Alpha and Omega: The Final War

by KingHumphrey

As Viggo begins leading the war on the Western Pack, Humphrey makes a surprising return to his home. The fight only gets worse as Viggo unleashes his full power on the pack. Secrets are revealed, lives are lost, and everything is risked in this final installment in the Alpha and Omega franchise. It all ends here!

7. The Lost Tale

Chapter 7: The Lost Tale

"Yeah, just a minute," Gerald replied.

"What's going on now?" Humphrey asked.

"Territorial dispute," Gerald answered. "We can't decide who gets the lake. I live on the west side of the lake, he lives on the east side."

"Okay," Humphrey replied casually, "so just split the lake. You get the west half, he gets the east half."

"Oh," Gerald said, a little embarrassed. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Clearly," Humphrey remarked. "Now, we need your help."

"What do you need?"

"My friends and I need to a place to stay for a while and we were hoping we could stay in your area."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Follow me," Humphrey said, walking back toward the others.

"This is your friend?" Oscar said. "A fox?"

"Guys, it's fine," Humphrey reassured them. "We can trust him."

He then turned to Gerald.

"We were forced out of our pack by humans and we need a place to stay."

"Of course you guys can stay for a while," Gerald replied. "What, you think I wouldn't help you because of what you did?"

"Well, it kinda seems like it had a lasting effect," Humphrey said.

"It's fine," Gerald told him. "I'm over that. Come on."

Gerald led the group to his side of the lake where everyone began to settle in. The day was starting to wear thin and with night coming, it began to get colder, something which the fog didn't help much.

"Well, the good news is, Viggo and his men won't have much luck finding us in all this fog," Humphrey said, looking around.

"And the bad news is-" Steven said.

Humphrey turned and saw Jax and Jonas dogpiled on top of Steven.

"W-what are you doing?" he asked, trying to hold in his laughter at how ridiculous and uncomfortable Steven looked.

"It's called 'body heat management'. Duh!" Jonas said.

"Or as I like to call it, a thermal dogpile," Jax added.

"Okay," Humphrey said, trying to stay focused. "I'm going to do a quick perimeter check, maybe bring back some food. Steven, I want you to find shelter for everyone. Night's coming and it's going to get colder."

"Gladly," Steven said as he tried to get up, but Jax and Jonas wouldn't move.

"Get off me," Steven told them.

"No," Jonas refused. "We're saving your life."

"I don't care!"

Steven suddenly jumped up and rushed off, going to look for shelter. Humphrey returned a few minutes later and Steven led him to a lean-to that Viggo had made years ago when his tent was wrecked in a storm. Not far from that were a few abandoned dens.

"Wow, Steven!" Humphrey said. "You found shelter quickly."

"I had to," Steven replied. "It was the only way to keep out of that 'thermal dogpile'."

"Are you sure it will hold?" Humphrey asked, looking at the trees, which looked old and half-rotted.

"It's fine, Humphrey," Steven reassured him, somewhat nervously.

Humphrey gave him a dirty look, knowing that he was probably lying.

"What? I tested it," Steven lied.

Humphrey sighed as he walked away.

"I did!" Steven continued, following him.

Humphrey then called everyone together and they gathered next to the lean-to.

"This fog isn't going to last forever," he said, "so we're going to have to find a better place to hide out. Now I suggest-"

"Humphrey, wait," Kate interjected. "It's been touch-and-go with Viggo ever since you got back, so I understand if you haven't had enough time to explain what happened to you. But now that we have a minute, you have to tell us what happened out there."

Humphrey sighed. Maybe it was time to tell everyone what had happened to him.

"Alright," he agreed.

"And so begins, The Lost Tale," Jax said dramatically.

"The Lost Tale?" Humphrey questioned.

"Yeah, because none of us know it," Jax explained. "You're the only one who knows that it happened."

"You know what, you make a pretty good point," Humphrey said.

"I do. Wait what was it again?"

Humphrey laughed as he began telling his story.

Humphrey woke up in a strange place. As he opened his eyes and looked around, he couldn't figure out where he was. He couldn't even remember how he had gotten here. The place was fairly large, but enclosed. There were various weird items sitting all around him and he was laying on something soft and fuzzy. Slowly, it all came back to him. It was a little less than a month ago when he, along with Kate, his pups, Garth, Lilly, Daria, Marcel, and Paddy had set out to find his parents.

After finding out they were dead, the group had learned that the valley had been taken over by the Rogue Wolves and they rushed back to help. During the battle, a group of humans had shown up. Then Humphrey remembered him. The General. He had been aiming his gun at Kenya, so Humphrey intervened and the two fought. In the end, Humphrey had jumped in front of a knife that was thrown at Kate and after the humans retreated, he…

Wait, he thought. I should be dead. He tried to get up, but as he rolled onto his stomach, he was hit with an intense wave of pain in his side. He grimaced as he looked down at his side and saw that his entire upper body had been tightly wrapped with white bandaging from the bottom of his ribcage to the back of his shoulders.

While he still didn't know where he was, he knew that he was alive, although how remained a mystery. As he tried to stand up again, the door to the room he was in opened and a middle-aged woman stepped in. Despite her age, she looked very fit and healthy. Her blonde hair was tied up behind her head and she had a concerned look in her eyes.

At the sight of a human, Humphrey instinctively panicked and tried to get up as quickly as he could. He stood up right away when he saw her, but immediately fell over in pain. He scrambled to his feet again, the adrenaline in his body helping him to ignore the searing pain in his side that was telling him to stop. Humphrey backed into a corner, wanting to get as far away from her as he could. Humans were bad news. They always were.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" the woman exclaimed, putting her hands out in a calming gesture. "You're still healing."

Humphrey didn't relax. He didn't care about his wound right now. He was terrified of whatever this human was going to do to him. As she calmly approached him, the grey fur on his back that wasn't being held down by the bandages began to stand up and he began to growl. The woman stopped her approach and just looked at him. As much as Humphrey wanted to stay focused and not let his guard down, his body wouldn't let him, and he eventually collapsed back onto the floor.

The woman rushed over and kneeled down next to him. Humphrey tried to muster the strength to get up or growl or do anything that would get her away from him, but his body was completely spent. All he could do was lie there as she gently put her arms under his body and picked him up off the floor.

She brought him back over to the bed he had been laying on and put him down on it. It was then that she noticed blood seeping through the bandages on his side.

"Oh no," she said, "you're hemorrhaging again."

She quickly got up and rushed out of the room, returning moments later with a towel that she tightly wrapped his side with and picked him up again. She hurriedly carried him through a couple of different rooms before they reached an open door that led outside. Humphrey was carried to a truck parked outside the house and placed inside of it. The woman got in the front and began to drive away, every now and then, looking back at Humphrey.

"Don't worry," she kept saying. "You're going to be alright."

She sped through the forest as fast as she was daring to go. They reached the western border of Jasper within twenty minutes and not long after, they entered a town. The woman drove to a fairly large building and stopped. She then jumped out of the truck, grabbed Humphrey out of the back, and rushed him into the building.

As they entered, a sudden onslaught of new and unusual smells flooded Humphrey's nose. Some animals smelled somewhat like him, others smelled completely different. Humphrey began to feel tired and found it increasingly hard to keep his eyes open. As the woman brought him up to a desk, he passed out.

"Whoa!" the man at the desk said when he saw what had come through the door. "What are you doing with that?"

Several people sitting in chairs suddenly jumped out of their seats when they saw the wolf being carried into the building.

"He needs your help!" the woman said quickly.

The man rushed around the counter and Humphrey was taken back to a white room with a table on it.

"Wait," the man said as he recognized the woman, "weren't you two just here a few days ago?"

"Yes," she replied.

"What happened?"

"I startled him when he woke up and he tore it open."

The man pulled back the last of the bandages and a shocked look came over his face for a moment.

"Oh, he certainly did," he said before calling two other people into the room.

After the towel and bandages were removed, Humphrey's reopened wound began bleeding more heavily. The bleeding was eventually brought under control and he was stitched up and bandaged again. He was brought over to a cage with a bed in it and placed inside.

"We'll monitor him closely for a few days, and then we'll transfer him to a place where he can heal up properly before being released," the man said.

A few days passed and Humphrey's wound continued to slowly heal to the point where he could at least lie on his stomach without too much pain. Eventually, the day came when Humphrey was supposed to be transferred. The woman who brought Humphrey to the building had come to see him before he left.

"How do you plan on moving him?" she asked.

"Well," the man replied, "he's still too injured to move on his own and he's been fairly calm these past few days, so I don't think we need to sedate him. We just have to be careful."

As they opened the cage and set Humphrey on a gurney, he looked at the woman and began to whimper.

"Shh," the man said, "I know it hurts."

"I don't think that's why he's whimpering," the woman replied as she realized Humphrey's gaze never left her.

The man noticed too and stopped pushing the gurney.

"It looks like he likes you," he said.

Humphrey rolled his eyes internally. To be completely honest with himself, he didn't know why he was doing this. Maybe this woman really didn't mean to hurt him. Maybe she really did care about him. Whatever it was, he had a strange feeling about her. A good feeling, like everything would be alright. He didn't know where these people planned to take him, and that thought was more terrifying than returning to this woman's house. And besides, her house was closer to the pack, which was comforting.

"Well," the man said, "do you think you could handle him? All he really needs is bed rest and to stay hydrated."

"That shouldn't be a problem," she replied.

"Alright then."

Humphrey was wheeled out to the woman's truck and carefully put in the back and the two returned to her house. Humphrey reluctantly relaxed and took it easy for the rest of the day. The next morning, the woman checked in on Humphrey to find him trying to stand up. He ended up falling over again and let out a growl of frustration.

"Hey, you have to take it easy," she said. "You're still healing."

"I'm not helpless," Humphrey said to himself.

"I know you're not."

Humphrey suddenly raised his head and looked at the woman in shock.

"You-" he began.

"Oh, sorry," the woman apologized. "I didn't mean to surprise you. But yes, I can understand you."

"H-how?" Humphrey asked.

"I work as a park ranger here in Jasper," she replied. "I've been around animals my whole life and I'm especially fond of wolves. Needless to say, I picked a few things up."

"Oh," Humphrey said. "So, um, w-what's your name?"

The woman laughed a little at his awkwardness before answering.

"My name's Leyla. Leyla Johnson. I imagine you have a name too?"

"Yeah. I'm Humphrey."

"Humphrey," she said. "That's a nice name. It means "peaceful warrior" if I'm not mistaken. Is that why your parents gave you that name?"

"Oh, I don't know," he replied. "To be honest, I never really knew my parents. We were separated when I was very young."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Leyla said.

She then paused for a moment.

"Would you...like to talk about it?" she asked carefully, sitting down next to him.

"I don't mind," Humphrey said. "It helps to talk about it."

He then spent the rest of the day telling Leyla about his puphood and how he and Kenya were taken from their parents when they were young. He told of how his crate had fallen off the truck and how he got lost in the woods. He told her about Arnold and the prank they played on Gerald. He told about when Arnold got caught in a bear trap and Humphrey had to leave him when he smelled a human approaching.

He told about how he was caught in a storm and how his tail was pinned down by a tree. He told of the wolves that rescued him and then he told of his banishment from their pack, only to be found by the Western Pack the next day. He then told of Kate and how he grew up with her. He told of their accidental trip to Idaho and how they fell in love along the way. He told of the adventures their pups had led them on and eventually told of how he went searching for his parents. How he found Kenya and Adam and how the pack was attacked. And how he had sacrificed himself to save his sister.

"Wow," Leyla said, "no wonder you freaked out when you saw me the other day."

"Yeah, humans and I don't really mix," he replied.

Leyla suddenly smiled and laughed to herself.

"What?" Humphrey asked. "What is it?"

"Oh, it's just...I'm sitting here having a conversation with a wolf," Leyla answered.

"And I'll bet that's not something you do every day?" Humphrey asked.

"No, not one bit," she said. "It's weird though. I...I don't mean to offend you but, I don't know, it's almost...humanizing."

"What is?"

"All this," she replied. "Knowing your name, talking to you, getting to know you. You don't seem like just an animal anymore."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Humphrey asked.

"Yeah, definitely, it's just…strange."

"I get it," Humphrey told her. "I mean it's not like I've ever sat down and talked with a human before either. But to be fair, every human I've come across has tried to kill me."

"Well, not all humans are like that," Leyla said.

"So, how did you find me?" Humphrey asked. "I mean, how did I get here?"

"I found you unconscious on the ground with that wound in your side, so I grabbed you and took you up to that animal hospital in the town a couple miles west of here," Leyla explained. "They bandaged you up and turned you over to me because they didn't have the room for you. They told me to bring you back once you woke up, but I never really planned to."

She looked at the time on a clock on the wall.

"You should get some rest."

"Leyla I, uh," Humphrey began.

"What?"

"Aw man, this is embarrassing," he continued.

"What is it?" Leyla asked again.

"I, uh. I have to go," Humphrey whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Leyla whispered back.

"Because I'm embarrassed," Humphrey said again.

"Oh," Leyla said, finally understanding. "Are you sure you can't hold it?" she asked.

"No, I can't," Humphrey replied.

"It's okay. I'll help you up."

"That's not the problem," Humphrey said.

"Don't worry," she reassured him. "I won't look."

Humphrey hesitated.

"Look, this is how it's going to be before you can stand on your own again, so you better get used to it," Leyla said, smiling.

She helped Humphrey up and out the back door into the woods. She kept her promise and looked away as he did his business. She then helped Humphrey back inside and onto his bed.

As the weeks passed, Humphrey slowly began to heal. The bandages were removed a few days after he and Leyla had their talk and by the end of the month, he was able to stand on his own again. A few days later, he was good enough to walk again, and as the next month passed, Humphrey continued to get better and better. Over the course of his recovery, he and Leyla had formed a strong friendship and she was beginning to get afraid that when the time came to release him, Humphrey either wouldn't want to go or wouldn't be able to survive on his own after months in captivity.

One day, she made the tough decision to send him to a nearby zoo instead. That night, Leyla drugged his food and after he passed out, she drove him up to the zoo and left him there.

When Humphrey woke up the next day, he was in a completely different place. For a moment, he thought he was back in the pack, but as he looked around, he realized that nothing was familiar. The rocks, the grass, the one single tree that was there. He then noticed a fence surrounding the small area he had woken up in with a grey stone building and a door on one side. He was confused. Where was he? Where was Leyla?

"Hey!" a voice called.

Humphrey turned around and looked at who the voice belonged to. He noticed another wolf standing behind him, looking at him. The wolf had dark grey fur and looked a bit older than Humphrey.

"You okay?" the wolf asked.

"No, I'm not okay!" Humphrey suddenly shouted. "Where am I?"

"Whoa, calm down," the wolf said, a bit defensively.

"Sorry, I'm just really confused," Humphrey apologized.

"It's fine," the wolf said. "It happens to everyone that comes here."

"Where is 'here', exactly?" Humphrey asked.

"This is a zoo," the wolf explained. "You live in this small enclosure and people pay to come look at you."

"Why?"

"Beats me. I'm Joe by the way."

"Humphrey," Humphrey said, looking around at the enclosure.

It was still relatively dark out and Humphrey couldn't see much.

"How do I get out?" he asked.

"You don't," Joe replied sadly. "You can't."

"There has to be a way."

"Trust me, I've tried," Joe explained. "The only way out is when you die."

Humphrey looked at him for a moment before walking around the enclosure, trying to find a way out.

"I suggest you go back to sleep," Joe said, laying down. "Like it or not, this is your home now. Permanently."

Humphrey rolled his eyes before continuing to walk around the enclosure. He spent hours walking around the enclosure before he eventually gave up and laid down on the most comfortable patch of grass he could find.

He was suddenly awoken by the loud clamoring of voices. He opened his eyes and lifted his head. Humphrey was shocked to see so many people staring at him.

"Welcome to reality," Joe said.

Humphrey rolled his eyes again before standing up and looking back at the people outside of the enclosure. He then spotted a familiar face in the crowd. He walked right up to the fence and looked at Leyla who was standing up front.

"Leyla," he said, "what am I doing here?"

She looked sadly at him, knowing that she couldn't answer him in front of so many people. Joe looked at him with a look of confusion on his face.

"Dude, what are you doing?" he asked.

Humphrey ignored him, keeping his attention on Leyla.

"Leyla," he said again, "did you bring me here?"

Still, she remained silent.

"Damn it, answer me, Leyla!" he shouted in a burst of anger.

The people around the enclosure stepped back, as all they heard was an angry growl. Everyone but Leyla, who continued to look at Humphrey sadly.

"Leyla," he said, his voice now sounding hurt and betrayed as he realized she had brought him here.

At that moment, a man came into the enclosure through a door in the side to subdue the seemingly hostile wolf. Humphrey turned and looked at him for a moment and saw that he had a tranquilizer gun in his hand. He then looked back at Leyla with a look in his eyes that seemed to cry out for help.

"I trusted you," he said before getting hit with a dart and passing out.

Leyla looked down in shame before walking away.

Humphrey woke up again a few hours later next to the tree. As he opened his eyes, he saw Joe looking at him again. Humphrey stretched as he stood up.

"What the hell were you doing, man?" Joe asked.

"Why do you care?" Humphrey asked back.

"Because I want to know what possessed you to do such a stupid thing," Joe replied. "Why did you try talking to that human?"

"I knew her," Humphrey replied. "She was my friend."

"Was?"

"Yeah. Was," Humphrey said before laying back down.

Humphrey stared back at the people around him before trying to go back to sleep. The rest of his day was pretty uneventful, and he went to sleep that night thinking of Kate and the others and how they had no idea that he was even alive.

The next day started out the same way, with the sounds of people waking him up. Humphrey wanted to get out and go home, but he didn't know how. At around midday he got an idea and turned his attention to the door the man had come through the day before. He got up and went to the opposite side of the enclosure.

"What are you doing now?" Joe asked, but Humphrey ignored him, eyeing down the door instead.

Joe put two and two together and began to object.

"Humphrey, that's a bad idea," he said.

Humphrey ignored him and continued looking at the door while also beginning to crouch down.

"Don't do it," Joe said. "You're gonna hurt yourself."

Humphrey suddenly burst toward the door, rushing across the enclosure. As he approached the door, he turned to his side and slammed into it with his shoulder. The door didn't move an inch and Humphrey was sent back onto the ground. The watching people gasped in shock. Joe walked over to him and Humphrey opened his mouth to talk but couldn't get any air in as he had effectively knocked the wind out of himself.

"That looked like it hurt," Joe said. "Are you okay?"

Humphrey tried and failed to say anything, and Joe noticed.

"You sure?" he asked sarcastically. "Can you talk?"

Humphrey eventually took a large inhale of air and finally groaned in pain.

"I only have one thing to say to you, Humphrey," Joe continued.

"Let me guess," Humphrey said, still groaning. "Some variant of 'I told you so'?"

Humphrey then rolled over and tried to stand up but cried out in pain and toppled back over as soon as put weight on his paw.

"Whoa, seriously, are you okay?" Joe asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"What does it look like?" Humphrey replied before a slab of meat was thrown to the other side of the enclosure through a slot in the door.

"What are they doing?" Humphrey asked.

"They want me to leave you alone so they can fix you," Joe replied. "Good luck in there."

Joe walked over to the meat as someone came through the door and tranquilized Humphrey again before pulling him inside. He woke up under the tree again.

"You really need to stop waking up like this," Joe said, jokingly.

"What happened?" Humphrey asked.

"From what I heard, you dislocated your shoulder," Joe replied.

"What?" Humphrey said, confused.

"You hit your shoulder so hard, it fell out and they had to put it back in," Joe explained. "That's as simple as I can put it."

Humphrey tried to get up, but Joe stopped him.

"You still need to rest, though."

Humphrey sighed as he laid back down, feeling helpless once again. As night approached and the zoo grew silent, Humphrey went to sleep, still refusing to accept that this place would be where he would spend the rest of his days.

Humphrey woke differently the next morning. He woke not to the sound of the busy zoo, but to a single person whispering his name. As he opened his eyes and looked up, he saw Leyla standing alone at the fence. He stretched and limped over to her. The sky was still pretty dark, but it was clear the sun had risen behind the buildings.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, quietly.

"No one's usually here for the first half hour that this place is open," she said, "so I figured I'd get here early and explain myself."

"Don't bother," Humphrey said.

"What happened to your leg?" she asked, noticing his limp.

"I tried to get out," Humphrey replied, blatantly.

"And?" Leyla pushed.

"Fine. And I, apparently, dislocated my shoulder," Humphrey said quickly.

"How?"

"I ran into the door."

"Humphrey you gotta stop that," she said. "I didn't bring you here just so you could hurt yourself."

"And why did you bring me here?" Humphrey asked a bit angrily.

"Okay, just be quiet," Leyla said. "I did it to keep you safe."

"Safe?" he exclaimed. "I wasn't in any danger with you! I thought we were friends, Leyla."

"We are," she replied.

"Are we?" Humphrey questioned. "Friends don't abandon each other."

"Look, I better go. People will be showing up soon," she said.

"Wait," Humphrey called to her, "why didn't you answer me the other day?"

"I'm so sorry for that, Humphrey," Leyla said, ashamedly. "You know it's not common for people to understand what you're saying and if I had answered you...let's just say it wouldn't have looked good for me."

"I guess that makes sense," Humphrey said, a bit understandingly.

"You really gotta stop trying to escape, though," Leyla said.

"Apart from the obvious, why?" Humphrey asked.

"Because they're going to see that as aggression and they'll put you down," Leyla answered.

Humphrey looked confused at what she had said.

"They'll kill you," she quietly burst out.

Humphrey's eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"I'll keep coming to see you, but don't try and talk to me anymore," she said. "I'll try and get here early sometimes so we can actually talk."

"Alright," he said. "Goodbye, Leyla."

"I'm sorry, Humphrey," she said as he turned around and headed for the tree.

Humphrey stopped and turned his head slightly.

"I hope you can forgive me," Leyla finished before leaving.

Humphrey limped back under the tree and went back to sleep. Humphrey did give up trying to escape, but he never stopped thinking about it. His shoulder healed up quickly and as he slowly began to embrace his new life, he and Joe finally began to get along.

A few months passed and winter soon came. About halfway through Humphrey noticed something odd. One day, he looked at a group of people that were at the fence looking at him when he noticed something off about one of them.

Something inside of Humphrey screamed danger when he saw a man near the front. He didn't know why but his instincts told him this man was bad news. The man looked to be around Leyla's age and had a short, semi-grey beard on his chin and wore a dark red hat on his head. Humphrey's feeling was confirmed when he noticed the man was wearing a wolf fur vest under his jacket. He then noticed the claw mark scar going across the man's neck and knew that he must've had his fair share of experiences with wolves. Joe noticed Humphrey staring at the man and walked up to him.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

"That man there," Humphrey said, motioning to the strange man. "Do you see what he's wearing underneath that jacket?"

Joe looked at the man and when he noticed the vest, he looked back at Humphrey.

"And do you see that scar on the side of his neck?" Humphrey asked. "That's a hunter if ever I saw one, and I have."

"Yeah, well, I bet a lot of hunters come here," Joe said, trying not to sound unnerved.

"True, but I've got a bad feeling about this one," Humphrey replied before going back under the tree.

Even though Humphrey tried to put it out of his mind, he just couldn't. The man visited his enclosure every single day after that and the worst part was that he never looked at Joe. He only ever looked at Humphrey. It began to get more and more unsettling, especially when Humphrey noticed the look in the man's eye. Hate. Pure hate. It was concealed well, but deep in his eye, Humphrey could tell this man absolutely resented and loathed him with every fiber of his being.

Then one day in early spring, the man didn't show up. And neither did anyone else. Humphrey woke up and the area around the enclosure was completely vacant. The entire zoo was quiet. He had no idea what was going on. Then the caretaker came through the door and startled Humphrey. He looked different. He was wearing something on his face, covering his mouth and nose. The man nonetheless tossed their morning meal into the enclosure and then closed the door again.

Humphrey figured things would be normal again the next day, but they weren't. Again, no one showed up. Not that day, nor the day after that, or the one after that. Weeks passed and no one came to the zoo. Suddenly, they began to get fed less food and less often. Joe had no idea what was going on either. Not even Leyla or the Mysterious Man stopped by to see Humphrey.

Four months of this passed and slowly things started to return to normal. People eventually did return to the zoo, but they didn't gather in large crowds anymore. Instead, they seemed to stay away from each other. And they all wore the same face covering that the caretaker did. The Mysterious Man was no exception and not being able to see his face made him even more frightening.

Things continued like this for around another year until things finally went back to the way they were. For three more years, Humphrey remained at the zoo. Eventually, his longing to return to Kate and his family became unbearable and he and Joe began to discuss calmer methods of escape, though none of them seemed likely to work. All but one.

"You're sure it will work?" Joe asked one day.

It was early in the morning and no one had yet arrived.

"You said the only way anyone leaves this place is if they die, right?" Humphrey asked confidently.

"Yeah," Joe answered slowly.

"So we pretend to be dead and they'll take us back to that room," Humphrey explained.

"I get that, but what about the other door?" Joe asked, "There's two doors in that room. One that leads in here, and another that leads to the other side of the fence."

"I know," Humphrey replied. "Just trust me. There's only one, maybe two people in there at all times. Don't worry, I've got a plan for that. Just make sure to hold your breath when he comes over."

The two laid back down on the ground and remained absolutely motionless. As expected, the caretaker simply assumed they were just sleeping. But when he went to feed them and they didn't move, he began to get worried. Just as planned, he entered the enclosure and began to approach, and Humphrey and Joe took a very subtle deep breath and held it.

The caretaker cautiously approached but when he noticed that their chests weren't rising, he rushed over and put his hand in front of their noses. Not feeling any breathing, he called for help and a second person came through the door to help. They carefully moved the two wolves into the room, all the while, Humphrey and Joe were very slowly taking shallow breaths.

When the door closed behind them, the two wolves suddenly jumped up, startling the two people who quickly backed away from them.

"Now what, genius?" Joe asked.

"Bite my paw," Humphrey said casually.

"What?"

"Bite it," Humphrey insisted. "If we start fighting, they'll call for help."

Joe still hesitated.

"What are you waiting for, you pig headed dog?" Humphrey said, hoping to provoke him.

At being called a dog, Joe leapt onto Humphrey and tackled him. The two began to pretend to fight, growling and biting at each other. But Humphrey could tell Joe was holding back too much and he let him know.

"You're holding back too much. Come on, actually hit me."

"I don't want to hurt you," Joe said.

"I've been through worse, I can take it," Humphrey said. "Just do it."

Joe nodded and Humphrey prepared for the hit to his shoulder.

"Give me your best," he said. "As hard as you can."

Joe quickly swiped his claws at Humphrey and hit him directly on the shoulder, leaving four long gashes that began to bleed immediately. It was at that moment that a few more people came through the other door and Humphrey and Joe bolted toward it. They managed to make it through and rushed out into the rest of the zoo.

"Why didn't you just tell me we were gonna fight when we were still in the enclosure?" Joe asked, somewhat furiously as they ran.

"Because I wanted to see the look on your face," Humphrey replied, smiling.

"You sly fox," Joe said, trying to hide his smile.

"I met a fox once," Humphrey added, "when I was a pup."

"That explains a lot," Joe replied.

They then noticed a bunch of workers at the zoo rushing after them and the two turned and ran into an open door that led into the reptile exhibit. They were rushing through the building with people scattering as they saw them, when Humphrey was suddenly tackled by a worker who had come from a side hallway. They crashed through the glass of a nearby snake enclosure and the man began trying to subdue Humphrey when Joe ran up and bit him in the leg. The man reeled back in pain, letting go of Humphrey and the two continued their escape as the snakes from the enclosure began to escape as well.

As they reached the other side of the building, people rushed for the exits, keeping the doors wide open and Humphrey and Joe rushed out. They ran toward the entrance of the zoo and soon they had escaped. The zoo was located on the edge of a town near Jasper's western border and they soon made their way back into the forest.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Humphrey exclaimed, turning and looking back at the town.

"You doubted your own plan?" Joe asked.

"Me? Never," Humphrey replied.

"Good, cause I sure did."

"Hey."

As Joe turned back toward the forest, Humphrey lingered for a moment, thinking about Leyla and how she would react when she found out that he was gone.

"Humphrey, come on," Joe beckoned, "let's go home."

Humphrey turned back and ran to catch up with him.

"Wait, you're from Jasper?" he said.

"Oh, I don't know," Joe replied. "Honestly, I don't remember where I'm from. I'd lived in that zoo for most of my life. I was thinking I could come back with you."

"I'd like that," Humphrey said.

"That looks bad," Joe said, looking at the claw mark on Humphrey's shoulder. "You sure you're okay?"

"I promise, it's fine," Humphrey said. "Like I said, I've been through worse."

The two continued walking through the forest, trying to find their way back to the Western Pack. However, that proved difficult since they were far north of where they were trying to go, and Humphrey had never been out that far before. He had no idea where to go, which direction was which, and didn't recognize any familiar landmarks.

Over the course of four months, Humphrey and Joe wandered around Jasper's northwestern region, slowly making their way southeast toward the Western Pack, until one day when everything changed.

The two had just finished hunting a caribou and were busy eating when Humphrey suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine. He suddenly felt the instinctual need to check his surroundings and he eventually spotted something deep in the trees that made his blood run cold.

"Joe," he said, not taking his eye off of what he was looking at.

"What is-" Joe began but stopped when he saw the frightened look on Humphrey's face.

"Look," Humphrey said.

Joe followed his gaze and soon he froze in fear too.

Deep in the trees, looking directly at them was the man from the zoo. He looked even more threatening without his winter jacket and hat. He looked almost as fit and healthy as Leyla. Even from a distance, Humphrey and Joe could make out what he was wearing. Accompanying the wolf skin vest, he wore a black t-shirt and two arm bracers on his forearms, both of which were also covered with wolf fur. He wore hiking boots on his feet and dark blue jeans. The strangest thing, he carried on his back. They couldn't tell what it was at first because it was mostly obscured by his back, but then they realized it was the hilt of a sword.

The three maintained eye contact for what seemed like an excruciatingly long time. The man didn't move a muscle. He just stood and stared at them and that was the most unnerving thing of all.

"Joe, run," Humphrey said before turning and sprinting away in the opposite direction as the man began to run after them.

All of a sudden, a loud bang was heard, and Joe tripped and fell to the ground. Humphrey skidded to a stop and turned around to see him bleeding from a hole in his leg. Humphrey rushed back to help Joe, but noticed the man approaching ever closer. Joe struggled to get up and Humphrey supported him with his head as the two stumbled along as quickly as they could.

The man suddenly slowed to a walk for seemingly no apparent reason. The two got a fair distance away and thought they might actually get away, when they heard another loud bang and Humphrey felt Joe's body go limp and fall to the ground. Humphrey stepped back in shock and when he looked, he saw a bullet wound located right in the middle of Joe's spine.

He didn't have time to grieve however, as the man was quickly approaching. Humphrey dashed off through the woods as the man holstered his gun and kneeled down by Joe's body.

"Until we meet again, Humphrey," he said, smiling to himself before picking up Joe's body, slinging it over his shoulder, and walking away with it.

Humphrey wandered scared and alone through the far western region of Jasper for a little over a month until one day, he met a new friend. By this time in his life, Humphrey had gotten pretty good at living on his own and being a lone wolf had sort of become his thing. He knew how to hunt, where to find good shelter; life was fairly easy now.

One day, as he was peacefully wandering, he heard a soft female voice call out to him.

"Hey."

He looked around him to see where it was coming from, but he didn't see anyone.

"Down here," the voice said.

Humphrey turned around and looked down at the ground. He was surprised to see a snake looking up at him. It was a viper, around four feet from head to tail with beautifully vibrant reddish-purple scales and a yellowish-orange underbelly.

"Whoa!" Humphrey shouted, jumping back.

"Please, don't go," she said quickly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Humphrey stopped for a moment and decided to give her a chance. He knew what it was like to be rejected.

"Alright," he said.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm Viper."

"That's a little on the nose, isn't it?" Humphrey asked.

"Yeah, I know," Viper replied. "You saved me back there. At the zoo, I mean. You and your friend."

"How did you find me?" Humphrey asked.

"Well, I have these pits by my mouth that I can use to let me see the heat coming off your body," she explained. "I can make it so that you essentially glow in the dark."

"Wow, really?" Humphrey said, amazed.

"Well, yes, but that's not how I found you," Viper replied, smiling. "I followed you from the zoo."

"Wait, you've been following me for five months?" Humphrey asked.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" he wondered.

"Because...well, I was afraid you would react pretty much exactly the way you did," she explained. "Us snakes are so misunderstood. Most animals run as soon as they see us when a lot of the time we just want to be friends. And that's what makes a lot of us bitter. Some more than others, but the loneliness and rejection gets to us all eventually."

"Oh," Humphrey said, feeling guilty about how he had reacted.

"I just wanted to say thank you for saving me at the zoo," Viper told him.

"Yeah, that really wasn't part of the plan," Humphrey replied.

"Either way, you saved me," she said, "you and your friend. I'm sorry about what happened to him."

Humphrey looked down in sorrow and the two were silent before Viper spoke up.

"You wouldn't mind having a travel companion, would you," she asked.

Humphrey smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask," he said. "It's always nice to have company out here."

As the two continued on together, they kept talking.

"I've never seen a snake like you in Jasper," Humphrey said.

"That's because I'm not from Jasper," Viper replied. "I'm from a place very far from here called Africa. I was taken from my home and brought all the way over here and put in the zoo. I'd been living there for about ten years."

"I know how you feel," Humphrey said. "I was taken from my home too, quite a few times, actually. First when I was a pup, I was taken from my parents and never found my way back to them. I was accepted into a different pack and then years later, me and another wolf named Kate were taken by humans all the way down to Idaho. We found our way back home and we ended up getting married soon after. Most recently was about six years ago when our pack was attacked by humans. I was badly injured and passed out. When I woke up, I was in a house and then was brought to the zoo once I healed."

"Wow, so you've been moving around quite a bit."

"Yeah, I've never really gotten the chance to settle down," Humphrey told her. "There was one period of around fifteen years when I was first brought into the pack, but that's about it. Once Kate and I got back from Idaho, I thought that would be it, but then we had to go and have three pups and that was an adventure all on its own."

Humphrey and Viper continued talking for the rest of the day as they wandered around Jasper. Night eventually fell and the two settled down near a tree with Viper resting up in the branches and Humphrey sleeping down at the base of it. The next day, Humphrey was awoken by Viper nudging him.

"Humphrey," she whispered.

"What?" Humphrey asked groggily.

"There's someone over there," she said.

At the sound of this news, Humphrey immediately stood up and looked over to where Viper was gazing. Once he saw who the human was, he began to relax a little.

"It's fine," Humphrey said. "That's just Leyla. She's the person I told you about yesterday, the one who helped me when I was hurt."

Humphrey stretched his legs before going over to Leyla.

"Who's that?" she asked, looking at Viper.

"That's Viper," Humphrey said, casually. "She's from the zoo."

"Humphrey, what are you doing?" she asked.

"What does it look like?" he said. "I escaped."

"I told you not to."

"And I didn't listen to you, because I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life in that place."

"Humphrey, I-" Leyla began.

"You just left me there, Leyla!" Humphrey exclaimed angrily. "I thought we had a strong friendship, and then you turned around and betrayed me like that. Why?"

"I was afraid," she said.

"Of what?"

"I was afraid that when the time came to release you back into the wild, you wouldn't want to go," she explained.

"Of course I would've gone!" Humphrey burst out, but then saw the look on Leyla's face and began to rephrase. "I didn't mean it like that," he said. "I still have a family to get back to, Leyla. They don't even know I'm alive. For six years now, they've thought I'm dead. My pups are growing up without me, I have to get back to them."

Leyla looked down in shame.

"You're right," she said. "I'm so sorry, Humphrey. I still partially saw you as just an animal and I didn't think you'd be able to make it on your own after spending so much time with me. I figured you at least deserved to be with other wolves."

"Did you forget what I told you during the very first conversation we had?" Humphrey asked. "Did you forget my story? I survived for months on my own when I was just six. With someone hunting me down on top of that."

"I'm so glad you picked up on that," a voice said.

Everyone turned and saw the man standing a few yards away, slowly clapping his hands. Humphrey's eyes widened in fear and Viper slithered behind Humphrey's leg to try and hide. Leyla, however, didn't look afraid. She had a look on her face as if she knew this person and resented him.

"At last we meet, face-to-face, my friend," he said.

"What is he going on about?" Humphrey wondered.

"Humphrey, I'm shocked. I'd have thought you were above being so rude," the man said casually.

Humphrey's eyes widened even more, and his mouth dropped open slightly.

"Who are you?" he asked, demandingly.

"You don't know me, but I know you," the man said. "I know you all too well. Humphrey, omega of the Western Pack, formerly of the Central Pack. Married to a beautiful alpha named Kate, and your three wonderful pups, Stinky Claudette, and Runt. I do believe you two fell in love on an unexpected trip to Idaho around, oh I don't know, thirteen years ago. You have your mother's eyes, my boy. Martha, I believe her name was. It's a shame her and your father were too stupid to stay behind and not go with the rest of your pack when they ordered the evacuation. Who knows, maybe they might still be alive-"

"Stop it!" Viper shouted, slithering out from behind Humphrey's leg. "That's enough!"

"Oh," the man said, chuckling to himself, "a snake. Well, this should be good."

"Answer the question," Viper pressed angrily. "Who are you?"

"I'm your worst nightmare," the man answered. "You managed to get away last month when I attacked you and your friend, although by this point in our long, long history together, I'm not surprised."

"And exactly how long is our history?" Humphrey asked.

"Longer than you can remember," the man said. "And I mean that literally. This may be your first time meeting me, but I've known you your whole life. I was there the day you were born, and I've been following you ever since, always lurking in the shadows."

"What do you want with me?" Humphrey asked.

"Now, now," he said, smiling. "You must be patient, Humphrey. It's something I've learned to be quite good at."

"Enough of your games, Viggo!" Leyla shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, Leyla," Viggo said, turning to look at her. "Always the fiery spirit. I've just come to finally get acquainted with our friend, here. It's been so long, I was beginning to get afraid that we would never actually meet."

He then turned his attention back to Humphrey.

"I do hope we'll meet again soon, my friend," Viggo said. "In fact, I guarantee it. But, I have other things to tend to in the meantime."

"Stop!" Leyla said. "You're not going anywhere."

"Oh, am I?" Viggo said, confidently. "The two of you can't take me. With her, maybe," he said, pointing to Viper, "but I still doubt that."

With that, Viggo simply turned and walked away. Humphrey turned and looked at Leyla.

"Are we really letting him go?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Leyla replied. "He's right, we're no match for him."

"How? It's three against one." Viper said.

"That doesn't matter," Leyla said. "You don't know what he's capable of. He's destroyed entire wolf packs single-handedly."

"Who is he?" Humphrey asked.

"His name is Viggo," Leyla replied.

"Yeah, I got that."

"Viggo Thanatos."

"I'm sorry. What?" Humphrey said.

"Thanatos. It means 'bringer of death'," Leyla told him. "He's my brother."

"If he's your brother, why does he have a different last name?" Humphrey asked.

"He doesn't," Leyla replied. "His real last name is the same as mine; Johnson. He just prefers Thanatos because of its meaning. And to wolves, he is exactly that. Humphrey, please listen to me when I ask you to come back with me. We can have a fresh start and pretend like this whole zoo thing never happened."

Humphrey thought for a moment before replying.

"Alright," he said, "I forgive you, and I'll come back to your house with you on one condition."

"Name it."

"You never lie to me again," he said. "You never try to bring me somewhere where you think I'll be safer. I want to stay right here with you."

"Deal," she replied.

"But Humphrey, what about your family?" Viper asked. "I thought you wanted to go home."

"I do," Humphrey replied, "but if this guy's telling the truth and he really has been following me my whole life, then maybe it's best if I stay away from them. They'll be safer that way."

"Are you sure?"

"I hate to do it, but they already think I'm dead, so that makes it easier," Humphrey replied regretfully. "Now come on," he said as he began to follow Leyla through the woods.

"Uh."

Humphrey stopped and turned and looked at Viper who hadn't moved.

"Viper?" he said. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know, Humphrey," she said.

"What? It'll be fine," Humphrey reassured her.

"I'm sorry, Humphrey," Viper said. "I'm just not comfortable around humans. I don't mean to be rude to your friend-"

"No, I completely understand," Humphrey said. "Just be safe, Viper."

"I will," she said. "I promise."

Viper turned and slithered away as Humphrey and Leyla watched.

"Where's she going?" Leyla asked.

"She's not coming," Humphrey replied. "She's not all that trusting of humans. She hopes you understand."

"That's alright," Leyla replied.

"I'm sorry too, Leyla," Humphrey said. "I know you wanted to try and keep me safe. I know you were just trying to be a friend."

Leyla smiled.

"Let's go," she said.

Humphrey and Leyla began walking back toward her house. Viper curiously followed behind them all the way back to the house, rethinking Humphrey's offer for a moment. She liked him. She liked his company and she felt bad about just leaving him. She ultimately stuck with her choice but hung around the general area out of loyalty to her new friend.

Humphrey and Leyla got off to a good restart and became the good friends they had once been. While Humphrey spent a lot of time in the house, Leyla always left the back door open for him and sometimes he would venture out into the woods. Sometimes, he'd only be gone for a little while, others he'd be gone all day. But Leyla always trusted that he would come back, and he did, every time. Which is why when he didn't one day, Leyla became worried.

It had been about two years since their encounter with Viggo. Life had carried on pretty easily. He never once showed up again after that. One day, Humphrey had gone out pretty early in the morning and Leyla thought nothing of it. He had done this hundreds of times before. He was still wild, after all. But as night began to fall, there was no sign of Humphrey and Leyla began to worry. He usually returned around sunset at the very latest. All of a sudden, Viper came slithering through the door, looking scared and panicked.

"Viper," Leyla said, "what are you doing here?"

"Humphrey!" Viper shouted frantically. "They took him!"

"Who?" Leyla asked.

"Three humans," Viper replied. "I was going about my day when I saw Humphrey nearby. I was going to go say hi when he got hit with some kind of weird dart and then he fell over and three humans came out from behind the bushes and took him."

"Where did they take him?" Leyla asked.

"I don't know," Viper replied, "but they were heading north."

Leyla rushed outside but to her dismay, it was already too dark to see much.

"Damn it!" she said. "We'll never find him now."

"I can," Viper said. "If their tracks are still warm, I can follow them."

Meanwhile, Humphrey awoke to the sound of clamoring, but he knew he wasn't at the zoo. As he looked around, all he saw were tents and people. That's all there was for as far as he could see. He realized he was being carried by three people and immediately decided against trying to escape. There were way too many people around and he had no idea where he was or how big this campsite was. He wondered how he was going to get out of this when he noticed where he was being taken and it scared him.

The three people carrying him were headed directly for a large tent that was made entirely out of wolf pelts. The entire thing, from top to bottom was made of various different pelts that had been sewn together. Humphrey saw many colors on the tent. Grey, white, black, yellow, tan, brown, even red. This was the tent of a hunter, and a ruthless one at that. The men pushed their way through the flap and tossed Humphrey onto the ground.

"Thank you," a familiar voice said. "Now, leave us. We have much to discuss."

The three men turned and walked out of the tent as Humphrey looked around. There was one table on each side of the tent. Behind the one on the left was a rack with various guns and knives on it. One small knife looked like it was made out of a wolf tooth. Behind the other table was a large chest. In the back-left corner was a rolled up sleeping bag and in the back-right corner was a smaller chest. But the most important thing was sitting right at the back of the tent among all the other stuff. There was a desk, and on top of that desk was a board with many weird pieces set up on it. A bunch of them were white and a bunch of them were black and they were all neatly arranged, the white ones on one side of the board and the black ones on the other side. But what Humphrey was focused on was who was sitting at the desk. It was Viggo. There was something else behind him, but Humphrey couldn't see it because Viggo was obscuring it.

"I'm so glad you could join us, Humphrey," he said.

"What do you want with me?" Humphrey asked.

"Did I not promise you we'd see each other again?" Viggo asked. "I'm nothing if not a man of my word."

"You know what I mean," Humphrey said, getting annoyed. "And how can you even understand me?"

"Wow, I'd have thought you were smarter than this, Humphrey," Viggo said. "I've been following you for your whole life, you seriously didn't think I'd have learned a few things?"

"Why are you so obsessed with me?" Humphrey asked, impatiently.

"I lost my parents because of you," Viggo replied, calmly. "Well, not you directly. It was actually your grandparents who killed them. Did you ever wonder why your grandfather had that burn mark on his side? It's because of me. I gave it to him. I was ten years old. We were out camping one night when we were attacked by your grandparents.

"In my attempt to protect my mother and father, I stuck my hand into the campfire and grabbed a burning log which I threw at Jack. His fur burst into flames and he and Mary ran away. But it was too late. My parents were dead. And from that moment on, I resented all wolves and I vowed to kill your grandparents and every one of you that they cared about. As time passed, I grew strong and so did my hate toward your kind.

"Unfortunately, your grandparents died in the attack that claimed your pack and I was left furious. Fortunately, you, your sister, and your brother along with half of your pack were still out there. Your brother was too well guarded, and your sister had already been adopted and was under the protection of her new owner. So you were my last option, lost somewhere in the woods. As our chase dragged on, you continued to evade me, time and time again, and so my hate for you grew to what it is now."

"So what are you going to do?" Humphrey asked. "Kill me?"

"Oh, don't be silly," Viggo replied. "The game hasn't even begun yet. We've only just met. I want to see what you're made of now that you know I'm here. But know this, when the time does come, and it will come, I have the perfect spot for you-"

Viggo turned and leaned back in his chair, facing toward the wall of his tent and revealing what was behind him.

"-right here, in between your parents."

Standing behind Viggo, was a wooden rack with two full body wolf pelts hanging from it with a space in between them for one more. A look of horror came over Humphrey's face as he realized that Viggo wasn't bluffing. He recognized his mother's blackish-purple coat of fur anywhere.

Humphrey's emotion suddenly turned from one of sadness to flaming anger. Just as he was about to leap on Viggo, a loud commotion was heard in the campsite. Viggo sat back up in his chair, putting his hands together on his desk.

"I see your friends have come for you," he said, smiling. "That is all, my friend. You may leave now. Let us save all this fighting nonsense for next time. I do truly look forward to it."

A clever grin stretched across Viggo's face as Humphrey reluctantly turned and rushed out of the tent. As Humphrey exited the tent, he immediately saw what was causing the commotion. Leyla had apparently come for him. Humphrey rushed after her as Viggo came out of his tent and called his men off.

"Humphrey!" Leyla shouted when she saw him.

"Leyla! It's Viggo!" Humphrey yelled.

"We don't have time for that," Viper said. "Let's get out of here."

"Viper!" Humphrey exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" she replied. "I'm saving you, dummy, now come on!"

The trio quickly retreated back through the woods to Leyla's house.

"Now, what happened there?" Leyla asked.

"Viggo told me everything," Humphrey replied. "Apparently, my grandparents killed his parents and he's-"

"I know," Leyla cut in. "I already knew all that. Years and years ago, he came to me for help in his madman's quest, but I just called him crazy. When I met you and you told me your story, I put the pieces together and realized it was you he was chasing. That's part of why I sent you to the zoo. I wanted to keep you safe from him. He wouldn't be able to try anything if you were there."

"Why didn't you tell me about him when we met?" Humphrey asked.

"One, you were injured, and you didn't need to be stressed out any more than you were," Leyla explained, "and two, by the time you were healed, you had become my friend and I didn't want to do that to you."

"What else did he say?" Viper asked.

"He said something about how the game has only begun and how he wants to see what I'm made of," Humphrey replied.

"That's not good," Leyla said. "That means he's going to be coming for you. Everything's a game to him. He's going to try and deceive you, trick you into doing what he wants without you even knowing it. You're going to think you're one step ahead, but you'll actually be two steps behind."

Humphrey had a distraught look on his face as he soaked all of this in.

"Come on," Leyla said, "get some rest."

Humphrey followed Leyla into the house and surprisingly, so did Viper.

"Viper?" Humphrey said. "You're staying?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I feel better about her. She seems like she really cares about you. And if you trust her, then I do too."

"You sure you'll be okay?" Humphrey asked. "I mean it's not like there are any trees in here."

"I'm sure I'll find a small nook or something to curl up in," Viper reassured him.

"Well then, goodnight, Viper," Humphrey said, smiling.

"Goodnight, Humphrey," she replied.

The next few weeks were pretty stressful for the three of them. Viggo was on everyone's minds. Humphrey went out of the house less often and everyone was on high alert. They had no idea when he was going to come for Humphrey. Viper continued spending the nights in various nooks and crannies around Leyla's house. She would act as a sort of messenger, going out some days to see what information she could gather.

She eventually caught wind of someone referred to only as "The Wolfslayer" going around Jasper. When she brought this news back to Humphrey and Leyla they began to think it was Viggo at first until they ran into him once. They managed to escape but Viper later brought word back about a pack that had been attacked by The Wolfslayer at the same time that they were with Viggo. However, this was even more worrying because now there were two murderous wolf hunters roaming Jasper. Over the course of eight long years, the three of them lived together pretty peacefully, and grew to all be very close friends until one day, one encounter changed Humphrey's life forever.

Eight years had passed since anyone had seen Viggo and while he was still on their minds, they weren't as tense about it. One day, in late autumn, Humphrey was out wandering in the woods when he suddenly felt a sharp, stinging pain in his side that burned like fire. He collapsed to the ground, yelling in pain. When he looked at his side, he was surprised to see an arrow sticking out of it. He looked up and noticed Viggo not far away, grinning.

"Such a beautiful weapon, isn't it?" he said looking at his bow. "The deadliest things often are. Take your viper friend for example. Gorgeous snake with her vibrant red and yellow scales, yet a small amount of her venom could cause me to lose an arm or even my life. It's a good thing I've stocked up on anti-venom."

Humphrey's side was still in intense pain as Viggo drew nearer and he knew he had no choice but to fight him. However the arrow in his side would be a major hindrance and Humphrey knew that it had to go. He didn't like how he had to do it, but there was no other way.

As adrenaline flowed through his body, Humphrey got to his feet and rested the shaft of the arrow against a nearby tree. He took a couple of deep breaths, mentally preparing himself for the pain he was about to endure. Then, in one swift motion, he twisted his body, snapping the arrow off and leaving a small stub sticking out of his side.

"Oh, a fighting spirit, I love it," Viggo said. "This should be fun."

Humphrey bit his lip and groaned loudly in pain before doing his best to ignore it as he faced down Viggo. As the wolf approached him, Viggo drew his sword from its sheath on his back and stuck it into the ground. He wouldn't need it this time around. He just wanted to toy with Humphrey first. He would go easy on him, make him think he actually stood a chance. Then he would put him in his place.

As Humphrey leapt toward him, Viggo simply sidestepped him, holding his hands behind his back and letting Humphrey land back on the ground. Viggo then began casually walking away from him. Humphrey rushed toward him and leapt at him again when Viggo suddenly spun around 360 degrees, grabbing Humphrey by the neck and then spinning back around and slamming him to the ground.

Viggo turned his back on Humphrey again and Humphrey took this chance to bite down on Viggo's leg. He was successfully able to pull Viggo off his feet but was forced to let go when Viggo kicked him in the face with his other foot. Humphrey then leapt on Viggo while he was still down. Viggo caught Humphrey with his hands but Humphrey managed to claw him across the eye.

Viggo reeled back for a moment before he headbutted Humphrey and tossed him to the side. Viggo stood up holding his hand to his eye. As he wiped the blood away, he slowly opened his eye, surprised that Humphrey's swipe had missed it. Humphrey quickly rushed Viggo again, but when he did, Viggo grabbed him and stabbed him in the side with a small pocket knife made from a wolf fang. He only pushed the blade halfway in, though. He didn't want to kill Humphrey yet. But he was going to make him wish he was dead.

Humphrey suddenly gasped in pain as Viggo twisted the blade before pulling it out and letting Humphrey fall to the ground. Humphrey got up and tried leaping at Viggo, but Viggo simply caught him around the neck and slammed him to the ground once more. Humphrey rushed at Viggo again but ended up receiving a deep cut on his side from Viggo's knife. As Humphrey desperately tried to get a hit in, he received more cuts, from his chest, to his shoulders, back, and abdomen and even across the bridge of his nose.

Viggo then grabbed one of Humphrey's front legs and brought his arm down on it, snapping it in half. Humphrey yelled in pain before Viggo elbowed him in the jaw. Humphrey stumbled backward and Viggo grabbed him by the skin on his back and threw him into the trunk of a tree. As Humphrey tried to get up, Viggo kicked him back against the tree, then proceeded to grab him around the neck and lift him off the ground.

Viggo looked at the pain in Humphrey's eyes before throwing him back down to the ground again. Humphrey laid on the ground, desperately trying to find the strength to get up, but his body would not give it to him and as Viggo picked him up again, he simply wanted this all to end. Humphrey was wishing for death when Viggo suddenly rammed his knee into Humphrey's back, breaking it but miraculously not paralyzing him. He then threw Humphrey to the ground and kneeled down next to the bloodied and broken wolf.

"Before I go," he said, fingering the knife in his hand, "I wanted to give you a little something to remember me by. A parting gift, to remind you that no matter where you go, I will always be there. You can never hide from me and be safe. I will always find you. You will spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder for fear that I will be there. Now normally, this mark means something else entirely, but I'm willing to make an exception for you."

Viggo then began to carve a V around Humphrey's left eye, starting on one side of his eye and ending on the other. Humphrey didn't even have the strength to cry out in pain. Once Viggo was finished, he wiped the knife on the grass before pocketing it.

"I imagine that'll cause some problems for you in the future," he said.

Humphrey weakly groaned in pain.

"No, you're not going to die," Viggo said. "There was never any danger of you dying, but I imagine the pain you're in makes you want to. I'm sure you'll survive, barely. Besides, you can't die yet. The game has only just begun. Know this, Humphrey. Once you're healed, I will pay a much-needed visit to your friends and family in the valley. I have been waiting a very long time to meet them. And it's been so very long since I last saw your pups."

With that, Viggo stood up and began walking away.

"Y-you st-ay away fr-om th-em," Humphrey struggled.

Viggo turned around and smiled at him.

"Or what?" he said. "You're in no position to make threats, my boy. I'd be more worried about surviving the night, if I were you."

With those words, Viggo turned back around and disappeared into the forest. Meanwhile, as night fell, Leyla and Viper began to grow worried about Humphrey again. They eventually went out looking for him with Viper leading the way. The night was cold, but they weren't going to give up until they found him. As they came upon the area where Humphrey and Viggo had fought, all Viper saw was a confusing mess of large orange patches scattered around the area. And then she found him. She could make out an orange lump back in the trees.

"I found him!" she cried. "Humphrey!"

The two rushed over to him as he painfully shivered in the cold.

"Oh my goodness," Leyla said, looking at the arrow stub in his side and his many cuts and bruises. "What happened to you?"

Humphrey only groaned in pain.

"That doesn't matter right now," she replied, taking her jacket off and laying it over his body.

"Leyla, what do we do?" Viper asked, scared.

"It's too dark and too dangerous to try and move him right now. We need to keep him warm and hold out for the night," Leyla replied. "You stay here with him and don't let him move. I'm going to go get some sticks and branches for a fire."

Leyla got up and headed out into the woods to look for some firewood while Viper stayed behind and kept Humphrey company. She wanted to do more than just sit there and watch him shiver. Part of her resented the fact that she was just a small viper and not something bigger like a python. Something that could wrap itself around him and actually help keep him warm.

Leyla returned around five minutes later with quite a few sticks and dead branches, along with some dead leaves to help get the fire started. It wasn't long before she had a decent fire going and things were slowly beginning to warm up.

All that night, Viper and Leyla stayed with Humphrey, talking to him, trying to keep him awake. When morning came, Leyla got up and began heading back toward her house.

"Where are you going?" Viper asked.

"Before we move him, we need to make sure his back is stable, or at least as stable as we can get it," Leyla replied. "I have some boards back at the house that I can use to support his back. I don't have anything to help with the pain, though, so it'll be a tough ride to the hospital."

With that, Leyla ran off toward her house, coming back twenty minutes later with some narrow wooden boards and some rope. It wasn't perfect, but she was able to stabilize his back as best she could. Next, she carefully slid a large board underneath him and slipped a rope through a hole in it and began to slowly pull him back to the house. Once they got back, Leyla carefully moved Humphrey and the board into the back of her truck and then got in herself.

"Wait," Viper said, "I'm coming too."

"Viper, I'm taking him to a town filled with people," Leyla said.

"I don't care," she replied. "I want to be there for him, for as long as I can."

Leyla smiled. Viper's undying loyalty to Humphrey was very admirable.

"Get in," she said, letting Viper slither in through the open car door.

Leyla then began to carefully drive Humphrey back to the town she had first taken him to, and she was hit with a feeling of deja vu as she recalled the first time they had met almost seventeen years prior. When they arrived at the animal hospital, Leyla told Viper to hide under the seat since she was going to go get some people to help her with Humphrey. Leyla then rushed up to the door and called for help. Several employees rushed back to the truck with her and moved Humphrey into the building.

Once inside, they asked Leyla to wait in the lobby. It took some time before anyone came to talk to her, but it was a different man than the other two times she had been there.

"Well," she said, "how is he?"

"Honestly, I'm surprised he's still breathing," the man said. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," Leyla replied. "I just found him like this in the woods."

"Well, whatever happened to him beat him up pretty bad," the man continued. "He's sleeping now. We had to put him under to make sure he didn't try to move. We had to do some minor surgery to get the arrowhead out of his side, then we had to shave all the fur with the dried blood off. He needed no less than a hundred stitches for all the cuts on his body and we had to insert a tube into his side to reinflate one of his lungs before we could fix it. We also put an IV into his good arm before we wrapped him up in a full body cast."

"A full body cast?" Leyla asked in shock.

"He broke nearly every bone in his body. His back and ribs took the brunt of it all. His organs were surprisingly untouched. I'm surprised he's not paralyzed, let alone dead. He got very lucky, but he's far from out of it. He's going to need to stay here for a while until he can come out of the cast. We'll need to do pretty much everything for him. Drain his bladder and give him nutrition and hydration through his IV, all of that. Even when he's out of the cast, it'll be a long recovery. I understand you've been here with him twice before. You two seem to have a connection. I'll be sure to give you a call first thing after he's out so you can come get him."

"Thank you," Leyla said, before walking out.

As she got back into the truck, she sighed deeply and Viper slithered up to the headrest of the driver's seat.

"Well?" she asked. "How is he?"

"Not good," Leyla answered solemnly. "They said he's broken almost every bone in his body, and he's been put in a full body cast. They said they'd let me know when he's out but until then, we just have to wait."

For the next four months, Leyla and Viper anxiously waited for any news about Humphrey. Then one day in early spring, they finally got it. Humphrey was finally getting out of his cast and Leyla left to go and get him. When she got there, she almost didn't recognize him. Because he had spent so much time completely immobilized, Humphrey was being wheeled around on a large, flat cart. His fur also hadn't gotten much of a chance to grow back while he was in the cast, so Leyla could see his bare skin and most of his body was only covered in a very light coat of fur. His head was the only thing that still had a full coat of fur on it.

He was also wearing some kind of special back brace that was made of a stiff piece of mesh that ran the whole length of his back and hung down around the sides of it as well, completely restricting his movement and forcing him to keep his back completely straight and the mesh allowed his fur to continue growing back. The brace was secured around all four of his legs in a way that allowed for them to move freely, but still kept his back in a fixed position.

He was still sleeping as he was rolled out and after Leyla took him, she carefully put him and the cart in the back of the truck and headed back to her house. Viper was anxiously waiting for them and when she heard them come through the door, she quickly slithered toward them. She was just as shocked at Humphrey's state as Leyla had been.

"Oh my goodness," she said. "Humphrey."

"He's sleeping," Leyla said. "Let him rest. He needs it."

"What is that thing?" Viper asked, looking at the brace on Humphrey's back.

"It's a brace for his back," Leyla replied. "It forces him to keep it straight while it heals."

"How long does he have to wear it?"

"They told me to keep it on for about three months," Leyla said. "His back was broken pretty bad, so it'll take a while to heal, and he has to wear it constantly."

Humphrey woke up a few hours later. Leyla brought him water and helped him roll over onto his stomach so that he could drink it. Humphrey was still in pain, but that was unavoidable. Eating was difficult but going to the bathroom was worse. Humphrey had no strength in his legs, so Leyla had to lift him up and place a tote underneath him.

He didn't talk much for the first week or so. The sounds he made were ones of discomfort and pain. The first month back with Leyla was the most difficult. Humphrey was almost completely helpless. Everything had to be done for him and his back brace was very restrictive.

By the end of the first month, Leyla tried getting Humphrey to stand again. His legs needed to start regaining their strength after not being used for five months. It was a difficult task for Humphrey, but Leyla was patient and he was fully committed to it. The first couple of tries failed but Leyla was there to help hold him up. They started out like this for a few days with Leyla supporting most of Humphrey's weight and letting him put a small amount of it on his legs.

As the days passed, Leyla began supporting less and less of his weight until Humphrey was eventually able to stand on his own again, though he still needed help getting to his feet and laying back down again. Throughout his entire recovery, Humphrey never lost his fun-loving, playful attitude, even if he couldn't actually be any of those things yet and while Viper couldn't physically help him like Leyla, she stood by him as a friend and supported him the entire time. As time passed, Humphrey's fur slowly but surely began to grow back as well.

A couple of weeks after Humphrey was able to stand again, he and Leyla began to start slowly walking around the house. He didn't go very far the first couple of times, but he slowly began to get his strength back and was able to take short walks around Leyla's living room. By the end of the month, Humphrey was back to walking around the house and would sometimes venture into the backyard, although he still moved pretty slowly, and he had enough strength to stand up while he ate. The moment of truth came the next week. It was finally time for his brace to come off.

Everyone had gathered in Leyla's living room. Humphrey stood up as Leyla undid the clasps under his legs and slowly slid the brace off his back. For the first time in seven months, Humphrey could feel the cold air on his back. It was sore, but it felt good. It itched like crazy and he wanted so much to roll onto the floor and take care of it, but he knew he couldn't and resorted to letting Leyla do it for him. He carefully stretched his back, turning it from one way to the other and let out a large sigh of relief. The next day, Humphrey went outside and was able to lift his leg to go to the bathroom again.

Life began to return to normal after that. Humphrey's condition continued to get better and better. Finally, eight months after he was crippled by Viggo, Humphrey was more or less back to his old self. His fur had almost completely grown back, yet he would carry visible scars from the knife wounds for the rest of his life, along with many internal scars on his bones from the breaks and fractures. He also walked with a very noticeable limp on the leg that Viggo had snapped in half and while it would get better, it would never fully go away.

But as Humphrey's recovery came to an end, Viggo's final words to him echoed in his head. He began to consider the thought of returning home and making his survival known to the pack. For the next two weeks, Humphrey considered his options, wondering if this was the best choice. He knew that once he made a decision, there would be no going back.

In the end, Humphrey decided that it no longer mattered if he stayed away from the pack. Viggo would be going after them either way and it was his job to protect them. Viper and Leyla were shocked when they heard the news that Humphrey was leaving.

"You're going back?" Viper asked.

"Yeah," Humphrey replied. "I gotta go protect my family from Viggo in whatever way I can."

"I'm coming with you," Viper said.

"No," Humphrey objected. "It's too dangerous. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. Please, stay here with Leyla."

"Alright," Viper replied, sadly.

"I'm going to miss you," Leyla said, kneeling down and hugging Humphrey around the neck.

"Take care of her," Humphrey told Leyla.

"I will," she replied. "And good luck, Humphrey."

"Bye, guys," he said.

Humphrey smiled at Viper and Leyla as he walked out the door and headed eastward toward his home. After seventeen years away from his family, Humphrey was finally going home. He stopped and turned around, looking back at Leyla's house. It had served as a sort of peaceful retreat from all the bad that had happened to him since his quest to find his parents. Viper and Leyla were such good friends, always having his back, rushing to save him when he needed them. Part of him hated to just leave like this. But he knew he had to. For Kate and his pups, although they weren't really pups anymore. This was going to be weird. He had been away for seventeen years now and things definitely wouldn't be like they were when he left.

Humphrey spent the next day traveling due east toward the back part of the valley. He arrived around midday but stopped when he smelled something troubling. Humans, lots and lots of humans. As he carefully peered through the bushes, he caught his first view of his home in seventeen years. He could see his old den, high up on the rock, overlooking the valley below. And scattered all around the area where tons of humans. Then he spotted him. He saw Viggo and someone else standing on the rock that jutted out from his den. He was too late. Viggo had already gotten there. There weren't any wolves anywhere. Just humans. And then Humphrey saw something that made him proud.

Down in the valley, coming out of the forest, was Stinky, leading the pack in an all-out attack on Viggo and the other humans. Humphrey almost didn't recognize him at first, he was so grown up. He watched as the battle progressed, impressed and proud of the leader his son had become. It wasn't long before Viggo and the rest of the humans turned and retreated out of the valley. Humphrey smiled as he watched his son's victory from afar. He laid around for the rest of the afternoon, simply watching everyone go about returning to normal after the battle.

As evening fell, Humphrey decided to get under way. He got up and circled around the pack, heading down to where the forest met the valley. Everyone he wanted to see first was gathered there. But as he got near the edge of the valley, he suddenly stopped. He could see Stinky, Claudette, and Runt through the trees. They all looked so different, it almost brought Humphrey to tears. They were talking with two other young wolves he didn't recognize. They looked a couple years younger than his pups, so he assumed they had been born not long after he left. He saw his siblings-in-law, Garth and Lilly, and his own siblings, Adam and Kenya, and even Steven. Kate was the only one who wasn't there, but he knew she was out on patrol. He had seen her leave.

He felt nervous looking at them all. They were within yards of him and they didn't even know it. Suddenly, Stinky's attention broke from the conversation he was having. He began to intently sniff the air, slowly turning toward the tree line. He was now looking directly at Humphrey, although it was clear he didn't see him. It was time. Humphrey drew in a deep breath before slowly walking toward his son. He was home at last.

As Humphrey finished his story, he looked down sadly.

"This is my fault," he said. "I can't help but blame myself for everything that's happened to us."

"I can't help but blame you either, but I'm totally willing to forgive you for it," Steven joked.

"Humphrey, I'm so sorry this happened to you," Kate said.

"I'm sorry too, Kate," Humphrey replied. "But now we need to stop Viggo and make sure that he can't do this to anyone else."

"What happened to Viper and Leyla?" Kenya asked.

"Did I hear my name?"

Everyone turned to see a brightly colored snake slithering toward them.

"Viper," Humphrey said, "what are you doing here?"

"No matter how much you want to keep me safe, I'm not leaving you," she replied. "I owe you my life. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"How did you find us?" he asked.

"Humphrey, I'm a viper," she replied, smiling. "I used my pits to follow your heat signatures. For real this time. I left the day after you did and when I saw the explosion, I followed it. Then I saw your prints and I started following those. I didn't stop until I found you."

Humphrey smiled warmly.

"Well, I'm glad you're here."