POV: Echo We’ve been driving down the dirt path for a while now, and I can see a clearing up ahead. As we approached, I noticed a huge multistory house, sitting to one side with the forest behind it. A second, smaller, two-story building sits next to it. Rows of fair-sized homes with green yards that are well-maintained and full of life fill the rest of the clearing. There is a crowd of wolves waiting in front of the pack house to greet us. I lean into Atlas’s chest as I see more wolves joining, both in wolf and human forms. I don’t think I have ever seen so many wolves in one place before. Panic bubbles into my chest, as I realize I am too injured to even move on my own, never mind get out of the car and meet my new pack. I don’t want to answer the inevitable questions that will come up from the pack seeing me being unloaded from the car in this condition. “We aren’t stopping at the pack house, Little Warrior,” Atlas says. “You are heading straight to the pack infirmary next door
POV: Echo The nurse had barely left the room before someone lightly knocked on the door. “Come in,” Atlas called out, and Cordelia pushed the door open. She’s holding some odd-looking squares of black and white shiny material. She attaches them to a white thing on the wall, which lights up, illuminating the photos on the squares. I can only assume they are my x-rays, as they both show what looks to be bones. Broken bones. The one with two smaller bones shows a line across each. The x-ray of what I believe to be my ankle was nightmarish to look at. Cordelia sighs, frowning before she turns to us. “Well, your wrist will be a simple matter of placing a cast for a couple of days until Tala heals it.” She points at the cracks on the x-ray. “You can see the relatively clean fractures here.” “Unfortunately, this ankle is another matter entirely!” She waved at the mangled mess in the x-ray photo. “I am glad that you could hold off healing this Tala, although I can see where you braced wit
POV: Echo Even though I had just spent the last four days unconscious, I was completely overcome with pure exhaustion after having woken up and met Noira. She seemed to notice and politely excused herself from the room, leaving Atlas and I alone. He watched me closely, as though I’d disappear if he blinked too long. Looking him over, I realized he was still wearing the same black shirt and jeans he’d put on before we left the Red Stone pack. The outfit is crumpled and wrinkled, and his dishevelled hair and stubbly chin complete the look. I can tell he has been sleeping in the chair beside my bed, waiting for me to wake up. I place a shaky hand on his cheek, and he leans into it, the tension leaving his body. “I’m here, Atlas, and I’m not going anywhere!” I whisper, leaning forward to kiss his forehead before releasing him. Chuckling, he smiles at me, eyes sparkling in amusement. “You’re the one in the hospital bed, and yet you’re comforting me!” I can feel my cheeks turn pink a bit
POV: Echo The scent of cedar and vanilla makes me gag as he slaps me hard enough across the face that I black out. I turned to him and his Luna kicking me and furiously screaming at me about Beta John having to strip his own linen because I was too lazy to. Blinking away the tears, I am now pinned to the wall, Alpha Brady kissing my neck. I squeeze my eyes shut, and suddenly I’m 15, curled into a tiny ball on the floor, whimpering in pain as he cuts a tally mark deep into my skin. Now I am back on his bed as he shoves his tongue down my throat. Blink, and I was tumbling down the stairs after he kicked me down them for tripping on the foot that he had stuck out and dropping a cup. Now I can feel his hand in my hair, keeping my head under the freezing water as he fills my tub with me in it. Then I’m in the basement. He’s lying on top of me, half naked and about to mark me. Just as I feel his fangs on my skin, it fades away and I can hear a woman screaming, pleading, for someone to st
I buried my face in his broad chest, breathing his scent and listening to his steady heartbeat as he carried me through the halls. He only stops once to let the nurse at the desk know that Healer Cordelia was to come to check on me in the Alpha’s quarters when she returned. I find it is beyond calming, which I realize is probably because of the mate bond. When he steps outside, I am shocked to feel the heat of the sun mixed with the coolness of the breeze on my skin. Groaning as my eyes burned from the sudden bright light, I slowly peeked through them to see the sun high in the sky. I look at him surprised, and he raises an eyebrow and turns his head at me quizzically in return. “It was so dark in the room… I’d assumed it was nighttime!” I gasped, blushing as I ducked down to avoid the curious stares of pack members passing by. Atlas steps out onto the walking path as I look straight up, gasping at the span of the sky. It had been ten years since I’d been able to see so much of it
POV: Echo I gaped in awe at the massive white mansion in front of us. It’s immaculately maintained, whereas Red Stone’s pack house was looking rather run down these days. The wrap-around porch with wolves sprawled about on patio furniture engaged in various activities made the place feel less formidable and more homely. Atlas had stopped after turning to face the building, giving me time to take it all in. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, and I realize this pack is far more well-off than I had ever imagined. I revel in the gorgeous lawn, perfectly manicured, but still natural and wild. “It’s amazing!” I breathed, turning to look at him. I can’t help but smile, and the muscles in my cheeks strain from the foreign position. Atlas looked down at me in his arms, with a look so awe-struck and enthralled that I had to look away. I blushed, zeroing in on my hands as they fidgeted in my lap, not sure what to do with myself. I had never had anyone look at me like that before, and it was a far
POV: Echo Atlas wouldn’t let me leave the walk-in closet until I’d picked a new outfit to wear after my shower. I struggled immensely as I had no memory of ever owning more than a couple of tops and bottoms at a time. Wanting nothing more than to wash the smell of the hospital off my body, I grab a plain shirt and leggings, much like what I was used to wearing minus the holes and transparency. Atlas raises his eyebrows at me and clicks his tongue. “Little Mate, you are supposed to be picking something you want to wear, some you actually like!” He says with a gentle smile, putting the offending clothing back. I can’t help but feel anxious as I look more closely at the items in the closet. It’s filled to bursting with such a wide variety of colours, textures, and styles that it completely overwhelms my system. Even though it seems to be organized into categories of clothing, from lounge wear to formal wear, the options are overwhelming and intimidating. Hell, the only time I have se
POV: Echo I’m not sure how long we sat there for, but eventually, my sobs turned into hiccups, and my eyes ran out of tears. Atlas sat with me the whole time, rubbing my back and allowing me to let it all out. Feeling like a limp noodle, I rested my head on Atlas’s warm chest, listening to his steady heartbeat to calm myself. Seeing that I had finally cried myself out, Atlas leaned in and kissed the top of my head before resting his chin on it. “Would you like to take a bath, Little Mate?” He asks after a bit, pulling away just enough to look down at me. I frown, trying to think of what sitting in frigid water would do to help me right now, when Tala nudges me. ‘I’d be willing to bet that the Alpha of the pack has a hot water tap in his bathroom!’ I smile and nod at Atlas, desperate to feel what a hot bath feels like. I’m sure I’d had one before, but it would have been during the time before Red Stone, the time I can’t remember. My head fell back onto his chest, and I glared at the