(Leo's pov)

"Uncle Casey why are you telling me all of this as well?" I asked as he continued to soothe Amara.

"Micah how about you go take Amara somewhere over there, so that I can have a moment to speak with Leo. Yeah?" Uncle Casey asked, letting go of Amara, before Micah let out this grunt, like he was answering him.

"Why can't I stay?" Amara asked as Micah started to nudge her back in the direction he wanted her to go.

"You can come back in a few minutes," Uncle Casey said as Micah grew impatient with Amara, giving her back a harsh shove, almost making her fall.

"Geez I get it, you don't have to shove me so hard," she said, glaring at Micah who huffed at her.

We stood there watching as they continued to get further and further away from us. The longer we stood in silence the more anxious I felt. I honestly felt like I could throw up at any moment, I don't know what it was about this situation but at this moment I felt so on edge.

"Uncle Casey?" I asked, my voice weak as he turned to look at me.

"Yes?"

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"It's one thing if Amara had picked me as her beta but she didn't. So why am I here? Why are you telling me about this stuff? Shouldn't Scott be here instead?" I asked, bombarding him with several questions.

Uncle Casey stood there staring at me before he walked up to me, pulling me into one of the tightest hugs he's ever given me before.

"Because I know you're scared. Because I've been there, now I'm not saying your wolf is like Micah, but if he is, I wanted you to know there is an option for you to live a normal life. Even if you don't have a wolf anymore, you're still Leo, your wolf doesn't define who you are. And if you God forbid go down the same hellhole that I did, your father and I will fight to bring you back no matter what you hear me," Uncle Casey said, his words breaking through the last remaining wall that I had been struggling to hold onto

"I didn't mean to hurt him, I kept telling Draco to stop, but he's just so angry all the time and I don't know why, I don't know what to do," I sobbed out as I clung to Uncle Casey.

"I'm sorry I've been so cold to Amara lately. I promise I'm not mad at her for picking Scott. I've just been scared to go around her, because I don't want to risk hurting her." I cried out. I couldn't stop, I've never been like this, the type of person who cries, but right now I just couldn't stop.

"I'm scared," I admitted.

"I know you are. I've been there Leo, you feel alone, you feel like no one understands what you're going through. The constant fear of something happening or if it happens again. It's truly terrifying."

"I almost killed my brother. Oh God," I cried out, it was as if the weight of the situation was just now truly hitting me.

"I-I can't breathe," I gasped out as each breath I tried to take was a struggle.

What was wrong with me?

Was I having a panic attack?

"Breathe, I need you to breathe for me Leo," Uncle Casey said, pulling away from me as he held my tear stained face between his rough hands.

"Take a deep breath in through your nose," he instructed, making sure I did as he said.

"Good now, slowly breathing out," he said.

We repeated this for a few minutes until I had calmed down, now able to breathe again.

"You good?" he asked.

"Yes sir," I sniffled out.

"Good," he said, giving me a small smile before he guided me over to a nice shady spot under what looked to be a pine tree. We sat down, enjoying the comfortable silence that had taken over. After that embarrassing moment I was grateful for the silence.

It was the first and hopefully last panic attack I'll ever have. I felt so drained right now, but at the same time I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything," he said.

"What was it like for you? When you still had Micah."

"I had my good times with him. I'm grateful to him everyday, if he hadn't forced my early shift, I wouldn't be here right now." Uncle Casey cleared his throat before continuing. "But if I'm being honest most of our time was awful, the power struggle was there. Every day was a constant struggle, Micah wanted freedom and I wanted peace and quiet. "We argued non-stop almost 24/7 at times, and when we weren't arguing he was lashing out at people for no reason," he said, looking over at me.

"What did you have to do to have him removed from you?" I asked.

I've heard of people losing their wolves or having them forcefully removed, but I've never heard of anyone having them removed voluntarily.

"I went to Calum-,"

"The man from the hallway?" I asked, interrupting him.

"Mhm," he said hummed out, nodding his head, picking up where he had left off.

"He tried talking me out of it, but I was set on my decision. He talked to Sara about it for me and that was it really."

"Do you remember it?"

"I was out for all of it. When I woke up I could feel that Micah wasn't with me anymore, but it wasn't a bad feeling though, I had never felt so at peace before."

"I see," I mumbled under my breath, taking his words in.

It didn't sound too bad, not having a wolf that is. The more I heard his side of it the more I liked the idea.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" He asked, probably sensing where I was going with my questioning.

"I want to have Draco removed," I blurted out, causing his eyes to widen.

"Leo this isn't something you do on a whim, this is something you really need to consider."

"I have been considering it," I said.

The truth is that the whole time we've been sitting here I've been feeling extremely antsy. This whole time Draco has been feeling my head with disturbing images of hurting Uncle Casey. Even hurting Amara.

"'What are you not telling me?" He asked.

Uncle Casey has been like that for as long as I can remember. He's always been able to read people like an open book. Growing up I was never able to hide anything from him, he could tell when I was lying, when I was telling the truth, when I had things that were heavily weighing on my mind. It's like he has a sixth sense for telling how other people are feeling.

"I'd rather not say," I told him.

Fearing that if he knew the truth, that if I were to tell him what violent thoughts have been running through my mind as we've been sitting here then he might not let me around Amara again.

"I see," he said, looking over to where Micah and Amara were at.

"I want it done today. Before he has the chance to take over again and go through with what he's been thinking about."

Uncle Casey gave me a look of uncertainty before he stood from where he was sitting.

"Amara, it's time to go," he yelled out, gaining the attention of Micah and Amara.

Amara stood up, dusting off her jeans as she started towards us, Micah following close behind her.

"We're going already?" She asked once she reached us.

"Yeah, I still have some things to do while we're here. We'll come back another time if you want?"

"I'd like that," Amara said, smiling as she rubbed Micah's ears, earning a happy grunt from him.

Amara's eyes shifted over to me, her eyes looked concerned the longer we held eye contact.

"I'll see you next time ok?" Amara said as Micah backed away from her, heading back towards the woods.

"Ready?" Uncle Casey asked, looking at me, trying to see how serious I was about my decision.

"Yes Sir," I said, standing up.

Uncle Casey let out a long sigh before we all started to walk back towards the door that we had come from earlier. Hitting a button, we stood there waiting until a loud buzzing noise rang out before the door opened from the other side. The same guard from earlier stood there, holding the door open for us as we walked back into the government-looking building.

The guard closed the door, making sure it was completely locked before returning to his desk.

"Do you know if Calum is still in the building?" Uncle Casey asked the guard.

"I can check for you," he said as he picked up his phone, hitting line number three before bringing the receiver to his ear.

"Casey is asking for you."

"He's on his way over here. Have a seat over there while you wait for him, he won't be long," the guard said, gesturing towards a small waiting room that was a little further down the hall.

"Thank you," Uncle Casey said.

We walked to where the waiting room was at, taking a seat in one of those uncomfortable blue plastic chairs that almost every waiting room has.

I couldn't help but bounce my leg as my nerves picked up. I was really going to do this. I was really going to have Draco removed.

What if my parents get mad at me for doing this without their consent?

What if I get disowned or banished from the pack?

I started biting my thumb nail, my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest it was beating so hard.

"Casey is everything ok?"

My heart seemed to stop beating all together when I heard Callum's voice. I looked up to see Uncle Casey and Calum talking out in the hallway, making sure to keep their voices down so that Amara couldn't hear them.

Callum's gaze shifted to me, and judging by his expression I knew he had been told what I was wanting to do.

"I'll go get Sara and Erik before they leave. Call his family," he said, before leaving.

"What's going on?" Amara asked me.

My eyes held her questioning gaze. Guilt was quick to hit me when her eyes looked worried, but I couldn't tell her. If I do, I know she'll try and talk me out of it.

"N-Nothing," I said, feeling even guiltier for lying to her. For lying to the girl I was in love with. This was for the best, for myself, for my family, but especially for her. I had to do this, I wasn't going to let myself back out of this.

Realization hit me. Today was going to be my last day ever as a werewolf, and honestly, I was ok with that. From today on, I was just going to be myself, I was going to be Leo.

Just Leo.