Chapter 13 : Unexpected 'Visitor'

A few weeks later…

The moon sets for the rising sun to take its place of the day, its powerful sunlight perishes the darkness on the green land and brings life to nature. It shone on the face of a golden female wolf and awakened her from her slumber. She scrolled up her eyelids, revealing the charming golden eyes and she raised her head sleepily to examine her surroundings. Humphrey was lying like a sleeping pig and it made her giggle, and her coat, like every morning, is fully soaked with sweat which made her felt uncomfortable. She got up and shook off some of the sweat on her coat, and yawned as she stretched her muscles before nudging her mate awake.

'Wake up darling.' She said in a lovely voice.

His eyes began to open and looked at her with blue deep sea eyes that charmed her since their journey back to Jasper.

'Morning, Kate.' He said sleepily.

'Come on, sleepyhead. Time to get up.'

She watched as he got up and stretched his muscle, yawning at the same time, and looked back at her with a smile.

'Let's go.' He said and they left the den.

The cool wind brushed their fur as they stepped out into the open, and found the sun was halfway out of the mountains. They were waiting for Rex's return with their meal as Kate's condition hasn't changed for the past few weeks.

'So, how's your sleep darling?' Kate asked as they sat at the overhang, starting the conversation.

'Pretty good, dreaming of me and you with our pups walking in a field of flowers. How about yours?' He replied and it surprised her.

'Same dream as yours.'

'Really? Well, that can't be a coincidence, can it?'

'I believe it's not.'

'They look really cute in our dreams though.'

'Yeah.'

'How many pups do we have?' He asked, confirming if they do have the same dream.

She thought for a while as dreams are somehow hard to be recalled after waking up for a few minutes, and her face lit up and looked back at him with a smile.

'Three; two boys and one girl. The oldest is a boy that has the same coat and eye colour as yours,' She said, and her sentence was continued by Humphrey.

'The second was the female pup that has the same coat and eye colour as yours, but her eyes are a bit lighter,'

They said the end of their discussion about their future pups at the same time.

'The last pup, which is a boy, has the same eye and coat colour as yours, and he's smaller than the other two.' Kate said.

'The last pup, which is a boy, has the same eye and coat colour as mine, and he's smaller than the other two.' Humphrey said.

The let out a few breaths of excitement of knowing how their future pups might look like and looked at each other happily.

'Looks like our dream really is the same.' She said with a smile.

'Yeah. What should we name them?' He asked and received a frown from her.

'I don't know. I have no ideas in my mind right now.'

'Me too, except for the youngest pup.'

'What is it?'

'Humphrey Jr.!'

Kate let out a sigh as her mate gave the most unoriginal name for their pup and looked back at him with an annoyed expression.

'Humphrey, darling, we are not going to name our youngest pup 'Humphrey Jr.'.' She said.

'Aw come on. It's a cute name, don't ya think?'

'Yes, it is, but no.'

'Wait, hold on.'

She watched curiously as he placed a paw on the side of his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds, and he looked back at her with a smile.

'Okay, that idea's gone.'

She giggled and licked his cheek and shared a quick hug before noticing Rex's return from afar along with Lilly and Garth as today was Garth's day off. When they arrived at the den, Humphrey watched as Kate greeted Rex with a smile after the others and the feeling of jealousy grew inside him. Ever since the day when Rex told them about his mate's past wish, Lilly and Kate seemed to care more about him for the past few weeks. Garth was fine about this, but to him, it was uncomfortable. He tried to shook it off, and think that it was just a friendly care, but his mind just thinks on the negative side. He shook off of his thoughts when Rex walked towards him to give his greetings.

'Morning, Humphrey.' He said with a smile.

'Morning, Rex.' Humphrey replied, hiding his feelings from him.

'Well, here's your breakfast. Sorry if there's any delay. It's pretty hard for me to hide myself from a bunch of girls.' He said, looking from Humphrey to Kate.

'It's fine, as long as you bring our meal.' Kate replied, looking at the Caribou that he brought back from the feeding ground.

'So, wanna play hide-and-seek again after your training, darling?' Garth asked as they sat down and Humphrey and Kate began their feast.

'Sure, I'm quite energetic after some exercises.' Lilly replied.

'I'll be the audience.' Kate said with a smile.

'Me too.' Humphrey said with his head slightly lowered.

Kate noticed Humphrey's reaction and felt that something was wrong; usually he never says 'no' to games, even when he's tired. She looked at him with a worried expression.

'Are you okay, darling?' She asked.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' He replied, looking back at her.

'Well, okay then.'

'So, still feeling the same sis?' Lilly asked, looking at her sister who was chewing on a chunk of the Caribou's meat.

'What?' She replied after swallowing.

'You know, the 'heat-inducing drug'?'

'Oh. I'm still feeling really hot, so nothing changed.'

'Does that mean there's no progress in the recovery?'

'No, but the signs will show. You're currently doing fine.' Rex said, looking from Lilly to Kate.

'What makes you say that?' Kate asked curiously.

'This drug has lasted for a long time, and you're still fine. That's a good sign.'

'But it also makes me nervous, not knowing when it's gonna wear off.'

'Don't worry. You'll be fine.' He said, placing a paw on her shoulder and she smiled.

They continued their pleasant conversation as Humphrey and Kate eats their meal, and headed towards the pond when they're done. Their body felt the cool breeze blowing through their fur as they walked through the woods, and the canopy of the trees shielded them from the hot sun. After a few minutes of walk and their continuous chat, they arrived at their destination. The pond reflected the light of the sun and the grass sways like dancers, making the scenery infront of them stunning and beautiful.

'Wow.' Lilly said with her jaw dropped and Garth laughed.

'Looks like today's a beautiful day for us, darling.' He said, hugging her from behind and it made her giggled.

'Yeah.' She replied, looking back at him with her charming violet eyes.

'Let's start training.' Rex said with a grin and they walked towards the pond.

Kate sat in the cool water with her body fully submerged and watched as Garth and Rex teaches his students. Their training had been progressing well, and Humphrey and Lilly had already mastered the basics. Garth and Rex looked at each other and nodded as they had the same idea in mind and they looked back at them. Humphrey and Lilly wore a curious expression until Rex spoke up.

'I think it's time for you two to move on to the advanced.'

'Until you pass a test, that is.' Garth said as he sat beside Rex and looked at them with a smile.

'A test?' Humphrey said curiously as he's eager to know what it's going to be.

'Yes, and it'll be hunting a Caribou.' Rex said, and their eyes widened.

Humphrey and Lilly have never tried to hunt a Caribou before as they're un-experienced and fearing that they might get injured during the attempt, so these reasons made this test quite difficult for them to achieve, but Rex and Garth believes in them for all the training that they gave them, mostly by Rex of course.

'Um, can you change it to be rabbits instead, like, hunt twenty of them or more? That would be better.' Humphrey said and giggled nervously.

'Sorry, but no. I know you two can do it. Just believe in yourself and you'll be fine.' Rex said and Humphrey and Lilly looked at each other with a frown.

Knowing that more arguments would make their nervousness grow and their confidence drop, Rex whispered to Garth and he nodded back before they looked back at them.

'I got a perfect idea.' Rex said with a smile.

'And what would it be?' Lilly asked curiously.

'Why don't we make a game out of this?'

Humphrey and Lilly looked at them curiously as how this is going to be a game when it's serious business, but Rex continued.

'The two of you will look for a Caribou and when you do, wait for my signal and you will hunt it down at the same time. Whoever kill its prey first wins. Do you agree?'

They thought for a while to think of this as a game and in the end, they nodded in agreement.

'Good. Now follow me.' Garth said and began to walk into the woods along with Humphrey and Lilly until he noticed Rex's absence beside him and turned around to find him still sitting at the same place where they had their discussion. 'You're not coming?'

'I'll look after Kate; I'll feel uncomfortable if I leave her alone.' He replied and Humphrey felt his jealousy returning back to him, but he ignored it.

'Well, okay then.' Garth replied and continued to walk into the woods along with the two omegas.

'Good luck, you two!' Rex shouted as they walked further away and watched as they disappeared behind the trees.

'I hope that they'll do fine.' Kate said as Rex walked towards her.

'Don't worry, they will.' He replied with a smile as he sat infront of her.

Silence descended upon them for a few seconds until Kate continued their conversation.

'Hey, Rex.'

'Yeah?'

'Do you notice something different about Humphrey?'

'Um, no. Why?'

'Well, do you remember when Garth talked about playing hide-and-seek after this training and Humphrey rejects it?'

'Yeah, what's wrong?'

'He never says 'no' to games, even when he's tired. He's acting a bit strange today.'

'Maybe he's not in a mood to play today.'

'For the first time in his life? I don't think so.'

'Well, maybe something's bothering him. You can ask him about it if you want.'

'I guess I will.'

They continued their pleasant conversation while waiting for the three wolves's return.

Meanwhile, in the woods, Garth watched as the two omegas scan for any nearby prey and spotted two Caribous a few meters away.

'Victim spotted.' Humphrey said.

'Well, let's get this show on the road. I'll knock a pebble on this rock for the signal.' Garth said.

'Okay.' Lilly said.

'Good luck.'

He watched as they dived into the tall grass and crawled towards their prey at top speed, just the way as how Rex taught them. Humphrey wasn't really bothered about his jealousy right now; all he's focusing now was impressing Kate with his success. He and Lilly have stopped a few inches away from their prey and awaits for the sound of knocked pebbles. A few seconds later, it rang the area and they sprung out of their hiding spot and at their prey. They gripped their Caribou's throat in a flash before it could even react and in the end, it collapsed to the ground and lied lifelessly. Garth ran down from his place and towards them to congratulate them for their success.

'Good work you two.' He said as he walked beside his mate.

'Well, looks like it's a tie.' Humphrey said with a smile.

'Yeah.' Lilly said as she leaned against her mate.

'Come on, let's start dragging it back to the pond.' Garth said and assisted Lilly in dragging her prize.

When they arrived along with their prizes, they found Rex and Kate still having their conversation, and they turned towards them as the sound of dragging and scent of blood caught their attention.

'So, who won?' Rex asked curiously as they stopped infront of them and dropped their prize.

'It's a tie.' Garth said and Rex smiled at this.

'Good job, my handsome omega.' Kate said and gave Humphrey a lick on the cheek when he sat beside her in the cool water.

'Thank you, but I expect a bigger award other than a lick on the cheek.' He said and Kate giggled.

'Okay, you sly little fox.' She said and they shared a passionate kiss.

'That was perfectly done, Lilly.' Garth congratulated, turning towards Lilly and shared a kiss with her.

'Well, I wouldn't be able to do it without your support and teachings.' She said after pulling away and looked at him with a smile.

Rex cleared his throat after hearing what Lilly had said and it caught her attention.

'Well, most of the teachings were Rex's.' She added.

'So, who wants to be the seeker?' Rex said, starting their game.

'I do.' Garth volunteered.

'Okay, you know the rules honey.' Lilly said playfully.

'Yeah, of course I do. We've played this game lots of times already.'

Just when they're about to begin, Hutch appeared and caught their attention.

'Hutch? What are you doing here?' Garth asked curiously.

'Winston asked for Rex's presence at his den.' He said, looking at Rex with an expression that made all of them puzzled.

'Well, okay…' Rex said, confused about what was going on.

'We'll follow too.' Lilly said and the others nodded.

'Can I come along?' Kate asked, hoping that she can follow them.

'Sure, but just walk. No running.' Rex said, looking back at her.

'Okay.'

Silence descended upon them during their whole journey until Garth spoke up.

'So, what's wrong, Hutch? Did something happened?'

'Two alpha wolves from the Northern pack entered our pack border and are now currently at Winston's den. They've been venturing to other packs, hunting for a murderer.' He replied and their blood froze upon hearing the word 'murderer'.

When they arrived, they overheard the conversation of Winston, Tony and Eve with the two Northern pack wolves from inside the den.

'Did he truly murdered his mate?' Winston asked in a serious tone.

'Yes, and ran away like a coward.' An unknown voice spat angrily.

'Are you sure? He doesn't behave or look like a bad guy.' Tony asked.

'We're sure, under the orders of Aren, the leader of our pack.'

They stopped outside the den and Hutch turned towards Rex with a frown.

'I know you're a good man, Rex, judging by how you looked after Kate. I hope you have a valid explanation for this.' He said.

Rex let out a deep breath to prepare himself as he's about to face his past again, and looked back at him.

'Don't worry. I do.' He replied with confidence.

'We got your back, Rex.' Garth said as he placed a paw on his shoulder and the others nodded.

'Thanks guys.' He said with a smile and they entered the den.

As they walked into the den, the two Northern wolves stood up immediately once they caught sight of Rex and one of them pounced at him. Rex had no intention to block his attacks for what he has done but luckily, Garth pounced and pinned him on the ground.

'Why are you helping a murderer?' The Northern wolf who Garth pinned said.

'It's because we know the truth behind the murder.' He replied.

'Is this true that you murdered Rose, the daughter of the Northern pack, Rex?' Eve asked, not believing in what she's facing.

Tears welled up in Rex's eyes as the picture of Rose's beautiful body lying on a puddle of blood appeared in his mind and he looked back at her.

'Yes, I did.' He said.

'Why, Rex. How could you do that?' Winston asked, not forgetting that Rex is his daughter's savior.

'It's… It's because…'

Rex was having difficulty in repeating about the true reason for killing his true love, until Lilly placed her paw on his.

'You can do it, Rex.' She said.

Her coat colour reminded him of Rose, and reminding him of all the beautiful memories that he had with her. He wiped off his tears and let out a deep breath before looking back at them.

'Okay. I'll tell you everything.' He said.

He told them everything that happened that night after knowing about the drug, not missing any single detail. He also told them about Rose's past and death wish, and his lie about his rank. In the end, the den was completely silent, except for Rex's soft cries. Winston, Tony, Eve, Hutch and the two Northern wolves were totally shocked about this, and the Northern wolves lowered their head in disappointment.

'We're sorry for misjudging you, Rex. We should've known that you have your own reasons.' One of the Northern wolves apologized.

'It's fine.' Rex replied after wiping off his tears.

'I'm glad that you fulfilled her death wish, Rex. I know she's smiling at you from Heaven.' Tony said, placing a paw on his shoulder.

'Thank you.'

'You could've told us earlier, Rex. We can help you.' Winston said.

'But if I do, I fear that you will kick me out of your pack territory immediately.'

'I won't because I understand your situation, and will think in your point of view. That's why I'm the leader of this pack.'

'We must let Aren know about this, so you can return back to the Northern pack again.' The other Northern wolf said with a smile.

'I'm not going back.'

'What?!'

'Returning back to the Northern pack only brings back painful memories.'

'Well, okay then. But the Northern pack will always welcome you if you change your mind.'

Just when the Northern wolves were about to leave the den, Rex called out.

'Wait!'

They turned around and looked at him curiously.

'Is my parents okay?' He asked.

'They're fine. Aren didn't do anything to them, but they're dead worried about you.' One of them said.

'I'm glad to hear that. Tell them that I'm fine and please, look after them, okay?'

'No problem, Legendary Healer.' He said and Rex smiled.

'I'll lead you two to the pack border.' Hutch said and they nodded.

They watched as Hutch and the two wolves left the den and Rex turned towards the two leaders who were smiling at him.

'Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like, Rex.' Winston said.

'Thank you.' He replied.

'So, you're an omega, but lied to be an alpha because you swore to Rose?' Tony said.

'Yes, so I can protect anyone who needs help.'

'Since that you're here, would you like to tell us about your life at the Northern pack?' Eve asked in a lovely tone.

'But if it bothers you, it's okay to not tell us.' Winston said in a worried tone.

'It's fine but, Kate can't stay here for too long as she needs to be cooled at all times.' Rex said.

'I see. Well, you guys can return back to where you were now.'

'See you guys later.' Eve said happily and they left the den.

They returned back to the pond and continued to play their usual game, and just when they're about to start a new round, Hutch appeared again a few minutes after their game with a horrified expression and panted heavily as he stopped infront of them.

'What happened this time, Hutch?' Garth asked in a worried expression.

'The two Northern wolves, died a few metres away from the pack border.' He said and they felt chills down their spine.

'What?!' Rex said in shock.

'How did that happen?' Garth asked in a serious tone.

'I was walking back from the pack border until I heard a loud cry of pain from outside the border and I ran towards it immediately. When I arrived, I saw them lying on the ground with slashes on their body and necks.'

'Did you inform Winston about this?'

'Yes, and he ordered me to let you guys know immediately.'

A few seconds later, Salty, Shakey and Mooch appeared out of the bushes and ran towards them as if they're running for their lives. They stopped infront of Humphrey and panted heavily.

'Why are you guys here?' Humphrey asked curiously.

'There's an unknown, muscular alpha wolf at the feeding ground.' Salty said in fear.

'Yeah. You guys better go and check it out immediately.' Shakey said in a trembling tone.

'Hutch, Humphrey, stay here and protect Kate. You three, go and inform Winston about this. I fear that we're dealing with something really dangerous right now.' Rex stated seriously and they nodded. 'Garth, follow me.'

'Can I come?' Lilly asked.

'You can't, Lilly. This is dangerous.' Garth argued.

'I know, but I can handle myself well. I may be weak, but I'm smart.'

Garth gave himself a serious thought about this before looking back at her.

'Alright, but stay behind me at all times, okay?'

'Okay.'

'Let's move.' Rex said and they ran towards the feeding ground.

Rex had a feeling that he knows that wolf very well and his instincts told him to be alert along the way. When he arrived, he caught sight of it sitting in the clearing, feasting on its meal. As they got closer, Rex's fear grew as he recognize the male alpha wolf's appearance; his brown fur, muscular hind and front legs, and scars on his muscular body. Their footsteps caught his attention and Rex immediately stood in his fighting stance and growled when he turned around and looked at them with a smile.

'Hello, brother…' He said in an evil tone.

Uh, oh. Look who's in the pack territory. Just for your information, I'll be away from the 13th to the 18th 'cause of some personal stuff that I have to attend to. Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter and as usual, leave a review/follow/favourite. It helps me out a lot and have an awesome day. Peace out. -LoverWolfs1121