What a sorry sight he must look like right now.
Humphrey sighed, only a few minutes having passed and he was already getting bored. He should not be sitting on his ass, starving to death whilst waiting for a rabbit to come out of its hole! He was a wolf, damn it! He should be stalking, chasing, and attacking a decent meal. Not waiting on a snack to plop into his lap.
No wonder Kate chose Barf over him. She probably assumed that Humphrey was completely incapable of providing for her let alone any future pups she might've had. She probably thought he was an ignorant, lazy mutt who couldn't even take care of himself.
And she would be right.
Humphrey had made fun of the Greek statuesque jockey at the time, when he had a full belly and a pack to care for him. Now, while he sat at the precipice of life and death with plenty of time on his paws to put things in perspective, Humphrey could reluctantly and discouragingly admit that mayhap Barf could possibly be a better mate.
It irked him to no end.
Humphrey wanted to growl, to claw, to howl, to bite, and to maim. . . something. Anything! But he didn't. For to do that would be to make noise and to make noise would be to screw himself over on dinner. And while the need to mutilate a tree trunk with Barf's face on it was adamant, having something to eat tonight was more so.
Thus, Humphrey continued to wait as still and quiet as the trees that towered over him, but on the inside burned an inferno ready to erupt any second.
God help the poor hare he was about to unleash this hell upon when it decided to poke its friggin head out already!
He would show them, Humphrey promised himself. He would show them they were wrong about him. That he was fully capable of surviving and becoming a big and strong Alpha far superior to Barf. He'll teach himself to hunt the biggest and fastest prey and track the stealthiest of animals and when he does, he'll return to Jasper Park and to Kate where she would see that she should have never doubted him and that she had made the biggest mistake in her life to choose Barf instead of him.
This fantasy, realistic or not, effectively entertained Humphrey for a good long while as he waited for his food to hop into the guillotine that was his jaws.
When Kate got to the base of the mountain, she found the pack in the middle of a feeding frenzy. Parts of a doe were strewn everywhere that each had a wolf or two gnawing on. She should have known her mother was exaggerating Lily's kill. Being taught by an Alpha didn't change the fact that her sister was still an Omega and while she showed copious amounts of potential, it would be a long and grueling process.
Kate spotted the wolf in mind on the far end of the valley, chewing on the head of her kill with Garth at her side. Lily spotted her next and sat up, tail wagging as she came closer to greet them. Her sisters' beautiful white fur now defaced with red around her muzzle.
"Kate! Kate! You should've saw me! I was amazing! I got the deer all by myself! Well, no, that's not true, the pack helped, but I got its neck and took it down! Did you ever think I was capable of something like that?" Lily hopped up and pranced to her sister, excitedly babbling to her as she circled around her.
Kate smiled, genuinely proud of her sisters' accomplishment even if she was too distracted to completely feel it.
"That's wonderful, Lily. You're providing for the pack! Keep this up and it's not going to be long before they promote you to Beta wolf."
Lily's tail instantly dropped to tuck against her belly, her head ducking into that familiar submissive position she was so comfortable with.
"O-oh, I-I don't know about that. . ."
"We're taking baby steps." Garth rose to his full, massive height to join them, nudging his wife's chin with his nose affectionately. "Come on, Lil. Chin up. Back straight. Tail high. Don't you know you're much more beautiful that way? I know you're proud of this kill. So, show it."
Pang went the jealousy in Kate's heart, despite her efforts to suppress it. Kate cleared her throat, glancing to the side, suddenly feeling like the third wheel here. "W-well, I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner. Just wanted to come by and say hey and maybe goodbye too for a little while."
"Goodbye?" Lily gasped, her attention immediately diverting from her husband.
"Yeah, I was, uhm, thinking about taking a little road trip. Not quite sure when I'll be back." Kate explained, awkwardly.
"So, you're finally going to look for Humphrey." Lily stated, not asked.
Finally? Kate thought. "Yeah, I am."
"What if you can't find him?"
Kate snorted, not having thought of that possibility because she never considered it to be a possibility. "I won't come back until I do."
"What about the pack?" Lily asked, her large, violet eyes growing sadder by the minute and absolutely tearing what was left of Kate's heart apart.
Kate didn't answer her sister right away, instead her eyes flicked to Garth and instant understanding showed in his own. She was leaving the pack to him along with all the responsibilities of it, alone. Unsurprisingly, Garth did not look in the least bit daunted by this task. If anything, his back got a little straighter and his chin and tail even higher.
Her mother was right. Garth was more than capable.
"The pack is going to be alright, honey." Garth answered his wife for her.
Kate gave a single nod of agreement. "Well, I best be on my way. I promised mom I would eat before I go."
Kate turned to leave and scour for a scrap of deer that wasn't occupied, when she heard her sister cry out her name. When she turned, she was not expecting the huge, bear hugging tackle that knocked her breath right out of her as she landed on the ground.
"Ugh, Lily!" Kate groaned, trying to squirm out from under the other wolf.
"I'm going to miss you, Kate."
The sound of her sister's hitched voice stilled Kate's escape attempts and she turned her nose to nuzzle Lily back in comfort. "I'm going to miss you too."
"Please be careful."
"You know I will."
"I love you."
Kate smiled, this one reaching her eyes for the first time in what felt like a long time. "I love you too. You're the best sister a wolf could ask for."
Lily's head ducked in embarrassment. "Aw, well, I wouldn't say that. . ."
"What did we talk about, Lily?" Garth interrupted, looking down at the wolf pile at his feet.
"Oh uh, you're right, Kate. I am." Lily quickly corrected herself.
Kate laughed. "Well, isn't this a nice change? Just don't get too carried away Garth and make her stuck up, okay?"
"There's no telling where this one will go." Garth replied teasingly with a wink before he nudged his wife off his sister-in-law.
Kate got up and shook out her ruffled fur before she gave Lily one final lick to her cheek and turned to leave for the second time.
Humphrey was just about ready to give up and dig the blasted rabbit out of its hole. At this point, he wasn't entirely certain if the rabbit didn't know he was there and was just waiting him out now, what with his stomach making much more noise than the cicadas and birds.
Well, Humphrey was done waiting.
Halfway to pushing himself up, he froze when he spotted a pair of tall, furry, dark brown ears poke up from the ground. Even his stomach seemed to shut up upon realizing dinner might be coming soon.
Humphrey carefully pulled his legs up underneath him and sank into a low crouch, further hiding into the brush. He watched with a watery mouth as the hare slowly emerged from the safe confines of its home, its head swiveling back and forth in search of danger, its tiny nose twitching rapidly for a scent. Surely, it could smell him in the area, but it must have concluded it an old scent because it continued hopping out until it reached a nearby berry bush.
Humphrey had to stop himself multiple times from eating all the berries off that bush while he was waiting, for he needed it to lure out his prey. Finally, he would be rewarded for his patience. Slowly, Humphrey crawled out from his hiding place and crept up behind the unsuspecting mammal.
Humphrey grinned, hunching his shoulders, ready to pounce when a crack of a breaking twig underneath his hind paw announced his presence. The hare did not even turn to look at what made the sound, it immediately shot off into the woods like a hunter's bullet.
"Damn it!" Humphrey growled and leapt after his quickly escaping dinner.
The little sucker was astonishingly fast, twisting and turning between the trees, hopping overtop boulders and under overturned logs with great speed. It squeezed past hard packed bushes and pointy foliage like a ghost fazing through walls. The only reason Humphrey hadn't been left in the dust was from pure desperation alone. His adrenaline was pumping through his veins and fueling his tired body into overdrive. He couldn't recall a moment in his life where he pushed himself so hard. Not even when he and Kate were running from bears.
Humphrey kept his eyes locked with that little cotton ball tail bobbing teasingly with every bounce. It was so close. Close enough to bite if he stretched out his neck just a little more, aaaand. . .
Gone was the tail and so was the hare. Inexplicably the rabbit appeared to have popped out of existence. Humphrey gave a yell as he tried to stop his momentum, his paws stumbling over themselves. In his effort to regain his balance, he didn't see the stump sticking up from the ground until Humphrey tumbled over it and went careening down a slope. Colliding halfway into a tree.
Humphrey gasped; the wind having been knocked out his of lungs. He tried to sit up and groaned at the ache in his back and chest.
"Ugh, what the hell just happened?"
Humphrey glanced up the hill to find the hare at the top, looking down at him not with fear as one would expect from prey, but with amusement. Its faint laughs were rolling down the hill humiliatingly; and if that wasn't enough, the little vermin turned around and began waving that damning tail back and forth mockingly.
"Alright, that's it, fancy rat! You're asking for it now!" Humphrey snarled, clawing his way back up the muddy slope. His sides screaming in pain at him but not as loud as the need for vengeance was.
The hare squeaked in surprise, having not been paying attention to Humphrey until he was almost upon it. It took off again but not before Humphrey could nip some fur between his teeth.
"I'm not going to miss next time!" He promised the hare, resuming the chase.
His side was hurting quite badly now, making him concerned he might have seriously injured something but quickly he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He had bigger priorities right now.
It proved to be a great challenge catching up with the hare again and Humphrey worried that he would run out of steam long before his prey would. Luck was on his side though because the hare decided to make the grave mistake of trying his tactic of stopping on a dime again. This time, Humphrey was ready for it as he dug his claws into the earth and sat back on his hunches, skidding smoothly to a stop.
His prey squealed, trying to make a sharp turn to the right, away from the clack of Humphrey's teeth, but his muzzle followed the rabbit like an attracted magnet. His front teeth snatching the hares back leg.
The animal shrieked with pain, squirming for freedom in his jaws even as they both knew that it was over.
Humphrey had won.
Releasing the leg, Humphrey switched his grip to the neck. The small fragile bones crunching satisfyingly beneath tearing flesh. It's delicious blood filling his mouth.
The hare's struggles immediately stopped; the silence that followed absolute.
Humphrey sighed with relief as he dropped his kill at his paws. He stared at it in both awe and disbelief. His first kill. He couldn't believe he snuffed out a life all on his own without any help. Sure, it hadn't been pretty, and rabbits weren't what you called brag worthy catches, but he was providing for himself. Wasn't that really what mattered? He was surviving.
"Hah . . . hahaha! Whooo!" Humphrey tossed his head in the air and howled with victory, hopping up and down like a mad horse.
Oh, how he wanted to tell someone about this. More specifically, he wished Kate were here so he could show off his prize to her. While she would've probably shook her head and called him a "silly omega," she would've been proud of him all the same.
"Take that wilderness. 1 to 1 now." Humphrey chuckled, looking around the forest for any possible witness but it seemed like all life had scrammed now. Too bad Marcel and Patty still haven't shown to check up on him.
Humphrey sighed, "Come on, lone wolf. Act like one."
Shaking himself of the sudden melancholy, Humphrey picked up his meal and searched for a decent spot to dine.
Kate managed to find a half chewed up hindquarter that someone abandoned, so she grabbed it up by a piece of loose tendon and dragged it with her to a reasonably secluded spot next to a little watering hole tucked beside the edge of the valley.
She nibbled a little on the leg and wondered what Humphrey was up to. Was he getting anything to eat tonight or was he having to spend the night hungry because he couldn't catch anything? Kate couldn't recall a moment in time where she saw him hunt. In fact, it seemed like he was always watching her hunt.
Overtop the aroma of blood and meat, Kate detected the familiar scent of feathers, fear pheromones, and Bleu de Chanel.
"Marcel? Patty?" Kate called out, jumping to her feet. She couldn't see them anywhere, but she knew they were here. No other birds knew how to use French cologne.
"Where are you guys?"
"We're up here." Patty's voice trailed down from above. Kate looked up and spotted the two fouls sitting atop a branch.
She grinned. "What are you guys doing up there? Come on down and tell me what's up!"
"No. No. Ve best stay up ere until you finish eating your dinner." Marcel shouted next.
Kate rolled her eyes. "You guys aren't still worried I'm going to eat you, are you?"
"No, of course not! Red meat is just so putrid . . . and messy. Ave you ever considered a good Herring or Mahi-Mahi. Grilled, with a side salad and roasted potatoes? Ah, now zat is an exquisite cuisine right zere." Marcel punctuated his statement with a chef's kiss.
"Have you ever tried clams and chilled capellini, with a spoonful of caviar? Now, that always hits the spot for me." Commented Patty.
Kate shook her head and went to dispose of the leg somewhere out of the birds' sights, then washed away the blood from her muzzle in the pool.
When she returned, they were still exchanging dish suggestions. Kate had to clear her throat to gain their attention again. Seeing that she was cleaned up now, the two birds flew down to give her a hug.
"Where have you guys been? How's Humphrey?"
"Sheesh, not at least a "hello, nice to see you"?" Patty asked, dusting off his shoulder where she had ruffled some feathers with her hug.
"Zese woolves. Always so rude." Marcel nodded in agreement.
Kate sighed impatiently. "Hello, nice to see you. Now, can you please tell me if Humphrey's alright?"
"I don't know when we've decided to switch from golfing to wolf watching." Marcel huffed indignantly.
"Indeed, I can think of a million other sports much more interesting."
Kate closed her eyes, trying to reign in her temper. She just ate so there would be no justifiable excuse for her killing her two friends. "Okay, I'm sorry. I get it. You guys are doing so much for me and I haven't appreciated it like I should. So, thank you."
The two birds smiled at her before Marcel finally decided to fill her in on his latest news. "You'll be relieved to know zat your boyfriend is alive. He's been on a train for the last two days, sleeping. Which, by ze way, is very riveting to watch." He added that last part with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. "But, he's off the train now and in Wyoming."
"Wyoming? What's he doing there?"
The goose shrugged. "Last time we saw him before coming back, he was zitting in the middle of the woods, staring at a rabbit's hole."
"Starring at a. . ." Kate rubbed her forehead with a paw. "Oh God, he's hunting."
"Zis is hunting? You woolves truly are mysterious animals." Marcel sniffed and shook his head.
"This is Humphrey's hunting." Kate clarified. "Look, I need to get on a train and fast. Who knows how much longer Humphrey will be able to last out there."
"Unfortunately, mademoiselle, zat train won't be coming back around for at least another few days."
"Humphrey doesn't have a few days!" Kate snapped then began to pace, muttering to herself, "There's got to be another way."
"I really should make a living as a traveling agent. At least zen I would get paid for it. Alright, alright! Don't get your fur in a bunch, I ave one more trick up my sleeve."
Kate paused to look at the goose. "You do? How."
"If memory serves me right, zere should be a cargo plane zat makes a delivery every week."
"Great! How far is it?"
"I'd say about twelve miles heading north-east." Patty answered.
"Okay, when does it leave?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Then we need to get going now."
"Now?" The birds said in unison.
"Yes, I'm not missing that plane for anything." Kate said with determination. Turning, she quickly figured out where north was, she began her trek in the direction between north and east. Feeling better now that Humphrey was no longer actively moving farther and farther away from her at unimaginable speeds. At least now she might have a chance to finally catch up with him.
Just hold on for me a little longer, Humphrey. Please don't give up on me yet.
It may not be pretty but at least its done. A quote Humphrey is taking to heart.