouble and I won't be chased like a dog for the rest of my life." Garth growled as Humphrey and Kate approached the bridge.
"You have done evil things to my friends, my pack and my family." Kate said as she glared over at the wolf she despised above all others. "It's time you get what you deserve!"
"As long as you live and breathe we can never be at peace. This is your end Garth." Humphrey said his voice laced with venom and contempt for the wolf that had caused him so much despair.
Garth laughed menacingly and smirked "There is only one way this will end. With your death!" Garth roared as he began to charge towards Kate and Humphrey who charged right back at him. Time seemed to slow down before the plunge into combat as the three wolves collided in the middle of the ice bridge. Garth gained the upper hand as he managed to knock Kate to the ground sending the air out of her. He lifted his paw to draw the first blood but Humphrey pulled Garth back loosely gripped in his jaws. Garth countered and spun around using his other paw to strike at Humphrey. Humphrey fell back from the strong blow but quickly recovered as Garth attempted to tackle him to the ground. Humphrey and Garth grappled onto each other as both wolves struggled for dominance over his rival. Both wolves gained the first blood as they clawed and bit at each other. This wasn't any normal fight. This was a fight for survival and when blood was drawn it would not stop until one lay dead. Garth and Humphrey separated from their grapple; blood seeping from claw and bite marks. They both reared up and crashed into each other fangs drawn in an attempt to close around the throat of their opponent. Garth changed tactics and bit Humphrey lower on his torso who fell back from the pain as Garth tore into him.
Humphrey fell back and he slid to a halt at the edge of the bridge. His head slid and stuck out over the side where he could clearly see the shards of ice pointing right at him, far below. Garth laughed as he stood over him "You will never change. You will always be an omega and you'll die an omega!" Garth said as he clawed at Humphrey in an attempt to push him over the edge.
"No!" Kate screamed as she charged into Garth knocking him back from attacking Humphrey and forcing him back out onto the bridge. "You will not harm him! I'm going to kill you Garth if it is the last thing I do!" Kate snarled as she lunged quickly at Garth making lightning fast strikes to any area that he accidentally exposed. One of her attacks she managed to catch him in the eye and Garth fell back screaming in rage. Kate moved on the offensive as Kate attacked again and again, all her rage and hatred towards Garth fuelling her attacks. Garth looked as though he was going to die from a death of a thousand cuts as he staggered back from Kate's blows. But one wrong move on Kate's side exposed her injured flank where she had been scratched by the dogs earlier. Garth lunged forward and head butted Kate in the side. Kate let out a gasp as she felt a rib break on the impact of Garth's attack and fell to the ground. Garth was quick to move if a bit unstable. Kate had cut right into his eye making it hard for him to see anything on his left side. Garth moved over until he was standing over the prone form of Kate.
From a distance Humphrey snarled in anger as Garth continually beat down on Kate's injured side as she continued to scream in agony. Humphrey wanted to move but his body wouldn't let him move, he was sure a rib was broken and his flanks burned with pain from the sharp cuts of Garth's fangs.
Garth moved in to bite at Kate's throat but she screamed and kicked him hard in the privates. Garth fell back and doubled over in pain. Kate desperately attempted to crawl back across the bridge to where Humphrey lay injured. Suddenly, Garth staggered up behind her and kicked her hard in the groin from behind making Kate let out a blood curdling cry of pain.
Garth landed on top of her, holding her down to the floor as he leaned down and breathed into Kate's ear "You have no idea what I am capable of! I am going to kill your omega lover but first perhaps I should show you what a real alpha can do." Kate's eyes widened, she knew exactly what Garth meant and attempted to scramble away from him but his superior weight and the injuries she had sustained made it utterly hopeless for her to move. Kate shuddered as Garth licked at back of her ear. She attempted to snap at him but he just pushed her further into the floor making her wounds hurt even more. "You're spirited I'll give you that. I like a challenge." Garth said as he attempted to mount her.
"Then you're gonna love me." Suddenly Humphrey appeared next to them and bit down hard on Garth's head pulling him away from Kate. He tugged harder and Garth screamed in agony as Humphrey ripped his ear off. Garth turned and glared eyes glazed with bloodlust as he held his paw to the gaping hole where his ear had once been.
Humphrey spat Garth's ear out in front of him "I'll take you apart piece by piece if I have to, you sick bastard!" snarled Humphrey. He would not let Garth anywhere near Kate again. He was going to kill this son of a bitch. Both male wolves locked together once again seemingly oblivious to the pain that they caused each other. Humphrey knew he had to trick Garth to get the upper hand and was willing to die trying to see Garth defeated.
Kate watched hopelessly as the two wolves fought against each other. They were equally matched and neither of them had the upper hand. But, that quickly changed somehow. Garth managed to pin Humphrey to the floor at the side of the bridge again. Pushing Humphrey ever so slightly over the edge. It was then when Garth roared in rage and triumph as he moved in for the kill that Humphrey turned and looked directly at Kate. Kate looked right back and in that split moment Kate's heart broke as she understood what Humphrey was about to do. "No! Don't even think about it Humphrey! Don't you dare leave me alone in this world!" There was nothing she could do and as Garth moved in to bite down on Humphrey throat Humphrey bit down hard on Garth's leg making him scream in surprise and flung Garth and himself over the precipice of the bridge. Garth screamed and flailed at thin air as he fell into the chasm. As he fell his breathing intensified and the last thought that went through his mind was "Not like this. I won't end like this!" Garth dropped quickly to the bottom of the chasm and landed with a meaty thud as he was impaled on one of the many shards of ice that stuck out from the chasm floor.
"N-no." Kate whispered in shock as she gasped for air as she looked at the edge of the bridge where Humphrey had once been. "You wouldn't do this to me! You wouldn't leave me like this! I need you!" Kate struggled to reach the edge of the bridge but her determination made her pain vanish as she desperately pushed her way to the edge to look down.
"Humphrey!" Kate shouted as she looked down over the edge.
Humphrey was holding on barely with his teeth and paws to a small ridge that came out below the bridge. Kate reached down and with all her might managed to get a grip of Humphrey's paw in her jaws before he slipped off into the abyss. They helped each other and they finally scrambled back onto the surface of the bridge.
Humphrey smiled weakly as they both moved into sitting positions. Suddenly, Kate slapped Humphrey who flinched in shock at the contact. Then felt confused as Kate brought him into a passionate kiss and embraced him. "Never do that to me again Humphrey. I'd thought I'd lost you." Kate embraced Humphrey tighter and moved her head under Humphrey's jaw.
Humphrey chuckled lightly "I promise."
"It's finally over." Kate said as she closed her eyes and tears began to fall down her face. "After all this time."
"Yes, we beat him, we can finally be at peace." Humphrey exhaled and inhaled the cold air. At the exit of the tunnel the light of a new day began to stream in. Humphrey and Kate turned to see the bright orange of the early morning sun reflect of the snow, the distant lakes and the rivers. Humphrey turned and looked down at Kate and smiled. Kate smiled back, the pain from her wounds had all but vanished as they had brought justice to the crimes committed by Garth and they had avenged her fallen father.
"I think… we are done here." Humphrey said as he stood stiffly while supporting his mate as she also stood.
"Let's go home." Kate grinned and leaned into Humphrey as they slowly walked out of the tunnel and into the radiant light of a new dawn.
A/N: It's over! Garth finally gets what he deserves in a particularly gruesome way. But hey! He deserves it. Hope you liked my little comic relief with Marc & Lily, I didn't want all the battles to be so intense that you lost sight of what was going on or got bored before the final battle. Each battle that took place happened around the same time as each other so I added sub headings in an attempt to not confuse anyone. Humphrey and Kate weren't just going to stand around waiting for our other characters to finish Max and Candu off before fighting Garth. That would have been odd. :')
Do not worry, this is not the end! More chapters are yet to come but the conflict is over and I can't wait to get back to writing about happy events! See you in the next chapter!