Author's Note: Sorry guys, had to re-upload because everything came out in italics for some reason. If some random formatting error comes up again, I may take this chapter down and re-post it at a later date. Anyway, please leave your reviews and tell me what you guys think!

Two weeks later

Humphrey smiled and looked over at Lilly, who was playing with her tail under a tree. She giggled as she brushed her nose against it. They'd spent the last two weeks connecting and Humphrey couldn't help but smile every time he looked at her. Humphrey had done his best to stay away from her because of what he'd done to her when they were young… but now he really wished he had taken the time to get to know her sooner.

In the past two weeks, she'd shown him turtle impersonations and he'd shown her log sledding. They talked, played, and lived very happily with each other. Gathering food wasn't quite easy for the two Omegas, but they had managed to keep from starving.

Marcel and Paddy landed right in front Humphrey. "You… are a very tricky wolf, monsieur." Marcel said with irritation. Humphrey was quite surprised to see them. "Imagine my surprise when the train rolls by, and you are not around to board it." Marcel huffed.

Humphrey chuckled. "I'm sorry Marcel… I, um… I was a little… off-track." Marcel rolled his eyes. "You know, we're not like you wolves. You go missing and we can't find you by sniffing the air. After you had disappeared, we had to take shelter from the storm and we had no clue where to start looking."

Paddy looked over at Lilly and snickered. "So, Humphrey… you didn't take off from Jasper at a hundred miles per hour… and you've got quite the lovely white wolf with you. Could it be that you've settled your woman troubles so quickly?"

Humphrey laughed. "It's not like that, Paddy. She's Kate's sister. We're just… friends."

Marcel laughed loudly. "Ha! You wolves make me laugh. And you, my friend, are truly a deviant! Making nice with the sister of the woman whom you once loved! There is no better way to rebound, no?" Humphrey shook his head. "It's really not like that, guys. Anyway… what are you doing out here?"

Marcel cleared his throat. "Being the great sportsman that I am, I have come looking for you to offer you aid. Wherever you may want to go, I will provide you with directions. May I suggest a romantic little lake where the stars shine bright and the moon is its largest?"

Humphrey looked over at Lilly. When he found out that Kate was going to go through with the wedding… he wanted to leave Jasper and get as far away from it as possible. He didn't ever want to see Kate again. But now… with Lilly around, he didn't want to go too far away.

Jasper was the only home that Lilly ever knew. Humphrey didn't want to take that away from her. As it was right now, Humphrey and Lilly were both healing because they were two silly Omegas who had foolishly fallen in love with Alphas.

As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Lilly would heal, he knew that he would heal. And even though the darkness within him would keep on trying to escape and take over… he'd be able to fight it with his emotional wounds patched up. He didn't know what the future had in store for either of them… but he didn't want to take Lilly far away from Jasper in case she ever wanted to go back.

Lilly trotted up to them and made loud slurping noises as she licked her lips. "Oh Humphrey, how sweet… you brought us dinner!" She followed up by crouching down and narrowing her eyes. Humphrey laughed even as Paddy and Marcel froze with fear.

"Lilly… these two are Marcel and Paddy. They guided Kate and I back home when we were taken by the humans."

Lilly straightened herself and let out a cute laugh. "You two should see your faces! Oh my god, you thought I'd actually pounce onto you and eat you up." Paddy and Marcel laughed nervously at that remark. Lilly walked up to each of them and licked each of them playfully.

"Since you're friends, I suppose just a taste will have to do. Name's Lilly." The two birds laughed nervously again.

"What brings you around here?" Lilly asked them with a smile.

Humphrey's smile faded. "Um… Lilly… we need to have a talk." He told her seriously, and pulled her to the side.

Kate gathered with several other Alphas in Eve and Winston's den. Both of the Alphas looked tired and worried. Garth's eyes were bloodshot. He had taken a heavy toll in this hunt. Kate hasn't seen him sleep since the day they found out that Lilly was gone.

Hutch stepped forward first. "We have to abandon the search."

Eve bared her fangs angrily and snarled. "We're not going to stop looking for her. That's my daughter! You useless Alphas have to double… no, triple your efforts!" Winston placed a paw against Eve's back. "Eve… be reasonable. It's been two weeks and there's no trace of her."

Eve's anger redirected toward Winston. "Be reasonable!? How am I supposed to be reasonable when my daughter, a helpless Omega could be miles away from home!? What if she's hurt? What if she's dead!?"

Kate stepped forward to try and calm her mother. "Lilly's not dead. Nor is she hurt… at least not badly. The night she disappeared, the rain had scattered her scent. We had no lead. We could send all of our Alphas running every which way outside of Jasper… but with no scent to follow, it would be no use. We don't know where to look. If she was hurt badly and bleeding, we'd have picked up on it. If she was dead, we'd have picked up her scent eventually. But with two weeks gone and no scent or sight of her… she could be several hundreds of miles away from here by now."

Eve's anger dampened and she slowly turned her back on the group of Alphas. Garth dug his claws into the ground. Kate sighed. "I know Lilly's only an Omega… but hey, Humphrey's out there too, and he's probably making it. They may not have instincts that are as sharp as us Alphas… but Omegas are resourceful. They find different ways to make us laugh and keep us happy all the time, don't they?"

Eve scoffed. "Resourceful doesn't count for anything out there, Kate. We're not the top of the food chain. If an Omega can't fight, they can't joke their way out of danger! Omegas need protection!"

Eve's remark made Kate angry. "Omegas aren't useless, mom! They're not pathetic wolves that can't fend for themselves! Humphrey taught me that. When we were taken away to Idaho… sure, at times he was dead weight and he slowed me down, but honestly, I don't think we'd have made it back at all without him!"

Eve's scoff turned into a laugh. "You're the finest Alpha I've trained. You would've found your way without that coyote. Humphrey's stupid. He chose the life of an Omega even though he was perfectly capable of becoming an Alpha! He could've been the next leader of our pack!"

Kate froze at those words. "W-what!?"

Eve's eyes widened as she realized she attracted the attention of every wolf in the den, aside from Winston's, who was looking away.

"What do you mean, mom? What do you mean Humphrey would have been the next leader of our pack? What do you mean he could've been an Alpha?"

Eve sighed. "Winston… I'm sorry I let it slip… but it's probably better that you tell them."

Winston took a deep breath and looked at all of the Alphas in his den. "Humphrey, as most of you know… wasn't born into this pack. We found him… We don't know where he came from, or what he was doing in Jasper, but he was a young pup who was just running through our fields. It took me and Eve a long time to catch him. We figured since he was so cunning and quick… that we'd adopt him into the pack and train him as an Alpha."

"The pack loved him as a young pup. All of the adult wolves had a hand in raising him. At a young age… I began to train him myself. He showed so much promise. He was sharp, quick, and very agile… more so than even any of you now. It was then that I began readying Humphrey to be a pack leader. I was going to adopt him completely, and let him take my place."

Hutch and Candu looked at Winston like he was crazy. "You're joking, right? Humphrey? There's no way… he's just… an Omega."

Winston shook his head. "Everything changed when I took Humphrey out to stalk his first prey. He attacked without my say so… And he killed the caribou. Pierced its neck and tore its carcass up… Humphrey had successfully killed a full grown adult caribou as a young pup."

This shocked every wolf in the den… except Kate. Kate's heart started beating quickly.

"But… he began to lose himself to instinct. He tore the caribou up, and began to look for another thing to kill. It's called going feral. Feral wolves are illogical, powerful creatures. They live only to hunt and kill. They're creatures of hate and rage… and that hatred and anger makes them stronger than most Alphas. I've only seen a handful of feral wolves, all of them capable of fighting and killing multiple Alphas. I managed to knock Humphrey out and told him what had happened when he came to. At that moment, Humphrey told me that he didn't want to hunt. He didn't want to lose control again. From that point, he decided to become an Omega… and I had to start training Kate immediately to ready her to be the leader of our pack."

Memories flashed through Kate's mind. She'd forgotten about Humphrey's inner monster. It had been so long since they've had to deal with it.

I'll be here for you… always.

Her eyes watered. How… could she have forgotten?

I need you… to kill me.

What had she done?

I'll fight for you.

How could she have been so blind?

I'll care for you.

How could she have been so stupid?

I'll never leave your side…

"Humphrey…" Kate muttered out loud. Tears fell from her eyes as she slowly backed out of the den. Did he leave Jasper… because he didn't want his inner darkness to attack the pack? Did he leave Jasper to kill himself because Kate was no longer there to fight off his darkness!? Kate's heart throbbed. She made a promise to Humphrey. She promised to fight for him, to protect him… and she broke that promise for her duty.

Kate's eyes widened as something else occurred to her. If Lilly left Jasper… and Humphrey was running around as a feral wolf… He could kill her, like he'd almost done when they were young. Kate began to panic. "Humphrey… couldn't contain his feral side… not without me."
The Alphas all looked at Kate in confusion. "Humphrey's feral side was always fighting with him, coming out and attacking anything and everyone that was around him… even as we were young pups. But I fought him. Whenever it happened, I fought with him to keep him from hurting anyone. But without me to fight it off… Humphrey's probably running around as a feral wolf."

The Alphas became unsettled.

"We must find Lilly… before he does."