Humphrey's Bachelor Party

by Villain84

Rated T for some alcohol and drug reference. Before he settles down for his marriage to Kate, Humphrey goes out for one last Hoorah! with Garth, Salty, Shakey, Mooch, Marcel and Paddy. My first story on this site. Please read and review. Abandoned.

8. Chapter 8: Prisoners

Oscar stood there, strong and intimidating, glaring at the wolves and birds, while the two hulking cougars behind them growled and hissed. All the wolves, huddled together were terrified, especially Mooch, who was whimpering. Marcel and Paddy still clung to each other. Garth was the only one who refused to show signs of fear. He stood in a stance, ready to fight if any cougar should pounce them, and bared his own teeth. Finally, Oscar broke the silence.

"You lost, little doggies?" he asked mockingly.

Humphrey swallowed his nervousness, tried to look friendly, and spoke up. "Hey Oscar." He said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Don't you 'Hey Oscar' me, bub!" Oscar snapped back, obviously angry. "What do you think you're doing up on our mountain?"

Before Humphrey or Garth could answer, the brown giant cougar shouted "Hey Carnage! Look! A condor!" He then stepped forward, reached out, and grabbed Shakey by the hind legs. Shakey screamed in surprise and terror, while Marcel and Paddy let out sighs of relief.

"SHAKEY!" Humphrey screamed. The other wolves all stared at the scene, wondering what this brute was going to do with Shakey. Dangling him by his foot so he was upside down, he held him up in front of the goldish-brown cougar, apparently named Carnage, for a second.

"Bruiser," Carnage sighed, rolling his eyes. "That's not a condor. That's just a puny wolf!"

"Hey, who you calling puny?" Shakey snapped, still dangling upside down, but a quick grunt and glare from Carnage shut him up. "Oh, you're calling me puny." He joked, trying to cheer him up. He did not want to get on the bad side of either of these giants.

"Nah," said Bruiser. "He's too small to be a wolf!"

"I'll tell you who's small." Said Shakey, a bit irritated now. "Candu. He's even small than me."

"Actually, I don't know who's bigger." Mooch stated.

"Oh, thanks for the help, Mooch!" Shakey hissed sarcastically.

"See, look." Carnage reach forward, grabbed Paddy around the neck, and pried him from Marcel's grip. "Paddy!" Marcel cried.

"You see this bird?" Carnage said to Bruiser, as he held and shook Paddy in front of him. "See how he has wings, feathers, webbed feet, and a beak?"

"Actually," squeaked Paddy, "I'm a duck so I have a bill." He suddenly let out a suffocating quack as Carnage squeezed his throat tighter.

"And your guy has none of that." Carnage went on. "He has fur, paws, a muzzle and blunt fangs. He's clearly an omega wolf you dummy!"

"Oh yeah?" Bruiser hissed angrily, "We'll see. I'll drop him off the cliff here, and when he flies away, you'll be the dummy!"

"Please! Don't throw me off the cliff!" Shakey begged as calmly as he could, and holding his paws up in a prayer. He also smiled still not wanting to make the behemoth angry.

"Well, he won't fly away," Carnage muttered, "but it will be fun watching him fall to his death! Ha ha! OW!" He suddenly felt something heavy bang his free paw, the one he was not holding Paddy with. He looked down to see Marcel, holding a small, thin, long rock that he must have hit him with.

"Unhand my caddy you vile beast!" he barked boldly.

"Why you little-!" growled Carnage as he raised his free paw a prepared to strike back.

"Boys!" ordered Oscar from up front, stopping Carnage. "Put them down!"

Bruiser moaned with disappointment as he set Shakey down, while Carnage hissed at both of the birds before roughly throwing Paddy into Marcel's wings. Shakey scrambled off and got behind Garth, away from Bruiser, but one look at Oscar sent him to the other side of Garth, right in the middle of the wolves.

"Again, what are you doing on our territory?" asked Oscar less patiently, "you trying to sneak up and get us while we're asleep?"

"What? No! No! We're not in to that!" replied Humphrey reassuringly. "We just want to ask Harry a favor. That's all. No need to get your fur in a bunch."

"Well, whatever it is, the answer will probably be no." Suddenly, Chloe elbowed Oscar in the ribs, and he shot her a brief look of irritation before letting taking a deep breath. He understood what she wanted him to say, and he clearly did not like it. "What favor do you want to ask him?" Oscar asked, rolling his eyes.

"We're having a bachelor party for Humphrey here," Garth piped up, as he began to let his guard down and ease his stance. "And what we want to do to as a finale for the party is slide down the mountain on a log. That's all we want."

Oscar gave the two wolves an annoyed look, and suddenly a cricket started chirping. Oscar looked down, and saw the cricket standing next to him, chirping. Annoyed, Oscar quickly stepped on it, silencing it, and then turned his attention back to the wolves. "You really expect me to believe that that is what this is all about? You came up here for a stunt like that? I mean come on! Even you guys aren't that stupid!"

"It was all Humphrey's idea, not the rest of ours'." snapped Salty.

"Just look at us." said Garth. "We're one alpha, four omegas, and a golfing goose and his duck caddy. If we came here to fight, don't you think we would have come with some more reinforcements?"

"Okay, I'll admit you have a point there." muttered Oscar after a second. "But apparantly, this posse is enough to beat Pete."

"Actually, we didn't beat him." Shakey spoke up. "Thanks to my genious idea, we got him distracted so we could sneak past him." As he said this, Salty and Mooch rolled their eyes.

Well, at least we know Pete's not dead, Oscar thought to himself. "It doesn't really matter what you came here for." he said aloud, "You're trespassing on our turf, and Harrison gave me orders to deal with any animal that trespasses on our turf."

"I think he's about to give us the order to crush them, Bruiser!" Carnage whispered to Bruiser, a wicked grin on his face and blood thirst gleaming in his eyes. The omegas and birds whimpered. Garth's body tensed. He knew he could not keep up a fight, though. Even he could not last long against these three cougars on such a cramped fighting space.

"Oh come on, Oscar!" Chloe interrupted in a sweet tone. "They mean us no harm, they're just here to have fun. Come on, let's let them pass."

"Chloe," Oscar sighed, clearly annoyed. "I technically shouldn't have even let them speak. We should have killed them the minute we came near them."

"Give me one good reason why we should kill them."

"I can think of a few. One, they're trespassing and we're suppose to kill all trespassers. Two, what they said could be a lie to get closer to Harrison. And three, killing them now would save me a lot of aggravation."

"Look at Humphrey." Chloe sat up and walked over to Humphrey and gave him a light pat on the head, which he seemed uncomfortable with at first. "Does he look like a liar to you?" Upon hearing this, Humphrey smiled as Oscar looked him over.

"Hmmph. I guess none of them look like liars." Oscar grunted.

Humphrey thought he saw Chloe wink at him briefly as she took her paw off his head. "Come on, sweetie." She said in her sweet tone as she trotted back over to Oscar. "Just do this for me?" She leaned over close to him and gave him a sweet, innocent, sad looking face, letting her beauty try to entrance him.

"Oh no! Not the face! You already lead me on to give them a chance! That's it for tonight."

Chloe continued to give Oscar her face, and blinked to add to it. "Please.." she said.

At last, Oscar rolled his eyes and huffed. "You know, one day I'm going to find a way around that face." He turned to the wolves. "Alright guys, tell ya what. We'll take you to Harrison. You can talk it out with him. Fair enough?"

"Oh sure, absolutely." replied Garth cheerfully.

"Sure. We can work with that." followed up Mooch.

"What? No pounding?" exclaimed a shocked Carnage. He then let out a disappointed grunt.

"But I warn ya:" Oscar continued, "Stay huddled up together like you are now, and don't make any suspicious moves, and not a peep out of any of you, or you're through! Got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Come on." Oscar turned around and started heading up the path again. Chloe followed right behind him. Garth then gestured to the others to follow, and took the lead. Humphrey followed him, then Shakey, then Mooch, then Marcel and Paddy, and as Salty was taking up the rear, Carnage reached down and shoved him up, making him bump into Humphrey.

"Hey!" shouted Humphrey.

"Hmph!" Carnage grunted back at him.

The omegas let it out, knowing it would not do any good to argue, and continued walking.

"Hey, Garth right?" Oscar spoke up. "What happened to your eye there? Oh, wait let me guess... Pete, right?"

"Yep" Garth admitted.

"Ha!" Oscar said mockingly. "You alphas are pathetic! No single wolf can beat my buddy!"

"Hey! It's been a long day; I'm tired, hungry, I'm drunk from the party. I could have taken him if I was sober!"

"Sure you could have." Oscar said sarcastically.

"I could take you if I was drunk ten times over!" Garth hissed in a low voice, hoping Oscar would not hear him.

"Garth, Garth, chill!" Humphrey's whispered to him soothingly. "You were amazing down there. Just you wait, next time, when you are sober and well rested, you'll beat Pete for sure!"

"Quiet!" Hissed Carnage.

Garth and Humphrey smiled at each other. Garth had appreciated Humphrey's words. He was not really drunk from the party that day, although he was tired since he would normally be asleep by now, and he (and everyone else in the party) had not had anything to eat since breakfast that day. He was really just trying to come up with excuses for not being able to defeat Pete. He was embarrassed that he was barely a match for that cuckoo-eyed cat. But he agreed with Humphrey. Next time, he thought, Pete won't know what hit him.

---

Down below, Kate and Lilly were still climbing up the side of the mountain, down where it was still rocky and warmer. They had finished creeping along side of a thin strip of rock, and had jumped back onto a wider path. They were both still fuming that their mates would think of pulling the stunt Milo had told them about.

"Can you believe it Lilly?" Kate asked her sister. "Can you believe even Humphrey would think of doing something so stupid? I mean if the cougars don't kill them, the ride will!"

"And if they live through that, we'll make them wish they hadn't!" Huffed Lilly. "I'll be honest, Humphrey I can understand doing this, but Garth? You'd think he'd have the sense to try to talk the guys out of it, let alone not go along with it!"

"I know! I mean what are they thinking? This is crazy!"

"Well, guys do crazy all kinds of things at their bachelor parties."

"Yeah, and I guess with Humphrey, we should expect the craziest." Kate was finally starting calm down. "Its just that I love him, and I don't want him to get hurt, or do anything he'll regret."

"I know. I feel the same way about Garth. Don't worry. When we catch them, we'll knock some sense into-"

"Shh!" Kate hissed as she stopped held up her paw, stopping Lilly. Just up ahead, lying down next to a plane that was going up, was a large, light brown cougar. He was teething on a small, bloody ball of meat and fur. From that meat, his snout and jaws were dyed red. A lot of the fur on his front side was speckled with blood as well.

"Pete." Kate whispered to Lilly. "Looks like he's eating a pica." Both girls stared for a second at the cougar ravenously devouring the pelt that once belonged to a pica. They observed Pete's sharp fangs as he dug into it, his sharp claws that stretched it out more, and how he gazed at it with hungry, deranged, red eyes. Luckily, he seemed to be so engrossed in his snack, that he seemed to take no notice the two female wolves.

"What do we do?" Lilly asked nervously.

"If we're really quiet, maybe he won't notice us." Kate whispered back. And with that, she slowly crept forward. She knew that cougar's had strong senses. Pete probably was already aware of their presence. She was counting on his snack to keep him distracted.

Kate continued to walk slowly. She was now coming up right by Pete, only about a yard away from him. She swallowed her fear, and walked straight ahead, bravely and boldly. At last, she was past him, and almost at the end of the walkway, getting closer to the ramp that would lead upward.

At this point, Lilly had started to follow her sister, and tried to walk straight, trying hard not to waver. The closer she came up to Pete, however, the more nervous she became, and the more she started sweating. She could not help but look at him. Any second, she feared he would turn away from his snack, gaze up at her, and take her down as his next meal, biting and tearing at her gluttonously.

She looked ahead, and saw her sister up ahead at the edge of the path, waving her paw and beckoning her closer. She was almost there. Just a little further...

Suddenly, her forepaw kicked a little pebble, sending it tumbling over the path, making a slight pitter-patter. Almost immediately, Pete's head jerked up, and he turned to face Lilly. She froze in her place and gasped, not knowing what to do. Kate let out a slight gasp, and then hunkered down, ready to pounce if need be.

To both of their surprises, however, Pete just turned away and went back to mauling his pica. Lilly tip-toed over to Kate again. When they were reunited again, they both exhaled.

Big Mistake! Again, Pete's head jerked up again. He practically lept up, turned towards the girls, and started cackling uncontrollably.

"Run!" Kate barked at her sister, and without further delay, they bolted up the trail again, before Pete even had a chance to give chase.

It did not matter. Pete simply stood there and continued to cackle, and his eyes gleaming with a new hunger. He knew he would meet these intruders again soon enough.

---

Oscar continued to lead the party along through the path on the mountain, slowly leading everyone closer to the den of the cougars. There were still a few instances with very thin paths, large gaps to jump across, rocks to jump over, and some rockslides to dodge, but for the most part, the path was larger and easier to follow for everyone.

The cougars had no problem mastering the landscape, not only because they knew it well, but their nimble bodies were able to handle it. The wolves still had a little trouble however. Garth was still able to handle most of the obstacles, as was Shakey, but the other omegas still had some trouble, particularly Mooch. Whenever the wolves needed some help, however, Bruiser and Carnage gave them the extra push from behind. Marcel and Paddy stuck around with everyone, not daring to fly away yet. They flew over the obstacles with ease. Marcel always kept his long rock handy, just in case. No one spoke through the most of the hike, and if one of the wolves started to talk, Carnage quickly shut them up.

All a while, Humphrey was thinking about how this all had gone. He and his friends were now all Oscar's prisoners. He supposed they should be grateful for that. If it had not been for Chloe, they all would have been cat food. But perhaps Chloe only delayed their death. If they could barely reason with Oscar, how could they hope to reason with Harrison? Humphrey realized that he had, in fact, lead his friends to their deaths. He just wanted to have some more fun with his friends before getting married, and letting it all go, and now he may not get to do that, or get married at all. He was going to die on this mountain. He had let all of his friends down, and now they were going to die up there with him. And it was all his fault.

Well, at least we're all going down together. Humphrey thought to himself. I wouldn't have that any other way.

After a few more hours of climbing, the moon had receded into the horizon, and the sun was starting to rise on the other side of the Earth. It was still creeping up from behind the mountains, so not all the shadows in Jasper Park were driven away yet, but the sky was being lit up, replacing the dark purple shade with a lightening bluish one. As it grew lighter out, it became easier to see the path.

By now the party was very high up. The cold winds continued to nip at them, but as the sun rose, the winds started to calm for some reason.

And soon, the party came to one path that seemed even more foreboding than the place where they had met Oscar. There were absolutely no plants to be seen. gusts of snow were blowing and being whisked away in the wind. Buried in the snow, was the bones and skeletons of goats and condors.

"Hey Oscar, let me ask you something." Garth finally said, breaking the prolonged silence.

"What?" Oscar grumbled.

"Why do you guys all work in a pack? Aren't cougars suppose to be loners?"

"For you information, we don't work in a pack. We all just live in the same cave. There's not a lot of room on Pyramid Mountain for everyone to be scattered, so we all share a cave with each other."

"Looks to me like there's plenty of room on this mountain." Humphrey said.

"Well, other than the cave thing, up here it's every cougar for himself... And sometimes we share food on days where others don't find a good catch."

"Well then, if that's true, how come you and your friends here do whatever Harrison says?" asked Garth.

"Well, you see we...uhhh..." Oscar stopped talking a second, and thought, while stuttering on what to say. There either was no reason why he obeyed Harrison, or there was one and he just did not want to say it. He frantically tried to come up with an excuse, but he was suddenly interrupted by a high, quavering voice.

"Ahh, by the flapping of my gums, something furry, this way comes!" Suddenly, a small, thin, yellow-spotted body slithered up to greet Oscar and Chloe. "Make that some things!" it chuckled.

"Good morning, Duke." Oscar greeted him in a condescending voice.

"A good morning to you too, sir, and madam." Duke raised his head and bowed it to both Oscar and Chloe. "And it would appear you brought guests!" He looked over at the wolves. "How delightful!"

"We're taking them to Harrison, Duke." Oscar replied, still sounding somewhat annoyed.

"Ahh, yes, of course! I must warn you though; this is the day he normally sleeps in late."

"Oh, right, of course!" Oscar sounded even more aggravated this time.

"How late does he sleep in?" Shakey asked.

"He normally gets up right about now, but today is the one day of the week he wakes up when the sun is halfway up to its apex. He's gonna be pretty cranky. You guys just had to come today, didn't you?"

"Umm, sorry?" Salty responded awkwardly.

"Come on." Oscar sighed as he began walking again. "We're almost there."

"Ahh, yes! So close to your destination!" chanted Duke in high spirits. "They say the hardest journey need be only one step at a time, but one must keep on stepping to reach the end."

Another few minutes, and the party had come around a corner of a flat, side path, and had arrived at a large cave, with needle-like stalactites hanging from the roof of the mouth. There was one other small hole above the mouth, and two other larger holes on the sides of those, making the entrance of the cave look like a human skull. This was, without a doubt, the cougar cave.

Everyone peeked over and looked inside. Sure enough, there at least ten other cougars in there, with a few cubs at their sides here and their. All of them were still sound asleep. Some bones and scraps were scattered all along the cave floor.

"Duke, make yourself useful and go wake up Harrison." Oscar hissed to Duke.

"Are you mad?" Duke complained. "I'm not going to wake him up. He'll squash me. Not with full intention, of course. His frustration will just blind him at the time. You should do it. He will have a difficult time killing you in one blow."

After a glare and a deep breath, Oscar finally stepped into the cave. "Wait here." he whispered to the party. He was careful not to step on anyone, or knock over any bones, careful not to disturb anyone's slumber.

At last, he came up to a cougar slightly larger than himself, with dark orange brown fur and a scar across his left eye. He lay next to his light-grey brown furred mate. Sprawled out on her back was one cub with fur like his father's, and cuddled in her paws was a spotted cub.

Oscar quietly stepped over to the male, and gave him a gentle nudge with his nose. "Harrison, sir. Wake up. Come on" He whispered as soothingly as he could.

After a second, Harrison let out a light groan, and his eyes squinted and blinked up at Oscar. "What is it Oscar?" he asked quietly so not to disturb anyone else.

"Uh, morning, first of all. We kind of have some, uhh... intruders."

"Intruders? Why didn't you deal with them. You know how to deal with intruders."

"Well, they- um- kind of wanted to talk to you."

Harrison glared at Oscar for another second. "Chloe talked you into sparing them, didn't she."

"Well,"

"DIDN'T SHE!"

Oscar nodded his head shamefully.

"This is why I don't like her; she makes me question your loyalty to me."

"Sir, you know I'd never turn on you."

"Uh-huh, sure." He replied in an unconvinced tone.

"Really, I wouldn't. You're like family to me."

Harrison rolled his eyes, then stretched out before getting up. "We'll discuss this later. Where are the intruders?"

"Just outside the cave, sir."

"Alright." Harrison began to take a step over toward the mouth, when suddenly a paw grabbed his, stopping him.

"Darling, I thought you were sleeping in today." said a sleepy, yet sweet and loving voice of Tiana, his beautiful mate, who was still lying down.

"I'm sorry Tia." he replied. "Apparently, Oscar didn't have the spine to kill of some intruders."

"Oh, do you have to go start killing already?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Okay then. I'll see you later, tiger." she let go of his paw, and he quietly trotted outside, Oscar right behind him.

When at last he emerged from the shadows of the cave and faced the party. The omegas and the birds backed down timidly, while Humphrey and Garth steadily stood their ground. "Ahh, good morning, sir!" Duke greeted him warmly. "Chloe, get in the cave. You've done quite enough here." He demanded.

"Stay safe guys," she quickly whispered to Humphrey and Garth.

"Now!" Harrison barked. "I'll deal with you later."

Chloe hung her head as she quietly walked into the cave, Harrison's glare following her. When she was gone, he turned back to the wolves.

"So, Garth, what is the meaning of this? Were you planning on sneaking up on us and killing me in my sleep?"

"What? No! Why does everyone think that?"

"Then why have you come?"

"Well, actually, Humphrey here's leading this posse." Garth stuttered. "Talk it out with him." He put his arm around Humphrey, and pushed him up closer to Harrison.

"Hmph. An omega leading a posse." Harrison chuckled to himself.

"What are you doing?" Humphrey hissed at Garth.

"Well it was your idea to come up here and talk to Harry. Now you do it." he replied. "Don't worry. We're right behind you."

Humphrey nervously turned to Harrison, nervous on what to say.

"Okay Humphrey." Harrison grunted, as he sat on his haunches and continued to stare Humphrey down. "What do you want?"

"Umm, hey Harry...son." Humphrey stammered.

"Good save there."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine, I suppose."

"Whatcha been up to?"

"Sleeping."

"Oh, that's cool." Okay, Humphrey, he said to himself. Quite beating around the bush. Just as ask him. "So Harrison, sir, me and the guys here have been having a little bachelor party, because you know I'm getting married to Kate soon, and all. It's been a really fun party. Oh, I'm sorry we didn't invite you guys. It's just that I figured you guys wouldn't want to come, I mean with us being enemies and all-"

"OUT WITH IT BOY! WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Harrison bellowed.

"For the big finale of my party, me and the guys here wanted to slide down your mountain here on a log. May we do that, please?"

"Absolutely not." Harrison replied coldly.

"What? Why not?" Asked Mooch, shocked.

"Why would I let you have the joy of sliding down my mountain? I hate all of you! You really think I'd be willing to drop the rivalry of our species for something like this?"

"Come on, it's just one small thing." said Garth.

"Yes. We just want to go for a ride here. That's all. It does not bother you the slightest." Marcel brought up.

"Come on man, open your heart. We're just here to have fun." Begged Salty.

"No." Harrison repeated. "A millennia worth of species rivalry does not pause just because one individual is going out for his bachelor party. You boys made a very stupid mistake coming up here, expecting my hospitality." He turned to Oscar. "I want you to kill them this time." He ordered.

"Umm, Okay."

"How do you think we should deal with them? Should we throw them off the cliff? Should we have Pete rip them apart?"

"It would be a shame to let good meat like this go to waste. How about we just break their necks, and save their bodies for lunch?"

"I got dibs on the fat one!" shouted Bruiser with glee.

"Hey!" Mooch snapped.

"Great." Garth cursed under his breath, somewhat directed at Humphrey. "We were having such a good time too. And to think tomorrow, after the wedding, there was suppose to be a big reception party! There was going to be howling, and caribou..."

Oscar's ears perked up. "Caribou? Did you say caribou? I love caribou! We all do!"

"Ahh yes." Duke nodded. "Caribou is very popular amongst both wolves and cougars."

"Boys, be quiet!" snapped Harrison, quickly shutting them up.

Harrison turned back to the wolves. "Where would you even get the idea that sliding down this mountain is a good idea? I mean look at it. It's steep, rocky, covered in sharp rocks, I mean a log sled ride down it is suicide. There's absolutely no way... that... you... would... survive..." His voice trailed off at these last few words.

Suddenly, something completely unexpected happened. Harrison started laughing. He was cackling uncontrollably, as if someone was tickling him. He suddenly grabbed Humphrey around the shoulders, and hugged him close while he continued laughing.

Humphrey, who was completely freaked out by this big, scary, old, muscular cat suddenly hugging him, whom a second ago was contemplating his death, first sat awkwardly for a second, then figured he should stay on his good side. He forced himself to laugh, and hugged Harrison back.

"Guys, I think we better laugh too." Shakey whispered to the guys. With that, everyone else tried to think of something funny, or forced laughter, and started laughing along with everyone. Even Bruiser and Carnage joined it, then Oscar and Duke.

At last, Harrison pulled Humphrey out of his embrace, but still held his shoulders. "Of course you can slide down my mountain, son." Harrison chuckled happily.

"Oh, great. Thanks." Humphrey forced himself to say. He was still uncomfortable with the sudden change of mood and treatment from the fierce-looking cougar.

"Actually, scratch that." Oscar piped up. "We will let you slide down our mountain, if you let us come to your wedding and have some of that tasty caribou."

"What?" asked Garth astonished.

"Do we have a deal?"

Garth turned to Humphrey. Humphrey looked to his sides to see the omegas and the birds staring at him, waiting for his response. Humphrey thought for a second. He did not want anything to spoil his wedding with Kate, least of all a battle with cougars. And he did not know how everyone in the pack would react to it. But at this point, it seemed either make the deal or die.

"If you guys come, will you behave yourselves?"

"Absolutely. No commotions at all." replied Oscar, his voice true and honest. "You won't even know we're there."

"...Alright. Deal." Humphrey said at last.

"Yeah! Woo! Hoo!" Shakey cheered. The other omegas all started cheering that they would be allowed to ride. They all did their howl wave, similar to the one they did in the movie. Garth simply smiled, satisfied that they would live a little longer.

"Well, looks like this might work out after all, eh, Paddy?" Marcel chuckled.

"Ah yes. We may get through this after all, sir." Paddy replied.

"What? You mean we still don't get to splatter anyone?" Sneered Carnage as he threw down a fist.

"There, there, Carnage." Bruiser whispered in a comforting voice. "Let it all out." He gave his brother a pat on the back.

Oscar turned around to see Harrison glaring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"First of all, how many times have I told you know making deals when I have it under control?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"Second, you know these guys are going to die on the ride, so why make the deal?"

"Oh, right." Oscar glanced off, forgetting that little flaw in his plan.

"Super. Thank you sir." Garth said to Harrison. "All we need now is a log sled."

"You mean you didn't bring one up with you?" Harrison asked in an irritated voice.

"Well, what were we suppose to do? Drag a log all the way up here?" Shakey replied.

"Hmm. Point taken." Harrison muttered.

"Sir, we could use one of the old dead trees up on the ridge and make a sled out of that." Oscar suggested.

"Well, we were saving those for when we needed them, but we haven't ever really needed them. Okay then."

"Wow, that's nice of you to give us a sled." commented Mooch.

"Yes. Right this way, boys." and with that, Harrison stood up, turned around, and walking past the mouth of the cave, heading further up the path. Oscar and Duke turned to follow as well.

"Looks like this is going to work out guys." Humphrey said to the party.

"You the dog Humphrey!" Salty cheered. Everyone else started cheering and laughing too. "Good show, my boy!" laughed Marcel.

"Get Moving!" shouted Carnage angrily as he pushed Mooch ahead. And with that, everyone started heading after Harrison and Oscar.

"If I don't get to kill one of those wolves soon, I'm gonna go insane!" hissed Carnage.

"Remember your happy place Carnage." said Bruiser as they started walking after the party.

"WHY do you ALWAYS have to be happy?" Carnage sneered.

---

Meanwhile, back down in the center of the valley, the thirty-something wolves of the combined pack were all gathered together, still waiting for the ride to start. Pretty much everyone had fallen asleep at this point, and were waiting for the morning when they were expecting the ride to start.

To make sure they would not miss anything, Hutch, Candu, Milo and Rocky had all decided to work in shifts. One of them would watch the party through the tubes, or binoculars, as someone said they were called. While that one was on lookout, the other three would get some sleep in. Every couple of hours, one of them would wake up and take the watch while the other got some rest. When it appeared that the party was about to start their ride, whoever was watching would wake everyone up. Everyone of the four had gone up at least once, and now it was Hutch's turn.

Hutch's mind had been racing throughout his shift. First off, even with the binoculars, the wolves of the party were just specs, and he could only get the general idea of what they were doing. It was like trying to watch a few squirrels pick up nuts down in the valley from atop a cliff, with the tree being about half a few dozen yards away.

Hutch knew that they were all being very savage here. Gambling with meat on who they wanted to die? These were their friends they were talking about, his friends. He did not really want anyone to get hurt. Deep down, he wanted everyone to come out of this alive. He prayed that they all would. He also prayed that Kate and Lilly would be able to stop them. He saw a true friend in Humphrey, and knew the pack would be very depressing and quiet without him. Same goes for the other omegas. And Garth, Garth was the future leader of the pack. They needed him. What would they do without him?

Like any good alpha or beta, Hutch wanted what was best for the pack. He had spent most of his life working for Winston, following his orders, reporting any kind of situation to him, and of course helping to lead the rest of the pack and keep everyone safe and happy. Winston trusted Hutch, and Hutch was proud to be his second in command.

And now look at him. He was here, gambling with meat on whether or not his friends would survive a log sled ride down Pyramid Mountain. What would Winston say about this if he knew about it? Even more worrisome, what would Eve say? What would she do? Just the thought of that sent shivers down Hutch's spine.

The sun was finally starting to rise. Rays of light peaked over the edge of the mountains in the horizon, wiping the dark shadows of the night away, brightening up the trees and grass. The morning dew shone and sparkled on the grass.

Because it was much higher up, the sun had started to shine on Pyramid Mountain much earlier than the rest of the valley. Hutch was grateful for this. The mountain was clearer this way. It was easier to Humphrey and the wolves that way. They were still very small in his view, but at least now their moving bodies of fur did not blend in with the rocks and snow. He had seen them start walking with Harrison and some other cougars, meaning that they were indeed caught. Since they were walking up the mountain rather than fighting, it must have meant that Harrison had agreed to let them slide down the mountain, and now they were on the way to get a log sled. Or at least, that's what Hutch was hoping for.

Suddenly, Hutch heard some stirring and groaning. He looked to his side and saw Milo slowly getting up. Most gammas were usually not awake this early, but that was Milo for you; almost always on the move. Chelsea had not slept next to him. Evidently, she was still mad at him for putting so much on the line without her consent.

Milo got up and stretched a bit, licked his lips, and turned towards Hutch. "Morning Hutch. How's it going? How are they doing?" he asked groggily.

"I think they just met Harrison, and they're going to get a log sled." Hutch whispered back, quietly so as not to disturb anyone else who was sleeping. He handed the binoculars to Milo so he could have a look.

"So they're getting on? Woo hoo!"

"SHHH!" Hutch snapped before he got too loud.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Too late. A couple of wolves in the pack had awoken. A few of them proceeded to wake up some of their friends or family members. The pups slowly stirred awake and yawned. Before long, the whole pack was awake and chatting, and they quickley remembered why they were out in the valley instead of in their dens. They remembered what they were waiting for, and turend to the quartet in the center.

Hutch, Milo, and Candu were awake by now, but Rocky was still sound asleep, though he was stirring a bit as though he were having a nightmare. Candu came to his side.

"Rocky, buddy. Time to get up." he said. He nudged his side with his muzzle.

Rocky bolted up almost immediatly as Candu touched him. "AHH! Tony! I didn't do it! I swear!" he screamed. He suddenly looked about him, at the rest of his pack, all staring at him awkwardly like he was insane. "Oh, morning guys." Rocky said awkwardly as he sat down on his haunches.

"Chill Bro!" Milo said calmingly. "It's all good."

But Milo couldn't be more wrong. After a minute, a row in the crowd opened up, and in came Winston, followed by Eve and Tony. All of them glared at the quartet in the middle of the crowd.

"Hutch! What the devil is going on here?" Winston demanded.

"Wha-What do you mean, sir?" Hutch replied.

"I mean why is the whole pack still out here, and all the meat too?"

"We let you all stay out late because last night was a big party, true." Tony followed up. "But we were expecting everyone to be back at the dens in the morning at least."

"And where are Kate and Lilly?" Asked Eve as she was giving a head count. "And Garth? And Humphrey? And the other omegas?"

"My lady, they are up on Pyramid Mountain." Hutch replied. He did not want to see their reaction, but he also did not want to lie or hide anything from them. In alpha school, he had learned to put his duties and loyalty ahead of his emotions, especially in front of the head alpha.

"What? In Harrison's territory?" Winston exclaimed. "What are they all doing up there?"

"Well, Humphrey and the guys were going to go log sledding, and the girls are going to stop them, we hope." Reba spoke up from the front row.

"WHAT?" Exclaimed Tony angrily, turning to Hutch. "And you just let them go?"

"Believe me, sir. I tried to get them to see it was crazy, but they just went on." replied Hutch.

"Yeah, I tried to stop them too." Candu followed up.

"And me." said Milo.

"I tried to talk sense into them too." said Rocky.

"No you didn't." scoffed Milo. "You just sat there and listened. And you're the one who came up with this whole gambling idea!"

"Gambling idea?" Winston asked confused.

"Well, you see, we're..." Milo was afraid to go on much further. He did not have to. Chelsea spoke up for him, evident that she was still angry with him.

"We're all placing bets on who we think will survive the ride, if they do get ride. My idiot mate here bet FIVE caribou on all of them." Milo did not say anything. He just looked down at his paws and groaned.

The three leaders were baffled by what was going on, and exchanged worried looks. Tony was astonished that Garth would not try to stop the omegas, let alone join them on this stupid plan. He was disappointed in his son. He had tried to let Garth have some free time and fun by letting him join Humphrey for this party, and he goes off and does this? Right when he's about to become the new pack leader? Tony had a feeling omegas would be a bad influence on Garth, but not this much.

Finally, Winston raised his voice to the foursome. "And you're all here, hoping they will die so you can get more meat? What is wrong with you wolves?"

"We were just trying to have some fun..." Candu said.

"Fun?"

"Well, they're going up for a fun ride, just to have fun, it's not like they're intentionally committing suicide. He he..." Milo squeaked.

"You think this is a joke?" Snapped Eve. "My daughters could have been ripped apart by the cougars by now!"

"Eve, try to calm down." Winston said. "Kate is strong. She can fend for herself and Lilly... no matter how tough Harrison's gang is." his voice began to lose certainty on those last words.

"When we spoke to them, Humphrey said that they have a plan for getting through everything." Hutch continued. "They seemed pretty confident. I think they have a shot of making it."

"I knew this was Humphrey's idea." spat Eve. "That boy... he better hope he dies on that ride because he survives, I'll..."

"EVE!" Winston scolded. "You don't know Humphrey as well as I do." He himself began to relax as she did. "He's a fun-loving omega. He may be a little irresponsible sometimes, and he may not always think everything through, and he sometimes put his own needs ahead of the pack..." he realized he was talking more about Humphrey's flaws than his good qualities, and picked himself up.

"But, Humphrey would never put his friends in mortal danger without a plan of some sort. I'm certain he will get everyone out of this alive. They will all be fine."

"Your omega better do that, Winston." Tony said menacingly. "You know what I'm going to do if your son-in-law causes the death of my son?"

"It won't be anything worse than what I'll do to you with that attitude." growled Eve.

"Both of you, come to your senses!" Winston shouted. "I know we're all scared for them, but there's nothing we can do for them right now. All we can do is watch. Arguing won't help."

"He's right." said Reba, who poked out from the side, Janice at her side, Lifty and Shifty on their shoulders.

Winston looked over at Janice. "Janice, are you okay? Are you worried about Shakey?" he asked as softly and fatherly as he could. Janice nodded her head.

"They will all be fine. I'm sure of it." He repeated.

"In that case Winston," said Rocky, interrupting, "How would you like to place a bet on all of them? And join Milo?" After a few seconds of glaring from Winston, Rocky's giggling settled down.

"Rocky, do you really want any of them to die? These are your friends we are talking about!" Winston scolded. "You think a few more pounds of meat is worth the life of someone you love? Or do you really not care for any of them?" And then he turned around to the rest of the pack. "And this goes for the rest of you. I am disappointed in all of you. We're suppose to be a pack, a family. And you all think this is a game, that the deaths of some of our most beloved friends will mean more meat for you, I find that disturbing. Don't you realize that if this messes up, any one of them could die! They will be DEAD! Gone! Lost to us! No more Humphrey, Garth, Shakey, Salty, or Mooch. Now ask yourselves. Is that what you really want? For them all to die so you can have more meat that there is already plenty of to go around?"

This aroused some chatter amongst the wolves, they were seeming to start to come to their senses on what they were doing. And then Winston continued.

"Do you love Mooch?" He shouted. A few member of the pack chanted "Yeah!" like a row in the bleachers of a football stadium.

"Do you love Salty?" Winston continued. More of the pack chanted "Yeah!", this time louder.

"Do you love Shakey?"

"Yeah!"

"Do you love Garth?"

"Yeah!"

"DO YOU LOVE HUMPHREY?"

"YEAH!"

"Then let's shape up and show our friends that we love and support them!"

And with that! the whole pack started cheering and howling with glee, though it did not last.

"Hey guys," Milo spoke up, looking up at the mountain through the binoculars. "I think they're getting close to the top." Almost immediately, everyone sat down and was quiet again, still waiting eagerly to hear what would happen next.

Winston walked back over to Eve and Tony, and sat down on his stomach next to his mate, who was still sitting up on her haunches. "Winston, honey, do you really think they'll be okay?" She whispered to him in a somewhat worried tone.

"I don't know Eve." He sighed. "But like I said before, the most we can do right now for them is listen and hope."

---

Carnage lashed out his large, shiny claws, and with a grunt, swiped at the tree before him. His massive claws made a slight scratch on the bark, and his paw just barely chipped away at it. The tree was about as tall as the doors of a barn, and looked fairly old. It had no leaves or flowers, and the roots were propping out from the earth, indicating that the plant was dead.

The highest point of the mountain was just a short walk up a nearby path away. The landing that they were on was fairly wide, and somewhat inward on the mountain. The walls of the mountain blocked off the wind, so they did not have to shout to communicate. There was also less snow covering the ground this time. Along side this tree was a couple of other trees and logs. While Humphrey was closer to the edge, looking out at the park below, and Duke was doing the same just along the edge, everyone else in the party was watching Carnage take down the tree. Marcel and Paddy watched in terror and in each other's wings.

Frustrated, Carnage jumped up and viscously grappled with the tree using both paws.

"This is how you can tell it's a strong tree," Oscar whispered to Salty and the other wolves. "Because Carnage here can't take it down in one swipe."

"What was that?" Carnage hissed back aggravated.

"Relax, I was complimenting you." Oscar groaned. Carnage turned back to his work.

"Do you want some help, brother?" Bruiser asked happily.

"Back off!" Carnage hissed back. "This one's mine!" As he said that, the trunk of the tree started to crack, and finally, the log snapped off and came plummeting down.

"Catch it!" Garth barked. Carnage shot to the other side of the stump, and got under the log, while Bruiser bolted to the other side, and cushioned the top of the tree. The brothers both balanced their ends of the log, and gently set it down.

"Good catch, guys." Said Salty.

"Aww, thanks." Bruiser blushed.

Just then, Duke came slithering up and called Harrison aside from everyone else, while everyone else crowded around the log. The wood was very sturdy, and there was definitely enough room for all of them on it. "So now," Shakey continued, "we just need to break off the part of the log here so we can all sit in it, and we're good to go."

"Not a problem." Oscar said. "Let's get chippin' boys." And the three cougars began clawing and chipping and breaking away the upper bark to make room for the passengers. It was a good thing this tree was hallowed. It would be perfect for taking on this ride. The wolves starting working away at their end, but Mooch suddenly pulled away, groaning, and threw up all over the ground, thankfully not getting it on anybody.

"Still poisoned?" Oscar asked.

"I'll be fine." Mooch insisted, wiping his snout on his foreleg and getting back to work. On the walk up, when they were aloud to talk, the party had told the cougars about the bachelor party and all the crazy things they did yesterday and last night. Evidently, that entailed Mooch getting drunk. Mooch was completely sober at this point, but he still threw up every now and then, though not very often.

"So what is it, Duke?" Harrison asked his loyal pet aside from the others.

"It would seem we have more company, sir." Duke replied cheerfully. "Looking off over the edge, I was, when I looked down and saw two more lovely wolves coming our way."

"More?" Harrison asked, evidently annoyed. "Describe them."

"Both of them I believe to be females, and quite young still. One twas of golden fur that doth shame the sun. The other white as the snow that rests upon this peak."

"Kate and Lilly..." Harrison said, more to himself than to Duke. "They must be coming to talk some sense into their mates. If they arrive, they might actually do so, and ruin everything." Harrison thought for another second, then sparked an idea. "No matter. We'll double our success today." He turned back toward the boys working on the log, and called Carnage over.

"Carnage, you still want to maul a wolf, right?" Harrison asked.

"Yes..." Carnage replied, sounding intrigued.

"Well, now's your chance. It seems we have a couple more guests, why don't you, greet them."

"You mean my greet or greet greet?"

"Your greet."Harrison grinned wickedly at him.

"OH YEAH!" Carnage cheered, an equally menacing grin on his face, and bloodthirst in his eyes. "It's clobberin' time, baby!" Excited, Carnage bounded off back down the path they had come from, and started heading down toward the two girl wolves. As Harrison watched him off, he noticed Humphrey sitting out by the edge by himself. Curious, he trotted over to him, with Duke slithering in beside him.

"Something troubling you, son?" Harrison asked.

Humphrey turned to face him. "It-It's nothing. I'm fine." He stuttered. He then sat up and started walking over past Harrison to the others to join in on making the sled. Harrison shrugged as Humphrey walked past him. He honestly did not care that much what was bothering him, and much less wanted to listen to him.

"Okay, I'll tell you." Humphrey said as he suddenly turned around to face Harrison again. He spoke as though Harrison had been begging him to talk. Harrison sighed and sat down as Humphrey came over again and spoke.

"All I wanted from this party was to do some memorable things to remind me of the fun times I have with my friends. I don't want anyone to get hurt. And now that I've thought about it, there's a good chance everyone could get hurt here. I thought maybe we would be okay if we stuck with some plans we made, but now I'm not so sure. And another thing, what would Kate say if she knew what I was doing. What would she think of me? What would she do to me? I'm not sure I want to go through with this anymore. Maybe we should all just turn around and go home while we still have our heads."

Harrison thought for a second. Normally, he would prove that it was already too late to turn back (which it was), and that he was going to put Humphrey through this by force if he had to, but he was in a good mood, so he decided to act kind towards the wolves, just for the time being.

"Ahh, yes," Duke spoke up. "As Dante would put it, you are at the midpoint on the journey of life young wolf, and now you find yourself in a dark forest, the clear path, lost to you!"

"Duke," Harrison muttered, annoyed, "Why don't you go see how Oscar is doing?"

"Ah yes, of course." Duke replied, as he slithered away to join the rest of the group.

"Well, Humphrey," Harrison said in a fatherly manner, "about what Kate would think, let me give you a little marriage advice." He put his large, cougar arm around Humphrey, which startled him at first. "You must never allow your mate to control you. She is not your master, she is not your mother, and she is not your owner. Always remember that you have your rights. You have every right to go out and have fun with your friends, and are taking that right into account here."

"But what if she's angry at me for making such a stupid move? What will she think of me? I mean you have to admit, once you think about it, this is pretty stupid." Humphrey was still uncomfortable that this large cat that was one of his mortal enemies still had his arm around him.

"Well, again. Just assert yourself as having just as much power in the relationship as she does, perhaps more. Who is she to tell you what to do? Just use that thinking to prove that you are her equal, and she will be reminded on how intelligent and independent you really are."

"Okay, I guess... What about how I might possibly get all my friends killed here?"

"Well, from what you've told me about your thoughts earlier yesterday, you just want to have fun because once you and Kate are married, you will have to take certain factors into consideration, and take life more seriously and responsibly. So there will be a limit on all the stupid things you can do with your friends, right? So you should enjoy this while you can. Make the most of it, because come tomorrow, you may not get another chance to do this."

"But what if any of my friends get hurt? Or worse? I'll never forgive myself if any of them die on this."

"Well then, try to make sure none of you die on this." As if you can help it. He then thought to himself. There's no way any of you will survive this. You should have thought about that before you entered my domain. "But again, just try to have fun with it. Death of a friend I can understand, but no harm if someone gets a broken leg or looses an eye? Right? And you said you have a 'plan' to cheat Death, right? Well, with a genius brain such as yours, I'm sure there's no way any of you can die."

"Okay..."

"So, stop worrying, and enjoy the last few minutes of complete and utter freedom you have." And the last few minutes of your life, you worthless mutt! And with that, Harrison lifted his heavy foreleg off of Humphrey, and trotted on over to the rest of party.

Humphrey stayed and thought to himself for a minute. He had appreciated Harrison's advice. If he was going to take any marriage advice from anyone, he had wanted it to be Winston, and perhaps Eve, though her advice would probably be little more than threats and warnings. Ever since his own parents died, Winston had almost been a second father to Humphrey, and he could not be happier now that Winston was to be his father-in-law. He would definitely ask Winston for his advice sometime on the day of the wedding.

He was sure that Winston's advice would be much different than Harrison's, and between the two, Humphrey would go with Winston. Still, he did take into account Harry's suggestions, and thought about using them himself. If Kate did know about this, next time he saw her, he would try to stand up to her for scolding him. He would show her that he did have a beta's spine.

"Humphrey, come on!" Garth's call interrupted his thoughts.

"The sled's ready!" Shakey followed up. "Help us push it up to the top."

Humphrey looked over at the party and saw that the top of the log was chipped off, and the sled was ready for riding. Bruiser, Garth, Mooch, and Salty were all pushing it width-wise up the path, heading up towards the top.

Humphrey smiled. He decided to do what Harrison said, and just enjoy this moment with his friends, so he skipped up ahead to join them, when he suddenly noticed something.

"Hey, where's that big guy?" he suddenly asked everyone. The wolves and birds looked confused for a second, not knowing either, and they turned to Harrison.

"Carnage? well, he, uh... I sent him to get us some breakfast." He finally stammered.

"Oh, thanks, we're starving!" said Mooch.

"Yeah, we haven't eaten since lunch yesterday." Salty added.

"I do hope he knows we don't eat meat." Marcel whispered to Paddy.

"Might I recommend a condor egg?" said Duke. "Such scrumptious delicacies those are. And healthy ones, too."

"Oh, thank you," replied Paddy awkwardly, "But we prefer to stick to plants, if its all the same to you."

"Well, you sure as heck won't find any of those up here!" Duke giggled.

---

Kate looked up ahead while she waited for Lilly to catch up, and caught her own breath. She was not that far behind, only about a few leaps up a staircase of rocks. They had been climbing for a very long time, and have not rested since the sun came up. They were very high up now. The top of the mountain loomed just about another hour's worth of hiking. They were right about to get off the staircase, and go up another wide horizontal trail.

Both girls were tired and sweating. Kate had been trained to keep her stamina up on these long hikes, so she was still doing okay. She was also fueled by her anger at Humphrey, and her need to stop him. Oh, Good. We're almost at the top. She thought in the back of her head looking up at the mountain. Humphrey, you better still be alive! Lilly on the other hand, was exhausted, and every now and then fell farther and farther behind her sister, even though she felt just as angry Garth still.

She hopped up the last couple of rock stairs, breathing heavily. "Kate," She panted, "Can we take another break? I'm exhausted."

"No. Look. We're so close now." Kate answered, making Lilly look up at the top. "They can't be too much farther up ahead." She put her head to the ground and took another sniff. "Their scent is still strong too."

"Okay..." Lilly said sluggishly, and started to walk ahead, when her sister suddenly put her paw up, stopping her.

"Wait a minute." She said, suddenly more serious, and a stern look on her face. "We got company." Kate indeed heard someone coming. Something big, heavy, and fast, charging down the wall. It took Lilly a second, but she heard it after a second too. What was it? Most cougars did not make such loud noises when they ran. They were very light on their feet, silent hunters.

"Look out!" Kate suddenly barked, and pushed her sister back, jumping out of the way herself. Just in time to avoid a massive body that slid down from the the wall above. The girls looked back up at the biggest, most muscular cougar they had ever seen with golden-brown fur. His ears pointed down, and green eyes filled with rage, the big cat screamed at them, showing his large fangs in his large mouth. When his short scream finished, he purred defensively at them.

Kate stood up, faced the beast, growled, and braced herself to fight. "Lilly, stay back." She hissed back to her sister. Lilly was horrified at the sight of the massive predator. With a soft whimper, she shrank back.

"Where is Humphrey?" Kate demanded. "What have you done to him?"

"Humphrey?" said Carnage. "Oh, you mean that wolf pup and his little buddies?" He started giggling. "They're alive, for now. The guys are taking them up to the top. Those idiots are going to go log sledding down the mountain!"

Some relief swelled in Kate's heart. She was glad Humphrey and the guys were alright, that these beasts have not killed them... yet. Behind her, Lilly smiled slightly. She was happy Garth was okay. Still, Kate was careful not to show her emotion in front of Carnage.

"Let us through!" She barked.

"No way." he hissed back. "I don't know how any of you got passed Pete, but you're not getting passed me!"

Kate growled with annoyance. "Fine. Come on!" And hunkered down into her stance.

Carnage sprang forward, his large, muscular paws out. He swiped at Kate, but she ducked out just in time. Carnage continued to swipe at her, trying to claw at her head, but she skillfully dodged out of his reach. She suddenly jumped onto the mountain wall, and leaped off from it, getting behind the big cat. Before he could turn around, she bit hard into his hind leg, tasting his blood. Carnage screeched in pain, and lifted his paw to swat the wolf away, but she let go and jumped back before it could land.

This guy is more about strength than speed. Kate thought. Thank God. Since he's slower, this should be easier than facing a normal, more agile cougar. I just can't let him get a hold of me. Like any cougar, his claws are his deadliest weapons.

Enraged now, Carnage screamed and leaped at her again, swiping at her in a frenzy. Kate dodged, hopped, summersaulted, and barrel rolled to avoid his blows. Meanwhile, Lilly watched the battle from back, terrified, watching helplessly as Kate fought the monstrous cat for her life, and hers. Every passing second, she became more desperate and determined to help her sister. But she knew she could not just jump into the fray; she would only get in Kate's way if she did that. She frantically looked around the trail for something she could use. And suddenly, she looked up on the wall, just up on the ledge was a large pile of snow, appearing to start sloping downward. A strong vibration could send the whole pile sliding down...

Carnage had Kate backed up against the edge now. He took one last swipe, and she slipped off. She managed to grab onto the edge with her front paws. Carnage prepared to strike her again, but with great acrobatic ease, she cartwheeled off to the side, dodging his paw, and jumped back up onto the ledge. While Carnage was still turned toward the edge, she jumped onto his back, and clung to it with her own claws. Her jaws reached for the back of his neck, but before they made contact, she felt his big, heavy paw grip the back of her own neck, claws pinching the skin, and with brute force, he pried her off his back and hurled her into the mountain wall. She smacked against the wall on her right side with a 'thud'. She landed against the hard stone floor for a moment. She looked up dizzy, and saw two of the giant cougar coming toward her.

Carnage stood over Kate. Finally, he had her cornered. She was down and dizzy, and backed up against the wall. She could not dodge this. He lifted his paw to strike the final blow.

"Hey Cougar!" a voice suddenly shouted, stopping his paw. Carnage and Kate looked up on the wall where the voice came from, on the top of the ledge, they saw Lilly, standing right next to the big pile of snow. "You need to chill out!" She banged her paw against the rocks next to her, starting a light vibration, and suddenly, the snow started to slip down the wall.

"Uh-Oh." Carnage muttered. Before he could say anything else or make another move, the snow crumbled down and quickly buried him underneath. Kate took advantage of the opportunity to get up and out of the way before she was buried as well.

Kate quickly took a second to catch her breath and watch over the buried cougar, to make sure he would not get up. Lilly hopped down the cliff and up to her. Neither of them wanted to stick around to see if he would get up, so they both charged ahead up the trail.

"Great move Lilly! You showed that cat who's boss!" Kate said proudly to her sister as they ran up. "And thanks for saving me."

"Is he dead?" Lilly asked nervously.

"No. Not even close. That will just hold him down for a minute. Come on! Let's get ahead while we can!" And Kate charged ahead up the path, Lilly following close beside her.

"Wow, a minute ago you were too tired to keep going." Kate said jokingly.

"Well, that guy was pretty scary."

"Yeah, he was. But you beat him!"

"You did most of the fighting."

"You finished him! You should be proud Lilly. Not a lot of omegas can say they brought down a cougar. And that was a funny line there: 'you need to chill out.' You usually don't come up with such good quirky one-liners."

"Well, I guess I learned a thing or two from Humphrey."

"Humphrey..." Kate's mind went back to the matter at hand: finding Humphrey, Garth, and the boys and teaching them a lesson. She turned back to the road and kept running. Lilly followed closely, herself being reminded of their task. Every step they took brought them closer to the top.

---

Up on the flattest surface at the top of the mountain, where the snow was being blown westward by the wind, the log sled was being set down ready to be launched. The heavy grey blanket that the wolves had been carrying was unfolded at spread out on the inside of the log, acting as a cushion it seemed. Humphrey was sitting in the front seat, right in front of Salty. Behind Salty was Shakey, then Garth, then Marcel and Paddy, and ending with Mooch at the end. Oscar was sitting in front of the log, giving a few quick instructions. Luckily, the wind was not blowing as strong, so he did not have to shout too much.

"For your safety, and the safety of others, please keep your paws, snouts, forepaws, hind legs, tails, and wings inside the log at all times. In the highly likely event of an emergency, put your head between your legs, and-"

"-kiss your tail goodbye." Duke finished.

Oscar cleared his throat and continued after being interrupted. "We thank you for choosing Pyramid Mountain, and we you enjoy the ride before you crash and die."

The wolves and birds all chuckled somewhat together. They all thought Oscar was kidding around, plus they knew how crazy this actually was.

"I do have a question though." Said Harrison, who was sitting next to Bruiser, a few feet back away from the log. "What is the point of that blanket you're all sitting on?"

"What, this?" Garth answered, "It's just for comfort."

"Yeah, we don't want our butts to get splinters." added Shakey.

Harrison and Bruiser exchanged confused looks. "Okay, whatever floats your boat." Harrison finally said.

Humphrey looked around him. He looked down at the beautiful wilderness that was Jasper National Park, his home, the land he grew up in. The land was so very green, with miles of green grass, and billions of tall evergreen trees. Many mountains and hills could be seen, both on the horizon, and closer. In the distance, he saw rivers and lakes, all filled with luminescent water that mirrored the blue, sunny morning sky. A few flocks of wild geese flew across the park in an arrow-shaped formation.

He could see the dens of the western pack, as well as the easterns' just a few miles across. He could see the hills on which he and his friends have sled down on in their puppy days. Seemed now everything they learned from that was about to be put to the test. He could see the valley in which the hunt groups hunted caribou. He could see howling rock, on which he had gone to countless moonlight howls, and howled with his friends, a few omega girls who liked him, and recently other girls and Kate. Howling with those girls were fun, but none of them compared to Kate. Her howl was beautiful. Humphrey had hit on her for many howls in their puppyhood days, but of course he was not allowed to be near her for too long.

And suddenly, Humphrey thought. What was he doing? He was about to throw his great life away, and right before he married the only girl he ever loved. He was about to say goodbye to all of these magnificent wonders, to all of his friends who adored him. What was he thinking when he added "Pyramid Mountain Log Slide" to the party activity list? Hell, he even wrote it himself instead of having Paddy do it and let him know about it.

He looked behind him to his line of closest friends. They all looked nervous themselves. They all knew the feeling he was feeling. They were all thinking about how much they loved life, and how close they were now to losing it.

Humphrey thought of Garth. He was soon to be the new leader of the united pack, and he had Lilly to be his beautiful, lucky mate, whom he loved very much, and wanted to live a long, happy life with her. Humphrey thought of Shakey, and how much he loved Janice, and how they were going to bring about a line of vegetarian wolves. He thought of Salty, who had finally gotten a girlfriend. About Mooch who was still looking for one himself. Marcel and Paddy who still had to find ones themselves, and play Golf with Winston and Tony after they retired. Humphrey had asked all of these good men to risk death for him, to risk throwing away all of their futures and dreams for him. How could I be so selfish? Humphrey thought. Am I really such a bad person?

If they had any qualms about this ride, which they all did, they were at their highest point now. But it was far too late to back down now. They had come this far, the cougars now were forcing them to go through. Still, they knew the actual point of no return was once they slipped of this mountain top. Humphrey could not see the down the slope where he was sitting, for the cougars still had to push the log off the edge, but he could tell it was going to be a big drop. He gripped the sides of log more tightly.

"What's the matter, Humphrey?" Salty said cheerfully, interrupting his thoughts. "Don't tell me you're suddenly afraid of heights!"

"What? No, no way!" Humphrey replied, followed by everyone in the rear laughing.

Keep the negatives out of your head! Humphrey told himself. We can get through this! As long as we work together, and we stick to our plan, we can do this.

"Okay then," Harrison spoke up. "Are we ready to get this show on the slope?"

"Wait a minute." Said Mooch. "I thought you said Carnage was getting us breakfast."

"Oh, right." Harrison stuttered a second. "It seems that incompetent forgot about it. My apologies."

"Can we please have something to eat before we go?" Shakey asked.

"Yeah, we're all really hungry." Garth added.

"Very well." Harrison sighed. "Oscar, go get a condor quick, will you?"

"Oh yeah, sure." Oscar replied. Oscar ran off, as quick as he could. About two minutes later, he returned with two condors in his jaws. He laid they out next to the log. "Eat." He said.

The wolves all hopped down out of the log, and dug in. The condors were actually pretty tasty. They were not very warm, so they must have been old ones that were kept in the cave. Another five minutes, and the wolves had all had their fill of them, and nothing was left of them but the beaks, legs, and bones.

"I trust you all enjoyed your meal?" asked Harrison as the wolves had a minute to sit down and let the food settle.

"Yep, I think so." Garth replied, and the other wolves all nodded and said "yep" in agreement.

"What about us?" asked Marcel, a little frustrated.

"Sorry, we don't have anything for your kind." Oscar said to them.

"WHY, That's racist!" Marcel snapped at him.

"No, its the fact that there are no plants up here." Oscar snapped back, offended. "I'm sorry, but we don't have anything you can eat."

"Ah, I see. Forgive my outburst." Marcel replied awkwardly.

"Okay then, now that you've eaten, are we ready for the ride?" Harrison asked.

"No, not yet." Salty said quick, and put his paw on his stomach.

"Now what?" Harrison asked, his voice sounding a bit impatient.

"I have to go."

"What do you mean go?"

"Number two, and a big one I think."

Harrison slapped his head around his eyes, and shook his head. "Make it quick."

"What, here? I can't go now in front of everyone!"

"Go behind that rock over there!" Harrison snapped, and pointed over to a large, jagged rock about the size of a bear. Salty could go in privacy behind it, hidden from the party. So Salty ran over to behind the rock. "The rest of you, take your seats!" Harrison growled back to the others. His booming voice obviously scared them all, for they scrambled to their seats, in the same order as before.

Another couple of minutes, and Salty was done, so he slowly and calmly walked back up to the log, and took his seat in between Humphrey and Shakey. His odor was a tad bit stronger from the dump he just took. "Much better." He said.

"Okay, looks like we are ready to go." Harrison observed. "Bruiser."

"Oh, good, pushing time!" Bruiser giggled. He trotted on over behind the log, spat into his paws, then rubbed them together.

"Alright, on the count of three, shove them off!" Harrison ordered as Bruiser gripped the end of the sled. "Three... Two..."

"Wait a minute!" Humphrey shouted. He suddenly had an idea.

"What?" Harrison demanded, frustrated because his goal was so close.

"Uh, I kind of need to pee too." Humphrey said, raising his paw.

"Gah! Fine! Hurry up!" Although Harrison was furious about this, the other wolves and birds did not seem to mind the delays. Humphrey hopped out of the log, and ran behind the jagged rock again.

"Wow Salty, that is a big one!" He laughed.

"I know, right?" Everyone else started laughing at the joke.

"Just go!" Barked Harrison.

Another few seconds, and Humphrey came out again from behind the rock and back to his seat in the front. "Anyone else need to use the rock?" Harrison asked.

Much to his annoyance, suddenly everyone else in the party had to go. It took about ten minutes for everyone to go. Salty actually had to go a second time.

"Why do you need to go more than I do?" Mooch asked Salty. "I've seen you. You don't eat as much as I do." Salty just shrugged.

"Okay, that's it right?" Harrison said in an annoyed tone. "No one has to go again?"

"I kind of have to go actually." Oscar squeaked up.

"Me too." Said Bruiser.

"You two can hold it!" Harrison roared loudly, silencing both of them. Recollecting himself, he turned back to the wolves. "Okay then, are we ready to go?"

"Oooo! Hehehehehehehehe!" a creepy, yet familiar giggle suddenly sounded on the trail, coming up to greet everyone. Up trotted a ragged, fatigued Pete, his crazy goggly eyes bouncing in their sockets.

The wolves and birds all exchanged worried glances as to what Pete's reaction to seeing them all would be. Was he here to rip them to pieces for escaping him before?

"Hey, Pete!" Oscar called to him. "Come to join the party?"

Pete responded with a louder, more hysterical cackle. He made his way over to Harrison, Duke and Oscar, and took a seat next to Oscar.

"I guess that's a yes." Oscar replied cooly.

The wolves and birds all exhaled and started giggling. They were relieved that Pete was not there to fight.

"Again," Harrison continued, angry from the second interruption, "Are we ready, now?"

Humphrey looked over his shoulder back at his friends. They all had a slight hint of nervousness on their faces, but in an instant, those faces became serious, determined. The faces of brave warriors about to charge into battle, confident of winning. Garth nodded to Humphrey, and the omegas and birds nodded as well. Salty gave Humphrey a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Alright. We're ready!" Humphrey said to Harrison, his voice also full of pride and confidence.

"Super!" He replied. "Bruiser!"

"On it." Bruiser gripped the sides of the bottom of the log again, behind Mooch, bracing himself to shove it off.

"On the count of three again."

---

"Okay, they're back in the log again!" Candu exclaimed, back down in the valley, looking through the binoculars. "A big cougar is backing them up... I think they're about to launch!" The other wolves fell silent at the last words.

---

"One..."

Humphrey grinned back at his friends. They could tell it was time, and they were ready. As long as they stayed together and worked together, they would make it through. They could feel it.

"Two..."

Humphrey looked ahead at the wide, beautiful range of Jasper Park, and prepared to look down. He anxiously braced himself for an explosion of wind against his face. Alright, Bring it on! he barked in his head.

"Thr-"

"HUMPHREY!" shouted a very angry voice.

Humphrey's eyes suddenly widened in horror. He could recognize that voice in any case.

"Oh, now what?" grumbled Harrison, turning around to face the source of the voice. He was surprised to see whose it was. The other cougars who looked also looked surprised.

It was Kate. She charged triumphantly up the trial until she had reached to top of the surface, and the whole party could see her clearly. Closely behind her followed Lilly. If she was tired, she did not show it. When they both reached the top of the trail, and saw the boys still on the edge, not launched, they slowed down to a trot. Both of them had furious expressions on their faces.

"Humphrey! Get over here right now!" Kate ordered.

"You too, Garth!" Lilly followed up.

Humphrey glanced at his friends. They all looked just as horrified as he. Salty shrugged. Shakey shook his head. Mooch did nothing. Marcel gestured with his wing to get out and go talk to Kate. Deep down, Humphrey knew there was no avoiding it. He had to face Kate now.

Taking a deep breath, he shrunk out of his seat, and slowly trotted over towards Kate. Garth knew there was no avoiding Lilly either, so he jumped out of his seat, and followed Humphrey up.

---

"Oh, they're dead." Said Candu. "Kate and Lilly just caught up to them."

"You mean they killed them already?" Claw asked, getting excited.

"Huh? No. They just caught up. They haven't done anything yet. They're just getting them out of the log now."

"Oh." Claw sounded disappointed.

---

"Hey, wait a minute," Harrison asked, suddenly suspicious, "how did you get passed Carnage?"

"Yeah, what did you do to my brother!" Bruiser demanded, getting angry.

"Oh, he's still alive." Kate replied. "We just buried him in the snow."

"Buried?" Oscar asked. "Boss, you want us to take these two out?" He glanced over at Pete and Bruiser, who were already looking bloodthirsty.

"No." Harrison replied. "Let's wait a second Oscar. I want to see how this plays out."

Kate was relieved that Harrison was willing to give them a second. She turned back to Humphrey, staring daggers at him as he finally strode up to her, Garth at his side.

He suddenly forced himself to smile. "Hey, Kate." He looked behind her to Lilly. "Hey Lilly." Of course, their expressions did not change.

"What, do you think, you're doing?" Kate hissed through clenched teeth.

"Going for a log ride...?" Humphrey replied, in an uncertain tone.

"On Pyramid Mountain? Humphrey, what is wrong with you? You could have gotten yourself and all your friends killed! What if you pissed of the cougars? The pack would have been in serious trouble! What are you thinking?"

"I just wanted to go and have some fun for my bachelor party?" Humprhey whimpered.

"And what about you Garth?" Lilly spoke up. "I thought you of all wolves would try to stop these guys, not join in!"

"Like Humphrey said." replied Garth, "I just thought it would be fun. But listen, we-"

"Absolutely not!" Kate barked. "This party is over! You're coming right home with me this minute!" She reached forward and grabbed Humphrey's left ear in her jaws. She started pulling him with her as she began to head back down the trail. "Ow, Ow!" Humphrey hissed. Her teeth cut slightly into his ear. Not so much as to make him bleed, but enough so that he could not escape her grasp.

"Come on, Garth." Lilly bit onto Garth's ear as well, and pulled him along. Of course he could have overpowered her, but he could not do that to his beloved mate, even if she was being a little bossy.

"Call over your friends, and say goodbye to Harrison." Kate hissed to Humphrey through her clenched teeth.

Sadley, Humphrey raised his paw and beckoned the gang over. "Come on guys." He called moodily. He was sad about this. While he was relieved that they would not have to try and cheat Death now, he was actually starting to look forward to this ride. Going on the ultimate thrill ride that would finalize his pre-marriage plan, and now he would never get to experience it.

The guys all grumbled and moaned as they started climbing out of the log.

"Stay where you are!" Harrison ordered fiercely. Almost immediately, the wolves and birds all sat down again. Harrison turned back to Humphrey, who was looking back while still being pulled away by Kate. Humphrey looked over at him, and Harrison made a cut-throat gesture with his paw. At first, Humphrey did not understand, then Harrison winked at him, and he remembered his advice from before.

Do not let your woman control you. Let her know that you are her equal, that she is not the boss of you. Humphrey knew what to do. He gripped the ground with his claws until he came to a stop. Before Kate could tug him again, he pushed her muzzle off his ear with his paw. He was rough. Almost violent.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Kate asked, surprised by his sudden change in attitude.

"Look Kate. This is my bachelor party, and I am going to do whatever I want, with my friends, alright? You don't have a say in it. I don't tell you how to spend your free time, do I?"

Everyone stared in silence and shock for a second. Lilly and Garth stopped also, although Lilly still gripped Garth's ear. Humphrey was the last person they all expected to have such a mood swing. It was not like him at all to become so angry and defensive so suddenly. Only Harrison looked pleased. Only he had expected Humphrey's reaction.

"Woah, Humphrey. Where did that come from?" Shakey asked from the log.

"Where do you get off talking to me like that?" Kate growled. She was not going to be spoken to like that. Not from an omega. Certainly not from her mate.

"Where do I get off? Where do you get off? Who do you think you are? My mom?"

As Kate and Humphrey continued to argue, Garth remembered something himself. He was the alpha here, and the man. Why was he letting someone as small and weak as Lilly have power over him? Even if she was starting to develop a spine in that shy omega body, it still was not enough to over power him.

He tore himself from Lilly's grip. "You know Lilly, Humphrey has a point." He said. "We are here, just us boys. I don't see how you have the right to interrupt our fun here. You should just go back to the valley and mind your own business!"

Lilly gasped. She could not believe Garth had spoken to her that way. Tears were already starting to fill in her eyes. Garth could see those tears, and suddenly, his mood went from defensive to ashamed. He did not mean to hurt Lilly. "Lilly, I-"

"Well, if you're going to hate me for doing my job and caring for you, then fine!" Lilly spat. "You're still not getting in that log!"

Garth got defensive again. "Listen, I never meant anything. I just wanted to go with Humphrey and his pals and have a good time tonight. Is that too much to ask?"

The two couples continued to argue and bicker and bark at each other. Everyone else just sat there and watched. "Should we say something?" asked Mooch, unsure.

"Oh, most definitely not." Said Marcel. "I once tried to intervene when my cousin, Bethany, and her mate were squabbling over a common marriage disagreement."

"And? How did that go?" asked Shakey.

"It didn't end well. Let's leave it at that." Marcel replied coldly.

"You're going to do this? Today? Right before our wedding?" Kate growled.

"I could have just gone on this ride with my friends, we could have been back at the bottom by now, and everything would be back on track, but no! You had to come up and crash everything!" Barked Humphrey

"Kate came up because she cares about you!" Lilly snapped.

"That's great, and now look, we're fine! Why are you still here?"

"Kate, is this what things are going to be like? Are you going to keep telling me what I can or can't do?"

"No! I just don't want anyone in the pack to get hurt! Especially you!"

Suddenly, Duke slithered up to the group. "If I may say-"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Everyone snarled at him. Duke covered his mouth with his tail, and shrunk away back to Harrison's side. The couples continued to argue.

Shakey felt like he was losing his mind. He could not sit there any longer, just watching his friends argue so bitterly with their mates, possibly be about to ruin some good marriages.

"I can't take it anymore!" I snapped. "Come on guys, let's boom them!"

"Right!" Salty and Mooch both shouted as they clambered off the log.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Harrison turned to them. "Get back in the log!"

Too late. Salty and Shakey each grabbed one of Mooch's front paws, and with great effort, flung him up in the air. The cougars all stared up in confusion, not knowing what to do or how to react, or what they were doing. The arguing couples were yelling so much, they were unaware of the danger they were in.

Mooch came crashing down on all four of them. No one was hurt, badly, and that certainly interrupted them, broke up the fray. Everyone got up, moaning and dizzy. Before the bickering could start again, Shakey and Salty walked up.

"Okay guys, let's all cut it out. Take a chill pill." Salty said.

"Yeah." Shakey added. "You guys are acting like animals!"

There was a moment of awkward silence. "Okay, bad choice of words." Shakey stuttered. He took a breath, composed himself, and then spoke calmly. "Look Kate. I can see where you're coming from. You and Lilly are just trying to stop us all from getting ourselves killed, right?"

"Yeah."

"And that's totally understandable. You love all of us (Humphrey and Garth the most of course), and just don't want us to get hurt. Am I right?"

"Yeah." Kate repeated, eager to hear what Shakey would say next. "Go on."

"Now I'll admit, this whole thing was a very stupid idea that Humphrey had. But the thing is, Humphrey is getting married. He's going to be the first one of the four of us to do that. That's a big thing, you know? Thing in our gang here could be different after that. So Humphrey just wanted to do something memorable that would reflect all the fun times we've all had together."

"That's exactly what it is." Humphrey added.

"So Kate, is there anything else you want to say?"

Kate looked down for a second and sighed. All of her anger and Alpha pride suddenly washed away like a wave on the beach, and she let out her inner feelings. She finally raised her head to meet Humphrey's eyes. "Humphrey, you know I love you, right? You know that I don't ever want anything to happen to you, right? I don't know what I would do without you. I'd be lost without you. You know that right?"

"Of course Kate." Humphrey replied. "You know I love you too, right? With all my heart?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely. YOu've made that clear more than anything by now." she giggled a little. "And also, while it is my responsibility to keep everyone in the pack safe, I really care about your friends too. And I don't want them to get hurt either."

"Aww, thanks Kate." Mooch squeaked.

"Of course, Mooch." Kate smiled at him, then turned back to Humphrey. "Now, I get it, you just want to go out and have some fun with your friends. This is a big step and change in your life. In both our lives. And you want to enjoy some time with your friends before that change happens." And then her expression changed. A more worried look appeared on her face. "But still? You're going to slide down Pyramid Mountain? That's insane. You could all get seriously hurt. You could die on that ride!" She was getting hysterical, so she took a breath to calm herself down. "Like I said, I love you. And it's because I love you that I can't let you go through with this."

She had spoken. Everyone seemed to be moved by her words. Shakey was already crying. "That... Was so... beautiful." he managed to say through his tears. Mooch and Salty were sniffling as well. Even Oscar was sniffling. "Start crying and I'll gorge your eyes out!" Harrison hissed to him. Oscar, scrambled and composed himself again. Finally, Shakey got a hold of himself. "Okay Humphrey. Now what do you have to say to Kate?"

Humphrey thought for a second. "Uh, well, you are right. I did just want to have some fun with the guys here. See, I don't know what the future will bring me after we're married. I'm worried I might not have much more free time to be with the guys after tomorrow. I know I'll have a lot more responsibilities and duties toward the pack. In the end, I'm worried those responsibilities will turn me into a new wolf. Without time for fun, games, and friends, I'm afraid that I won't be Humphrey, the fun-loving omega anymore. That wolf with start to disappear."

"Humphrey, you're not going to disappear." Kate said comfortingly with a smile. "A couple more duties won't change who you are. You'll always be the fun-loving omega that I fell in love with. Because that's who you are, and nothing can ever change that." She leaned over and gave him a soft lick on the side of his muzzle.

"Thanks Kate." Humphrey smiled at her. He could tell she meant every word she said. This was a promise she was making. A promise that he would not change.

"And don't worry about being overloaded with responsibilities." she continued. "I've seen you in action. You're a really responsible guy. And remember, we're about to be married. You know what that means? It means everything we do, whatever problem we have, we're in it together. I'll always be there for you, whenever you need me. No matter what."

"Yeah." said Garth. "And she's not the only one. Like we've been telling you all night last night. We'll always be around to help to. We're your friends Humphrey, through thick and thin. Am I right?"

The omegas, as well as the birds over from the log, all cheered and nodded in agreement. "No matter what the future holds for us, we stick together! Friends for life!" said Salty.

"If you ever need help with anything, Humphrey," added Shakey, "We'll be there for you. Just like we've always been there for you. Like we've always done for each other."

"Yeah." Added Mooch.

"You have all of us, whenever you need someone, we'll be there Humphrey." said Lilly.

Humphrey looked around him. He looked into the faces of all of his friends, and at his beautiful, soon-to-be mate. All smiling, honest faces. They all loved him, they definitly would always be there for him when he needed them. And suddenly, Humphrey realized how lucky he was to have so many friends who adored him.

"Thanks guys." Humphrey said with a smile. "You don't know how much all of this means to me." and then he shed a slight tear.

"Well now." Harrison's harsh voice suddenly said, completely interrupting the moment. He stood up and walked over toward the gang. "I hate to interrupt the moment, Humphrey, but I do believe you and your friends were about to go for a ride."

Humphrey took another look at his friends. They all looked at him, waiting for his response. It was his call. "You know what Harry?" Humphrey said at last, "I'm not sure I want to do this anymore."

"What?" Exclaimed Salty. Everyone else was shocked.

"I mean, I don't really need to go through with this ride to prove that I have good friends. I know I have good ones right here. And I don't want to loose any of them. So I don't really know."

Harrison suddenly became furious. He leaped into the crowd, and grabbed Humphrey around the collar, gripping his fur tightly. Kate and the boys at first got ready to pounce to Humphrey's defense, but his glare, which said that he would hurt Humphrey if any of them moved, silenced them.

"Now listen close you pathetic pup!" Harrison snarled to Humphrey. "When you first came up here, I could have had you killed in a second, any excruciating way I wanted. But no! I decided to be nice, and let you have some fun, and let you go out with a bang! I just spent the whole morning helping you and your filthy friends get ready for this! You're worried now about them getting hurt? Too bad! You should have thought of that before you entered my territory! Now get your little wolf ass in that log right now, or so help me, I'll throw you off the slope right now!"

Humphrey gulped. Harrison's furious, hate-filled eyes pierced deep into his soul. "Okay, okay." He stammered. "Can you just give me another minute to talk it out with everyone? Please?"

Harrison took another deep breath, and tightened his grip on Humphrey. "You're driving my patience to the breaking point, boy!" He hissed. "You have one minute starting now." He dropped Humphrey, and he landed with a thud. And then he trotted back over to Oscar and Duke.

"You know, even if Harry wasn't forcing us through," Shakey said, "It would be a shame to hike all the way up here just to walk down again."

"I hear that." Mooch agreed.

"Okay then, I guess the ride's still on!" Humphrey cheered. The other boys laughed.

"Wait Humphrey," said Kate. "Me and Lilly are coming with you."

Everyone froze for a second. That was the last suggestion they thought Kate was going to say.

"Is this just because you don't want to walk down either? Or because of Harry?" Humphrey asked.

"No, its not just those things." Kate replied. "Remember what I said a minute ago? That when we're married, we're in everything together? Well, that includes this. I said I don't want to see you get hurt, and I want to protect you from anything that might. I also said I'm not just going to let you go through with this. So I'm going with you to help you. And if you die, I die."

"Another moving speech, Kate." Oscar chuckled.

Humphrey turned to the guys. They all shrugged, showing they did not care. "Okay Kate." Humphrey smiled "Let's get going then. The more the merrier!"

"Oh, and Shakey," Kate said, beckoning him closer.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. Thanks for helping us work this out. Humphrey's lucky to have you for a friend."

"Hey, we helped too!" Salty called over.

"No problem." Shakey replied. "Like I said, we'll always be there for Humphrey when he needs us. And now, we'll be there for you too!" Kate smiled back at him. "Hey, by the way, does Janice know I'm up here?"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Kate replied. Then she raised her paw and smacked him right across the muzzle.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Sorry, Janice said to give that to you."

Garth turned back to Lilly for a second. "Lilly, are you sure you want to do this with us? Because you don't have to."

Lilly just looked up at her mate for a second. "Garth, you know I love you more than anyone else could, right? I just don't want to lose you either." She started crying, clearly thinking about what it would be like to lose her man. She was also somewhat hurt from what he had said to her earlier. Garth could see this. He could tell that he hurt her. He was ashamed for it.

"Lilly, I love you. I would never do anything that might hurt you. You know that, right?"

"I just can't stand the thought of losing you, Garth." Lilly leaped at Garth, and pressed herself against his warm chest. He hugged her back, his fur soaking up her tears.

"It's okay, It's okay." He whispered soothingly to her. After another minute, she seemed to have calmed down, and she pulled back to face him again.

"It's like Kate said. Strong mates need to stand by each other in hard times like this. And that is what I'm going to do now with you."

"Lilly, you don't have to come on this ride with me to prove you're strong, if that's what you're trying to do."

"I know." Her reply was calm, composed, with a smile.

"And besides, I'll protect you from anything out there."

"I know you will."

"ARE WE DONE WITH THE FREAKIN' SOAP OPERA YET?" Oscar screamed. "Come on! I want to see some action!"

"Yes, I've given you more than enough time to talk." Harrison added angrily. "All of you, in the log, now!"

All the wolves scrambled to get into the log again. This time, Kate took the front seat. When it was just the guys, typically, Humphrey took the front, but Kate and Humphrey had always done log sledding together with Kate in the front, right in front of Humphrey, cuddled up against his chest. Behind her was Humphrey, of course. Then was Salty, then Shakey, then Garth, then Lilly, who held tight to Garth's left foreleg in both of hers, then Marcel and Paddy, and Mooch at the end.

Suddenly, Lilly noticed something she had not before. "Hey, wait a second. How did Pete get up here before us?"

"Yeah, we were ahead of him last time we saw him." Kate added.

"Another one of the many mysteries about Pete." Oscar answered apathetically. Pete giggled to himself, as though enjoying the uncertainty of his peers.

"Okay," Harrison breathed, he was starting to look insane with anticipation from waiting for so long. "Bruiser, on the count of three, again."

Bruiser, who was staring off into space, snapped back to reality. "Huh? What? Oh, right! The log!" spat into this paws again, rubbed them together, and gripped the sides of the log again. "Ready when you are, boss!"

"One, two..."

"No, wait!" Lilly cried quick and raised her paw.

"WHAT!" Harrison shouted.

"I kind of need to pee."

Harrison's jaw dropped. "You gotta be kidding me." Oscar said. The then pushed close Harrison's jaw for him. "Go behind the rock over there." Oscar pointed back at the rock that the boys had gone behind earlier.

Lilly hoped off the log, and walked back to the rock. "Ewww! What's with all this pee and turd here?"

"Sorry, those are all us." Salty called over.

"JUST GO!" Harrison bellowed.

Lilly went with ease after that. After her, however, Kate suddenly had to go, and then Salty had to go a third time, and Mooch a second time. It all took about another ten minutes.

At last, everyone had their bladders empty, and were all sitting in their seats in the log comfortably.

"Hey, Humphrey, what's with the blanket?" Kate suddenly asked Humphrey. She suddenly noticed the heavy blanket covering the log that they were sitting on.

"This?" Humphrey replied. "Oh, you'll see. It's for a little plan we have."

"Yeah. It's our ace in the hole." Salty added.

"Where did you even get a blanket?" Kate asked.

"Oh, um, we'll explain it later." Humphrey stuttered a reply. Now was definitely not a good time to tell Kate about their raid in the hunters' camp. Kate actually could figure it out herself, but she herself knew now was not the time for talking about that.

---

"Well, they're all getting back in the log." Candu reported. "Kate and Lilly aren't stopping it. Sorry Claw. You guys forfeit."

"Dang!" Claw spat. Scar grunted with disappointment.

"So what's happening now?" Eve asked.

"It looks like Kate and Lilly are climbing into the log with them. They're going on for the ride too!"

"What? Are you sure?" Winston demanded

"I'm sure sir. Look for yourself" Candu handed over the binoculars to Winston. He looked through at the top and saw, to his surprise, that all the wolves, even Kate and Lilly were now in the log."

"Is it too late to make a bet on Kate and Lilly?" asked one wolf from the crowd.

"Yes, it is." Winston snapped, signaling that wolf to sit down again.

"Sounds like they're about to take off!" Milo squeaked giddily.

---

"Okay now," Harrison stuttered, obviously holding in a lot of anger and anticipation that has been building up. He was clearly more eager than ever to see these wolves die. "So everyone has used the rock a fair number of times, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"And everyone has had something to eat quick?"

Everyone nodded. Kate and Lilly have not eaten since dinner last night (which they have had before the moonlight howl), but neither of them were hungry now.

"And are we expecting anyone else to join us?"

Everyone one shook their heads.

"Okay then! I think we're finally ready! Bruiser! Forget the countdown, just shove 'em off!"

Bruiser gripped the log, and prepared to shove.

"Wait! One last thing!" Humphrey shouted.

"GRRR! WHAT NOW!" Harrison growled

"I have one more thing to say."

"Say it!"

Humphrey looked back at his friends, smiled, then turned back to Harrison, and spoke. "Harry, you're by far the ugliest, smelliest, and nastiest cat I have ever seen in my life!"

The mountain top roared with laughter. Kate laughed hysterically of course. Salty high-fived Humphrey, Shakey Garth, and Lilly all nearly had to lean on each other. Marcel and Paddy leaned on each other, and Mooch nearly feel off the back of the log.

Even the cougars were cracking up. Pete was rolling on the ground, laughing his head off and holding his stomach. Oscar put his arm around Bruiser to hold himself up. Even Duke could not contain his laughter. The only person on the top who was not laughing was Harrison.

"GRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!" Harrison lost his mind. He went completely berserk. He started jumping around, running around in circles, rolling on the floor, clawing at the open air and at the rocks. He had not been so humiliated in a very long time.

"You got that Paddy?" Humphrey said to Paddy.

"Ah, yes." Paddy replied, finally starting to calm down. He took out the list and his charcoal pencil again. "The last thing on the list: 'Tick off Harrison'. Check!"

At last, Harrison pulled himself together, though he was still clearly furious. "Bruiser! Push them off! Now!" Bruiser was still laughing too hard to pay attention.

"GA! I'll do it myself!" Harrison ran up behind the log, and grabbed the end just behind Mooch, and pushed with all of his strength. He was not as strong as Bruiser, so he could not shove them off so quickly, but the old cougar certainly had some muscle in him. Everyone suddenly stopped laughing as they noticed the log being pushed. It was quickly getting closer and closer to the edge. Everyone braced themselves for the plummet.

"Oh, here they go!" Milo shouted back down in the valley, looking through the binoculars. Suddenly, the crowd grew deathly silent.

Alright, this is it. Humphrey thought to himself. Here we go. No matter what happens, we're all in this together! He gripped the sides of the log, felt Kate's fur against his chest, Salty's against his back, and readied himself.

Suddenly, the tip of the log was pushed over the edge, and was pulled down by gravity. Everyone in the log screamed as they shot straight downward.

Author's Note: I am really sorry for such a long update. After I posted the last chapter, first I took a little break to catch up with my school work, then I got grounded, then we went on a family vacation for spring break, then I briefly got grounded again, and the day I posted this was the day I took my first SAT. It's just been really hectic in my life. I'm glad I was finally able to get this in though. I'm really sorry to keep everyone waiting. I hope I made it worth your wait here with this.

And I'm sorry this chapter turned out so long again. This will definitely be the last chapter that's longer than 10,000 words, I'm pretty sure. Though it may be another while before the next chapter comes up. There's a ton of other stories I want and promised to read, review, and help out on.

I also want to say I had a really fun time writing this story for the most part. You ever try writing along while listening to music that sets the tone of the scene you are creating? Or maybe watching a video that has some sort of connection or resemblance to your scene? It really is fun and helps a little. A good feeling of isolation helps too.

Another word about this story: When I first started this story, I had done no research on cougars, and thought they were just the same as lions, and grouped together like them. But then I did a bit more research on them, and found out that I was WAY off. Cougars really are loners, and stick to themselves as much as possible, only mate for a few hours than leave each other, and are very aggressive towards anyone, even other cougars. So if you're doing a research project on cougars, don't use my story as a source. Also, by the time I realized this, my story was well on its way through, and it was pretty much too late to change anything. And remember, it's fanfiction, so it's okay if not all the facts are accurate, right? Let's just say that Harrison has rigged up the nature on Pyramid Mountain and turned it into his own empire or something.

Again, big thank you to all of my readers, supporters, reviewers, and subscribers for appreciating my work, and for sticking with me after all this time. I hope everyone was able to enjoy this next chapter, and that there is much anticipation for the next. Thank You.