Chapter Four(4)-Words to be Spoken, Mistakes to be Made
Author's Note: Hello again people. I am TRULY sorry for the unnecessarily long wait. I've only been slightly busy. Other than that, it's just been plain laziness. So, my apologies once again. With that out of the way, this is chapter four of The Tradition. Kate will return from her scouting, and will be confronted by her father about yesterday's conflict. Also, Humphrey will talk to Salty, Shakey, and Mooch about his encounter with Garth. This chapter will be longer than most of the other ones, due to a request by a reader. Hopefully, it won't be garbage. XD Please attempt to enjoy this installment of: 'The Tradition.'
Jasper Park, Canada-Western Territory of the Unified Packs:Kate, Winston, Humphrey, and Several Others-11:47:02 Hours(11:47 A.M.)
Kate P.o.V.
I was slowly heading back home from my scout with some Eastern wolves. We hadn't encountered a single thing. 'Well that was uneventful. Oh well, at least there's nothing to clean up. Plus, I get to see Humphrey quicker!' With that last thought in my mind, I picked up the pace.
After what I would guess to be three minutes, the Head Alphas' den, a.k.a. my future den was in sight. 'I wonder if he stayed there.' Then I remembered that it was Humphrey I was talking about. He didn't like to stay in any one spot for too long. However, my paws were already carrying me to the entrance. I hadn't even noticed that I had walked up the slope.
By the time I told my legs to turn around, my dad was already looking at me. Something was different though. He had a look of anger on his face. 'Oh no...' I began to walk over to him but he put up a paw and stopped me. He spoke. "Kate, don't come any closer. You have five seconds to either sit down in a corner or start walking away." I tilted my head, and he noticed my confusion. He answered it without actually looking at my expression. "I...need to talk. Not you...just me."
Normal P.o.V.
Kate became somewhat nervous and frightened of her father's new attitude. However, she complied to his request and sat down in the corner closest to Winston. He turned and faced her while still standing up, and spoke calmly. "About what happened yesterday, I am sorry for what I did." He began to slowly step closer to her.
This action made her more nervous, but she still heard his words. Following orders though, she chose to not reply. He stopped just a foot away from her and sat down. "However, that does not excuse how you reacted. You are the finest Alpha your mother and I have ever trained. More importantly, you are my daughter. So you will never command me to do anything ever again unless it is to save us! Is that clear?!"
Kate winced in fear at her father's words, and could only nod her head rapidly. Her father however did not stop. "You will also respect all of the ranks above you, including those originally of another pack! If you ever step out of line again while in my presence, I will not hesitate to punish you!" She backed up even more into the corner, stricken with fear. She had only seen Winston this angry once, and she hadn't liked it.
He suddenly moved closer and yelled, "Stop whining! You don't deserve to be an Alpha if you can't even handle me shouting at you! You're weak!" With those words, he raised his paw into the air and brought it across her face, leaving four bleeding claw marks. After the hit, Kate fell to the den floor crying. All she had originally came here to do was look for her mate. Now this was happening.
Winston, after taking a moment to settle down, had realized the mistake he just made. 'Wh-what have...what have I done?' He looked to his paws, then up to his daughter. He repeated this motion several times before trying to reach out to her. "Kate...I-I'm sor-" She suddenly tackled him upon instinct of self-defense. Without warning she began to claw mercilessly at her father, yelling obscenities all the while.
All of this commotion was heard from outside of the den of course. Three wolves happened to be in the area at the time, two Western Deltas and one Eastern Alpha. They rushed up the slope and entered the den, unaware that four pairs of eyes were watching everything.
Five Minutes Earlier-'Rabbit Poo' Mountain: Humphrey, Salty, Shakey, and Mooch
Humphrey P.o.V.
'Oh well. At least I won't see his face until tomorrow.' I was still a little pissed off from my previous confrontation with Garth. He had made me even angrier than Winston made Kate yesterday. At least she didn't want to kill him. Whatever though. By now I was already on my way to my buddies. I wasn't gonna let that interfere with my daily schedule, which always included fun.
As I began to approach one of our usual spots, I already noticed that they had a log set up. And what do you know, it was just right for once. 'Maybe we won't hit that rock today...' I laughed a little at the thought of that. We always seemed to hit some kind of obstruction during our run.
Before I could continue to remember more of our failed attempts to make it down a slope, my thoughts were interrupted by my buddy Salty.
Normal P.o.V.
Salty turned around and saw Humphrey approaching them. He smiled and greeted his friend. "Hey Humphrey. How are you?" At this, Shakey and Mooch turned as well and waited for his response. The wolf that was previously addressed smiled back and responded. "Eh, I'm here. You guys?" They all looked at each other to confirm the same feeling.
Salty spoke for them again. "We're all doin' great. If you don't mind me asking, what was that meeting about yesterday?" Humphrey blanked out for a second before he answered his friend. "Oh, that. Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it. You guys'll know soon enough." They all tilted their heads a bit, but decided to not further question.
Shakey shrugged his shoulders and spoke this time. "Well, don't worry about it. It's our fun time, buddy. No stress is allowed here." Humphrey chuckled before nodding his head. "True, true. So, the usual thing to start this off?" They all looked at each other again before nodding.
Humphrey walked over to the log and prepared to sit in the front, but stopped when he heard a fake cough from behind him. He turned around to find his friends staring at him. "What?" Mooch answered this time. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He sat down next to the log to think for a second. Then suddenly, it hit him.
"Prayer..." They all nodded. He then chuckled before walking back to the three again and sitting down. They formed a small circle, as Salty began to speak. "Oh heavenly wolf god of awesomeness, please let us enjoy this activity. Let us have fun and remain safe enough to return to the top of this hill another day. Also, please let our dear friend Humphrey feel better about whatever troubles occupy his thoughts. Thank you for guiding us, for we will continue to be cool. Amen."
They all repeated Salty's final word and broke the circle. "Now can we please start this?!" asked Humphrey impatiently. They all laughed before running over to the 'sled' and taking their positions, Humphrey being in front as usual. After another few seconds of laughter, Humphrey started their ride by kicking them forward.
They went to the edge of the hill before the sled stopped. This confused Humphrey. "Hmm, that's unusual. We must've put on a few p-oh!" The log suddenly tilted forward a bit before sending them on their way down the mountain.
One of the best things about log sledding was that no snow was required. Sure, it's safer with snow, but who cares about safety? ;) They were gaining momentum with each passing meter, slowly nearing the steepest part of the mountain which would bring them to top speed. All four of the wolves had their paws in the air, just like they used to always do.
After another moment of thrill, their speed increased even more. Humphrey taking notice of this, snapped everyone back to reality. "Okay guys, this is the steep part! No paws in the air for this, we need to control the log! Mooch, keep an eye out for approaching obstacles! Salty and Shakey, help me steer!" They all replied. "Got it!"
The Omega leader still had a smile of excitement on his face. Even though this was one of the most dangerous things to do, it was still fun. They continued to go down the slope, barely navigating between trees and rocks. As they neared the bottom, Mooch noticed the boulder that got them every time. "Humphrey..." The addressed looked forward and yelled, "Veer left!" They all shifted their weight to the left side of the sled.
For the first time ever, the log just barely went by the big boulder. All four of them laughed now, but it slowly subsided as they continued to go down the final one hundred seventy-five feet. But this was sort of scary, for they had never made it past the boulder. They did not know what to expect.
As soon as Humphrey turned his head around to congratulate his buddies on their success, that's when it happened. The log impacted the last boulder just twenty feet from the bottom. Due to it's speed, the log cracked partially before barrel-rolling forty feet forward into a line of bushes. The four wolves had fallen out obviously, and were all lying down at separate spots on the ground.
They all groaned in slight pain and annoyance. Shakey however cheered them up a bit after gaining their senses. "Aw come on guys. At least we finally made it past that one boulder. We didn't expect that other one to be there." Salty and Mooch nodded, while Humphrey once again said, "True..."
All of a sudden, yells were heard coming from a certain direction. "What could be happening?" questioned Shakey. But Humphrey felt fear, for he could only guess where and whom it was. And he didn't like what his gut was telling him. They all listened intently for any more details.
There was then the sudden shouting of commands. It was faint, but still comprehensible. "Hey! Get on...remove your paws from...on the ground, now!" 'Uh-oh,' thought Humphrey. Whenever those commands were heard, someone was being apprehended.
The four friends poked their heads through the bushes now, finally pinpointing the direction. The origin of all the commotion surprised all of them. It was coming straight from the head Alphas' den. After an awkward moment of total silence, they noticed a figure being dragged out by two wolves, both Deltas.
What surprised them even more was who they were dragging. The wolf was putting up a struggle, but was obviously at a loss. After getting a closer examination of the wolf, they noticed that they were female. Not only that, but that the wolf was none other than Kate.
Humphrey's blood ran cold, completely surprised. There was nothing he could say, or even feel. His mind was gone right now, but his eyes weren't. All he saw after Kate was dragged away were the two wolves that stepped out of the den. They were both Alphas obviously, but one of them wasn't just any Alpha. It was Winston, all clawed and scratched. He had an expression of pure anger on his face as the Eastern Alpha walked away after the Deltas. Whatever had happened, was obviously bad.
A/N: Holy crap! What just happened? Winston hurt Kate, then she goes yeti on him. Now she's been arrested, and Humphrey saw her capture. I wonder how this will all pan out. Thank you guys again for your continued support. I will attempt to upload quicker next time. I just wanted to make this a little longer without it being total garbage. But, thanks again. Until next time. -Whiskey