Roman~ June 10

Owen has been sleeping for nearly twenty-four hours. Should I be worried? Nah! He's still breathing. At least he was when I checked on him a half hour ago. After the boy fell asleep yesterday on the couch, I moved him to the spare bedroom, and he hadn't stirred since. Who knows when the last time he had a good nights sleep was.

I took a few days vacation from work so that I could stay home with Owen for the time being. Since he's been asleep the majority of the time, I cleaned the whole house and binged the first season Supernatural while waiting for him to wake up.

Kane has called multiple times to check in of course.

It's currently 7:15 PM and I am bored out of my mind. Usually, I would leave the house on my days off or sleep, but I want to be there when Owen wakes up.

I glance at my watch for the third time in five minutes and sigh. Kane said he was coming over after work, so I still have around half an hour before he gets here. Kane tried to have someone stay with me, but I insisted that it wasn't necessary. As a compromise, I now have a guy parked outside my house. A lycan named Ben.

I pulled my legs up on the couch and adjusted my fuzzy grey blanket to cover me and snuggled in as another episode on Supernatural stared on Netflix. Fifteen minutes in my eyes started to get heavy. A short nap sounded good right about now.

I was just slipping into a blissful deep sleep when I heard a loud scream. The sound jarred me awake, and I sat up so fast my head spun. I groaned while pressing my hand to my head. Another cry had me on my feet and dashing down the hallway.

“No! Stop! Make it stop!” Owen’s voice cracked as he yelled.

Panic swelled in my stomach as I rushed into the spare bedroom. “Owen?!”

The Lycan was alone in the room. One glance told me he was still asleep. His eyes were closed as he thrashed around on the bed, drenched in sweat. His hair was plastered to his forehead, his skin glistening in the minimal light in the room. Owen's arms flailed in the air, and his feet kicked around under the blanket.

"It hurts!" Owen yelled. "Please stop! Please!" His voice ended in a sob that twisted my stomach.

I rushed forward and tried to grab the boys arms to keep him from hurting himself. "Owen! Wake up! It's okay! You're alright!" I said trying to shake him awake and avoid getting hit.

I was trying to help, but I made it worse. As soon as I tried to hold his arms down, Owen started screaming even louder. "No! No, let me go!" He wailed.

"Owen! It's okay. it's just a dream!" I called.

Owen's eyes suddenly flew open, but his struggling didn't stop. He looked up at me with wild glowing yellow eyes, and I could tell he wasn't seeing me. Now that he was more awake he started to fight me even more and ripped his right hand out of my grasp. "Owen!" I yelled again while trying to get ahold of his arm again. "Calm down! It's me, Roman!"

I didn't expect the pain that flared across the left side of my face, and it made me loosen my grip on his other wrist that I was still holding while I pressed my hand to my cheek. "Fuck!" I cursed as I stumbled back when Owen managed to kick me in the stomach. I doubled over and grunted as I tried to stay on my feet.

When I looked back at Owen, he was scrambling to the other side of the bed. The boy's eyes were still blown wide with fear as he watched me. His breathing a was shallow and labored. I raise my hands, trying not to seen threatening. "It's o-"

"Roman!" A deep voice called.

Ben. The man parked outside my house by Kane's order. He must have heard all the yelling.

The burly, dark-haired man appeared in the bedroom door a moment later. "Are you alright?" He asked before his eyes focused on Owen. The boy let out an audible gasp when Ben appeared. Owen's body was shaking as he stared up at Ben. I could see the terror in his eyes as he tried to move farther away and ended up falling off the edge of the bed with a yelp. Owen kept backing away till his back hit the wall. "Roman," Ben took a step toward me and grabbed my arm. "Back away from him." He told me. I glanced away from Owen up at Ben to see his eyes were a deep blue now. A growl sounded behind me, and my attention was drawn back to Owen.

He's scared. He's still seeing things.

"Kane. The pup has lost it. He injured Roman. Permission to kill him if necessary?" My head whipped around to Ben. He had his phone pressed to his ear.

Kill him? What the hell is he talking about?

I tried to pull away from the man, but he tightened his grip on my arm. "No! Don't hurt him! He's hallucinating. He didn't mean to hurt me!" I tried to explain.

"Yes, sir." Ben completely ignored me as he ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on him! He's just scared!" I yelled.

Ben finally looked at me with those powerful blue eyes. "A wolf is never more dangerous than when it's scared and feeling trapped." He told me and tried to pull me toward the door. "We will wait outside until Kane gets here."

"I'm not leaving him," I said firmly and planted my feet. "Let go."

"I was ordered to keep you safe, and that is what I'm going to do."

I stared up at the man in disbelief. I was starting to get annoyed with Ben. I jerked my arm from his grasp with a grunt of effort. "I said I'm not leaving." I glanced at the young man cowering in the corner. He's just scared, I told myself. "It was my fault I got hurt. I shouldn't have grabbed him as I did. It wasn't his fault." I explained as I turned to go to Owen.

A hand snatched my upper arm again and spun me around. "I can't let you do that. You have to come with me." Ben insisted.

Anger surged through me, and before I knew it, Ben was stumbling back clutching his nose while pain spread through my hand and up my arm. "Son of a bitch!" Ben's yell was muffled due to his hand.

"Don't ever tell me what to do again. This is my house, and as long as Owen is here, you will not touch him. Understand?" I turned away from Ben as he gave me look of bewilderment.

I walked around the bed and watched Owen for a second. He had his face buried in his arms that were wrapped around his knees as he rocked back and forth. He was still shaking. I could still hear his ragged breathing.

I slowly stepped closer. "Owen?" I called softly.

The man's head shot up as he gasped. He raised his hands defensively and whimpered softly. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't hurt me anymore, please!" He croaked.

I raised my hands slowly as I knelt a few feet away from him. "It's okay, Owen. I'm not going to hurt you. You're okay." I tried to sooth. "It's me, Roman. I'm not going to hurt you." I repeated.

Recognition sparked in his still yellow eyes. "Roman?" He murmured. I nodded and inched a little closer.

"Roman, don't!" Ben ordered. Owen flinched at his voice, and I shot him a glare.

"Keep your damn mouth shut!" I growled before turning back to Owen. “Don’t mind him. He won’t hurt you.” I told Owen in a gentler tone.

Owen had his eyes fixed on me, or rather, my face. “Your face. I did that.” He said it as a statement. I touched my cheek that was still stinging pretty bad. When I pulled my hand away, I noticed the blood coating my fingers and winced.

I quickly shook my head though. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt." I lied. As looked at him again I notice the tears running down his face and my jaw dropped a little.

"I'm sorry I'm so sorry I didn't mean too!" He cried. His eyes suddenly grew wide, and he started to tremble again. "I- I didn't- Kane is g-" I surged forward and gently placed my hands on his knees.

"Kane is not going to do anything to you," I told him. "It was an accident. I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

Owen stared back at me with watery eyes for a moment before it was like a dam broke and he started to sob. "I'm sor-rry," He said in a broken voice.

I sighed and ran a hand through his hair before guiding him forward into a tight hug. He tensed up but didn't protest or resist, so I moved around, so I was leaning against the side of the bed with Owen situated between my legs. I pressed his head to my shoulder with one hand and ran my fingers through his hair while my other hand rubbed up and down his back. "Shh, it's okay. Just let it all out." I whispered into his hair.

After a minute or two he gradually relaxed and just cried in my arms.

I couldn't see him, but I could feel Ben staring at the back of my head.

Eventually, I heard the front door open and close. Owen must have heard it too because he immediately went stiff as a board. He moved his hands so that he was gripping my bicep. His cries quieted to soft whimpers as heavy footsteps raced down the hall.

"Roman! Ben!" Kane shouted. "Where is he?" Kane growled. I knew he was talking about Owen. I tightened my grip on the young man and turned my head to look at Kane. Careful not to let him see the scratches.

"Stay there." I quickly told him.

Kane ignored my words and took several steps farther into the room. "What did he do to you?!" He questioned me. Owen started to tramble again, and I heard the soft cry he tried to hide. Then Kane said to Ben, "I told you to get him away from Owen till I g-"

"Kane!" I roared. That stopped the alpha. "Get out," I ordered in a firm tone. "I'm fine. It was an accident. Everything is okay now." I told him.

Kane held my gaze for a good 30 seconds before he let out a huff and racked his hand through his hair. He took in a long deep breath of air. "Okay." Was all he said before turning and leaving the room. Once he was out of sight, I heard him bark, "Ben!" The dark haired man flinched and quickly followed his Alpha.

When they were both gone, I turned my gaze the wall in front of me and resumed rubbing Owen back. "It's okay. No one is going to harm you in any way."

The Lycan didn't say anything back, but he did turn his face further in my shoulder.

Now all I had to do was think about how I was going to deal with Kane later and assure him that I'm alright.