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 wanted to wake up to standing next to my bed. Magnifying tenfold, the increasingly throbbing pain in my back takes my breath away, leaving me gasping for air.

Flailing, I try 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.

This 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. This results in excruciating dry heaves for several moments.

Tears poured down my face, the violent movements having stretched the wounds on my back in a way that drove the excruciating pain even 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.

As I lay there, the skin under my damp clothing became uncomfortably hot. Bewildered, I waste no time pulling 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 rip 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 even speak a single word.

It was hard to hear him over the involuntary noises I was making, "You want to know what we did?" He asked, amusement thick in his voice. 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 begin to cloud 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's 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.

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

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

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

I wake up with a momentary sense of peace, as someone gently runs their hands through my hair. I had forgotten how amazing it felt to have someone touch my hair like this, rather than dragging me along with it.

Humming contentedly, I breathe in, and my sense of contentment turns into a flood of sheer terror as I take in the strong scent of vanilla and cedar wood.

I feel his mouth against my ear, as he whispers, "Good morning, my Little Doll, 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 hand still in my hair. He shifts it down, angling my head to give him 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.

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

Smiling his award-winning smile, Brady pulls back and reaches behind him, pulling out a tray of food. Eyes wide, I stared at him in shock. What kind of alien has he become?

Alpha Brady is the main person responsible for the majority of the time I have spent literally starving in the last ten years. Even now, I have no idea how many days it has been since I last ate. Heck, I am not even sure how long it's been since I laid in my bed to sleep.

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.

I slowly move to my hands and knees, and then to a sitting position on my bed. "Here you are," he smiles, placing the tray on my lap with a flourish.

I looked at the plate with apprehension. I slowly take note of 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 sit in a semi-circle around the plate.

Eyes wide, I openly stared at him with blatant confusion. While I have prepped and served these foods repeatedly over the years, I have never been allowed to eat them.

When I 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 upwards 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.