Chapter 5
Kate's Perspective. 0900 Hours.
My head is still throbbing. It's only become worse as the night went on. I wasn't able to get any sleep at all, and I was unsuccessful in finding a den to rest in. I'm supposed to be an Alpha, yet a simple headache brought me to my knees.
I just kept walking. The river was all I knew for the night. It could have been worse, though; it could have rained, I could have been attacked, anything.
I just kept walking. My mind numb from my physical and emotional trauma; my emotionless avatar stepping along the oppositely moving river gave me a feeling of vertigo that I've never felt before, almost like a robot with no purpose.
I suddenly saw what looked like 6 wolves, briskly approaching me from both sides of the river. As they came close enough for verbal contact, one of them spoke out.
"Hey!" They said, more so just to get my attention. "Who are you?" The male asked, once he was closer to me.
I stopped walking, and once they were within about 15 feet from me, they all stopped, too.
"My name is Kate." I roughly said. My throat was raspy; my tone was mono.
One of the other wolves stepped forward, seemingly female.
"Where are you from, Kate?" She asked attentively. She didn't seem to be stern about it, but it still felt like I was obligated to answer.
"I'm from the Western Pack. I don't know where I'm going, but I just want to get away from there." I said, not making eye contact after that first part.
The female and the seemingly male leader shared a glance.
"We're looking for someone. White fur, blue accents. Her name is Willow, she went missing last night. Have you seen her by chance?" He said.
I looked up from the dirt to meet his curious gaze.
"No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen anyone since last night when I left." I replied with sincerity.
"That's alright-" He started. "If you'd like you can come back with us, we're from the North. It's not too much farther down the river, maybe a few miles or so. This is as far as we're permitted to go, so we'll be heading back anyway." He added. He seems like a good guy. The other wolves haven't said anything, although they look more like additional personnel then anything.
"Well, I'd appreciate that very much." I replied softly. "Although I don't think I can stay long. I just-" I started, pausing before knowing what else to say. I looked down at the dirt before continuing. "I think I need to be on my own for a little while." I finished. I began to think about Humphrey again, and how much he always meant to me. Now with him gone, -because of me-, I don't know if I could be part of a pack without him.
"I understand. Certain events can lead wolves to take up the lone wolf lifestyle." He started, nodding immediately after. "I did the same thing before I joined the North." He added, beginning to turn around. "You don't have to stay, but we offer our hospitality for as long as you'd like." He finished.
I nodded, thanking him before joining them on the journey back.
The wolves began to ask impersonal questions, asking why I left. They questioned my condition, to which I explained my head trauma and injury.
All the while I answered their questions, I could help myself but to question myself; why. Why didn't I just live my life the way I wanted to? Perhaps the Alpha training made me question my own judgment, in that the love I felt for someone was overruled by the conduct that which all Alphas live by.
Before I left for Alpha school, he was the one person that I actually trusted, excluding my parents of course. He was the one I'd ever express my thoughts, my opinions, my emotions. Hell, even my girl problems. He may not have known exactly what I was talking about most of the time but he always tried his best to understand and help me where he could. He always knew what to say, he always had the best advice, and when he didn't; he promised to be there for me every step of the way.
Sometimes, I'd even sneak out of the den at night to meet with him and watch the stars; talking about anything that came to mind. Sometimes I'd ask him what he thought about certain controversial subjects that young wolves shouldn't talk about, but he always provided entertaining answers. Admittedly though, most of the time I wouldn't ask to know how he thought, but just to hear him rant; hear his voice.
Humphrey had a voice that made my ears raise when I heard it, even over other conversations. When he was tired, he had a rasp that made him seem slightly drunk, which was funny and made me smile a lot.
He and I would play together in ways we wouldn't play with other wolves. He and I understood each others' limits and abilities. We always learned from each other and teased each other when we knew we pushed those limits.
Humphrey always built me up, listened to me vent when I needed to, without interruption. He would stay up late with me when there was something I didn't understand, even when he was extremely tired; but he'd never tell me that because he didn't want me to worry.
Humphrey was the guy.. to put my life above his own at any given moment. He would always defend me when people said bad things about me, he would always comfort me, no matter how miniscule my discomfort was.
He never made me feel like I couldn't do something. He always motivated me to be myself, to try different ways to learn something, to see the big picture. The way he was made me understand why he was the Omega leader. He really was the pack peacekeeper.
All the while I lost myself in these thoughts, we had arrived at the Northern Pack. The search party had disbanded, and the female I met brought me to the pack healer.
"This is Savanna, our pack healer. Savanna, this is Kate. We found her on our way back." The female wolf said, introducing me.
Savanna looked at me and smiled.
"Hi, Kate! I presume you'd like me to take a look at that cut of yours." She said comfortably, turning back into the den.
"Oh, uh, yes please." I said, following her into the den. "I also hit my head pretty hard yesterday and.. My head has been splitting since then." I added, placing a paw on my head as I grimaced.
"I see." Savanna said, glancing at me for a moment. "Did you lose consciousness at all?" She added, focusing on something in a small bowl.
"Actually, yeah." I said, sitting down in the middle of the den. I looked around, noticing lots of colorful roots and liquids.
"Do you remember for how long?" She asked through her teeth, bringing a bowl with a runny liquid in it over to me.
"Um.." I started, closing my eyes trying to think. "For.. a couple of hours, I think." I said.
"Hm, alright. Hopefully you don't have a concussion, but I'm going to give you something to help you rest for a little while to help your head heal if that is the case, okay?" She said, stirring the liquid with a stick.
"Okay. That sounds great, actually. I haven't slept since it happened." I said, watching her stir the liquid, which is now more of a syrupy substance.
She held her paw out, assumingly for me to place my paw on; so I did. She dipped her paw in the substance, then rubbed it over the cut on my arm.
"This won't hurt at all, in fact, you shouldn't feel anything after a moment." She said, watching her work.
"Okay." Is all I said, and she was right. As if it was numbing the cut, I couldn't even feel her rubbing it on.
After about 10 seconds, she stopped and wrapped it in a long leaf-looking thing that stuck to my arm, encasing the entire cut.
"That should do it. The wrap I applied shouldn't come off easily, so don't worry about it falling off. The cut should heal within the next couple of weeks, so just be easier on it for a couple of days." She started, getting up and returning to the back of the den to get something else. "Now, for your headache." She added, getting another bowl, placing the one she just used down.
She crushed a purple looking root in the bowl with a thick stick, then putting some water in it, with a couple leaves. I assume those are medicinal. She crushed it all up and mixed it before bringing it to me.
"This won't taste horrible, but it won't taste great either. You don't have to drink all of it, just most of it, okay?" She said, placing the bowl in front of me.
"Alright, and you said this will make me sleep, right?" I asked beginning to drink it, which wasn't bad at all.
"Yes, the effects will take a few minutes to do their thing, so I suggest you eat something right after if you haven't had anything yet." She replied, going to the entrance of the den where an Alpha stood guard.
"Hey, would you mind getting a little bit of caribou for her real quick?" Savanna asked him.
I assume he nodded because I didn't hear anything.
"Alright- Oh wow." She started. "I didn't expect you to drink all of it, most people can't stand it." She said taking the bowl.
I shrugged.
"It really wasn't that bad." I said, sitting down.
"There's a padded bed in that room there, where you won't be disturbed if you'd like." She said, looking in the direction of a small room.
"Oh, thank you." I said, walking toward the room.
"Daniel, the guy I asked to bring you something to eat, should be back any moment." She said, cleaning the bowls.
"Thank you very much, Savanna. I really appreciate this." I said, sitting in the room. Just then, Daniel walked in holding some caribou for me.
"You're welcome, Kate. When you wake up, if nobody is here feel free to leave the den, nobody will stop you. Just ask for me and someone will come find me for you." She said with a smile.
Daniel placed the caribou in the room.
"Here you are, Kate. Hope you feel better." He said respectfully, smiling.
"Thanks, Daniel!" I said sincerely, beginning to eat; starting to feel the effects.
I ate the bit of caribou I was provided, which tasted great by the way; and then I laid down, slowly drifting into a deep sleep.
