Kris backed away from the trees - away from that house - as fast as he could. He tripped on a branch and fell to the ground with a grunt. Unable to think straight, he sat on the ground and brought his hands to the sides of his head.

“No, no, no,” he muttered, “this cannot be happening.” He breathed heavily as the he tried to battle the thoughts of his situation in his mind. Kris’s eyes - still glowing in their amber hue - flitted back and forth, taking in his dark surroundings. He tried to focus on anything except the light coming out of the window of the house that he could still very faintly through the wall of trees in front of him. But to no avail, his gaze kept returning to the window as the urge to take one last look at the young woman remained in the back of his mind.

“Impossible…” He tried to stand up but stumbled as he did. Taking slow steps, he started to stumble away from the house. Away from his mate - his human mate. The idea of having a human as his destined lover disgusted Kris. He, the alpha leader of the Tenebris wolves, didn’t even have the fate to be with another wolf. It was such a disgrace. Why, of all wolves, did he have to be one of the rare ones that did not mate with their own kind? What did he do to deserve such a fate?

Then, realization dawned on him. He knew why. His lie about being mateless. He tried to decide his own fate when in truth he had no control over it. He told his pack members and even the Tenebris council, so that he could introduce the idea of being with Yiru as mates and alpha leaders. It was his own fault.

Kris shook his head and tried to rid himself of his thoughts of self-accusation. He could fight this. He was strong enough. The disgust of being with a human for life would overpower his urge to mate with that woman. His love for Yiru would also give him strength. Being with Yiru, that was his main goal.

After another hour of stumbling around the forest, Kris finally made it back to the Exo-M cabin. He opened the front door and made his way to his study. He went straight to the bookshelves that lined the back wall of the room and searched frantically for the books that would give him answers about his situation. There had to be a way to avoid wolf-human mating, and he was going to find it.

Once he saw the books he needed, Kris slammed them onto his desk and started to flip through the first one quickly, scanning the pages with flitting eyes. He came across a historical account of a wolf who had mated with a human and began to read it carefully.

“Mated with a female human… inevitable urge… outcasted…” Kris read out loud. “No!” He slammed the book on the table and began to search in another book.

“Kris?” a voice called out by the opened doors.  

Kris looked up with wide, angry eyes, only to see Luhan walking closer to the desk with a frown on his face. Kris looked down at the desk and saw his mess - the evidence of his predicament. There was no escaping the truth now.

Luhan picked up one of the books and read part of the title. “Wolf-Human Mating?” He looked up at his leader in confusion. “What’s this about, Kris?”

The leader let out a sigh and dropped his gaze to the floor. “It’s nothing.”

“But you said you were mateless,” Luhan stated, wanting to get more information out of Kris.

“I said it was nothing,” Kris said more firmly.

Luhan slammed the book on the desk and stared at Kris with hard eyes. “No, it’s not nothing. You’re obviously hiding something.”

“Just drop it.” Kris turned away from him and started to put the books back on the shelf haphazardly. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

But Luhan was relentless. He wasn’t going to stop until he got something out of the secretive leader. “When did you find out?” he asked quietly.

Kris rolled his eyes, annoyed that he could not avoid this interrogation. “Just today. About an hour ago,” he answered begrudgingly.

“Did you meet her?”

“I just saw her, but I didn’t dare approach her. All I know is that she is the new tenant of the house close to the border between our territory and the human land.”

“Are you going to meet her?” Luhan inquired further.

“Of course not!” Kris exclaimed. Luhan was taken aback by his sudden outburst, causing Kris to calm down again. “No, I can’t,” he said more quietly.

“Because of Yiru?”

Kris only nodded. So his feelings for her weren’t as obscure as he thought they were. If Luhan perceived his true feelings, did Yiru know as well?

“Is that why you went along with that whole lie about being mateless?”

“It was the only way I could bring up the possibility of being with Yiru,” Kris reasoned. “After all, she is mateless as well.”

Luhan sighed and shook his head. “This is wrong, Kris. You can’t fight the urge to be with your human mate. It’s impossible. She is your true mate.”

“I can and I will,” Kris stated with much determination. “Do not underestimate me, Luhan. I am the strongest Tenebris wolf. I am alpha.”

“Alpha or not, you are still a wolf. A wolf who cannot control his fate.” Luhan came closer to Kris until they were face-to-face. “Don’t do this. You’ll only end up hurting yourself and Yiru.”

Kris backed away from Luhan. “You don’t know that.”

“Neither do you.” Luhan turned away and left the room silently, leaving the distraught leader to his own thoughts.

►◄►◄►◄

The next morning, Kris groggily made his way down the stairs and into the dining room, where all his other pack members were already seated and eating their breakfast. Once he entered the room, everyone stopped eating and stared at him. It was unusual of him to sleep in and be the last one at the table.

Kris took his seat at the head of the table and didn’t even bother greeting anyone. To the right of him, Kris heard Yiru whisper his name. He looked up at her concerned face and gave her a small smile. Only that beautiful face would help him get through his troubles. But as he continued to stare at her, a different feeling began to bubble up inside of him. A feeling of guilt and sadness. It was as if his heart was trying to distance him from her. He looked down again and the small smile disappeared from his face.

“Kris,” Yiru whispered again. “Are you feeling okay?”

He only nodded and started to eat his food slowly. Yiru understood that he wanted to be left alone and did not interrogate him any further. The other members followed and left the leader to his sulking.

After breakfast, Yiru found Kris pacing in front of the window. She stared at his feet shuffling restlessly on the creaky wooden floor. She frowne