Omega and Alpha

By Commentaholic

A/N: Well, yet another idea that has been harassing me. I really should learn to focus...

Anywho, not sure if this swap has been made before. I've seen Lilly and Kate swap ranks, but I haven't seen a swap between Humphrey and Kate. Let's see where this goes, and I'll try go get back to my other stories ASAP.

Prologue: A Destined Meeting

"C'mon guys! What are you, scared?" Kate taunted, laughing aloud at the nervously fidgeting group that consisted of her fellow Omegas. Salty, Shaky, and Mooch looked at each other before looking back at Kate, who was standing next to a dark cave entrance.

To be honest, they didn't know how Kate had convinced them to stray so far from the pack's cluster of dens. She had claimed that it was going to be "fun", but had refused to elaborate until they had arrived at the cave. Now they weren't so sure.

"Kate, are you sure about this?" Salty asked nervously, "Maybe we should just-"

"Oh come on. Don't be such a baby." Kate said, still chuckling, "If you're too scared, I'LL go first."

She walked into the cave, accompanied by the protests of her friends. The trio sat there, unsure. A few minutes passed with no sign of Kate.

"Do you think we should go in after her?" Shaky asked, trembling as he usually did. Of the three, he was always the most cowardly. He hadn't even wanted to come, but Kate had gotten her bossy attitude from her mother, and had literally dragged him along.

Their thoughts were interrupted by an earth-shaking bellow from within the shadowy tunnel.

"Kate!" they yelled, wanting to run inside to her aid, but too terrified to move. Salty turned to Shaky.

"Go get help!" he shouted.

Shaky was only too happy to oblige by leaving the area as fast as his paws could carry him. Mooch and Salty looked at each other, fear etched into their faces. While they, as Omegas, could not do anything to help with the beast that Kate had no doubt awakened, they felt an urge to be here anyway, just in case Kate needed help. They owed it to her.

Another bellow shook the ground, closer this time, and rumbling came from the cave's entrance.

A moment later, Kate came flying out of the darkness, gleeful grin on her face, just ahead of a massive bear that was pursuing her with evident rage on its face. "Come on, guys! Let's get moving!" she yelled over her shoulder, voice flooded with exhilaration. Salty and Mooch took off after her, the bear following behind them as they bounded through the forest.

The bear's angry bellows repeated again and again as it chased them, trees getting broken to bits, just like anything that stood in its way. The two Omegas were scared out of their wits, and could only stare at Kate, who was laughing as she led the way.

Behind them, the pounding of the bear's heavy paws grew closer.

"Mooch, get out of here, off to the side! We'll lead him off!" panted Kate, looking back at Mooch, who was obviously at the end of his strength. Strenuous activity and being overweight was not a winning combination.

Mooch nodded and peeled off from the group, heading left. The bear ignored the departing Mooch, more intent on catching the one who had infuriated him so.

Salty began to worry as he noticed Kate stumble, losing a little speed. The pace was proving too much for her. Salty felt the exhaustion as well, and knew that they couldn't keep ahead of the bear much longer.

Salty jumped over a log, looking beside him again, only to find Kate no longer there. He slid to a stop, looking frantically backwards, seeing Kate stumble over a large root that had been hidden in a clump of grass.

Salty cried out for Kate, wanting to run to her rescue, but his terror had frozen his limbs. As he bear reared up for the crushing death-blow, Salty felt something dart past him. A gray wolf sprinted towards Kate, diving at her just in time to grab her and tumble both of them out of the bear's reach, knocking up a cloud of dead leaves. While the bear looked, confused, at the vacant ground beneath his upraised claws, Salty ran over to the two wolves.

Kate shook her head in an attempt to clear her vision. She vaguely remembered being pushed out of the way of the impending death-blow. Her unfocused eyes tried to make out her surroundings as her ears rang from the blow to the head that she had received. A garbled voice could be heard from a grayish blob standing above her...

"-ello? Hey, are you alright?" said a concerned male voice. The blob resolved into a strange wolf with startlingly blue eyes, pale face and dark gray fur.

"Who... Who are you?" she asked shakily.

He opened his mouth to reply, but a loud noise diverted his attention. It was the bellow of an angry bear. Obviously it hadn't forgotten about them.

"You," he said said, pointing at Salty, "Get her out of here while I distract the bear. I'll meet you two back at the healer's den after I shake this guy."

Salty began to protest, but the strange wolf had already pounced at the bear, not wounding it, but getting its attention. The bear exclaimed in rage, chasing after him as he darted away into the forest, the bear close on his tail.

The tired Omegas staggered back into the main territory, making their way to the cluster of dens that comprised the Western Pack's homes. Shaky and Mooch were waiting nervously for their arrival, and when Kate and Salty walked out of the forest and into the clearing, there was a shout of, "WOLF PILE!", followed by the impact of their two friends jumping on them in joy for their relatively safe return.

Extricating themselves from the pile, Salty and Kate continued their limping walks towards the healer's cave, which just so happened to be the den belonging to Kate and her mother, Eve, the healer of the pack. When they entered the cave and Eve saw the condition they were in, Salty was immediately tackled, Eve determinedly trying to strangle him for "taking her daughter into dangerous situations".

Kate interceded, "Please, Mom! It was my idea. They didn't want me to taunt the bear."

"A BEAR!" Eve yelled, rounding on Kate, "You'd better explain yourself, NOW!"

Kate sighed. This promised to be neither a short or pleasant conversation.

A howl came from outside before Kate could make any attempt at appeasing her mother's rage. The alert for a wounded Alpha. Two gray wolves came in, a third, smaller one draped across the larger one's back. It was Winston, the pack leader, and Hutch, his lieutenant. Eve gave the customary bow of submission to the pack leader before turning to the wounded wolf across Winston's back.

She gasped, "What happened to Humphrey, Winston?" She eased the wolf off of Winston's back, fussing over the fallen pack member.

"I don't know." Winston replied, "Hutch found him downriver of the waterfall next to an unconscious bear. He thinks they went over it together, but I think my son wouldn't be that reckless."

Eve moved around to the other side of Humphrey, and Kate got her first good look. It was the wolf who had helped them earlier, and his front left leg was broken and at a disturbing angle, and he had bloody gashes down his left side, as well as claw marks across his face.

"Hey, that's the wolf who saved us!" Kate exclaimed.

Everyone's eyes turned to Salty and Kate, who suddenly realized the magnitude of the situation. She had been responsible for the injuries inflicted on the son of the pack's leader!

"I think you'd better explain now," Eve said, repeating her earlier inquiry. Winston, Hutch and Eve all paid rapt attention to Kate's tale, which had to be supplied in part by Salty, in order to account for the parts where Kate had been either absent or partially unconscious. When they had finished their story, Winston looked back at his son.

"Well, I'm glad that you're safe, Kate. But of course this means that Humphrey will be missing Alpha training this year..."

"Don't... be ridiculous, Dad..." a pained voice wheezed. All eyes went to Humphrey. His eyes were cracked open, looking back, "It's only a flesh wound."

"Humphrey, you can't possibly train with these injuries-"

"I'm going, Dad." Humphrey said, smirking, "It can't be worse than this, right?"

Winston chuckled, shaking his head. "If only you hadn't inherited your mother's stubbornness... Very well, but you're going to have to take it easy. That's an order."

Humphrey nodded weakly before lapsing into unconsciousness again. Eve began treating the injuries, starting with the most serious ones.

When winter came, the pack's next generation of Alphas left for Alpha school, and Humphrey went with them. He went along with the group, limping because of his broken leg, but no less eager than the rest of them. Kate watched them go.

Humphrey... she thought, watching the group as they crested a hill and disappeared from sight, Don't ever change...

A/N: Well, what do you think? It's a new genre for me, but this story just popped into my head like wildfire.

For clarification, Humphrey and Lilly are the children of the pack leaders, Winston and his wife Adria. Eve is the pack healer, and Kate is her daughter. Salty, Shaky, and Mooch are the same. Part of this sprouted from the fact that I figured that Humphrey looked a little like Winston in coloration, and I needed a way to make the plot work to my advantage. I believe I've got like 3/4ths of the plot planned out, but we'll see as we go along!

P.S.: Did you spot the Monty Python reference?

-=Commentaholic=-