Hey there, GrinWolf's already here, as many of you will surely have imagined...Anyway, I apologize for the brevity of this chapter, but it contains key elements for understanding the absence of Runt and Claudette...Maybe they will come back, later, or maybe they won't...

You know, there was something I was asking to myself...There's something you don't like about my FanFiction story? There's something you like? You know, as I sometimes repeated in this fiction, I do not count positive and negative things as two separated entities, but rather as two sides of the same coin...Sure, it is not pleasant to hear bad things about their own work...But I'm the type of person who tries to learn from his own mistakes...But still, if you do not make me notice these things with a critical eye, I cannot get better...

Therefore, I authorize you to write any sort of comment, I will accept them with philosophy and willingly.

Now I leave you to read the twentieth chapter.

Peace and love, bros, AND DON'T FORGET:

READ / ENJOY / REVIEW

Chapter 20: Dual Departure

MAYA's P.O.V.

After what seemed to have been hours of silence, time had come to know the fate of my two older brothers, Runt and Claudette.

I decided to want to complete my tour of emotions…so with a low tone of voice, torn by the just-learned news, I asked them of my siblings.

My father decided to speak…He let out a long sigh and began to talk to me, while my mother had fallen asleep, due to her strenuous crying.

"Well…" He began to say me, looking at me with the eyes of my same color, slightly reddened because of crying "…After both knew of the death of your aunt, Runt decided of his own volition to leave the pack, because, as you know, he had always expressed his desire to travel around the world, fascinated by the story of the adventures of me and your mother in Idaho… And also because he could not bear to stay in that pack that brought back the memory every time his dead aunt Lilly…They just had a special bond, two of them… She had become for him a dear friend and confidant… It could also be an opportunity to broaden his horizons…

Although your mother and I did not agree at the beginning, subsequently we decided that if that decision could make him happy, then we would have gladly accepted it:we were ready to let him go for his own good. One evening, however, a furious quarrel was unleashed, just the evening before his departure, when we decided to make known his imminent departure to the entire family…"

HUMPHREY's P.O.V.

It was a cold late winter afternoon… I was watching the herd from high cliff overlooking the snowy plain, and I was thoughtfully…I was probably aware that this could be the last time I saw my dear son, Runt… It made me a bit melancholy, but also I felt joy for him: finally his sense of adventure finally was a step away from being satisfied…

Suddenly, a voice coming from behind me yelled at me…It was Kate's voice… Undoubtedly she possessed a natural grace and poise, though sometimes she suffered the typical behavioral influences of her mother… And this episode was clearly one of those.

She infact yelled to me in a angered tone of voice: "Dinner is ready by a quarter of an hour now! How long does it take you to come to dinner?! Next time you come so late, I swear ..."

My eyes widened, shocked by such ferocity towards me…But then I remembered her mother's behaviour… Two plus two is always four…And I began to chuckle, padding into our den.

When I came in, I could make out the figures of six wolves, four of whom were adult wolves, belonging to my wife and my love, Kate, who was looking at me wide-eyed and menacing, and other three belonging to my childen's first litter, Stinky, Runt and Claudette.

The other two smaller figures instead belonged to my two little Omegas, Matt and Alanis.

They were all waiting for me to start dinner.

"Come on, dad, we're starving!" Little Matt said to me,with pleading eyes, also obtaining an approving nod from his sister Alanis, sign that she was starving herself.

Their older brothers could not help but laugh, and Runt intervened, too, saying "Oh yea dad, they're right! Hurry up!..." concluding with a teasing smile.

"After all, this would be, perhaps, our last dinner togheter…" Runt let out these words, and everyone's head, but mine and Kate's, turned toward him, slightly tilted because of unbelief.

Stinky decided to speak on behalf of everyone, asking him "What did you mean with "Maybe this would be our last dinner togheter?"

I and Kate sighed together, and she began to speak: "Boys, we wanted to announce after dinner, but someone…" she stopped for a second, for the time necessary to give a glare to Runt, who snorted slightly "…Just can not keep his mouth shut…" She concluded, and then I began to explain them… Desire to know was clearly written all over their faces, and I don't blame them at all.

"Your brother Runt has exposed a request to me and your mother a request…At the beginning we did not agree, thinking it was too risky for him to undertake such a journey…But in the end we agreed that maybe it's better that way... Your brother took the decision to abandon the pack and become a lone wolf, execute his bold desire to travel the world…And he established his departure tomorrow…Know that your mother and I are proud of you, son, and whatever you decide to do, we will always be by your side…" I concluded with a warm smile directed toward him.

Despite being an Omega, I put faith in him…He had been shown on numerous occasions that he knew how to deal with the widest range of situations…But he was big enough to make his own decisions.

But something sudden and unexpected shocked irreparably the quiet into the den.

Claudette jumped up and slammed Runt with a paw over his face, making him yelp in pain and sending him to the mat…Tears flowed copiously from her hazel eyes, and she shouted to him, with an unheard ferocity:

"YOU…HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS…! I DON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU? WE, BROTHERS, DO NOT COUNT ANYTHING FOR YOU? YOU'RE JUST A FILTHY SELFISH…AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER WOLVES, THAT YOU WERE SPECIAL…HOW WRONG I WAS!"

So she said, without having any response from his beaten brother, lying on the ground due to impact's force, with his eyes lowered almost in shame…He could not even look at his sister in her eyes, let alone talk to her.

Petrified looks spreaded into the den, because of the speed and the unpredictability of Claudette's reaction.

Back to present, MAYA's P.O.V.

"So she turned and ran away from the den… Determined to never return back…She left the pack in the same evening, she didn't come back to even finish dinner…She had not done anything but throw guilt on Runt, for not telling her of his departure…And now that poor thing had left the day after her departure with only one desire, to be able to hug his sister one more time and apologize to her…" My father's face frowned, his blue eyes showed a blatant sadness… He had losed two sons in one fell swoop…My brothers, gone due to a misunderstanding…

"But…" My father said, confident and with a smile that was beginning to form on his face "…I'm sure they will come back safe and sound at home one day, and I hope that day comes before I die ... In order to be able to embrace them at least one last time…"

I added to his speech "I'm sure they will come back home one day, too…"

Time had elapsed relentlessly, with the hourglass of time , grain by grain, never to return back…Their discussion went on for a long time, the sun was almost completely set…And that meant one thing…It was almost time for dinner…As if my stomach had perceived my thoughts, gave a low growl.

My father, with his famous sarcasm, lost no time in making his umpteenth joke, saying to me "Uh-oh, is there a little wolf inside you that's hungry, too?"

I rolled my eyes and answered him "Ah. Ah. Good joke"

"Hey, hey little lady, do not make that face…Do not forget that you are also half-Omega…You should be used to it by now" He said, patting me on my head, shuffling my head mane.

"Ohh, dad, stop that…You know I HATE THAT!" I said to him, trying to stop his paw, but it was completely useless…Soon his paw passed from my head to my hips, with the intention to tickle me to death.

Tickling was my only weak point…You could scratch me, pinch me, slap me, but nothing gave me the same effect as tickling…I became completely defenseless, and my father knew well.

I could not restrain my laughter in any way, and they were so loud that they woke instantly my mother from her resting slumber, by literally making her blowing up in fear.

"Wha-what is happening here?!" She said, a bit concerned, but when she saw the scene before her, she softened: his husband was playing with her daughter…

I and my father saw her blowing up, and began to laugh together, arousing my mother's curiosity: "What are you two laughing at?" She said.

My father and I looked at each other, knowing her touchiness, we did not pretend to know anything…

"I?" We said both at the same time… My father shrugged, and I said "I don't really know what you're talking about mom…"

"Ah…Liars!" She said, and began to chase us playfully… So I and my dad dashed out of the den , determined to not let her catch us… And I playfully added: "Last one that arrives at main ground for dinner, it will eat only scraps and bones!"

"Hey, no fair!" My father yelled at me, knowing his limitations in the race.

So we were all three headed to our dinner, with a hunger typical of a wolf.

Or at least what we thought was supposed to be our dinner.

As someone would say now...Bam! Ahahah I'm sorry, I could not resist the temptation, I hope you can forgive me.

Now it's time to bring Diablo's sheep to pasture...Getting ready for RoS! (Anyway, if someone plays in Europe, he/she could send me a PM in which he/she could write his/her Battlenet Gametag, so we could play together!)

GrinWolf here...Over and out.