As her Grandma, Skylar and Shado chatted at the dining table, Xael was ready to go back to bed. Having eaten, her full belly combined with the stress and exhaustion from the day had caught up with her. Not wanting to disturb anyone, she quietly got up and walked towards her room.

"Xael?"  Shado was still worried about her. He stopped her with a hand to her arm. She looked down at him with a soft smile.

"I need to sleep." With that, she continued to walk off.

"She must be exhausted." Skylar also had a watchful eye on her as he got up and took Xael's plate to the sink.

"Xael get's like that when she's tired Adam, she shuts down."  Ms. Emma reached across the table and patted his arm to reassure him.

Shado looked back at his new Mate to make sure she really was fine. Turning back to Ms. Emma, she still had a smile on her face.

"I'm glad she let you know you're her Mate. I didn't think she'd tell you so soon."

"Yeah, we talked for a bit. God, she smells amazing."

"What? She let you scent her?"

"Just a little. Then she kind of pushed me away. Why?"

"Xael has never let her scent free. She must really trust you."

"It was barely noticeable, she only did it for a few seconds."

"I see." Ms. Emma noticed the young Alpha kept looking back towards the bedroom. "Go to her hun, you're her Mate now, she won't mind."

The Deputy made his way to the room after saying good night. Ms. Emma and Skylar also turned in for the night. The Sheriff made sure the house was locked up for the night. Not that he needed to, Emma never locked her doors, but he did it out of habit.

When Shado entered the room, Xael was already asleep, the pups both lying along the foot of the bed. They raised their heads as soon as they heard the door move. Seeing who it was, they laid back down, deep sighs leaving both of them.  Shado was already dressed for bed. He had on sweats and a t-shirt which he put on after rinsing off in the outdoor shower.

The soft amber glow of a salt lamp illuminated the room. He was glad she had laid in the middle of the bed. He carefully slid in next to her and started to wrap his arm around her when she quickly sat up and looked at him. He had startled her awake.

"Hey, it's just me Xael!"

She immediately relaxed. He didn't know it but she had extended her claws and was about to strike him as her hands were hidden under the blankets. Xael was so out of it she had forgotten he would sleep with her.

"Sorry! I thought you knew it was me!"

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.  Shado couldn't see it, but Xael's eyes had gone over to red as she had her back against the light.

"Yeah?"  Xael answered the knock. Her Grandmother opened the door.

"What's wrong?"  

Xael whipped her head towards the door, the light from the living room reflected in her red eyes.

"Nothing, everything is fine." There was still irritation in Xael's voice.

"Then why are your eyes red Xael?"

"Fuck..." she spoke under her breath. "I'm fine Grams, he just startled me that's all."

"Ok..." Ms. Emma shut the door and returned to her room.

After they shut the door, Xael turned her attention back to Shado.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"It's ok, I should have let you know I came back in."  Shado hated to admit it but she made him a little uneasy.

Xael laid back down, her back again towards Shado.

"So is it ok for me to hold you?"

Another deep sigh came from her. "Yeah. It's just going to take me a minute to get used to you."

This time Shado slowly moved towards the woman next to him and gently snaked his arm over her midsection. He felt her tense up from the initial physical contact, but relaxed after a few seconds.

"Thank You Adam."

"For what?"

"For staying with me tonight." Her voice was full of exhaustion as it trailed off.

"Of course." He felt it was safe to cuddle up to her again as he carefully pulled her against him with no resistance this time. "Xael?"

She was already fast asleep.

Xael was only afforded a few hours of rest before the nightmare began again. She was relieving the painful experience of losing her first Mate. Rejection would have been better than what she was experiencing.  Xael started to move in her sleep, a soft whimper escaping her.

Shado was fast asleep as he was exhausted too. The dancing and heat from the sweat lodge, plus his full belly, had relaxed him into a deep and solid sleep.

Xael's movements, though small, became more erratic as her whimpers increased. Moose, being a light sleeper, noticed his momma was in distress. He tried to paw at her to wake her up, but it was no use. Her exhaustion made it impossible for him to wake her. Moose moved over to the Alpha and pawed at him, this time more aggressively, it worked.

"Ow! What the h-"  Shado jolted awake only to see Moose staring at him.  Xael had moved out of his arms sometime during the night. He could see her body jerk involuntarily under the blankets. Moose pawed at his momma again to get the Alpha to help him wake her up.  Shado moved over to her. She unconsciously moved away from him, dangerously close to the edge of the bed. Moose whimpered out of worry for his momma.

"Xael?  Xael baby wake up."  Shado was gently shaking her, trying to keep his voice low so he wouldn't wake anyone else. By now both her pups were up and slightly worried for their momma. They would only bark if she was in danger, but with Shado there they didn't feel the need to.

She still would not wake and he could tell whatever nightmare she was in was getting worse.  Shado was now over her shaking her to wake up.

"Xael!" This time he yelled her name. Sensing the urgency, Shado reluctantly used his Alpha voice on her, loudly. He knew it would wake the entire house, but he was out of options.

"Xael!"

She was violently ripped out of her deep sleep by the sudden sound of the commanding voice. The bad thing was, Xael was still caught in the nightmare, but awake.

"NO!"

Xael freaked out and pushed him away from her, causing her to fall out of the bed, striking her head on the corner of the nightstand. Yelping loudly in pain. Gunner started barking. Shado being irritated with the entire situation almost snapped at the pup but stopped himself. He knew he was just worried for his momma.

"FUCK!!"  Xael was not having a good night by any means as she yelled out in pain. Her hand quickly came up to the gash on her head.

Shado was at her side in seconds, scooping her up and placing her back on the bed. She was still out of it from the nightmare, but even more so after cracking her head open.

Both the Elders were now at the door as the overhead light flicked on.

"What the hell is going on Shado?" Skylar was now in protective uncle mode.

"She was in the middle of a nightmare, we were trying to wake her up when she fell out the bed and hit her head."

Xael was trying to move, but Shado stopped her.

"No, be still! Let me look, I need to see how bad it is."  Shado pulled her hand away to reveal an angry bleeding gash.

Xael was finally coming out of it.

"What happened?"

"What happened? You cracked your head open, that's what happened!"

Xael looked at Shado then down at her bloody hand. Another whimper leaving her, her pups gathered around her. She petted them both to reassure them.

"I'll go get the first aid kit, Wes will you get a wet towel?"

As the two older ones went to fetch stuff, Xael looked back over at Shado.

"I'm sorry, I'm such a mess, I'm not usually like this."  Xael was avoiding looking at him again.

"Hey, don't apologize. You're not a mess."

"Yes I am."

"Xael? I need you out in the living room where there's better lighting."

Xael looked Shado. "Will you grab my robe in the bathroom?" She just had on a t-shirt and her undies.

"Sure baby."

"You just call me baby?"

Shado turned and smiled at her. He came back with her robe and wrapped her in it and scooped her up to carry her to the living room.

"I hurt my head, not my legs..."

Now it was his turn to ignore her. He sat her down in her grandmother's chair. Ms. Emma and Skylar then took over.

"Let me see Xael?" Skylar gently lifted her head. "You might need stitches Pupkins."

"No, just butterfly strip it, it will be fine in the morning."

"Xael, if you need stitches hun..."

"I'll be fine Grams, Adam just needs to stay close to me for the rest of the night and it will heal."

"What?"

"Uhg... just trust me."

"Fine, hold your head up Pup, so I can get you cleaned and bandaged up." Skylar went to work bandaging the wound while her Grams handed him what he needed. The pups went back to bed and Shado stood next to her with his arms across his chest.

All done, her grams went to the kitchen to dispose of the waste.  As Xael went to stand, she wobbled a bit. "Nope! I got you."  Shado was right there and had her back in his arms in no time.

"All right Shado, get her back to bed!" Skylar relaxed seeing that she was safe again.

Xael didn't complain as he carried her into the room. After he placed her in the bed, she removed the robe and waited for Shado to join her. She was past exhausted and now in pain. She just wanted to sleep.  Shado made sure things were good in the living room. Returning, he turned the overhead light off in the bedroom.  Xael never took her eyes off of him.

Shado saw her. "Waiting for me?"  Xael gave him a weak smile.

Crawling in next to her, she was at his side almost instantly. "You're back to being clingy?"

Xael didn't say anything.  As he laid down, she snuggled next to him and was asleep within seconds.

Shado shook his head at her quirkiness and smiled, giving her a tender kiss on the head.