She thrashed against invisible demons, fur ruffling, shaking. Claws scraped the dirt that lay upon the floor of her den, joining grooves already present, her jaws opened in an attempt to draw air, and just as suddenly as all of those thrashing had started, it stopped. Silver hued oculars snapped open and she sat up, panting with the effort of breath. They plagued her like an angry crew of hornets. Again and again and again. Even the voices grew sluggish and slow. They would not let her be.

She growled. A sound torn between pain and irritation. A bit of rest was all she wished for, she could not maintain an air of flamboyancy and grace without it. It was so rare that Ghost lost her composure. Silver hued orbs bore into the black surroundings. No moon colored the sky this eve, the sky was empty, vacant, and their land a swirling vortex of ink. Ghost had never feared the dark before.

Her claws caught the ground beneath her, pads forcing her body to rocket through the trees, propelling on memory alone. For once, she flew. Paws pounding the earth with a silent fury, her long coat fluttering and snapping in the wind as she drove harder, faster across the lands of Seracia. The line of trees broke and the black ocean crashed before her, its ferocity matching the turmoil she felt within the depths of her soul.

It did not keep her attention long, light eyes sought the den so described to her about a week prior. It was well disguised amongst the rocks but keen eyes discovered it all the same. Before she could realize it, her gait, strong and steady had brought her almost to the entrance. Would he remember her? Or had she merely faded from his mind just as everyone else had?

"Segar..." Her voice soft, almost blending with the crashing tide she lost her confidence, standing to the right of the mouth of his den. She was not sure she could disturb him if he slumbered.

His ear flicked at the sound of his own name. Slowly his head lifted from the sandy floor of the den and forest green orbs turned on her ghastly gray. He yawned hungrily and shook the clinging grains from his silky fur as he approached her. "Yes my dear?" He asked drowsily. The den was a hovel at best, three wolves would find themselves hard pressed to breathe in the small sanctum, let alone sleep. He hadn't anticipated a mate, at least not so soon. To have a female so interested in him while he was so new to his new pack was surprising to say the least. He only prayed he could accommodate her in the small burrow. He recalled Ghost mentioning that she had trouble sleeping. For her to come to him so late at night, it had to be the reason. He stepped out of the den without a word and ushered her inside,his eyes still drooping from the sudden loss of slumber. He had to wake up. He was needed now. She needed someone to talk to and to depend on, to console and ensure her that the demons that had plagued her mind would not harm her while he was around to protect her. Speech,

The ocean breeze carried the scent of salt with it, brushing over her pelt and tainted her with the smell of the sea. Ghost did not mind, her haunting grey posture remained just a touch out of sight, she wondered if he had heard her soft breath of his name at all, but he twitched, rising from the floor of his den with an abundance of grace, approaching her with all the confidence in the world. The den she paid no heed too. She was not here for the four walls as she slipped inside.

She turned to face him the moment the winds had left her back. She wasted no time on words on breathless phrases, she wasn't even sure why she was here. The promise of a warm body, a steady heartbeat? Her nightmare had plagued her seemingly forever, cat naps and exhaustion were common place for her. She stepped forward and dipped her head, ears pinning back against her cranium as she tucked her skull beneath the strong bones of his jaw. She curled her body into his chest, fur gently brushing up against his own.

"Can you make them stop?" Just the barest hint of desperation colored her tone.

"I will do my best." He swore. Slowly, gently he settled into repose with her, guiding her to lay down more than forcing her to. One paw draped over her arms as the other folded over hie back, holding her as only a wild animal could. Would this be enough to soothe the chaos in her mind? He could only hope so. He laid there, helpless, holding their bodies together and praying to every god he knew of that he was helping her in some way. He kissed her crown gently, hoping it would somehow soothe her further and maybe, just maybe make the voices in her head stop. "Relax Senora." He said gently. "Listen to the ocean, ignore the voices, they cannot hurt you here. You are with me. And we are walking along the shore together, listening to the waves. They cannot hurt you here, because I will protect you." He spoke as if it were a mantra, almost as if he hoped he could hypnotize her into calming down and blocking out the voices. Speech,

She curled into him, her form pressing up against his own, craving his body heat. She trusted next to no one and yet she believed in this near stranger. Her nose dug into the nape of his neck, willing his scent to calm her to stop the voices that bombarded her head, the memories that swirled throughout her head. On rare occasion, when her mind was her own, she hated herself, hated how weak her mind had become.

She allowed him to lower her to the sands, fore limbs draping around her torso in a vice, she relaxed into his larger body. Her eyes fluttering shut as his tongue brushed the top of her crown and that smooth accent caressed her ears. He smelled of the sea, of the crashing tide and she was captured by the scent, willing the voices to dim and fade, willing her own mind to focus to see past them. She nudged her nose beneath his own, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes that she refused to let fall. "I am sorry that I am so broken."

He did not ask for this burden, this task to be thrust upon him. She was the tainted soul here, not he.

"Shhh. If you are to help me fend off the Lentajin there will be no room for doubt and misery." He purred, his tongue brushing over the corners of her eyes to wipe away her tears."You are only broken if you cannot be repaired." He smiled. "You are much too strong to be broken so easily." He nuzzled her neck lovingly, slowly but surely mending her damaged psyche with gentle touches and kind words. "I will repair you Ghost." Her name always sounded awkward on his tongue, his foreign accent pronouncing her name either with emphasis on the H or as "Yost". It was embarrassing to him, and as much as he hated to deny himself the pleasure of speaking her name as often as he pleased it was simply something his pride would not allow. Speech,

She paused her thoughts changing as he spoke of his own pack, or perhaps she should say, his old pack. Seracia was their home now, his and hers. If Lentajin proved a threat, she did not think Seracia would throw him to the fire and if they did she would turn her pack upon it to fight at his side. She did not understand the bond between them but there was something there. She could feel it in the delicate way his tongue swiped at the tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you... for everything Segar." She nuzzled her nose into his cheek, her own tongue, escaping her jaws and brushing against the soft fur there. Her tail, twining around his own. She felt comfortable, relaxed in his embrace and she was loathe to move. "You are an incredible soul Segar and I will fight for you should Lentajin ever come." Her tones were soft, airy, whimsical, but her eyes were serious. She meant what she spoke.

He grinned coyly and laughed. "I am well aware Mi Amor!" He said, the hovering cloud of tension finally breaking in the small den. "I stand by what I have said. It will be an honor to fight beside you." Slowly his grip on her relaxed and he laid his head down on her arms, sighing contently as he inhaled the scent of brackish rivers and pine leaves. She was the forest and the beach all at once and it drove him crazy. "Try to get some sleep." He muttered as his eyelids closed and he drifted off into another blissful dream, this time warmed by the body of another. {-Exit Segar-} Speech,

She smiled at his dedication, nodding gently, eyes fluttering shut as he curled into her bodice. She rested her crown upon his shoulders, eyes fluttering shut as she joined him, hopefully this time without nightmares.

-exit ghost-