Feral (Werewolf boyxboy)

Chapter 5

ECKO

Agony. Longing. Desire. Terror. A bottomless, endless, neverending abyss of pain.

Emotions crashed over me like relentless waves, submerging my being, entwining me in an unyielding whirlpool that gnawed at the very core of my soul. Every breath became a struggle, each thought a sharp knife to the heart. Living while he suffered felt only like a cruel, unrelenting burden.

As the pack warriors hurriedly carried him – my mate – to the infirmary, the world around me blurred into an indistinct haze. My legs screamed with exhaustion as I stumbled to keep pace with their powerful strides, my heart yearning to be close to him with a desperation I couldn't possibly contain.

"Please," I pleaded, my voice barely a whisper as I stumbled over yet another divot in the ground. The desperate words came out automatically, although I had no idea what I was begging for, "please..."

"I know. I know, my sweet baby," Dad's voice floated through the haze, and suddenly I was aware of his arm around my waist as he hauled me back up to standing, supporting my weight when I felt like crumbling. "Benji is on his way. Just put one foot in front of the other, alright? Just keep walking. That's all you have to do right now."

A sob wrenched through my chest at his words, and although the infirmary loomed ahead like an omen, a mere quarter mile from our current position, I still doubted whether I could make it in my current state. With each step, my heart clenched, and I clung to fragile hope as my legs trembled.

Agony. Longing. Desire. Terror. Pain.

"Almost there, sweetheart. Almost there." Dad continuously encouraged. He basically held the weight of my entire body now, my feet barely skimming the ground with each step. And as the world warped around me, passing by in shadowy hues of color and sound, much sooner than I would have anticipated, Dad was hauling me over the threshold and through the door that led to the infirmary.

Chaos raged all around us the moment that we entered, and as all of the loud sounds echoed through the hallway, I winced, the haze that surrounded me lifting just enough for me to lift my head.

Where was he? I needed him. I needed to know. I needed to touch him. I needed proof that he was alright.

I needed to know that he would live.

"No!" The word blazed through my lips faster than I could even comprehend, not even needing to fully register in my mind in order for my soul to know that it was needed. Because right now, all that I knew – all that mattered – was that I needed him.

... I needed him, and yet there they were... why were they taking him away from me?!

"STOP IT! LET ME GO!" I wailed through an anguished cry, my body suddenly possessed by a fiercely overprotective being that I immediately recognized as Sana, desperate as he attempted to rip through the barrier between our minds and take full control. Unable to find a reason why that wouldn't work in my favor, I didn't hesitate to hand over half of the reigns.

If I was in my right mind, I would never do what I did next. But somehow, meeting my fated mate had turned the primal part of my brain to full capacity. And even though somewhere deep down, I knew that Dad was probably holding me back from flying into the treatment room in order to keep me from interrupting some important medical procedure, my wolf just couldn't – wouldn't – cope with logic right now, the deepest part of Sana's primitive, one-track mind only able to focus on a single train of thought:

Agony. Longing. Desire. Terror. Pain. Mate.

It was horrible and selfish and mean. And I'd definitely apologize to Dad a billion and one times once my sanity came back to me. But right now, thrashing in his arms enough to get my own loose before shoving him to the side with more strength than I knew that I even possessed seemed like the only option.