Stray Echo

Breakfast

POV: Echo

As it was already 9:30 am, most of the pack had already eaten and were off to work by now. The dining room comprised several long tables with matching chairs and benches, and off to the side, there was a buffet counter full of food with trays, plates, bowls, utensils, mugs, and cups at one end.

When we entered, the slight buzz of conversation from what appeared to be a group of warriors who were just sitting down to eat was cut off. They all bowed their heads to us, and some of the wolves that I hadn’t seen at Red Stone glanced at me from the corner of their eyes.

Atlas nodded back, and the conversation picked back up, although a bit more subdued than before. He guided me over to the counter with his hand on my lower back, and placed a plate, bowl, utensils, mug, and cup on it before handing it to me and grabbing himself the same.

We made our way down the line, and Atlas loaded his tray with his favourites. When Atlas discovered I did not know what foods I liked or didn’t like, he simply gave me one of everything so I could try it all and find out. As he was loading up my tray, a wolf cleared his throat behind me, and I almost dropped my tray when I jumped.

Thankfully, Atlas’s reflexes were fast, and he grabbed the tray as it slipped and set it back on the counter in front of me. I leaned against the counter and placed my hand on my chest, taking deep breaths and willing my heart to slow down as it beat like it was trying to set a world record.

“Oh s**t! Sorry, Luna!” Beta Travis said as he moved to my side and peered down at me with concern. “I wasn’t trying to startle you. I was just going to tell Atlas to make sure he gave you one of the lemon cranberry muffins. They’re amazing!”

Atlas rolled his eyes and leaned across the buffet to grab a muffin and plop it on my tray. I gave Travis a small smile, righting myself and shaking my head.

“No need to worry, Beta Travis. I am easily startled! It doesn’t take much!” It was really not his fault, and I see him relax as he realizes I am not upset, and I watch as he loads his tray full of food, too.

Once everyone’s tray is full, and we’ve grabbed coffee and juice, we head over to the nearest table. I realized quickly that hobbling to the table with a tray of food and drink was a lot easier said than done! Seeing me struggle, Atlas easily switches his tray to one hand and takes mine with his other. I stared at him in shock, as the trays were not light, as he carried one in each hand like they were. I am grateful that he noticed I needed help, though, because I’d been about two more steps from dropping the whole thing on the floor.

When we get to the table, Atlas and I sit on one side of the table, and Beta Travis sits across from us on the other. As I stare at the ridiculous amount of food in front of me, I listen to Travis and Atlas discuss how things have been going within the pack during his absence, both before and after returning from Red Stone.

From what I’ve gathered, the warriors and Travis have just finished training after their early morning patrol run. As I listen, I slowly pick at each piece of my breakfast. I mentally make a list of the foods I like, all the kinds of eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns, sausage, juice, coffee with cream and sugar, pancakes with syrup, waffles with syrup, berries, yogurt, and the lemon cranberry muffin.

I didn’t find many things I didn’t like, but the cream of wheat, avocado toast, grits, the weird squishy red and green bits, as well as the brown bits in my omelette.

Careful to make sure that I only took one small bite of each item, so that I could taste everything on the tray, I could feel eyes on me now and then as I ate. Most likely because even though I’d tried to suppress them, I knew I had let out the tiniest moans with each mouthful, savouring the delicious food.

It has been so long since I’ve eaten many of the foods on the tray that I enjoyed every single bite, even the stuff I didn’t like. By the time I’d tasted it all, I was completely stuffed. Atlas and Travis had finished their trays completely by the time I was done, and they gave me the side eye as they realized I was no longer eating.

“Are you okay?” Atlas asks, frowning slightly. I nod and he frowns even more. “You’ve hardly eaten, love. You don’t have to stop just because we are finished.” He tells me gently. I realize they’ve never seen me eat before and do not know how little I can eat at once, but my heart warmed at how sweet he was trying to be. I gave him a small smile as I blushed a little, debating on how to explain it to them.

“I… uh…” I stuttered a bit as I tried to explain. Opting for the simplest explanation, I rushed out. “I’m not used to eating very much food, I… uh, I get full quickly.” I blushed even more at the look of utter shock on the Beta’s face.

I turned my head slightly so I could peek at Atlas, as I could feel he had frozen on the spot. His gaze is stuck on the tray in front of me, and I feel like he is mentally calculating how much food I had eaten. Suddenly, he blinks rapidly and turns to look at me with an expression that I can only describe as a deeply pained concern.

“I apologize, Little Mate. I hadn’t realized the depth to which they restricted your food. We will work on building up your strength, and I think a good place to start will be by increasing your food intake.” His green eyes held mine, and I could only nod in agreement, excited at the idea of becoming strong and being allowed to eat food again.

Atlas smiled at me, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes as he glanced down at the tray once more. I looked down at my hands, feeling ashamed that I had caused him so much distress simply by not being able to eat more. I was startled when Travis suddenly spoke, and it appeared to be amid a conversation I was not privy to.

“Atlas, I understand you are feeling as though you are neglecting the pack by not immediately stepping up to return to your duties. But we have everything covered. Anything we need, we can bring directly to you.”

I glance up and see Atlas frowning at Travis, who looks at him with both understanding and impatience. I looked down again, feeling even worse as I remembered Atlas had been neglecting his duties as Alpha over me. And I couldn’t even eat an adequately sized meal. The Moon Goddess certainly was having a laugh right about now.

“Travis, I am the Alpha. I’m sure that I’m needed to run my own pack, no?” I heard Atlas demand in frustration.

“Frankly, Alpha, you aren’t right now,” Travis snapped at him. “Alphas have left their packs in the hands of trusted pack members such as you have done and have been gone for months to deal with things with no consequence. I do not think you need that much time. But you do need more time.”

I frowned as I tried to piece together what they were discussing. Just as Atlas took a breath to argue, Travis seemed to have reached his final straw.

“Forgive me, Luna,” he began, and I peeked at him through my lashes, “but Atlas, look at your mate! She desperately needs love and care! How is she going to get that while you’re holed up in your office all day? Your Luna needs your presence more than the pack does right now. Your absence now means that we will have both our Alpha and Luna back in our midst all the sooner, and the pack knows it!”

I knew Beta Travis was right, and I felt my shoulders dip slightly at just how incompetent I am for my mate. I could feel a very pointed look at me from Travis, as Atlas suddenly blew out a breath that I hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“If I were you, I would listen to Beta Travis, Alpha!” a familiar voice called out, and I peeked up to see a familiar-looking warrior make his way over. “Everything is under control, and you are on pack land if anything comes up that requires your direct attention. Our Luna is our priority, and right now, she needs her mate more than we need our Alpha.”

“Thank you, James,” Atlas replied quietly, before speaking to Travis. “I appreciate everything everyone has been doing. And I appreciate everything that everyone will do as I spend as much time as is required working to help our Luna recover and heal.”

I blinked in shock; he was actually going to continue neglecting his pack over me?! I slowly raised my eyes to find all three men staring at me. Travis shifted, his hand swiftly rising beside him, and I instinctively flinched, closing my eyes and waiting for the impact of his hand.