Ben Solo was no stranger to nightmares; demons in the shapes of hunters and monsters had plagued his thoughts for longer than he could remember, but the utter fear clenching his heart at the sound of Rey's ear shattering scream was more frighting than any dream. The bags containing fresh meat and old bones hit the floor as his rapid footfalls echoed through his room and out into the snowy air, warm puffs of air billowing under his nose.

His mind raced; what if she was hurt, what if it was another alpha come to take his mate from right under his nose…oh god, what if she accepted this rival alpha over him? He nearly transformed then and there, images of Rey under some other wolf making him see red.

He was on her porch in no time, wrenching the door open while paying no mind to wether it was locked before or not. The first thing he saw was Rey cowering against the wall with her eyes trained on the middle carpet, his sight of whatever it was being obscured by the ugly maroon couch that Obi-Wan had gotten at a garage sale.

His first instinct was to make sure she was okay, and was next to her in an instant, "Are you alright? I heard…"

His voice died down as she fell into his arms, face stuffed in his plaid. Her hair was directly under his nose and he resisted the urge to lean down and take a deep breath. Instead of giving into his wolfy urge, he looked over her head and truly what had elicited her screams.

It was a wolf.

It had once been a beautiful creature with a mane that crossed the spectrum, but now its fur was matted with dark red blood and its eyes unseeing.

Ben had seen this wolf before in the forest, knew it was a female who tended to stay to herself that had once had a mate. It was impossible to suppress the threatening growl from his chest at this blatant act of violence, knowing that this was placed her for a reason.

Rey's sniffles subsided a bit as his chest rumbled, watery eyes gazing up, "Are you—Are you growling?"

"Nah, think you're hearing things." One of his large hands reached up tilted her chin to look him in the eyes, "Was anyone in here when you came in? Did you see anyone at all?"

He grunted when she shook her head, "I-I didn't see anyone… Who do you think did this?" She tried to wipe away her tears and let out a gasp when his own thumb rubbed away the wetness on her cheeks, gazing at her with a shocking intensity that had her heart thumping in her chest.

Their eyes broke apart when Ben cleared his throat, "Do you want me to bury it in the backyard? I can help with the blood tomorrow, but let me tell you now, it's a hard stain."

She looked back at the dead wolf with a furrowed brow, "How'd you know it stains?" She hated gazing at the brutal act of violence resting on her floor, but it would have to be dealt with sooner or later.

Ben grunted and lightly pushed her away, stepping onto the carpet and looking down, "Told you I was a hunter, didn't I."

She nodded and watched him easily move the wolf to a better position, making to roll it in the carpet. While he worked, she looked around and didn't spot a single sign of broken glass or shattered furniture, wondering how the wild animal had gotten in. There was no blood on anything aside from the carpet, and she watched Ben lug the rolled up wolf out to the front door. She could've helped him—not really, there was no way she could match his strength in any way.

Fifteen minutes must have passed before Ben came back, sweat lingering on his brow and huffs of warm breath wafting around his nose, paying no mind to the thick snow covering his jacket. He stood in the doorway with an indescribable look, lips moving in an odd way as he tried to find the right words to say.

"Thank you—"

"I guess—"

Both of their mouths closed at the same time, and Rey nodded to him to go. He cleared his throat and rolled on the balls of his feet, "I'll be back in the morning to help with the blood, that's if you even need help or anything, or if you don't then I don't have to…"

It was cute when he rambled and she found it shocking that such a big woodsman seemed to be stumbling over his words as if he'd had any reason to be nervous around her. She nodded at his words,

"It's really not to bad, I think I can manage." His downtrodden look had her back tracking in an instant," Or-or maybe, uhm, I could use the company?"

The small smile on his face had Rey's heart racing, fingers wringing behind her back as Ben took his leave with a wave. She quickly made to close the door and fall against it, biting her lip resisting the urge to break into a smile. There was almost a silver lining to this night; the car ride had been unexpected but pleasant, and now he'd come to her rescue like some kind of knight in shining armor—well, more like plaid.

The rumble that had been nothing short of a growl echoing through his chest had done something to her—did that make her a bad person, liking someone's growls—and a warm wetness spread through her beat up off cream-white panties. Rey was aware how fucking weird this was; she went from crying over a wolf body to getting wet at her neighbors growls. She was totally going to hell.

Her feet sprinted to the bedroom at the back of the house, shedding the thick layers of clothes until nothing but her bra and panties were left. She collapsed with a moan on the chilly bed, crawling to the head and mentally trying to loosen her stressed body for some sexy time, ft. Ben Solo from next-door growling like a wolf man.

Her eyes had fallen shut and one hand had started to skim the lower pudge of her belly when she felt it; a small shaking coming from beneath the mountain of pillows under her head. Arousal flooded out of her body as she sat up, turning onto all fours to look at the lightly shaking bundle of pillows, trying to think of how to proceed.

Option one was simply lifting the pillows and seeing what was under, monster or demon be damned and she'd simply have to fight it off. Option two was go get Ben and have him get in her bed and lift her pillows, which when looking at it like that, seemed like a ridiculous idea.

Rey took a shaky breath, calmly self-talking, "You got this, and it's probably just a squirrel that got stuck."

She sat there, leaned back on her thighs and staring at the shaking pillow, fingers tapping irregularly on her thigh. Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest, watching the shaking grow more rapid and her fear shooting through the roof.

And yet she still recklessly tore away all of the thick down filled pillows and heard them pile on the floor, widened eyeballs trained on the little four legged fluff ball staring back. It's tiny eyes were cracked open revealing a bright hazelnut, a shade lighter than its thin coat.

"Huh."

Sniff

She dared not move, watching with amazement as the little teeny tiny wolf—it must have been the pup of the one that had died in her living room, no doubt looking for warmth and maybe food after losing its mother—lean forward with its wet shiny nose pointed at her. The sniffs were audible to Rey's human ears, and the pup must have deemed her safe as it slowly walked forward and nosed at her knee.

Her fingertips were shaking as they lifted, trying to be as non-aggressive as she could, and lightly petted the small wolf baby, eventually coaxing it into her arms. From this position, the belly of the pup on full display while its nose nosed at her armpit for a better smell, she could see that it was very much a male pup.

She lightly rubbed at its warm belly, "Well, aren't you a sweetheart." He perked up at the first sound of her voice, watching her with a shocking intensity. "What am I going to do with you?"

He merely huffed and let out little whine that had her heart melting, any idea of giving him to any shelter gone as quick as it came. Her head turned to look out the window into the woods, watching the snow hit the dark trees.

"Are you a cold little bean? How about…I get you…" The pup sniffled as she tried to slip from the bed and walk without jostling the little guy, one handedly opening up the sweater drawer and pulling free the fluffiest one—it read 'Hoppy Easter' and Obi-Wan had knitted it himself ages ago.

"How about this, you think this'll keep you nice and toasty?" She asked him as if he could answer, but he simply stared up with those hazel eyes. "Yeah, I think we're good."

It was a walk back to the bed and a little fight to wrap the pup in her sweater with just his little head poking out. She lifted him back into the crook of her arm, "Do you need anything else?"

They stared at each other and only the gurgle of the pups belly alerted her to the most important thing a growing wolf needed. "Let's cook you up some…"

Except, Ben—the traitor who'd stolen all the meat and bones, had stolen all the meat and bones, leaving her with just pizza and the few bare things that weren't meant for wolf bellies. It would've maybe been smart to run next-door and kindly demand some of his meat bounty, but she'd feel bad stealing his food. He'd already driven her up the hill, bought her groceries, and buried the wolf in the backyard—she couldn't take his food too.

"I guess its pizza for us, little guy."

Sniff

She walked from the bedroom and turned on the kitchen light, walking out into the living room to pick up the fallen pizzas, never having had the chance to put them away. They weren't completely thawed, so she quickly stuffed three in the freezer, knowing that another trip once the storm passed would be needed, especially if this little guy stuck around.

"450 degrees, 15 minutes, okay, should be easy enough." She looked down into those hazel eyes, "Easy, right?"

Sniff

Rey agreed, "Easy."

With the pizza in the oven and small cat timer set to fifteen minutes, she strolled around the kitchen with the warm puppy in the crook of her arm, whistling a tune. This must have been what carrying a baby felt like, though it wasn't like she'd ever held one. Bet human babies were also less furry.

"Hmmm." She looked down with a raised brow, "What exactly are we going to call you? Hmmmm, nothing normal like Phillip or Adam, too plain. How about… George?"

Her airy laughter filled the room as the pup made a disgruntled face, nose twitching to create a frown under its hazel eyes.

"Okay, not George, how about…Lucas?" Another disgruntled face, but much less repulsed. "Maybe Luke? Is that better?"

Those hazel eyes just watched her, no sign of disagreement or disgust. She smiled triumphantly, "Well, that settles it, you shall now be know as Luke Kenobi."

Sniff

The cat timer rung in a high shrill that caused the pups ears to flinch, and Rey made quick work of removing the pizza from the oven and cutting a few slices. She let it cool first before eating some herself and giving Luke a half a slice of pizza and a bowl full of water.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything better, I swear tomorrow we'll get you a proper meal." Luke crawled back into the sweater nook in her arm once his belly was full, sleepily licking his lips. "I wonder if Ben will like you."

One little ear twitched as she shut off the kitchen light, "I think he will, if not because of your charming looks but…"

Her feet stopped in the doorway as she stared at her bed, wishing there was someone else to share it with. It didn't have to be Ben, but it would be nice if it was. Maybe tomorrow, Ben would agree to help her with Luke, and she could get to know him. It just felt so right to be around him, to be near him, to hear his heart and to smell his woodsy scent. It was painful trying not to picture him under her sheets, and the whining from her arms had her sighing.

"Oh Luke, you're my only hope."

Rey placed the pillows back on the bed and settled under the covers, pup settled against her breast and little snores echoing in the air. Her eyes gazed at the pillow across from her, lone hand reaching out to rest on the cool surface and fall into a dreamland full of wolves and hazelnuts.