ECHO

The Alpha effortlessly climbed onto his porch and unlocked the door to the house. He carried me over the threshold and swiftly kicked the door close. On the inside, the house was dark, but not for long. It took me a moment to adjust to the darkness, but even after that I couldn't really make out stuff.

He walked a couple of steps ahead and then gently placed my body on a soft surface, like a couch. I shivered when he moved away, missing the warmth of his body.

Within seconds, the fireplace in front of me was lit up and the heat of the fire slowly seeped into my bones making it easier to stay in my wet clothes.

Wet clothes, shit! My eyes widened in shock when I realized that I didn't have a change of clothes with me. What was I going to do?

That made me nervous, but I was too tired to give a damn. Yes, I needed something warm to wear and I could probably just ask the Alpha to drop me at mine, but then I would have to suffer through wearing these wet clothes for longer than I would like. So that option was a bust.

"How are you holding up?" The Alpha asked softly.

I was so lost in my own head that I didn't even realize he was kneeling in front of me, concern etched on his handsome face. It almost melted my heart. Almost.

Because in that moment, something dawned on me; it was his fault I was in this situation in the first place. Slowly everything came rushing in – the events of the day and the highlight being, he ditched me.

On top of, one moment he was this sweet and caring man who was concerned about me, but the next, he was closed off. And that pissed me off.

I felt a sudden jolt of anger and my fists clenched on their own accord. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I tried to bite down on my anger, because at the end of the day, he saved me.

I might be his mate, but I was still a stranger to him.

And as a courtesy, I was going to try to be respectful tonight. However, that didn't mean he was off the hook. Tomorrow was a new day and hopefully, I would be all rested up to execute my plan that wasn't fully formed in my head.

"Just a little cold," I replied quickly, looking anywhere, but at him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his expression hardened as he stood up.

"Stay here," he said sternly.

Like I was going anywhere – I mentally shook my head, but gave him a slight nod.

I wrapped the blanket tighter around my body and shifted to the edge of the couch to soak in some more heat.

He was gone for a while and I took that time to study my surroundings. It was better than having to constantly think about the wet clothes and dripping hair.

To my right were French doors that seemed to lead to a patio. I cranked my neck a little to the right to get a better look a little further and shuddered when I saw that there was also a huge pool that seemed never-ending.

As much as I loved swimming, after tonight, it would be a hard pass for a very long time.

I shifted my gaze to the left and beside the fireplace was a corridor that led further into another part of the house and adjacent to that was a staircase that led both upstairs and I guess to the basement. A stone archway stood on this open floor plan, but what was beyond it, I couldn't see.

My view was blocked when he returned and stood in my line of sight. I looked up and my throat went dry. He had abandoned his suit jacket leaving himslef only in a tight fitting white shirt and those perfectly fitting pants.

The sleeves to his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his toned arms that were inked. Oh, boy.

The temperature of the room suddenly seemed to rise.

Why did he have to be so fucking hot?

I groaned internally.

"Come with me," he said huskily.

I frowned.

"I am not going to hurt you, Echo."

And there it was – that feeling again when he said my name. It was nudging me in his direction and before I knew what was happening, I was already up on my feet following him to wherever he would take me.

Probably to my death; considering his reputation.

I gulped. There was no turning back.

We stepped into the corridor that seemed to never end. On my right, there were two doors, while on my left, there were three. His house might seem relatively small on the outside, but it was huge on the inside.

He guided me to the first door on the right which his palm pressed against my lower back. It might have been a gentle touch and I had a blanket wrapped around me, but that part of my body burned with the heat of his single touch.

It felt good, real good, but I couldn't afford to feel this way. Not now, not ever and not for him.

"This is the guest bedroom and mine's just at the end of the hall, in case you need me. I've already turned on the heater, so you should feel better. I didn't have clothes of your size, but here are some options," he said gruffly, pointing at the clothes neatly folded on the edge of the queen sized bed.

I chewed on my lip before looking up at and thanking him for the hospitality. I don't think anybody had ever put in so much thought for me. I could be mad at him, but I was going to cherish this small act.

"I am going to draw you a warm bath-"

"No!"

He looked taken aback by my sudden outburst, but I didn't want to be submerged in a tub of water tonight. I had my fill.

"I can't."

"Echo," he said sternly.

"You need to get cleaned up-"

"I'll get cleaned up, but let's just avoid the bath," I said hastily.

"Do not interrupt me, again!" He growled.

I narrowed my eyes at him while he looked down at me with a hard expression.

"Strip."

"Excuse me?"

It could be that tonight's traumatic incident was making me imagine words, but I was also pretty sure that he ordered me to strip. Like hell I would.

He ignored and walked past me to the small table on the other side of the room. Bending down, he picked something up and without looking back he snapped his fingers motioning me to sit on the bed.

This Alpha was trying my patience. He was rude and arrogant and –

"You can curse me all you want, but I need to make sure you are okay. That means I need to check up on any injuries you might have sustained."

My heart skipped a beat when I thought I might have actually voiced my opinion out loud. But thankfully, I didn't. I let out a breath of relief and walked over to the bed.

I was mere two steps away when my knees gave out and like before, he was there to catch me before I fell on my face.

His right arm was wrapped around my torso and he pulled me up, holding me steadily.

I gingerly placed my hands on his broad shoulders for support. I felt drained, both physically and mentally. I honestly just wanted to sleep because I could feel my eyes close.

With his other hand, that was free, he removed the blanket that was around me, revealing my wet clothes that were sticking to my body. I shivered as I felt exposed and involuntarily moved closer to him.

He tightened his hold when I did that and a soft growl escaped his lips. That sound did something to me, even in this state.

The Alpha lowered me onto the edge of the bed and grabbed a towel from beside me. He gently started to dry my hair out. I wanted to protest, but I didn't.

After he was done, I knew what was coming next and I could probably use his help, but I also realized that it was something I had to do on my own.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him.

"How about I get changed first and then you could check up on any wounds that might be there?"

He pursed his lips in a hard line and gave me a curt nod. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but held back and for that, I was grateful.

The Alpha walked out the room, closing the door behind him.

I sighed.

Quite some time had passed by, but I somehow managed to get out of my wet clothes. With great difficult, I dried myself off and picked up the clothes he left for me.

He was kind enough to leave a couple of t-shirts, shorts and track pants. Everything was too big for me to wear, so I settled on wearing a black t-shirt that almost reached my knees.

I really wished there was something to cover my legs considering I wasn't wearing anything on the inside, but whatever was laid on the bed would only keep slipping off.

Shaking my head and crossing my closely, I called out to him. Within a second he was inside as if waiting outside the door this whole time.

He stopped dead in this tracks when his gaze locked with mine. Moments passed by, we never moved as if the time had stopped for us.

His darkened gaze broke only at the sound of his phone pinging. He ignored it as his eyes traveled down my body.

I felt my mouth go dry and licked my lips at which he growled.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" I asked densely.

In a swift movement, he stood in front of me. He placed the tip of his index finger under my chin and titled upwards so I could meet his eyes.

With his finger still under my chin, he used his thumb to pull on my lower lip that apparently I had been chewing.

"That," he said darkly.

I couldn't speak so I only nodded.

"Good," he said satisfied by my response.

"Show me your hands."

I stretched out both my arms for him to inspect.

Under the soft yellow light of the room, I had somehow missed the glaring red marks around my wrists and he seemed to notice it too. When he touched them with the pads of his thumbs, a sharp pain shot through making me hiss.

The hold he had on my hands, tightened as he shook with anger. After a moment, he checked my legs and found the same marks around my ankles. When he asked if I had noticed any other such marks, I shook my head too afraid to talk.

"I am going to kill whoever did this to you, Echo," he growled loudly as a promise before storming out the room and leaving me alone with my own dark thoughts.

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xoxo,
Grace Clarke