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Chapter 4: The Things Taken for Granted

"What do you mean he's gone?" Winston asked as Eve tried to calm her down.

"I w-went to find h-im this morning, and he wasn't there," she choked, wiping her eyes with the side of her paw.

"Baby, he's probably somewhere inside the park," Eve tried to comfort.

"N-no," Kate replied quickly, "he told m-me yesterday that he w-was l-leaving the park. I- I didn't t-think he was actu-aly gonna do it, but- he's gone and- and it's all my fault!"

She broke down and began to sob once more, burying her face into Eve's shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay, baby," Eve crooned, rubbing the back of her head slowly.

"No," Kate cried, "he's gone, and I- I didn't even get to apologize."

"What would you have to apologize for?" Eve asked, "you didn't-"

"Don't you get it!" Kate yelled, ripping herself away from her, "he loved me for who I was, not because he had to! He risked his life for me time and time again, always did everything in his power to make sure that, no matter what, I would remain safe, and I took him for granted! I still treated him like dirt."

"Kate, he was well aware of the laws, as are you," Winston reminded.

Kate suppressed a growl, for the word "laws" seemed to drill into her head like nails on a chalkboard, stirring her rage and her bitterness.

"And despite them, I still love him," she said confidently, turning her watery eyes between them.

The two stared at her in shock, both of them not entirely sure if they had heard right, and it was at that moment that the three omegas arrived, though they kept their distance as they were not permitted into the den.

"Is everything alright?" Salty asked them, "I heard somebody yell."

"Please, Salty," Winston stated, moving his eyes beyond Kate to him, "a little bit of time."

Salty and the others behind him nodded and walked away even though none of their questions had been answered.

"Please you have to help me find him," Kate pleaded to her parents, "he'll never make it on his own."

"Kate," Winston began, returning his attention to his daughter, "I know he's your friend and you're concerned, but he made his choice. And besides, alphas don't love omegas. It's against-"

"Pack law?" Kate demanded passionately, "to hell with the laws, they're all a load of crap!"

This took both parents by complete surprise, for they had never expected this from Kate.

"Don't say that, Kate," Eve warned, "you kn-"

"No," she yelled, turning a ferocious glare to her mother, "the laws are wrong. How is it that a law can dictate who you can and can't love? I don't love Garth. I love Humphrey, and I'm going to find him, whether you guys like it or not."

"Kate, you're way out of line," Winston seethed, stepping forward.

"The only thing that I see out of line here is the leadership," Kate argued dryly and turned away.

"Kate you stop right now," Winston snarled, but Kate took no heed to his word.

"Kate," Winston called again, "Kate, don't you dare walk away from me. Kate!"

He moved to follow her, but Eve intercepted him.

"Let her go," she said to him, "she just needs a little time."

Kate sniffled as she walked down the ramp, and once she reached the bottom, she turned her eyes up to see Humphrey's friends waiting there.

"Is everything alright?" Salty asked her.

She sniffled and turned to them.

"Just fine," she replied, drying her eyes, "if you needed to see my dad, you can go on up."

With that said, she began to walk slowly away with no real destination in mind just so long as she could end her woe once she got there.

The three omegas watched her go then turned to each other quizzically, but none of them had an answer to the question they asked, so without a word, they began to ascend the ramp, turned once to regard Kate a final time, then continued on their way.

A&?

Winston paced the floor tumultuously, his ears flat and his head low.

"Omegas and alphas, alphas and omegas," he muttered to himself, "it just doesn't work, it can't work."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," Eve reasoned, "she was just... flustered is all."

"Eve, she meant every word," Winston replied, pausing and turning to her, "we have to put a stop to this before she gets herself in trouble."

"What's the worst thing that could happen?" Eve asked him.

"Did you not hear a word she said?" Winston demanded, "she threatened to leave. Do you know what that will do to the unification? We haven't even decided what we are going to call the new pack and it's already about to fall apart again."

"Uh, Winston sir?" Salty called from outside the den.

"Salty," Winston said in surprise and turned to him, "what do you want? We're kinda busy."

"Answers, man," he replied, "what's this I hear about Humphrey leaving the park?"

"The truth," Eve replied, "he's gone."

"Gone?" Salty asked in shock, "but why?"

"You got me," Winston answered, turning away, "but Kate insists on going after him."

"Then we'll all go," Mooch asserted, stepping up so that he stood beside Salty, "after all I'm sure she'll-"

"No," Winston interrupted firmly, "nobody is going anywhere."

"But, sir, Humphrey-"

"Humphrey made his decision," Winston interjected, "nobody else is to leave, hear?" He turned away from them. "And if any of you do, don't think about coming back."

The three did not know what to say, as they had always known Winston to be the compassionate and understanding type, but something about this whole situation was upsetting him. The only problem was, they didn't know what it was.

"That'll be all," Winston said dismissively, walking further into the den.

Bitter that not a single one of their questions was answered, the three turned and plodded away.

"This is madness," Salty mused to the others in aggravation, "Humphrey is gone and Winston won't do anything about it. It's like he doesn't even care that he's gone."

"Why would he?" Mooch replied with a scoff, "we're just omegas. To them we're all expendable."

Salty shook his head and sat himself down once they reached the base of the ramp.

"Well... what are we gonna do?" Shakey asked the others, turning his eyes between them.

"I don't know, Shakey," Salty replied dismally, lowering his head and flattening his ears, "I just don't know."

?&?

Kate sat down beside the creek and cursed, slamming her paw down into the mud. She felt dirty, sad, alone, and she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do because no matter what she chose, somebody would get hurt.

But she had to face him. She had to tell him how stupid she had been, how negligent she was of her feelings and how she wished that she could have been have awakened from her delusions before something like this happened.

She cursed again and stared at her reflection in the water, but she hated who she saw, so she slapped it with her paw, scattering it about in hundreds of little ripples and droplets then turned away in disgust.

A snap of a twig brought her eyes to the woods across the river and she saw a figure emerging slowly from the shadows, recognizing it immediately to be her new mate.

She suppressed a growl upon seeing him, but something about the way he carried himself intrigued her, for he looked as though he were experiencing something similar to what she was. What she didn't understand, though, was what or why.

?&?

Garth kept his eyes fixed upon the ground and came to a rest at the edge of the creek, slowly taking a seat on his haunches. Unaware that he had an audience less than three feet away, he began to sob.

A&?

Kate was astounded when she saw him break down that way, but was still at a loss as to why he would be acting this way; after all, he was the one who seemed to be so stoked about their betrothal. Curious, she continued to watch, but did not receive any answers, for Garth quickly regained control of himself and wiped his eyes, but when he looked across the creek and found that he was not alone, he locked up.

"Kate?" Garth asked from across the brook, "what are you doing here?"

"Probably the same as you," she replied dryly.

Garth's face began to heat up.

"I- uh... my dad told me uh, that you and I needed to dig a den," he stammered, wiping his eyes again, "since we're supposed to be... together."

"Oh," Kate replied, lowering her eyes to her paws, "you uh... you seem upset," she observed, drumming her pads nervously, "is- is everything alright?"

"Oh yeah," Garth lied, "just fine on my end, just uh... thought I would take a moment to think here."

"Oh," Kate said flatly, "me too. So... what's on your mind?"

Garth did not want to tell her about how he had fallen for her sister through fear that she actually cared about him, so he hesitated as he tried to formulate a reply.

"Nothing," he said, lowering his head slightly, "still just trying to wrap my head around all of this, it all happened so fast."

"Yeah," Kate agreed monotonously, "me too."

Garth sucked in a breath between his teeth.

"So... how's life?" he asked her awkwardly.

"Peachy," she answered flatly, "how bout you?"

"Same."

"Good," Kate said halfheartedly.

"Yup," he replied, "so uh... do I have permission to come across?"

"The packs are united, Garth," she said testily, "of course you do."

Garth nodded and jumped over the tiny creek, landing beside her.

"So... you have any special spots that you like?" he asked her, trying to sound interested in his coerced partner's interests.

"Why?" she asked, "got something planned?"

"No," he replied, his eyes darting about anxiously, "I just figured that the den should go somewhere you liked."

"Oh," she stated, averting her eyes to her paws, "sorry I snapped at you."

"It's alright," he said dismissively, forcing a smile, "it's just that you remind me a lot of your mom... and she frightens me."

Despite herself, Kate chuckled.

"She frightens all," she agreed, but the negative atmosphere which had been briefly dispersed, settled in upon them once more, causing their smiles to fade.

"Well," Garth began, hoping to get his mind to focus on something else, "I guess we'd better get a move on."

Kate agreed with a silent nod and fell in at his side, but not too close, just close enough to where if anybody were to see them, they would at least look like a couple, then the two began to walk silently back toward the nesting area.