Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm trying my best to keep 'em coming along. As usual, please leave reviews guys, it's really what keeps me going. Let me know what you think, no matter what it may be. I'll try and have the next chapter up as soon as possible.

"Kate! Kate, Kate, Kate!" Eve and Winston ran into Kate and Garth's den, shouting for her. Kate awoke squinting at them. "What?... It's too early." Kate groaned in irritation. Garth shook his head and was standing straight up in an instant. He was quickly surveying his surroundings.

"Stand down, Garth. The danger isn't immediate." Winston said reassuringly. He turned to Kate. "Your sister's missing."

Garth's eyes widened. "What do you mean the danger's not immediate!? Have you searched the entire territory!? What about her scent?"

Kate stood and shook off her sleepiness. "Calm down, Garth. Be rational. You bring up good points, but relax." She looked at her parents calmly. She knew her sister. Lilly wouldn't have done anything too rash. She was mischievous and a little naïve… but she wasn't stupid.

"We've searched everywhere… and yesterday's rain cleared her scent. It's faint all over the place. There's really no way to 'follow' it."

Kate nodded at her parents. "We'll find her."

She looked at Garth who seemed extremely worried. "Don't worry, Garth, she'll be fine. And the sooner we get to work, the sooner we find her."

Kate left the den and sniffed around. Her sister's scent did linger in the air, but like her parents said, it was too faint to follow, scattered by the wind and rain. She looked back at her parents. "She wasn't in the den all night last night?"

Eve and Winston shook their heads softly. Eve looked on the verge of fainting. "Out of curiosity… did you two sleep last night?" Kate asked with concern. They shook their heads again. "But how can we sleep when our daughter's nowhere to be found!?" Eve shouted. Kate sighed and hugged her mom. "I'll find her and make sure she's safe, I promise. Go get some rest, mom… you and dad really need it."

Winston smiled at his daughter. Never did she cease to make him proud. Just yesterday, she made the ultimate decision to keep to her duty, and now she was hunting down a wolf that strayed from the pack, like a true leader. Winston led Eve to their den so that they could sleep.

Kate began to walk steadily. Garth trailed behind her. "So… how do we find her? There's no scent and no intel on her what-so-ever."

Kate shushed him. "You don't find a broken hearted wolf on instinct. You find her on intuition. Lilly's an Omega. She's our pack's image of joy and peace-keeping. She'd never allow anyone to see her crying."

Garth frowned. Lilly wouldn't be crying in the first place if he hadn't gotten married. Guilt ate at him.

"She probably cried all the way through the night… because she never returned to our den. Odds are she cried herself to sleep… meaning that she was probably in a den."

Kate kept thinking out loud, not realizing that she was completely beating Garth to a pulp with guilt. He didn't say anything to interrupt her thinking. Even as the ache in his chest grew, he didn't want to interrupt Kate… not if what she was saying would bring them closer to finding Lilly.

"Lilly wouldn't have crossed into Eastern Territory. Even with our packs united, she doesn't know your side of Jasper and wouldn't go there without an Alpha. And on the Western Territory, there are only two empty dens. One of which we were occupying."

Kate and Garth stood before Humphrey's den. "This is probably the only place she could've spent the night sheltered from the rain." Kate swallowed. She hadn't seen or been in Humphrey's den for years. Her heart ached. She looked at Garth… "I… I can't."

Garth nodded. "I understand. I'll check it out."

Garth walked into the den and found Lilly's scent. It was strong in the den, she was definitely here. But he could tell that she was all alone. The coyote's scent was nowhere to be found. Garth noticed that there were paw prints entering and leaving the den and assumed they belonged to Lilly.

Where could she have gone?

Garth's heart pounded as something occurred to him. He called Kate. She asked him what he wanted from outside the den. "Howl." He yelled back.

"What? Garth, this is hardly the time to-"

"Kate… just do it. Howl."

Kate howled softly outside the den. The sound made its way into the small den and bounced off the walls, echoing loudly in his ears. He slowly left the den. Tears flowed from his eyes. What had he done?

Kate stopped howling as she saw Garth exit the den. She looked at him and instantly fear gripped her heart. She thought something terrible had happened to Lilly. "What did you find? Why did you ask me to howl?"

"She heard us…"

Confusion crossed Kate's face.

"She heard us howling… together."

Understanding sparked and realization struck.

"There's no way she could stand hearing the two of us howl together. She… probably left Jasper."

Kate and Garth took off instantly. They ran together, sniffing wildly to catch Lilly's scent. Outside of Jasper wasn't safe. Not for an Omega. Tears flowed freely from Garth's eyes as he desperately hoped that Lilly hadn't gotten hurt… or worse.

Please be okay…

Please be okay…

Please be okay…

Several Alphas saw the two new pack leaders zipping by and followed them quickly. Candu called out to Kate. "Hey Kate! Where are you going!?" Kate didn't slow down. She yelled back to him. "Lilly's left Jasper!" Candu stopped dead in his tracks and howled loudly. A large group of Alphas left Jasper, following on the tails of Kate and Garth, sniffing for Lilly's trail.

Humphrey awoke in a daze. He felt the warmth of another wolf snuggled up against him. Humphrey realized that Lilly had slept alongside him and his heart thumped at seeing her face in front of him. He nuzzled her head softly and appreciatively. She had brought him back from the darkness. She had saved him. He rose and smiled down at her as she slept. Then his smile faded as he began to think.

He couldn't stay. For the second time in his life, he had almost allowed the monster within him to kill Lilly. Why she had spent the night by his side, he didn't understand. He was grateful for her attempt to comfort him, but she put herself in grave danger. If the darkness had controlled his body when he awoke, Lilly would've already been dead.

Hello, Omega. Looks like you're awake.

Humphrey bared his fangs at thin air.

Ooh, scary. What, you think you have the willpower to fend me off now?

Humphrey looked down at Lilly. She had helped him. He was able to stop himself from killing her again. Maybe Lilly couldn't fight the darkness like Kate could… but she was definitely capable enough to help him lock it away.

"It's not about the willpower. It's not about fending you off alone. It's about being helped."

HA! That's pathetic. No wonder you chose to be an Omega. You're utterly useless alone. Instead of accepting me… and becoming so much stronger and better… you chose to be nothing but absolutely pitiful. We could've done great things together.

Humphrey scoffed. "Like what? Murdered millions of creatures? 'Together we could be great'… you do realize that any and every evil being that's ever existed has used that line to recruit, right?"

Laughter…

The darkness lifted its paw and extended its claws. Humphrey struggled against it.

You really ought to stop fighting me. The white wolf means nothing… you're still all alone and hurting. Broken love doesn't heal so easily. And as long as your heart still aches, the odds of me assuming control are in my favor.

Lilly awoke with a cute yawn. She heard Humphrey pattering around and snarling nearby. She looked at him with concern. She didn't know if he was a monster or an Omega… at least for the moment. Lilly steeled herself… she believed in Humphrey.

"H-Humphrey… is that you?"

Humphrey looked at her. His eyes were bloodshot and his breathing was shallow. "L-Lilly…" he managed before he turned away.

"Humphrey… it's okay. It's gonna be okay. I'm here for you."

"I… told you… to run. Please Lilly, you must run."

Lilly began to shake her head. She couldn't leave him like this. It wasn't fair for him.

"God dammit, Lilly! This isn't about believing in me. This isn't about believing I don't want to hurt you. I don't. But this thing gets harder and harder to control. Your survival is based on dumb luck… I don't like those odds, and I don't want you here when that dumb luck runs out!"

Lilly frowned. "Humphrey… please, let me help you. I… can't leave. I have nowhere else to go." She walked up to him and hugged him tight. "Tell me how I can help you. Please… just let me stay."

Humphrey pushed her away. "I don't know how you can help me. This thing… it acts completely independent of me. I don't know what it wants… I don't know why it's there… but it is, and I don't know how to make it go away. For the most part, I thought it had gone away when your sister began to help me fight it whenever it took control."

Kate.

Humphrey's heart began to beat frantically. He clenched his jaw and shut his eyes tightly. Lilly took notice at how he reacted. That was it. Humphrey's darkness… it took control because of Humphrey's weak spot for her sister. Lilly didn't know if Humphrey heard Kate and Garth howling together, but she was sure that Humphrey knew that they were married.

Lilly rubbed her head against Humphrey's chest. "I… I may not be my sister, Humphrey… but I won't leave you. Not alone… not with that thing." Humphrey breathed deeply and calmly as Lilly rubbed against him. Kate did the same thing to him when they were pups… when she made the promise to fight his darkness alongside him.

Humphrey looked at Lilly. "Why are you here, Lilly? Why didn't you stay in Jasper? Why did you follow me?" Tears inevitably fell from her eyes. "I love Garth, Humphrey. When you and Kate-"

Humphrey tensed. Lilly felt him stiffen against her and she cleared her throat. "When the two of you were taken to Idaho… I spent time with Garth. Gave him a tour of the Western Territory… got to know him." She looked at Humphrey sadly. "With the packs united… and more importantly the two wolves that united them… It hurt too much to stay in Jasper."

"But Lilly… was it really so unbearable that you had to risk your life to come all the way out here? It's not safe being out here alone." Humphrey said with concern. Lilly offered Humphrey a small smile. "I could say the same about you. You didn't leave Jasper because of the impulse to become a lone wolf. We're both Omegas, Humphrey. Your odds were just about as good as mine."

Humphrey frowned at her remark. "I don't think that's necessarily true."

Lilly narrowed her eyes at him. "Your odds were just about as good as mine, Humphrey. That thing could probably bump up your chance of survival… but that thing isn't you. And I know you'd sooner die than let it take control of you."

Lilly moved her head from Humphrey's chest and nibbled his ear. "I'm not going to leave you, Humphrey… not when you so obviously need someone. Nothing's going to pull me away from you. No responsibilities, no marriage, no inner monster that you can't control. There's nowhere else for me but Jasper, and I'm not going back. We could be a team, Humphrey… being world travelers together. I want to see what kind of adventures that you took my sister on."

Humphrey nuzzled Lilly's shoulder softly. She placed a paw around him. "I don't care if it's not safe. I'll always be with you."

Humphrey's heart throbbed.

Always…

There it was…

Always…

Yet again…

Always…

Was he really willing to take that risk again?

Always…

Tears welled up in Humphrey's eyes. Lilly was just like her sister. He wiped his eyes and hugged Lilly. "Thank you, Lilly… Thank you…" Lilly accepted the hug and buried her head into his shoulder. "It's no big deal, Humphrey… really. I need this as much as you do." Humphrey howled softly against Lilly's fur.

You saved me.