I woke up next to Chase, his arm still wrapped around me. His breaths were shallow so I knew he was asleep. I slowly tuned my head upward so I wouldn't wake him. His faced was strained like he was scared or pissed. I put my hand on his chest to try and calm him but his face became more stressed. He started to squirm after a few moments and I had to move off the couch to keep from getting knocked off.  I sat beside the couch and he started mumbling in his sleep. He kept saying, "NO! NO! DAD STOP! PLEASE!" Over and over again tears running down his face. I lifted the top half of his body up and slid underneath and positioned his head to where he was laying with his head on my lap. 

When his squirming and yelling continued I lifted him up higher and shifted to where I was hugging him from behind. I started rocking his body with rhythmic movements. His body relaxed at the touch of my skin to his and the yelling ceased after a while of me rocking and hugging him. I felt the last jerk of his body before he woke up. He sat up quickly and hunched over breathing heavily. I scooted closer and put my hand on his back gently. He jumped away and looked at me, his eyes full of fear. They softened once he recognized me. I smiled softly. He looked away and said quietly, "Sorry." 

"For what?" I asked gently. 

"For troubling you." 

"Why was you telling you dad to stop? I thought you didn't know your dad." I said.

He breathed out a long sigh and said, "I only him for a short while before I ran away with my little brother. He was kicked out of his pack so he started drinking. He would beat us when he was drunk, which was pretty much every day. I was the big brother I was supposed to protect him. So one day while my dad was passed out on the couch I grabbed my brother and ran trying to find the pack cause they thought we were dead, that our dad killed us. I tried to get out of the house quietly but he heard us. So we ran as fast as we could towards the pack. But even though my dad was drunk he shifted and ran after us. Since we were so young I couldn't shift yet so he caught up. We were so close to the pack so I howled as best as I could. I heard there foot falls but they weren't fast enough. Dad made me watch as he killed my brother." 

My breath was slow and shallow as he told his story. Chase had tears streaming down his face as he continued, "The pack came before he had a chance to kill me. My dad so viciously attacked my brother that I couldn't tell who he was anymore. The pack killed my dad and I watched, smiling. Before they finished I sneaked away wanting to be alone. I ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore. I ran through water so the pack couldn't find me. I lived by myself, burrowing in my own misery.  As I went through my shift I just lay there. I rarely went out to hunt to get food and I was really thin and pretty weak from the lack of food. A few years ago I was out hunting and thats when I saw the most beautiful wolf in the world." 

He said looking up at me. "When I saw her it was like life came pouring back into me. I started hunting more, staying healthier, and less depressed. That wolf was you Maya. You saved my life. That's why I became your personal bodyguard. I loved you from afar and when I saw your human form I fell even more in love with you. You were so beautiful, I have been watching over you longer than you know. Then when I finally approached you, you were so nice and it was amazing. Then I thought I was going to lose you to Jake so I brought up us being mates." He said not breaking eye contact. 

I tried to say something but the only thing that would come out was, "H..ow...l..ong..."

"How long was I watching you?" He asked and I nodded. "10 years."