FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 17: The Return

Moments later, light returned to the void and the pair found themselves standing alone out in the middle of a large plain of snow.

Humphrey's eyes immediately moved over to Kate, though they migrated slowly, and as they fell upon her, he found that he was having a difficult time keeping them there. He did not know why he met this situation with such mixed emotions, because he knew that Daniel got exactly what he deserved, but at the same time, he had never dreamed in a million years that his mate could be capable of murdering somebody- even if by accident. It put her in a whole new perspective for him, and he knew that after what he just saw, it may be difficult for him to ever look upon her the same way again. But then again, who was he to judge?

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Kate apologized as she lowered her head.

Humphrey sighed and sidled up beside her, then, with only a moment's hesitation, he placed his paw on her shoulder.

Kate's eyes floated up toward his and saw that a faint smile had formed upon his lips.

"See what?" he asked her in hopes to just sweep this whole mess under the rug.

Kate flattened her ears and pulled away.

"I knew you wouldn't understand," she cried, "I knew it!"

Humphrey's face twisted into one of confusion and he rose to his paws.

"Understand what?" he asked her angrily, though he kept his distance, "that you gave Daniel everything that he deserved?

"I never meant for it to go that far!" Kate bawled, "I didn't mean to kill him! I- I-h-I just wanted him to hurt for what he did to me!"

Humphrey's scowl faded as he watched his mate collapse to her haunches before him and he moved forward to hold her.

Kate melted into his embrace and buried her face deep into the fur on his chest, where her hysteria receded to soft tears.

Humphrey gently stroked the back of her neck as he attempted to comfort her.

"Shh," he crooned, "it's okay Kate. It was an accident."

"Accident or not, I killed him, Humphrey," Kate sniffled, "In my fit of anger I crossed a line that should never be crossed, and that's something I've had to live with every day. That guilt has been my burden for over a year now."

Humphrey, for a moment, found himself at a loss for words and simply held her in his arms. A gentle breeze rolled through their fur and whisked their worlds farther apart, but after a few moments, it carried away the silence that had entrapped them and Humphrey finally found his tongue.

"Kate, I do understand," Humphrey began as he draped his muzzle onto her shoulder, "even though I know what I did was justified, do you not think that I would give anything to go back and stop myself from having to do what I did?"

Kate shook her head as she buried her face deeper into his chest.

"Don't be stupid, Humphrey," Kate rebutted hoarsely, "killing him was the only thing you could do to save yourself. That's different."

"No, Kate," Humphrey asserted as he pushed her away so he may look her in the eyes, "it's no different. Yes, my father was a sick, sadistic, son of a bitch, but he was still a wolf, and he was still my father, and I killed him." He sighed and flattened his ears. "You know, with time I thought that I could forget what I had done and move on, but to this day I can still see his blood on my paws." He lifted his misty eyes as a light scowl formed upon his face. "So don't tell me I wouldn't understand what it's like to have regrets."

Kate sighed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she began to regain control of her tears, "I just wanna go home."

"Me too," Humphrey replied and pulled her in close once more, "me too."

Kate buried her face into his chest fur as Humphrey again began to stroke the back of her neck with his paw, but this moment was short lived as light suddenly vanished once more.

Startled, Kate pulled away and rose to her paws, then cast her eyes in all directions so as to determine what had happened, but she could not see a thing.

Humphrey had already grown accustomed to this sort of change, so when light retreated from his eyes, he only dropped his paw and lifted his head, ready to face whatever challenge lied ahead. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to tremble softly and unintelligible voices began to fluctuate in volume all around them.

"Humphrey what's happening," Kate asked, frightened as she backed up against him.

"Just stay calm, Kate," Humphrey comforted as the vibrations beneath his paws began to settle, "it'll be over soon."

Kate nodded under the cloak of darkness and searched the ground with her paw for Humphrey's, and when she found it, she placed it on top of his, seeking comfort in his touch. The voices grew louder and louder around them until finally, the ground ceased to tremble and for a moment, there was absolute silence, save the sound of the pair's breath.

There was then a sudden burst of wind which blasted their fur back and nearly knocked them off of their paws. Together, Kate and Humphrey braced themselves against the roaring wind, then, just as quickly as it had come, the wind vanished and with its departure came a fluttering sound. This sound startled the pair, but when the flutter fell silent, a white, luminescent wolf appeared about ten feet before them which cast a dim halo of light about two feet beyond its form. At first, the pair had to shield their faces from its presence, but after a moment, their eyes adjusted and they slowly lowered their paws. Still the wolf said nothing as it gazed upon them with wistful eyes.

"Who are you?" Kate asked it softly.

The wolf's ears twitched upon being addressed, but it still made no reply.

Humphrey began to notice a sinking feeling in his stomach which warned of danger and he pushed Kate behind him defensively.

"Who are you?" Humphrey demanded as he felt fear begin to rise inside of him, "do you understand the words coming out of my mouth? Identify yourself, now!"

The wolf cocked its head to the right and flattened its ears, then allowed its head to level out once more and began to approach.

Kate watched from behind her mate as the wolf stepped closer to them and moved around his side once more, ready to fight and die at his side if need be. Humphrey turned his eyes to her for only a moment before he returned them to the wolf before him.

"Don't come any closer, you hear me?" Humphrey demanded as he writhed his gums off of his fangs, but beneath his malice exterior, fear churned his stomach like a raging sea.

The wolf took no heed to their warnings and continued its approach, growing brighter and brighter as it drew nearer to them. The light then grew so intense that the two had to squint their eyes against it, but they never took their eyes off of the wolf.

"This is your last chance," Kate warned as she wrinkled her muzzle, "stay where you are, or we will kill you."

From out of nowhere, a high frequency ring began to sound in their ears which caused them to grimace and after about two seconds, the ringing grew so intense that they had to lower their heads and attempt to cover their ears with their paws to block it out. The ring steadily grew worse until it was almost unbearable. Humphrey collapsed to his stomach first and began to plead for the ringing to end, and Kate followed a second later. The light around them was now so bright that they had to close their eyes or face being blinded, and still the ring droned. Kate and Humphrey jammed their paws over their ears as tightly as they could and screamed in agony as the frequency drilled into their sensitive ear drums. Then finally, the ring stopped and the light grew dim once more.

For a moment there was silence save the distressed pants from the afflicted couple, then the wolf spoke.

"You need not be afraid," it said in a feminine voice as smooth as silk, "for I have come to take you home."

Kate and Humphrey both opened their eyes and moved to gaze upon the wolf, but before their eyes could travel up to her face, she placed a forepaw on each of their heads and all went black.

_ A&? _

In the medical den, there was great unrest. Kate and Humphrey were gingerly placed side by side in the middle of the den after Humphrey voluntarily went under sedation, and now there was nothing for the worry-ridden parents to do but sit and wait. Eve sat close at Kate's side and gently brushed her back with her paw and sang to her softly while Winston paced the floor. Jack had initially sat near the far wall and restlessly kneaded his paws in the dirt while his wife whispered soft prayers as she lied beside him, but for the past few minutes, the pair had been outside of the den, as the stress had finally taken its toll on poor Mary and sent her running to the grass where she would vomit. Jack sat behind her as her nerves finally ceased their assault on his mate's stomach and gently rubbed her shoulder with his paw.

Mary sniffed and wiped her mouth with the side of her paw, then began to sob softly.

"We should have never let him go," she cried as she turned and buried her face into her mate's chest.

Jack crooned softly and stroked the back of her neck with his paw as he attempted to ease his mate's mind, but the trouble was, such a task was difficult when concern for his son's safety weighed as heavily upon his mind as it did hers. Truth be known, he was scared to death, and his own stomach burned with anxiety, but he was strong in his faith- not only his faith in his God, but in his son as well. So there was a part of him deep inside that somehow knew that everything would be okay, even if this part was incredibly small. Mary sniffled again and nuzzled her face deeper into into her mate's chest as her tears slowly began to cease, then pulled away and lowered her eyes in shame.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she apologized in a raspy voice and lifted her paw to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

Jack, despite the situation at hand, smiled softly and used his tongue to wipe away the tears which streamed down her cheeks.

"It's gonna be okay, baby," he replied tenderly then pulled her in close once more, "he's strong. He can do this. Just have faith in him."

Mary nodded slowly in his embrace, then began to press herself away from him.

Jack released his grip as she pulled away and placed his paws on the ground, then rose to his paws.

"You ready?" he asked his mate dryly.

Mary sighed and nodded, then slowly pressed herself up onto her paws and together the pair began to make their way into the den once more. However, a sudden cry hurried their pace, and when they stepped into the den, they saw Winston and Eve standing beside Kate.

"Eve, what is it?" Jack questioned quickly

"Stand back," Eve instructed as she herself backed slowly away.

_ A&? _

The insufferable ring grew so intense that Kate felt as though her ear drums were about to explode, but just when she thought the ring would never end, it slowly faded and new sounds began to find purchase upon her ears; though these sounds were so soft and muddled that she could not identify them. The next observation that Kate made was that the bright, white light which had engulfed her had dimmed and turned yellow, and then she noticed a queasiness in her stomach.

What was this? What was happening to her? Was she waking up?

She tried to open her eyes, but found that the normally light membranes of skin which covered them had grown incredibly heavy, which rendered her unable to do so. Annoyed, she groaned and tried again, and that was when what sounded like voices began to flow into her ears.

"...te... Ka... a... ay?"

She swallowed hard as the queasiness in her stomach intensified into a violent churn and threatened to send its contents onto the ground, and tried once more to open her eyes.

"Kate... c... on. -ome back... o... us, Kate."

She groaned again and attempted to lift her head, when a meager strength rose inside of her. All at once, her hearing became clear, her eyes peeled open, and her head raised a few inches off of the ground.

At first all she could see was a large, black blotch before her eyes, but it quickly began to dissipate.

"Thank God," Eve cried, relieved as she slowly moved over to her daughter.

Kate felt a gentle tongue brush the top of her head, but she did not care about this. Her only concern was for her mate.

"Humphrey," she cried weakly, "where's Humphrey?"

There was a brief moment of silence as Winston, Eve, Jack, and Mary all cast their eyes over to Humphrey, about whom, in the heat of the moment, they had briefly forgotten, and they found that he had not yet moved.

"Humphrey," Kate called weakly, still blinded by the spots.

Mary's eyes filled with tears as she stared down upon her son and she began to softly whisper: "Come on, Humphrey. Come on."

Jack stood by her side and stared down upon their son as well, but still no change had occurred.

"Humphrey?" Mary called in a voice which was choked by tears.

"Where is he?" Kate cried as she attempted to turn her body.

However, Winston restrained her, though his eyes never left Mary.

"Dad, what are you doing?" she demanded weakly.

Her father ignored her.

Almost as though afraid to know for sure, Eve slowly approached her son-in-law, then placed a paw on the side of his neck.

Jack and Mary watched in great suspense as Eve checked their son for a pulse, but when she sighed, flattened her ears, then turned to them with a shake of her head, their hearts dropped out of their chests.

Mary broke down and began to sob hysterically into her mate's shoulder, while Jack simply stood there, mortified as silent tears streamed down his face.

"What's going on?" Kate asked weakly as her vision fully returned, "where's Humphrey?"

Winston released her with a sigh and sat down.

"We... we've lost him, Kate," he replied morosely.

It's been a long day without you my friend

"No," Kate cried as she turned to face him.

_ And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again _

Winston sighed as tears began to stream down his cheeks.

_ We've come a long way from where we began _

"I'm sorry, Kate," he replied in a choked voice, "he's gone."

_ Oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again _

_ When I see you again _

"No," Kate cried again and crawled her way over to Humphrey, "he's not gone," she insisted as she gently shook his body, "he's not! Come on, Humphrey," she called as tears snaked through the fur on her cheeks, but when he did not move, her paws began to tremble.

"Come on, Humphrey," she pleaded and shook him again, but when he still remained motionless, she broke down, threw her arms around him, then began to sob hysterically over his body.

A young, grey wolf pup sat alone by the river, staring down upon his reflection which shimmered in the water, but it was hard for him to see with the tears which blurred his eyes. He did not know how many times he had to recount that horrible memory before the albatross would cease to cry, and their ghosts would leave him alone, but each time he thought of them, though he had only ever seen one, he would be reminded of what he did, and what he could have had; but now all he had was misery. Here, he had nobody to call a friend; he never really did, but right now, he thought that he was better off alone anyway. Besides, who would ever want to be his friend anyway?

"Are you okay?" a sudden voice chimed from behind him.

Startled, the pup leaped to his paws and turned to see a beautiful, tan female pup standing before him.

"Woah, sorry," she apologized quickly, "I didn't mean to scare you."

The pup's look of shock faded once more into sadness and he nodded dejectedly.

"It's okay," he replied softly.

The tan female flattened her ears.

"What's the matter," she asked him, "you seem upset."

The grey pup sighed.

"Nothing," he said dryly as he wiped his eyes with the side of his paw, "it's nothing."

The tan pup knew that her new companion was hiding something, but she did not wish to press the matter, so she brushed it off with a small grin.

"Well, anyway, my sister and I were on our way over to the fields to play tag with some other pups if you wanna come," she offered with an assuring smile.

"C'mon, Kate!" another, higher voice called as another pup with white fur appeared, but when she saw the grey pup, she paused, "Oh, hey, who's your friend?"

Kate turned to her.

"I don't know," she replied, "we just met, but I invited him to come play with us if he wanted to."

The white pup smiled.

"Great," she exclaimed excitedly, "let me know what he says," she said as she turned and began to take off in the other direction."

"Lilly!" Kate called after her, but she did not stop, "Li-" she cut herself off with a sigh then turned back to the grey pup with a chuckle, "she's never been the patient type."

This caused the pup to smile softly.

"So what'd'ya say?" she asked brightly, "wanna come with?"

"Um, sure," the grey pup replied happily, as he had never expected anything like this to happen, "sounds fun."

Kate smiled and began to turn.

"Well, come on," she replied as she began to head off in the direction in which her sister had run before.

The grey pup smiled and arrived at her side.

"By the way, I never caught your name," Kate said as she turned to him.

"I'm Humphrey," he replied.

Kate nodded as her smile broadened slightly.

"It's nice to meet you, Humphrey."

_ First you both go out your way and the vibe is feeling strong _

_ and what's small turned to a friendship a friendship turned to a bond _

_ and that bond will never be broken the love will never get lost. _

The two newly-weds stood face to face atop Howling Rock with smiles which shone brighter than the stars above. All around them, the cheerful song of two packs now united blended in beautiful harmony, but all fell silent as the two made ready to add their voices to the chorus.

"Are you ready?" Humphrey asked her excitedly.

Kate's heart exploded with joy as she nodded.

"Oh yeah, ready."

And when brotherhood come first then line will never be crossed

we established it on our own when that line had to be drawn

and that line is what we reach

_ So remember me when I'm gone. _

Eve buried her face into Winston's shoulder and cried softly.

_ How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got? _

Time itself seemed to freeze inside of the den as the family mourned the loss of their beloved omega, and the world beyond its confides seemed to fade away, leaving nothing but the cold absolution of death and the unanimous sounds of heartache.

Everything I went through you were standing there by my side

_ And now you gonna be with me for the last ride _

Kate sniffled and pulled away from her deceased mate's body and stared down upon his face through the veil of tears in her eyes, then gently licked the top of his head.

_ So let the light guide your way _

_ hold every memory as you go _

_ and every road you take will always lead you home. _

It's been a long day without you my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.

"I love you," she whispered softly as a tear dripped from her muzzle and landed on his cheek.

We've come a long way from where we began. Oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.

As the tear dripped onto Humphrey's cheek, his eyes pinched together, then slowly opened, and he turned them up to Kate.

"Humphrey?" Kate asked, astounded.

"Hey Kate."

When I see you again.

_ A&? _

Gauge lied alone in the den for the detained where he still awaited trial for what he had done, and in this time, his bitterness had only grown. He was missing out on vital training, which he could have used against that pathetic excuse for an alpha when he attacked him, and most of all, this all happened because Winston and Eve decided that it would be a good idea to allow alphas to marry omegas.

He growled as these troubling thoughts circled in his head, and the more he thought about them, the angrier he became. He wanted nothing more than to destroy every last one of these wolves who were impure of heart, and would quite soon be impure of blood. He wanted to slaughter them all, Humphrey and Miles especially. He wanted to tear their ears off, skin them alive, rip them slowly limb from limb, but he knew that he would likely never get that chance, not in his current position.

"You're in quite a spot of trouble, aren't you?" Gauge suddenly heard a familiar voice call from in front of him

Gauge scoffed and lifted his head to the grey wolf who had entered the den.

"Oh great, and to what do I owe this great honor?" he asked sarcastically.

The grey wolf scowled and paused about three feet before him.

"Look you little piece of crap, since your parents aren't here to look out for you anymore, I'm all you've got," he replied bitterly, "it took a lot of strings being pulled to get you off on extended probation, which is a hell of a step up from the death penalty," he continued, "so if I were you, I'd shape up and learn to respect those who are trying to help you."

Gauge, however, didn't buy it.

"Right," he began venomously, "and what exactly makes you think that I would want your help?"

The grey wolf's scowl deepened and he sat down.

"Because, whether you believe it or not, we are the same, you and I," he began, which caused Gauge to roll his eyes, "you hate that piece of omega crap, don't you?" the grey wolf asked firmly, which caught the bitter alpha's attention, "and all others like him. If you could, you'd eliminate him and every last one of them."

Gauge scowled and nodded.

"In a heartbeat," he replied angrily, "but our leaders are a bunch of pussies. They don't understand that those parasites are a waste of precious resources."

The grey wolf smiled cruelly.

"Well what would you say if I told you that you could help us change all of that?" the grey wolf asked seriously.

Gauge's eyes narrowed.

"Us?" he asked suspiciously.

The grey wolf nodded.

"There is a faction within this pack," he began in a softer voice, "who believe that Winston and Eve are no longer fit to lead, and this new law was the final straw. They are going to lead our pack to destruction if they aren't stopped, and that is exactly what we aim to do."

Gauge lifted his head as genuine interest filled his body.

"So you want me to help you get rid of them?" Gauge asked intrigued.

The grey wolf nodded.

"And what of the other alphas?" Gauge inquired, "Our opinion isn't exactly popular amongst a lot of important members in this pack."

The grey wolf gave a toothy grin.

"Once Winston and Eve are removed from the picture, they'll either join us, or we'll slaughter them all," he replied sinisterly,

Gauge felt an evil smile tug at the corners of his mouth and he nodded.

"And what of Humphrey," Gauge questioned, "and the rest of his wretched spawn?"

The grey wolf's grin broadened slightly.

"I'll leave that up for you to decide," he answered as he leaned down and began to untie Gauge's restraints.

Gauge considered his options as he waited for his uncle to finish untying him, and as he thought deeper on the subject, the more excited he became. Finally, the grey wolf finished removing the restraints and stepped away. As he stepped back, Gauge slowly took to his paws, then once he stood upright, he nodded and outstretched his right paw.

"I'm in."