Stray Echo

Never Left

Chapter 32 Never Left

POV: Echo

An uncomfortable churning feeling in my stomach, combined with the sensation of moving too quickly, is what finally wakes me up. Lying on my stomach on something warm which wraps around my torso and meets across my lower back, I can’t help but feel relaxed and nuzzle against the calming warmth below me, sighing contentedly as it chases the nauseating feeling away.

I pause when a purr vibrates out of the warmth below me, sending my heart racing as I feel the warmth chuckle, before unwrapping itself from my torso. Breathing in the calming scent of damp forest and fresh coffee, I relax as someone gently runs their hands over my hair.

“You are safe, Little Warrior. We are on our way to our home,” Atlas says softly, kissing the top of my head. I gradually opened my eyes, feeling embarrassed when I understood the heat was coming from my mate, and I had just snuggled up to his brawny chest. Glancing up at him through my lashes to see him grinning down at me, I try to return his smile and gasp as pain sears through my cheeks.

“Shh, love, take it slowly,” His voice helps settle the rising anxieties in my mind as I try to piece together exactly what’s going on. Looking around, I realize we are no longer in the pack house, and the view outside the window is speeding past.

Atlas is reclined on a leather seat in what must be a car, and I am lying across his chest. As I lift my head to look out the window, my attention is suddenly drawn to the intense amount of pain I am in.

My entire body is stiff and aching, and my broken wrist and ankle, although splinted, are sending jolts of pain up my limbs with every bump on the road. I drop my head against him, whimpering as the car hits a particularly large bump in the road.

“Do you think you could try aiming AWAY from the potholes?!” Atlas growls, and I hear Travis and Blaze apologize while they chuckle in the front seat.

My stomach churns, and I groan as fresh waves of nausea roll over me. “Echo, what’s wrong?” Atlas asks, rubbing my back and looking down at me in concern.

“I don’t feel very good,” I whispered, taking deep breaths to try to settle the feeling. He frowns and looks out the windows.

“How long has it been since you’ve been in a car, Little Warrior? Sometimes you can get motion sickness if it’s been a while.” I looked away and refused to meet his eyes. “Echo?” He gently lifts my chin, looking at me curiously. I swallowed hard, not wanting to answer. Everyone in the car is listening now, waiting for my reply.

“I… I haven’t…” I stopped and forcibly blew out a breath before speaking as quickly as possible, “I haven’t been allowed to leave the pack house since they took me as their slave.”

The whole car was still, and even with the engine running and the tires moving across the road, you could hear a pin drop. The auras of three powerful wolves slip slightly, causing me to flinch before they disappear again. I focused on the view out the window, the sight of moving treetops and blue skies, which did little to help with the nausea.

“You haven’t left the pack lands in ten years?!” Blaze exclaims, and I can hear him turning around in his seat to look at me. “I can’t even imagine never leaving the borders for that long!”

Atlas’s burning gaze falls on me as I actively work to keep my eyes glued to the flashes of the world going past the window. I know he caught exactly what I meant, but it was something I hadn’t told them yet. Sighing, I caved, knowing they were waiting for me to say something.

“What I meant was that I never stepped foot out of the pack house. For ten years, I cooked, served, and cleaned up breakfast and dinner, and set up grab-and-go lunch bars. I stripped rooms and cleaned up messes. I washed, dried, and folded laundry that the maids put away.” Taking a deep breath, I continued speaking into the somehow even quieter car,

“I could only enter the third and second floors, and the first floor sleeping quarters to strip rooms and clean up spills or broken things. I was only allowed in the dining room to serve meals and clean up after them, and in the kitchen to cook and clean. The rest of my time was spent in the basement doing laundry.”

The trees began slowing down outside, and the tires make a new crunching noise as the car moves to the side of the road and slows. The engine shut off, and I sensed three sets of eyes looking my way.

Currently, the window I’m looking at is stopped in front of the tops of large, leafy trees. Ignoring my pain, and desperate to focus on anything other than the ranked males staring me down, I painfully try to push myself up into more of a sitting position.

“Slowly, love,” Atlas reminds me. He helps to shift me so that he supports most of my weight and I can see out of the windows properly. I don’t have time to feel embarrassed about my helplessness as I look at the magical view in front of me. The car stopped right where the forest opened into a beautiful meadow, with wildflowers growing freely across the vast space.

A tiny peep escapes me as I swallow my squeal of excitement before it surfaces. Looking around, I see a doe and fawn pick their way across the meadow, stopping to munch on flowers and green grass as they go. I take it all in, loving the natural energy that the area gives off. I had only ever caught glimpses of the outdoors from the pack house, and it was mostly houses, dirt paths, and scraggly, half-dead yards.

Forgetting myself, I spun to face the window on the other side, immediately crumpling in on myself. A cry of pain filled the car as lightning bolts of stabbing pain shot from my ribs and back down into every inch of my body.

Atlas pulls me gently onto him, allowing me to collapse into his chest as I whimper and gasp in pain and shock.

“It’s okay, you’re okay! You have a lot of injuries from yesterday morning and afternoon, Little Warrior. Slow movements. You’re going to be just fine once Tala is strong enough to heal you again.” He murmurs in my ear, running his hands along my arms and back lightly to calm me.

The car began moving again as I lay against him and allowed his deep, smooth voice and brushing fingertips to calm me. Once the pain subsides to a more manageable level, I open my eyes and look into his green ones. They remind me of the meadow grass.

He gazes down at me and brushes his lips against my forehead. I can hear Blaze and Travis chit-chatting in the front, talking about what kind of music to play next. I frown, recognizing very few of the music genres and none of the artists they listed. Atlas watched me intently for a minute before putting me on the spot.

“What’s your favourite kind of music, Echo?” I stared at him with eyes wide. Yet another question that I don’t have an answer to, and now I hold the attention of all three wolves again. I had only ever heard small bits and pieces of music around the house, never more than a couple of words here and there as I did my chores. Music was a luxury that Brady didn’t think I was worthy enough to listen to.

Silence falls in the car as they are all waiting expectantly again, and I just shake my head, frowning. He just stares at me expectantly, wanting to hear me say it.

“I-I… I wasn’t allowed to listen to music at the pack house. I only ever heard what other wolves played as I went about my chores, and they usually turned it off when they saw me.” I whispered, fiddling with my hands.

Once again, the car slows down, pulling over and stopping. This time, I am trapped in the stare of my mate, as he tries to understand just how limited my life has been.