Resetting the trap I had just checked, I make sure that everything is secure before standing back up from my crouched position. My legs protest the movement, and I wonder just how long I have been there.

Looking around, I see that the sun is high in the sky, making it somewhere around noon. That means I have been out here for at least five hours, trekking through the woods and trying to find all the traps that I had set last night.

Now that I am done with the last one, I can finally make it back to the house. With a tired sigh, I lean down to pick up the rabbit that had been unlucky enough to get ensnared in this trap and tie it onto my pack.

The past week has been draining. I feel as if I take any moment to rest, I won't be able to get back up again. With my wolf spirit gradually becoming stronger and my resistance becoming weaker, I am finding it difficult not to pounce on Micah whenever I catch the barest hint of his scent.

Alexis has been pushing and prodding for me to go and talk to Alpha Seren, saying that he might know what is going on, but so far I have refused. But the worry in her eyes is becoming more apparent, and my restlessness is becoming more obvious. It is time for me to finally cave into my sister's wishes and talk to the alpha.

Just the thought of having to talk about my wolf spirit and how it is making me weak makes my face twist into a grimace. Admitting weakness is something that I have rarely done, not wanting to give in when things are hard. Having someone tell me to do something makes my resistance grow even stronger, not wanting to admit that they are right; I am weak.

Everything inside of me is telling me to keep quiet about what is going on, wanting to run away from my sister's worried eyes and Micah's sad ones. But I know that I can't this time.

Shaking my head, I force myself to snap out of my thoughts. Now is not the time to get distracted, and with Micah on my mind, there is no way I could pay attention to my surroundings.

Being outside the fence means that every part of me has to be on high alert. Too many things out here could creep up on me at any moment.

The last few times I was out here, some infected had wandered by, the first time being humans and the last couple times being werewolves. It's strange because I have seen more infected in the last couple weeks than I have all the other weeks we have been here combined.

Something seems to be going on, but I haven't quite figured out what, yet.

The snapping of a stick causes me to whip my head over to my right. Squinting my eyes, I try to find the source of the sound, but can't see anything. Not wanting to chance anything, I walk as quickly and as quietly as I can over to a large oak tree on my left. Grabbing onto the lowest hanging branch, I pull myself up. It only takes a minute for me to pull myself up a few more yards, making it so that no one can see me unless they are actively searching for me.

Satisfied, I lean against the trunk of the tree, eyes turned in the direction that I had heard the noise.

A low growl cuts through the air, making me stiffen up. My eyes gravitate towards the sound, and closer than I originally thought, stands two infected werewolves. Both of them look like they have done a couple rounds with some other werewolves, their fur matted with blood and a few places missing skin entirely.

One looks slightly worse for wear, a chunk of its back leg missing, and spit dripping from its mouth. The other doesn't look much better, but it does seem to be less crazy than the other. Together, they stalk through the trees, their noses raised in the air as if they are trying to catch the scent of something.

Holding my breath, I watch as they walk closer to the tree I am hiding in, their dark eyes flicking around the forest.

Shit, I am so fucked if they see me up here. I had been so stupid when coming out here, only bringing a small pocket knife to use for cutting animals free of my traps. Now, I am stuck in a tree with no weapons and two infected werewolves about to discover my hiding spot in a matter of seconds.

Just when I am debating between climbing higher in the tree or throwing down the game to the werewolves in an attempt to distract them, a steady howl cuts through the air.

The two werewolves stop in their tracks, only a mere meter away from my tree. The two of them look in the direction of the howl, the remainders of their ears perked as they listen. As soon as the howl in the distance dies down, they let out their own, sounding far less beautiful than the other one that had sounded.

I don't dwell on the peculiarity of the other howl, though, too busy trying to keep myself still and balanced on the branch I am sitting on.

The infected werewolves don't even bother looking up before dashing in the direction of the other howl. Well, more of a misbalanced run, but they are still quick for creatures that are supposed to be diseased.

A sigh of relief slips from between my lips once the werewolves are out of sight. Not wanting to be caught unawares, I stay in my spot for a few more minutes, listening for anything else that may be approaching.

By the time that I am actually dropping back down to the ground, the birds are back to chirping and flying in between the trees. Animals are a reliable source for impending trouble, often being quiet when there is a threat around and starting up their activities once the trouble is gone. I can't even count how many times I have been saved from an attack because of the animals in the forest. So, now that they are chirping again, I know that there can't be a threat in the near vicinity.

Readjusting my pack, I make sure everything is in place before trudging back towards pack lands.

It doesn't take too long to make it back home, maybe an hour or so. I don't like hunting too close to the territory, not wanting to attract any wandering infected towards the property with the many animals that end up dangling from one of my traps.

Pulling out a key from my back pocket, I slip it into the lock of the fence. A familiar click sounds from the lock, and I withdraw the key, stepping through the open fence before relocking it.

Gravel crunches beneath my feet as I walk, and it is a familiar sound, causing some of the tension in my shoulders to slip away. The house comes into view ten minutes later, the front door wide open to let in some fresh air, and all the children running around in the yard.

With it being a warm summer day, almost everyone is outside. Elliot and the twins are chasing each other around, while Matty crawls around the yard, trying to put everything he finds in his mouth.

Liam and Taylor are sitting beside each other, Rosalie sleeping on Taylor's chest, while the two of them talk. Looking over to the left of them, I see Micah laying back on a towel, his eyes closed.

The wolf spirit inside me surges when my eyes land on Micah, pushing me to go over towards him and rub my scent all over him, warning others that he is already taken. I barely manage to hold myself back, gritting my teeth as I give all of them a cursory wave before walking up the porch steps.

Stepping into the house, I shuck my shoes while carefully taking off my backpack. Before I can even think about sitting down somewhere, Nik peeks his head out of the living room.

"Hey, there you are!" he says, a smile spreading across his face as he walks over to me. "Alpha Seren has been looking for you."

My eyebrows scrunch in confusion at Nik's words. Why would the alpha be looking for me?

The answer to that question comes to me when I see Lexi step out of the living room, a challenging brow raised at me. Of course my sister would go to the alpha before I had a chance to do it on my own.

"Lexi," I say with a sigh, my shoulders slumping under the weight of her steady gaze. "What did you do?"

"You know I had to, Jesse. You were never going to go to him yourself, being your stubborn ass self, so I decided to do it for you." Her arms cross over her chest as she stares me down, not flinching away from my heated gaze.

Nik steps over to me, taking the backpack out of my hands and guiding me in the direction of the stairs. "Okay," he says drawing out the words. "Let me get out of here before this turns into an all out brawl."

Lexi and I both look over at him, our brows scrunched incredulously. The beta just shrugs his shoulders before quickly walking out of the room and into the kitchen.

My sister lets out a heavy sigh. "Look, Jesse, I am just worried about you. You know that right?"

It takes me a minute or two, but I nod my head in understanding. Knowing my sister, she only told Alpha Seren about what was going on with me because she was truly scared, and that is a rare sight to see on my sister. We are both similar in the fact that we are stubborn, wanting to resolve our issues on our own. Her stubbornness was overpowered by her need to protect me, which is the only reason I can see for her going behind my back.

Siblings protect each other, no matter what the cost.

"Good," Lexi says, her body finally relaxing once she realizes that I am not angry with her. "Now, you better go up and talk to Alpha Seren. He seemed worried when I told him what was going on."

Deciding that it is better to just get this over with, I leave my sister behind to climb up the stairs and walk over to Alpha Seren's office. The door is cracked open, but I knock anyways, not wanting to intrude.

"Come in," the deep voice of Alpha Seren says.

Doing as he says, I push the door open, just enough so that I can step into the room, before closing it behind me. Alpha Seren looks up from the book he has opened on his desk. It looks old, with weathered pages and a cracked spine. Probably something to do with pack lore.

"Ah, Jesse, just the person I have been looking for." He motions me over to the chair across from his desk, and I take the offered seat. Crossing his arms on the desk, he looks over at me, his eyes running over every part of me as if trying to see if something is amiss. "So, what is this about your wolf spirit that Alexis has told me about?

Clearing my throat, I drop his gaze, my eyes instead moving to look out the window that is situated behind the alpha. "I'm not sure what she has told you." I pause, my eyes flickering over to the Alpha's before moving back towards the window. "It is becoming stronger, harder for me to control. I have never felt it like this before, but it is as if I am about to snap at any moment. And when I do..."

"You're afraid you may hurt someone," Alpha Seren says, finishing my sentence.

My head nods at his words, and a feeling of shame washes over me. Not being able to control a part of my self is humiliating, especially since it is a part of ourselves that lies dormant for most of our lives.

"Well," Alpha Seren says, letting out a long sigh while leaning back in his chair. "I don't know as much about werewolf culture and lore as my mate did, but I may have an idea about what is going on. I'm almost positive that what you are going through is the same as what my older sister went through in her mid-twenties."

My eyes wander over to him, eager to know the answer about why my wolf spirit is getting out of control.

"It sounds like what you're going through is withdrawal." When my eyebrows just scrunch in confusion, he clarifies what he means. "Mate withdrawal."

My heart skips a beat at his words. "What?"

Alpha Seren raises a questioning brow at me. "Micah is your mate, if I am to understand correctly?"

Shakily, I nod my head.

"And have you two have known you are mates for a while now but never completed the mating process?"

Again, I nod my head.

"And your wolf spirit only became stronger after you were with him intimately?"

A surprised cough comes out of my mouth at his words. He doesn't even look embarrassed about asking if I have had sex with Micah, so I just nod my head in answer to his question.

It is true. My wolf spirit was not nearly as strong until after I had been with Micah.

Nodding his head, Alpha Seren purses his lips before he continues to talk. "Well, Jesse, there isn't much you can do about mate withdrawal. When my sister was going through it, she had no control over her wolf spirit, shifting into her wolf form whenever she got in the near vicinity of her mate."

He pauses before continuing. "It got so bad that she had to leave our home for a while, get better control of her wolf spirit before returning home."

"So are you are saying that I should," I swallow past the lump in my throat, "leave?"

Alpha Seren opens his mouth and closes it a few times, looking unsure about what he should say. Finally, he sits back up in his chair, his hands folding together on top of his desk. "I think it would be a horrible idea for you to leave our lands with the world we live in, but I have no other solution for you. If you were to try and reconcile with Micah right now with your wolf spirit so strong and out of control, you may hurt him, maybe even kill him. You wouldn't have any control over what was going on until the mating process was completed. That is exactly what happened with my sister. She almost killed her mate, and if we hadn't gotten to her in time, then she would have succeeded."

A cold shiver runs over my body at the thought of Micah being dead. Nausea comes over me when I think about him not being here anymore because of me. I have to leave, get out of here before it is too late. Lexi was wrong, this isn't something the Alpha can fix, I will have to do it on my own. But I am willing if that means Micah is safe.

"It took my sister about four months to get control of her wolf spirit once she left home. Being away from her mate made the wolf spirit die down, so once she came back, she wasn't out of control anymore. She and her mate were able to complete the mating process, and they lived fairly happy lives."

Steeling myself, I finally meet the Alpha's eyes. "Alright, if that is the only way to protect Micah, then I'll leave." My wolf spirit surges up at the mention of leaving Micah behind, trying to gain control over my body. Holding tightly onto the arms of the chair, I grit my teeth. "I'll leave as soon as possible."