Chapter 24: Aftermath

Humphrey slowly walked up to Runt’s lifeless body and laid down next to it, setting his head down on top of his son’s body and slowly beginning to cry. Humphrey simply laid there, not moving, remaining with Runt long after his eyes had gone dry, entirely consumed by his grief. Even after everyone else had had their time and left, even as night fell, Humphrey still continued to stay with Runt.

The sun rose the next day and as Kate headed out toward the valley, her heart was crushed to see Humphrey still laying there.

“Has he really been out there all night?” Adam asked.

“Yeah,” Kate said sadly, “I think so.”

She slowly began walking out to him, her heart aching to see him so broken and defeated and utterly drowned in his grief.

“Humphrey?” she softly asked as she neared him, but he didn’t stir an inch.

She walked around to face him and laid in front of his face.

“Humphrey,” she said again. “I’d ask if you were okay, but-“

“I’m fine,” Humphrey replied, in a very depressed tone.

“You are not fine, Humphrey,” Kate said. “You’ve been out here all night.”

“I don’t want to leave him, Kate, he replied sadly.

“Humphrey, you need to at least eat something and get some rest,” Kate insisted.

Humphrey let out a very heavy and distraught sigh.

“Alright.”

He slowly got up and followed Kate back to the pack, his head down and his tail seeming completely lifeless. Many of the wolves had left already but at least a pack or two had stayed behind to help clean up the mess of carnage in the valley in the aftermath of the battle. Humphrey managed to get himself to eat some food and struggled to ease his mind enough to get some sleep.

In the meantime, the other wolves were busy clearing out the numerous bodies in the valley. The humans they took to a random spot in the forest and left them there. As for the wolves, there was nowhere within the borders of the Western Pack big enough to bury all the bodies.

In the end, they decided to dedicate the long-since fallen Central Pack as a memorial to all the wolves who had died to help bring Viggo’s long reign of terror to an end. The entire Central Region would act as a burial site for all these wolves and would act as a great memorial to them forever after. However, Runt’s body, they left alone for the time being.

Humphrey managed to fall asleep and slept for the rest of the day. As the afternoon grew late, everyone decided to hold Runt’s funeral and Kate went to wake Humphrey up.

They buried him underneath the cliff where Humphrey’s den once sat. No one said anything throughout the entire funeral, their hearts all still too crushed from the sudden loss.

Lisa felt almost as devastated as Humphrey did. Her and Runt had just gotten married less than forty-eight hours ago, they had everything planned out for their honeymoon and were ready to go sightseeing in the mountains together once the war was over. Their future together seemed like it was going to be so happy and perfect, and then it was all taken away in the blink of an eye.

Night had fallen when everyone eventually went back to their dens. Humphrey tried his best to get some rest, but his mind was too active and he ended up sneaking out of his den and heading back over to where Runt had been buried. He stood there, sadly and regretfully staring at the fresh mound of dirt under the light of the full moon. He suddenly heard the sound of numerous footsteps approaching him and when he turned, he saw Kate, Adam, Kenya, Steven, Stinky, Claudette, Jax, Jonas, and Martin all walking up to him.

“It’s okay, Humphrey,” Kate said. “None of us could sleep either.”

“This is my fault,” Humphrey said sadly. “I did this.”

“Humphrey, stop,” Kate replied. “You know you can’t blame yourself for this, right?”

“If I hadn’t come back, Viggo never would’ve attacked you and none of this would’ve happened,” Humphrey argued.

“I mean, hypothetically speaking, he could be right,” Jonas said.

“Maybe,” Jax joined. “But by the time Humphrey came back, Viggo had already attacked us.”

“Yeah, and then I would’ve saved us,” Steven butted in.

“Really?” Kenya asked. “You would’ve saved us? I would love to hear how you would’ve done that.”

“I would’ve become the greatest leader in all of Jasper,” Steven replied, smiling as he began to daydream about this fantasy reality. “I would’ve led us to victory and Viggo and his men would’ve fled like cowards.”

“Okay, that is, by far, the most preposterous thing I have ever heard,” Adam said.

“Says you, naysayer,” Steven shot back, “’Adam, the Dreamcrusher’. You guys just don’t understand how one’s destiny can be changed in the blink of an eye.”

“No, you don’t understand that a wolf can’t change its fur,” Adam replied.

“What in the world are you talking about?” Steven asked. “My fur changes every time I shed.”

“It’s a metaphor,” Adam sighed, frustratedly, “a figure of speech, not literal.”

“Okay, keep your witch trickery to yourself.”

“It’s not trickery, it’s-“

“Enough!” Humphrey shouted, startling everyone present, even Kate. “All of you, enough! This is pointless. It’s not a dream, okay, it’s reality. It actually happened. I decided to come back, Viggo and his men followed me here, and now Runt is dead because of it! And it’s all because of me. None of this would’ve happened and I mean NONE of it, if I had never decided to come back here in the first place. You know it, I know it, the pack knows it, everyone knows it.”

Humphrey looked down at Runt’s grave, tears starting to form in his eyes.

“Even he knows it.”

He turned and walked up to the empty spot on top of the cliff. Humphrey sat down at the edge of the stone and just stared out into the night, trapped in his sorrow. He felt lost and alone. It felt like everything had been taken from him so quickly. He then heard footsteps slowly coming toward him from behind. He closed his eyes in a bit of frustration. He had come up here to get away from everyone.

“Kate, I need some time to think,” he said. “I just want to be left alone.”

“Just hear me out,” she asked, sitting down next to him. “You and I came together for a very specific reason at a very specific time. We have a very special bond and you wouldn’t have been able to stay away for long. I am the wolf that I am today because of you. You may not believe it, but it’s true. Ever since the day I met you, Humphrey, you have brought something special into my life. You always lifted me up and made my day just a little better, no matter how bad it was. You added a light to my life that I had never felt before.

“When you died, I felt like I had lost a part of myself. I went to a dark place, full of sadness and turmoil. Everything just felt dark and lonely without you. I tried to go on for you, but nothing was the same. I pushed away my friends and my family and I isolated myself from everyone. There was no one to make me feel better when my heart was heavy, and I missed your innocent smile every day.

“But then you came back and for the first time in a long time, I felt that light again and I finally felt whole. And no matter how bad things got these past few months, I somehow always knew everything would be okay because I had you right there with me. You came back a changed wolf and I have watched you doubt yourself ever since. But I have never stopped believing in you, Humphrey. I know who you are in your bones; you are not just the silliest knucklehead I’ve ever known, you are a hero inside. You are a fighter and that person does not give up. It’s time you started believing in yourself again.”

Humphrey looked up at Kate and smiled warmly, filled once again with hope by her sweet, soft words.

“No matter what happened, you were always going to come back to us, Humphrey. Yes, Viggo still would’ve attacked us and all this still would’ve happened, but we’re a family. And we will get through this together.”

“Why does it have to play out like that?” Jax asked.

Kate and Humphrey turned around to see the rest of the group standing behind them.

“It’s a made-up scenario,” Jax continued. “You can change things.”

“She’s telling him he’s exactly where he’s meant to be,” Adam said, “and so is she.”

“We all are,” Humphrey added. “No matter what I decided to do, Viggo still would’ve attacked you guys, I would’ve come back because of it, and we all would’ve ended up right here.”

“Oh, great,” Steven said, sarcastically. “Okay, so you’re the hero no matter what, and I’m the idiot?”

“Exactly,” everyone agreed.

“Shut up, everyone.”

Humphrey laughed and everyone could tell that it was genuine.

“Thank you, Kate,” he said. “Thank all of you…for everything. Now let’s go find Viggo and make sure Runt’s death wasn’t in vain.”