POV: Echo Having finished stripping rooms, I quickly ducked into the basement to swap the laundry again and quickly freshen up before making my way over to wait in the dining room. Standing in a corner of the room, I was glad that I’d been able to keep my new dress clean for serving. My nerves were jittery, making me anxious as I waited for them to arrive. Hearing the front doors open, Alpha Brady’s voice drifts into the dining hall as many footsteps approach. The smell of something mouth-watering wafted through the door as warriors from both packs filed in. I closed my eyes and discreetly sniffed the air, taking in the scent of a forest after a rainstorm mixed with a strongly brewed coffee. Stiffening slightly as Tala chanted, ‘Mate! Mate is here, Echo!’. Her excitement flooded through me, and I couldn’t help but glance around the room quickly. There are men, mostly warriors, who are moving to sit at the table, filling their plates with mountains of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and
POV: Echo “Yes, I would like to know your name.” Alpha Atlas confirmed, his voice so gentle I couldn’t stop my wide-eyed gaze from meeting his. His eyes and aura match the gentleness in his voice and touch. I found myself lost in his eyes, drowning in their green depths, never wanting to surface. ‘Tell him!’ Tala barked in my mind. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to speak. “M-my n-name is E…” A low hissing noise from the table caused me to shoot a quick glance at Alpha Brady, showing me the spark of intense rage that I could now feel pouring through his aura. I trailed off, trying and failing to stop the shudder that ran through me. I’d unknowingly entered dangerous waters and would pay heavily for it later. “The name of my Little Doll is not important, Alpha.” Brady spit, standing up and moving to my side. “Please release her and allow her to return to her duties.” He grabbed me by my elbow and jerked me roughly to his side. Sucking in a strangled breath as excruciating pain
POV: Alpha Atlas I’m not terribly interested in this visit to the Red Stone Pack. Their Alpha and Luna are known for being incredibly vain and self-involved. In fact, the pack had been going downhill for the last decade. Apparently, the previous Alpha went mad with grief after the death of his Luna, and never truly recovered. He spent five years driving the pack straight into the ground before his son took over, and things haven’t improved. Their defenses are weak, the land is unkept, and the pack is going into bankruptcy. Alpha Brady requested I come to discuss a potential deal that would keep his pack from going completely under. Unfortunately for him, I know he has absolutely nothing to offer me. I am of half a mind to challenge him and take his pack to merge with my own. At least then the pack might have a better chance of staying afloat. Even a weak Alpha like him should know better than to irritate the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack. The rumours came from somewhere. I was not kn
POV: Alpha Atlas My stomach turned as I remembered the possessive name that he called her. His Little Doll, as though she was less than, as though she was something to be owned. I feel my Beta and Delta scrutinizing my every movement as I work through what just happened and force Zev back where he belongs. “Of course, Alpha Brady, as you wish,” I replied after a moment, my voice carefully devoid of any emotion, keeping Zev at bay as he demanded I tear this pitiful Alpha to pieces. I force myself to sit calmly as I watch her stand on one leg and try to serve my breakfast. Unfortunately, I can’t control the wrathful aura pouring from me as I feel Alpha Brady’s murderous intent aimed directly at my mate. I know my aura is making her uncomfortable, but if I focus on reining it in, Zev may use that distraction to take control, and then all hell would break loose. Travis and Blaze are also enraged, and I can feel their indignation at the Alpha’s behavior. She suddenly stiffened and I see
POV: Echo Feeling like I was floating on a cloud, I slowly and painfully came to. ‘You’re lying on a proper bed, with pillows and proper blankets!’ Tala informed me and I could feel her kind smile at my wonder. Not wanting anyone to know that I was awake yet, I kept my eyes closed and tried to scent those in the room. The calming scent of the forest after a rainstorm mixed with freshly brewed coffee helped me remain relaxed, but I can’t remember why it’s so soothing. I can also smell a she-wolf, lavender and sandalwood. Oddly, I find her scent to also be extremely calming, but nowhere near as much as the first. Somewhere in the room, two wolves were quietly discussing some poor she-wolf who seemed to be extremely unwell. There is another scent in the room, a male, I think. He smells like freshly cut grass and leather. Trying to remember where I am, and how I got here, I’m flooded with flashes of the breakfast from hell playing in my mind. My heart pounds as I realize the scent of d
POV: Echo I tried to slow my racing heart, curling in on myself, and wrapping my arms around my knees to form a ball in Atlas’s massive lap. I try to think rationally about the insane situation I’ve found myself in, but there is nothing rational about the man I am afraid of. Reflexively, I flinch away as Atlas tries to rub my arms in comfort. Tala whines at me, witnessing my internal spiral. I am not sure if I can even trust him. Maybe Alpha Brady set this all up to test me, and he’s waiting just outside the room to drag me back to the basement and torture me. ‘Atlas is not working with Brady. I trust him. His wolf, Zev, is kind. Zev says Atlas loves us so much already, but that he worries about accidentally hurting you while trying to help you. He carries no ill will towards us.’ Tala tries to convince me. We can feel Atlas sitting under me, feel his rising concern as he waits for me to emerge. I slowly lift my head, resting my chin on my knees, hair falling over most of my face.
POV: Echo “When I came to, he told me he’d given me my ‘early birthday present’. He said he made it so that no one would ever want me, not even my fated mate.” I swallowed the sobs as they surfaced, determined to tell them everything. “I eventually passed out from the pain and woke up to him and his Luna pouring wolfsbane-laced water on me. It was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life.” I hear the hiss of breath as Beta Travis winces. Something tells me he has experienced wolfsbane to an open wound before. Tala soothes me, giving my voice the strength to keep going. “I passed out again, and when I woke up three days later, my back was bandaged, and he presented me with a full tray of breakfast. He told me that I am nothing more than his… his Little Doll and that he would do whatever he wants to me whenever he wants to.” I struggled to breathe, knowing what was coming. “He cornered me in his room later that day when I went to strip the linen. When I fought his… his advances, he
POV: Echo Atlas gently parted my hair and used a single finger to tilt my face tenderly toward his. “You never, ever have to hide in shame from me, Little Warrior.” He whispered, his voice husky. He caressed my face with both hands, and I leaned into him, the tension finally leaving my body. One look in his eyes told me there was no way he or Zev would ever reject us or allow us to come to any harm by his side. He tenderly wiped away my tears and pressed his lips to my forehead. ‘I told you, mate loves us, Echo. We can trust him.’ Tala practically purred. Taking several deep breaths, I blinked away the last of my tears. Atlas slowly released my face and shifted into a sitting position on the floor. Gently reaching out, he pulls me onto his lap, bundling me into my blanket while being careful of my ankle. Cradling me to his chest, he looked at me as though the moon rose and set at my command. I stared back at him in awe. How could this man hear everything I said, see the
POV: Echo The day had finally come, and to say that I was nervous would be an understatement. Thankfully, Noira, Gwen, Cordelia, Granny Maeve, and Vesta had shown up at mid-afternoon to get me ready for the ceremony. It would begin as the full moon shone down on us with the Moon Goddess’s blessing. In a spare room on the first floor, they had run me a bath, filled with many things I didn’t recognize, while they prepared the room for creating ‘their masterpiece’. I was grateful to the five she-wolves who came to my aid, as I had absolutely no idea how to do anything with hair or makeup other than a few quick and practical hair styles I’d learned to keep it back while I worked. Each of them had been working their magic, and, mercifully, they had planned little ‘spa’ and snack breaks regularly to help keep me from becoming overwhelmed. I was a thousand times better than I’d ever been with my mental health, but I was so nervous about this evening, and they had not allowed Atlas and I to
POV: Echo The incident with Brady changed my outlook on life entirely. Having come into my own as a Guardian of the Light, and breaking down the rest of the block had allowed me to step free of the mental chains that were holding me back before. That’s not to say that my panic attacks and nightmares are completely gone, but I can speak without stuttering now, and have miraculously stopped flinching whenever someone moves. I felt a confidence in myself that had never existed before, and rightfully so. I’d experienced my worst nightmare. He’d done his worst, and I literally defeated him. Turned him human and banished him from the werewolf world. I was also able to identify the woman’s voice that helped me through the incident. It took some digging through the old texts in the back of the pack library and a chat with Granny Maeve to make sure I wasn’t insane before I’d believed it, of course. It turns out Guardians, being specially chosen by the Moon Goddess herself, had a direct link
POV: Echo Atlas stands up and sits me on the bed so that I’m facing him, maneuvering me as though I wasn’t growling, kicking, and pawing at him with everything I had to make him let go of me. Avoiding my attempt to nip his hand, he grips my chin and tilts my face up to force me to look at him. “Now, are you done throwing your little fit? You are sitting with me, and that is final. I need you close to keep us calm. If you do not stop, I will be forced to make you stop.” Atlas and Zev explained, and I could sense that they were merged the same as Tala and I were at that moment. “Let. Me. Go! I am not sitting with you! And you can not force me to stop!” I snarled low, narrowing my eyes, and swiping at him with my fingers curled to scratch at him. “Fine.” He growled, catching one hand and then the other before they ever touched him. Leaning forward, he easily pushed me back into the bed, pinning my arms above my head as I thrashed below him. His alpha aura rose, trying to force my wolf
POV: Atlas We made record time across the pack lands, moving as quickly as we could without exhausting ourselves entirely. It still wasn’t fast enough for me and my wolf, the only thing containing our rage being the confirmation of the bond that I was moving in the right direction, getting closer to our mate. Echo’s side of the bond was a hot mess, and the feelings coming through were jumbled and impossible to sort through. I only knew something big was going on with her, as I could feel the power within her awakening. Finally, Ragnar slowed down, cautiously approaching a dense patch of vegetation before pushing aside some plants and revealing the entrance to the cave system. Giving him a nod, I went ahead, inhaling deeply to scent the area, ears strained to pick up any sounds. Ever so faintly, I could smell the intoxicating scent of my mate that I’d been missing. Rushing in the direction it’s coming from, I just about crash face first into her as she comes stumbling out of a small
POV: Echo‘Wait’ I barely heard the faint voice, Raze gripping my hips tightly as the darkness released me into his grasp. His touch sent a shiver of disgust down my back as he smirked at me victoriously.“I told you, the likes of you will never be on equal footing with an Alpha like us!” He snarled, the darkness forming a cloud that engulfs us entirely. The shiver turned into a full-blown tremble as tendrils of dark wrapped themselves around me while Raze gripped me by the neck and pulled me into him, pressing my back into his chest as he scented my neck.Swallowing the rising bile, I bow my head submissively, falling back against him as I counted to ten slowly to bide my time, waiting for the right time. By the time I reached ten, I was coated in a layer of black mist, and the wolf behind me had just slipped his hand under my shirt. Thankfully, Tala and I are still merged, and she is able to block the flashbacks as they try to take over our senses.‘Now, child, now!’ The faint voice
POV: EchoBrady opened and closed his mouth several times, ultimately ending with him simply closing it and staring at me in awe. Spencer simply gawked at me, unable to even so much as close his mouth as he tried to understand what he’d seen. They seemed to be stuck like that as they processed, and I had a feeling it might take them a bit.I was suddenly filled with a desire to jerk my hands apart, but with the cuffs still securing my wrists to the wall, it seemed redundant. ‘Echo, follow your instincts. They will rarely steer you wrong!’ Tala’s voice rang through my head, and I was relieved that she was still with me. Mentally greeting her and showing my love, I felt the last of my fear dissipate when she told me she had already reached out to our mate and told him where to find us.Deciding to listen to Tala and trust my instincts, I took a steadying breath and wrenched my hands away from each other as hard as I could. I was waiting for the inevitable painful jerking halt as the cuf
POV: Echo The silver cuffs had created oozing sores that wrapped all the way around my wrists. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t take enough pressure off them to keep the silver from contacting my skin, and now my wounds. The wounds provided the silver with the access to my bloodstream it needed to suppress Tala and physically weaken me. It also blocked my ability to mind-link, which meant I couldn’t reach out for help. After the beating that had brought forth my Alpha aura, Brady had kicked me in the head, effectively knocking me out so that he could freak out without letting me know I’d gotten to him. He was too late though, as I’d seen the briefest flash of fear before he’d gotten to his feet just before he delivered the kick. That had been what I could only assume was hours ago, as there was no sunlight or clock in view to track the time. He hasn’t been back since I’d come to, and I was thankful for the time to orient myself and reinforce my composure. It must have been just a
POV: AtlasRagnar’s comment about underestimating your opponent definitely put a lot of the wolves at the table in their place, including me. I knew right away I had let myself get carried away in the moment and hadn’t paid enough attention to my mate.Her dismay flowed heavily through the bond before she excused herself and rushed out of the dining hall. Knowing that I was most likely a major contributor to her distress, I followed her out and wrapped her in my arms.She turned to putty in my hands as I apologized, and all thoughts of her appointment disappeared from my mind as I carried her to the lift. Until she reminded me, rather insistently, that she had to go.I knew she was right though, as I had my meeting to attend, wanting to finish the setup of the personal guard detail we’d been discussing. We’d picked the six wolves who would be rotating shifts, now we just needed to solidify their duties, shifts, when we needed more or fewer guards, etc. The finer details, so that they
POV: EchoBreakfast was filled with laughter, and a lot of jokes about me flipping Ragnar over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I think that most of the wolves there wouldn’t have believed I’d done it if they hadn’t been there to see it.Travis and Blaze certainly looked sceptical for a moment before everyone confirmed I’d done it. Everyone’s doubt made me feel a bit put off, but I know my small size of 5 foot nothing and being underweight weren’t helping. If I don’t think I would believe such a small wolf could flip a 6-foot 7-inch-tall wolf that was built like a brick wall, either. Shrugging it off, I simply gave a small smile to anyone who was surprised as they joined our table.“You know, one of the most dangerous things a wolf can do in a fight is to underestimate their opponent.” I looked up from my tray to find Ragnar was looking straight at me while he spoke. “Judging a wolf’s skills based on their appearance gets you killed out there. I’d have expected better of the warri