J-Dog may be in fatal condition, and Age is suffering from tremendous amounts of guilt, but sometimes there's a way for you to see what has happened from a whole different perspective. And this chase, it's not something, but better, someone. And do you wanna know why the story is called "Better Than This"?

Better Than This

Chapter 18

Look at Me

The ground felt rough as Hayley raced across it trying to catch up to her love. It was a sense of anxiety that could've brought her to her knees right then and there, but with her love's life possibly on the line, she couldn't bring herself to stop. She sprinted up through the canyon where the caribou had come from, and even though she was an Omega, she knew a thing or two thanks to watching Age get trained to be a full Alpha. She knelt to the ground and sniffed, and quickly caught the scent she was looking for. Though without any training, she had little idea of what to do with the scent now that she had it; she couldn't tell what direction it was going, nor where it was coming from. But before she started panicking, a noise caught her ear. It was the sound of a whimper, a crying sound coming from the north of the section of trees. She began to hope it was Age, and ran towards the sound, and before she knew it, she was struggling through rough underbrush of mushrooms, dead leaves, and an uprooted root every here and there perfectly position for convenient tripping if one wasn't careful. Hayley was relieved after she got through, but there was a sturdy silence as she passed through the remaining branches. She noticed that there was a lone wolf, sitting near the edge of a cliff, its head down and not making a noise. Fearing that this was Age, and that he was about to jump, Hayley rushed to his side, and spoke to him.

"Age?" She said quietly, trying to make him notice she was there. All he did was turn his head and stare at her.

The look he had on his face was something she never wanted to see on his face. His eyes were beat red and blood-shot, the bottom of each one was lined with tears, and they dripped down to his cheeks and onto the ground. However, she was standing so close to him that when one of his tears fell off his cheek, it bounced onto her paws and then to the rock below. The touch of his tear on her fur could be compared to acid falling on her bare skin. Undesirable and unbearable in so many ways; that was the last straw for her, she could take watching him cry no longer.

"Age…this isn't what I…" She tried to say.

"What have I done Hayley?" He said and turned away, looking back over the side of the edge. "I only meant to stop him, I never meant to kill him. He was a…a murderer, but he was still my brother. If only there was a way I could go back in time, and stop myself from…from throwing him, I could've saved him. There was no reason he should've died, I don't care if he did kill dozens of wolves." Hayley listened intently, she was in agreement that Age shouldn't of killed him, but she was in disagreement that J-Dog didn't deserve to get punished for his actions, even if the punishment was death. "This…this isn't right. I'm an Alpha…I…know I'm…I know I'm better than this." He said and wiped his tears away.

"Age…he was a monster. I'm not gonna say he got what he deserved, but he did get what was coming to him. No one can just kill any number of the pack and get away with it. That just doesn't happen, not in this park." Hayley explained, and Age understood too, but he was feeling no better.

"I know Hayley; he was always the wrong wolf to be stuck with, and the worst part?" He asked her. "The worst part, is that I came with him. So now that he's gone, I'll probably get driven out of the park. And that means I'll never see this place again. No Kate, Humphrey, Lily, Garth…you." Age said to her and looked directly into her eyes. Hayley shook her head,

"No, once they find out you killed him yourself, they'll let you stay. And even if they don't…I'd go with you." Age's eyes lit up, but they were still full of tears. "Yes Age, I'd go with you anywhere, whether it'd be here, Alaska, or even Idaho. Wherever, and whenever…forever." Age smiled at Hayley. "I'm not about to let my future mate go running off after he saved my home from an evil threat."

"You would do that, for me? After all the destruction and death I brought to this park? You'd still run to the ends of the land, the sea, and the sky just to be by my side?"

"Age, when I first met you, there was a shock that coursed through my body. It was a feeling that said something, like 'Hey, there's something about this guy' and look where that took me." She said and put her paw on his and tucked her head under his and cuddled up with him. Age smiled and shed another tear, but this was a tear of joy, the best, most rich kind of all. As he fitted his head and cheek onto her head, and put his paw around her back and pulled her in, she also put her paw around his back and snuggled up into his chest. "I love you Age, no matter what you do, or where you go."

"I love you too Hayley, so much. And I promise, when the time comes, I'll do anything to prove it." She looked up at him and pulled out of their embrace.

"Kiss me…" She said to him.

He just grinned, the two leaned in, and their lips met. Hayley used her paw to rest it on the side of his face, and Age did the same, only he rested his paw on Hayley's that was on the ground. It was a moment in each of their lives that would carry them to their dying day, no matter what, they'd never forget it. Age was the one who pulled away first, and Hayley's eyes were closed and smiling she was. It was a full moon out, and from where they were sitting, the light shone brightly on her face. The image was permanently wedged into his brain, and once she opened her eyes it was replaced.

"Thank you Hayley, now I see why you're the one for me. I was lost, unsure of what I did; but in the darkest moments of my life, you came through and were the lights that guided me back. This is how I see you now, a guide, and a life all wrapped in one. Nothing…no one will ever be better than you."

"I stand by what you said Age, what we have…" She said and put her free paw on his heart, "Nothing is better than this." She held her other paw on his cheek and moved it back around his neck, and they pulled into another kiss.

(With Kate and Humphrey in the Alpha's den)

Eve and Tony had come back from their patrols, but Hutch was still out looking for alive wolves, whether he had found any was unknown, but Eve was back in the head examining J-Dog body, while Tony when back out.

"Well, what's the condition?" Kate asked Eve. Kate and Humphrey had dragged J-Dog's body back to the den to be examined and to see if it was truly lifeless. Eve had been looking over it for some time now, and still she found no signs of the wolf that lay before her to still be living.

"I'm not seeing anything, he must be dead. And if he's not, I'll do it the minute he wakes up." Eve growled at the ravaged corpse's face.

"Mom, lay off, if he is alive, he'll probably be the only one to get rid of all the traps he set. No one knows how he set them up except him, so only he can take them down." Kate explained to her Mom.

"Yeah, think of all the traps and danger that haven't even been set off yet. Provided they're even out there of course, we don't know for sure." Humphrey said aloud.

"What about Age? I'm sure with his keen senses he'd be able to find them! He'd probably even be able to disarm them." Garth said to the three. This made Humphrey noticed that he hadn't seen Age or Hayley since the end of the stampede.

"Speaking of Age, where is he?" Humphrey said.

"Right here cousin." Age announced walking into the den with Hayley by his side.

"Good to know you don't care about me." Hayley said joking around. Age shot her a sarcastic look.

"Hey, come on Hayley you know they care." He joked back to her. They both laughed, and then Age turned to Kate.

"Age, we're having a really hard time telling if he'd dead or not, so could you…" She gestured to go look over the body because she felt uncomfortable saying it.

"Kate, you can't make him do that! Especially not after…!" Hayley complained.

"It's okay Hayley, I can handle it, thanks to you." He said lovingly and licked her cheek. She blushed and let him walk over to the bloody mess in the corner of the den.

Age's eyes grew very big as he looked over the mass of flesh and blood, that couldn't even be identified as a wolf. "Oh…hohoho, well this isn't very pleasant now is it." Age said shaking his head. "But, I guess it's worth a check." He looked over the body and sniffed for something. "Well, he sure smells dead. But sometimes, smell isn't the answer." Hayley heard him say this and remembered how she found him using her hearing, not smelling. She then saw Age lean in with his ear, and then it twitched. Age got closer, and his ear twitched again. A small smile came to his face, and then he got right up again where his chest was, and his ear flicked, it was obviously picking up some kind of sound. Then Age pulled away and looked over his brother's body. "He's alive." He announced. Hayley and the others couldn't believe what they just heard.

"What, he's alive? How is that even possible?" Kate asked frantically.

"Well, I'm no expert, but I'd assume that he got stomped on a lost less than we thought. That and he's probably not as bad on the inside as he is on the outside." Age said as he continued to overlook the body.

"Well now what?" Humphrey asked. Eve looked at him and then to J-Dog,

"Simple sweetie, we tear his throat out, and finish him off." She said creeping up to the body, but Age stepped in her way, "Move aside honey, I just wanna make sure you don't recognize him when I'm done." She said and tried to push past him, but Age stood his ground.

"No Eve, there'll be no need for that." Age declared, and everyone looked at him like 'What?'. He noticed the confusion he just created, and then shed some light. "Do you see that?" Age said and pointed to a bloody lump on the side of J-Dog's head. "If he got hit there as hard as I think he did, he won't remember a thing. We'd be beating a dead caribou if we killed him. If he doesn't remember, than I say, we let him go." Age stated his claim, and everyone seemed confuse. But Garth spoke out first,

"Well, I guess if he forgets it all, then there'd be no point in punishing him, because he wouldn't know what he did wrong. So, I have to agree." Garth said to Eve, Humphrey, and Kate.

"Well, if there's one thing I've learned is that everyone deserves a second chance, I say let him go." Humphrey said and joined Age side. Kate then walked over and sat by Humphrey, showing she agreed. Hayley then walked over and sat next to Age, she was in accord too. Garth sighed, and then joined the four, shielding J-Dog's body from Eve. But her guard lowered, and she growled in frustration.

"Fine, but if he wakes up and does remember, I'm gonna…"

"I don't care Eve, keep it to yourself." Age snapped at her. No one had ever stood up to Eve like that before, so he got envious looks from everyone. She just snorted and laid down. Age and Hayley left to go sleep under the stars, Garth returned to Lily's side on the other side of the cave, and Kate and Humphrey stayed by J-Dog's side, just in case Eve got any ideas.

"Kate?" Humphrey whispered to her. She opened her eyes back up and looked at him.

"Yes Humphrey?"

"This whole thing has made me realize just how important family is. And I promise you, when we have a family of our own, I'll always be there." Humphrey announced in a quiet voice. Kate smiled, got up and laid down by his side.

"I know you will, a dad isn't any fun to be around if he's too serious." Kate joked, and then the two fell asleep together.

Personally, I didn't wanna make him live, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. I don't care what you think, but if it really were my brother I wouldn't kill him off. There'll only be a few more chapters after this, and the next will just be him waking up, and then seeing if he's lost his memory. Not all that exciting, but hey, typing FanFiction isn't always. So that's why the story is called what it is, you like the hidden meaning? Anyway, updating for the next week will be a little tricky, but I'll try my best, later!