Chapter 2: Wolfnapped

“So, how do we fight him?” Kenya asked.

“I-I don’t know,” Humphrey replied. “I honestly don’t know how I survived as long as I did against him.”

“Well, there has to be a way,” Adam said.

“Adam’s right,” Steven agreed. “Viggo may be smart, strong, but he’s not invincible. If he can be hurt, then he can be killed.”

“Now you’re speaking my language,” Mick chimed in.

“You have a point,” Humphrey said. “No matter how clever someone is, or how good of a fighter they are, everyone has a weakness. That includes Viggo. We just need to find it and exploit it before he has a chance to exploit ours.”

“Okay,” Kate said, “any idea what that might be?”

“No, unfortunately,” Humphrey replied. “The closest thing he has to a weakness that I’ve been able to find is his age. He’s sixty-seven years old.”

“Well, that’s good,” Garth said. “That means he won’t be able to ilipat like he used to. We might have a better chance at taking him down now than you did seventeen years ago.”

“No,” Humphrey told him, “Viggo’s smart. He knows his own weaknesses and compensates for them. Despite his age, he is incredibly fit and healthy. He may look to be in his sixties, but he has the body of a forty-year-old, at least. That’s how he turns his weakness into his advantage. He may be old, but he is not frail. He’s a professional fighter, hunter, and tracker. I’ve been fighting with him for seventeen years and I’ve yet to find a single thing to use against him that he hasn’t compensated for.”

“So what do we do?” Runt asked.

“For now, we stay here,” Humphrey advised. “Keep a constant watch on our borders and stay on alert.”

“What do we do when we find him?” Stinky asked.

“My best advice…” Humphrey said, “don’t die.”

Kenya took first watch that night. Most of the night was calm and quiet. Not much happened for the first couple of hours until something terrible happened around midnight.

Kenya was out checking the perimeter when she smelled a somewhat familiar scent. It was definitely a human, but not one she recognized. As she turned to face it, she could see someone tall lurking in the shadows. He looked to be in his late sixties with grey hair and a short grey beard and a sword sheathed on his back.

“Hello, Kenya,” he said.

“How do you know my name?” she asked, mainly out of shock, not really expecting an answer.

“Oh, I know everything about you,” Viggo replied. “I know you and your brother, Humphrey, were kidnapped when you were pups. I know you were adopted sa pamamagitan ng a man named Lucas and I know Humphrey survived for almost two years in the woods until he was accepted into the Western Pack.”

Kenya stepped back in shock, not because Viggo knew so much about her and Humphrey, but because he actually understood what she was saying.

“You-“ she began.

“Yes,” he replied, “I can understand everything you say. I know everything about you and your family. Where they’ve lived, who they’ve met, all their friends. A piece of advice, assume I know everything.”

“How?” she asked. “How do you know so much about all of us?”

“That story is too long to tell right now,” Viggo told her.

“Then let me ask you this,” Kenya said. “Why are you after me?”

“Oh, I’m not after you,” Viggo replied. “I’m after Humphrey.”

“Why?”

“That is an equally long story. Speaking of your brother,” Viggo said, reaching down to his waist, “let’s see if we can’t get him here, shall we?”

Viggo suddenly pulled out a kutsilyo and cut a nearby rope and then ducked down as a net shot over him, trapping Kenya.

“Humphrey!” she shouted as Viggo grabbed the net and began dragging her away.

Humphrey, Kate, and the others soon arrived to see Viggo wolfnapping Kenya.

“Viggo!” Humphrey shouted.

“Hello, Humphrey,” Viggo said. “It is good to see you again. Unfortunately, I cannot stay as I have business elsewhere.”

“Let her go,” Humphrey demanded.

“No, I don’t think so,” Viggo replied.

“I’m not asking.”

Viggo pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Kenya.

“Back off or she dies.”

“You’re not going to do it,” Humphrey said. “You need her as leverage against me. You kill her and you lose that leverage.”

“I’m afraid not.” Viggo said. “You seem to have forgotten that I know everything about you. I know who your mga kaibigan and family are and where they live. I have plenty of other leverage to apply. If she dies, I lose nothing.”

Humphrey realized that Viggo was right and began to back away.

“Stand down,” he told the others.

“Thank you,” Viggo said. He then began carrying Kenya back into the forest again.

“This isn’t over, Viggo,” Humphrey said.

Viggo turned around and gave one last remark.

“No, it isn’t. In fact, this is just the beginning. Exciting, isn’t it?”

Humphrey gave him a dirty look as Viggo turned and began walking back into the woods.

“I’ll see you again soon, I imagine,” Viggo said.

He then gave the mga lobo a half-wave as he disappeared into the woods, dragging Kenya along with him.