ECKO

'Dad! Papa!' I could barely think enough to send the mind-link amidst the sobs and the pain that clouded my mind. But if there was one thing I could focus on, it was that I needed to get him help. 

Him... My fated mate. 

'Help me!' I practically screamed, unsure if I was using a direct line to my fathers or broadcasting my franticism to the entire pack. Frankly, I couldn't bring myself to care. All that I cared about was getting him better.

What kind of cruel twist of fate was this? I finally find my mate – the only person in this world that the God/dess made specifically for me – and now I have to face the possibility of losing him before I even have a chance to know his name?

My soul quivered with an unbearable ache, and I found myself rocking back and forth helplessly, engulfed in a torrent of never-ending tears. And then, amongst the insidious fear that gnawed at my insides, a haunting sense of déjà vu also took hold of me then, reminding me of what Dad and Papa must have felt when they found me all of those years ago, wounded and bleeding out. It was a chilling realization, one that far surpassed even the darkest nightmares from my troubled past.

Pressing my throbbing forehead against my mate's bloodied side, I tried my best attempt at self-soothing.

'Pumpkin?!' Papa's reply came back at me with lightning speed, but it still felt like an eon of waiting. I could practically feel the rumble in his voice, laden with concern. 'Where are you? What's happening? Are you okay?!'

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. My ears strained, tuning into the faint, reassuring thump of a heartbeat beneath my trembling hands – a lifeline that reminded me that my mate was still here with me, at least for now. Only then could I gather my scattered thoughts enough to form a string of coherent words.

'I'm safe. A little past the back of my garden. Near the eastern borderline.' I started, willing them to arrive right this instant and whisk him away to the infirmary, 'There's a heavily wounded wolf here. He needs urgent medical attention. Please hurry.'

'You're at the borderline?!' Papa's worry bit through the link, and I winced, my inner Omega balking at the concept of upsetting our pack Alpha, even if he was our father. But luckily, I didn't have to dwell on that too long, seeing as to how Dad was already on diffusion duty.

'We're coming, Ecks. Three minutes out.' Dad reassured me, and I let out a whimper of instant relief. 

Just a little bit longer, and they would be here. Just a little longer, and he would be saved.

The stillness hung heavy, broken only by his slow, irregular breaths which transformed into a symphony of agony within my ears, resonating deep within the chasms of mine and Sana's being. With trembling hands, I instinctively reached out, tracing my fingers over his tangled, disheveled coat, desperate to offer a fleeting moment of solace to the wolf destined to be mine.

"I'm gonna get you help, okay?" I whispered through shaky, unsure breaths. Over and over I brushed through his thick fur, unable to stop touching him. The obsidian strands were still magnificent, even their current state of chaos. "You'll get the help you need. Don't worry. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay." The words just spilled out, as if their repetition could bring comfort to either of us.

But even as I caressed his weak form, mumbling sweet nothings, the stark reality of our shared destiny only crushed me further, searing right through my heart with a poignant ache that defied any worldly description.

A thought pierced my skull. 

Frantically reaching for my gardening tote, my hands, stained with blood, fumbled for the small pouch attached to it, the one that held the accumulation of every speck of fairy dust I had gathered over the years. Without a moment's hesitation, I upturned the pouch, showering its contents over every inch of my mate's body that I could reach.

The sparkling dust settled over him like a blanket, coating nearly his entire body in a pearlescent glow. With hope shining bright in my eyes and a pounding heart, I rubbed the magical substance as deep into his fur as I could reach, willing it to work. And in that fleeting moment, when I heard the faintest increase in his heart's rhythm, my entire body slumped in on itself.

It may have only been a small triumph, but for me, it meant everything. A glimmer of hope in the midst of despair. And if fortune favored us, it would grant us enough time to relocate him to the infirmary.

"Ecko – pumpkin – step away from him slowly." Papa's commanding Alpha authority was absolute as his voice suddenly thundered down from behind me. Yet this time, my body refused to flinch in response to the Alpha's order. Instead, my inner Omega wailed, clutching onto that perfect, blood-stained, obsidian fur with an even tighter grip.

I couldn't abandon him. I simply wouldn't. Evidently, that pissed Papa off real bad. 

"That wolf is dangerous, Ecko. You will step away now." He boomed, and my muscles quivered, barely able to resist the forceful demand. I'm not sure if I screamed, whined, whimpered, or perhaps all three at once, but it was all I could do to hold on, to resist succumbing to the ferocity of my Alpha father's command.

"Ecko, my baby!" Dad's voice sliced through all the terror then, and before I knew it I was turning around, my arms reaching out for him just like they did when I was just a child.

"Daddy!" I sobbed, collapsing into his arms when he lowered himself into the grass beside me. His touch, so familiar and gentle, mixed in with his Omegan scent eased some of the tension within me, like a gradually receding tide. But even then, it was far from enough to wash away the agonizing pain that had taken root deep within my core. 

"We have to help him! Please, hurry!" I plead.

"Hush, my dear. I'm right here, Daddy's got you." My dad cooed tenderly, reaching down to cradle my tear-stained cheeks between both of his freckled hands. His bright green eyes were intense yet also soft as he urged me to meet his gaze, and then there was only one, simple question. It burned as bright as the sun. "Yours?"

A rippling, hearty sob interrupted my response as I fell apart, safe within the space between my dad's palms. And then – finally – I told him exactly what he already knew.

"Mine."

"He reeks of Feral wolf, and we have no idea how he ended up within our borders in such a state. We cannot afford the risks associated with allowing him deeper into our territory. He is dangerous." Papa intervened, his voice firm, dripping with equal parts contempt and suspicion – a tone I'd only ever heard him use when he was in those long, boring pack protection strategy meetings with the warriors. 

I was grateful that Dad pulled me into his chest right then so that he couldn't see the way my teeth bared, canines lengthening as Sana balked against such an accusation.

"He is our son's mate, Corey." Dad bit back almost immediately, tension crackling in the air between them. If he had one to spare, I had no doubt that there would be a chancla flying through the air between them right now, aimed directly for Papa's forehead. "We will help him."

My fathers were quiet for a long moment, no doubt having some kind of silent staring contest as I unraveled in Dad's arms. But of course, just like he did ninety-nine percent of the time, my Papa heaved a heavy breath after only a few seconds in, reluctantly relenting to the irresistible temptation that was my Dad's will.

Papa barked an order that – even with my increased hearing ability – I barely even caught above the constant rushing of blood through my ears. But when Dad began pulling me away, lifting me from the ground with a steady arm around my waist, my deepest primal instincts immediately rebelled, protesting vehemently.

"No!" I cried out, voice raw as Sana practically crawled the walls of my mind, just as desperate as I to maintain our physical connection with our mate. I clung to the fragile connection with our mate, terrified that it might be the only one we would ever have. Couldn't they understand? I needed him. I needed him. "Let go!"

Dad's voice sounded pained, wobbly in its utterance even as he utilized his Beta strength to continue to guide me backward and away from the one person that I needed more than air, the one person that was essential to my existence.

"I know, my sweet baby boy," he whispered, his hand tenderly smoothing my crimson-streaked hair, matted with a mixture of our mate's blood and my own sweat. "I'm not taking you away, I promise. I'm just moving us enough to give the warriors room to carry him back to the infirmary."

Dad's explanation managed to momentarily soothe the surface layer of my primal terror, granting me enough strength to endure being pulled about six feet away from my mate. But beneath my skin, fear continued to fester, gnawing at my very core.

As a group of approximately six of Dad and Papa's most formidable warriors approached my mate, that familiar fear surged through me once more, rising like a scorching torrent of sticky, molten tar, engulfing my throat.

The moment the first warrior laid a hand on his fur, the force of my mate's thunderous roar rippled through the forest, scattering birds from their treetop perches. And then, against all odds and despite the copious amount of blood he had undoubtedly lost, he struggled to rise onto his paws. Bright red droplets dripped from his canines and muzzle as he let out a menacing snarl, a deep rumble resonating from the depths of his being.

In this state, even as pain clearly wracked its way through his trembling body which threatened to give way at any moment, his sheer enormity was impossible to ignore. Even the warriors took a few steps back then, their gasps audible, regarding him as if he were a wild creature.

Based on the towering proportions of his wolf alone, I had no doubt that in his human form, he would surpass even Papa's oversized stature. Yet, despite knowing this and understanding that with a mere swipe of his paw he could crush my entire being, my fear never stemmed from him. No, it remained only rooted in my concern for him.

The warriors persistently attempted to find an opening, searching for a vulnerable spot to subdue my mate. But as he thrashed his head unpredictably, his bloodied teeth snapping erratically in any and all directions, a realization struck me.

Amidst my earlier grief, while I wept over what I initially believed to be my mate's lifeless body, I had failed to examine his injuries closely. However, now, as my father's men hurriedly devised a plan to restrain him, I could finally grasp the extent of the damage. 

It became apparent that at least one of his legs was broken, contorted at an unnatural angle as he gingerly avoided placing any weight on it. Deep claw marks marred multiple parts of his body, cutting through his fur and penetrating the underlying sinew.

But that wasn't all. Because through watery eyes, I could now make out what was unmistakable the worst wound, a gash that bled profusely as his muzzle stretched around it as he let out yet another desperate roar of self-preservation.

"Stop!" I cried out at once, needing them to understand. "He's just afraid!"

Dad cast a curiously sad glance down at me, green eyes flickering, and with an unexpected surge of strength, I tore myself free from his loving yet confining grip, moving quickly, propelled forward by some kind of hidden resilience. And within moments, I found myself mere feet away from my mate, cautiously inching closer, my hands outstretched as if offering solace.

"Ecko!" Papa scolded from somewhere in the background, but I easily tuned him out, my conviction remaining unshaken. My mate wouldn't harm me. I knew he wouldn't.

Every ragged breath he struggled to take sounded as if it were a desperate battle against the fragile thread of existence, threatening to snap entirely with each movement of his colossal chest. Witnessing his agony tore at my insides, the pain excruciating as it strangely entwined with an electrifying connection that throbbed between us, one that surpassed all boundaries of my comprehension.

A shiver ran through me as I lifted my hand, brushing against the clammy, moist snout of my wolf. The touch of his damp muzzle left a crimson stain on my fingertips, mingling with the blood still trickling from his wounded gums and sharp, bared canines. 

A feeble cry of Omegan distress escaped my lips, helpless against the grip of despair that clenched my throat, tormenting my fragile heart and tearing it to shreds. Because up close, the truth of the situation revealed itself in agonizing clarity.

The wide, jagged gash extended right across his face, stretching mercilessly from his right temple and carving a path directly through his left eye, only to terminate below his left earlobe.

"His eye... it's gone," I choked, cotton plugging my throat, rendering it barely audible. "He can't... he can't see."

And then, only a few moments after I touched him, he surrendered to the weight of his broken body, swaying precariously. Time stood suspended in a cruel pause, my mouth agape, ready to summon help. Yet, before the words could escape my quivering lips, he crumbled, collapsing back into the unforgiving embrace of the earth below him.

And then, there remained only the haunting image of his limp form, sprawled out and motionless as he lay within a growing pool of his own blood.

Poor babies! Any hypothesis as to what's gonna happen next? 😭

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