Obey.

1 Hayley

My body was covered in many layers of sweat, but still I persisted. Feeling like one big bruise, I screamed out in rage as I swung out my fist.
"Pathetic," Cayden teased as he easily deflected my hit, for the millionth time that day. He didn't seem to be sweating at all, the bastard.
"Careful, last time you pissed me off you ended up with a swollen lip," I hissed as I kicked out my leg, planning on drop kicking him but only earning a fall on the mat.
"You mean when you accidentally head butted me when you tripped and I tried to catch you?" He raised a single eyebrow as he helped me to my feet.
"That's your version, not my reality." A smile played at my lips as we circled each other once more. For the past almost year we've been at this everyday. And still I couldn't knock him on his ass. "You could be a team player and let me get in one good shot you know," I pointed out as I crossed my arms, exhausted from all this.
"But then you would doubt your strength when you really do knock me on my ass," his half grin made my heart flutter.  Even though we were on the run, these past few months haven't been at all miserable. When I'm with Cayden, I only feel freedom. The first couple months were extremely hard, but around Cayden, anything felt possible. His confidence filled me up and drove me. He knew what to say, how to keep me busy so I couldn't stop to despair on what's happened to me.
When I was with Hunter I was only surviving. I had been dead inside, wondering through life like a ghost. But then Cayden yanked me out of that nightmare and presented a new reality. One where I felt light, loved and most of all, strong. I could feel the change in my body, and with my wolf. We only grew more lean and faster as the months went on. So now I was forced to do more than survive. Now I have to actually start living, thinking of things like what did I want to do with my life now?
"Don't feel too bad, not many can take me down, you come close a lot, if you were against another you'd have them pinned in seconds," Cayden boosted my self esteem while inflating his ego.
"You'll be sorry you trained me when I become better than you and wipe the room with your ass." Somewhere along the way it had become our thing to talk shit to each other. It was probably us masking our fears of what hovered over our heads.
Hunter was alive. And he hunted for me like a pet who had run away. His possession, his to take back and keep collared and trapped.
But when he finds me, which I have no doubt I'll be running into him sooner or later, he'll be in for a surprise when his once obedient pet tears him limb from limb.
"Enough fighting for today, let's go for a run."
"Don't we run enough?" I joked as Cayden once again raised an eyebrow. "What? Too soon?" The one thing that has kept me sane, the one skill Cayden didn't give me, was my dark humor. Like they say, if you're not laughing, you're crying. And almost anything could be laughed off. We were alive. We were together. And nothing else mattered.
What Hunter put me through, I wouldn't let it break me. I wouldn't let it be the end of me.
All that hell I went through, I wouldn't let it be the end. Everything I went through, I deserved better. And I would fight and claw my way to better if that's what it took.
"So," I said licking my fingers after eating a handful of fries before grabbing another slice of pizza. "Is that going to be our new home," I jerked my chin in the direction of a commercial about Colorado. "Come on; you know it's calling our name and it's time to leave town. We've been here pretty long."
"We've been here a month."
"Exactly, I can already feel the wolves closing in," I practically sing-singed before I took a big bite of the cheesy- tomato combo goodness.
"Hayley," Cayden sighed and for a nanosecond I tensed as I felt a lecture coming about my gorging myself in food. And then a punch would follow.
Shuddering, I mentally shook myself off as I reminded myself Cayden would never get on my case for enjoying the simple pleasures of life like eating greasy foods. The thought wouldn't even cross his mind. "I like it here," he admitted, looking wistful.
"I love living on the beach too babe, but I'm not ready to defend my home."
"See, even you see it as home, I love it because you've been the happiest here, you've smiled so much. And not those sarcastic or dark smiles you hide behind, but real, full blown smiles."
Ah, time for reassurances.
Grinning, I wiped my hands on a napkin before getting up and throwing myself into his warm embrace. "Cayden. I am home. And I am happiest now that I've ever been. But you misunderstood me. This place isn't what I was to defend. Home isn't a house or location. It's you," as soon as I said it his lips found mine, stealing away the rest of what I wanted to say. About how I wasn't strong enough to have his back and beat down any wolves who dared invade our space. Because that's all a place was. A space. It was Cayden who made me feel at home, who I relaxed around and filled me with such joy I bellowed out laughter when I was around him. Without him in the equation, there would be no smiles. No laughing. Just pure rage and hatred for what was done to me. And a deep despair I would drown in.
"You think I saved you, but you saved me Hayley," he pressed his forehead against mine as his hand snaked against the back of my neck. I tensed for a nanosecond as I'm known to do during a flashback of being with Hunter. Of his cruelty.
But Caydens touch was gentle and so I relaxed in his arms. "You're right, home is us," he kissed me on the forehead before stepping back. "I'll pack, you book us a flight. Our next adventure awaits."