It was morning time and everyone was back at the lookout. Everyone was wide awake, even before Chase could wake them up with his megaphone, even before Chase was awake! Everyone was excited, eager to get the day started and wish Chase the best birthday possible. Tell him how hard he's been working and that they loved him. Walking on eggshells the entire time, he would be surprised if he saw Rocky at the party. That is exactly why he chose to stay in bed when Everest woke up extra early, kissing him on the cheek before she left. Probably going to go help the others set things up. Was Chase the only one not excited about turning a year older? Three years old was a hard pill to swallow.

Looking over to his clock it read 8:00 A.M. and he decided that he would face the day with as much courage he could muster, which after his training session yesterday, was barely anything.

As soon as he walked out into the living room, it filled with barks and howls, "Happy Birthday, Chase!"

Letting the initial shock fade from his tense muscles, he sucked in a breath and greeted everyone with the best smile he could come up with. Slowly the group of rescuers, his pack, closed in on him and hugged him, Rocky trailing behind the pack, tapping his paws on the ground and shifting his weight back and forth as if deciding what to do.

"Feel any older?" Rubble said after releasing him from too tight of a hug.

"Not really," Chase said, his smile wavering, but Everest kissed him on the cheek, and it returned full force.

"Three is a milestone you know. You're all grown up," Skye said, releasing him from a hug.

"Totally," Zuma agreed and fist bumped the Sheperd.

But Chase was only half listening, peeking past the lab as Skye walked away from the group and found Rocky, and after speaking in a hushed tone, she returned to the circle of happy buzzing dogs with Rocky right behind her.

Rocky waved shyly at Chase, "Happy birthday."

Chase nodded and mumbled out a thank you.

Rocky stepped closer, pulling at the fur on his arm. "Chase. I understand that I'm repeating myself, but I apologize for everything . . ."

"It's ok, Rocky."

Why now? Did he have any idea how much he didn't want to have this conversation? Hadn't Rocky apologized enough times already? He felt his chest tighten as the mix inched closer and he caught a whiff of his scent. The last place he wanted to go, Rocky was pulling him right back to.

"I know but believe me," Rocky reached a shaky paw out and rubbed his shoulder.

"Don't," Chase said, a little too loudly, and lowered his voice and restructured his sentence. "Don't worry, please, its' fine." He held a paw out, trying to keep the mix at bay.

Rocky winced and shrunk back. "Sorry."

Chase looked around and everyone was giving each other uneasy looks, it made him sick. "No, I'm sorry, just a little tense is all." Everest moved in between them and ushered Chase over to his bowl.

"Eat up, we have a big day today."

He didn't get more than five bites, because his pup tag lit up and vibrated against his chest.

"Chase, code red, gear up and meet me outside now!" It was Ryder.

Everyone froze, everyone had their eyes on Chase, and Everest looked ready to cry. Chase didn't wait, didn't wait for her to try and stop him, to try and talk him out of it, or to tell him to be careful, he didn't need any of that. It was a code red, what he needed was his bullet proof vest.

Rushing into the elevator, he opened up his locker and moved to the very end of the row of cabinets on his side. The one marked with a red star, containing his vest and helmet. Ryder continued to feed him information while he dressed.

"Someone called in an active robbery at the local gas station."

Chase only grabbed onto bits and pieces of what Ryder said as he strapped his vest on and snapped the clip on his helmet with shaking paws.

"Armed. Possibly unstable."

His heart pounded in glorious adrenaline-fueled anticipation as he ran outside, not bothering to address the murmuring group of dogs huddled by the kitchen. Not when he was trying to ignore Everest as she walked toward him with a terrified look on her face.

"I love. . ." she started but was cut off.

"Possibly violent." Ryder's voice came through. Chase winced and peeked at his husky, and gave her his most comforting smile, "I love you too." And ran through the doors.

He met Ryder outside, who was fidgeting with his own vest. He acknowledged Chase with a tight nod.

"Are you good?" he asked.

"I can do this, Ryder."

"Let's move, no mistakes today," Ryder said, revving his engine and peeling out of the driveway.

Chase followed the pace Ryder set and leaped into his cruiser. His heart pounded in his chest. His body like a coiled spring, taught and ready to launch into action. This is what he prepared for, the months of physical therapy, tireless hours of training and stretching. Now only seconds away from active duty, the only birthday present he really wanted. Needed.

The road beneath him moved ever faster as he kept his paw on the accelerator heavy, right alongside Ryder in his ATV. They didn't have to go further than crossing the bridge and passing Mr. Porters and pulled into the parking lot next to the town's local gas station.

Ryder parked off to the side of the building and motioned for Chase to follow who was stuck in his cruiser.

Hesitantly, Chase unbuckled himself and climbed out of his truck and moved quickly over to Ryder. Stacking up behind him, he barked out his gun and took a deep breath as Ryder opened the door and the bells above the doorway jingled as they entered.

With his back turned to Ryder and Chase, a man wearing a hoodie was at the checkout center, waving a gun at Danny, who was trapped behind the counter, emptying the cash register with shaky hands.

Ryder unholstered his taser, and called out in a firm voice, "Freeze."

The man turned to face them, gunned trained on Ryder.

"Drop the weapon!" Chase narrowed his eyes and flashed his canines.

"Please, I don't want to hurt anyone, I need the money for medicine. For my daughter."

Holding out a hand, Ryder spoke, "It's ok, nobody has to get hurt, just put the gun down and we can figure something out."

The disheveled man nodded slowly and lowered his gun partly.

"Drop it. Now!" Chase crouched on all fours, head lowered and paws stretched out on either side of him with his gun trained on the stranger, growling menacingly.

"Easy, Chase." Ryder held up his hand in front of Chase.

Paws beginning to tingle, Chase tried to steady his breathing but the air around him became thin and less nurturing as it seemed to contain less and less oxygen with each breath he took.

"Secure the perimeter, Chase, I've got it here."

"But, Ryder. . ."

"Secure the perimeter."

"Y- yes sir," Chase said, letting out a hot breath. Slowly backing away from the stranger, Chase reluctantly pushed the door open with another ring of the bell and sprinted to his truck, jumping up into the back haphazardly and undershot his bed, ramming his chest into the metal backing.

Air forced its way out of his muzzle as he clung to the police lights. Ignoring the hot embers that sparked down his back, he clawed up to the top and retrieved his cones. Cursing under his breath, paws trembling, he fumbled to separate his cones and line them up on either side of the street. He rushed down the side of the building, leaving one cone at the corner and moving to the other side and placed the last cone, completing the square.

"Perimeter..." His voice cracked. "Perimeter secure, Ryder," Chase said, moving through the growing crowd of onlookers.

"Step aside, please," Chase barked, catching glimpses of Ryder and the blonde man as he squeezed between a sea of bodies, drowning in their anxious scents.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to ignore the growing discomfort in his back and focus on the mission as he looked through the crowd for Ryder, catching sight of him just as Ryder radioed him.

"Chase. Back inside, now!"

His heart skipped a beat as Ryder and the blond clashed, pushing and pulling, four hands on the gun, fighting for control.

Before Chase could move, a black wolf appeared in the reflection in the window of the shop. Chase blinked and the wolf transformed into an outline of a parked car. Why was he seeing him now? He turned around and the wolf was crowding him, mouth wide open and snapping his jaws at him and Chase stumbled into the street. His breathing became constricted as he watched the wolf as it snarled at him, creeping closer and closer.

Honk!

Honk!

A car swerved around him, the bumper brushing against his muzzle as Chase's heart leaped out of his chest. His heart raced, pounding in his ears as his breath left him and he had to struggle to take in air as weight crushed his chest.

"Chase!" Ryder's voice was desperate.

Bang.

Gunfire echoed out of the store and over his ringing ears and Chase looked helplessly inside the store, praying Ryder was still alive.

Chase urged his muscles to cooperate, but they remained rigid, his paws rooted to the pavement and all of the air escaped his muzzle. Watching, frozen as the robber, in one swift motion, yanked his gun free and whipped the stock across Ryder's face and shoved him to the ground. Chase sprinted across the asphalt.

Shoving the door open Chase rushed the robber and launched toward him, snarling, panicking. He sunk his fangs into his target's arm and locked his jaw. He barely noticed when the man dropped his gun, turning a deaf ear to his cries, the only things he registered was Ryder's voice,

"Stand down, Chase!"

A louder voice, though, screamed at him to keep going, to make this criminal pay for the sins he has committed. To make him pay for hurting Ryder. To make him pay for the pain Chase was in as fire burned up and down his spine and through his heart and up his neck.

Snarling, Chase forced his jaws tighter together, squeezing and squeezing until loud cracks came from the man's forearm. The man whaled louder and crumpled to his knees and Chase lunged at him, pushing him to the ground and landing on his chest with barred teeth. The man cowered in fear, holding up his hands as if praying for mercy; before complete fear took hold of him and he instinctively covered his throat. Chase lunged at him, jaws open wide and dripping with saliva.

"Chase!"

Ryder's voice broke through the other voices, and Chase froze, inches away from the man's neck, the man before him coming in and out of focus as he wept on the floor clutching his bleeding arm. Chase stumbled off of the man and onto the floor, taking out a stack of cans with the arm of his gun extended from his pup pack. He saw Ryder, he looked terrified. Chase looked at his gun again, and then to the puddle of blood pooling around his paws and then back to Ryder. Sprinting outside, the air chilled his lungs and warm metal lined his mouth and churned his stomach.

The rain outside had not let up and it slowly washed the blood from his muzzle, but the memory was still fresh, and old ones resurfaced and mingled with the new ones. He sat down and his front paws dipped into a small puddle that formed at the edge of the sidewalk where the pavement began, reflecting back to him everything he didn't want to see: His muzzle and uniform stained with red, Ryder's face, staring at him with an unreadable mask, and a shadow of a tree that, for a second, morphed into a distorted black wolf. Chase tried to wipe off his muzzle but it only smeared, mixing with the rain and spreading further around his face.

Blue and red lit up the water around his paws and his head snapped up at the sound of sirens. His breathing became shallow and he began to tremble.

Ryder walked in front of him, watching as the flashing sirens got closer, before turning back to Chase, "We're done here. Meet me at Katie's so she can clean you up."

The Sheperd nodded his head, his stomach dropping at the tone in his master's voice.

Chase barely noticed the drive, too busy reliving the events of the mission, too busy drowning in a sea of anxiety, too busy trying to rid the taste of blood out of his mouth and the sound of bones cracking out of his ears.

Ryder was already inside when he creeped his cruiser to a stop and he sat motionless, staring off into the distance at nothing in particular, just trying to buy time before he went inside and faced everything. He climbed down carefully out of his cruiser and barely felt the impact as his paws hit the ground.

Just outside of the doorway, voices leaked through the crack and his stomach dropped.

"What do you mean he lost control, Ryder? This is Chase we are talking about."

"He completely disregarded protocol, Katie, he attacked the man, bit him so hard I heard bones crack. It's like he forgot everything I taught him and let his emotions take over."

"Ryder the man had a gun. You said it yourself, Chase saved your life."

"Katie, I think I saved the robber's life, if I hadn't stopped Chase." He paused and looked at the tub that was filling with water. "I don't want to think about what he would have done."

Chase let his ears fall to their sides and walked through the doors, wincing as the humans stiffened up and Katie shot him a look, and her eyes went wide and she placed a hand over her mouth at the sight of him, before turning back to Ryder, taking a deep breath.

"Everyone is safe, and that is all that matters right now."

She turned her back before he could respond and she turned off the faucet for the bathtub and poured shampoo into it, bubbles floating up into the air. Katie walked up to Chase and knelt down beside him.

"Chase. Oh my poor boy." She caressed his cheek, giving him the look Marshall would, the look that promised everything would be ok. "Let's get you cleaned up, honey."

Without a word, Chase slipped into the bathtub and let his body melt into the water as the warmth loosened his muscles and calmed his racing heart. He tried his best to focus on the feeling of the brush against hi fur and ignore the blood mixing with the water. Katie was silent as she worked, never letting her face lose its composure again. She was trying to make him feel normal, but there was nothing normal about what happened, he knew it. And by the conversation her and Ryder had, they knew it too.

Katie was wrong. There was nothing ok about any of this.