We're back with another installment of Alpha and Omega: The Series. Today's episode: Lilly on Trial.

If you like this story, please check out the other stories in the Series. And don't forget to follow our community (community/Alpha-and-Omega-The-Series/102949) and forum (forum/Alpha-and-Omega-The-Series/118805) for all of the latest updates.

This story is beta-read and edited by Dancing Lunar Wolves.

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

I. Crime Comes to Jasper. I.

"I can't believe all those instructions Eve made us sit through," Humphrey said as he and Kate walked through the snow-filled valley, their backs covered in white. "It's like she doesn't think we can handle things while her and Winston are gone."

Kate smiled as she turned to him. "Oh, that was nothing. You should have heard what she used to say when I was a pup and wanted to go out and play. 'Kate, don't get too close to the caribou fields. Kate, don't go playing in the mud. Kate, don't set your sister on fire.'"

"Fire?" Humphrey said in surprise.

Kate shrugged. "It's not like I wanted to hurt Lilly or anything, but her fur was just always so soft, and fluffy, and… flammable…."

Humphrey now noticed that Kate's golden-brown eyes had become glazed over and she just seemed to stare off into her thoughts. He waved his paw in front of them, trying to snap her out of it.

"Kate. Kate! Kate!" he said as loudly as he could.

Finally, Kate shook herself out of her mind and looked at Humphrey.

Humphrey smiled. "Remind me never to let you near a pack of matches!"

"Oh, Humphrey, I'm not a pyromaniac!" Kate responded with a girlish giggle.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Humphrey answered with characteristic good humor.

Kate was about to say more when Shakey's voice came from nearby. "Incoming, Humphrey!"

The couple looked up to see a large blue berry flying their way. Humphrey smiled as he realized his friends were once again trying to ambush him into a game of berry-ball. But it was no trouble; he knew he could handle it. He rose up onto his hind legs in order to swat at the berry and knock it back toward the trio. But before he could, his eyes were covered in white snow. From the rush of air beside him, he could tell the snow had come off of the now airborne Kate. Humphrey managed to wipe it from his eyes just in time to see her sail through the air and kick the fruit back towards his three friends.

As Kate landed, knocking snow everywhere, Humphrey offered a high-three. Kate immediately clapped her paw against his in celebration.

"Kate, you're getting good at this," Humphrey said.

Kate smiled proudly. "Well, I do already have some talent in that direction, you know."

Humphrey shook his head. "I wasn't talking about berry-ball. I meant that you're getting good at going with the flow and enjoying when life surprises you. You're not Miss Uptight Grumpy Alpha all the time anymore."

Kate playfully slapped Humphrey's shoulder. "Knock it off, you, or I might just become Miss Uptight Grumpy Alpha again." But the laughter in her voice told Humphrey she was not serious about that threat.

Even when focused on each other, Humphrey and Kate were alert. They knew that the trio would be sending the berry back in their direction very soon. And here it came.

"Let me have this one, Kate," Humphrey said. "I need to get a shot in, too!"

"Okay," Kate answered. "Just be sure not to hurt yourself."

"Oh, ha ha," Humphrey responded.

But now he focused on the berry. It was coming down toward him. He lifted himself up slightly on his hind legs, ready to whack it. This proved unnecessary, as the berry was descending in a narrower arc than he had estimated. He dropped back down to his natural posture and found it was just right to catch the blue ball coming toward him. He prepared to give it a good slug.

He never got the chance. Much to Humphrey's surprise, a black paw reached out and grabbed hold of the berry. He saw too that this paw was attached to a black wolf – well, not really a wolf as he was of somewhat smaller build and had rather curly fur. He was also marked as different due to the purple collar around his neck, from which came a cord that connected it with the strange sight of a pair of pince-nez spectacles on the bridge of this individual's snout. It was not hard for Humphrey to conclude that this must be a wolf-dog.

The wolf-dog brought the berry to his mouth and gobbled it up. Then he adjusted his spectacles and smiled goofily. Humphrey looked at him blankly, both because he could not believe his rudeness and because he had never seen this individual before.

"And just who in the name of the moon are you?" Humphrey asked.

Much to his surprise, the wolf-dog thrust out a paw toward him. "Walton Bradby Yards, illustrious poet, at your service," he answered.

Humphrey looked at the paw in confusion for a second or two. Then he noticed Kate out of the corner of his eye motioning for him to take it. So he did and was startled when the wolf-dog began to shake it vigorously.

"Walton is the son of an old friend of dad's," Kate now explained.

"Yes," Walton said, before she could say more. "He's what you people call a lone wolf. And a painter, but that's neither here nor there. My mom's a champion show-dog and I usually live with her down south, across the border. But I wanted to get back to my roots, you know, so I decided to come up here and see how you primitive wolf people live."

Kate, though obviously annoyed by being interrupted, tried to remain civil. It was hard for her. "Walton's father asked dad if he could be allowed to come up here and stay with us for a while. Dad said yes."

Walton nodded. "I figured if I could get in touch with your simple country customs, the pure customs of my ancestors, it might inspire me to even greater feats of poetry. And then they'd have to give me the Nobel Prize!"

Humphrey was about to say something witty to regain control of the situation, but he was surprised that Walton did not wait around. Instead, the wolf-dog wandered off, muttering half-formed poems under his breath, as though he was the only creature in Jasper Park. Humphrey, still as confused as ever, could do nothing but watch him go.

"How long's he staying?" Humphrey asked once he felt that he could manage it.

"A few weeks at most," Kate answered.

Humphrey shook his head in disbelief. "Heaven help us. But, since our game of berry ball is ruined, what do you want to do now?"

Kate's eyes lit up as she remembered what they had to do that day. "Oh, Lilly is spending the day with us because Garth has some sort of 'official' business to take care of. He wants us to come over and pick her up."

"Wait, why can't Lilly come here herself?" Humphrey asked. "Garth knows she's a big girl now, right?"

Kate shook her head, but a smile was on her face. "He's just overprotective, Humphrey. That's all."

"Sir, we have to go now!" Edgar said as he stood outside of Garth and Lilly's den, refusing to enter.

"Okay, okay," Garth said, obviously not liking to be rushed. "Where are Kate and Humphrey? Leave it to them to be late!"

"It's okay, honey," Lilly said as she sat in the corner, patiently humoring another of her mate's moods. "I can take care of myself until they get here."

Garth shook his head. "I know, Lilly, but I don't like the thought of you being alone on this side of the valley. I don't know if my pack has accepted you yet, and with dad and your parents gone to that inter-pack conference, there isn't the same… um…."

"The same possibility of their spines being violently removed if they do anything to me?" Lilly asked with a knowing smile.

Garth smiled himself. "Something like that."

"Come on, sir!" Edgar groaned. "The caribou-thieves aren't going to catch themselves!"

Garth glared over his shoulder at Edgar, who was barely visible and who refused to even face the den. What was he supposed to do now? This was pressing Alpha business, but he had never left Lilly alone by herself on this side of the valley before. At least when Tony was still around, Garth knew none of the Easterners would mess with her. But now he was not so sure.

"Really, Garth, I can go find them myself," Lilly said. "We're not that far from the border, after all."

Garth knew this was true. By the agreement of all involved, he had chosen a den site near the Western border so that Lilly could safely get across if there was ever trouble. But he still did not want her anywhere in his territory unattended.

But Garth now saw two familiar faces standing next to Edgar. His somewhat-trusty Betas, Claw and Scar. An idea occurred to him.

"Claw, can you come over here, please?" he said, his stern voice a sharp contrast to the politeness of the words.

Claw cautiously entered into the den.

"Now, Claw," Garth said, "seeing as you're a female and Lilly's a female, I think I can trust you to take her over the border. Am I right?"

Behind them, Edgar practically choked. "Wait…. Claw's a girl?"

When Claw turned back from shaking her fist at Edgar in a threatening manner that he was nevertheless completely oblivious to, she saw Garth still waiting for her answer.

Garth raised his eyebrows, thus telling her to hurry up.

"Sir, if I may speak openly," Claw answered as she gave a nervous salute, "I find it disturbing that you seem to think all females are the same, sir."

"Come on, I know how girls work," Garth said. "You're all about sisterhood and girl power and stuff like that."

Claw could see Lilly rolling her eyes behind Garth. But for Claw, who was Garth's subordinate and not his mate, and on whom his whole attention was focused at this juncture, there could be no such expression of the annoyance she felt inside.

"Okay, sir, I'll take Miss Lilly to find Miss Kate and the other Omega," Claw said, resigning herself to the unpleasant task.

Garth nodded approvingly. "Great! I knew you'd agree. You always come through in the end, Claw!"

Claw tried to put on a false smile as Garth said this.

Claw and Lilly walked through a glade near the former East-West border. Though the packs were technically united, many were still having problems adapting to the fact that once-hated enemies were now one people. Claw was one of these.

"Come on, keep up!" she barked behind her.

There, Lilly was slowly following after her. "Okay, okay," Lilly said as she tried to increase her pace.

But, for the most part, Claw was glad that Lilly kept to herself and kept behind her. She did not want to have to fraternize (or sororize, as Garth would have it), with someone she could not respect. And she felt that she could never respect a weak, naïve, Western Omega.

Claw just wanted to get the onerous task over with. They had to be nearing the Western border now, even if they had not caught sight nor scent of Kate and Humphrey. Claw dreaded being stuck on the Western end of the valley and trying to look all over for where those two might be. Ever since she and Scar had sabotaged Kate's first hunt, they were not exactly the most popular wolves with the Westerners. Who could say if any of them would decide to get payback if they found her by herself on their turf?

And she certainly did not expect Lilly to be able to save her.

Then Claw heard something. She picked up a scent. She could tell that someone she knew was nearby. She turned her head slyly over to a nearby tree to see Scar beckoning to her. Claw began to walk forward to meet him, but had to look over her shoulder to ensure that Lilly was paying no attention. The white wolf was just staring down at the white ground and walking forward as though still trailing her. Claw knew Lilly would not notice if she made a quick detour.

Claw rushed over to where Scar was.

"Still hanging with the runt?" he joked.

"Oh, let's see you try it and be so comical!" she barked back.

"I just thought you'da ditched her long ago. Especially when there's so much else to do!"

Claw smiled smugly. "Oh yeah, you'd just like that, wouldn't you? Then she gets eviscerated by one of our friends and Garth has me exiled for it!"

Scar smiled back. "Oh, come on. She'll be fine. You're practically on the Western side of the valley already. Besides, word is that Garth and Edgar have tracked down the caribou-thieves and are about to make the big bust. You don't want to miss that, do ya?"

Claw thought for a moment. She did not want to miss the bust, but she knew she could not leave Lilly alone. "Don't tempt me! You know Garth will kill me if I suddenly show up without having fulfilled my mission! We've got 'valuable' cargo here, after all."

"How many times do I have to say she'll be fine?" Scar exclaimed. "We'll just tell Garth you dropped her off with Kim and Harvey–"

"Kate and Humphrey."

"I like my names for them better. Anyway, we'll just say you dropped Her Highness off with them and got back in time for the big bust. It's not like she's one to speak up against anybody!"

Claw glanced over at Lilly, who was still walking and was now, to Claw's utter annoyance, humming to herself. She turned back to Scar and nodded slowly. Claw would do it. What was the worst that could happen?

"Hey, pip-squeak!" Claw called out. "You should be able to find your own way from here! But I gotta go! Important Beta business!"

"Okie-dokie," Lilly called back sweetly. "Good luck!"

Claw followed Scar through the trees as they made their way to where Scar had left Garth and Edgar. It was exciting to have some sort of disturbance in the pack, as both Claw and Scar had gotten awfully bored with peace. Both their excitement and the blinding snow coming down all around them obscured from their vision the two other wolves until it was too late.

These were not Garth and Edgar, but two brown wolves. One was tall and thin, the other was short and stocky, but otherwise they looked exactly alike. As the four fell into what can best be described as a lupine car-crash, Claw screamed, "Zeke, Alvin, what is wrong with you two?"

"What's wrong with us?" the tall one, Alvin, said. "What's wrong with you, lady? We're out here trying to help Garth catch them caribou-smugglers, and you just come, quick as you like, and smack straight into us!"

"Yeah," Zeke, his brother, added. "What was we supposed to do? You crazy dame and your buddy here have messed us up… again! It's always the same with you two losers!"

"Who you callin' losers?" both Claw and Scar shouted at the same time.

Suddenly, they all heard laughing. Claw and Scar naturally assumed that their rivals were laughing at them, but it became clear after checking on them through their contorted body positions that this was not the case. All four looked up to see a certain spectacled black wolf-dog looking down at them.

"Ah, you simple country folk are great," Walton said as he pointed at them. "This'll give me some great material for my next book! It's just great."

And then he sauntered off, mightily pleased with what he had just witnessed. Claw, Scar, and the other two exchanged awkward looks before all getting to their feet.

Claw and Scar were about to say more to their rivals when they heard someone else coming from the trees. Out stepped Garth with Edgar following behind.

"I'm sure the caribou-thieves would be here, sir!" Edgar said apologetically. "They just have to be."

Garth shook his head in disgust. "That's the last time I listen to one of your conspiracy theories, Edgar! You made me put the whole Eastern pack on alert to find these so-called 'caribou thieves,' only to lead us on a wild-goose chase in the end!"

"But there were caribou-thieves, honest!" Edgar protested. "I tracked them myself!"

But he no longer had Garth's attention. Garth had noticed Claw and Scar in his presence.

"Claw, did you get it Lilly to Kate and Humphrey like I asked?"

Claw put on a large, fake smile. "Of course, I did, sir! You know me, always coming through for you and Miss Lilly! You know how loyal I am to you and Miss Lilly and how I'd never do anything to mess up your commands! I took her right to Kate and Humphrey and made sure that everything was okay!"

"Good," Garth said as he sighed in relief. "For a moment I was worried about – Hey, who's there?"

Garth had heard someone coming from behind them. All the Easterners quickly turned to see Humphrey and Kate stepping into view.

"Hey, Barf! How's it going in the big, bad East?" Humphrey said with a wide grin.

"Sorry we're late," Kate said, "but a few of Humphrey's many friends wanted to play games with us. It took us a while to get out of that."

"Yep," Humphrey said. "But we're here now. So, if Lilly's ready, we'll just take her and leave you guys to your oh-so-important Eastern business."

"Lilly?" Garth answered, his eyes filled with panic. "I thought she was with you!"

"Why would she be with us?" Kate said, panic filling her voice as well. "I told you we'd come get her. Garth, where's my sister?"

Garth now turned his furious attention to Claw. "You said you brought her to Humphrey and Kate! You said you obeyed my orders! You said that she was with you the whole time! Claw, what did you do with her?"

Claw smiled anxiously. "Did I say she was with me the whole time? Well, the thing is, sir, I may have been exaggerating just a little. Maybe there was a moment or two when I… kinda… didn't stay with her?"

"YOU WHAT?" Garth and Kate hollered together.

But then, suddenly, another scream pierced the glade. Everyone was on edge, for they at first believed it to be Lilly's. But then they realized that it was not feminine. It was a male scream. Zeke's scream.

Alvin now came running through the glade. Somehow, he and Zeke must have slipped off when nobody was paying attention. "Come quick!" he shouted. "Something's happened to Zeke! I just know it! We were trying to go find Miss Lilly when we got separated! And then I heard the scream!"

Without another word, Garth, Humphrey, and Kate followed Alvin through the woods. Claw began to set off as well.

"Hey, where's Edgar?" Scar asked, realizing that the obnoxious Beta too had disappeared.

"Does it really matter where that creep is?" Claw called back as she disappeared behind the trees. Recognizing that the gravity of the situation perhaps commanded more attention than Edgar's vanishing act, Scar decided to go after her.

All the wolves rushed through the grey woods and through the snow. They went as fast as their legs could take them. Even Humphrey kept up with the rest of the group without showing the slightest hint of exhaustion. The main thought in Kate, Humphrey's and Garth minds was that, if such a bad thing had happened to Zeke, something truly terrible must have happened to Lilly.

Terrible indeed, but Garth, Humphrey, and Kate were not at all prepared for what they would see. For, as they broke through the woods onto a snowy slope, they saw Zeke, lying prone and unmoving on the ground in a pool of his own blood. And standing above him, with blood dripping down from her mouth all over her chest, was Lilly.

Lilly looked at each of them, pained and confused, wondering what all of her friends and family must think. The truth was, however, that they did not know what to think. Kate, Humphrey, and Garth looked from one to the other and then back to her.

None of them knew what to think. Murder, it seemed, had come to Jasper. And everything pointed to a single culprit; a shy, naïve, little white she-wolf named Lilly.

Is it true?

Could Lilly have really done something so sinister?

And what will become of her now?

Read on to find out!