I was not smart. I had been reckless—careless—and now I was paying the price.

I did not do proper research apart from what I understood about the Alaskian packs on a surface level. Crimson Hills, Bering Moon, and Winson Blood. I had a rough idea about where their territories lie and that had been it.

I had no clue about the Alpha's of these packs, I had no clue how old they were, and I did not know about any of their reputations. Absolutely no idea.

And perhaps if I had — if I had just looked a bit harder or asked around, I would have found out that the Alpha of Bering Moon was obviously a psychopath. A psychopath who was into taking women and playing games with them.

How old even was this guy?

I stared at the naked Alpha silently — no one had made any movement nor a peep of sound since he introduced himself. He was now shifting a bit awkwardly under my cold stare.

I deduced that he was in his early twenties, he had to have been around my age.

Wait, but how old was I? Reminding myself that it was mid-July I realized that my 21st birthday was right around the corner. Time moves oddly when you are constantly traveling and you are shifted into your animal for the majority of it.

Rayden... Rayden... Rayden... Rayydeennnn...

His name bounced around in my head as I tested it.

And suddenly, I was seven years old again sitting on the couch watching as my older brother played Mortal Kombat. The theme song rang through my mind: Raiden. A fighter who was depicted as a God of Thunder who possessed immense control over lightning.

It was such a minute and old memory, one that I was surprised I remembered at all. Nevertheless, it was a memory soaked in warmth and made me happy — as odd as it was.

Me: a little girl sitting with my older brother as he screamed while playing his violent video game. Him jumping on the couch next to me as he harshly pushed the buttons on his game controller.

Once again the Mortal Kombat theme song played in my mind. The theme song that played every time my older brother — Carlos — would turn on his game system.

"Test your might!" The man would holler amidst the music. "Kano, Liu Kang, Raiden, Johnny Cage!"

The Alpha opened and closed his mouth a few times, his eyes shifting around while he appeared a little lost.

And finally, "Perhaps we should move this conversation back to the pack house?"

Alpha Rayden's voice was deep, but not uncomfortably so: and it was shaped by the perfect amount of roughness — he quite literally sounded gorgeous.

And looked it too.

I mentally slapped myself: whatever these intrusive thoughts were that had me pining over this Alpha needed to stop.

"I think you mean prison..." I finally state quietly, despite the quietness my voice was firm.

The Alpha paused, tilted his head in confusion, and spluttered for a second.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" He asked hoarsely, his tone portraying true confusion.

"I said," my voice was louder this time, "I think you mean you want to speak with me in your prison, correct?"

Even if he meant to take me back to the house I had woken up in, there was no way he meant to keep me there.

If I am lucky, then Alpha Rayden will be kind enough to simply warn me about never trespassing on Bering pack lands again. Or, he might be strict enough that he keeps me in their prison as punishment for a few days.

I doubted that trespassing how I did would garner anything more than that, as I may have trespassed but I did stay on the edges of their territory and away from the heart of their pack. I stayed within the human areas of Bering territory.

Then again — I did run away rather than speak to the Alpha and apologizing as I should have.

Why am I such an idiot?

The Alpha's eyes flashed with concern. "No, I meant perhaps we can sit down and speak over a warm cup of tea?"

Okay, yeah, this was weird.

Alpha's are way too much of a dick to ever do that — he probably means to poison me.

Do Alpha wolf shifters even drink tea?

"Alpha Rayden..." I started, attempting to make my voice sincere and calm, "I truly do apologize for trespassing on the lands of Bering Moon, it was an honest mistake and will never happen again. I promise you that if you let me leave now, you will never so much as catch a whiff of me again—" My words were cut short by the fierce growl that erupted from the Alpha's throat and seemed to shake the world around.

Rayden's eyes turned from the pretty splotches of hazel to black as any shifter's eyes did when their animal was near the surface.

Yikes.

It was pitch black outside, the only light came from the pack village which was too far away for any light to cut through to our location in the forest. Most people would probably be unable to see, but no one here was human.

A shifter's eyesight was amazing, even in the darkest of places.

And most people probably would have been scared about wild animals attacking them. Not us; however; seeing as anyone here (other than me at the current moment in time) could probably wrestle a bear and win.

"No," Rayden shook his head sternly, words having a slight bite to them, "you will not leave, I will ask again that you please accompany myself and others back to the pack house..."

My shoulders went rigid and my lips upturned. It took all of my willpower to not bear my teeth at him as most jungle cats do when faced with a threat. It took even more willpower to not snarl and growl at him with my teeth on display.

Not that it would look or sound nearly as fierce as I wanted it to. With me being unable to shift, I was unable to shift anything — that meant I could not even elongate my teeth into a mouth full of large incisors.

My eyes would not glow yellow either.

Unlike wolves whose eyes turned pitch black when their animal was near the surface, my eyes would usually glow a bright yellow.

It was a reminder that I was truly powerless here — no inner animal to back me up. Only feats of strength and speed that were slightly better than that of an average human.

Fuck.

None of them knew that though, I might as well try to bluff my way out.

"Alpha Rayden of the pack Bering Moon..." his eyes widened at my louder tone, panic entering his gaze, "I... will NOT accompany you back to the pack house. I demand my immediate release off your territory."

His panic faded and instead was replaced by amusement. My anger spiked as this Alpha had the audacity to chuckle and smile, the twinkle that I swear his pearly teeth gave only made me angrier.

"No, no, no: you are funny, mate, but if you think—"

"You will let me pass NOW!" I stepped up to him, breathing heavily.

Any amusement was replaced with exasperation as the Alpha crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mate, you will come back to the pack house with me: willingly or by force? The choice is yours..." he deadpanned the last part.

Oh... wow... this guy had some nerve.

This time I found myself snorting, "I'd like to see you try..." and if I had not dug my own grave yet, what I said next was the cherry on top, "Pup..."

Now, for obvious reasons, the Alpha of Bering Moon did not appreciate being called a pup. But seeing as I could not shift and was weaker than usual, I may have bitten off just a little more than I can chew.

A growl escaped him.

Before I could comprehend — my backpack and duffel bag were on the forest ground and I was hanging over the Alpha's shoulder my cheek literally squashed up against his bare back.

"Samson," the Alpha called, and immediately one of the surrounding wolves shifted into a male, "please bring my mate's belongings back to the pack house."

"Of course, Alpha," Samson responded before bending down to pick up my bags and walking behind the Alpha as he took off.

"Thank you," the Alpha said to his packmate genuinely.

"Hey! You put me down right now or I swear—UGH! Unhand me, you absolute savage! FUCK..." And from there my curses became so colorful and creative that I could not even remember them in my haze of anger.

Because seriously, fuck this guy!

"...And you are naked!" I finished and to my anger, I was rewarded with a small laugh.

"Anything else you have on your mind, sweetie?" He questioned.

"I am NOT sweet..." I growled right back, although it was not the true animal growl that I wished for.

"Oh, I know — that's why it's funny to call you sweetie..." he snorted, "And for the record: it's two in the morning, I have been awake for over 24 hours at this point, and there are bugs out here. Quite frankly: I am done being outside unless I am shifted or have had a proper shower and at least 12 hours of sleep..." he finished surely.

"So what you're telling me is you're a pussy..." I scoffed.

I had definitely gone a lot longer without sleep or a proper bed. Hell, there had been weeks at a time that myself and my crew had lived only shifted into our animals.

I could practically see his nostrils flare at my words. I can feel the anger that I caused: the way my words got under his skin. I smiled, but sadly the smile was wiped off my face when rather than give into his anger and lash out — the Alpha literally quipped right back.

"Yep, I'm a pussy by heart," he spoke sarcastically.

And that had me huffing and shaking with irritation. Any attempts I made at wrestling out of his grasp for the next few minutes simply had me out of breath — it was obvious that I was not a match for this guy.

But that is also what concerned me. Because before I lost my ability to shift, fighting him would have been much easier. I am not saying that I actually could have beaten him, but I definitely could have taken him on.

In my exploration of the Hidden World (what I had essentially taken to calling the supernatural world of Earth) I realized that I was stronger than most other shifters I came across.

Why this was — I had no clue. Most of my heritage and past was a mystery seeing as my parents and brother disappeared from the very surface of the world when I was seven and I was left in the care of the state.

Everything about the supernatural I had to learn for myself. Of course, Bexley and I had learned (and were still learning) together, but we had no guide, no compass, no help, and absolutely no one telling us anything.

We had to figure it out for ourselves.

We left the orphanage when we were fourteen and set out to explore the world on our own — to decipher exactly what we were.

I was twelve the first time I shifted: Bexley was thirteen.

We realized at fourteen that the only way to truly understand what we were would only happen if we left Miami. Left the orphanage.

Miami: a cruel city with possibly the worst drug epidemic in the United States. The place where spring breakers flocked to and crime ran wild in the streets. Despite this, it was still home. The warm state with glorious beaches and fun times through and through.

It was still the place where my childhood home was and the last place I ever saw my family. It was where I met Bexley: my new family.

This all to say: in our exploration, I discovered that I am one of the stronger shifters out there.

Typically.

At the moment, my strength and speed were beginning to dwindle. Even more than when I first lost my shifting abilities, because when it first happened I had still been able to take on Tiberius (who was strong as fuck) in our human forms.

I had not realized it at first but my abilities were slowly dissipating. I did not realize it until this Alpha threw me over his shoulder as though I weighed nothing and held me down as though I was not even struggling.

Shit... I was in a worse position than I thought...

Immediately I realized that I could not let anyone in this pack know: I had to bluff being stronger than I was.

Who knows what they would do to me if they knew I was weaker...

Minutes of silence passed: myself choosing to rest my arm on his shoulders and my head on my hand.

Fucking werewolves.

I could hear the sounds of the other wolves walking along with us through the trees. After a few more minutes and the sight of light shining through, the Alpha seemed to have determined I was calm enough for him to ask questions.

"So... what's your name?" He questioned in a far happier tone than he should have.

I ignored him.

"Uhm, where are you from?"

Silence.

"Here, maybe it'll help if I tell you where I'm from! I was born and raised in Bering, but I've been all over Alaska and to a few different states too... Washington, Illinois, Wyoming Idaho, Montana..." he trailed off when he realized I was still ignoring him.

So all the boring states — other than Illinois, I guess. But if it was not Chicago then it was just as fucking boring.

"Come on, nothing?" He sounded irritated. Good. "What brought you to Fairbanks? Family, friends?" It was sad how hard he was trying. "What's your pack?"

"You're pathetic..." I scoffed, speaking almost silently but by the way that he tensed, it was obvious he heard me.

He growled loudly, clenching me tighter. "Fine don't tell me — that's fine!"

Somehow an even tenser atmosphere enveloped us after that, the Alpha finally making it back to the pack house in that time. Amaya was waiting outside leaning against Reggie. They both looked rather tired, but their eyes brightened when they caught sight of their Alpha along with the few other wolves.

"Alpha Rayden!" Reggie cheered as he approached us.

"You're naked..." Amaya spoke with her nose scrunched.

I could feel the Alpha roll his eyes at the blonde. "Yes, Amaya, I have not exactly had time to change seeing as my mate has kept my hands rather busy since I found her earlier..."

Again with this "mate" bullshit. What the hell was a mate — I was beginning to understand that there is obviously a bigger picture that I am not seeing. He was keeping me for more than just trespassing, and it had something to do with whatever a "mate" was.

I wracked my brain for the term. Nothing made itself known.

A loud huff escaped, "You did not 'find' me, you fucking let me wash your car and then proceeded to kidnap me a few hours later!"

Rayden walked past Reggie and Amaya while answering me, "Consider it this way, sweetness — now you don't need to work a shit job at the car wash..."

"I happened to like that job, you dick!"

Sorta. I sorta liked that job. It was fun for a short period of time but if I had been stuck working there for another month I probably would have gone insane.

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetness..." Rayden hummed as he walked up the steps into the manor.

I was unable to see much of the outside from my position, but I recognized that we entered through the back entrance.

The inside smelled of firewood greeted us, and the slick wooden floorboards creaked under the weight of both myself and the Alpha. Seeing as it was apparently just past two in the morning, there was no one around.

He paused in his walking — shoulders tense and breathing slightly heavier. It took me a moment before I realized that he was deciding what to do.

"Rayden..." A soft voice spoke and Rayden was turning around.

I could only see so much, but I knew that we were currently facing the Beta female. Her short hair was slightly wild and had a few leaves in it: the young woman was covered in nothing but a blanket making it apparent that she just shifted back.

I could hear the exhaustion in her tone.

Amaya and Reggie stood behind her — the Gamma suddenly walked past all of us in his birthday suit.

"And where do you think you're going, Lucien?" Rayden grumbled, his head moving to follow 'Lucien' as he passed.

Lucien wasted no time in answering, "To bed — I'm clocking out for the night..."

"You do not clock in and out as Gamma, you are always Gamma of Bering Moon..." Rayden growled in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah — drop it in the box of complaints along with everyone else..." the Gamma grunted while continuing his way up the stairs from what I could hear, "have fun dealing with your mate: can't wait to see how this has turned out in the morning..." his voice faded away.

Rayden's grip on me tightened as I once again tried to wiggle off his shoulder. I was met with the same results.

"I bet your father is so proud of you right now..." I growled at the Alpha.

"My father is dead," Rayden responded easily, his tone deadly serious.

"Damn, then I bet he is turning in his grave—" I was cut off by the Alpha whistling.

"Wow, you are a bitch, aren't you?" He snarled. "We'll need to work on that..."

I gasped as a light slap was suddenly gifted to my ass. The shock was replaced by pure rage. The utter disrespect — how DARE he?!

"Rayden!" The Beta female scolded.

And then I was fighting against him a whole lot harder, and I think it took him by surprise when I managed to elbow him in the face for he accidentally dropped me. He cried out in pain and I barreled toward the door we entered from.

We were in some sort of large loft — it gave a rather homey feeling despite its large size. A fire crackled in the corner and there was an enormous elk head hanging on the wall and simple floor rugs spread over the wooden floorboards.

Two sitting chairs were placed across from the fire.

Unfortunately, just as the door was in reach I was blocked by three people. Onyx, Reggie, and Amaya stood in my path. Onyx — the Beta was the only one who appeared to have even an ounce of sympathy for me if the glimmer in her eyes said anything: the other two just looked tired.

"Okay, that's enough!"

I yelped as I was whirled around coming face-to-face with the Alpha. His eyes swirled with mirth, the corner of his lips twitching ever-so-slightly.

Oh, he thought this was funny. Obviously the elbow I gifted to his face wasn't hard enough.

In a matter of seconds, I wiped any amusement out of him by throwing possibly one of the strongest uppercuts I ever had to his gut.

Rayden groaned and doubled over — I swore I heard a snicker from behind me as I high-tailed it past him and away from the other three. I made it to the archway of the foyer before I was quite literally tackled to the ground by a hollering Alpha.

The still very NAKED Alpha.

Disgusting.

"Get off me," I attempted to continuously pound on his head which did nothing but annoy him further.

"I feel like I should be videotaping this..." Amaya casually mentioned.

"I know — some memories for the wedding," Reggie added on.

My head had never turned so fast and I had never formed a glare so sour. "There will be no wedding!" I practically hissed and Reggie was holding his hands up while Amaya only looked bored.

"Okay, no wedding, gotcha..." he nodded.

Rayden and I continued to wrestle for a few more minutes before the Alpha's strength finally outmatched mine and I was once again hanging over his shoulder. Immediately, he started marching toward the staircase.

"Rayden where are you going?" Onyx called.

"To bed — I'll deal with this in the morning!" The Alpha growled and it became apparent that I finally managed to get under his skin by how tight he was grasping me and the force of his stomps.

"Oh, is the Alpha a wittle sleepy?" I clicked my tongue while mocking him earning a fierce growl in response.

There was no doubt in my mind that his eyes were now black.

"Do not call me Alpha..." He responded angrily and I raised a brow in surprise.

"Why? Are you not the Alpha?"

"My title is to be used with respect, you use it to mock," Rayden spoke.

I scoffed. "You lost any remaining respect that I maybe held for you the second you thought it was okay to put your hand on my ass!" I growled right back.

Rayden took a few deep breaths — most likely to calm himself — before he spoke again. However, I was not expecting the next words to leave his mouth.

"You are correct, that was uncalled for and disrespectful — you have my sincerest apologies, mate. It will not happen again... under such circumstances..."

I chose to ignore the last part, but I was also shocked seeing as I absolutely did not expect the Alpha to actually apologize about something.

"You can make it up to me by releasing me..." I said quickly.

"I'm not that sorry," Rayden chuckled.

"Fuck you," I spit out and he pauses suddenly opening a door.

I realize that we already finished walking up the stairs, and I am once again on the second floor. The Alpha walks into the room of the door he just opened — and before I can comprehend it, he has chucked me on the bed.

I land with a squeal and a bounce. Right away, I take note that this is a different room from before — this one has no windows.

No way to escape.

My eyes land on Rayden, I watch as the man jiggles with the door handle for a second before he takes it off from the inside completely.

My mouth falls agape.

He turns to me almost apologetically, scratching the back of his neck. I cannot help but notice the 5 o'clock shadow beginning to set on his face which was cleanly shaven when I first saw him earlier at Big Al's.

It makes me mad because he looks good both ways — and I swear his jawline is sharp enough to kill. His loose curls made of gold in some areas and chocolate in others reach just past his ears: the odd coloring practically glowing in the warm lighting of this room.

"Listen, sweet mate, I really am sorry that we need to do it this way, and I would love nothing more than to speak to you properly, but I am so exhausted that I can barely even think straight... so how about we both get some rest and I will come to grab you first thing in the morning?" He ended with an almost nervous smile.

It was amazing — this muscular Alpha who was a towering 6'4 — standing naked (I still refuse to look at his meat... holy shit if that is what it looks like soft then how fucking big is he hard?!) was smiling at me as though a Freshman asking a girl to homecoming.

His words caught up to me. He was trying to leave me in here?!

Without hesitation, I leaped from the bed and attempted to tackle him through the open doorway. Unfortunately for me, he foresaw my movements and proceeded to back out of the door and close it.

And because he had taken the handle off the door, there was no way for me to open the door. No windows, and no air vents big enough for me to crawl through. I was fucking trapped.

"Mate! I'm really sorry, but I think a good night's sleep will be really helpful! I'll even sleep in the room right across from you — I'll be right here to protect you the entire time! Then in the morning when we're both not so cranky maybe you'll stop being so stubborn and we can have an actual conversation to discuss our future!"

Was this guy insane? Actually, scratch that — he definitely is.

My response was a loud scream and pounding on the door.

"Are you stupid? Let me out of here right now! You can't do this — don't you dare leave me in here!" I was borderline wailing.

"I'm right out here, I'll make sure nothing happens mate: I'm even leaving my door open, okay! I'm just going to run up to my room to clean up and put on some clothes!" The Alpha replied from the other side of the door, even as he tried to mask his voice into something cheery — he sounded as though he was in pain.

In pain and tired.

"RELEASE ME!"

This door was made of some strong stuff seeing as it barely budged, obviously, it was made to withstand the force of our kind.

"I'll be right back!" The Alpha hollered before I heard his footsteps heading off to God knows where.

"Rayden!" I screamed. "Rayden, get back here, don't you leave!"

I heard his footsteps pause — and then... "I promise, I'll be right back, nothing is going to happen!" He responded but his voice still sounded as though he was pained.

I roared — not literally (sadly) but metaphorically and with the full force of a VERY angry woman.

As the saying goes: I am woman, hear me roar!

I began pacing back and forth in front of the door, teeth barred and shoulders heaving from my heavy breaths. After a few more minutes of hesitation, and the Alpha waiting to see if I were to say anything else: his footsteps carried him away.

The room he placed me in was slightly smaller than the last but by no means uncomfortable. Rather, it appeared as homey as everything else in this damn manor, and a small part of me simply wanted to take a warm shower and curl under the thick quilt.

But my pride would not let me give in to the comfort of that bed.

I was an idiot — I should have just gone with Bexley and Tiberius to Mexico. I should never have stepped foot in Alaska.

My bags were nowhere to be seen, but my phone rested in my pocket. The weight was tempting me to pull it out and call Bexley for help. But they were already helping me by tracking down a solution to my problem in fuck-knows-where Mexico.

Calling her and Tiberius right now would only pull them away from the cure as they would rush here to try and rescue me. Even then, I was being held in the heart of the pack by the Alpha himself, there was no way they would make it through the full force of Bering Moon.

While I am confident that their abilities exceed that of most of the wolves in this pack, in this case it would be quality v. quantity, and quantity would certainly win.

I would call Bexley and Tiberius eventually, but right now was not the time — I had to be smart about this. Drawing attention to the Alpha that I have a phone and am calling for backup would just about be suicide.

No, I would get out of this eventually. I just had to be patient.

"LOVESICK FOOL!" I found myself yelling in the midst of my pacing.

Because that is exactly what this Alpha was. A foolish lovesick puppy.

I was left alone with only my anger and thoughts before his footsteps finally came back around. The buffon's heavy as hell footsteps.

I was at the door in an instant — slamming my body against it.

"Open the door!"

Rayden paused, and I could sense his form just on the other side.

"Are you going to try to attack me and run away if I do that?" His tired voice questioned and there was a small thud as he seemingly dropped his forehead against the door on the other side.

"I will do MORE than just that—!"

"Then no — I don't think I will open this door, mate..." he growled, and I sensed his form suddenly take a few steps away.

I became frantic.

"No, no, no! I meant, of course not! I would never — I just uhm need to use the bathroom!"

"Do not lie!" He growled once again. "And there is a bathroom in there, I suggest you use it and then get some sleep."

Anger pulsed through my veins.

I was banging on the door again, but this time rather than saying anything only sounds of fury came from my being. The Alpha let out a breath of exhaustion and I felt his presence move into the room across the hall.

He did as he said he would and left his door open as he practically crashed on the bed.

"RAYDEN!"

"Goodnight, mate — we'll talk in the morning!" He hollered back, his tone portraying even more exhaustion.

If he wanted to sleep then he sure as hell would not be getting any — if I had anything to do about it then no one in this house would be getting any sleep.

I was suddenly screaming bloody murder — not a scared scream but a scream of pure fury. My leg kicked at the door causing it to rattle heavily as I yelled and nearly threw a tantrum. No, not nearly, I was throwing a tantrum.

And I had a few choice words for the Alpha, in particular.

Seconds of screaming and throwing my body at the door turned into minutes which eventually turned into hours.

At some point, as the Alpha was obviously not able to sleep due to the ruckus I was making, he left the bed and simply stood outside of the locked door. And then, when he realized that I was not going to calm down — I could hear and sense as he took a seat and leaned against the wall on the other side of the door.

I could practically feel his eyes drilling holes in the locked door, it seemed as though it was taking him everything to not storm in here.

But I wished he would, his silence only made me angrier.

And that anger turned strong enough that tears of frustration built up in my eyes. Tears that unfortunately began to fall and screams of rage that eventually turned into sobs of pain.

It was around hour 3 when this happened, and this display of emotion elicited a reaction from the Alpha.

"Mate?" He questioned, his tone low. "Are you okay? I am coming in..."

At this point, I did not want the Alpha to come in — I did not want to see his face. Nor did I want him to see me like this: to see me so weak.

A bitter laugh escaped me, "Of course I am not okay! Just leave me alone! I don't want to hear your voice, I don't want to see you — I don't want anything to do with you!"

There was pain in his tone as he spoke again, "I want to help—" I cut him off.

"You want to help?" I asked increduously. "If you want to help then either let me the fuck off your territory right now or LEAVE! Go to bed, I don't care, but leave me the hell alone!" And to make my point clear, I delivered one last fierce kick to the unbreakable door.

For a moment there was silence before he spoke again, "As you wish — I will be across the hall in the room, and I will still leave my door open if you need anything, my mate..."

I gave no fucks — and I allowed only the silence to greet him. The Alpha swallowed harshly before he seemed to force himself away from the door, his footsteps signalling his departure into the room across the hall.

Once again, he did not close the door but left it open as he climbed into the bed.

I bit my lip as I curled into a ball on the carpet ground of the bedroom I was stuck in. Sniffles left me as I wiped my tears away. Immediately, my gaze zeroed on the underside of the bed. A clean dark area that served to offer some sort of protection.

As a kid, I always hid under the bed. When I was upset or even when I just wanted some silence, underneath my bed was where I felt the safest.

Rolling onto my stomach, I army crawled under the bed just barely being able to fit under the wooden sides. Underneath was as expected: a little warmer then the rest of the room, dark, cozy, and peaceful.

I felt safe in this small space — hidden away from the rest of the world.

The soft carpet greeted me like an old friend and I found myself snuggling further into myself and the carpet. Thoughts of tomorrow consumed me, and uncertainty of my future and (much to my dismay) thoughts of the Alpha who was currently holding me captive.

At least he did not seem particularly violent — at least from what I have seen of him — a bit pushy; yes, but not violent. Without thinking about it, my breathing began to even out and deepen.

My thoughts became more blearly and nonsensical as the exhaustion caught up to me. The extreme exhaustion of working a full shift before proceeding to run for my life (not once but twice) and then to screaming to the high heavens.

As my exhaustion got the better of me and the unconcoius realm pulled me into the void — I could not help but sense the exact same thing happening to the Alpha just across the hall. It was as though my peace influenced his own: and even though I could not explicitly hear it, I sensed our breathing patterns matching as we both slipped into the realm of dreams.