by J. L. Wilder
Off in the distance the aftermath of the party was plainly visible. The fire in the pit smoldered, and bottles and cans were strewn here and there. But everyone seemed to be gone, back in their houses. The long lines of motorcycles caught the reflection of the moon.
"Hey!"
A voice calling out to Echo startled her, making her nearly drop her mug.
"Hey! Echo!"
The voice was a woman's, and she recognized it as familiar.
"Who is it?" asked Echo.
"It's me, June."
Out of the shadows stepped June. Echo was shocked, not sure what to expect.
"What do you want?"
June looked away for a moment, as if not sure she should say what she had on her mind.
"Are you alone?" she asked.
"What business of it is yours?"
"Because I wanted to talk," she said. "We wanted to talk."
"'We'?"
Two more figures stepped out of the shadows—Marlene and Charity. Echo‘s body tensed at seeing them.
"Yeah," said Charity. "We."
"Tell me what you want," said Echo. "Now."
"Where's Stone?" asked Marlene.
"He's inside," said Echo. "Why?"
June smirked.
"Let me guess—he's passed out drunk."
"Yeah," said Charity. "Out cold before he even had a chance to put his grubby mitts on you."
"How do you know?" asked Echo.
"Because we were there," said Marlene. "We saw how much he'd been drinking. Thought no way he'd make it home, let alone get his dick up once he was there."
Echo didn't move, still not sure what to make of this.
"Same for our mates too," said June. "All of them got so excited about the idea of claiming their women that they didn't think about whether or not they'd be able to do it with a bottle of whiskey in them."
"Okay, great," said Echo. "So, why are you all here?"
The three women glanced at one another for a moment. Echo had no idea what was going on, but she didn't like it. This was the first time in forever the girls had spoken to her without saying a catty comment or making a veiled threat.
"Because," said June. "We got to talking when the guys were partying, and we made a decision."
"What kind of decision?" asked Echo.
"That...maybe we've been kind of hard on you," said Marlene.
"Yeah," said Charity. "We've been giving you shit since you first came into this clan, ever since we were all little girls. And now we're thinking that...maybe it's time to give it a rest, you know?"
Echo couldn't believe what she was hearing. All those years of teasing and taunting and bullying, and now the ringleaders of it all wanted to bury the hatchet?
"So," said Echo. "All of a sudden you want to be friends?"
"Not ‘all of a sudden'," said June. "More that we all realized that there was no reason to treat you like we have. And we've been totally out of control recently because we were scared and nervous about how the ceremony would go."
"Yeah," said Marlene. "We all wanted to be the new omega, and...I don't know, now that it's done it's like we realized there's no sense in holding grudges about it."
"Yeah," said Charity. "The ceremony's above all of us, and we have to obey what it says."
Echo shifted her weight from one foot to the other, still not sure what to make of this weirdness.
"So...now what?" she asked. "You want to be besties?"
"We want to start fresh," said June. "We're all mated now, and there's no reason to be at each other's throats because of guy stuff, or who's in what position."
"Yeah," said Marlene. "You may be newer to the clan than us, but as of tonight you're as much a Hearteater as we are."
"Thanks," said Echo. "I think."
The girls looked at each other again.
"So," said June. "We were thinking that because all the guys are asleep or passed out, and it's just us, we could all hang out together."
"Yeah," said Charity. "Have like a little bachelorette-party-type thing."
"Yeah?" asked Echo. "What'd you have in mind?"
"We thought the four of us could go hang out at the lake," said Marlene. "It's such a nice night out, and some chilling out sounded good after all that insanity with the guys."
Echo said nothing, thinking it over. On the one hand, these girls had been a source of total misery for her ever since she was a kid. But on the other, they seemed to be sincere in wanting to bury the hatchet. Maybe with a little work and time, Echo considered, they'd all be able to be friends?
"Come on," said June. "It'll be fun. More fun than sitting around drinking tea."
Echo glanced over at her mug.
"But I like tea," she said.
"Come on, girl," said Marlene, hopping up onto the porch and taking Echo by the hand. "We're going to have some fun. And in the morning, we can put everything behind us."
Echo let Marlene lead her down to the other girls.
"Yeah," said June. "From here on out, we're going to need to be focused on being the kind of women and mothers the clan is going to need. So, might as well start tonight, right?"
"Um, sure," said Echo.
"Great!" said June, her pretty face lighting up. "Come on—we're going to have so much fun."
"And," said Marlene. "We've already been there, so we've got wine waiting for us."
"That...actually sounds kind of good," said Echo.
The more Echo thought about it, the more a nice glass of wine by the lakeside did pretty damn nice to her.
"Okay," said Echo, allowing herself a smile. "Let's do it."
The four women headed away from the cabins, off towards the woods. A narrow, winding path led deeper and deeper into the woods, the light of the moon guiding their way.
Before too long, they reached the moonlit lake.
And Echo, because of some strange feeling she couldn't shake, was sure that June was right.
This was going to be a night to remember.
CHAPTER 5
ECHO
"Okay!" said June as the four of them stepped closer to the lake. "There!"
She pointed off towards the lakeshore, where three bottles of wine and four glasses were waiting for them.
"Nice," said Echo. "But what were you guys going to do if I said I didn't want to come with?"
"Drink all the wine by ourselves," said June with a smile. "Obviously."
"Yeah," said Marlene. "You think the guys are the only ones that get to have any fun?"
The three girls hurried off ahead, stepping out of their shoes and making their way towards the table. Echo, still feeling overwhelmed by what was happening, followed them. She stepped out of her shoes, the grass cool and prickly against her feet.
Once they were seated at the table, June quickly went to work opening the bottle of wine while Marlene passed out the glasses. As they did, Echo took a moment to appreciate the calmness of the lake, the waves silver under the big, full moon.
"This is actually pretty nice," said Echo. "Especially after tonight."
"No kidding," said Charity, her eyes on her glass as June filled it. "The guys can be so freaking loud and obnoxious."
"And grabby," said Marlene.
Echo's mouth formed into a flat, hard line at this. The way Stone had acted, and what he'd said, was still fresh in her mind.
The girls seemed to pick up on it right away, their happy expressions turning into ones of concern.
"What's going on?" asked June.
Echo quickly took her glass of wine and drank a long sip. She realized right away that it had been what'd she'd really been craving—not the tea.
"Nothing," she said, shaking her head.
The girls looked at one another again, and Echo suspected that she'd been far too obvious.
"There something wrong with Stone?" asked Charity.
"No," said Echo. "It's nothing."
She took another sip of her wine, wishing that she'd done a better
job at hiding her feelings. When she set down her glass, she realized that she'd already drunk half of what had been poured.
"Come on," said Marlene. "We're starting fresh, remember?"
"Right," said June. "And that means no secrets among friends."
"I don't know," said Echo. "I don't want to talk about it."
A sick feeling took hold of her, both at what had happened, and at the fact that the other girls had picked up on it.
"Listen," said June. "You don't know about this because, well, we were kind of bitches to you before. But what we're doing now, having some wine by the lake, is kind of a tradition with all of us."
"Yeah," said Marlene. "And one of the rules is that what we talk about here, stays here."
Charity reached over and placed her hand on Echo's arm.
"So, you can let it all out," she said. "And we promise that we won't say a word about it to anyone."
Echo had a bad feeling about it all. But she considered that if the girls were sincere, then maybe telling them about what had happened would be a way to get them on her side. If she was going to be the omega of an alpha like Stone, she realized, she'd need all the allies she could get.
"It was the way he acted tonight," Echo said after bracing herself with one more sip of wine.
"How?" asked June.
One more sip, one more deep breath, and Echo went into it. She told them everything, about how controlling he was being, how he was expecting her to be his personal sex slave, and how he was planning on sleeping with every other woman in the clan while Echo was expected to just put up with it.
And through it all the girls watched her with sympathetic eyes. When she was done, she felt so much better she could hardly believe it. Echo felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Wow," said June, sitting back and shaking her head. "That's...insane."
"Yeah," said Marlene. "I know that alphas can run the pack however they want, but that's something else."
"He seriously threatened to hit you?" said Charity. "You don't have to stand for that. Seriously."
"But I don't know what else to do," said Echo. "We're going to be bonded. And once he claims me and imprints on me, that's it—I'm his omega and he's my alpha."
"But he didn't manage to do it tonight," said June. "Too drunk for that."
"He wanted to, though," said Echo. "Maybe if he'd had half a bottle whiskey less to drink it'd be already done with."
"That's how most of the guys were," said Marlene. "Wanted to fuck but got too carried away with partying. And now half the girls are still unclaimed."
"Whatever," said June. "They'll be all over it tomorrow morning. I know Blade, the guy I'm bonded to, is probably going to wake me up with his cock poking into my back."
"It sounds bad," said Marlene. "But you're still the omega. You're going to be the top female in the clan. And you're going to carry the alpha's babies."
"But...I don't even know if that's what I want," said Echo.
"What are you talking about?" asked June. "What you have is what every shifter wants."
"Yeah," said Marlene. "What else even is there?"
"How about getting a chance to go out and live on your own?" she asked. "To go out and fall in love with who you want, not who some ceremony tells you you're supposed to be in love with."
"But you have to fall in love with Stone," said Charity. "The entire clan's depending on you to give the alpha babies."
Echo began to feel tense, worried, that she'd said too much.
Then the three girls looked at each other once again, this time with a knowing expression.
Echo realized, right at that moment, that she'd made a huge mistake.
"We had a feeling you might say something like that," said June.
"Yeah," said Marlene. "That you'd let it slip that you weren't loyal to the clan."
"What?" asked Echo.
"Right," said Charity. "But we didn't think that it'd only take you a glass of wine to let it all out."
Fear took hold of Echo.
"Wait a minute," she said. "Tell me what's going on right now."
"Sure," said June. "Not a single one of us thought that you should even be in the clan, let alone that you're cut out to be Stone's omega."
"But we just wanted to hear it out of your own mouth," said Marlene. "But on top of not being grateful that you'd been chosen, you tell us that you don't even want to be a part of the clan."
"No," said Echo. "That's not it."
"Doesn't matter," said June, her eyes narrowed. "We didn't bring you out here to get a confession."
"Yeah," said Charity. "We brought you out here to do what the men in the clan should've done the moment your half-breed ass showed up."
Echo, not saying another word, shut up out of her seat. Her heart pounded with fear; her eyes wide.
But the three women simply stayed seated, pleased smirks on their lips.
"What are you going to do to me?" asked Echo.
June answered her question by turning towards the woods.
"Come on, girls!" she shouted. "It’s time!"
Echo turned quickly in the direction June had called, unable to believe what she saw.
Out of the woods stepped a half-dozen more women from the clan. All of them wore the same scheming smirk as they stepped towards her. They carried bottles and sticks as they closed the distance between them and Echo.
It didn't take Echo long to realize what was happening—she'd been led into a trap.
"You can't do this," said Echo as she stumbled backward, bumping into the table and knocking over her wine glass.
"Sure, we can," said June as she and the other two girls rose. "And it's about to happen."
"But Stone...," said Echo. "He'll—"
"Stone will get over it," said June. "Deep down I know that he's not thrilled about having kids with some half-breed freak."
"And he'll forget all about you once he remembers that he'll have his pick of us once he leans his omega is gone for good."
The girls formed a circle around Echo, one that grew smaller and smaller by the second.
"Now," said June as the women closed in. "Best thing to do is to just close your eyes. It'll all be over soon."
Echo closed her eyes, but not to accept it. Instead, she began to shift. But she was too late —the girls pounced on her before she could change.
A scream shot out of Echo's lungs as the girls attacked, a terrified scream that carried through the trees.
But there was no one to hear her.
CHAPTER 6
ECHO
Echo woke up to two things—the sound of birds chirping in the trees, and the incredible pain that ran through her body. She moaned, her muscles feeling like they'd been gnawed on by wild animals.
She didn't want to open to her eyes and look down at what had happened. Memories from last night came back to her in flashes. She remembered coming to the lakeshore with the girls, how they'd baited her into revealing her secret feelings about Stone and the clan, and then...what had happened after.
It occurred to her that there was no good reason why she'd even woken up. Nearly ten girls had gone to town on her with bottles and branches and whatever else they'd managed to get their hands on. Echo realized that the beating they'd given her should've been more than enough to end her life.
Her eyes shot up and she sat up, a fresh wave of pain running through her as she did. Echo stuck her hand into the grass and gave herself a few long moments to wake up.
It was sunrise, the sun coming up through the trees and casting the lakeshore in a warm, orange light.
Okay, she thought, trying to get her bearings. It had to have been after midnight when the girls brought me out here. That means I've been out for five or six hours.
She looked down at her body, shocked to see that other than a few tears in her clothes and some small bruises on her fair skin, she looked unharmed.
No way, she thought. How the hell did I get th
rough that without them breaking a bone or drawing blood?
Echo decided to test the situation. With a heave, she lifted herself to her feet and stood in place. Sure enough, other than the same throbbing pain, she felt fine.
How the hell is this possible? Echo thought, looking down at her slender body. I should be dead.
She turned her attention to the trees, scanning them to make sure that none of the women were still there, waiting to finish the job they'd started. But it was all clear.
Echo took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself.
This is bad, she thought. I need to figure this out. Stone's back at the HQ, but there's not a chance in hell that I'm going to go to him for help. And the rest of the girls made it perfectly clear last night how they feel about me being part of the clan.
Then she realized that she was in the middle of the woods with nowhere to go, no one to turn to, no one to count on. The Hearteaters, despite the tension she'd always felt between them and her, had been her home.
But no longer.
Echo closed her eyes and thought. She knew that she had to figure something out, some way to get as far away from the Hearteaters as possible.
This was her chance. Echo had always dreamed of fleeing. And now with the women of the clan thinking she was dead, and the men still passed out from the previous night's party, she had her chance.
The last bits of pain faded as she started off towards the path back to the clan headquarters. Before too long, she spotted the cabins in the distance. The fire was long out, and not a soul seemed to be up.
Then she spotted the long line of motorcycles, dozens of them all parked near the road that led to the nearest town. A plan began to come together in her head.
I've ridden one of those before, she thought. All I need is the keys.
She winced as she realized what this would take—the keys to the bike were in Stone's house. To get them, she'd have to sneak in.
Echo made her way closer and closer to Stone's home. Every few steps she stopped and looked around to make sure that no one was nearby. Before too long she arrived at the side of Stone's house. After peeking in through the window and confirming that he wasn't up, she hurried over to the front door and opened it slowly.
