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Chapter 5: New Revelations

Humphrey slowly stirred with a soft groan and allowed his eyelids to peel themselves apart, only to find himself inside of his den, which was strange to him, because the last thing that he could remember, Cail was about to demonstrate a counter move to the attack that he had just finished teaching, so how did he get here? Humphrey pondered the situation for a moment as he tried to recall how it was that he could have gotten here, and why it was that his head throbbed as it did, but after a few seconds' time, he decided to call it quits and aborted such thoughts as he was entirely at a loss. He then began to wonder what time it was and allowed this inquisition to bring him to his paws, or at least he would have if they would have moved.

"What the heck?" he asked aloud, turning his eyes down to his paws to find that they were tied to a single point before him.

He flexed his legs, attempting to break the vines which bound his paws, but ceased immediately to struggle when he heard a voice.

"I do apologize for the restraints, my boy," Miles said to him sincerely, stepping cautiously into the den, "but we couldn't take any chances."

Humphrey turned to him, a look of perturbation glued to his features.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused, "what's going on? Why am I here?"

Miles remained silent for a brief moment, almost as though trying to pick his words carefully, then spoke when they fell into place on his tongue.

"You mean you don't remember anything?" he asked quizzically.

Humphrey scowled.

"What's so important that it would require me to remember," he asked bitterly, "tell me what's going on."

Miles shifted then sat down.

"Humphrey listen," he began, "we just-"

"Quit with the games," Humphrey demanded firmly, causing Miles to tense, almost as though preparing for a fight.

Humphrey, once his initial outburst had fallen silent, began to calm himself down.

"Now please," he began again, softly, "just tell me what is going on."

"Miles," a new voice called, "has he awakened yet?"

Miles turned behind him and then rose to his paws to greet the two newcomers.

"Affirmative, Sir," he replied, addressing Winston.

"Winston, thank the Lord," Humphrey mused to himself, then lifted his head to his pack's leader, "Winston, what the heck is going on here?" he asked.

Winston stepped past Miles and stopped before the omega, then gazed down upon him with a mixture of emotions evident upon his aged face.

"Humphrey," Winston began gently, yet maintaining his aura of authority, "I have been informed by your instructor that you should be disallowed to continue your training."

"What?" Humphrey asked flabbergasted, "but... why? I... I like it here!"

Winston sighed then turned to Miles and Cail, who stood a few feet behind him.

"Give us a minute," he said to them softly.

The two nodded curtly then took their leave, leaving Humphrey and Winston alone.

"Humphrey, I know that this may be hard for you to understand, and it is with much regret that you and I have to have this discussion, but based off of the report that I received from Cail earlier this morning, I have to deem you a danger to the students and to the program, and henceforth have no choice but to disallow the continuation of your training," Winston stated morosely, "I'm truly sorry."

Humphrey's brows furrowed together and a look of sadness began to form in his eyes.

"Me, a danger?" he asked in disbelief, "but how, Winston? What did I do?"

Winston sighed, lowering his head.

"Humphrey, I know that you don't mean harm to anybody," he began, lifting his head again, "but you have no ability to maintain control of your anger."

Humphrey cocked his head to the side because none of this was making sense to him. What anger? What the hell was he talking about?

"But I don't have any kind of anger," he replied desperately, "I wouldn't hurt anybody."

Winston laid a paw on his shoulder.

"I know you wouldn't, Humphrey," he replied, "but I've listened to multiple accounts about your actions earlier today, and all of them were fairly consistent with each other, so I must do something about it."

Humphrey swallowed at a quivering breath.

"But I didn't do anything," he pleaded as unshed tears began to sting his eyes, "I don't even know why I'm here."

"Humphrey, you attacked Cail today," Winston said sternly, removing his paw, "in such a way that if you were to have done so to one of the students, you would have killed them."

Humphrey's breath began to quiver more noticeably and he lowered his eyes.

"I couldn't have," he replied as his quivering eyes drifted up to his leader once more, "I- I-"

"Humphrey, please," Winston condoled, placing his paw once again upon the omega's shoulder, "I don't think you're dangerous and I don't want this any more than you do, but I have to consider the safety of the instructors and of the other students."

Humphrey began to sob softly and his shoulders bounced beneath Winston's paw.

"I'm sorry Humphrey," Winston apologized, rubbing his shoulder softly then removed it and walked slowly out of the den, his head held low.

Kate, who insisted on following her father upon hearing that something was wrong with Humphrey, lifted her head anxiously as her eyes fell upon her father and she rose to greet him.

"How is he?" she asked him concerned.

"Devastated," he replied sadly, "but as far as I can tell, he is stable."

"Then why can't you untie him?" she asked him dismally, "he doesn't need to be treated like some sort of head case."

"Kate," Winston began in a fatherly tone, "we can't take any chances. He's calm now, but who's to say he won't become violent again? We need to hold him here for further observation."

Kate sighed in distain.

"But does he have to be tied up?" she asked him, "he's not crazy, dad; he just needs to-"

Winston laid a paw on her shoulder, cutting her off.

"Listen, Kate," he began, his eyes gazing into hers, "I know that you love him and I know that this must be hard on the both of you, but I don't want to see anybody, you especially, get hurt."

"But I know him," Kate argued, "he won't hurt me. He would die before he let anything bad happen."

"I know he would," Winston replied, "but who's to say what he would feel if he were to lose control again?"

Kate's eyes began to water slightly.

"Dad, please just let me talk to him," she begged, "please, he's probably scared to death."

Winston sighed, for he hated to see his daughter in pain and lowered his paw.

"Alright," he conceded to her softly, causing Kate to immediately step forward and lock him in a hug.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

Winston smiled and rubbed the back of her head.

"I'll be right outside if anything should go wrong," he stated.

"It won't," Kate assured, "stepping back and looking him in the eyes, "I promise."

Humphrey stared at the wall silently, his ears folded on the top of his skull and unshed tears beginning once again to sting his eyes.

He could not believe that it was happening to him again, and he could only guess as to what kind of trouble it would get him in this time.

He sighed deeply.

He should have known that doing the alpha training was a bad idea because somewhere deep down he knew that this would happen, but he was a fool, and now he knew that he would never be trusted again, not only by Winston but the entirety of Allied Jasper.

"Humphrey?" he heard a familiar voice call, causing his ears to shoot immediately into attention.

"Kate?" he asked in surprise, for he did not expect her to be here, and scooted his body around so that it faced her, "Kate, what are you doing here?"

She moved closer and sat down about a foot and a half away from him.

"Well I heard that you got yourself into some trouble, so I figured I had better come down here and bail you out," she replied, hoping to get him to smile, as she could sense his uneasiness through the tension in the air.

Humphrey, however, was in no mood for joking and only sighed, for he was ashamed that she should have to see him this way, and lowered his eyes.

Kate, upon seeing such a display, reached a paw out and gently began to rub the side of Humphrey's face, and this finally brought a smile to his features, even if such a smile was meek and distant. However, this moment did not last as Humphrey once again lowered his eyes to the floor.

"I messed up bad, Kate," Humphrey said to her dismally, his smile fading, "everybody thinks I'm a monster."

She moved around and laid down in front of him so that her nose was only inches away from his and stared into his eyes.

"It's alright, Humphie," she crooned, licking away a tear that escaped down the side of his muzzle.

"No it's not," he replied dejectedly, "I could have killed somebody."

"Shh, Humphrey," she said softly, "everything is gonna be okay."

"No it won't," he replied morosely, "they won't let me finish the training. I can't be an alpha, which means that we can't lead the pack." He lowered his eyes and began to sob. "But I guess I did what I do best," he cried, "I let everybody down. I let your mom and dad down, I let the pack down, and I let you down."

Kate inched her way closer and gently touched her nose to his, as this worked wonders to calm him down whenever he was upset, and took one of his paws into hers.

"Humphrey look at me," she said to him softly, squeezing his paw comfortingly in her own.

Humphrey sniffled and lifted his eyes to her, revealing dark streaks which ran down the fur on his cheeks.

"You didn't let anybody down," she crooned softly.

"But you were always destined to lead the pack," he argued, disgusted with himself, "it was your destiny, Kate, and I've cheated you out of it."

Kate snuggled in close to his side and licked the tears from his eyes.

Humphrey sniffled and nuzzled his head tightly beneath her neck, seeking comfort in her embrace.

"Humphrey, our destiny is what we make it," she said to him, rubbing his head between his ears, "and the only ones who have any control over it is us."

She slid her paw gently beneath his chin and lifted his head so that his eyes met hers.

"Look at me. We proved that together, you and I, remember? We showed this pack that love and fate cannot be decided by laws or by birth. It is done so by the dictates of your heart, Humphrey, your heart and nothing else, and does my heart say that I want to follow in my father's footsteps and lead the pack someday? You bet it does."

Humphrey sighed and began to lower his eyes, but Kate called them to hers once more.

"But," she began again, lifting his head, "it does not want to if it means that I would have to do it without you by my side."

"But, who am I to take that away from you?" Humphrey asked sadly, "you deserve so much more than what I can give you."

"Now don't you go talking like that," Kate said to him, "I'm happy with whatever you can give me, and if that means turning the lead over to Garth and Lilly, then so be it. I married you, Humphrey. I loved you then and I will always love you, no matter what life we live."

Humphrey allowed a meek smile to form across his lips, but it faded quickly with a sigh.

"What's the matter?" Kate asked him concerned.

"They were right about me, you know?" he stated flatly, "I'm a danger to everybody."

"No you're not," Kate replied, rising to her paws, "you just-"

"Kate you don't understand," he interrupted, "I'm..."

Humphrey sighed and trailed off, lowering his head, ensuing upon them a spell of silence which lasted for nearly a minute before Kate spoke.

"Humphrey?" Kate asked, placing a paw on his shoulder.

"Kate I need to tell you something," Humphrey said to her almost apprehensively, lifting his eyes to her once more, "because you deserve to know the truth."

Kate cocked her head to the side.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

Humphrey sighed again and looked her dead in the eyes, almost as though trying to tell his story to her through the tears glistening across their irises then lowered them once more.

"I'm a liar Kate," he said to her flatly, "nothing but a damned liar."

"What?" Kate asked him perturbed, "what are you talking about? I don't understand?"

Humphrey took a collective breath then turned to her once more.

"My dad didn't kill my family," he admitted slowly, "I did."