Second Thoughts
"Garth. . .Hello? Garth, are you listening to me? Garth!"
"Sorry what was that?" Garth asked as he shifted his gaze back to Kate. She glared back menacingly at him. The two wolves were sitting in the shade of a tall oak tree trying to escape the heat of the day.
"That's the fifth time today you've drifted off like that." Kate said her glare melting away to a look of concern. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I am." he lied.
"You better not be lying to me, you know what happens when you lie to me." she said with a smile playfully nipping Garth's ear. The distant alpha let out small laugh. The truth was Garth had been having nightmares ever since they left Jasper. Vivid images of Lilly crying alone at the altar waiting for him to come filled his head when he closed his eyes. At first he ignored them, pushed then to the back of mind so to say but now, now they were spilling over into his waking hours. It was diving him insane. Seeing ghostly apparitions of Lilly and hearing her heart broken wails float across the breeze freaked him right out. Ever since that fateful night Garth and Kate had never stayed in one place too long. One week Glacier Park and other in Banff and now they were living just outside of Golden B.C in a cave that over looked the small town nestled in the mountains. Garth didn't even know why he came this far, every step he took away from Jasper the guilt of his actions grew tenfold and weighed him down even more. He had been thinking of this for awhile now, thinking of how he could fix this. Garth didn't want to live the rest of his life this way. Suddenly Kate's voice brought him back to reality.
"Would you like me to do the hunting tonight Hun?" Kate asked as she cuddled next to Garth.
"Uh, no. I can do it, In fact I'll go right now." Garth replied quickly as he stood.
"Oh, okay they then. See you in a bit love ya." Kate said with a smile.
"Yeah. . .I ah. . L-Love you too." Garth said shakily before dashing off into the tree's leaving Kate with a puzzled look on her face.
Garth let his muscles relax as he stalked through the thick walls of trees. This one place in the world he could actually be at peace. His breathing slowed so as not give away his presence to any prey. Closing his eyes he let the sounds and smells of the forest take over for his vision. He could smell elk and hear the breaking of twigs made by a small animal scurrying through the undergrowth. Angling his body in the direction of the elks scent Garth could see it's head sticking above the bushes that he lay concealed behind.
"You've got this, just go for the neck." Garth whispered under his breath. He readied himself to strike waiting for the beast to lower it's head. As soon as the elks head disappeared from view Garth jumped. Bursting through the bushes Garth flew through the air jaws open wide. He was completely focused on the kill until something diverted his attention. It was Lilly, or what appeared to be Lilly running past at the corners of his vision. Garth wasn't exactly sure what it was but that was enough to break his concentration. He slammed into the elk's antlers and completely missed his target. Garth tumbled to the ground and skidded to a halt in the middle of the clearing. The elk having realized it was being attacked, took off at a run into the trees. Cursing under his breath Garth stood and began to hobble back to the den. As he walked the Alpha thought about how to make this stop, for good. He figured that the bet way to mend what was broken was to get back to Jasper and give Lilly closure. It may not be much but it was all he had to work with. When he finally arrived back at their makeshift den Garth told Kate his plan.
"Why would you want to go back, aren't you happy?" Kate asked.
"I can't be happy this way, it's to much of a burden." Garth replied sullenly.
"You still love her don't you?" Kate pressed, raising her voice. "I thought you loved me!"
Garth wasn't sure of what to say, he didn't even know if he was still in love with Lilly or not.
"Look I don't have all the answers right now, but I know that I have to fix things with Lilly." he said backing away from Kate. "So either you come or stay, the choice is yours."