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Chapter 4: Drawn Together

Humphrey's P.O.V.

I'll never forget the moment in which I first felt Kate's tender lips find purchase upon mine. It was the moment that I had been waiting for ever since I realized just how much I adored her, the moment over which I incessantly fantasized and told myself I could have realized if I could have only found the strength to do what my heart demanded I do. When the moment finally arrived, it was like all of my wildest dreams had suddenly been realized, and I was so intoxicated by the sweet elixir of emotions that flooded over me the moment I felt her lips meet mine that the only thing I could do was sit in a silent stupor as I was swept away by bliss.

As quickly as the kiss was initiated, she slowly withdrew and the only sound that could be heard was the steady drizzle of rain and distant rumbles of thunder from the storm that surrounded us. My heart was doing backflips inside of my chest, my entire body was trembling and I felt as though my tongue had been coated in lead as I opened my eyes and they met her soft, amber gaze. I'll never forget the way she looked upon me in this moment. Her eyes, normally firm and assured, had become gentle and vulnerable, and for the first time since she had left for Alpha School, I felt her tear down the walls that she had built around her heart, and invite mine to join hers in a state of eternal bliss inside the deepest regions of her soul. There, I felt myself drowning in the purest forms of joy and delight as my lungs struggled to fill with enough air to keep my dizzy head afloat.

Kate finally broke the silence in the atmosphere as her soothing voice filled my ears, and then, just like that our night together was over. Kate, obviously exhausted from the events of the night, lied down on the side of the den opposite of me and was asleep mere moments after she had curled into an adorable ball and draped her tail over her muzzle.

My night, however, was far from over. I recall simply sitting there in the place where she had left me, staring down upon her as she slept. For hours it seemed, I could not move or speak as my body and mind, in unanimous accord, refused to release me from my state of arrest through fear that one wrong move would cause this moment to fade and I would awake to find myself alone in my den back home. I remember being awe-stricken each time the clouds would part and the shallow shimmers of moonlight would creep into the den and bathe her in its tranquil, blue glow. It was as though what I beheld was the very essence of perfection and grace, and I knew that if I could capture even the slightest trace of such sumptuous splendor, the heart inside of my breast would finally find the happiness for which it so desperately longed and I would be the luckiest wolf to ever walk upon the Gods' wondrous creation.

However, there was a part of me that told me this was all in my head. Yes, she had kissed me, and yes, for the briefest moment she had opened up and let me in, but I somehow knew that come dawn, her defenses would be mended and I would once again be fighting a losing battle against time, tradition and obligation.

Finally, after I was able to shake myself free from my trance, and free from the thousands of thoughts that clashed inside of my mind, I was able to lie down for the night. I considered, for a brief moment, lying down with Kate, but I lost my nerve and carried myself over to the far side of the den where I would sleep alone. The next morning, though, I awoke in a manner in which I had only ever dreamed.

The light from the coming sun encroached upon the den and bathed my slumbering eyes in its radiant, red glow, so I turned my back to shield my face, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself face to face with the woman of my dreams as she slept beside me. I remember thinking just how wonderful it would be if I could find myself in this position with her every morning, and in light of the knowledge that this might be the only opportunity I would ever get, I wanted it to last forever. However, this moment of beautiful bliss cake to an abrupt end when a pebble bounced across our heads. I can't quite determine who was more startled by its sudden appearance, but what I do know is that when we shot to our haunches, we did so in a simultaneous fashion that ended with us sitting with the tips of our noses touching. My heart was ablaze with love for her in this moment, and all I could think to do was smile softly at her as the innuendos that Marcel and Paddy hurled in our direction seemed to cause the memory of everything that had happened the previous night to come rushing back to her.

She responded only with a look that I couldn't understand and simply walked past me to greet the migratory fowl who had by then seemed to have their fill of fun at our expense. However, she did something that she had not done before. The message she sent when she roughly ran her tail over the top of my head was subtle, but I immediately recognized it as a sign of affection, and this made my heart swell all the more. Because I could see that, even if by the end of this journey together we did not become mates, we would have at least rekindled the friendship that had been lost in the sands of time. After a brief conversation with Marcel and Paddy, we learned of our next method of transportation and began to make our way toward it. I never imagined when we began, however, that I would end up saving Kate's life... again...

Kate's P.O.V.

Few words were exchanged between us as we made our way up the mountain in search of the train that was promised to take us home. Humphrey made a few attempts to initiate conversation, but after all of these attempts had failed, he finally relented and the two of us lapsed into silence. This was a welcome blessing, because I knew that no matter what we discussed, somehow, someway, the conversation would always find its way back to the events of the previous night. I didn't want that, because, truthfully, I wished to forget that last night had ever happened at all and I was grateful that Humphrey at least seemed to respect my desires. Wether or not he actually did remains a mystery, but the silence was a welcome blessing- at least until it became an inescapable curse. I found myself in a great deal of conflict in this moment, because the last thing I wanted was to allow conversation to lead us back to last night, but at the same time, the silence had allowed my mind the opportunity to wander, and the thoughts that it conjured seemed to revolve around two very specific things.

The first was Humphrey and the inexplicable feelings that came over me whenever I realized that our noses were touching that morning, and the second was the omnipresent burden that came in conjunction with the knowledge that the closer I got to home the closer I came to losing my life as an individual. These thoughts clashed inside of my mind like two armies massed to annihilate each other at all costs, but just before they could crack my mind in half, Humphrey had grown weary of the silence and made one final attempt to lure me into conversation. His comment about the beauty of the mountain was more than likely an innocent one, but my fear of him using it as a Segway to talk about last night and my desperation to escape from my thoughts seemed to awaken something inside of me. It came over me in an instant and before I even realized what had happened, my bearing as an alpha was broken entirely and I challenged him to a race up the mountain.

I can't explain what happened in the next moment or why, but the next thing I knew, Humphrey and I were playing together, just as we did in days of old, and it felt incredible. I don't know why, but with Humphrey around, I suddenly felt... free... like I could finally shed the skin that Alpha School had molded over my body and be myself. Maybe this was because, in some strange way, Humphrey's perspective of life allowed him to see through the walls that my bearing had built and allowed him to know more about me than I did without even trying. Maybe this was the part of him that I had fallen in love with. Maybe this was the part of him that I still love to this day, even though time drove us apart. Or maybe this was just what I told myself because I didn't want to entertain the possibility that I loved him for his deeds...

Whatever the reason may be, I was quick to regain my bearing and I continued making my way toward the goal at hand. However, whenever I saw Humphrey's childish, carefree nature lead him to play with that bear cub, I couldn't help but allow my mind to wander yet again. As I watched, I found my heart melting at the thought of seeing him as a father, and for the briefest of moments, I could almost picture him playing with a den full of pups. As I continued to watch, though, I found my heart heavy set with envy because I realized that what I truly desired in life was a level of simplicity that I could never have. However, I brushed these thoughts away with a shake of my head and allowed my mind to regain focus upon the objective at hand. Little did I know that Humphrey's folly with the bear cub had ended up peeving its entire family and when I suddenly found myself in the face of three enraged grizzly bears I didn't even have time to curse him for getting us into yet another life-threatening situation.

It was a humbling moment for me when I was reminded of my own mortality for the second time in two days, and in that moment I finally realized that I couldn't handle everything the world threw at me alone. In fact, had Humphrey not acted expeditiously and courageously yet again, the chances that I would have become bear fodder were even higher than my chances of death in the gorge the night before. I had to learn fast that I needed to trust others as well as myself, and I guess I have Humphrey to thank for this invaluable lesson that he taught me as we careened down the mountain on a piece of a log and finally found refuge inside of the train that would lead us home. I couldn't believe that we had actually made it, and moreover I was relieved because for the first time since our journey home, it felt like we were actually making good time. I did not know, however, that all this time we had been setting the stage for both our lives, and the lives of all of the wolves in our little corner of Jasper to change forever.