Luckily, after that fateful day when my cheeks flared with heat so intense that I could have sworn they caught fire, the cucumber catastrophe was never spoken of again. But even that didn't stop me from indulging in the newfound, vibrating contraption Dad had gifted me, silently sending him a thank you when the perks of having a vegetable-free alternative immediately made themselves known. The first time I'd used it, my sensitive ears distinctly picked up on each and every one of my toes when they cracked like a chorus of fireworks, straining under the force with which they curled.

My thick thighs rubbed deliciously against one another as I walked, creating friction, and the plump cheeks of my ass clenched involuntarily as I took a deep breath, attempting to stave off the sudden flux of arousal that shuddered down my spine. However, when the sensation didn't go away as it normally did when I simply told my horny brain to calm down and tried to focus on another garden task, my brow furrowed, bracing a hand on a nearby tree trunk to steady myself.

"What the hell..." I muttered under my breath, Sana's presence stirring within the depths of my mind. He squirmed and reached out to me, just as bewildered as I was at the odd situation unfolding before us.

I shook my head, frustrated, and strands of long hair escaped the confinement of my messy, red bun, dancing in front of my face and grazing against my bandana.

Deep down, in some rational corner of my thoughts, I knew that I should retreat back to the safety of my home, or at least reach out to my dad through the mind link to update him on my vulnerable situation. But even as my heart thumped wildly in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my veins, I... couldn't bring myself to do it. 

I had waited so long to gain the courage to ask for an extension to my curfew, and backing down on my very first day of newfound freedom would only make Papa hesitate even more when it came to granting me anything better.

"Pull yourself together, Ecko," I scolded, curling myself around Sana's presence for support as he rubbed his flank against the walls of my consciousness. "Cucumbers. Just focus on the cucumbers." I reminded myself, mustering the strength to move forward despite the tremble in my legs. I ventured deeper into the lush section of my garden, where the greenery transformed into a miniature forest of trees that provided shade for my less sun-dependent plants.

Among the teeming grove, my cucumber babies thrived, intertwining with the neighboring tree trunks and forming a natural trellis to support their weighty fruits. The sight of their remarkable growth since my last visit overwhelmed me with joy in a split second, momentarily drowning out my worries. Immediately, my unsteady legs propelled me closer to the ripe crop, ready to fill my tote until I nearly toppled over from the weight of the bountiful harvest.

But as my trembling fingers reached out to pluck the first ripe fruit from its clinging vine, a sudden stillness gripped the air, shrouding my garden in an eerie silence. The turbulent wind, which had relentlessly badgered me since my return, abruptly subsided, and an unsettling calm settled upon my surroundings, causing the hairs to raise to attention on the back of my neck.

Time seemed to freeze, stretching each and every heartbeat into an agonizing eternity. And then, carried upon the back of the now-stagnant air, a faint yet unmistakable scent invaded my senses – a metallic tang that curled its way into my nostrils and wormed into the depths of my being. 

Blood.

My heart thundered in my chest once more, threatening to burst through the confines of my ribcage, and all at once, every instinct screamed at me to run, to flee from the impending danger that certainly lurked just beyond my garden's boundaries. 

But just as I went to stumble backward and put distance between myself and whatever the source of that... blood was, a weird sense of... need entangled itself up with the dread, festering and growing within my gut, compelling me not to jump to conclusions, to unravel the mystery of whatever it was that lay just beyond the trees.

Mind made up, I tightened my grip on my plump cucumber, its skin cool against my clammy palm. My steps were wary as I ventured deeper into the heart of my garden, gaze darting anxiously as the shadows that the towering trees cast upon me danced, taunting my less-than-keen sense of sight with their elusive shapes.

A frisson of fear skittered down my spine with each rustle of foliage, every distant creak that reverberated through my fragile frame, amplifying the anxiety. 

But then, amidst the overgrown thicket, I glimpsed it – a splattering of crimson splattered against the hearty canvas of flourishing kale that I'd planted so many weeks ago. The liquid dripped ominously from the plant's leaves, which bowed under its weight as if paying their respects.

I twirled around in an instant, pressing my back against the closest tree trunk as my breath caught in my throat. A trembling hand clamped over my mouth, and my strangled gasp was stifled by icy-hot terror, a terror that stabbed its way into my loins, twisting them right up tight like noodles around a fork.

I attempted to calm down, recalling the lessons Dad had taught me about controlling panic. Slow, deep breaths, I reminded myself, inhaling shakily, willing the acrid air to fill my spasming lungs.

I was certain that something was wrong, a hazardous boundary where revelation and peril danced a dangerous tango. And somewhere within it, my heart beat a wild rhythm, torn between the primal urge to flee, to vanish into the afternoon and never look back, and a bewildering compulsion that defied all reason. It was a self-sacrificing kind of longing, an inexplicable pull that drew me closer to the source of whoever – whatever – had spilled that blood like a moth to a mesmerizing flame, driven by instincts I couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Unable to resist the increasingly maddening allure that even made Sana whine uncomfortably in the back of my mind, I cautiously peeked around the gnarled trunk of the tree, only to glimpse... a trail of the scarlet droplets, staining the ground like macabre breadcrumbs leading the way to unknown horror.

Trembling, I hesitated, weighing the consequences of my actions. 

Dad would definitely throw his best chancla at me for this, and Papa would probably never let me out of his sight until I turned sixty-nine years old, and then some. But even in the wake of disappointing my trusting parents – a prospect that would typically send me into a spiral – that... need still burned within me, the hunger that would never be satiated until I continued into the darkness that loomed ahead.

Step by cautious step, I followed the ominous trail, pulse pounding in my ears. Each footfall echoed throughout my garden, rustling the leaves, and as the scent of blood increased, saturating the air like a nightmarish perfume, I knew that I was getting ever closer to whatever it was that my inner Omega craved more than air.

But then, as abruptly as the trail had begun, it ended. And my gaze, fraught with uncertainty, lifted from the ground, only to behold a sight so horrific that my lungs froze within my chest. 

There, sprawled upon the forest floor, lay the lifeless form of the most colossal wolf my eyes had ever seen. Obsidian coat stained with blood and grime, he exuded an air of primal dominance even in the wake of death's embrace – so much so that the forest, too, seemed to quiet down in his honor, paying homage to such a grand creature.

A whirlwind of questions tore through my mind all at once, each one clawing for attention at the same time: What type of creature could have possibly done this to him? Why was he here, of all places? Why had he not called for help? And – most perplexing of all – why did my heart tremble with recognition, as if it knew this mesmerizing stranger?

In that moment of eerie stillness, the veil between my existence and my fate thinned, revealing a thread of connection that made my entire body shudder and my skull throb with the sheer intensity of it all.

And yet, even as the scent of blood, grime, and decay clung to him, a scent that I could easily get lost in forever eclipsed all of it, beckoning directly to my soul.

Although I was much too preoccupied to put a name to it just yet, the fragrance he exuded was one that I would willingly surrender my existence to, losing myself in its infinite depths until the world imploded. And someplace within that heavenly scent, an ancient recognition stirred, an undeniable truth that only validated what my heart had somehow already known.

Sana's frantically slammed himself against the forefront of my skull as he surged forward, my eyes swirling with the metallic hue as he urged me toward the wounded wolf with a force so absolute that it brought tears to my eyes.

I crumbled to my knees at the wolf's side, all hesitation silenced as my vision blurred, salty streams cascading down my cheeks and carving out a path through the anguish that was surely displayed there. 

And right then and there, as I buried my fingers deep into his thick, bloodied fur, I knew with every fiber of my being that this wolf... this dying wolf... was my mate.

__

POOR ECKO 😭

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