Chapter 7 – A new home?

"Who is he? And why have your brought him here"

"I don't know Jack, but he was dying, if I had left him there, the crows would be picking at his corpse by now"

Jack was an older grey wolf, his fur shifted shades from darker grey, to a lighter grey. He was a large wolf, and even with his age, still looked threatening. He had light blue eyes, and a small scar under his right eye, which was parallel to his eyelids.

"So you thought it would be a good idea to bring him here, into our home" said jack, "Alysha, he could be a spy, or a scout, this threatens our pack"

Alysha was a female, with red fur, similar to Garths. She had a long slender body, and was much younger than jack. She had brown eyes, but no visible scars to show.

"Jack, look at him, does he look like he can be a scout, he's clearly an omega, and he fell down a mountain for Tors sake. He doesn't exactly look like the enemy"

Both wolves looked towards Humphrey, and his poor, unwell state. He lay on the floor, with multiple bruises to his torso and his hind legs. He had tree sap in his wounds to help heal, and a small cast, made of sticks on his front left paw.

"No, he looks like a liability to me" said Jack

"Well what do you want me to do now, he's here, and our healer has already started nursing him back to health, we can't just throw him out into the forest and leave him"

"Why not?" said jack, "you said you found him on his own, clearly, he wants to be on his own"

Alysha looked at jack saying nothing, only giving him a disappointed look on her face.

"Fine" said jack, "come find me when he wakes, I have some questions for him"

With that jack walked out of the den and left Alysha to look over Humphrey.

Soon after Humphrey started to stir and wake up. He slowly started to open his eyes, and grunted in pain as he tried to move his body. He lifted his head up, and managed to move his body so he was upright, and not lying on his side.

Humphrey looked around the den, only to be startled, when he saw Alysha sat, a mere meter away, staring at him.

"Erm… hello" said Humphrey, "who are you?"

"I'm the one who saved your life, after you fell down a mountain, and have put the safety of this pack at risk, so you can do me the favour of telling me who you are?"

Humphrey instantly had a small flashback and remembered sledding down the mountain, and hitting a rock.

"Well…" said Alysha

"I'm erm… I'm Humphrey"

"Really? You don't sound so sure" said Alysha

"Yes, I am, my name is Humphrey, and I'm a lone wolf"

"You're a lone wolf, you?" said Alysha, "You don't seem like the type"

"Yeah well it's a pretty new experience for me too" chuckled Humphrey

Alysha got up and walked over to the den entrance, ready to leave. "Come, our pack leader has some questions for you"

Humphrey, after hearing this, struggled to get up. He groaned as his bruises on his torso caused him pain, and he could not put pressure on his left paw. When he was finally able to stand, Humphrey slowly followed Alysha out of then den, only able to walk on 3 feet, as one of them was in a cast.

Alysha led Humphrey, whom followed behind her, towards the alpha den, in the centre of the packs territory. Humphrey took notice of his surroundings as he walked though, seeing alphas on their duties, staring at him with their suspicions, as well as omegas messing around and playing. Alysha stopped before entering Jack's den, causing Humphrey to stop too.

"A simple word of advice" said Alysha, "don't lie to him, he hates liars"

"Right o" said Humphrey, whilst trying to crack a smile.

With that said, Alysha led Humphrey into the den. As they entered, Humphrey slowly followed, with his tail tucked between his legs, nervous about what was going to happen.

Jack was stood in the middle of the den, talking to a younger male wolf. When he noticed Humphrey, he dismissed the younger male, and made his way towards him. Alysha stepped to one side to allow her alpha to question Humphrey.

As he approached Humphrey, he started to walk around him in a circle, inspecting Humphrey.

"Well you don't look like much" said jack, in a bold tone, "now; I ask the questions, you answer the questions, understood?"

"Yes sir" croaked Humphrey

"Who are you? What are you doing here? And why did my beta find you at the bottom of a mountain?"

"Woah, that's a lot of questions" chuckled Humphrey, trying to lighten the mood

"Answer the questions" growled jack

"Yes sir… erm… Well my name his Humphrey, and I suppose I'm traveling you could say, so I assure you I am not a threat, I mean, even you just said I don't look like much" chuckled Humphrey.

"And…"

"Oh yes. The mountain incident. Well I was trying to get down fast, as there was a storm, so I log sledded down, but hit a rock. Sorry I can't really remember what happened after that"

"Log sledded? What is… you know what I don't wanna know, probably an omega thing, am I right?"

"Yes sir, it's an omega thing" chuckled Humphrey

Jack stood there and analysed Humphrey for a few seconds, deciding whether or not Humphrey could be trusted with this new found information, thinking hard. He motioned for Alysha to follow him to the back of the den, where they could talk privately.

"So what do you think?" asked jack

"I don't know. I mean he doesn't look like a threat, look at him"

With that they both turned to look at Humphrey, whom they saw spinning his head in circles as he was following a fly, which was flying around his head.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" asked jack

"What reason would he have to lie? But just to make sure he isn't a threat, I would keep an eye on him, you know, just in case." Said Alysha

"Good idea" said jack.

As they finished their discussion, they both walked back to Humphrey, who had stopped chasing the fly, and sat there, eagerly awaiting, what they had to say.

"We have decided that you can stay here while you heal… if you want" said jack, "of course you don't have to, feel free to leave if you want"

"No, thank you" said Humphrey, "I would very much like to stay, until I heal of course"

"Ok then, whilst you are here, Alysha will be keeping an eye on you, watching everything you do, just in case you decide to do something we don't like"

"What! Why me?" asked Alysha, clearly frustrated.

"You found him, so he's your responsibility" said jack

"But I have duties"

"Well these are your new duties, to keep an eye on him, understood!" said jack

"Very well" replied Alysha.

Alysha left the den, motioning for Humphrey to follow her. As she walked at a brisk pace, Humphrey struggled to keep up with her, as his current state, weakened him.

"Hey Alysha" shouted Humphrey, "could you slow down please, having a bit of trouble keeping up here"

Alysha stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Humphrey.

"No I can't, If I have to babysit you, then you're going to do what I say, and if that means I'm walking fast, then you walk fast, got it?"

"Well, it's just my leg is hurt you see" replied Humphrey.

"Ughhhhh" moaned Alysha, clearly already frustrated with Humphrey, "just go back to the healers den, I'll meet you there. What can I possibly gain from looking after you?"

"Well, you could get some Humphrey wisdom and humour; I am famous for making people laugh"

Alysha all but stared at Humphrey, with an unamused look on her face, which sent chills down Humphrey's spine.

"I'll go back to the den" chuckled Humphrey, as he started to walk away

"Good idea"

-Kate-

"Ughhhhh, how long are we going to be trapped in this cave for, I've been stuck here all night"

"I'll have you know, that this cave, is my home" replied Logan unimpressed with Kates attitude

"Sorry" said Kate, "it's just, I've got all this energy building up, and I'm eager to find Humphrey"

"Look I get it, you're an alpha, and of course you have energy building up" said Logan," but instead of using that energy to annoy me, use it to find Humphrey"

"Ok… sorry" said Kate

"It's fine"

"No it isn't" said Kate, "You've been more helpful to me than I realise, and I've just taken you for granted, I really am sorry"

"Kid I've told you its fine" said Logan

Kate stopped pacing up and down the cave, and walked over to the entrance, where she sat, and watched the storm.

"Do you know where he went?" asked Kate

Logan got up from where he was sat, at the back of the cave, and walked over to sit next to Kate.

"I don't know where he went, but I did tell him to go north, I told him there was a pack there, just giving him ideas" replied Logan.

"A pack? How far?"

"Half a day's walk" said Logan, "but you can probably get there in half that time, with the amount of energy you have"

"I'll make it there, and I'm not going to stop until I find him"

"Well you still have to make the descent first, how are you going to manage that?"

Kate pondered into how she was going to get down the mountain at a fast pace. Eventually she cracked a smile, as she thought of the best way to get down the mountain.

"Well…" asked Logan

"All this time I've been thinking like an alpha, maybe it's time to start thinking like an omega" replied Kate as a small smirk formed on her face.

-Humphrey-

Humphrey had made it back to the healers den, only to walk in and find a mysterious wolf, inside the den, sorting out healing, and medical equipment, like leaves and sap.

"Oh erm… hello" said Humphrey

This mysterious wolf turned around, to greet Humphrey; she was a small, white wolf, with piercing blue eyes, clearly an omega, with a small white lock of hair, which flowed back over her head.

"Hey" said the wolfess, in a very cheery tone, "I'm Alice, nice to meet you"

Humphrey just stared at the Alice, without saying a word, causing Alice to chuckle

"Are you ok? That fall knock some sense out of you"

"Oh no sorry" replied Humphrey, "you just look like someone I know, well someone I used to know."

"Well we should get on fine then" said Alice

"That's not a problem, I get on with everyone"

"Well I'm sure there are some in this pack that would give you a run for your money" chuckled Alice

"Who? Alysha? She's not impressed with me right now; I don't think she likes me, because she has to babysit me"

"Alysha" chuckled Alice, "no, she's harmless; she's just stressed because her mate is out with a scouting party, so they've been separated for almost a week"

"She has a mate?" Humphrey, curiously asked

"Why, you interested?" asked Alice.

"Oh god no, I'm not that kind of wolf, I err"

"Relax" laughed Alice, "I'm just messing around. Yeah, they've known each other their entire lives, ever since they were pups, it was obvious, they were going to be mates"

"Oh yeah, I know the feeling" replied Humphrey

"Do you have a mate?" asked Alice

Humphrey instantly lost his train of thought, thinking about Kate, thinking about the life he could have had together with her, how similar he was to Alysha and her mate, growing up together.

"I guess the long pause means yes?" asked Alice

"It's complicated" replied Humphrey.

"Well I have to take a look at your leg, and that's gonna take a while, so you may as well start."

Humphrey instantly walked over to Alice, whom started unwrapping, his paw, taking a look and analysing his leg.

"Well, I knew this girl called Kate, and I've known her ever since I was young, and we were best friends, we always played and messed around. But she got sent off to alpha school, and when she came back, she seemed different, suddenly there were these responsibility's she had, and she didn't want to mess around anymore"

"Well that's alphas for you, no fun, and always pushing rules on us" said Alice

She started to grab Humphreys paw, and feel around and stretch his leg causing Humphrey to wince.

"Keep going" said Alice

"Anyways, we ended up getting relocated to Idaho, and had one big adventure getting back, but we really bonded on this trip, it was like we were pups again. We even howled together"

"Really?" asked Alice, intrigued even more, "she seems special"

"She is, but… she went with another"

"What?" asked Alice

"Her parents forced her to marry this other guy, from a different pack, to help them get along, and unite the packs, as they would say."

"Do you still love her?" asked Alice

"Yes... I do, but, she doesn't love me, she's with Garth now"

"Humphrey, just because she was forced to marry another guy, doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings for you" said Alice, "and I can say this as a female, and representing all females. Girls only howl with the ones they love, they wouldn't howl with someone they didn't"

"Really?" asked Humphrey

"Yes" replied Alice, "I'm sure she feels the same way about you, as you feel about her"

"Maybe leaving was a mistake, I should've just stayed with my pack, it's so much harder without Kate" said Humphrey, as a tear began to roll down his cheek, and dropped onto the floor.

"I'm sorry Humphrey"

"It's ok"

"No, I mean I'm really sorry about this" said Alice, as she yanked Humphreys paw forward, back into place.

"Ouch" Humphrey yelled, as he fell on the floor holding his paw in pain.

"There you go, all healed" said Alice, "it was just a dislocation, I had to pop it back in"

"Well a little warning would have been nice" said Humphrey, "that really hurt"

"Oh don't be such a baby" chuckled Alice, "and hey, don't worry about this whole Kate deal, I'm sure it'll work itself out". Alice reached out her paw, and wiped away the tear on Humphrey's cheek.

"Thank you" said Humphrey

Just as Humphrey was about to talk, Alysha walked in the den.

"I see you've met Alice; I also see she fixed your paw"

"She sure did, now I'll be able to keep up" replied Humphrey.

"Come with me, I'll show you where you're sleeping tonight"

With that, Humphrey followed Alysha out of the den.

Whoa, longest chapter now by 3 words, talk about personal bests. Anyway, for everyone reading, thank you so much for getting this far, i'll try and keep the updates coming, wouldn't want to disappoint you guys. Also feel free to leave a review, or PM me, as I will always reply, and do my best to make you guys happy. See you in chapter 8