Mr. Technicalities

Echo

So it was tomorrow... Or well today. The day I told Winter about me, and to be honest I'm scared outta my mind.

Pulling up to her house I only see her car because like Roger said he went out. Pulling up behind her jeep I shut my car off and just sit in my car for a minute or two. Getting ready for the inevitable I climb out of the car and walk towards the door. Climbing the steps I hear her dogs barking on the other side and before I could pull my fist up to knock the door opens and there stands a struggling Winter.

She doesn't look up quite yet, she's too busy pushing dogs away from the door before she gets fed up and turns around fully. She raises her fingers to her mouth and lets out a whistle that even made me irritated before clapping her hands and pointing them down. Once the furry mutts sit down she smiles and then turns back around.

With her eyes finally fixed on mine I feel my mouth curl up into a smile. She's so cute.

"Echo. You're early, Roger said you'd be here but I didn't expect it to be so soon. Come in."

She moves to the side, enough for me to brush through and closes the door behind us. Looking at the floor in front of me I'm met by the stares of wiggling dogs. They either don't know what I am or they just don't care.

"Roger said you wanted to talk to me about something important... Would you like something to drink?"

Turning around away from the dogs I watch Winter as she stands by the door fiddling with her fingers. Walking over to her I grab her hand in mine and pull her over to the living room.

"I'm fine. I just don't know how to tell you this.."

"Tell me what?"

Blowing out a breath of air I rub the back of my head before sitting down on the couch next to her and staring into her eyes. As I stare into her eyes I get nervous thinking about all the possible things that could happen when I tell her. Standing up with a groan I begin to pace in front of the fireplace, looking over at her occasionally.

Stopping in front of the fireplace I turn away from and lean against it with my head in my hands trying desperately to find the best way of telling her.. It wasn't like ripping off a bandaid.

I didn't realize how tense I truly was until her hand rubbed up and down the middle of my back leaving a blaze of tingles and soothing my tense muscles until I practically was a puddle of mush on the floor.

Oh great. I'm so nervous I sound like a girl.

I feel her walk around me as her hand goes along with her, trailing across my back and landing on my shoulder. Opening my eyes I stare into the worried gaze of her eyes and pull her into my arms. She collides into my chest and wraps her arms awkwardly around my back as I lean my head on top of hers.

The awkwardness soon disappears as I breath in her calming scent of oranges and cream.

Sooner rather than later I feel her tapping on my back and trying to pull away. So I let her pull away as much as she can while being trapped between me and the mantle of the fireplace.

"Not that I don't like hugging you but uh... What's the matter?"

Rolling my eyes at my childishness I grab her hand again and sit her back on the couch, this time sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

"Okay, so I have something important to tell you in which I'm not sure how'll you'll take it."

"And that would be?"

Rubbing my hands together nervously I look into her eyes and begin to explain in the most simplest of ways.

"Do you believe in myths?"

"Define myths?"

"Like werewolves, vampires,.. Etc."

She tilts her head to the side in thought and taps her chin with her pointer finger.

"Hmm. I don't know, I haven't thought of it.. I mean there's a possibility that it could've happened and if they're real now then I guess they do a pretty good damn job of hiding it."

"Okay, I guess that's fair. But if you had the opportunity would you want to see one?"

Her finger still lightly taps her chin before her gaze returns to meet mine and a slow smile crosses her face.

"I guess so. I'd probably be scared outta my mind because I have no idea what they'll do or look like but I think it'll be fun to see regardless of the fact. Why?"

Nodding my head I get up and grab her hand before pulling her outside through the back door.

"I want to show you something."

She laughs as I tug her down the stairs and a little bit further into her backyard, as big as it was.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming. Hold your horses."

Once in the middle of the yard, surrounded by grass and flowers I let go of her hand and take a couple steps back.

"I want to show you something, but promise me you won't run away. I won't hurt you Winter."

She tilts her head to the side but otherwise doesn't say anything.

"Promise me Winter."

"Okay. I promise."

Not feeling completely convinced regardless of her promise I start to strip out of my clothes.

"Whoa! Whoa whoa! Hold on! Wait a minute! Why are you stripping! Put your clothes back on!"

"Calm down, it's not what you think. Just watch."

She grumbles something that makes me smile but watches as I strip down to my boxers.

"Okay. Now, don't look away.. And remember I won't hurt you."

She nods her head and waves her hand at me to continue in which case I do.

Starting the shift I try to do it as slowly as possible making me feel every bone in my body break and rearrange. I feel myself fall forward onto all fours, making sure I keep an eye on Winter as my vision gets sharper and I grow a snout and tail. One by one I feel my hairs come through my skin with little pin pricks and as the last bone sets into place I stand in my place a couple paces away from Winter awaiting for her reaction.

Tilting my head to the side Rome and I look at Winter in concern as she begins to laugh uncontrollably. Taking a couple steps toward her I freeze in place as she stops laughing and stares at me with a look I can't distinguish.

This would be a whole lot easier if I could read her damn mind, but then again if I could that would mean she's a werewolf so this would be kinda pointless.

Looking at her in confusion I sit in the spot and follow her movements with my head as she begins to pace back and forth.

"This must be a dream. I mean stuff like this doesn't happen in real life."

She looks over at me.

"Okay, so it's happening... In real life, it's happening. Echo turned into a big dog!. Echo's a dog! Oh my damn."

I may or may not have growled at her choice of words. Causing her to look over at me and roll her eyes.

"Okay okay. So you're not a dog. You're a... what? Furry horse? No, not a horse. They don't have snouts.... Uh... you're a big... fucking huge.. Wolf?"

I may or may not have let Rome out to see her through his eyes and he puffed up in pride at being called huge... and well also by the fact she said wolf.

"So you're sitting pretty-

Rome growled, not threatening, but in displeasure at being called such a feminine word like pretty.

"Ok! Ok! Jeeze, you damn temper-mental wolf. So you're not pretty, you're handsome and strong. ...You are very beautiful though.. Your coat! Your coat is beautiful."

~Rome~

"Ok! Ok! Jeeze, you damn temper mental wolf. So you're not pretty, you're handsome and strong. ...You are very beautiful though.. Your coat! Your coat is beautiful."

Mate threw up her hands and then pointed at me with a small glare in her eyes but I wasn't mad at it. She's not really threatening.

"Oh fuck it. I'm coming over, stay there you."

I watch as she makes her way over to me. I'm happy she didn't run away like Echo thought she would. I told him she wouldn't but he wouldn't listen.

She gets right in front of my chest and stares up at me while I have to look down because she's so damn tiny. And cute.

Her hand comes up to touch my chest and I stay still as I see her hand tremble slightly. Mate is so brave, she's obviously scared. When mate's hand finally touched the fur on my chest I felt the sparks from this side and damn did they feel good.

Lowering my head while she's occupied with rubbing my fur I place my snout in the crook of her neck. As soon as my nose touches her skin she tenses up and I freeze in place waiting for her to get used to it.

Sooner rather than later she relaxes, allowing me to sniff her neck. After a second or two she begins laughing and pushes my head away from her neck in which I didn't necessarily like.

She looks into my eyes still laughing a little bit and rubbing at her neck.

"Echo cut it out. I'm tickle...ish.."

Noticing something she grabs my face in her hands and brings it down to her level causing a small strain because of our height differences. Staring into her eyes I wonder what she could've found that's so interesting.

"You're not Echo. Echo's eyes are brown, your eyes are a different color.. Your eyes are golden."

Her hands rub my jaw line as she looks into my eyes creating those delicious sparks that I've come to love now that I finally have them.

"I still feel the sparks so you're not Echo entirely, but you're part of him right?"

I nod my head in her hands.

"What's your name? ..Oh, right, you can't talk... Is there a way that you can talk to me?"

Nodding my head I pull my head from her hands and back away from her. Shifting into Echo's body is an experience I'm not entirely used to because it rarely happens but it's familiar enough.

Hearing a scream I open my eyes only to see mate with her hands covering her face, looking around I don't see any immediate danger so I don't know what could cause this, but then I hear Echo's voice in my head.

'You're naked. Put some clothes on idiot.'

Growling at him in my head I look around for the discarded shorts he left on the ground and pull them on. No wonder I don't use his body often.

I hate the feeling of clothes.

Walking over to mate I grab her hands and softly pull them away from her face. She looks at me before dropping her hands totally when she sees that I at least have shorts on.

"Okay not Echo let's start off with your name."

Grinning down at her I sit down on the grass, pulling her down with me in order to feel more of the sparks.

"I'm his wolf, Rome."

Due to not speaking in human tongue all the time my voice was rougher and deeper than Echo's.

"Oh. So when you're a wolf that's you and when you're not that's Echo?"

"Not entirely. It doesn't exactly matter what form we're in. It matters on who wants to be in charge. Most of the time Echo's in charge because he's mostly needed but when I want to come out in his form as long as I don't get angry he'll let me have at it. The wolf is my natural body and normally he'll let me do whatever in my own body."

She pulls away from me making the sparks leave and as I was about to pull her back she shifts her body and then leans back so that they reappear.

"Okay so that makes sense a little bit. Now I've been meaning to ask this, but what's up with the sparks?"

"The sparks? All mates feel them when they come into contact."

"What are mates?"

"Mates, or soulmates, are exactly as it sounds. Mates are two sides of a perfect whole, two people destined to be the perfect pair and half to one another. We balance each other out."

"... Am I Echo's other half... Or yours?"

"Both. We are one and the same."

She spins around quickly and pins me with her gaze.

"You said mates. So there's more wolves?"

"Of course. Echo's house is actually called the pack house where all the wolves in my pack have the option of living. Echo's family are all wolves and even Roge-

"Roger's a wolf! Why didn't he tell me?"

"Yes, he's a wolf. He used to be apart of my pack and he probably didn't tell you because he didn't think there was a need for you to become a part of our world. Now that you're our mate it changes everything."

"Was?"

"He left some years ago for some reason. We met again when we came here."

She goes silent for a heartbeat and grabs my hand, or rather Echo's, and starts drawing random patterns that cause a tingle to run in my hand and along my arm.

"Do I get a choice in the matter?"

Containing a growl deep in my throat I pull her impossibly closer to me as I remember that she's human and that this is all new to her. So no matter how possessive I am and how much I want to take her away I don't want to force her into anything. I want her to come to us willingly and to be happy in her decision.

"As much as I want to say no and force you to come with me I know you won't be happy. So I will say yes."

Letting my hand go she places that same hand on my jaw and rubs it lightly as her eyes lose focus in thought.

"I think I need some time away. I need to think and just digest everything, can you let me do that in peace?"

Grabbing the hand on my jaw I place it under my lips and kiss the back of it.

"Even though we'll be miserable. Don't expect us to stay too far away from you though. We'll be watching over you as you take your time to think."

She smiles up at me as I get up and extend my hand to her to help her up and walk her back to the house. Walking with her up the steps I stop on the step below her and stare down at her because she's still shorter than us.

Bending down I kiss her forehead and look into her flushed face.

She's so damn cute. If her face gets flushed from a small kiss imagine what it would do with other things.

No! Nope not gonna happen, bad wolf bad. She needs space and she won't get it if I'm over here imagining her naked.

Mate's lucky that I love her.

"Don't make me wait too long mate. Echo and I aren't that patient but we'll try for you."

"Thank you."

Nodding slightly I turn and run into the woods shifting as I go so I wouldn't be tempted to do anything else. Running into the woods I could've sworn I heard her voice following me but quickly ignore it and run faster and deeper into the woods.

Running through the dark woods I stop on top of a cliff and just look out at the world below me. With the bright moon behind me I feel like I'm on top of the world and with no other thought ahead me I lift my head to the sky and sing.

I sing to the Moon Goddess in thanks for giving me such an amazing mate, I sing for finally being able to find my mate, and finally I sing because I'm happy and it deserves to be heard.