I'll skip the pleasantries for your sakes, after all, you all are probably dying to see if Age is dead or not. But I'll let you do the math on this one, his throat was bitten down on, hard, eight bleeding holes, he's unconscious, his neck is broken and cracked, and I used the word 'corpse' to describe his body, what do you think?

Better Than This

Chapter 20

From My Eyes

The ancestors were looking out for J-Dog on that day, following Hayley's song and the dragging of Age's body back to the head den, no one would lay a fang or claw on him. Maybe it was Hayley's word, or Age's will, or maybe those who remained were just forgiving, but no matter what, J-Dog was more than lucky to be alive. Garth, Hutch, and Tony had been asked to leave to go bring back bodies from dens and hiding spots, and Eve was requested to tend to the Alphas in the canyon, and to clean up the blood mess left from Age's neck wound. Inside the den, Kate and Humphrey had been left in charge of watching over Age, and more importantly J-Dog, no one trusted him at the moment. He hadn't said a word since the incident, and Hayley had been next to him the whole time, looking between her love's neck, and J-Dog's bloody maw.

"So…" J-Dog tried saying. But Kate growled at him and he instantly shut up.

"Kate…" Hayley spoke out, "Quit being so harsh, J-Dog realizes what he did wrong…"

"And yet he didn't have a problem killing innocent wolves and pups?!" Kate screamed at her, and then looked at him, "You're so lucky that Hayley's right about Age not wanting us to kill you, because if she wasn't, your neck, tail, and paws, would be on a stake and up your…"

"That's enough Kate…" Humphrey stopped her, looks like she got something from Eve other than her coat color. "No one wants to hear something like that from anyone except my Mother-in-law." Humphrey shook, My gosh…my mother-in-law is a monster…

"Sorry Humphrey, I hate being this way around anyone, especially you." She said and walked over to him and nuzzled his neck with a bright smile on her face.

"It's alright, you're just angry, we all are…" He said and rubbed her head and gave J-Dog a glare. "So…are you proud of yourself?" He directed towards him, but kept his distance.

"No…I'm more disappointed in myself than I've ever been. My entire puppyhood I wanted nothing more than to be better than Age at something. But I never truly wanted that thing to be killing, and killing him…oh gosh…I don't even wanna talk about it." J-Dog moaned and covered his head, but Hayley caught something in that rant.

"Wait…" Kate and Humphrey walked over to the two of them and sat down by them, since Hayley requested. She was holding on strong to the idea of Age making through this, but the evidence that he was dead wasn't playing in her favor. "You said you've always wanted to be better than Age at something. Why was that?" She asked him, his eyes drooped, and his ear folded back at the shame, but he answered nonetheless. With Kate, Humphrey, and Hayley all listening, he began.

"As a pup, since Age and I were born from the same litter…my…our…parents always favored him. He was such low work as a pup, he barely ate, he slept by himself, and when it came to making friends, he was always off talking to someone. But what we said before was true, we were born in the Central Park Zoo, and Age was really good friends with the other animals, especially the penguins. But he was still very shy, so shy that he could barely talk to anyone he didn't know. In fact, the two stories we shared with you all when we arrived…they were sort of…half true. His and mine, to find out the real facts, you've got to put the two halves together."

He said that and the three listeners tried doing as he said, but he could see no one making any progress. "I don't understand J-Dog…" Humphrey said after trying to think.

"I figured, most of Age's story is the truth. But the beginnings of mine are the facts as well. As soon as I noticed how our parents took a liking to Age over all the other pups, I started acting rashly, constantly getting angry and violent on my siblings. We were a group of five pups, myself, Age, our two sisters, and our oldest brother. My brother, Chandler, was the oldest, so he was the most responsible. Then my older sister was born, Lisa, and then I came out. After me, my Mother said Lagan, my little sister was born, and Age was the youngest; I was the middle child."

Hayley chinned into the explanation. "So Chandler was born first, then Lisa, and then you, then Lagan, and Age is the runt of the litter?"

"Yes he was, after our zoo keeper finally took notice of my bad behavior, my siblings were transferred to other zoos for protection purposes. They didn't transfer Age because they noticed how our parents always sheltered him. Our parents were both wolves, but whether they were pure wolves is unknown to me, I found out about Age and myself while we were in the Out of Africa Zoo in Arizona, USA. There was another wolf there who said he could smell our pure blood. But that's a story for another time, about 3 months into our lives without Chandler, Lisa, and Lagan, the zoo's budget was cut down, and one exhibit had to be removed. I don't know why, but they chose us. Age was supposed to be sent to an animal shelter in Maine, but our parents refused to let him go, and they attacked the zoo keepers. Our Mother was shot and killed in the process and our Father was taken to a Veterinary Hospital, I never saw him again after I watched that truck pull out of the zoo. Age watched the whole thing and was too scared to move, it was then that some horrible lady zoo keeper threw us into a crate and loaded us into a truck bound for Montana."

Kate got a sad expression on her face. "Your Mom is dead, and your Dad got treated because he was defending his child? What kind of humans are these?" She cried.

"The terrible kinds…" J-Dog continued, "But after we got to our new zoo, I did exactly the same thing, I made an issue left and right until we got moved. I was just trying to get us transferred back to New York, but eventually, I heard someone say 'oh ho…Alaska' and just like that we were on a train to some town called Nome. We broke off of the train and found all of you, but I guess all the problems I caused fed Blood and his malice, and it must've taken me over."

"So you want us to believe you weren't in control of your actions this whole time?" Humphrey snapped at him.

"No, no, not at all. I did have to…kill…a few things to get transferred so many times, and I did take a liking to it. But I'm a wolf…! It's in my nature to kill, and enjoying it is just the thrill of hunting right?" And the three nodded their heads. "Sure maybe I enjoyed it a little more than the next wolf, but we pure wolves have dangerous power, and Age could do something I couldn't…he could control it. My love to kill due to my wild side got loose and it must've manifested into Blood. Blood was sort like my conscience, and for the longest time I agreed that the world would be better if just us pure wolves survived. I guess actually seeing the effect of killing someone on Hayley's face after I bit Age shocked me back into reality. It's really an unspeakable act with no justification, it causes pain, not just to the one who's dead, but to those who knew them."

"That's right J-Dog, I'm glad you understand that now…" Hayley smiled at him.

"Yeah, a little too late. I had no idea that Age was secretly plotting to leave me for dead all those months, but I guess he should've, if he had, half your pack wouldn't be dead." J-Dog said to try and apologize,

"You said it yourself…" Kate began, "Killing has no justification, and is unspeakable, but if it truly was just a case of loose power, if Age can forgive you…so can we…" Kate smiled at him. J-Dog looked around and everyone was grinning.

"Thanks, but at the same time, I'm glad this happened. If I had succeeded here, I'd still be killing things trying to get back to New York, and who knows how much stronger Blood would've gotten. He was an assassin, but damn, he couldn't fight for his life. Looking at him when we were separated was sort like looking in a pond. It's you, but they're not what you want to be."

Just then Hutch, ran back in and saw everyone talking in a circle he walked over to Age's body and sniffed it. "Well…anything?" Hutch asked, Humphrey's eyebrows sank as he walked over to Hutch.

"Kate and I checked him over for a long time…there's no signs of life on him. In my best guess, he's gone." He said and turned to look at Age's corpse. But then an idea dawned on him, and he turned back to J-Dog, "Hey J-Dog…" He said and turned to him, as he, Kate, and Hayley hadn't heard his last remark. "What was that you were saying about pure wolves and loose power?"

"I said I'd tell you about that some other time…" J-Dog said confused, but Humphrey shook his head.

"No, I mean is there any way to use that power to…revive a pure wolf?" Hearing that, Hayley knew what he was getting at, and she walked over to Age and sat down by his head.

"Everyone get over here, I have an idea…" She said, and they all gathered over, Hayley then put on paw on Age's forehead and instructed everyone else to do the same. They all placed one paw somewhere on Age's body and then she looked at J-Dog, "Now what…there's gotta be something…"

J-Dog scanned all of their paws, Kate, Humphrey, Hayley, and Hutch, and then it sprang on him like a jumping spider. "Blood pact…Hayley, give me your paw, make it bleed." Hayley was reluctant to do it, as she wasn't sure what he was doing.

"What…?"

"Pure Blood wolves can make pacts with their blood and as long as one lives, so does the other, even if one dies."

"I'm not a pure one though, I can't make that pact." Hayley reminded him.

"I'll do it…" Humphrey spoke up. He bit down on his arm before anyone could say anything and drew blood from the mark and held it out to J-Dog.

"That'll work…" J-Dog said, somewhat surprised.

He then licked a few drops of the red liquid from Humphrey's arm and let them settle on his tongue, and then he used the blood on Age's neck to add to the mixture; he then licked Age's neck using the blood from both of their sources and sat back and waited. At first, nothing happened, and the mixed bloods just made a crimson streak across the holes in Age's neck. No one removed their paws from the corpse, and they all held on, but Hayley began to get teary eyes once more.

"That's it then…" She said, beginning to cry, "He's not coming back…" She whimpered quietly and bent down to his head and rubbed it with her own, doing her best to comfort him, wherever he was. A tear from her eyes streamed down her face and fell off her nose and fell onto the red streak covering his wounds on his destroyed neck and it dissolved instantly into the mixture. "No…no…no…" She fell and held her face against Age's.

"I don't get it, that should've worked…" J-Dog said as he began to get teary eyes himself, but as he was about to lift his paw up, he saw the liquid mix begin to move and bubble. "Wait…" He said and everyone stopped their sorrow and noticed the same thing he did. The fluid had started to flow into the holes, they had begun to cauterize and heal over. "Yes…yes…that's it of course! That's what we missed!" He then turned to Hayley and looked at her. And she was speechless that this was working, but she was still in shock.

"What…?"

"Hayley…you love him. Your tear, your influence. You love him and he loves you, without you around the pact would've been pointless." And everyone turned to her and smiled brighter than the morning sun, and then a huge blast of wind blew through the den and tossed them around, but they managed to stay on their feet. After the wind was gone, they heard a groan, and a flicker of eyes caught all of theirs.

"Guys…" It was the weakest thing they had ever heard, but he was talking, he was alive. "Guys…" he said a bit stronger, as his neck was perfectly healed and the growth was over, he then sat up. And turned to Hayley, making sure he wasn't in heaven. "Did we forget to plan the wedding?" He said with a smile, and she cried out loud with rapids of joyous tears stampeding down her face.

"Age…!" She screamed and tackled him to the ground and laid on top of him with their stomach making contact, but they didn't care. They both smiled so much they brought more tears into each other' s eyes and Age placed his paw around the back of her head and thrust her into the best kiss she had ever received from him. They stayed in that lock, ravishing the feeling of being in each other's arms again, and when it came time to pull away, another groan turned their attention.

"What…what's going on?" It was Lily, she had finally awoken out of her coma.

"Lily… !" Kate yelled and ran over and hugged her sister.

Hayley let Age get up and Tony walked in with Garth and they saw the whole scene. "Age…you're ali…" He was cut off by Garth rushing past him and grabbing Lily and hugging her.

"Oh my gosh Lily…I can't believe you're finally awake, I was worried you'd never wake up!" Lily returned the embrace, and looked into his eyes as soon as the hug was over.

"I'd wake for you any day…" She said to him. Tony smiled at his son's happiness with his mate, and turned to Age.

"You're alive…? That bite would've killed a bear…!" Tony told him, but Age just smirked.

"I'm just lucky I guess…now before this goes any further, I'd like to set up a triple wedding…" Everyone in the den heard this, and they all got super excited. Tony saw the looks on all their faces, and nodded his head.

"I'll get everyone ready, meet me down there in an hour. Get yourselves cleaned up, you've all had a rough week. You too J-Dog…" But as Tony turned to go, Age stopped him,

"His name…is Joe…" Tony turned to J-Dog, and the formerly blood-thirsty killer shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, you too…Joe…" He said and the entire group prepped to go to the river. Age was about to walk out with Hayley, but Joe tapped his shoulder.

"Age…you're right." He said, and Age obtained a confused look on his face as did everyone else in the den. "This power…this blood…it doesn't make us superior…it doesn't make me superior. If anything, it makes me weaker. It's more of a curse than a blessing. These guys though…" He said and looked around to everyone else in the den, "They…they are Pure Wolves."

"A curse…?" And Joe nodded his head, "Well if it's a curse…own it; use it for the better, don't be afraid of it. That's probably why you can't control it, you have to embrace it and accept it. And I think you're right…" And Joe's ear twitched, "This blood…we probably would be stronger without it…" He concluded, "And I know…they are truly Pure Wolves…they're also Pure Friends." And got up and left to the river, and everyone followed to get cleaned up.

Yes, Age was dead, but he's not anymore. So that's what really happened to J-Dog and Age before they arrived at Jasper. Sort of a sad story but it all worked out, shame on you for thinking I'd actually kill myself. Remember, Age is me inside this story, so if I kill him, I kill myself, not good for Joei. Anyway, only four chapters left in this story, and the lemons are coming up soon, so watch out, and thanks for following this story so far! Much appreciated!