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Chapter 3: Where Have You Gone, Charming Omega?

"What happened, dad?" Kate asked him, "what did you do?"

Winston was so ashamed that he could barely speak, but swallowed and lifted his eyes.

"I kissed another female," he replied softly, "intimately, then when your mother tried to step in, I hit her."

Kate was shocked.

"But... why?" she asked bewildered, "why would you do that?"

"I don't know, Kate," he said, trying to hold his emotions back, "I was drunk and, she was drunk, and... I don't know, I was stupid, okay? I messed up bad, and now your mother wants nothing to do with me."

Kate did not know what to say, nor did she know how to feel about this. One side was angry that her father would do such things, but the other was a little more understanding, for she knew what kind of effects the fermented berries had on wolves when they consumed too many. Even still, though, that did not excuse him from hitting her like that. Something as atrocious as that is unforgivable.

"Then why did you come back?" she asked, choosing, for now, the neutral response.

"To apologize," Winston replied almost as though he were sick, "to beg for her to forgive me, to plead with her for a second chance."

Kate placed a paw on his shoulder, trying to ease him, then slid him the bowl.

"Start with this," she said to him with an assuring nod.

Winston glanced down at the bowl for a moment then nodded.

Kate nodded in return then continued on her way down the ramp.

"Where are you going?" Winston called after her.

"You two need some alone time," she replied, turning her head to him, "and besides, I have an apology of my own to make."

?&?

Humphrey's ailing stomach served for him as a constant reminder of his most recent failure and forbode to him what failures were still to come. How did he expect to eat if he did not know how to hunt? The whole incident with the mouse made that notion abundantly clear. If he could not catch something as simple as a mouse, how did he expect to be able to catch a rabbit or a grouse, or anything else that a single wolf was capable of bringing down? How would he eat? He couldn't hunt and was too conscientious to steal a meal from somebody who worked hard to kill it for themselves, and besides, he doubted there would be anybody else where he wound up anyway, so that would not be an option. Another thing that he realized, was that he could not fight, nor defend what was his because he had never needed such knowledge being an omega, so how did he expect to be able to survive in the unforgiving yond if he could not fend for himself? Maybe he should have thought these things out a little more carefully before he made his decision to leave.

He pondered these issues and their potential outcomes meticulously, and finally, after toiling with the variables for a matter of about ten minutes, he realized what he had to do, though he did not particularly care for the solution. He knew that he would have to change completely, in every aspect, essentially destroying himself in the process, but it was abundantly clear to him now that if he were to survive, the omega in his heart had to die.

?&?

Kate was nervous, and she felt as though her stomach was about to jump out of her throat, but she knew she had to face him, even though she had not the slightest idea what she should say. Each time she would piece together what she thought would work as a suitable apology, she would quickly scratch the idea and send the words back into orbit around her brain, where she would once again try to wrestle them into a proper atonement that would express to him just how sorry she was for what she did to him, but would again fail.

Perhaps if she just shut her head off for a moment and allowed her heart to do the talking for once, then maybe just maybe, if she could truly express what she felt in her heart, she could begin to erase the scars she had sliced into his.

As she drew near to his den, she paused, taking a moment to collect herself, then pressed forward again, coming to rest just outside of its entrance.

"Humphrey?" she called into the den, but there was no reply from the darkness within.

"Humphrey, please just hear me out," Kate began again, tears beginning to sting her eyes, "I never mean to hurt you."

Again there was no reply.

"Humphrey, please you've gotta listen to me," Kate begged, stepping inside, but as she entered, she found the den to be empty.

Kate felt her stomach turn a flip and felt her heart drop right out of her chest, for she knew, even though she wanted so desperately to deny it, that he was gone.

But she was not willing to give up on him yet.

Quickly she turned and began to run, searching frantically for one of his friends' dens, or one of his friends if it were convenient enough to work that way, but she had no idea where they lived or where they may be at this time of day.

But she was determined.

She continued her search, catching curious glances from passers-by, but ignored them, for the only thing that mattered to her right now was finding her friend.

Then finally, just as she was about ready to give up, she found the three of them gathered at the top of a a shallow hill; as to why they were there, she did not care, just so long as she found them.

"Salty, Shakey, Mooch," she called, beginning to ascend the hill.

The three turned to her surprised.

"Kate, what are you doing out here?" Salty asked her.

"I was looking for Humphrey," she replied as calmly as she could, "have you seen him?"

The three turned to each other as if for council, then Salty turned forward to Kate once again.

"We were actually up here waiting for him," Shakey replied, "he told us yesterday to meet him here about two hours after sunrise, but he hasn't shown up yet."

"Yeah," Mooch continued, "which is weird because he's always on time."

These words were to Kate what an innocent man hears when he is found guilty of murder, and they slugged her so hard in the gut that she thought she would be sick. Tears filled her eyes and she staggered a few steps backward.

"Are you okay?" Salty asked, seeing her reaction.

Kate did not reply and quickly turned away, bolting down the hill and heading back toward home.

"Kate!" Salty called after her, "Kate what's wrong!"

But she did not stop.

Salty turned to Shakey and Mooch with a look of bewilderment plastered on his face.

"Was it something we said?" he asked them perturbed.

They replied with a shrug.

"I don't like this," Salty said and began to make his way down the hill, following her.

"Where ya goin?" Mooch called after him.

Salty turned his head, but did not pause.

"I'm following her," he replied, "something is wrong here, really wrong, and we're gonna find out what."

?&?

"Eve?" Winston said hesitantly, placing the bowl down beside her, "I uh... I brought you some water."

Eve did not expect to hear his voice and immediately removed her foreleg from across her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him flatly, turning her eyes away so that she wasn't looking at him.

"Eve, I know you probably don't want to see me right now," Winston began slowly, "and you have every right in the world to be mad at me, but could you please give me a chance to talk to you?"

Eve kept her eyes away from him.

"Eve, there are not enough words to express how sorry I am for what happened last night," he said sincerely, "and not a single excuse to justify my actions, but-"

"Then why did you do it?" she interrupted bitterly.

"I was a fool, alright," Winston answered desperately, "I was stupid, I drank too much and I lost my head, but please God, Eve, I'm begging you, don't make me lose you too. You are everything to me."

"That still doesn't change what happened," she replied, "the kiss I can forgive, but you hit me, Winston, you raised your paw to your own wife, and that is inexcusable."

Winston said nothing, for what more could he honestly say, because she was absolutely right. Anything else he said would sound like a lie, and he knew that saying he was sorry again would only make the situation worse, so he was on the ropes here with no way out.

"Now if you would be so kind-"

"He's gone!" they heard Kate suddenly cry and turned to see her rush into the den.

"Who's gone?" Eve asked, rolling to her paws.

"Humphrey!" Kate replied hysterically, tears rolling down her face, "he's gone!"