Author's Note: Another year and two months for another update. Shame, shame, shame on me. Honestly, I don't know when and if I'll ever finish this story, but I really thank you guys for your patience as you wait for new chapters to come out. Honestly, I felt a little weird about giving Lilly amnesia... because it's very hard to 'resolve' amnesia. It completely throws a wrench in the flow of the story and resets one of the characters back to square one. Looking back, it wasn't an amazing plot decision, but I'm gonna do my best to stick with it and tie this story up nicely. Please, please, please let me know what you guys think.

Lilly furrowed her brow as she was led by Kate and Hutch over to a den she didn't recognize. Chills ran up her spine as she stared in its direction. Fashioned at the base of the tree, strong, twisted roots enclosed around a small space, resembling a cage. Dark clouds filled the sky and the air was thick with tension.

"You need to speak to Humphrey…" Her sister told her, a handful of hours ago. Her sister looked worried, concerned. Lilly wasn't sure why. As always, Kate got to be the perfect little Alpha that her parents wanted her to be, ready to marry the wolf that she loved. Resentment bubbled up inside her, but she took deep breaths to still her ire. Garth loved her. That's all that mattered.

"Why?" Lilly asked. She didn't know much about the Omega that seemed nearly obsessed with her sister. He seemed all right, most of the time, but they weren't super close. Was her sister trying to paw her off to another Omega? Make it so that she could marry Garth without any issues? Lilly took another deep breath.

Stop assuming. Garth loves you… that's all that matters.

She clung to those words. Kate reached up and rubbed her own head with her paw, as if trying to think. "It's… complicated. Please, sis… just do me this favor, and talk to him."

And that's all that Kate gave her to go on. Lilly wanted to ask questions, she was curious, and she was honestly a little scared. Just this morning, the past was all a blur to her and she didn't know what was going on, but as she looked around to wolves of the pack… all of them looked worried and tense.

What in the hell had she missed? It felt like everyone knew something she didn't, and it was seriously freaking her out. She wanted to go back to the den that Garth was in. He seemed tense as well, but when she looked to him for an explanation, he just smiled and tilted his head towards Kate. "It'll be okay, Lilly. Just… go with your sister. I'll be right here when you get back." He told her.

She lowered her ears, and crouched down a little as she walked, wanting to make herself as small as possible. It wasn't until she made it to the 'cage' that Humphrey's voice called out… a flat voice, almost void of any emotion.

"Lilly?"

It was a question. But it didn't sound like a question. His voice didn't raise or lower with intonation. It almost seemed like she was being called on by the dead. She'd expect a scary, emotionless voice like that out of an Alpha, maybe… but an Omega?

"H-hi Humphrey."

Light blue eyes peered out of the darkness and stared into her own light violet eyes. His gaze was intent, intense, and she almost wanted to look away, because it almost felt like he was looking straight through her, and if she kept eye contact for too long she might dissolve under the pressure of his stare.

Yet she met his eyes, and held his gaze. Because try as she might to look away, there was something there that captivated her. Something familiar. Something…

She winced as that shadow of a memory tingled at the back of her skull again. Her heart throbbed in pain, but she didn't know why. A memory so painful echoed through her very core, and she shuddered with it. Her mind may have lost it, but her body remembered, her heart remembered.

"G-Garth…" She whispered as she shivered quietly by herself. She wanted him to take her away… it hurt… it hurt so much…

"Garth…" Humphrey repeated, a quiet plea from the white-furred wolf who he'd come to love. And yet again, was that Alpha. The Alpha who stole Kate from him… now had his name on Lilly's lips.

"Garth…" He said again, before an uncharacteristic series of chuckles left his mouth.

"I see…" Humphrey muttered with a nod, before turning his eyes, beginning to fill with red, to Kate. "Take her to him."

Kate couldn't bear to watch the event unfold before her eyes. She rushed Lilly out to see Humphrey for fear of what might happen if Humphrey didn't see her, but in a few moments of silence, with barely any words exchanged, the worst things that could have possibly happened… had happened.

"Lilly, calm down… just look at Humphrey. Look at him!"

Kate tried to force her sister to acknowledge Humphrey, because he needed it. He needed her right now, and god damn it, Kate would do everything she could to make things right. And yet, Lilly seemed paralyzed, shaken to the core by simply staring at Humphrey.

"Take her to him." Humphrey repeated, the red hue of his eyes getting darker, angrier.

"Wait, no, Humphrey… please… don't do this… just… just calm down! Please!" Kate gave up trying to use her sister and frantically tried to keep him sane. She knew he couldn't be. Who could be in his position? Yet she cried for him, cried for him to stay himself.

Fucking worthless…

We can destroy it all you know. Make it stop hurting.

Nobody cares about you.

You're a monster. Show them. Show them you're a monster. Who could ever love a monster like you?

They're prey. All of them. They think you're a joke, kill them all.

Humphrey took a deep breath, his eyes closing as his inner demon called to him, tempted him to submit to his inner monstrosity and let it stop all the hurt. He shook his head. No… it wasn't just his inner demon. Not anymore. He honestly felt a lot of the thoughts that ricocheted this way and that through his head.

I'm not releasing you.

He let that thought sink in. The eerie calmness within him shook him, but his conviction was genuine. He didn't scream at the voices anymore, he didn't rage and fight against them.

We can fix this, Humphrey. Make them understand.

It hurts doesn't it?

Kate… Lilly… Garth… they hurt you. Show them that they hurt you.

…

I'm not releasing you.

Humphrey shook his head. His eyes opening to reveal a light blue to Kate. One that assured her that he was still there. "Take her to him." He urged again… taking a deep breath before looking intently at Kate. "And please release me."

Kate looked to her father, who was watching the whole ordeal warily. "Humphrey… you once told me that you didn't want to face this monster inside of you. Right now, you are… and if we let you go, you might succumb to it, out there on your own."

"Please… release me." Humphrey repeated, his voice void of agitation, anger, rage, or frustration. His light blue eyes were completely lucid as he stared Winston in the eye. "I promise, I won't be a problem for you or your pack again." Humphrey tilted his head toward Kate. "I'd sooner die."

Those words wreaked havoc on Kate's heart. She remained silent, but her mind panicked as she thought about the consequences of those words. Did he plan to leave the valley and kill himself? He couldn't do that. No… no, no, no… Humphrey couldn't die. He didn't deserve it. "Father… haven't we done enough?" She asked. "Look at him. He's sane. He wants to leave. Can we not let him? Should we let him continue to suffer in a cage like some inferior wolf? There was a time when he was one of us, and now we disregard him like some orphaned garbage?"

"He's a danger, Kate." Winston said firmly. Kate stepped forward, not ceding any ground. "Then let me escort him out of the valley! If he loses himself to rage, I will fend him off." She submitted.

"Absolutely not!" Winston nearly snarled at his daughter. "If he should lose himself as you escort him through the valley, he will kill you, I will not allow it." Kate stepped forward again. "It is no longer your decision to make! I respect you, father, and I take your opinions and counsel into consideration, but Garth and I are married, and the new leaders of this pack. We will release Humphrey."

Winston was ready to snap at his daughter, but realizing she was right, he held his tongue. He was not comfortable with the idea, but he'd have to allow his daughter to be the Alpha that she was, ready to make her own decisions, even if he thought her decisions were more emotional than rational for the time being.

Humphrey stepped out of the reinforced den and looked around at the Alphas who seemed somewhat intimidated by him. Part of him wanted to laugh about them being so cautious around a lowly Omega, but try as he might, the humor of it all didn't seize him.

Lilly shivered as Humphrey made his way over to her, and seemed somewhat surprised by his tenderness as he leaned down to nuzzle the top of her head. A soft howl died in his throat, released as a quiet whimper that meant… "I love you…" But… she didn't remember. He knew she couldn't tell. "Let's get you to Garth, yeah?" He muttered quietly to her, as he helped her get back on her own feet. She nodded unsteadily and went with him, back to the den that Garth paced impatiently in.

Garth couldn't hide his contempt as Humphrey entered the den with Lilly, but he barely got the chance to voice any kind of disdain before Lilly bounded up to him and nearly felled him with a tackle. She stuck to him like glue, and Humphrey just watched the two of them, his expression unreadable. Garth was wary of him, and wanted to question what would happen now, but Humphrey just sighed.

"You… are a powerful, strong Alpha that managed to get everything you could ever possibly want." Humphrey told him, his voice flat and straight-forward. "You're one of the leaders of the combined pack, you're married to a beautiful, sharp Alpha… and own the affections of a beautiful, caring Omega." His words coaxed blushes out of both Kate and Lilly.

"Don't fuck it up." Humphrey said concisely, before turning to leave. Garth wanted to let him go, he wanted the Coyote out of his life for good, and didn't want to deal with him anymore, but as he caught a glimpse of Kate watching him leave, something softened within him. "What about you, Coyote?" He asked, genuinely curious about what Humphrey's fate would be. "What happens for you? Is Kate gonna take you outside of the territory and beat you to death with a rock?"

Humphrey shook his head. "It's better that you not know." He said as he made his way off. Kate looked over at Garth and Lilly, uncertain… a bit of a loss with what Humphrey was getting at. She didn't know what he was planning. She didn't know what he was thinking, what he was feeling… She couldn't even comprehend how he'd managed to stay so calm.

"Go with him." Garth encouraged Kate.

Kate shook her head. "I'd just make things worse. Humphrey… needs to be on his own. It seems that anyone he lets close to him seems to just hurt him. And drive him nearly mad with suffering."

"Then go with him… to at least say goodbye." Garth pushed again. "You have to. Your decision was that you'd escort him out of the valley. So go do it." Lilly chimed in. She'd been so quiet that her input into the conversation stunned the both of them… but Garth used it to his advantage. "You owe it to yourself… to let things end clean. Whether we never see him again, or he shows up ready to murder us all in a week… you're gonna wish you hadn't wasted a single moment you could've spent with him."

Kate nodded, and trotted off after Humphrey. She had no idea what she was going to say, what she was going to do, or how she was going to go about saying goodbye… but she'd figure something out.

Lilly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. But she knew when things just weren't right. She'd sifted her mind as to what was going on ever since her sister asked her to talk to Humphrey, and all she could come up with were minor scraps of memories here and there. But she could feel something wrong. The tension with the pack, the way that Garth, Kate, and Humphrey interacted cautiously with one another. Something was up, and she didn't like it.

She was oblivious to something, and it had to do with the memories she'd lost. She'd thought that Kate and Garth were getting married, soon… but Humphrey had just said that they already were married. She felt something when she saw Humphrey locked up the way he was. She didn't know what it was, and she wanted Garth to save her… but now that she was cuddled up to him, it… it wasn't a comfort.

In fact… the only comfort she felt, was when Humphrey first walked out of the den, and nuzzled the top of her head. Why did that feel so right? She loved Garth. She's always loved Garth, since the moment she set eyes on him, right?

She wasn't certain of anything anymore. It felt like something was off. Lilly looked up at Garth as he talked to Kate, something about chasing after Humphrey. The thought seemed appealing to her as well. She had some serious questions for Humphrey… but instead, she decided to send her sister after him.

"You have to. Your decision was that you'd escort him out of the valley. So go do it."

She pushed her sister, and Garth helped, getting her out of the den and leaving the two of them alone. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Garth. "You love me, right?"

Garth furrowed his brow and looked down into her bright, violet eyes. "Of course I do."

Lilly thought he seemed confused, as if it was outrageous for her to even question such a thing. She almost felt bad for asking… but she trusted herself. This feeling within her… it felt as if she was dreaming… being with the wolf she loved, having him admit to loving her openly and willingly… but then she realized it was all a dream. And as pleasant as it was… it wasn't real.

Her violet eyes looked straight into his own. "Then I think you owe me an explanation."