This story is part of Alpha and Omega: The Series. If you like this story, please check out the other stories in the Series and follow the Series community and forum.

Credit goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves for beta-reading this story and for managing the Series in general.

Alpha and Omega and its characters are the property of Lionsgate and Crest Animation Studios.

It was a lucky day for Kate. It was time for the daily hunt, and she had managed to locate a caribou that had somehow broken away from his herd. Kate carefully stalked toward him through the grass, making sure that she gave no hint of her presence. This caribou was apparently quite a bold individual because, despite being completely alone in the middle of wolf territory, he was peacefully chewing at the grass without the slightest hint of concern.

Bold or foolish, Kate thought. As long as the pack got fed, it didn't matter which.

Her ears quickly caught the sound of Hutch and Can-do, following behind her. She looked over her shoulder and nodded her head, signaling Hutch to circle around one way and Can-do the other. They would cut off any chance of escape. But Kate was going down the middle to tackle the caribou straight-on.

Humphrey sat patiently on a nearby ridge. Since his friends were all busy doing whatever they got up to when he wasn't around, Humphrey had decided to follow his mate and hopefully do something with her when the hunt was done. Knowing Kate, it wouldn't be a long one.

Kate snuck up on the caribou, perfectly concealing herself until the moment was exactly right. And then, she leapt into the air.

The caribou never saw it coming. She had him pinned to the ground and was perfectly poised to finish him off.

But just as she went for the kill, she noticed something strange. Just a few feet away was a pair of black shoes. Looking up, Kate saw that these shoes were attached to two legs which were in turn attached to a large, burly human towering over her. He was carrying some type of big black thing on his shoulder.

Kate was stunned; a human was staring down at her. She should have heard him coming, but she must have been too caught up in her kill to notice. She couldn't believe she had been so careless.

"Um, can I help you?" Kate said, more for lack of anything else to do than from actually believing the human would understand her.

"Get away from them, you buffoon!" came another human voice.

A younger man in khakis came over and started forcefully pulling the tall man away. "You're interrupting the action! Besides, you're getting in the shot of the other cameras!"

Kate now realized that the black thing on the big man's shoulder was a large hand-held camera and that it was focused directly on her.

Above them, Humphrey watched this scene with incredible interest. "A camera crew? Huh, I always wanted to be a movie star," he said quietly to himself.

Kate looked around at Hutch and Can-do, both still in their designated positions. 'Help,' she mouthed. But neither of them seemed to know what to do. So Kate just stared up at the camera and smiled nervously.

This didn't last long. The caribou, realizing that he was not currently being killed, recovered and jumped up, throwing Kate off of him and to the ground. Just as she realized what happened, the caribou launched a back hoof into her chest and she collapsed backward. His foe thus immobilized, the caribou made a quick getaway.

"Kate!" Humphrey screamed, his previous dreams of silver-screen glory all but forgotten. He ran down into the valley toward his wounded mate.

"This is excellent!" said the young man in charge of the camera crew. "We've got to capture this. Everybody, focus on that caribou!"

The big man now turned away from Kate. However, the caribou's triumph was short-lived, as he had the misfortune of running straight toward where Can-do was concealed. Can-do quickly brought him down.

"Kate, are you okay?" Humphrey said as he helped her get up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kate said as she steadied herself. "It wasn't as bad as it looked. I just got the wind knocked out of me, is all."

Kate was starting to regain herself when she noticed that, caribou being dead, all the cameras were now trained back on her and Humphrey.

Kate giggled nervously as she looked into the numerous cameras. "Humphrey, can we go?" she whispered.

"But don't you want to help with the caribou?" Humphrey asked.

"Now!" Kate said, more forcefully but still quietly.

"Okay, okay," Humphrey said. And then, he took a moment, to give an exaggerated bow for the cameras. Kate rolled her eyes as she walked away. As Humphrey followed her, he winked at the cameras over his shoulder.

They headed up the ridge, with Hutch and Can-do standing over the downed caribou and staring in disbelief.

"Kate, what's wrong?" Humphrey asked. "Why did you just freeze up like that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Kate said gruffly.

"I mean, you never freeze up like that," Humphrey continued.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Kate responded, practically yelling.

Humphrey suddenly smiled knowingly. "Oh, I get it, you're camera-shy!"

Kate didn't answer. She just grumbled something to herself.

"But how can you be camera-shy? I mean, you're never nervous about hunting caribou or stampedes or anything!"

"That's different," Kate said, slightly upset at Humphrey for dwelling on it. "When I'm out there, I just do what I have to do. It's just me and what I have to do. Nothing else exists at that moment. But when that guy stuck a camera in my face, I felt like I was being watched, like people were waiting for me to mess up!"

"But I watch you hunt all the time, Kate, and you never get nervous," Humphrey said.

Kate shook her head. "That's different. I know you and the rest of the pack. I don't have to prove anything. But with those humans recording my every move, I just felt like I couldn't focus anymore."

Humphrey didn't know what to say. He was partially pleased that his mate actually had some weaknesses, but he knew it wasn't the right thing to say to her face.

So he just said, "Cheer up, Kate. I'm sure they're just passing through. You'll see, a few days and they'll be gone!"

In the valley below, the young man smiled. "Our first day, and we're already getting some incredible stuff! Who knows what we'll get tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day! Boys, get settled, because we could be here for weeks, months even! I have a feeling we won't be leaving for a long, long time!"

What does the presence of these new neighbors mean for the wolves of Jasper?

Read on.