Everest had slept well for the majority of the night. But due to certain circumstances, she didn't get all the rest she needed. She had felt a light kick, which had startled her and brought her out of her slumber.

The husky stood up, confused about what had happened. She looked around and saw Marshall, who was shaking in his sleep. She eyed him carefully before she realized what was going on. He was having a nightmare.

She studied him, taking in the full details of what was happening. The dally was shaking, it almost looked like he was trying to run. It seemed like he wanted to cry, but his eyes were shut, blocking the tears from falling. 

Lastly, she could hear him muttering things under his breath, most of which were apologies or him pleading for someone not to die. It didn't take much effort to figure out whose life he was pleading for.

Everest laid back down and scooted closer to him, wrapping an arm around him. "Shh, it's just a dream. None of it's real. That isn't the real me, I'm ok." She whispered into his ear, despite having no idea if he could even hear her.

"I-I'm...s-so sorry. Please d-don't leave m-me. I-I tried." Marshall muttered. The husky sighed, knowing that he was still asleep, trapped inside some horrific memory she couldn't even process.

According to Ryder, this was something he experienced almost every night. That was something Everest had the hardest time accepting. It was so obvious to her that these dreams were like torture for him, and yet he was forced to have them on an almost daily basis.

She continued to stay by him and whisper as much encouragement as she could, but she could tell the dream was only getting worse. It wasn't hard to tell he was progressively getting more scared and upset.

Eventually, Marshall shot up in bed, panting heavily. Everest jumped back a bit in surprise, but quickly recovered from her shock and nuzzled him for comfort. However, the second the two made contact, the dally darted his head around and noticed her, then proceeded to slowly back up into a corner.

The husky was a bit confused but naturally tried to go over to him. She reached out to touch him, but then noticed something that made her stop dead in her tracks. His tail was in between his legs, and all she could see in his eyes was fear. He was afraid of her.

Everest looked at him in sympathy, starting to realize how big of an effect the nightmares were leaving on him. Slowly, not trying to startle him, she reached out and caressed his cheek, and even then he flinched when she touched him.

"Don't worry, you're ok. It was just a dream, it can't hurt you." She cooed. The dally looked at her carefully, and quickly, his breathing started slowing down a bit. He looked into the husky's eyes, and after a while, jumped into her arms, hugging her tightly. Despite being a bit caught off guard, she happily hugged him back.

"I-I'm sorry Eve. Please don't die. Don't leave me. I....I'm so sorry I let this happen to you." He choked out. Everest licked him and started petting his back, knowing that would help calm him down.

"I'm not gonna die Marshy. I'm still here. And you don't have to be sorry, none of this was your fault. You weren't able to control any of it." She whispered.

"B-but..." Everest stopped him from arguing by placing a kiss on his lips, which was quickly returned. The two separated and now she could see a small smile on his face, although it was clear that the effort had only helped a bit.

"Is there something else that's wrong?" The husky asked, seeing the look on his face. Marshall went silent, not knowing how to answer. Usually, after his nightmares, he'd relapse and end up cutting himself. That being said, he wasn't sure how she'd react to that.

"Uh,n-nothing. I-I'm fine. Let's just go back to sleep." He suggested, trying to put an end to this conversation. He laid back down in their bed and shut his eyes, hoping the sleep would take him before Everest tried to push any further, which unfortunately for him wasn't the case.

"Don't lie to me, I want to know what's wrong." She insisted, laying down next to him. The dally let out a quiet sigh, starting to realize she wasn't going to give in.

"D-did they tell you what I've been doing? What I did nearly night?" He asked. The husky looked at him and shook her head. Without saying another word, Marshall pointed to a small drawer.

Everest stood up and walked over to it, opening it immediately. Her eyes widened in horror as she was what was inside. The blood-stained razor blade.

"Y-you...?" She choked, tears starting to fill her own eyes, preventing her from finishing. Marshall only gave her a sad nod, knowing what she'd say. "B-but....why?"

The dally remained silent for a minute, he was already certain that she wouldn't like his answer. "I-I deserved it." He muttered. However, just by looking at the husky's face, he could tell she wasn't satisfied with his response. "How else could I have stopped the pain?"

Everest stared at him for a moment, taking in what she had heard. Still a bit shaky, she slowly walked back over and laid down, pulling the dally close to her.

"You could've talked to us, but I'm not mad at you. Just promise me, you'll never do that to yourself again, ok?" She asked, still unsure of what she was supposed to say or do.

"Alright, I-I promise." He replied. The husky put on a small smile and licked him, happy with his answer.

"Good, now go to bed. You need your rest." She demanded. Marshall nodded and leaned back into her side, falling asleep surprisingly quickly. However, Everest didn't fall asleep so fast.

Instead, she had simply laid there, wrapped up in her thoughts for hours. She couldn't get over what had happened. To learn that for the past three months, her mate had been hurting himself just broke her.

She sat there, and eventually, she began to weep silently, trying to muffle as much of the noise into a pillow as to not wake the sleeping dally. She cried for Marshall, finally realizing the amount of suffering he had endured, knowing how deep he had fallen.

He had truly become a shell of who he once was. Of course, she still loved him more than anything, but the Marshall she knew had been locked away. His disorder was a part of him now, it was here to stay, and that terrified her.

The husky suddenly heard a quiet knock on the door, but that didn't stop the tears. "C-come in." She whispered. The door slowly opened revealing a concerned-looking German shepherd and Cockapoo.

"Everest? What's wrong?" Skye asked, seeing how distraught he was. Before Everest responded, she silently held a paw up to her lips and pointed to the sleeping dally. The other two in the doorway nodded, getting the message to not wake him up.

"W-why did no one tell me?!" She cried out, somehow managing to stay quiet. Chase and Skye both looked at each other with confused looks, then turned back to the husky with raised eyebrows. "H-he's been hurting himself?!"

The couple realized what was going on and were starting to feel sympathetic. It wasn't too much of a surprise that Everest had reacted this way, seeing as how much worry she already expressed for her mate. It seemed like it had been taking a bit of a toll on her as well.

"Yeah....he has. We've tried to get him to stop, but it just never worked. And we were gonna tell you, but it never seemed like a good time." The shepherd explained. Thankfully, the husky nodded understandingly.

"I-I guess that makes sense. But still, t-this whole thing is just so much to process. What did he ever do to deserve this?" She asked, even though she knew the others wouldn't be able to answer it either. There was nothing in the world that the dally could have done to earn this.

As she had expected, the other two replied with uncertain answers. She just shrugged it off, still knowing there wasn't a real answer that could be given. She tiredly looked over at Marshall, who was surprisingly still fast asleep, and she was suddenly confused as to why the others were up at this hour.

"Wait, why are you two even awake?" She asked. The look of confusion appearing on the other pup's faces was not the reaction she was expecting, so when that appeared on their faces, it just made her even more confused.

"Everest, it's eight in the morning. How long have you been up?" Chase questioned in return. The husky simply let out a yawn and shook her body, trying to wake up. Then, she stood up and put Marshall on her back.

"Oh, uh, It doesn't really matter. Come on, let's get some food." Everest answered as she walked out of the puphouse. Chase and Skye both exchanged worried glances, but regardless, they followed her up to the lookout.

By the time they all got up there, the others were already having their breakfast. "Good morning guys." Their owner greeted, only then realizing something was a bit off. "Uh, Everest, is everything ok? You look kinda tired."

"I just had a bit of a rough night, but I'm fine." She responded. Ryder nodded, although he got the feeling she wasn't being completely honest, and poured them bowls of food.

Before she started eating, however, she carefully set down Marshall and gave him a small nudge. "Time to get up Marshy." She whispered. The dally's eyes slowly opened, and it was obvious he wasn't exactly ready to get up.

"W-why are in the lookout?" He asked tiredly, letting out a few yawns as he stood up. Everest threw on a smile and laughed a bit at his confusion.

"I just carried you up here silly. I figured I'd try and give you as much extra sleep as I could, especially after....last night." She explained, trying to avoid that topic as best she could, for both their sakes.

"Oh right, that." He called, thinking about what had happened. Before he let himself think about it anymore, he just decided to start eating, so Everest did the same.

"Everest, can I talk to you in private?" Ryder called out. The husky heard him, but was a bit hesitant, knowing that Marshall really hated being separated from her. That being said, she could tell he was serious, so she didn't have much of a choice.

"Chase, can you keep an eye on him for a minute?" She requested. The shepherd nodded and went over to the dally, starting a conversation immediately so he wouldn't start thinking about it too much.

"What is it, Ryder?" Everest asked as the two walked away from the others. She couldn't help but feel a bit agitated with him. Marshall was her top priority, and she wasn't the biggest fan of her owner making the two separate, even if it was just for a short discussion.

"What's the real reason you didn't sleep much last night? No offense, but you're not very good at lying. I won't be mad, I just want to know." Ryder stated.  

Everest sighed in defeat, she knew there was no point in trying to get out of this one. "Marshy had a nightmare last night." She began. The boy nodded, realizing this had something to do with Marshall.

"H-he just looked so helpless. When he woke up, he was afraid of me. Do you know how hard that was to watch? He was scared of me, it looked like he thought I was going to hurt him or something. And, what's even worse, he told me he had been cutting himself." The husky exclaimed.

"I-I just don't understand. Why is this happening to him? And why do I feel so scared too?" She asked. Ryder gave her a comforting smile and scratched her behind the ear, already having a simple answer.

"Because Everest, he's your mate, and it scares you seeing him suffer. I know you love him with all your heart. It's completely normal for you to be concerned for him right now. Honestly, I'd be more worried if you weren't feeling this way." He explained.

"Also, his sudden burst of emotions, from what Katie told me, isn't uncommon either. He's scared himself. That's why you play such an important role in his full recovery. You're the one he loves the most, and his trauma involved you, so naturally, he's going to count on you." The boy added.

Everest let out a quiet, sad sigh. She knew he counted on her, but that in itself worried her. She didn't want to mess something up and be the reason something bad happened. If that were to happen, she doubted she'd ever forgive herself.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just don't wanna let him down, nor do I want him doing something that he'd regret." She replied, her head dropping down at the memory of the dally trying to do just that.

"Don't worry, I'm sure neither of those will happen. Now you should probably get back to him." Ryder suggested, giving her a scratch behind the ear for comfort. The husky nodded and walked back to the others.

Once she got over to him, she was greeted with a hug. This was another thing She had noticed. Marshall seemed to be much more prone to giving hugs, or any physical contact for that matter. Of course, she didn't mind it at all. She knew he did to feel less anxious.

"Hey Marshy, don't worry, I'm back." She welcomed, lightly rubbing his fur. The dally smiled lightly and the two separated.

"What did you two talk about?" He asked. Everest paused for a second. She always hated lying to him, but she knew he wouldn't like what they had discussed.

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask her something." Ryder answered, giving her a small nod. The husky let out a sigh of relief now that she didn't have to make something up and lie to him.

"Oh ok. What do you wanna do now Eve?" Marshall asked, thankfully not pushing any further into the matter. The husky had one thing she had been waiting to suggest, so she decided to take her chance now.

"Actually, I have an idea for all of us, as long as Ryder is fine with it." Everest responded as she walked over to the boy and whispered something to him. Ryder gave her a nod of approval, so she turned back to the others with a smile.

"You guys said you wanted to meet Haley, right?"