Chapter 15: No Regrets (written on April 24th, 2020)

An hour before dawn...

"Kate! Humphrey!" yelled Hutch. "Wake up!" Hutch came to the pack leader's den and howled. The echo woke the two wolves up.

"Huh? Hutch? What's going on?" asked Kate.

"Kate! It's your son! He's been kidnapped!"

"WHAT?! What happened?!"

"I was knocked out! When I woke up, he was gone! There was another wolf with us, a friend of Rocky I think... She was knocked out too and badly injured. I got some Alphas to take her to the pack healers."

"Oh, my gosh! These kidnappers must not escape! Put our Alphas on alert!"

"Already done, ma'am!"

"Good! Look around our old den! I'll search through the eastern side of the territory! Humphrey, go search through the western side!"

"Okay," Humphrey replied.

Later...

Humphrey made his way to the western side. He sniffed the ground, trying to pick up Rocky's scent. He hated his scent. It reminded him too much of Den 23. Humphrey wasn't really in the mood to find Rocky. Rocky was supposed to be dead, but a group of Alphas had to ruin his chances for a new litter. All he wanted was to start over, but it seemed like that was never going to happen now. He accepted his fate which made him put at least a little effort into finding Rocky.

He was nearing Shadow Forest when he heard rustling and sounds of struggle. In front of Humphrey was a raised piece of the ground. He went into its shadow and gazed around a corner. A group of six wolves was walking towards Shadow Forest. One of them was Rocky. The others were beefy Alphas. Humphrey recognized two of them. There were the Alphas who brought Rocky to the West. His blood boiled. The Alphas ruined his chance at changing his fate. Humphrey clenched his forepaws and took deep breaths.

But he figured his breaths were too loud after one of Alphas stopped in their tracks. He signaled the others to stop as well.

"Hey, guys!" He then took a whiff. "Someone's here..." Humphrey decided to reveal himself. He stepped out from behind the wall. The Alphas growled.

"Hello, Humphrey," said the leader. It was the same wolf that said to Kate that she was breaking the law. "Kate sent you, didn't she?"

"It's clear that you guys don't want to be followed," said Humphrey, "if you're willing to walk through Shadow Forest. Question is why?"

"Your mate is an illegitimate leader. Even you know it. We're taking him to a place where we won't be bothered." One of the Alphas opened his mouth, revealing an ancient bone. "That bone contains the Pack Leader's Oath. When the first light of the day comes, he will read that aloud and become pack leader the right way."

"But he's still a Beta. The law says he has to be an Alpha."

"We're picking our poison! A Beta now is ten times better than a she-wolf for the next few weeks. Besides, if she can take power whenever she wants, what's to stop her from keeping that power?"

Humphrey thought to himself. He didn't want Rocky to ever become pack leader. Never should anyone of his blood have a position of power. He couldn't allow it. He charged at them, but an Alpha headbutted him in the stomach before he got close to the leader. Humphrey fell to the ground and struggled to stand back up. The wind was knocked out of him. "You've been an Omega for a large chunk of your life. You don't have anywhere near the foundational strength that we have. You have no chance." The big Alphas then left, leaving Humphrey who was struggling to breathe.

Meanwhile...

Kate was looking through the eastern side. So far, she was coming up empty at every turn. No suspicious scents, tracks, or anything. It was worrying her beyond belief. She already lost Rocky once. She didn't want to lose him again. She hoped that Humphrey had better luck.

In the heat of the moment, she didn't realize Douglas was nearby until he was right next to her.

"Kate?"

"Oh, yikes! I'm so sorry..." Kate blushed and attempted to walk away, but Douglas stopped her.

"Is everything all right?"

"No. My son is gone."

"Again?"

"This time he was kidnapped," Kate replied.

"What?! What is wrong with wolves here?"

"If I had to guess, it was the same Alphas who were against me becoming pack leader."

"Geez, this place is crazy."

"It normally isn't. As much as I hate to admit it, this is Rocky's fault. If he didn't run away, this would've never happened."

"Why did he run away?"

"He found out that his dad... wasn't really his dad."

"Ohhh... That's umm... So that's what Humphrey was talking about."

"What?"

"I don't know if you remember when we first met. You came into the den when Humphrey and I were talking to each other a few days ago. That was when you told me your son was dead. Well, before you came in, Humphrey mentioned that your son had run away and that it was because of something really bad that happened in the past."

"Oh. I hope that was the only time he mentioned personal things. Stuff about our past should be kept between us. No one needs to know how Rocky came to be."

"Well, actually I don't think it was the only time. The first time was when he and I first met which was the night before I first met you. He was exiting the den, and I came to him. I remember it vividly because he had a bone in his mouth, and he seemed like he was in a hurry to do something. He couldn't induct me into the pack that night because he had to 'undo something' in regards to some family matters."

"'Undo something'? I don't know what he's talking about."

"It wasn't my business, so I distanced myself from it. But it was weird."

"Wait... You said he had a bone in his mouth when he came out of our old den?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of bone was it?" she asked.

"Umm... It was small, covered in puppy marks." The truth set in Kate. Her heart dropped.

"Oh, my gosh..."

"Um, are you okay?" Kate stared at her forepaws.

"You got to be kidding me?" she muttered. "...You motherfucker..." Douglas tilted his head.

"Is there something I should know?" Kate then closed her eyes and smiled. It was followed by a long hysterical laugh.

"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! I'M SUCH A FUCKING FOOL!"

"Um..." Douglas became worried. He didn't know what to think. But at the speed of light, Kate came closer and grabbed his chest with her paws. In no time, she kissed him hard, forcing their lips together. Douglas was terrified, but he surrendered and gave in. Kate was attractive, and although he didn't like her like that, it was still pleasurable to be kissed by a high-level she-wolf.

Kate knew she was betraying one of her own codes, but for one moment, she didn't care. She had just found out that Humphrey had done more wrong than she did. In fact, she could kiss Douglas a thousand times, and it still wouldn't make up for Humphrey's wrongdoing. She felt vindicated and freed. The enormous weight of guilt ceased to exist.

After a minute, she let Douglas go, and they separated.

"Come on! Let's find my son!"