Chapter 3 - A new beginning

As the sun rose over the Canadian mountains light filled the valley, awakening all plant and wildlife to the warm sun's rays. As the sun rose higher, light started to fill the cave in which inhabited a small lonely wolf, peacefully sleeping. The rays of sun shone upon Humphrey causing him to slowly wake from his slumber. The wolf opened his eyes only to squint at the sight of the sun in which he let out a small groan.

"Mehhhhhhhh" moaned Humphrey, "five more minutes please"

Humphrey looked around remembering where he lay to rest for the night and looked out towards the pond outside the den, which the sun's rays reflected off creating a beautiful sight to see. The sun's rays glowed a bright yellow which reminded Humphrey of Kate's beautiful fur and mane. He sat there at the entrance of the cave looking out towards the pond as his eyes started to well with tears in thought of his only love leaving him for another.

Humphrey wiped his eyes trying to shrug off the thought and headed towards the pond to quench his thirst. He leaned down and started to drink the water replenishing his strength and thirst.

"Ohhhhhhhhh" Humphrey moaned in satisfaction, "that's so nice"

After Humphrey decided to shove his entire head under the water to gulp down as much as he could. As he lifted his head back to the surface he shook it free from the cold water and gasped at the temperature.

"Gahhhhhhhh, that's so cold, and I've got brain freeze" squirmed Humphrey, "that was such a bad idea". Humphrey then tilted his head to the side and started to relieve his ear of all the water which had entered during his head dunking.

Humphrey shook off for one last time before beginning to head north once more, up into the cold reaches of Alaska. He sniffed around to get his sense of bearings, and then started to walk off towards the tree line which echoed with wildlife.

"Ok today's plan. Step 1: go north" said Humphrey, "well sounds easy enough, just try not to get lost Humphrey… ha who am I kidding, I'm already lost" a small chuckle emerged from the lone omega which gave him some satisfaction as he had been depressed since he left. He carried on walking further into the unknown forestry which was now his path towards a new life.

"Step 2: find food, again" said Humphrey, "well that one's an obvious one, but shall I go for berries or another kill". Humphrey debated in his head whilst walking whether he should try to learn to hunt again or whether he should just keep it simple and pick some berries off a bush.

"If I went for berries it would be much easier, I could spend more time walking and conserve some energy" Humphrey thought, "however, if I hunt something, its practice for the future, and meat tastes so much better"

With Humphreys mind made up he decided to try to hunt something again for some tasty meat. "Besides, I did it yesterday and was successful so I'm basically a pro already" Humphrey chuckled giving himself some self-motivation.

As Humphrey trotted on, the sun was high in the sky making it mid-day and Humphreys stomach began to rumble, in which Humphrey decided it was time to get something to eat.

"Ok where to go what to do" mentioned Humphrey, "there's nothing really here"

Humphrey looked around whilst walking to cover as much ground as he could constantly eyeing his surroundings in hopes of catching anything which moved. As he silently walked through the forestry, keeping as quiet as he can, Humphrey came across a full sized white rabbit munching on the grass.

"Dinner is served" Humphrey said whilst earning a small grin, being confident that he will catch the rabbit.

Humphrey crouched down in the grass with his belly almost touching the floor to be as concealed as he could, his shoulders were retracted and getting ready to pounce. Humphrey started to move closer to the rabbit, slowly and carefully reducing the distance between him and his prey. Humphrey could smell the rabbit and desire took over as he pounced out of the long grass in hopes of catching the rabbit. He sprang off his back legs, and reaching forward with his front paws to grab his prey.

However the rabbit's reactions were faster than Humphrey and as he was in the air, the rabbit noticed his presence and managed to dart away into its burrow near a tree, leaving Humphrey to fall on the floor. Humphrey landed with a huge thud onto the dirty floor and rolled over his head before hitting a rock, leaving him very mortified.

"Ouch" said Humphrey, "that didn't work, nor did it go to plan"

Humphrey lowered his head and walked away feeling ashamed of himself; his shoulders were slouched and were dragging his paws across the ground.

"Well I guess it's berries for me then" said Humphrey as he walked up to a berry bush. He started to pick away at the berries eating them one by one, after eating about half the bush Humphrey heard a small scattering and steps in the trees. He tilted his head to the right and saw some squirrels looking down at him.

"It's ok, I'll leave some for you guys" said Humphrey, as he left the bush, still intact with berries so the squirrels could eat too. Humphrey walked on still feeling down about his unsuccessful hunt.

"Huh I guess this is what Kate felt like at her first hunt back from alpha school" said Humphrey, "maybe it is something to feel ashamed of"

Humphrey trotted forward reaching the bottom of a mountain. The wolf gasped in pure sight of the ascent he had to climb in fear it would take him days.

"Ohhhhhhhhh common" moaned Humphrey, "first a failed hunt, and next thing a mountain to climb, how much do you think I can do" Humphrey said talking to himself. He looked around and sniffed to get familiar with his surroundings, and in doing so spotted a small trench under a tree in which he could sleep in.

"No, not going to happen" said Humphrey as he turned and walked towards the trench, "I'm going to sleep here for the night, rest and recover, then scale that thing tomorrow, yes good plan Humphrey, you're on your way to becoming an alpha". Doing so Humphrey flexed and pretended to stand on podium earning some laughter which has long been awaited for.

Humphrey climbed into the trench which was about a meter into the ground and was under the thick tree roots so provided a decent shelter, so long as it didn't rain. Humphrey let out a yawn and curled himself up into a small ball, bringing his tail to cover his face to preserve warmth, and closed his eyes, falling asleep, before mumbling.

"Tomorrows a new day"

Kate was running at full speed towards the train track, her alpha legs carried her without fault and the adrenaline she possessed giving her an extra boost. She flew through the forest, passing all other wolves without even acknowledging them, determined to find Humphrey. As she reached the train track she came to a complete halt skidding across the floor. Out of breath and panting Kate looked around to find marcel and paddy, so she could ask them when the next train comes, however they were nowhere to be found.

After looking around and failing to find the two birds Kate's stubborn alpha instincts kicked in.

"No time" she thought and immediately began running alongside the train track in the direction Humphrey had gone. "Nothings gonna stop me from finding you Humphrey, even if I have to run all the way myself"

Kate found a slight scent of Humphrey's whilst scanning the area where she ran so she knew she was on the right path, heading in the right direction. As Kate was running she was still high on the adrenaline coursing through her veins as she had no desire to stop and was fully determined to find Humphrey.

As the sun started to set, the valley began to get darker and unfortunately for Kate her adrenaline began to wear off and she started to slow down and tire.

"No… must… find… Humphrey…" Kate said between gasps for air.

Right on Que she heard to high pitched whistle of a train and looked back to see the locomotive powering down the track. Kate moved to the side as the train pulled up alongside her and she scanned each carriage looking for an open door. She slowed down till she reached the very last cart which had the only open door. Kate seized the opportunity and launched herself into the open carriage, landing inside.

Kate began to pant and took deep breaths recovering from the hard run.

"Maybe fate wants me to find you after all Humphrey" she though. Kate sat down at the edge of the carriage exhausted, resting and trying to regain some strength. Kate still had Humphrey's scent so she knew she was still going in the right direction and that he hadn't detoured or jumped off just yet.

Kate's eyelids began to drop as she began to fall asleep; however she immediately threw her head up and shook it to stay awake. "You can't go to sleep Kate" she thought to herself, "I have to keep with Humphrey's scent, I can't miss where he got off"

However Kate began to slump against the wall and slowly drifted off to sleep.