Stray Echo

Outside

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 at once, and I’d forgotten how infinite it was. Wanting more, I lift my head and inhale a deep breath of fresh air as I look at the houses with their lush green yards. Atlas chuckled, before putting his mouth next to my ear and whispering,

“Close your eyes, Little Mate,”, I shivered, whining slightly as I closed my eyes, confused as to why he would deny me this after ten years. “I have something even better, trust me!”

“Okay,” I reply, hopeful, and focus instead on the senses I can use, smiling at the gentle breeze as it ruffles my hair. It brings with it a scent that I can only describe as green, and it fills me with a deep longing. Thankfully, Atlas stops a couple of steps after that and gently sets me on my feet, placing his hands on my hips.

“Open your eyes, Little Warrior!” He says, and I slowly comply, inhaling deep breaths of the amazing scent.

Looking around, I saw we were only feet away from the edge of the forest. Just looking at the tree line, I can see well-worn footpaths leading into the woods in several places. The trees are tall and green, leaves rustling gently in the summer breeze.

Tears pricked my eyes as I realized the scent filling me with so much longing was that of the forest itself. We wolves feel most at home in nature, and most packs are placed in or just on the edge of vast lands of forest.

It is unnatural for a wolf to go for more than a day or two without being out in some kind of nature. Even city parks won’t cut it for long and city wolves must make a trip to more natural landscapes at least once or twice a month.

I haven’t been this close to a forest in ten years. I take it all in, as tears pour down my cheeks. Atlas removes his hands from my hips, moving forward and taking my hand, tugging me towards the nearest path.

When I don’t move, he turns to look at me, pulling gently. I shake my head, gasping as an unprecedented sense of foreboding rolls over me. Tala whines in my head, pawing at the back of my mind. She doesn’t understand why I wouldn’t move, or what that feeling is. Atlas stops, watching me carefully.

Abruptly, he tugs on my arm just hard enough to pull me one step forward. The feeling increases, and there is an invisible battle between the foreboding sensation in my mind and the desperate need of my body to follow Atlas. I tremble slightly and my breathing becomes slightly faster. I know he can sense my internal distress and confusion as recognition flickers in his eyes and he steps forward and wraps his arms around me.

“I don’t understand,” I groan in frustration. “I want to, no, I need to walk down the path, but it feels as though something absolutely terrible will happen if I do.”

“I have a couple of theories but am not certain yet.” He says, kissing the top of my head. “One option is the sheer level of trauma attached to the last time you were in a forest. Ten years of torture followed the last time you left a treeline.” He holds me slightly tighter as a shudder runs through me.

“The second option is that someone has put a block on your mind, to keep you from going back into the woods. This could have been your Alpha, either the father or the son, giving an alpha command. It would make sense since they wouldn’t want you to run away. Or someone had a witch put the block on you, which would definitely leave us with some questions.”

“They were NOT my Alpha’s!” I growled, and it vibrated deep within my chest. Atlas steps back, hands on my arms, eyebrows raised as he grins at me. I gaped at him, shocked. “I-I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened!” I squeaked, embarrassed by my sudden outburst. Atlas chuckles, eyes sparkling.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Echo. It’s completely normal to have strong emotional outbursts, especially when you’ve just gotten your wolf and are learning how to live and work together. It means Tala must be getting stronger!” He says, smiling at me. His face turns serious for a moment. “What do you mean they weren’t your alphas?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, I was never a part of their pack. My parents betrayed them before we became pack members, and afterward, they weren’t just going to let me become one of them. They could only use their alpha auras to make me submit until I was 16.” I explained.

“And then they couldn’t anymore, so they would beat me into submission. After a while, it became instinctive to submit, instinctive to avoid the pain.” My voice fades. “But they could never give me an alpha’s command, as they were never my alphas!” I said fiercely.

“You were able to resist their alpha auras after you turned 16?” He asked in surprise. I nodded, his eyebrows creasing as he seemed to be thinking hard about something. As he thinks, I shift a bit on my feet, suddenly feeling sore from the sudden bout of standing after so many days.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he gently scoops me off my feet. “We can worry about this later. I may need to speak with Beta Seth and Beta John about some things, as well as some of my pack’s elders, for more information. For now, let’s go home, Little Mate!” He said, returning us to the walking path and moving towards the pack house.

“I can walk to our room, it’s not a problem!” I said as I wiggled slightly to signal him to put me down.

“Your ankle is still not fully healed and walking on it isn’t going to make it heal any faster, wolf or no wolf!” His tone caused me to stiffen, as I internally waged war on the panic-fueled need to show him my submission and apologize. Sensing my distress, he pecks me on the cheek and whispers into my ear.

“I want to take care of you, Little Warrior,” He presses a kiss against my ear, and I shiver, “Zev and I want… no, we need to carry you to our room. Our need to protect and care for you is in overdrive after everything you’ve been through in your past, and when we failed to protect you from him.” He ends with a growl. I nodded, looking up at him and reassuring him.

“You didn’t fail to protect me. You saved me, in more ways than one, my love. We had no way of knowing he would be willing to plan something like that, and you saved me when it truly mattered. He didn’t…” I shudder as my stomach turns and his green eyes meet mine. “He didn’t r**e me. You arrived before he could.” My voice is so quiet I know he must have strained to hear me even as close as he was. He looks at me with an unreadable expression and kisses my forehead.

“I love you, Little Mate,” he whispers hoarsely, and I relax into him, blushing as we pass a large group of curious pack members who are gawking at staring at us before he stops and faces the front of the pack house.