Chapter 20: Dawn of Humphrey Part 2 (written on May 12th, 2020)

Midnight...

"Where is she?" Jenny whispered to herself.

She looked through Shadow Forest. She looked through Moonlight Howl Rock. She looked through the Ceremonial Valley, the Western feeding grounds, and some of the training grounds. She looked in Dani's old den. She looked in her parent's old den. She looked in the pack leader's den. All were devoid of wolves. She was now looking through the slopes of Mt. Victory where a pawful of wolves were, but they were mostly Omegas. Where could one Beta go?

Dani was her oldest friend. In fact, Dani was the reason Jenny became an Omega. Originally, Jenny was supposed to be an Alpha, and she even spent some time in Alpha School which was where she first met Dani. But after Dani left with their fervent classmate, Briana, to form their own pack, Jenny realized that a life without stress was what she wanted. When Dani left with Rocky and Briana, it tore her apart. She had no hard feelings for Dani, for she believed the intersex wolf had a right to control her own destiny, but she was upset that her only friend was gone. Despite how much they played together, Rocky and Jenny weren't particularly close. Dani was different. She was special. She didn't want to leave Dani behind. She didn't want to revisit the pain she went through when Dani left the Western Pack. Not again. Dani couldn't be lost. She wouldn't accept it.

One of the slopes had a large group of dens. The area was known as the Western Den Grounds. Most of the population of the Western Pack lived there. It was the last place she decided to look before she had to leave. She was already late. The train could come at any minute, assuming it hadn't come already.

She walked on the passageways between the dens that were set up in rows. She scanned left and right for every row she passed, hoping for a sign. Miraculously, she found one. In one row of dens, she heard someone bawling. It definitely wasn't Dani, but she was desperate to quickly investigate anything out of the ordinary. She went down the row and to the specific den where she saw a black wolf crying. It was Jasmine, the current Prime Omega.

Jenny knew Jasmine from Omega School. Four days ago, when she finally graduated from Omega School, Jasmine hosted a graduation celebration where a lot of Omegas competed against each other in logsledding. Jenny had placed last, and Jasmine had consoled her. Now it seemed she had to console Jasmine.

"Hey? Are you alright?"

"No!" she sobbed. "I couldn't save her!"

"Save who?"

"I don't know who she was... I just met her... or him... I don't know what she was... It was weird..."

"Wait... Did she have a baculum?"

"You know her?" Jasmine replied.

"She's my friend! Where is she?!"

"Gone... reduced to a spirit that now haunts me..."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?!"

"DON'T YOU HEAR WHAT I'M SAYIN', YOU BITCH! SHE'S GONE, LOST, PASSED AWAY, RESTING IN PEACE, TOOK HER LAST BREATH, SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES, TAKING A DIRT NAP, WENT TO A BETTER PLACE, SIX FEET UNDER, IMMORTALITY-CHALLENGED!"

Jenny had gone outside and thrown up. The stress made her shiver. "She took her own life at Bear Teeth Edge," Jasmine added. Jenny thought about biting her elbows again. It was hard to resist.

"Was there a frown on her... body...?"

"No," the black wolf replied. "Fortunately, she was happy... because of me... She wanted pleasure... sexual pleasure... so I gave her that... but I couldn't stop what eventually happened... I was—"

"Shhh!" Jenny shushed her.

"What the fuck, Jenny?!"

"Shush! I hear something!"

"What is it?"

"The attack... Come! Come with me if you want to live!"

Jasmine came outside. She sniffed the air and pointed to the left. A black male wolf was prowling. Then ten black wolves appeared, snarling at them! "Run!" yelled Jenny. The two she-wolves ran down the mountainside. The group of black wolves pursued them. They had a fluid formation, but Jenny and Jasmine knew the terrain. The Western wolves jumped over countless fissures and jagged rocks as the intruders struggled to find a safe way down. The rough terrain would buy them some time, but once they reached the flatter side of the Western Pack, they needed to really sprint. "They have our scent! We can't stop!"

"Who are they?!" asked Jasmine.

"Rogues... They hunt Omegas! But these guys are crazier!"

"What do we do?!"

"My family is waiting for me to join them, so we can leave on a train!"

"What about the pack?!"

"Do you wanna die?!" Jenny replied.

"...Where is your family?"

"At Shadow Forest."

The she-wolves sprinted as fast as they could across the Western flatlands. They could smell the posse. They were ahead of them by half a mile. Surprisingly, the Rogues could not close the distance, but the two she-wolves didn't want to slow and take any chances.

They made it to Shadow Forest where Kate, Douglas, Hutch, and Sasha were. They could see the two she-wolves panicking.

"There you are, Jenny!" said Kate. "I was getting so worried! The train is coming now!" The dark cloud was in the distance. A bright light, brighter than the moon, shined between the trees, and it continued to intensify.

"Mom! We need to leave now! There are Rogues closing in on this location!"

"Look!" said Douglas. The whole group gasped. They could see the Rogues coming from the east. "Let's go! We need to move!"

The group rushed to the train tracks. By the time they made it, the train was going through. Each car whizzed past them. Suddenly, an open car went past, and the wolves began running parallel to the tracks. Eventually, they caught up to the opening.

"Jump!" Kate screamed. Jenny hopped in, followed by Kate herself then Jasmine, Hutch, and Sasha. "Where's Douglas?!" The wolves looked out of the train car.

"Look! Down there!" said Hutch.

Douglas was still running parallel to the tracks. He was in clear agony as he tried his best to run on his lame leg. Right behind him were the Black Mountain wolves! They were gaining on him quickly.

"Jump! We'll catch you!" said Kate. Douglas then leaped. Kate caught one of his paws, but she couldn't lift him up. At that very moment, a couple of the Rogues caught Douglas's lame leg, and they pulled in the opposite direction.

"AHHH! You sons of bitches! My fucking leg!" Sasha looked around inside the car. There was a box in one of the corners that was strapped with long strips of plastic. She grabbed one of the strips with her mouth and dragged the box to the opening. She then pushed it out, and it crashed right into the Rogue wolves. The box hit them right in the face, causing all of them to lose their footing. Some wolves crashed into others behind them and the entire posse tumbled and fell apart. One wolf was unfortunate enough to fall into a space between the cars where he got ran over by the wheels and split in half on the tracks.

Suddenly, the train took a sharp left turn which caused the wolves inside the car to lose their footing. Kate fell to her knees, Sasha smashed into boxes, and Jasmine slipped out the opening on the other side of the car, but Jenny was able to catch her and pull her back in. Kate gave a sigh of relief as she got back up. The Rogues were out of sight now.

"Whew!"

"Your eye," said Douglas as he dangled from the car.

"It's nothing," she replied. "I can still see you."

"Watch out!" yelled Sasha. A metal sign struck the back of Kate's head. Douglas rolled violently on the ground after the tan she-wolf lost her grip.

"No! NOOOOO!" Jenny yelled. Her mother dropped to the floor and passed out. "Mom!" She shook her body, but she was unresponsive. "Mom! No! I love you! Don't go!" Jasmine checked for a pulse.

"It's waning!" she informed. Jenny nuzzled her chest.

"No... Mom... No!" she sobbed. Kate then awoke, coughing and convulsing. Jenny gasped. "Mom!"

"...Huh? Where am I? Who... who are you...?"

"It's me, Mom... your daughter, Jenny."

"Wha...? I have a daughter?" Jenny tilted her head.

"Well... Well, of course, you do! Heh, heh! You're funny!"

"I am? Ohh..." Kate slowly looked around as she lay on her back. She pointed at Hutch. "Is that my brother?"

"Brother? No," Jenny replied.

"Oh... What's my name?"

"You're name?" Hutch then came to a realization.

"Oh, no..."

"Oh, no, what?" said Jenny. Hutch came closer to Kate.

"Kate, who is the current pack leader of the Western Pack?" he asked her.

"What's a pack leader?" she answered. Jenny realized it too.

"Oh, no..."

Meanwhile...

Douglas couldn't stand up. His lame leg was made broken again. There were a number of bruises and gashes all over his body. The Black Mountain wolves came and surrounded him with their teeth bared.

"Well, well, well, so this is Douglas," said the leader. "How does it feel to be a traitor?! Your parents are a disgrace!"

"Just get it over with. I don't have all day," Douglas replied.

"We aren't gonna kill you! That would be too easy... No... our supreme leader would like to have a word with you. He'll crack open that little brain of yours and find every speck of information that he wants, including... where your little friends are headed."

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

"You can't fool us! Our supreme leader always gets what he wants! Even if he has to rape it out of you!"

"King won't like what you guys are doing... His jealousy will roll over your territory like waves over a beach."

"King and his delusions will die! We are the new wolves in charge! We're doing what he fails to do. Every shred of the Omegas' existence will be expunged from this Earth! They will feel the wrath of the new and improved BLACK MOUNTAIN EMPIRE!"

Meanwhile...

Humphrey entered Den 23. There, Alabaan remained on the floor, his legs bound by caribou tendons.

"Sorry. I didn't know you would be in here."

"As long as you're not one of those visitors who come to pee on my face, we good," Alabaan replied. "What brings you here then?"

"This place is umm... significant... to me personally."

"Ohh..." Humphrey walked up to one of the walls and admired the minuscule details.

"When I conquer the North, I will take this den. I figure the best way to get rid of a bad memory is to desensitize it."

"Fighting fire with fire?"

"Yeah..."

"Not bad," Alabaan replied. "That's what I do all the time to my bad memories. I add my unique spin to it, of course."

"This den... Not only will I take it. It will one day be my new home!" Humphrey declared.

"Huh... You should know then that, in the spring, little mice come in here to take your food. It's pretty annoying."

"How do you keep food in here if you're all tied up?

"I'm not keeping food in here. No one does. I don't get fed." Humphrey came to Alabaan's side and tilted his head.

"I don't understand."

"I was talking about long before I got tied up. I used to live here briefly."

"What...? When... ... ...?"

"Ummm... a year ago... give or ta—"

Humphrey grabbed Alabaan's throat and squeezed hard. The light grey wolf was choking. Humphrey breathed heavily. Each breath was as heavy as a gust. "Wat da fack?!" he managed to say. Saliva and snot were being squeezed out of his muzzle. His head was being pushed into the floor. The anger gave Humphrey a serious headache.

"IT WAS YOUUUU!" yelled Humphrey. "YOU RUINED MY LIFEEEEEEE!" Alabaan could not reply. "YOU... KILLED ME... YOU... YOU..." Humphrey could hardly formulate his sentences. He lessened his grip a little bit, so Alabaan could speak.

"What did I do...?"

"HOW DID YOU DO IT?! TELL ME BEFORE I TORTURE THE FUCK OUTTA' YOU!" he demanded. "A YEAR AGO... THE TAN SHE-WOLF FROM THE WESTERN PACK! TELL ME!"

"Ohh... well... I saw her... alone... inside a den... There she was... looking pretty in her sleep... You guys came to... where I was living... The training grounds... It was you guys' first day there... I guess you guys were training to be Alphas or some shit... I snooped around... I saw her on you guys' first night... I put some berries in her mouth and waited... After a few minutes... I did what I did... then left... That simple..."

Humphrey remembered the morning after that night. He walked into her assigned den where she lay peacefully on the floor.

"Wake up, Kate," he had said. "It's morning." Her eyes fluttered open, and she got up with a groan.

"Why didn't my dad wake us up?" she asked.

"Maybe we just didn't hear the howl," Humphrey suggested.

"No, he would've known that we were missing and would've come to wake us."

"Maybe he's letting us sleep for a while."

"We'll see if we're the odd ones out. Let's go see what's happening." They walked down the path to the lower levels of the slope. Humphrey noticed snoring coming out of some of the dens.

"Looks like Winston let everyone sleep late."

"Let's go see if he is in his den," Kate suggested. They continued on until they came to the third level. "Dad!" Kate had called out. "Where are you?"

"Over here," they heard coming out of his den. They came in and sat down.

"Didn't you say that you would wake us up early, sir?" Humphrey asked, confused.

"Yes, I did, but I decided to go easy on everybody since they had a long trip," he answered. "As far as I'm concerned, they are still pups."

"Where are Hutch and Samuel?" Kate had asked.

"They went to get breakfast, but I don't know that we'll be able to eat up a whole caribou this early in one sitting."

"You'll be surprised, sir," said Humphrey

"I bet I will and drop the 'sir' thing, Humphrey. I'm going to be your father-in-law soon, so call me Dad."

"Yes, s... I mean Dad... Sorry, it's just I haven't said that in a long time. You know..."

"Yes, I know about your parents... Anyway, I decided there won't be any lessons today, so everyone can go explore, provided that they are in groups of two or more. By chance you two have any plans for today, now would be your time to commence them."

"We don't have any plans, but I think we can go exploring. Don't you agree, Humphrey?" said Kate.

"I do indeed, my sweet." The couple turned around and started walking out of the den after saying their goodbyes.

"Where should we go first?" Humphrey asked.

"Let's just walk and see where the path leads."

"Sure."

They fell quiet. Only the sounds of crunching leaves on the path could be heard. Eventually, they arrived at a clearing with some logs arranged in a particular order. "So this is the obstacle course?" said Humphrey

"Yep, that's it."

"Why don't I practice on it so that I can have an advantage tomorrow or whatever day I'm doing the course?"

"Sure," she answered. "As long as we don't get caught doing it. I'll go first. You follow." She got ready to commence the course, but before Kate began her run, she stopped and held her stomach in pain.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Kate answered. "No, I'm fine. I... I think I just had a rough sleep."

Humphrey remembered that morning when Kate seemed in pain. He never realized how significant it was until now. It was horrific to think about. From that night, Alabaan changed the course of history and ruined his life. Kate would have never left him if they had the pups they were supposed to have...

ALABAAN HAD TO PAY!

Humphrey took his claw and sliced open Alabaan's chest with one swoop. Alabaan screamed and screamed.

"AHH! FUCK! FUCK! FUCKKKKK! YES, IT WAS ME! I DID IT! I RAPED YOUR PRECIOUS BITCH!"

"I let you speak too much!" said Humphrey. "NOW DIE!" Humphrey pushed his paw directly into Alabaan's chest. He could feel the weak beating heart. Every beat made Humphrey angrier. Each beat meant that this vile wolf was being unfairly supplied by his blood. Each beat meant Humphrey's entire universe was out of whack. Each beat was an insult to everything good and just in the world. Every cell of him had to be annihilated.

In contrast to Humphrey, Alabaan... was smiling. He was laughing! He was laughing as though he was surrounded by a plethora of pleasures! He enjoyed dying! "YOU SHOULD NOT BE LAUGHING! THIS IS YOUR END!"

"PLEASE! YES! YESSS! I'VE FOUND IT!"

"FOUND WHAT?!"

"PEACE!"

"WHAT?!"

"You silly dog! I have found... what I've been looking for! My entire life, I've searched for it! I've been on a quest! And I have found my proper destination! It was death all along! Thank you, wolf! THANK YOU! HA, HA!"

"AHHH!" Humphrey screamed. With both of his paws, he crushed Alabaan's heart to smithereens. Blood exploded out of his chest, getting all over Humphrey's face. Alabaan was very quickly losing consciousness, but he wanted to tell something to Humphrey before he went dark.

"My good old dad... He tortured me, you know that...? Made me who I am... You wanna know who he is...? Rocky's grandfather...? Look no further... than Den 1..." Humphrey gasped. "He's the reason your son was executed... and I wasn't... despite my record... My dad doesn't have the balls to kill his own son! Go! Now you kill him for me! TELL DADDY I'LL SEE HIM IN HELL! Ugh... ehh... ahh..." Alabaan stopped breathing. His head dropped. His long tongue dangled from the side of his mouth. It was over... Alabaan was dead... The rapist was dead...

Humphrey's breathing increased dramatically until he screamed with all of his might.

"MATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

Later...

An hour after Humphrey left, a she-wolf entered the den and saw the bloody mess before her. She let out a sigh. Her fur was pure white. She didn't want red marks all over her fur. It would look ugly. But if she had to cope with it, she would. The supreme leader didn't take kindly to failures. She had a job to do.

There he was... the Drifter... She was sent to kill him, but he was already dead. That was evident. His heart—or what was left of it—lay on the floor in a red soup. She figured she might as well take the body. The supreme leader would like to have proof of his death. She cut the tendon straps and put the corpse on her back. That was when she saw the bloody pawprints leading outside. Metrialyn recognized them.

"Humphrey..."

The End

...Humphrey and Kate will return for the final installment, Desires 3, coming in 2021...