A/N: Sorry for the late update, but I have a really good reason why. I've been working on the first chapter for the A&O/Avengers crossover idea I had, about 4,000 words into it now, so…yay! Also, I upped the rating to M, just as a precaution for some scenes in this chapter, it doesn't mean that I'll write a lemon for next chapter, but we'll see.

Anyway, onto the chapter.

Chapter 7 - Kate's Arrival

Lillian's POV

"You want us to do what?" Marcel asked. Kate and I had just explained that we wanted them to fly ahead and tell Humphrey that we were coming. Apparently, the two golf-playing waterfowl weren't too keen on the idea of flying to Yosemite during their vacation time.

"Can you please do it?" Kate asked, pleadingly, "I'll do anything."

"While you may be willing to do anything in return for us…" Paddy said, "you do not have the authority to do anything for us."

"What?" Kate asked, confused.

I sighed, "they want their vacation time lengthened and you do not have the authority to do that." I explained.

"You are so smart, Ma'am." Marcel said.

"Well, then…" Kate started, but I raised my paw to silence her.

"I don't have the authority to do that either, Kate." I said, then turned towards the two fowl, "but I can talk to Mom and Dad about it, that's the best I can offer."

"It's either an extra week of vacation or nothing." Paddy replied, "do you realize what we've been through while running errands for your grandmother?"

"You've gotten some interesting stories to tell from running those errands, as you call them." I said, "you've also found some challenging golf courses that are worthy of your skills."

Marcel chuckled, "I am pretty good, aren't I?" He asked.

"Only the best." I answered, forcing a smile on my face.

Marcel honked, "I like you, Miss Lillian." He said, "alright, we'll do as you wish, but you have to tell your grandmother that after this, we want another one…"

"Two, Sir." Paddy corrected.

"…two weeks added onto our vacation time." Marcel finished.

I sighed, "fine." I replied, reluctantly, "I'll put in a word to my parents and we'll see what we can do."

Marcel smiled, or as much as he could when having a beak for a mouth, "thank you, Miss Lillian." He said, "it's always a pleasure doing business with you."

Marcel and Paddy then opened their wings and took off into the sky, following the train tracks to Yosemite to deliver Kate's message. Once they were gone, I groaned and laid back down on the car floor, "pleasure doing business with you." I mumbled, mocking the goose.

"Hey, don't knock 'em." Kate said, "they're friendly enough to do a favor for us."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "were you not listening to the conversation?" I asked, rhetorically, "they wanted me to add two whole weeks onto their vacation time to return the favor of delivering a simple message."

"What's so wrong with that?" Kate asked, confused.

"They already have enough vacation time to last until the end of their lifetimes." I explained, "greedy waterfowl."

Kate chuckled at my comment, then I sighed, "we should get some sleep." I said, as I watched the sun set below the horizon, "we should be arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay." Kate replied, then ducked back down in her crate, presumably to sleep.

I continued watching the sunset, as I sifted through my thoughts, everything rises and falls like the sun, Grandmother. I thought, it's only a matter of time.

Humphrey's POV

Sanny and I were in the Alpha Den with our parents and Sanny's boyfriend, Cody. Cody and Sanny were sitting down beside each other towards the back of the den, while Mom, Dad, and I, were closer to the entrance, catching up. I had already explained what happened while I was living in Jasper, including…Kate. They seemed a little put off about how Kate brushed me off for a strong Alpha like Garth, whom she just met, instead of a wolf she knew her whole life.

"So, Humphrey." Mom said, "do you have any questions for us?"

I thought to myself, but couldn't think of anything, "no, I don't." I answered, "Sanny has already explained a lot about…everything."

"I was more asking if you had questions about more personal stuff." Mom explained.

"Uhh…" I muttered, as I felt my face heat up.

"Carol, Hun, there's no need to embarrass the poor boy." Dad said, "leave him be."

Mom smiled, "we'll talk later." She said, then sauntered over to Cody and Sanny.

Dad stood up, "come with me, Son." He said, "I want to have a chat with you."

I got up and followed him out of the den, where he led me into the trees. "So…" I started, "where are we going?"

"Just follow me." Dad replied, as we kept walking.

"Okay then." I muttered, then continued following him. He led me to the top of a cliff that overlooked the entire territory, I could see the dens and many wolves going about doing their business.

"Wow." I said, amazed.

Dad smiled, "this was where I proposed to your mother, Son." He said, "you should've seen the look on her face after I asked her."

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked, "other than the obvious beauty factor."

"Because I wanted to share a special spot of mine with my son, so he has a good spot to propose to his girlfriend." Dad answered, making me widen my eyes.

"I-I don't have a girlfriend though." I pointed out.

"Son. There comes a time when a wolf must settle down." Dad said, "Mating Season is only a few days away and quite a few of the females in the pack are already in heat."

"And?" I asked, confused.

"And with you having returned, all those females will be wanting to be your mate." Dad explained, then chuckled, "at least the ones who aren't married yet…although…"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there." I said, "I'm not quite ready to settle down just yet, I mean I just got here."

Dad smiled, "I'm not trying to rush you, Son." He replied, "but just keep in mind, you may have to settle down sooner than you think."

"I understand, Dad." I said, then yawned, "I think I should go to sleep, being threatened to be executed, took a lot out of me."

Dad chuckled, "yeah, I'm sorry about that." He said, "let's go back. I'm sure your mother has finished talking with your sister and her boyfriend by now."

Carol's POV

"So…" I said, getting Cody and Sanny's attention, "how long has this been going on?"

I heard Cody gulp, "we've been dating for a few months now." Sanny answered, "I wanted to tell you, but I wasn't sure how you would react."

I chuckled, "you needn't worry about me, Sweetie." I said, then Sanny raised her eyebrow at me and I had a flashback of me threatening to toss Cody into a raging river, "okay…I see your point."

"Mating Season is coming up, by the way." I continued, "Are you ready for that?"

I saw Cody blush, "Mom!" Sanny exclaimed, "what we may, or may not, do during that time is our private business!"

"I just wanted to know if I should be expecting grandpups at some point." I replied.

Cody's face turned an even deeper red, "Mom!" Sanny exclaimed.

"Sanny!" I exclaimed, jokingly.

"What's going on in here?" Humphrey asked, as he and Rick entered the den.

"I'm going back to my den for the night, Mom." Sanny said, as she stood up, then started to leave the den. She stopped at the entrance and turned back towards Cody, "you coming, Cody?" She asked.

"Uhh…" Cody stammered, "yeah."

Cody got up to leave, but I held him back with my paw, "don't…hurt…my daughter." I lightly growled, "…or else."

Cody gulped, then rapidly nodded his head, "Mom…" Sanny warned.

I smiled, then lowered my paw and Cody left with Sanny to her den. Rick and Humphrey sat down in the back of the den, "you know, Carol." Rick said, "Sanny's growing up. We have to let her go."

I frowned, as I sat down beside him, "I know, Rick." I replied, "it's just hard to let my little girl go."

"I know, Hun." Rick said, as he rubbed my back with his paw, making me sigh in content, "let's just get some sleep. We have another big day tomorrow."

"Why's that?" I asked, confused.

"Well, Humphrey's celebration for his return." Rick explained, "it won't plan itself."

"Ah, true, true." I replied, then laid my head down onto my paws, "night, Son."

Humphrey laid his own head down onto his paws, "night, Mom." He said, as he closed his eyes.

Humphrey's POV

I woke up to the sun shining in my face and the silhouettes of a duck and goose standing in the entrance.

"Ah, you're awake." The goose said and I immediately recognized the voice.

"Marcel?" I asked, waking up Mom and Dad.

"Huh, what?" Dad asked, still half-asleep, "what's going on?"

Mom moaned, "just go back to sleep, Dear." She said, barely opening her eyes.

I looked at them strangely, "I thought the Pack Leaders had to be up early?" I asked, confused.

Dad chuckled, "whoever made you believe that?" He asked, "most of the pack sleeps in until the sun comes up, only the Omegas, who are doing the border patrol at night, stay up."

"Huh." I muttered, then turned back towards Marcel and Paddy, "anyway, what are you two doing here?"

"We have a message from Miss Kate." Marcel said.

"Don't you mean, Mrs. Kate?" I corrected, "she married Barf."

"Who in their right mind would marry their own vomit?" Mom asked, still half-asleep, "that's just disgusting."

"On the contrary, Humphrey." Paddy said, "Kate did not go through with her forced marriage."

"Paddy, please." Marcel interrupted, "she backed out of her marriage and is now on her way here, she'll be here sometime today."

"Why would she be coming here?" I asked, "doesn't she have Alpha Duties? I doubt she's coming for me, she's made that perfectly clear the last time I saw her."

"Why? She didn't tell us." Marcel said, "she only said that she would tell you herself when she arrives."

"Oh, great." I muttered in annoyance, "probably wants to drag me back to Jasper, so her parents can ask why I left."

"Well, I hope not." Mom said, now fully awake and sitting up, "I'd like to meet this Kate you've described, Son."

I groaned, "I'm going to go on a walk." I said, then left the den before they could say anything. While the sun rose into the sky, I explored the territory until I came across the training grounds that Sanny and I had passed by the day before yesterday. Many wolves were in the fields training, some running laps, others doing tree squats, and some were even climbing a cliff face. I suddenly bumped into someone and they turned around, "oh, hey there!" The wolf exclaimed.

He looked almost exactly like me in fur color, the only difference was that he had red eyes, instead of my icy blue ones. "Umm, hi." I said, "sorry about bumping into you."

"Ah, that's alright." He replied, "say, I haven't seen you around here before, you new?"

"Uhh, no." I answered, "I'm just exploring the territory."

"Why would you be…?" He started, then trailed off as a look of realization formed on his face, "ohh, you're Rick and Carol's boy, aren't you?"

"Uhh, yes." I answered, nervously, "is that a problem?"

"Is that a problem?!" The wolf shouted, taking me off-guard, "on the contrary, I was wondering when you'd come back."

"Uhh, why?" I asked.

"Because I've always wanted to train one of our pack's Elite Alphas." He answered.

"I think you're confused." I said, "Sanny only told me that I was supposed to be an Alpha. She didn't say anything about me being an Elite Alpha."

"And if she had, would you have come?" He asked.

"Uhh…" I mumbled.

The wolf chuckled, "exactly what I thought." He said, then started circling me, poking me in places and muttering to himself.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "what are you doing?"

"Well, you don't have much muscle…" The wolf said, "but neither does Luna, and we all know what she can do."

"Uhh, I don't." I replied, but the wolf ignored me and continued poking me around.

"Hmm…" He muttered, as he moved back in front of me, "you're older than most Betas that come through here, but I'll see what I can do."

"Uhh, Betas?" I asked, "I'm not a Beta, I'm an Omega. The very bottom of the Social hierarchy."

"Dear, Fenrir, boy!" The wolf exclaimed, "did Sanny explain anything?"

"All she said that I was supposed to be an Alpha and that Luna is my grandmother." I said.

The wolf muttered to himself, "alright, I guess I don't have to make you do a hundred tree squats." He replied, "…yet."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Follow me." He ordered, ignoring my question, then headed towards a group of wolves in a field. I reluctantly followed after him, praying to Fenrir that I would survive whatever he had planned for me.

Kate's POV

It was now about midday the next day and Lillian had told me that we would be arriving in Yosemite any minute. We were sitting by the car door, watching the scenery go by, "you're sure that Humphrey will be in Yosemite?" I asked.

Lillian nodded, "I'm certain, Kate." She answered, "don't worry, you'll be with him again soon. Besides, if he wasn't, Marcel and Paddy would've flown back to tell us."

"You're sure about that?" I asked.

Lillian shrugged, "not really." She answered, "but trust me. I'm sure Humphrey is there right now."

"If you say so." I replied, then turned my attention back outside to watch the scenery. We passed by a hill and I saw a quick glimpse of a dark gray wolf that looked like Humphrey before another hill blocked my view.

"Was that…?" I asked, hopefully, then quickly jumped out of the train car.

"Kate, wait!" Lillian exclaimed, then jumped out of the train car and started running after me. I crested the hill and saw the dark gray wolf. He looked exactly like Humphrey, so I ran after him, "Humphrey!" I exclaimed, then tackled the wolf to the ground.

"Hey, get off of me!" The wolf shouted in a voice that…wasn't Humphrey's.

Lillian ran up to us, "I'm terribly sorry, Sir." She said, "she thought you were someone else."

I got off of him with an extremely embarrassed look on my face and he stood up, "oh, Lillian." He said, "it's quite alright, very few can sneak up on me…"

He trailed off as soon as he noticed me, "…and who are you?" He asked.

"I'm Kate." I answered, "and I'm sorry for pouncing on you. I thought you were Humphrey."

"Humphrey?" The wolf asked, then chuckled, "no, our Elite Alpha is currently doing some log drags."

He gestured towards a wolf pulling a log about the size of himself across the field. I recognized him immediately as Humphrey and gasped. Humphrey looked over in our direction and he suddenly widened his eyes, then took off like a stampeding caribou, despite the log attached to him.

"Whoa! Look at him go!" The wolf exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't think he had it in him."

I immediately took off after Humphrey, hoping to catch him. He weaved through a group of wolves, who were doing log squats, and they exclaimed in frustration from nearly hitting them with his log. At some point, we joined up with another group of wolves, who were running laps around the field, and by-passed them. They looked at us out of curiosity, wondering what was going on, "you can't hide, Humphrey!" I shouted, "I'll find you!"

That only seemed to make him run faster, "why is he even running from me?" I wondered to myself. He took a turn into the trees, possibly in an attempt to lose me, and the log behind him started bouncing from the tree roots and small rocks in the ground. I had to move to pull back to avoid getting hit by it, but I ran up beside him and smiled at him, "hi." I said.

He gulped, then started running faster, "how is he running so fast?" I wondered, as I continued running after him. I decided enough was enough, so I pounced on him and we went rolling down a hill, head over tail, as the log crashed above us. Thankfully, the vines attaching it to Humphrey had snapped from the extreme stress of running with it, so we weren't about to be crushed by it. We continued rolling down the hill until we crashed at the bottom. Humphrey was laying on his back, while I had my front resting on his chest.

I noticed the position we were in and blushed a deep red. Humphrey must've noticed as well, because I could tell he was starting to panic. "It's alright, Humphrey." I soothed, as I traced circles into his chest fur.

"What are you doing here, Kate?" He asked, trying not to hyperventilate.

"I came here for you, silly." I answered, "why are you not happy to see me?"

"Maybe because Bar-, Garth will kill whatever Eve leaves behind for him, after she tears me apart for even touching you." Humphrey explained in a panic.

I chuckled, then Humphrey somehow slipped out from under me and ran off before I could react. "You can't hide from me, Humphrey." I muttered, "I'm not leaving until I claim you as mine."

Sanny's POV

Cody and I were still sleeping after a rousing session of…well, I'm sure you can guess, when Humphrey suddenly ran into the den, panting. I woke up, startled, then glared at him, "what are you doing here?!" I asked, annoyed.

"Kate's here." Humphrey answered, "she nearly caught me."

It took me a while to figure out just what he meant, until I remembered last night, "ohh…" I said, "you didn't help her out?"

Humphrey looked at me confused, "what?" He asked, then started sniffing the air and widened his eyes, "tell me you didn't."

I chuckled, nervously, "please don't tell Mom and Dad." I said.

"Well, the two of you better wash up or it's going to be pretty obvious." Humphrey replied, "I'll, uhh…give you two some privacy."

Humphrey left, then I nudged Cody awake, so we could go down to the lake and wash up.

After Cody and I washed up at the lake, he went off to go patrol the border, while I headed to my parents den. There I found them waiting for me with Humphrey, "there you are, Sanny!" Mom exclaimed.

"Uhh, yes." I said, "were you waiting for me?"

"Humphrey just told us that Kate has arrived, so you and I are going to go out and find her." Mom explained.

"And…why?" I asked.

"We are going to keep her away from Humphrey." Mom answered, then winked at me, which went unnoticed by Humphrey.

"Oh, okay." I replied, then Mom and I left the Alpha Den and went off in search for Kate.

"So, any ideas?" Mom asked.

"Ideas for what?" I asked.

"How to get Humphrey and Kate together." Mom answered, "I can tell that Humphrey doesn't want to talk to her, so we're going to have to set them up somehow."

"Hmm, we could trap them in a den." I suggested, "just get a large enough boulder."

Mom shook her head, "no, then they won't be able to breathe…unless…" She said, then trailed off.

"Unless…what?" I asked.

"Well, that could work, honestly, just make it the right size, so air can get in, but they can't get out." Mom explained, "but how would we get them into the den?"

"Knock 'em out and blindfold 'em." I answered, "is it really that hard?"

"Is that what you did with Cody last night?" Mom asked, taking me off-guard.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, innocently.

"Oh, come on, Sanny." Mom exasperated, "it's that time of year and every female is feeling horny, I don't mind you getting it on with Cody."

I blushed madly at how Mom just said it so bluntly, "you're sure about that?" I asked.

Mom chuckled, "Sanny, please." She said, "every single critter in the territory was able to hear you last night."

I blushed even more, "I'm sorry, Mom." I muttered.

"Ah, don't be sorry." Mom replied, "I'm glad really. You know, Humphrey has returned, so I don't mind having to let go of one of my daughters. Just as long as he treats you right."

"Cody treats me perfectly fine." I said.

"Okay…but how do you treat him?" Mom asked.

"Uhh…" I muttered, taken aback by that question.

Mom only chuckled, "I'm just messing with you, Sanny." She replied, "now, let's put our plan into action."

"Uhh, okay." I muttered, then continued following after Mom into the trees.

A/N: There's that chapter. Uhh, A couple things. First off, I don't have very many votes for whether I should do a lemon or not. You don't have to vote on the poll, you can leave your vote in a Review (especially if you're a guest). I'm setting things up for a lemon in the next chapter, so I need to know PRONTO! If I"m doing one or not. If I don't get votes, then I won't, simple as that.

I'll post the first chapter for the A&O/Avengers crossover in the meantime, so you'll have plenty of time to vote and whatnot.

Till next time,

-Demonwolf102