Feral (Werewolf boyxboy)

Chapter 4

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.