Unforgiven

Part One

Humphrey was in shock — filled with anger, sadness, pain, remorse — as there was only one that he had ever cared for. Only one wolf that he had ever loved. How, after all he and she had gone through, could the universe give this fate. Oh, what was he thinking, the universe isn't to blame. It was entirely Kate's doing. Humphrey had given his heart to her laid upon a silver platter, a meal fit for the highest of kings and queens, but she wouldn't even bat an eyelash to it.

Love, the creator and destroyer of worlds. It had built his world, and now, it had come to tear it down.

He was walking up to the Alpha-Den. From the ground he could see Lilly combing Kate's golden-yellow fur. There were no other wolves in earshot, so he couldn't help but mumble and curse to himself.

"I've given my heart and soul to you. I've saved your life, and you've saved mine. Does that mean we're even? No. My soul will never be healed."

Before he could finish the entirety of his thoughts, he arrived at the top of the rock pathway. It seemed Lilly had gone inside. Humphrey couldn't help but notice how beautiful Kate looked as thousands of beams of light glistened off her fur; she almost outshone the sun in her perfection. He almost did not register that Marcel and Paddy were currently speaking to her.

Almost.

"You're getting married!" the two birds said in unison.

Kate seemed surprised. "Yeah. I'm getting married," she awkwardly smiled, then, tilting her head in curiosity, "Who told you?"

Humphrey couldn't help but budge his way into their conversation, so he answered her question for the two birds. "I did," he said as he walked out of the shadows formed by the side of the hill.

"Humphrey!" Kate exclaimed in shock, feeling a tugging of her heart as she locked eyes with the gray Omega.

The two birds seemingly knew where the conversation was going, so they quickly left with a polite goodbye.

"Excuse me. A flea." Humphrey joked as he pulled a flower out from behind his head while simultaneously making up his mind on his final decision. He tried his hardest to keep his facade: only exposing the "joy" everyone knew him for. "And a little something for your big day."

Kate looked overjoyed by the friendly gesture, "Thank you." Although the act was simple, it quickly made it all the more difficult for Humphrey to go through with his next words.

"Just wanted to say goodbye." he said strongly holding back the tears and rage he could feel building behind the great blue of his eyes.

"Goodbye?" Kate asked bewildered by his shocking statement. Almost as if she did not hear him correctly.

"Yeah. I'm thinking about doing a little traveling, you know, seeing where the train takes me." He forced a laugh before continuing. "And maybe I'll visit our friends the bears. Our old buddies, see how they're doing." He forcibly kept his teeth from grinding. "I'll tell them you said 'hi'."

Kate's heart began to sink as she refused to believe it was true: "Wait. But you're leaving Jasper?"

"Yeah. You know, it's a lone wolf thing." Humphrey grinned, his own sadness forming in his eyes.

"I know Humphrey, the fun-loving Omega, not Humphrey, the lone wolf."

His internal emotions were crying, but his face remain calm and collected. "So I'll be a fun-loving lone wolf."

The last words he heard from her were, "I don't doubt that."

---

Life and liberty, the two things Humphrey gained since leaving the pack. Happiness, on the other hand, was far out of his reach. Indeed, many little things caused him to laugh. For one, Marcel getting his foot caught in a hole while trying to fish one of his golf balls out of a lake after Paddy made a bet with him. These kind of things were funny and greatly appealed to Humphrey's roots, but nothing could make him wholly happy. It has been one month since Humphrey got on the train, and regret has clawed away at him every one of those 30 days. But he had made his choice, and was content with it. Strangely enough, for it seemed to Humphrey, he had gained a very healthy amount of muscle within the past few weeks. Ever since he left, he has needed to get his own food where berries were just not enough to sustain a wolf living on his own.

Sawtooth was many miles away from Jasper, and Humphrey was glad for that. Despite how much he had loved Kate, she broke his heart, and the moment he stepped foot on that train out of Jasper, he promised himself that he would never go back. How could he go back? Every night he thought about it. He wondered if he would ever forgive her, even if he had the chance. He repeatedly told himself that he would never forgive her, that him and her were nothing anymore: as if they were even anything to begin with.

Every day, when he was sure that Marcel and Paddy were not near, he would go to a nearby lake. He would wait until the water was still, find his reflection, and spoke to it.

"You and her are over. You can't go back. There is nothing for you. You can't go back. She won't care. You won't go back. You don't care."

'Yes, such a fun-loving lone wolf,' he thought to himself.

Unbeknownst to him, Kate was well on her way.

No stampede could kill the famous leaders of the East and West Jasper packs. Granted they were injured, but they were not dead. Lilly was just as much the daughter of the pack as Kate, and she took Kate's place in the marriage despite her position on the ancient hierarchy.

'Omegas and Alphas. Alphas and Omegas. Not such a crazy idea after all,' Kate would ponder.

Not long after the law was abolished did Kate set out to find Humphrey. Lilly found her true love, and Kate was not willing to lose her's after it had been so close. It was practically in her grasp. She did not care how long it would take. The packs were in very capable paws and were stronger than they had ever been prior, so she surely-yet-reluctantly boarded the train.

This story is a mini-series where three short chapters will be posted every weekend until the conclusion.

Thank you for reading and supporting my writing.

As always, read for your own enjoyment.

-Hikers123