Derek suggested that I go run before I saw Ethan, which was a good idea. I needed to clear my mind and figure out the shit show that my life felt like right now.

I was running on a trail that Billy used, letting my wolf run hard and pour all our frustrations into each stride. She was frustrated, angry, and confused. As was I.

We stopped and killed a few unfortunate rabbits along the way, rabbits that she tore into savagely. She was hungry for more blood, but we both knew that it wasn't really what we wanted. It wasn't really going to make us feel better or kill this sense of dread that was starting to brew in my belly.

I couldn't get over Derek's words. I couldn't get over them at all.

A push.

I remember how hard Levi pushed me. I couldn't forget even if I wanted to. There were some days it seemed like he was actually trying to kill me, probably because he was, but it was those days that made me dig deeper; pull into a place I didn't realize existed.

I remembered how scared I used to be, how much fear I used to carry. God I used to feel so guilty and harbor so much loathing for myself; so much anger. Think about it almost makes me laugh because that person feels so far from who I am now.

Maybe I judged Ethan wrong.

Maybe Derek is right? Maybe he is in that limbo of faith and fear with himself? Maybe he needs someone to push him? Maybe he's afraid because I do push him?

It used to scare me. I remember sparring with Liam for the first time and being so afraid of how powerful and brutal I was. It was a lot to take in. It was a lot to take in because I enjoyed it so much, because I liked that hum in my veins.

But there was a hum in his veins too, I knew there was. I had felt it now and I felt it in the memory. Damn, it was so strong back then.

I would push him.

I would push him because it's the right thing to do, because I know he can do more, he can be more.

Ethan.

I worried though, I worried about how many more arguments it may cause. I hated fighting with him, as did my beast. I hated it even more as time went by and the pull got stronger.

The pull.

It was getting harder and I could feel the toll. My beast could feel the toll. Levi was right, it wouldn't be good for us to go much longer, but something in me told me to hold on a little longer. I let out a long breath because I didn't know if I could, I didn't know if I even wanted to.

My beast agreed but we felt it again, we felt this need to wait. I groaned  because I didn't even know what the hell I was waiting for but something in my gut told me to just hold out a little longer.

I let out a hot breath as my beast and I trotted to a stream. Levi always told me to trust my gut, and this time, I knew if I didn't that I would probably regret it.

My wolf wasn't happy but she agreed. She didn't want to go against our intuition, no matter how much it pissed her off.

We lapped at the water and let the coolness run through us. It refreshed us and gave me some more energy that I needed to talk to Ethan. I would tell him tonight. Derek was right, he needed to know.

We started to trot back as the sweet summer breeze ran across our fur. My beast loved it. She loved the way the sun felt on our fur and the way the wind felt like gentle fingers combing over it.

We were trotting down some rocks when we came to a set of hills. I groaned a little. They were steep and required us to work a lot harder than we wanted to at the moment.

I pushed my wolf forward. It was good for us. We needed to keep pushing ourselves, especially considering everything that was going on.

We easily ran down the first hill and let gravity do most of the work then used some of the momentum we gained to power up the next hill, but before we ran over it, we dropped down to the ground on our belly.

Rogues.

The breeze carried their scent to my nose. My beast wanted to growl but I pulled her back. Levi was right, we needed to see if we could get Ethan something to go off of.

They smelled sick. Like the last ones I had seen, these ones were insanely sick. There were three of them, just walking forward through the green forest. They looked like their minds were gone; one of them was mumbling something to himself, while another was just reaching out for something. He kept grasping at it like he was trying to catch a butterfly or something.

I knew they couldn't smell me, if they could they would have noticed already. They also didn't hear me which made me think that they were pretty close to death, hell, they looked it.

I crept forward and watched them. They were just walking, doing nothing out of the ordinary; well nothing besides being rogues that somehow got onto our territory.

I tried to look for something, something that would be useful. My wolf scanned over them thoroughly, searching for anything we could use. For the most part, we found nothing. They were all wearing clothes that were too big for their bony bodies and they weren't carrying anything with them from what I could tell.

I decided to focus on what the shorter one was saying. His eyes were focused forward and looked like they were glazed over as they stared in front of him. He was shuffling along barefoot, completely unaware of where his dirty feet were stepping.

He kept mumbling something, but I couldn't figure it out. I crept forward quietly. I needed to get a little closer so I could make it out; I just only hoped that it would be helpful.

I hid in some tall grass and poked my nose through it so I could watch them. The short one was mumbling more profusely. My wolf was ready to pounce, but I knew we couldn't. We had to be patient and see what we could find.

"Transibo," he said so quietly that if I wasn't locked on him, I would have missed it.

I let the word marinade in my brain but it rang no bells, yet something in me told me to remember it. I repeated the word to myself in my brain over and over and over again until my beast and I were satisfied that we would remember it.

I sighed. I needed to call Ethan. I could only hope that I didn't lose them this time.

"Ethan..."

"Sunshine? Are you ok?"

"Yes, well, I need you to come here. I'm on that hilly trail of Billy's. I need you to come over here."

I crept forward slowly while I felt his emotions stir a little over the pull. "What's wrong Char?"

"Ethan there are three of them. Three rogues."

"Shit," he hissed out. "Ok, don't lose them. I'm on my way now. What are they doing?"

I walked a bit further and stopped behind a large boulder. "Just walking. One keeps saying something but I don't know if it's gibberish or not."

"How sick are they?" His anger and worry was hard to hide. I could feel it brew like a slow-moving storm over the pull.

"Sick. They have no idea I'm here. I wasn't being quiet either when I ran into them. I think honestly that they won't make it through the night."

"Alright, stay on them and stay out of sight. Please sunshine, please be careful."

"I will, I promise. Just hurry."

I continued to creep forward as quietly as I could. My beast and I made sure to strategically find things to hide behind as we followed them. They never noticed us, not once. They didn't even look up when I stepped on a twig that echoed through the forest.

They just kept walking.

The one kept mumbling that word, 'Transibo,' while the other's just walked mindlessly down a path of their own. My wolf was frustrated, we had no idea why they were here or how the hell they even got here. How the hell did they even make it this far into the territory or through these mountains that challenge even the healthiest of wolves?

I kept walking until the fur on my back raised. We felt someone watching us. We didn't want to take our eyes of the rogues but we felt this creeping feeling that there was danger behind us.

We moved our paw to take a step forward when we heard a low growl. Immediately my wolf snapped around with her teeth out and legs ready to pounce.

But there was nothing.

She looked around the area, but there was absolutely nothing. Not a scent, sight, or sound. I felt my heart rate pick up a little, I knew what I heard. I knew what I felt, as did my beast. There was no way that wasn't real.

A crack.

It was like a firecracker, like the one we heard last time.

I felt my heart drop as I whipped my head around; because when I did the rogues were gone. I felt my stomach churn as I raced out to where they were just standing.

I sniffed around and frantically tried to find something that their scent wasn't fading off of, but it was impossible. It was like it was slowly being sucked away by some magical ass vacuum.

I snapped frustratedly in the air then started to run down the path I had just seen them on. I sniffed everywhere and tore at the dirt like a magical hog, but I couldn't find anything.

My beast was fuming, as was I. How the hell did this happen again? How the hell was their scent just vanishing?!

I trotted over to a tree with a hole in it and let my beast lightly sniff at it. There were clothes in there, the smell of Billy and Andrea was faint but evident.

I shifted to my skin then reached in for a large shirt and pulled it over myself before I grabbed some shorts for Ethan. Walking back to the area was more than frustrating to me. I couldn't comprehend any of it.

What the hell growled at me?!

I leaned against the tree and thumped my head against it frustratedly. I couldn't help but still feel like something was watching, or someone; but there was no one around. No one but me and a hungry squirrel with about five acorns shoved in his fat cheeks.

I started walking towards Ethan when I felt him. His scent calmed me, but only a little. He slowed down his run and trotted to me as his eyes scanned over the area. He sighed then looked back at me a with a knowing look that held hints of dread.

He walked over to me and rubbed against my legs. I couldn't help but smile a little; my fingers fan through his fur which made his beast rumble in approval. I shook my head and pushed him away playfully, this was not the time for that.

As he shifted I turned my face and extended the shorts to him. I felt his hand brush over mine, which left tingles that reminded me of our 'paperwork' earlier today. My wolf licked her lips at the thought and I snapped at her. We needed to focus on these damn rogues.

Suddenly arms were around me and pulling me into a bare chest as lips placed a long kiss on the crown of my head. I wrapped my arms around him and nuzzled into his chest; it made my anxiety and worry calm a little, but it didn't help this pull that was snapping its fingers for more.

"I promise I saw them, Ethan," I murmured against his chest.

He sighed and looked down at me, and when he did I realized that Derek was right. It wasn't doubt, it was fear. He was trying to hold it back but I could see it clear as day. "I believe you sunshine. Show me where you saw them. Walk me through it, ok?"

I nodded. "Ok, this way," I said while letting him intertwine our fingers together. We walked over to where I first saw them while my wolf still looked feverishly around the area. "So they were here when I came up on that hill over there," I said while pointing to the dreadful hill that brought about a dull ache in my legs.

"Did you smell them this time?"

I shook my head. "Not at first, but then I did right as I was about to come over the hill. Like I said they were so sick. They smelled almost rancid. Honestly, I think I could have run right past them and they probably wouldn't have noticed."

"Hmmm," Ethan said while scratching at his five-o-clock shadow. He looked around as his brows furrowed. "Ok, then what?"

I pulled him forward with me and started to walk him along the path the rogues had walked on. "Well, they just walked down this route," I said while pointing in front of us. "They didn't much. One kept saying something odd, it was 'Transibo.'"

"Transibo?" Ethan repeated back to me a little slowly.

I shrugged as we kept walking. "Ya, I don't know. I stuck out to me though. Something told me I should remember it."

"Ok, what next? How did you lose them?"

I walked us over to a tree and leaned back on it. "I was behind this boulder and had just stopped linking you. I was going to follow them but then I felt something–"

"What do you mean?" He asked as he looked warily over the area.

"I felt like I was being watched. It set my wolf on edge. I don't know, it was like I could feel their eyes."He looked back at me as the fear grew some more and nodded for me to go on. "Then I heard something growl. It was low, like a warning. I whipped around ready to take a bite out of it but there was nothing there."

"What?" he said with a rumble as his brows raised. He let out a long sigh and blinked hard. His beast was close. He wasn't a fan of something threatening his female.

"There was nothing. I mean I looked, but there was nothing. Before I could turn around to the rogues there was another crack like last time, when I looked back there was nothing. They were gone. I ran down to see if I could find something there scent would stick to but it was like something was sucking it away. I mean it was gone so quickly like it was never even there."

His chest vibrated again. He looked around the area then back at me a little more firmly. "Stay here."

He pulled off his shorts, paying no mind to me and my wolf that were both shocked yet stuck on the view. I felt my cheeks flush but I couldn't look away from his perfect ass. The pull yelled out right there as he shifted. He landed in his fur and took off to where we had first started. He was angry and feverish. He was turning up rocks, leaves, roots, and digging away like his life depended on it.

When he found nothing he let out a frustrated growl then trotted forward. He sniffed the air and searched the place over and over and over again until all he could do was sit in the middle of the trail while he let out an annoyed growl.

He turned back to me and quickly ran over to me. I could see it in his beast's eyes, I could see the need to protect his female. Mine understood. She could see the anger brewing in his eyes; something got close to us, too close for his liking.

He rubbed against me again then licked at my palm. I sighed and stroked his soft fur, causing him to rumble approvingly. He turned quickly and rubbed against us again and again and again until I am pretty sure that I would smell like him until my dying day. Although I shouldn't complain, it was a scent that I would happily drink if I could.

I picked up his shorts then held them out to him again. He let out a huff while I turned my face as he shifted back to his skin.

"What do we do?" I asked as his fingers grazed mine.

He slipped his shorts on then looked back over his shoulder at the area he had properly torn up searching through it. "I don't know sunshine. I could have Ryder go through it again, but I have a feeling that he won't find anything," he said while shaking his head.

I let out a frustrated breath as he slipped his arms around me and brought me to his chest. "We can't do nothing, Ethan."

"I know," he sighed out. "I'm just stuck at what we can do. There's no damn trail, and there's not much to go off of."

I leaned back and shook my head. "That doesn't mean we just give up."

He was about to open his mouth and answer me when we heard something running up. Ethan quickly pushed me behind him. His blood started to hum a bit louder, but settled when he caught the eye of a familiar face walking towards us.

"Well, tell me what happened Thorne," Thomas said as he pulled a sweatshirt over his torso. He pushed his hands in his pockets and nodded to Ethan who let me step out beside him.

"I was running and I came up on them. I was over on that hill," I said pointing back to the hill I had pointed out earlier to Ethan. "I didn't smell at first like last time, but before I got over the hill I did."

"And?" he said while crossing his arms. He let his eyes take in the scene before him with a scrutinizing eye before he looked back at me.

"Well," I sighed as Ethan pulled me  closer to his side. I could feel his blood, it was still humming. My wolf and I both thought it was odd, he never got that way unless he was worked up or threatened. "Like I told Ethan, I followed them. They were really sick, probably going to die today. I told Ethan, and I still think it's true, that if I would have run past them I doubt they would have even noticed."

"Hmmm," Thomas murmured as he looked back at the trail Ethan had torn apart. He flicked eyes to me that stirred my wolf. Eyes that held skepticism in them. "Ok, what happened after you found them?"

"I followed them. I was trying to see if I could find something useful, but I couldn't find anything. One kept repeating this word, 'Transibo,' but that was it. I mean they were like the last ones, they just were walking aimlessly."

"So you lost them how?" He asked with a tiny flare of doubt in his voice.

I felt my wolf stir some more but pushed her back. Technically Thomas was our alpha, and it was his job to look after everyone. We couldn't hide these details from him. "I was walking when I heard something growl, but then I turned around and there was nothing there. Before I could look back there was a crack, like last time, and when I looked back to the rogues they were gone."

"And the scent?"

"Gone. It was like something was sucking it up. I tried to find something it would stick to but there was nothing."

Thomas scratched at his scruff some more and looked back to the area then to me with eyes that did little to hide his suspicion. "Well Thorne, I don't know. Sounds like a ghost story."

"I know what I saw Thomas," I pressed as Ethan's blood hummed just a tad louder.

"We shoulder let Ryder look at it, let's let him see if there is something here," Ethan diplomatically injected.

Thomas shook his head frustratedly. "I am having Ryder check the borders before the council meeting, I don't need him chasing something that we both know he'll come up empty on."

My wolf growled in the back of my mind. I pushed her back. It was not the time to start something we weren't ready for. "But we need to do something. I mean, just because there is nothing here that doesn't mean that there is nothing."

Thomas eyed me incredulously then looked back at Ethan. "Thorne, there's nothing here. Now, I don't know what you saw, but I am not going to get our pack worked up and our patrols on edge for something like this."

Ethan's blood hummed a little louder. "You think she's making this up?" His voice was firm and laced with this displeasure of his beast; his beast that was not happy with Thomas' answer.

I felt him reach out to me and caress my mind. It calmed my beast down, but only a little. She was more than pissed at Thomas.

Thomas looked at him and sighed. "No, I am not saying that. I'm saying that we need to think of the pack."

"But this is thinking of the pa–"

I was cut off by Thomas' low warning growl which was met by another equally as strong from Ethan. Thomas snapped his disapproving eyes to Ethan. "Don't start this with me Ethan. There's nothing here, drop it."

Ethan rumbled a little as his blood hummed a hair louder. "It wouldn't hurt to look into it. We should at least let Ryder and Evan have at it." His voice was calm but still, there was tension.

Tension that made the air thick. The fur on the back of my wolf stood a little. She wasn't a fan of this male's attitude towards us and his blatant disregard for his pack's safety.

"No, we need them to help with get things ready for the council meeting."

"Thom–" Ethan started but was cut off by another growl that was stronger than the last.

"That's an order," he said through his teeth before he turned and walked away.

My wolf was buzzing with anger, as was I. Ethan released my waist and walked back to the tree I was leaning on to lean on it himself. He closed his eyes and sucked in a long breath before blowing it out, blowing his anger out with it.

The humming of his blood started to die down as he tugged at his hair. I walked over to him and looked back to the trail then at him. "What do we do?"

"Char, what can we do? Did you not hear him?"

"So?" I threw up my hands. "Ethan, you know this isn't nothing. We cannot just do nothing."

"Charlotte, he gave me a direct order," Ethan replied more firmly.

"I don't care Ethan! Go around it!" I said as my wolf rumbled in approval.

Ethan let out a hot breath and looked at me with eyes that were warring with emotions. "And what if Thomas finds out? Huh? How do you think he'll take his beta going behind his back on a direct order?"

"I think if his beta would grow a pair then it wouldn't really matter, would it?" I answered sharply before turning on my heel and walking away. I had enough.

I knew he knew better. I knew he knew what the right thing to do was, he was just being a ball-less wolf right now. My wolf snapped in the air as she felt him follow us.

I was started to get tired of this damn fear in his heart, more like I was starting to get angry. I could feel him coming, his blood was humming as his beast reached out to mine. She just snapped at him. Any male that is going to go belly up like that will not be having her neck anytime soon. He won't get any sweet words from us.

"Charlotte!" he called after me. I let out a rumble then jumped into my shift. I was too pissed to deal with any more bullshit from him.

I tore out of there fast, faster than he would have liked. I could feel him chasing me until I got to my cabin where he just waited outside for thirty minutes until he realized that I was not going to come out. I would come out when he was ready to pony up.

I paced back and forth in my room unsure of what to do. I needed to call Levi, but I also needed answers too. There was something going on, I could feel it in my bones.

I decided to link Andrea first and call Levi before I went to bed. My wolf rumbled in agreement, maybe Andrea could help us see an alternative option to our problems.

"Andrea?"

I felt a stir over the link before something popped. "Well, I was wondering when you would call."

"Why's that?"

"Apparently your new nickname is 'cry wolf' courtesy of Amber and Arron." My wolf growled loudly and viciously. I had to hold onto my bed frame to keep from shifting right then. "Hey, I'm on your side. Just come over, I think Ethan's gone anyways."

"Watching my cabin?"

She chuckled a little over the link. "Just thought is was strange to see Ethan pacing back and forth like a pissed off hormonal adolescent when I came back from training today. By the way, Evangeline bested Jake today."

"No shit?" My wolf surged with pride. Our little sister was turning into quite the she-wolf.

"Yup, I got wine too by the way."

"I'm on my way now," I said as I started to walk out of the cabin. I looked back to the kitchen and noticed a note on the fridge from Elliot, apparently, he and Derek were out hunting tonight. I groaned, I hated cooking for myself. More like I hated eating that Derek didn't cook.

I looked outside my cabin carefully for any signs of Ethan. I was still not in the mood to talk to him. The coast looked clear, so as quickly as I could, I ran over to Andrea's and didn't stop until I slammed the door shut behind me.

Andrea looked at me a little amusingly as she uncorked some wine. "Well, you do know how to make an entrance."

I sighed and nodded. "Apparently."

I walked over to her kitchen table and sat down tiredly as she placed a glass in front of me. She sat across from me with her own glass and pushed a piece of long blonde wavy hair behind her ears. "Alright, first I want to hear about the rogues."

I nodded. I went over the rogues with her, not sparing any details about what I saw or what was said. She looked more than unhappy when I told her about what Thomas said and completely annoyed when I told her about Ethan.

Ethan.

The pull twisted as I thought about him. It was sharp this time. My beast didn't like that our male just laid there; he knew what the right thing to do was and yet he did nothing.

"Pussy," she grumbled as she sipped her wine.

I nodded into my glass as the pull twisted again. "Andrea, what do I do?"

She sighed and looked over at me mischievously. "Obviously we look into it ourselves. I don't give a rat's ass about what Thomas said or Ethan. That's bullshit. He's putting the pack at risk by just forgetting it and Ethan–Christ, Ethan knows better."

"I know, he said something like 'How do you think it would look if Thomas found out his beta went behind his back?'" I huffed out a frustrated breath and looked back at her. "It's bullshit. Total bullshit!"

"In a way he's right," she said with a begrudging honesty. "Thomas would not take well to Ethan stepping out of line, but then again, Thomas also doesn't like when his chess pieces don't play by his rules."

I nodded at her knowingly as more understanding clicked in my brain. "You think he would start something with Ethan over that?"

"I think that he would make sure that Ethan knew his place, and knew it well," she replied before she sipped at her wine. I felt my chest rumble. Our male needed to take a bite out of our damn alpha; he was more than what he let's himself be, we knew he was.

"So what do we do?"

"Let me talk to my dad again, did you talk to Levi?"

I nodded. "Ya he's pretty pissed, but he said to keep him in the loop. I haven't told him about these one's today yet but I will tonight."

She nodded and played with the rim of the glass. "Did you tell him or Ethan about what you saw at the tree?" I shook my head. She sighed a little and looked at me a  tiredly. "Listen I know you're pissed at Ethan, but Char, you need to tell him at some point. Also, Levi deserves to know, you know that."

"I know, I'm going to call Levi tonight and fill him in. I just, I just wasn't sure how to talk to him about Eve." Andrea raised her brows in understanding and nodded. I took a sip of my wine and let it run down to my core that felt like a pit of brewing anger. "I want to tell Ethan, believe me. I don't know, after today, I just don't know. I mean what if we see something that is useful? What will he do? Nothing?"

She rocked her head side to side and shrugged. "Let's go back then."

"What?"

"You, me, and Evangeline. Let's go back tonight. Let's see if it shows you anything more. I mean, what you saw was crazy, but it wasn't like a smoking gun, you know?"

I nodded a little. "Ya, I agree. I mean it was trippy as hell, but I don't really know if what I saw was helpful at all."

"Exactly," she replied as she leaned a little forward. "So let's see what happens and go from there."

"Ok," I sighed out. "I can do that."

"To the tree then," she said with a nod as she raised her glass to me.

"To the tree," I replied a little warily.

To the tree.