A Difference of Affection

Chapter 1: Division

Kate's POV

It was a beautiful day. The clouds were parting to show the gorgeous smiling face of the sun. There was a brisk breeze in Jasper on a perfect spring day. Well, almost perfect.

I don't know why but I felt an empty feeling in my heart. Almost as if I was missing something of importance in my life. I don't know why I'm feeling this considering the recent events. Since I took too long to get back. The packs of Jasper abolished the law that kept Alphas and Omegas from being mates, so Garth and Lilly united the the packs and prevented a war.

Now after all that I'm just lying in the main den wondering why I hurt inside so much. While I was pondering 'why' in my head I heard a flurry of noises outside. There was howling, crying, screaming and it enticed me enough to see what it was. So, I got up and padded to the overlook of the pack. I felt incomplete when I walked and it took all my willpower to conceal it to the inside of me. When I arrived at the overlook what I witnessed caused me many mixed feelings.

There were wolves, mostly all western, who were mourning over something which made me sad and curious all at once. I made up my mind to go see what or who they were agonizing over. As I walked to the bawling wolves I decided to take in the scenery. Everything had changed since this morning. The clouds were grey and blocked out the sun, the shrubbery was dull with little to no color. It frightened me how the mood of Jasper changed so quickly, it was almost as if something or someone, not just in my life, but in everyone's life had disappeared. And now the world was mourning along with everyone else.

This worried and scared me greatly causing me to quicken my pace. When I arrived I noticed everyone immediately got quiet except for a few stifled sobs. "Strange, getting stared at like this by all these wolves." I thought, until someone came up to me that was when I broke out of my trance. Then the wolf started talking to me and asking me questions while the others continued to grieve

"Kate." He asked, "Do you know why we're all like this? Do you know why we suffer?" While gesturing to the wolves he started whimpering.

"No, and no." I responded, "What is going on here?" At this point I recognized the wolf as Shakey. He looked at me with a fire in his eyes and the storm behind him. Both presenting a type of anger and madness all in one, and the voice, he remarked in a voice like that of a demon.

"You would know, or at least you should know!" And with that he ran off, tears streaking from his eyes. To say I was shocked was a bit of an understatement. I was dismayed at who I thought this particular wolf was, and my odds were great that this was who I thought it was. This wolf had influenced everyone's lives including mine. I now understood the emptiness I felt inside.

That wolf was none other than Humphrey. My world has drastically been changed for the worst. I know resembled my broken heart. My mane went stiff as a branch, my paws and lips were trembling, my insides were a mess, and my eyes were no longer a rich deep amber. I now knew what the world and these wolves were going through… pain, horrible, excruciating, unbearable pain. I started to cry because I figured out what Shakey had meant. It was all my fault that Humphrey ran away. As if the Earth felt sorry for me or mad it started to rain.

"There I was," I thought. "Once a proud, loyal, kind alpha; deteriorated to a whimpering pup bawling it's eyes out." As I laid there grieving over Humphrey I started to get flashbacks of our time together. I saw us, just him and I together; playing games, having a good time, and slowly building a crush each on the other, but only one knew it at the time. Humphrey knew that he had a crush on me which turned into love, and now everything he did for me makes since. He did it because he wanted to see me happy, loved, and protected. I was too blind to notice it, so blind in fact that I didn't realize that I had a crush on him too. Which slowly blossomed into love. Now it was my fault that he was gone. God knows where he is now probably shivering in a cold dark den, alone and crying. But these wouldn't be tears of sadness or regret, these were more darker ones.