Chapter 4 A Complete 180

POV: Echo

I bolt upright with a screech of shock and pain as the frigid water splashes over me. Wiping my sopping wet baby curls off of my forehead, I shiver violently in my now wet clothes. Glancing around, I see the last two people I ever want to wake up to see standing next to my bed.

Magnifying tenfold, the increasingly throbbing pain in my back steals my breath away, leaving me gasping for air. Flailing, I try to, and fail to keep the strangled whimpers and cries from passing my lips.

Alpha Brady and Luna Embry smile maliciously as they watch me inch my way back toward the wall behind me. The small amount of movement is enough to make the room spin, and my body futilely attempts to empty the non-existent contents of my stomach. It results in excruciating dry heaves for several moments, causing tears to pour down my face. The violent movements had stretched the wounds on my back in a way that drove the excruciating pain deeper into my body than I thought possible.

Collapsing on my side, my vision blurry, I focus on trying to suck in deep breaths around the sounds of a dying animal that claw their way out of me. Lying there panting, the skin under my damp clothing became unbearably hot.

Bewildered, I waste no time ripping my leggings off as a searing pain builds everywhere they touch. I grab the hem of my t-shirt, but my hands are pinned to my side before I can yank it over my head.

"Whaa?!" I screamed, writhing in pain. I'd wanted to ask what they'd done to me, but the pain was so intense I couldn't get past the first word. It was hard to hear his reply over the involuntary noises I was making,

"You want to know what we did?" He asked, amusement thick in his voice, his eyes shining in delight as he watched. I drag my eyes in his direction, his blurry outline now squatting down next to me, teeth flashing as he grins.

"We thought that a little wolf's bane might help with the scarring," Embry snickered, drawing my attention. "We don't want your wolf to make a surprise arrival and heal all of Brady's hard work!"

As black spots start clouding my sight, I turn my gaze back toward the monster holding my wrists. The burning desire in his eyes makes me shudder. I try to pull away, but the darkness pulls me under once more.

I almost didn't realize I was awake until the pain started up again. Thankfully, the roaring inferno that was my back has turned into a slow burn, painful but manageable.

The room is eerily silent, and reeks of old, dried blood. My blood. I think about everything that happened. From him showing up, choking me until I passed out, waking up mutilated, and then passing out again. The torturous wolfsbane wake-up call. He's always been cruel, but something about my impending twentieth birthday has drastically increased his need to hurt me.

Finally having a moment to myself to think, I marvel at the revelation that I will be twenty sooner than I'd dared hope.

Knowing I will never be accepted by a mate, I am devastated by the thought of what Alpha Brady's done to me. So, I force myself to focus on the only good thing life has to offer me anymore: my wolf. I wonder what she will be like, what she will look like.

I don't get to think about it long before I fall asleep, exhausted from the blood loss and continued lack of food.

As someone gently runs their hands through my hair, I wake up with a sense of peace. I had forgotten how amazing it felt to have someone touch my hair like this, rather than dragging me along with it. It had a calming effect, and I couldn't stop myself from leaning into their touch, humming contentedly. Taking a deep breath in, my sense of contentment turns into a flood of sheer terror as I take in the potent scent of vanilla and cedar wood.

I feel his mouth against my ear as he leans over me and whispers, "Good morning, my Little Doll, it's time to wake up!" before pressing a kiss against my ear, and another just behind it. I cringe away from his touch on reflex and tremble as I feel his hands still in my hair. He shifts them, angling my head to give him better access to my neck.

"I can smell your fear, Little Doll, and it's delectable," he moans, licking his lips before shoving his face into the base of my neck. Nuzzling the place where one day my mate would have marked me, claiming me as his own. Brady breathes in my scent deeply.

The action makes me feel deeply repulsed, and my hands twitch as I fight to keep them at my side. Scenting another wolf in this way is a deeply intimate act, usually only done between mates.

Not wanting to think about it, I focus on my surroundings. I'm lying on my stomach again, wearing a clean, dry shirt and leggings, mercifully free of wolf's bane this time. My back also feels considerably better, but also tight, as though it's mildly constricted.

Smiling his award-winning smile, Brady pulls back and reaches behind him, causing me to flinch instinctively when he turns back toward me, pulling out a tray of food. Staring at him in shock, I can't help but wonder what kind of alien he's become. This man is the key person responsible for all the time I have spent literally starving over the last ten years. Even now, I do not know how many days it has been since I last ate. Heck, I am not even sure how long it's been since the night he got back from his meeting.

He raises an eyebrow, glancing from me to the tray of food. "It will be hard to eat if you're lying on your stomach," he says, gesturing for me to sit up. Slowly moving into a sitting position on my bed, I keep my eyes glued on him the whole time, waiting for him to do something. "Here you are," he smiles, placing the tray on my lap with a flourish.

Looking at the plate with apprehension. I slowly note the scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. As well as the little bowl of fruit salad, a yogurt cup, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee that sits in a semi-circle around the plate. Eyes wide, I gawked at him in blatant confusion. While I have prepped and served these foods repeatedly over the years, I could never eat them, as per his orders.

When I accidentally meet his eyes, I immediately lower mine and stare at my lap. I am not supposed to look anyone in the eyes without being told to, never mind the Alpha of our pack. Feeling his gaze, I shook slightly, waiting for my punishment.

Nothing prepared me for the gentle caress of his knuckles along my cheek before he drew my face upward with his thumb hooked under my chin. He picks up the fork from the tray in front of me and I flinch, waiting for the pain.