Not Him

POV: Echo

The longer I waited for him to begin, the more anxious I became, as nothing good ever came from delayed punishments. I sighed in relief when the aura of rage retreated, the feeling of suffocation going with it. I kept my guard up, however, as this would not be the first time someone had pulled in their aura to trick me into believing I wasn’t going to be beaten.

‘Echo, we are not in Red Stone anymore,’ Tala soothed. ‘We are in Blood Moon, and no one here is ever going to hurt you!’

I wanted to deny what my wolf was telling me, but she pushed memories of our stay here forward. There was no denying that things here were different, the wolves here were different. My breathing became more even, calmer, and my whimpers faded into silence as my body stilled.

Convincing myself to move from my current position was a bit more difficult. Taking another deep calming breath, I slowly sat up straight but kept my head down. Now that I was calm, I could feel the regret and concern rolli