PART 2 A CRACK IN THE MIRROR

Chapter 17 Homecoming

Kate's POV

My heart pounded and blood rushed through my head causing shivers to run down my spine. I forcefully shook my head and thought, "Were almost home, just a little more." Humphrey smiled and pointed to the howling rock and told me, "When we get back we should share a howl Kate." I giggled a little before kissing him on the cheek and I replied, "We'll do exactly that." Smiling our little group walked over the hill and Artyom gaped and asked, "This is Jasper? It's gorgeous." Dawn nodded and whispered, "It truly is." I smiled and nodded in agreement admiring the view. The sun's rays pushed through the trees and I had never seen Jasper look so peaceful and welcoming.

Humphrey sighed and asked, "What do you think has been happening while we were gone?" I bit my lip and shrugged before telling him, "I'm not sure, it looks so peaceful and Marcel and Paddy said that the packs hadn't gone to war yet." Artyom nodded and said, "That's true, but it's been about three days since the last time they checked." Humphrey observed the sky and muttered, "I wonder where they are now…" Kona grumbled, "I bet they ditched us to play that game they kept blabbering on about." Jake smirked and went to say something but Kona clamped a paw over his mouth and said, "Not a word…" Jake nodded and she released him.

I withheld a laugh and Humphrey chuckled. Kona glared at us and asked, "What?"Humphrey winked at Jake and said, "Oh nothing." Jake laughed and Kona gave him a withering glare. Unlike when I had given him one the smile vanished from Jakes face and he cleared his throat and said, "Well, let's go see this valley I've heard so much about." Kona rolled her eyes and said in a sweet voice, "Sure Jake, just make sure that you're not standing to close to the edge. You wouldn't want to tempt me." Jake smiled and replied, "I don't think I need to worry, raising pups alone can be a handful." Kona scoffed and shot back, "With you around I'll have to take care of them and you." Jake laughed and asked, "Does that mean I get milk to?"

Kona shook her head and muttered, "Why do I even try….." Jake smiled and I told him, "She's going to get you back." Jake nodded and whispered, "She already has." Kona glared at him and he winked at her again. Humphrey coughed and asked, "Can we get moving again please." Artyom and Dawn both nodded and said together, "Yes, let's get moving." Jake chuckled and said, "I get the feeling Kona's not the only one waiting to throw me off a cliff." Artyom stopped a laugh and covered it with a cough. Dawn muttered, "I think this trip has been hard on all of us." Humphrey nodded and said, "Thank god that we get to rest soon." I nodded and began to run down the hill that led into the valley.

I laughed in joy at the feel of the clean wet grass beneath my paws and ran faster. The walls of the valley drew closer and Artyom yelled, "Kate, slow down. We have plenty of time!" I quickly slowed to a trot and Humphrey pulled alongside me. I teased him by asking, "Did the two days of stalker training help with keeping up?" He smiled and replied, "Sure did, but I do have a passenger." He nipped Grace's ear and she rolled over on his back and swatted at his ears. He chuckled and said, "I love pups." Smiling I told him, "Well that's good, I'm so glad we get to raise our family here in Jasper." He grinned and kissed me passionately on the neck and whispered in my ear, "So do I Kate. So do I."

Artyom caught up to us and said, "We should hurry, nights approaching." I laughed and Humphrey teased, "Come on dad, the grievers are gone now." Artyom shook his head and said, "Maybe but the night can still be dangerous." I turned my head and observed the setting sun. Humphrey nodded and chuckled as he noticed that another argument had broken out between Kona and Jake. Artyom sighed and said, "I don't even want to know what their arguing about now." I giggled and saw Dawn break up the argument. Humphrey pointed and whispered, "I wonder where all the alphas are. They usually have some on patrol around at this time." Artyom nodded and replied, "Strange, but perhaps they just pulled them in to protect a smaller area." I shrugged and said, "That doesn't sound like my dad but I don't know what's been going on all this time."

Artyom nodded and said, "I suppose so." I squinted and looked around the entrance to the valley but the grass and rocks gave nothing away. I was beginning to get worried so I called, "Lets hurry, it's about a five minute walk to my parents den." Dawn caught up to us and said, "Alright lets hurry before these two kill each other." She pointed a paw over her shoulder and I laughed at how Kona and Jake could continue to argue with each other for this long. Shaking my head we walked over the final hill and I breathed out a sigh of relief as I spotted some of our packs alphas in various areas overlooking the valley. Artyom raised an eyebrow and asked, "How big is your pack?" I thought for a moment and answered, "Maybe thirty or so wolves." Artyom looked at me and asked, "I think I count around sixty." I gasped and saw he was right, our pack had more than doubled. I turned and told him, "The eastern pack is here as well as the western."

Artyom gruffly replied, "They've made a defensive look like they're expecting an attack." I nodded and asked, "But from who? The grievers are trapped on the mirrors edge and I don't remember any other hostile packs in this area." Dawn put a paw on my shoulder and said, "Perhaps it's just a precaution, we may simply be over thinking things." I smiled and told her, "You're probably right; my parents can be extremely over protective." Dawn smiled brightly and said, "I can understand that, I'm glad my son has found a mate that truly loves him." I giggled and told her, "I love him more than anything; I just wish it hadn't taken so long for me to figure that out."

Dawn closed her eyes and whispered, "We all make mistakes." I nodded and said, "We do, but learning from our mistakes and never giving in when things get bad is what makes us better than everyone else. It's what keeps us going, what keeps us running. What keeps us alive." Dawn looked surprised and told me, "You seem to be wiser than your age lets on." I shrugged and replied, "Maybe, but age can't decide everything." Dawn seemed to consider this and slowly nodded her agreement. Artyom cleared his throat and asked, "Shall we make ourselves known?" Humphrey nodded and walked into the open yelling, "Hello!" I saw a flash of a shadow and something jump on Humphrey. I ran over and tackled the wolf on top of my mate.

I stopped and asked, "Hutch, is that you?" He stopped struggling and whispered, "Kate, your back! We can unite the packs!" I laughed and bitterly said, "Not happening." He looked at me confused and asked, "Why, it's your responsibility." I scoffed and got off him before saying, "I have bigger responsibilities now." He stood up and asked, "Like what?" I quickly went over to Humphrey and was relieved to find he had protected Grace from the fall. He groaned and told me, "You get to do that next time." I laughed and helped him to his feet before answering Hutch, "To my mate, and my daughter." Hutchs jaw dropped and he whispered, "You mated with an omega!?" I shook my head and told him, "No, we adopted our daughter but we may have a bigger family later on." Hutch shook his head and hissed, "Are you crazy?" I scoffed and replied, "After what we've been through that's the sanist thing I've heard yet."

Hutch shook his head and pleaded, "Put her up for adoption and marry Garth, the packs may be united now but that crazy lone wolf can't hold them together indefinitely." I stubbornly shook my head and said, "No chance, Humphrey and I are her parents now and nothing can change that." Hutch shook his head and muttered, "At least I won't be the one to change your mind, I'm going to take you to see your father." I nodded and told Humphrey, "Bring your parents as well as Kona and Jake." Humphrey stretched and walked over to where the group sat waiting. I turned my attention to following Hutch and casually observed the pack and asked, "So why are the eastern and western packs in a defensive position?" Hutch sighed and bitterly answered, "Some crazy lone wolf came and convinced your father and Tony to put us into this position. I don't know why he did this but the alphas are getting restless."

I slowly nodded and recognized some of the wolves in our pack and waved. They waved back and looked as confused as I was at being in this situation. Hutch pointed and said, "You know the way, through the feeding grounds and up the ramp to the head alphas den." I told him, "Thanks, but I can convince my father that an alpha and an omega can be mates." Hutch shrugged and replied, "I sure hope so but the real question is can you convince Tony?" I thought for a moment and decided to ignore his question. Hutch shrugged and started walking back to his position. Humphrey and his parents trotted past him and I asked, "Where are Kona and Jake?" Artyom shrugged and answered, "They'll be along." Humphrey fearfully looked at me and said, "I don't think this is a good idea Kate."

I kissed him and said, "Don't worry, I can convince my father." He slowly nodded but the nervousness remained in his eyes. I flicked my tail and tickled his nose causing him to sneeze. I laughed and said, "Don't worry about it." He rubbed his nose and grinned before Artyom said, "Alright you two, let's get going." I nodded and pushed through the bushes and smiled at the familiar surroundings of the feeding grounds. Humphrey sighed and told me, "We had some good times here Kate." I nodded and told Artyom and Dawn, "We can tell you our stories later." They smiled and Dawn said, "That sounds like a good idea." Smiling I pushed through the wolves that lay eating and sleeping receiving a stare or grumble when I walked by. I quizzically looked around and realized that they thought I had run away. I shook my head and whispered, "Plenty of time to straighten this out later."

I breathed in the night air remembering all the times I had walked up the ramp to my parents den, drawing courage from it I slowly I put one paw foreword and then another until I had walked up half the dirt ramp. Humphrey followed behind me and asked, "What do we do when we tell them were mates?" I bit my lip and answered, "I'm working on that, but I thought we might wing it." Humphrey blinked and in a small voice said, "Wing it, great." I kissed him on the forehead and said, "We can do this." Humphrey muttered, "I'd rather take on the grievers alone at night in the woods without my fur then take your mom on with Kevlar and a grenade in my teeth." Confused I asked, "What?" He shrugged and answered, "The gas station had some commercial for some scary thing that caused everything to disappear." I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Omegas…" He shrugged and said, "Just trying to break the tension." I shook my head and saw that we had arrived at the entrance to the den. Tentatively I called, "Mom, Dad, are you here?"

There was a blur of movement and Eve tackled me and hugged me fiercely whispering, "Your back!" I got up and hugged her back and said, "Yea, we were taken by humans to another park." Humphrey winked and threw in, "We were supposed to, repopulate." Eve went wide eyed and stared at the pup on his back. She asked sweetly, "Could you please put my granddaughter down so I can tear out your throat?" Humphre backed up a little and told her, "Whoa, she is your granddaughter but Kate and I adopted her." Eve nodded and said, "Good, now please put her down so I can tear your carcass open." I shook my head and said, "Please don't hurt my mate." Eve shook her head and I saw Winston come to her side. I appealed to him and asked, "Can you please tell mom not to hurt Humphrey." Winston nodded and said, "Eve, let's not kill the omega." Humphrey breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you sir." Winston raised an eyebrow and turned to me and said, "The weddings back on then." I rolled my eyes and muttered, "How many times do I have to explain this?"

"Explain what?" a voice called. Winston turned around and said, "Nothing, just a little family matter." I saw a wolf emerge and saw he was jet black with hints of grey in his fur. He looked at me and gave a small smile. I saw an ally and asked, "What's your name?" He shrugged and answered, "My names Dillon, I came here to organize your pack against… Well, I won't scare you with my hunch." I shrugged and told him, "Believe me, I think I know what you're talking about." He looked me in the eye and said, "The forest…." Artyom gasped and said, "Dillon! You disappeared the same time Humphrey did!" Dillon turned his head and smiled. He laughed and said, "Artyom, I should have known the forest couldn't kill you! Did my dad make it as well?" Artyom sighed and said, "Jasher gave his life to make sure we all made it out." Dillon sighed and said, "Dam that old wolf, I always knew my dad would die a hero." Dawn nodded in agreement and said, "He did, he killed all of the grievers and trapped them on the mirrors edge." Dillon shook his head and whispered, "I wouldn't be so sure, but that's not important right now.

I turned my attention back to my father and said, "We were trapped in a terrifying forest for a few weeks. Humphrey saved my life and I will never leave him." Humphrey smiled and whispered, "Thank you Kate, I love you to." I hugged him tightly and my parents watched in shock as I kissed him firmly on the muzzle. Winston hissed, "You need to marry Garth Kate." I remembered that Marcel and Paddy had told us that my sister had howled with him so I took a chance in asking, "What if he already has a mate?" Eve hit the floor with a thud and Winston stared in shock at his downed mate. He shook his head and said, "Don't scare your mother like that please."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "When was the last time you saw Lilly?" Winston paled and answered, "Two weeks ago." I took a step back and whispered, "Two weeks ago?" He nodded and said, "Garth went missing around the same time." He looked at Humphrey and I and whispered, "No, not them to." I nodded and said, "I bet so."Winston shook Eve and she slowly pulled herself to her feet. She shook her head and said, "If he mated with her then I will gladly rip of his wolfhood and throw it in the dividing river." Winston shook his head and muttered, "I'm sure that it didn't happen." Eve smiled and said, "Yes, you're probably right."

Dillon cleared his throat and said, "We do have more pressing matters, shall I say I found a crack in the mirror?"

(Part two, I didn't think I'd get this far! :D What do you guys think about this direction for the story and if you have any ideas don't hesitate to leave them in a review for me! Thanks guys and enjoy part two of I will find you!)

NOTICE TO READERS: MY LAPTOP IS TRASHED AND BARELY WORKING SO IF A NEW CHAPTER DOESN'T COME IN ABOUT FIVE DAY THEN IT IS BEING REPAIRED