Three Moons Later

King struggled for breath as he pulled himself from the river, his fur drenched from head to tail from his horrifying experience. With the remainder of his strength, the disgraced leader of the All-Alpha Pack managed to walk ten paces before his legs finally gave out from under him. With a pained yelp, King collapsed on his stomach, a single tear of pain escaping his eye as he wallowed in his rage and misery.

"King?!"

Upon hearing the new voice in the clearing in which he lay, King turned his attention in the direction it came. To his surprise, and utter relief, King took in the brown fur of his most loyal follower, Hench, said Alpha running to his fallen leader. Upon reaching King, Hench, after quickly assessing the older wolf's injuries, helped King stand to his feet.

"The other's?" King inquired without so much as a word of thanks to his loyal minion, the self-proclaimed "monarch" wincing as he brushed off his second-in-command, his legs shaking as he struggled to maintain his balance. Swallowing nervously, Hench bowed his head, ears down and tail tucked between his legs as he gave his report on the failed coup against the Bear Kingdom.

"Strom and Claw are dead," he began with a whimper, "...washed up a few miles back. The others were captured or fled."

For a few minutes King stood in silence, a blank expression on his face as he let the news of yet another failure sink in. In that time, Hench stared worriedly at his leader, wondering what his true reaction would be. After another minute, he received his answer as he watched King's blank expression contort into one of pure rage. Hench actually turned his head tot the side, eyes clenched shut in fear as King let out a long, loud scream, fueled by his rage.

"I WAS TO RULE ALL OF JASPER!" he bellowed, his rage giving him newfound strength,

"I WAS TO KILL WINSTON AND TONY AND BE KING OF ALL THE TERRITORIES!"

At that moment, King began to march menacingly toward Hench who continued to cower in fear, eyes clenched tightly shut once again as King screamed in his face, not noticing fresh tears of extreme sorrow mixing in with his already existing tears of anger.

"SHE WAS TO BE MY QUEEN!"

For a few more moments, Hench kept his eyes shut, trembling at the the likelihood that King was preparing to strike him. But, to his surprise, the blow never came. Instead, his ears were filled with the unmistakable sound...of weeping. In all his time in the All-Alpha Pack, Hench had never seen his leader cry. But, there's a first time for everything.

"My Mate..." he heard King whimper, "My Daughter...My Pack...

I've lost everything."

Unable to see his King in such a state, Hench's face took on a steely expression as he shrugged away his fear. Standing to his feet, he began to boldly walk toward his leader.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," He snarled, catching the distraught King's attention. "What kind of King snivels like a pup?" Upon hearing this, King looked incredulously at his other wise submissive minion.

"What kind of King concedes to the victory of Omegas?"

With each word, the tears stopped flowing from King's eyes, and in their place, a horrible resolve began to take form. Upon seeing this, Hench allowed a sinister smile to form on his muzzle at the sight of his leader regaining their vigor...and with a great yell, he added the last bit needed to restore King to his hateful state.

"Are you an Omega...or are you an ALPHA!"

With a look of pure hatred, King lowly growled out his answer.

"I Am An Alpha."

With that, the two wolves left the area, determined to rebuild everything they had lost.

Five Moons Later

I have truly lost EVERYTHING?

Once again, he had been defeated by his enemies; Kate, daughter of Winston and Eve, and her Omega mate, Humphrey. An even more damaging blow to his ego was the fact that they were aided by their three pups, a bear, a porcupine, and a goose that was accompanied by a duck. Throughout the whole ordeal, King actually thought that his forces, which consisted of his loyal right hand wolf, Hench, as well as the western deserters Lyle and Link, would have been enough to overwhelm the group. But, he was wrong. The three wolves had been rendered unconscious by the goose, whom King recognized as part of the rescue party that saved the Omega pup, Runt, the previous winter. And, just as he was about to tackle said pup, King, in turn was tackled by the pup's parents. Realizing he was now alone, King had no choice but to flee.

Now, here he was; alone, cold, and starving. King knew at this point he would have to eat something, or he would pass out from exhaustion and freeze to death. Coming up upon a series of small dens, King walked into one that appeared virtually unoccupied. With the last ounce of strength he had, King plopped down onto the ground. Surprisingly, the den was semi-warm, offering at least some comfort to the tired wolf. But, after a few moments, King had an unshakable feeling of another presence in the den. His suspicions were confirmed when a familiar, Irish laden, voice broke the silence.

"I always believed ones past could come back and bite then in the arse." With as much strength as he could muster, King turned to see the familiar cream fur with ginger marks of one of his FORMER top Alpha's, only to find out He felt like an Omega at heart; Samuel. Upon taking in the wolf before him, as well as a sizeable piece of caribou meet at his paws, King merely scoffed in disgust at the wolf, before turning his back on him. The wolf simply rolled his eyes and allowed a small smile to grace his muzzle.

"Now is that anyway to greet an old friend?" King was a bit shocked at this statement, but still chose to ignore the Alpha turned Omega. Said Omega then sighed. Right after, he picked up the piece of caribou meet in his jaws, and began walking toward King. Coming around so that he could face him, Samuel carefully placed the piece of food in front of the tired Alpha. King, who at first tried his best to resist the offering, finally caved as his stomach growled in protest.

Moving forward slightly, King tore into the piece of meat, savoring the delectable taste. After a few moments, King was full to his content, or at least until he could find more food. After licking his chops clean, King then turned his gaze toward Samuel, who shifted uncomfortably under the Alpha's hard glare. After a few moments, King's gaze finally softened.

"Thank You." At first shocked by the older wolf's show of gratitude, Samuel gave an appreciative nod, while a smile spread across his muzzle. Shifting with a bit of unease, King decided to ask a question that had haunted him since the previous winter; "How is she?" To King's surprise, Samuel's smile lessened, by his eyes gave off a caring gaze.

"Terra is doing quite well," Samuel responded in a hushed tone, "in fact, better than ever; we're mates now." King was actually quite shocked; he knew his daughter and the wolf before him had a mutual attraction for each other, but never thought they would actually become mates. He knew he should be disgusted that his daughter married an Omega, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to feel that way.

"Well, um, Congratulations." The hesitant reply was said with as much sincerity as possible, as King was now debating with himself how he SHOULD feel about the news he had just heard. Samuel once again nodded his head in appreciation. He then motioned toward the entrance of the cave.

"She's outside." King's breath caught in his throat; his daughter? Here? Now? However after a brief moment of internal debate, King gave a curt nod to Samuel, a sign to proceed. As the two began walking toward the entrance, Samuel hear King say something that made him stop in his tracks;

"Why?" after a few moments, Samuel answered.

"A big wolf does not hold grudges." After a brief pause, he continued; "And everyone deserves a second chance." What happened next, shocked Samuel immensely; King, with tears in his eyes, brought the young wolf into a tight embrace. After recovering from the shock, Samuel, with a caring smile, returned the gesture.

"Thank You."

"Anytime." After pulling away from the embrace, Samuel began walking toward the entrance. That is until, he noticed he was walking alone. Looking back, Samuel saw King, with his gaze on the floor.

"What if she hates me?" King asked as he brought his eyes up to meet Samuel's. Samuel simply smiled and repeated what he had said before;

"A big wolf does not hold grudges." Samuel saw king relax a bit at this information, conveying that King's daughter did not hate him. Soon, both wolves continued their short trek to the mouth of the cave. Upon exiting the small space, King's eyes fell on his only daughter. At the sight of the hard glare she was giving him, King lowered his head and ears in shame, while also tucking his tail between his legs. Walking slowly forward, King was soon face to face with his child.

"Princ-...Terra," he began, quickly correcting himself into using his daughter's given name for the first time in years.

"...Can you ever forgive me...an old wolf who doesn't want to be left alone in the cold anymore?"

After a few tense moments, Princess's hard gaze slowly melted into one of compassion. Bringing her head forward, she began to nuzzle the top her head under her father's chin, who gladly returned the gesture.

"I already have."

For the first time in a long time, King felt the coldness in his heart melt away.

"I Love You...My Baby Girl."

"I Love You Too...Daddy."

King, upon hearing this, held back a sob.

"It's been so long since I've heard you call me that," he whispered as a tear slid down his cheek.

A few minutes into the small family reunion, King felt a pair of tiny paws on his foreleg. Pulling away from his daughter, King looked down to see a tiny pup, no more than a year old, smiling up at him with wide eyes, tail wagging erratically. The pup itself was mostly auburn in color, with a cream underbelly and "cocks" on it's forepaws, as well as dusty blonde streaks in its mane. The eyes King noticed, were also a beautiful hazel blue. Looking back to Samuel, he saw a broad smile spread across his face.

"Meet your Granddaughter, Anna," Princess said, much to King's surprise. King's shock soon fell, and a large, warm smile soon graced his withered features.

"You named her after your mother?"

The tears brimming in Terra's eyes were all the answers he needed as his own fell down his cheeks. Looking down to his new granddaughter, King slowly brought his head down, the pup returning the gesture by standing as tall on her hind legs as possible, her grandfather's leg offering balance. King then nuzzled his nose against the top of the pup's head, with both closing their eyes in content. After a few moments, King brought his head back up to look at his daughter, who now had his new son-in-law by her side. After a few moments of exchanging smiles, King closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and let out a sign of content. Looking to his new, extended family, he finally broke the silence.

"Let's go home." Bending down, he scooped Anna up with his head so that she would have a clear vantage point to see where they were going, much to the pup's amusement. The parents and new grandfather let out amused chuckles as the family of wolves began walking to their new home. And so, after everything he had been through, for the first time in a long time, King felt he could live with Alphas and Omegas being together. Because, if such a thing could make him this happy, how bad could it be?