Humphrey's POV
The sun was more than half way through its daily voyage across the sky. The rain clouds that had been hanging on the distant mountains followed Kate and I on our way back home. By the time we arrived back into the western den grounds rain could be seen falling just on the opposite side of the valley. The sun had been covered by these clouds darkening everything up so a curtain degree. Most wolves on our side of the pack had been heading into their dens for shelter, unknown to them they would still have to come out later rain or shine. I climbed up the familiar slope that lead up to our parents den, keeping conversation with Kate. We had been making jokes to one another ever since we left the old eastern territory. Most alphas jokes were far too literal or uncreative that they didn't compare to what an omega was capable of. However plenty of me had worn off on to her from our trip to Idaho and back. Her jokes were actually pretty funny, much better than the average alphas.
Completing the rise I saw Winston out on the ledge that allowed him to see over his now shared territory. He sat quietly looking at the distant rain clouds appearing to be thinking about something. What it was I had no idea and that was his business, not mine. "Hey dad" Kate said as we walked up beside him "Hey guys" He greeted back in a happy tone, looking at us. There was a pause during which I looked out across the forest that could be seen from here. "What did you two do today?" He asked, it had only been four maybe five hours since we left here this morning. "We decided to go and explore the eastern territory to see what kind of cool things we could find." I said seeing him nod his head after my answer. "And did you find anything?" He asked "Yes we found this amazing cave, it had a swimming hole in it surrounded by plants and flowers. We took a swim in it, but oddly enough the cave seemed to be decorated by other wolves." I said.
"Interesting, you'll have to ask an eastern wolf about it, maybe it's a special place to them. Anything else you saw? I've only seen from here to their den grounds, nothing more." He said "No that's pretty much it, Kate came up with the idea to ask Garth about anything special so we'll hear about anything else." I said looking at Kate when I mentioned her name. She nodded her head but kept her face facing the rain clouds. The clouds had progressed quickly and were now dropping water onto the valley floor. So far I had not seen any lightening just a typical rain shower which came as a relief since thunderstorms were not something I really enjoyed. "Are you going to still hold the meeting, it looks like it is going to rain." Kate said "A little rain never hurt anyone, so yes the meeting will still be held." He said. I looked behind me to see Eve walking out of the shadows of her den, appearing to of just woken up. My guess was correct when she let out a yawn walking up to Winston's side.
"So what did you two do today?" She said unknowingly asking the same question her husband did not even ten minutes ago. "They went to the eastern territory and explored it" Winston said summing up the short trip. "Anything good?" She asked "Yes, we found a large cave that had a beautiful swimming hole lit up by a skylight. Lots of pretty flowers too." I said. "Sounds lovely" She replied with a smile "You two didn't try 'anything' did you?" She suddenly asked after a short silence. I was shocked by the question but what should I expect from an overprotective mother. "Uh..." I began but couldn't get the words out before Kate cut in "No mom we didn't do 'that', you know Humphrey is not that kind of wolf. We only swam in the water, nothing more" She said defending me from the potential wrath of Eve. "I was only making sure" She said, it was odd to me that she was still very protective of her daughters. Kate was a little over two years old, her birthday being during alpha school. She was perfectly old enough to be making her own decisions without the control of a parent.
I'm not saying that it was bad that her mother is protective, after all at least Kate had a family that cared for her. Unlike my family that had merely dropped me off into this pack and left me to fend for myself. I was pretty young at the time, staying here in Winston's den for some time while he taught me the basic knowledge every pup had when they entered their teen months. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be where I was today as one of the top omegas in the pack. I also wouldn't of had known Kate as well as I did, she was my first ever friend since I didn't have any where I came from before. Sure sometimes I got upset about not remembering who my parents were and what they were like. But it was the past and there was no reason to linger in it, Winston had told me that they only did it so that I could live a safe life in a pack. I did hope that maybe someday I would get to see them again, but for now Kate and her family was now my only family and that satisfied me more than enough.
I realized that I had been deep in my thoughts for the past several minutes, so long that the rain was nearly falling upon us. Kate and her parents have been talking not noticing that I had been zoned out in my thoughts, which was a common occurrence. I tuned into their conversation in time to hear Eve suggest that Winston should start the meeting. "Winston I think you should start the meeting before the rain is fully upon us." She said "Good idea" He said before getting up and walking to the opposite side of the ledge that faced the den grounds. He howled out the clear message that signaled all pack meetings. The rest of us switched sides as well to be next to Winston again as some wolves began to sit below us. Kate and I sat close to one another as I watched the rest of the pack join in making a large group below. Most were talking to one another but some just looked between me, Kate, and Winston waiting for the meeting to begin.
Winston stood up and walked forward some more until his forepaws were right on the edge of the rock. A quick but loud 'Ahem' caught everyone's attention immediately. All conversation had stopped between the wolves as they waited for their leader to speak. "Good afternoon" Winston started speaking clearly so that every wolf could hear what he had to say. "I will make this quick since the rain is almost here. This might not be a shock to any of you but my oldest daughter Kate is now engaged to Humphrey and they wish to be wedded in two days." He said. Some of the wolves below began to cheer including my three best friends, Garth, and Lilly. I just sat proudly beside Kate as Winston signaled for everyone to settle down. "So keeping with the tradition all alpha duties will be canceled on this day. That is all, you may now return to what you were doing." He concluded ending the meeting. As if it waited for Winston to finish, the rain suddenly began to fall all around us. I could hear a couple of wolves yell "Congratulations" towards Kate and I before then headed back to their dens. We smiled and said "Thank you" back at each one.
We all remained where we were well after the meeting had ended letting the rain soak our fur. I was starting to feel the cold by the time Kate spoke up "I'm not sure about you Humphrey but I feel like taking a nap." She said quietly since she was right beside me. "I'm not so tired but I'll join you if you want" I replied "Alright let's go, the rain is starting to make me shiver." She said. We said goodbye to Kate's parents before leaving in the direction of our den. The sound of rain drops hitting the leaves above was like a soft kind of song. We walked silently next to each other passing through the den grounds, not a single wolf was outside due to the rain. It's not like any of us were afraid of getting our fur wet, it just wasn't worth getting a cold from staying out in the rain for too long. As we arrived to our den I noticed my three best friends all standing there. "Hey guys, how's things?" I said stopping in front of them. "Good, we came by to see if you wanted to go log sledding since the rain is making the hills slick." Salty said. That sounded like a great idea, it was about time I got to playing games with my friends. Of course my answer was yes since I wouldn't miss an opportunity to hang out with my friends. But at the same time I didn't want to be ditching Kate since I told her I would join her in a nap.
"That sounds like a good plan, I'd love to go" I said before turning to Kate who was right next to me "Is that okay?" I asked letting her know that I didn't forget what I told her earlier. She smiled "Go have fun with your friends, I'll be fine here" She said giving me a quick kiss before turning and vanishing into our den. I smiled and turned back toward my friends "Alright let's go find us a log." I said walking past the three of them. They joined by my side as I headed to my favorite hill to log sled on, it ran from a hill just above the den grounds all the way down to the valley floor. "So Humphrey how does it feel that you are now going to marry Kate" Shakey said starting up a conversation. I hadn't had the chance to catch up with any of them since I got back so I was in for a whole lot of questions. "It feels great guys, words can barely describe how I feel right now" I said "That's great man, were happy for you. I can hardly believe that you two actually fell in love." Salty said. "Yeah I can barely believe it too, but it's all real and my life is now complete." I said.
Our conversation continued with most of them asking what happened during our adventure from Idaho and I was more than happy to answer all of the questions. But just as I expected I got the wacky questions from Salty "So have you and Kate, well, you know..." He said raising an eyebrow. It took me a second to figure out what he meant and it hit me like a wall. "Oh! No Salty it's much too early for that!" I said feeling my face redden up form embarrassment. I never thought of Kate and I like 'that'. Sure it was bound to happen eventually but It would be sometime far into the future. I could hear the three of them snicker trying to hold back a full laugh "Relax man, I'm only kidding, it's between you and Kate only." He said. It wasn't long until we reached the top of the gradual hill which saved me from any further potential embarrassment. We split off into different directions to find a suitable enough log to fit all four of us. I came up with nothing but I soon heard Mooch calling out that he had found one. We all walked up to him to see a good log just sitting against a tree, it looked like on we had used before. "Nice that should work great for a run" I said before beginning to drag it back up to the summit of the hill, getting the help from the three of them of course.
"Alright guys same as always I'll steer, Salty you can be the drag, and Mooch is the boost for jumps." I said looking back at them smiling. It's been many days since I last log sledded and I was excited to do it again. "Game on!" Shakey said before we all jumped into the log with me on the front, Salty behind me followed by Shakey and finally Mooch. The sled had no trouble moving on its own due to the soft wet dirt from the rain that was still falling. I looked out ahead of us and could see the winding path the lead all the way down to the distant valley floor. It was defiantly a long run with plenty of trees to dodge, luckily we have had plenty of experience on this very hill. We all cheered as the sled began to gain speed down the long hill, the rush of air growing rapidly. This was actually the second time I've ever log sledded in the rain and I have well forgotten how hard the rain hits you when going at a fast speed. I focused on the path ahead calling out various commands for turning and slowing down. We had recently learned that going in a zig-zag motion keeps you from gaining too much speed which worked out great. No more crashing into rocks and catapulting through the air and on to the hard dirt. It only lasted around two minutes to reach the valley floor but it felt much longer than that. I shifted the log sideways to bring us into a tight turn that would eventually slow us down. But for some reason we hit something that quickly flipped the log the other way throwing us out before we even know what happened. Thankfully we landed into some mud so the impact wasn't anything too pain inducing.
We recovered ourselves from the sudden motion to see that we were all cover in mud, this caused us to all laugh. "Well that was almost a perfect run" I said trying to shake some of the heavy clumps of wet dirt from my pelt. The rain managed to help pull some of it off as well "Yeah, almost" Salty agreed. "At least this time we landed in something soft." Shakey said with Mooch agreeing. We sat in the spot of mud continuing to talk not caring that our furs were a complete mess, we are omegas after all. But soon the rain began to remind me that if we stayed here we might get sick or something "I think we should wash up and head home" I suggested. "Yeah I'm starting to get cold" Mooch said, we laughed when he said this "Dude, you should be the warmest of any of us right now" Salty joked. He laughed as well "Yeah I know" He said.
We headed up the valley wall towards the western den grounds. The rain was still falling with no sign of letting up anytime soon, and I could see that the sun was getting ready to set. I was mostly silent the whole way back but managed to involve myself in a few jokes as we headed for the eastern river to wash up. Today had been a great day, I got to spend time with Kate, plan our wedding, and spend time with my three best friends. Life never had a dull moment anymore and I liked it that way, I spent far too much time in the dark while Kate was away during alpha school. Wondering if I loved her and if she loved me back, of course I loved her and it wasn't until a week ago where I found out that she felt the same way. Our jokes and talking continued as we rinsed off the clumping mud from our furs, the sun had now set and light was quickly diminishing. After sometime we all split heading back to our own dens from the rest of the day and night.
A/N: The end is just around the corner and some of you have been asking if I'm going to be writing sequel. The answer is yes and details about it will be shared at the end of this story.