Chapter 21: The Lost Pup

As Viggo raised the sword above his head, he became aware of someone standing behind him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Kate growled.

Humphrey turned around at hearing Kate’s voice and jumped when he saw the sword raised threateningly above him.

“Whoa! What the-“ he exclaimed.

“Kate,” Viggo said. “It’s good to see you again so soon, but I’m afraid your efforts are too little, too late.”

“I don’t think so,” Kate continued growling. “Now drop it.”

Viggo suddenly grabbed Humphrey by the back of his neck and pinned him under his elbow, holding the sword out in front of him, pointed at Kate. Humphrey struggled as hard as he could against Viggo’s grip, but he couldn’t budge.

“First rule of the hunt,” he said, “separate the prey from its pack. You all just willingly removed yourselves from the equation.”

Kate crouched down, getting ready to pounce on Viggo, but he replied by quickly putting the blade of his sword up against Humphrey’s neck, shaving off several strands of fur in the process which slowly floated to the ground. He held the blade so close to Humphrey’s neck that Humphrey was forced to hold his head up so the blade wouldn’t dig into his skin. It was then that the rest of the pack joined Kate in front of Viggo.

“You wouldn’t risk it, would you?” Viggo asked.

“What’s the difference?” Kate replied. “You’re just going to kill him anyway.”

“True,” Viggo said, “but ask yourself this. Do you really want to be here for it? You’ve got two options. One, you can let me take him and kill him elsewhere and I’ll spare you all the pain of having to watch. Or-“

Viggo whistled and the Crimson Pack emerged from the trees, surrounding and outnumbering the western wolves.

“you continue to resist, and I spill his guts right here while you helplessly watch. I imagine that’s not a sight you want to see.”

Kate looked down at the ground thoughtfully and then at Humphrey, a look of sadness in her eyes, and he looked back. As he subtly shook his head at her, she could almost hear his voice telling her, “think of the pups.” Watching Humphrey being brutally killed would scar Stinky, Claudette, and Runt for life, and she didn’t want to do that to them.

Kate sighed as she looked down at the ground before turning her gaze to Viggo and slowly backing away. Viggo grinned evilly before hitting Humphrey over the head with the hilt of the sword and knocking him out. He slung Humphrey’s unconscious body over his shoulder and turned around, walking back into the forest. He whistled again and the Crimson Pack slowly departed and began to follow him, leaving the western wolves standing in the valley.

Viggo took Humphrey deep into the forest, almost due east from the Western Pack until they reached a spot near the northeastern border of the Central Region. Viggo threw the now semi-conscious Humphrey onto the ground as the afternoon began to slowly pass. Humphrey looked up and saw Robert with several of Viggo’s men standing there looking down at him. The Crimson Pack departed off into the forest.

“I know you don’t recognize this place so let me explain its significance in all this before your death,” Viggo said. “This is the spot where your grandparents killed my mother and father. We’re going to finish this where it all started fifty-six years ago.”

Humphrey jumped up and tried to make a run for it, but Viggo grabbed him and slammed him back down to the ground. Viggo leaned down and got in Humphrey’s face as he spoke.

“I wasn’t lying to Kate when I said I’d spill your guts,” he said. “I truly meant it. Kate and your pups may have been spared the pain of having to watch, but you will have no such luxury. I will spill your intestines out onto the ground, and you will watch as you slowly bleed out. And then I will stab you through the heart just before you pass out.”

Viggo stood up and he put his foot down on Humphrey’s neck, pinning him to the ground as he reached behind his back and pulled out his sword.

“Do you know what I call this sword?” he asked rhetorically.

Viggo held it up in front of him looked at it, running his hand up against the flat side of the blade.

“I call it Orion,” he said, “named after the legendary Greek hunter. I forged it with my own hands many years ago, and I made it for that very purpose; to hunt. Only my greatest enemies have the honor of dying by its blade. I suggest you prepare yourself to join them.”

Viggo flipped Orion upside down and stuck it into the dirt next to him before kneeling back down in front of Humphrey. He reached into his vest and pulled out the small knife made from the fang of a wolf, waving it in front of Humphrey’s face.

“You remember this, don’t you?” Viggo taunted. “This is also very special to me. Made from the fang of the first wolf I ever killed. At the time, she was no one of consequence. Just some wolf out on patrol, caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. But it turns out, she had just as much significance as everyone else.”

Viggo looked at Humphrey and smiled cruelly.

“Your friend, Mick; he never really talks about his past,” Viggo continued. “He has a very intense hatred for humans, almost as intense as my hatred for you. And do you know why? It’s because this fang; well, I pried it out of the mouth of his mate.”

Humphrey looked at Viggo with a look of utter disgust on his face.

“You’re a monster,” he said. “I hate you and everything you stand for.”

“And I hate you,” Viggo replied casually. “But enough talking. Let’s get started.”

Viggo lifted the knife to Humphrey’s body and slowly inserted it into the underside of his abdomen. Humphrey cried out in pain and Viggo stopped and looked at him, the knife stuck halfway in his stomach.

“Any last words before I unzip the bag?” Viggo asked.

Humphrey looked past Viggo and forced a pained smile.

“I think this is yours,” a voice said.

Viggo quickly turned around and saw Lucas holding the stolen grenade belt with Adam, Steven, and Viper next to him. Lucas pulled the pin on one and leaving it in the belt, he threw it at Viggo, who immediately let go of Humphrey and rushed out of the way, as did Robert and all the men around them.

In a rush of adrenaline, Humphrey jumped up and dived behind a nearby rock as the entire belt went off in large explosion. Adam and Steven rushed in and helped Humphrey away into the forest. Viggo’s men began to quickly retreat in the other direction, but he tried stopping them.

“Stop! Turn around! We go back and fight!”

He angrily walked up to one of his men and turned him around, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him close to his face.

“I said, go back and fight!” Viggo shouted before furiously reaching behind his back and beginning to pull Orion out of its sheath.

Before he could fully draw his sword on the helpless man, Viggo felt a hand on the back of his, forcefully holding the sword in place. He turned his head to see Robert looking at him. Viggo pushed the man he was holding down to the ground before turning around and angrily facing Robert.

“We can’t,” Robert said.

“Turn around!” Viggo demanded. “We will not retreat! Not when we’re so close. We must end him, now!”

“It’s too risky,” Robert insisted, “and we’re sandwiched between two of their strongest allies.”

“Since when did you become the voice of reason?” Viggo asked a bit calmer.

“Since you lost your mind,” Robert replied.

Viggo shot Robert a dirty, frustrated look as he slowly turned around and followed his men into the forest, back toward the Northern Region. When they arrived at the main campsite, it was still charred and destroyed from the cannon fire that Viggo had rained down on it.

“So now what?” Robert asked. “It’s not like we exactly have a base to operate out of since you gave up the valley and destroyed this one.”

Viggo said nothing as he headed toward his tent and entered it. Robert entered behind him and Viggo put his desk and his chair back up before sitting down. He placed his elbows on the table and put his fingertips together.

“I had him in my grasp,” he said to Robert. “I had the perfect plan, and it was executed flawlessly. Months in the making and months of patience as it slowly played out. My greatest gambit turned into my greatest defeat, but I assure you, I will make them pay. Gather every man we have left and bring them here and get the Crimson Pack too. We attack the Western Pack tomorrow afternoon.”

Viper quickly slithered back under the fabric of Viggo’s tent and headed back to meet up with Adam, Steven, and Humphrey. It was midafternoon when she arrived.

“What did you find?” Adam asked.

“Viggo’s gathering all of his men and the Crimson Pack for a massive attack on the valley,” she replied.

“Did he say when the attack was going to be?” Humphrey asked.

“Sometime tomorrow afternoon,” Viper replied before slithering up to Humphrey. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Humphrey reassured her, looking down at the wound in the bottom of his stomach that was slowly dripping blood. “He didn’t go very deep. I should be fine by tomorrow morning if I just rest for today.”

“I don’t think anyone would miss us if we stayed here for the night,” Steven suggested.

“Yeah,” Adam agreed, “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad.”

Steven shot Adam a look, knowing exactly what he meant by it.

“But someone should go back to the valley and tell everyone we’re okay,” Adam finished.

“I’ll go,” Viper volunteered. “And I can help lead Lucas back, too.”

Viper slithered off in the direction of the valley, but soon stopped and turned and looked back at Lucas, who tried his best to figure out what she wanted him to do. He looked back at the others and Adam nodded toward Viper. Lucas slowly understood and started following Viper back to the pack. She returned not long after and the four friends just sat and talked for a while.

After a few hours, they heard rustling in the bushes nearby and they stopped talking. They tensely watched and waited anxiously. Everyone was surprised when a very small, very young pup stumbled out from behind the shrubbery. Humphrey, Adam, Steven, and Viper looked at each other in shock, as this pup was incredibly young; scary young. He didn’t look any older than five or six weeks, his fur had barely grown in, and he was all alone with no one else in sight.

“Is that-“ Adam said nervously.

“Unfortunately, it is,” Humphrey replied sadly. “He’s probably from one of the packs Viggo’s destroyed, which means he’s most likely an orphan.”

“Then I guess it’s up to us to take him in,” Viper said.

“The question is, who gets to take care of him?” Steven asked. “I know that I, for one, am definitely not going to do it.”

“That’s not the way it works at such a young age, Steven,” Adam replied. “He’ll choose one of us.”

“He’s right,” Humphrey added. “The pup’s going to look for someone to be their protector and role model. Usually it’s the parents, but since he doesn’t have any, that task will fall to one of us. Pups usually get out of this imprinting phase once they’re about a month old, maybe two.”

“Yeah, it’s a huge responsibility,” Adam said.

“Well, I’ve already got enough responsibility with Luke, so I’m out,” Steven said, beginning to walk away.

Suddenly, the pup looked over at Steven and began rushing toward him. Steven stopped and looked down at him as the pup ran right up to his leg.

“Hey, beat it,” he said. “I’ve got things to do.”

Steven tried to keep walking, but the pup stayed right on his heels.

“Hey, stop,” Steven insisted, before turning to Humphrey and Adam. “Why’s he following me?”

“Um…I don’t how to tell you this, Steven,” Humphrey said, “but he just imprinted on you.”

“What!?” Steven exclaimed and Viper stifled a laugh.

“I was kind of hoping he would’ve imprinted on one of us,” Adam said. “Emily and I have been wanting a pup of our own for a while now.”

“Good. Take him,” Steven replied, pushing the pup toward Adam. “He’s all yours.”

“I wish we could, but we can’t,” Humphrey told him, smiling. “Once a pup imprints, it’s for life.”

“For life?” Steven exclaimed again. “But I already have a life. I barely even looked at him, why did he choose me?

“Nature works in mysterious ways,” Humphrey said, in a sort of playful taunt.

“Shut up, Humphrey,” Steven replied under his breath.

He then looked down at the pup and sighed.

“Fine. I’ll do it. Come on.”

As Steven walked off to have some one-on-one time with the pup, Adam turned to Humphrey.

“He has no idea what he’s doing, does he?” Adam asked.

Humphrey looked back at his brother, smiling.

“Does he ever?”

The rest of the day passed and the entire time, Steven had his paws full with the pup, trying his best to keep it entertained. Evening eventually fell and Humphrey and Adam approached Steven, who was laying down and relaxing behind a tree. The pup was nowhere in sight.

“Um, where’s the pup?” Adam asked, somewhat worriedly.

“We’re playing Hide and Seek,” Steven replied casually, not even opening his eyes.

Humphrey and Adam looked around for a moment.

“Uh, does he know that?” Humphrey asked.

Steven sighed before standing up and rolling his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll go find him.”

“Adam and I are going to do a quick check around the area,” Humphrey said. “We won’t be long.”

“You go do that,” Steven replied. “It’s not like you’re going to miss anything interesting.”

Humphrey and Adam were gone for all of ten minutes and when they came back, they found Steven in a panic.

“What’s wrong?” Humphrey asked.

“I lost the pup!” Steven said in a panic. “I can’t find him anywhere.”

“I can’t believe the pup imprinted on you of all wolves,” Adam remarked.

“What, you don’t think I’m a good role model?” Steven replied.

“Well, you did lose the pup,” Humphrey commented.

“Not helping,” Steven said.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my days as a father,” Humphrey began, “it’s that you’ll always find them in the most unexpected places.”

“Found him!” Viper called out.

Everyone looked to where they heard her voice and saw her looking down at them from the top of a tree branch with the pup sitting next to her, acting like nothing was wrong.

“How did he get up there?” Steven wondered aloud.

“My point exactly,” Humphrey said.

Steven sighed.

“I’ll go get Runt,” he said, running off toward the Western Pack.

“Wait, Steven, I could just bring him down right now,” Viper called after him, but he was already too far away.

When Steven got back to the valley, he looked around for Runt, but couldn’t find him anywhere. He saw Stinky walking by and rushed up to him.

“Steven!” Stinky cried out. “Where have you been? And where are the others?”

“Long story,” Steven replied. “I need Runt’s help. Do you know where he is? I can’t find him anywhere.”

“He and Lisa are busy planning their honeymoon,” Stinky answered. “Why?”

“We found a young pup in the woods,” Steven said. “Like, really, really young.”

“Really?” Stinky replied. “That’s great.”

“Oh, is it?” Steven asked sarcastically. “He thinks I’m his mom.”

“Good one, Steven,” Stinky replied, laughing.

He then stopped when he noticed the blank, unchanged expression on Steven’s face.

“Oh, you’re not joking?” Stinky said.

“Nope,” Steven replied. “Now come on. He somehow got himself stuck in a tree and I need your help.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly my specialty,” Stinky told him. “But, lucky for you, Runt showed me a few things about climbing trees when we were younger.”

The cold night had taken hold when Stinky and Steven returned to the others, only to find Adam, Humphrey, Viper, and the pup sitting together on the ground, waiting for them.

“Wait, how did you-“ Steven began.

“I tried telling you that I could bring him down myself,” Viper explained, smiling, “but you left in such a hurry, I couldn’t finish.”

“Well next time, finish faster,” Steven said.

Stinky stayed with Humphrey and the others for the night and in the morning, the group rose before the sun and returned to the valley, where Kenya eagerly greeted them.

“Where did you run off to?” she asked Stinky before noticing the pup sitting on Steven’s back. “And is that-“

“Yep. A wolf pup,” Steven replied.

“Steven’s a mommy now,” Adam said, smiling.

Steven laughed nervously before shooting Adam a dirty look and mouthing something to him. Kenya then led them back to join the others where they had a more serious discussion about the impending attack that was coming that afternoon.

“Viggo’s coming here with every man he’s got plus the Crimson Pack to wipe us all out,” Humphrey said. “From what Viper was able to find out, he’ll be here by this afternoon. We need to gather our own army and be ready for them when they arrive.”

“But Dad, what about the cannon?” Claudette asked. “You’ve seen what it can do, we can’t stop it.”

“Maybe we can’t,” Humphrey replied, “but I know someone who can. Steven, you and Kenya take the pups to Mort and the Protectors. They’ll be safe there. Then get back as soon as you can. Adam, you, and the rest of the group go to the other packs and tell them to meet me here. Find as many of our allies as you possibly can by noon. Garth, you go find the other Eastern Wolves and bring them out of hiding. Kate, I need you to hold things together while I’m gone.

“Gone?” Kate asked. “Gone where?”

“I’m going to recruit a little backup,” Humphrey replied. “This is the fight of our lives. No matter how this ends, it ends today. Once and for all.”