Echo Bad Batch Novels & Stories

Read at your own risk. ****

We stayed silent for a long moment. “What if I refuse?” he broke the silence. “Refuse what?” “All this mating shit.” I froze, “W—why?” “I’m not doing it. So, what happens next?” I remembered what my uncle told me about rejection; “Mates are like your other half, and if they reject you, well then you might die out of heartbreak.” I gulped. “So?” “Bad consequences,” I mumbled. “Like what?” Alexander furrowed his eyebrows.

Run where nobody finds them. Or die trying. Right now both seemed the same anyway.

“How bad was the day?” Olivia considered. “Scale of one to ten?” “Sure.” “Jack.” Tessa didn’t hesitate. “We’ll take six. To start.” The waiter nodded and disappeared. “Love that for us,” Isabella said, adjusting her bracelet. The shots arrived quickly. Clear liquid in neat little glasses, lime wedges on a small plate beside them. They didn’t wait. Glasses clinked. “To bad decisions,” Tessa declared. “To better ones,” Isabella corrected.

He grabbed his phone and called the number he had remembered by heart. He wanted to question her and talk some sense into her. "Sorry, the number you have dialed is unavailable," a cold, robotic voice rang out. Jason froze and wondered if she had deactivated her number. He kept calling again and again, only stopping when his phone battery died and the screen went black. He sat in the dark, his stomach still aching, but the pain in his chest was far greater. A wave of fear and unfamiliar anguish washed over him, leaving him struggling to breathe.

Lana lay sprawled on the sofa in the bedroom, staring blankly at the ceiling, while I stood by the window, trying to calm the storm inside me. “We can’t go on like this, Maya,” Lana said suddenly, her voice filled with a frustration that matched my own. “Let’s just quit.” I turned to face her, a sharp jolt running through my chest. "Quit?" My voice cracked slightly. “I can’t. I have almost $3,000 in loan payments every month. Quitting isn’t an option.”

I could feel him processing, could almost picture the way his mouth would curl as he decided which version of himself to be. Then he laughed. ‘Good.’ The word echoed unpleasantly in my skull. ‘Good?’ I repeated. ‘Means I don’t have to deal with it,’ he said easily. ‘I was worried you’d try to use it to drag me back. But if you’re already gone, that’s convenient.’ Lila’s fury burned hot. ‘He rejects the pup.’ ‘I hear him.’ ‘You hear everything,’ Cade continued, casual and cruel. ‘I don’t want it. I never wanted that future. So don’t bring it to my pack. Don’t bring it to me.’

“Becca. Just wanted to make sure you made it home okay. You left so fast that I didn’t get your address for tomorrow.” Tomorrow. Hmmm … maybe I should cancel tomorrow. Tonight was a close call as it was. “You there?” Jason’s voice was soft and almost sensual. He’d had too much to drink, and the idea of him taking another girl home almost grated on her until she reminded herself that there was nothing at all between them and would never be. “Yeah, sorry. I’m trying to run water for a bath and answer e-mails, and you know how life can be.” She rolled her eyes at how stupid she sounded for blaming a plethora of e-mails for her busyness at eleven on a Friday night.

“ haha, I’m gonna let that pass because I love you. It’s true though, everyone else wants to see what they are told and not the real thing.” “So how’s your camping. Hopefully it’s better than my day.” “Nope it’s worse. Mom thought it would be fun to hike up and down a mountain. I can’t feel my legs.” “I saw a snake too. The green kind, I don’t know their name neither do I care. Mom whacked it with her hiking stick. That’s when the decided we had enough for one day.” “Wow that’s tough. Sorry buttercup. It’s good for exercise though, if it helps.”

I groaned into the phone. "What the fuck? Why?" He gasped. "Just set up a warm bath, get me a large bowl of ice cream and popcorn, and two large coconuts." I ordered. "Why?" He uttered in confusion. "I'll be at your place any second, I need those to calm me down during my breakdown." I explained. "What's the coconuts for? You hate them because they make you cough." He pointed out. -"Oh no, that's not for me, those are for you."