Gonna be heading out on a trip soon, so I decided to iron out this chapter and get it posted. That way y'all would have something to read until I got the next chapter done. College is going to be starting up soon again, and I'm worried that it will keep me busy. If I do manage to get the next chapter done before college starts back up though, I'll probably wait to release it; use it as a buffer in case college keeps me too busy to write the one after that.

Just wanted to get that out there.

Anyways, I'm really glad you all are enjoying the story, and always look forward to what comes next. I definitely looked forward to writing how Echo survived and the life she had.

By the way, I meant to say that Blue and her sisters were around 14 or 15 during the flashback chapter 5. Originally I was going to have them be different ages, but realized that would be impossible if they were from the same clutch. Also, they wouldn't age so fast once they hit the human equivalent of 20. Hell, I don't have a mathematical formula for the age rate of each dinosaur, so some will age faster than others. That's why Spark is only 2-3 years older than Echo despite being born at least 10 years before her.

Anyways, enough rambling, here goes the chapter.

P.S. There is a lemon in here, and it's pretty long.

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Keeping secrets will always lead to unhappiness and communication is the key to love.

Laura Esquivel

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Chapter 16: Elvis Has Entered The Building

"ECHO! It's really you!" Blue cried while holding her sister tight.

"Echo… I thought you were dead!" Kenny said, having his arms wrapped tight around one of his closest friends, not questioning the bag around her neck.

"K-Kenny? You're here?" Echo asked, having yet to embrace the two as she stood completely stiff. "And Blue… you're… alive? You're actually…? Oh my god… you're actually alive! BLUE!"

Maria and Apoyo could only stand and watch in total disbelief as Blue was reunited with someone they thought had perished long ago. Spark meanwhile was standing with his kids, and they tilted their heads when they saw him tapping his sickle claws against the ground and kept frantically looking towards the doors.

"Echo… I thought… I thought I was alone… I can't believe you're here… you're actually here!" Blue weeped as she held her sister close. "How… how is this real? How can you be here? How are you talking? And where are your legs?!"

"{Look, I am terribly sorry to interrupt this touching reunion and all, but we really should get going. We're not safe here, and we have to go before-}" Spark started to say, but froze up when he heard a door open down the hall.

"{Before what Spark?}" A voice called out, and everyone turned to see a troodon with glowing yellow eyes and crimson red feathers standing at the entrance to the building. "{You're not sneaking out again are you?}"

"{Not on your life Ciera.}" Spark growled and came out from behind the counter to face her and the other troodons coming in through the doors. Kenny saw others coming in from the back door, and stepped between them and everyone else when he saw some of them were growling. "{I'm just heading out with my family.}"

"{Oh really? Phew, I thought you were deserting your friends and family.}" Ciera laughed before glaring at him. "{Cause it sure looks like that's what you're doing.}"

"{You should know by now Ciera that I would never abandon my friends and family.}" Spark retorted, standing up to his older sister. "{Furthermore, we still have friends and family alive in the Arms Nteel and Mark of Honor packs. We aren't alone, we never were, we were just separated by the humans. But now we're free from them, we can be together with our loved ones!}"

Sparks words started to draw murmurs and confusion from his packmates, but Ciera growled when she heard them discussing lost family members.

"{Shut it!}" She snapped at them, making them jump and silenced any discussions, and looked back at her brother. "{Have you forgotten that these humans are the ones who took our parents away and so many of the others in our pack? They're the reason so many of our species died in those early days, and why that dilophosaurus and troodon over there thought they lost their kids!}"

"{'Thought'?}" Apoyo quietly asked Maria. "{How could she have known that we thought we lost Terra and Skye?}"

Terra and Skye's claws dug into the floor and counter when they heard their father say that, and something clicked in their heads. They bolted out from behind the counter, nearly knocking over Kenny and stood beside Spark as they glared at Ciera.

"{You BITCH!}" Skye shouted. "{You knew our parents were alive… AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?!}"

"{That's why you didn't want us to go near that lab! You didn't want us to find our parents!}" Terra snarled.

"{Shit…}" She muttered, but shook her head and glared back at them. "{You two were the most skilled members of our pack, and could do so many things that none of us could! I couldn't let you go back, it would have been insane to give you up!}"

"{Ciera… you're insane.}" Terra simply stated, drawing a fierce growl from his cousin.

"{I don't hate all of the humans like you do Ciera, I only wanted to kill the ones who personally killed our parents and ordered our deaths.}" Spark told her. "{Don't forget that it is because of humans that I am alive, I was named after one too. Not just me, but Terra and Skye, Echo, and even Blue over there. Because of nice humans like the Hardings and Kenny here, we have a chance at surviving. I don't want us to fight, I just want us to be safe from humans who want to harm us. I mean my children are right here, I don't want to get them involved in a bloodbath!}"

"{Then as alpha, I suggest you make the wise decision.}" Ciera said, causing some of the troodons around them to gasp and look at their children.

"{How about you all?}" Spark asked them. "{What is it that you want most?}"

"{I love my kids, we've done the best we can to raise them and keep them safe from any humans who would try to take them away from us.}" One of the male troodons said as he stepped forward. "{I just want them to have a safe future.}"

"{Kenny, would you even think of harming Vern's kids?}" Spark asked.

"No, I really wouldn't." He said, and stepped forward. "I understand that many of you may not be particularly fond of humans, and seeing some of the atrocities they have committed firsthand, I don't blame you. You all want what's best for your children: a healthy, strong future. I don't want to harm any of you, and I don't intend to either. I want to give all of you a chance to work together with us, to build a great community here where we can all mutually benefit each other and support one another. That offer even goes to you Ciera."

"{I would rather die than work with a human.}" Ciera snarled. "{I will never join you.}"

"{I would however.}" A female troodon said and came over to Kenny. "{This human had every reason to kill me when I bit him at the dam. I bit him, there were no other troodons around to force him to run off, and he still let me live, because he knew I was worried for my kids. Because of his unwavering generosity and compassion, Braze still has a mate, and our two kids still have a mother.}"

"{Nonononono, you four aren't going over to be with that hu-}" Ciera started to say when they walked over to Spark's side.

"{Let them decide for themselves Ciera.}" Spark ordered, and left Ciera growling as more troodons came over to them. One troodon started to step over, but was stopped by her mate who grabbed her shoulder.

"{You're not leaving me and our kid behind.}" He growled at her.

"{Sweetie, where do you want to go?}" The female asked her son, who looked between her and his dad.

"{I want to go be with Spark.}" He said, leaving his father's jaw to slowly drop. His mate pulled out of his grip and walked over to Spark's side, and another female smiled to do the same, leaving her mate reaching out in vain for her.

"{How can you all do this? How can you just leave your pack behind?!}" Ciera asked, looking at all of them.

"{We're not leaving our pack behind.}" Vern told Ciera as the troodons on Spark's side forced the aggressive ones towards Ciera's. "{We're leaving you and everyone on that side behind.}"

"{Kenny was willing to forgive us and give us a chance when we tried to kill him due to a miscommunication between us and Spark.}" Skye said, tearing up as she looked over at Kenny. "{He was even willing to forgive Spark for attacking him in the self-defense of his territory, and he considers us all to be friends.}"

"{Ciera, unlike you, we're moving on and accepting things.}" Spark said. "{We're not holding innocent humans accountable for the actions that others committed. Kenny isn't like InGen; he has nothing but respect, compassion, and generosity for us dinosaurs.}"

"{You've changed Spark…}" Ciera growled.

"{No Ciera, you're the one who has changed.}" Spark told her. "{I remember when you used to be a sweet big sister, but now you don't feel love for anyone who doesn't agree with you… now you're just too full of hatred. You've twisted the memory of our parents and let your grief drive you mad. I'm letting them go, because I know they would want their children to honor their memory, not kill innocent creatures.}"

"{KILL THEM!}" Ciera screeched.

"{Everyone cover your eyes!}" Skye hissed at them. When Kenny heard the clattering on the floor, he immediately turned around and covered his eyes for a moment as a bright flash covered the area.

"{MOVE!}" Spark ordered and everyone on his side ran out the closest doors as Ciera's group was left hissing and rolling on the floor.

Once outside Kenny shut the door and looked at Spark for his directions. Spark nodded in understanding and started giving out orders.

"{Everyone with eggs grab them and get going! Follow Skye to the monorail!}" Spark ordered, and turned to Skye. "{Skye, you're injured, so I don't want you around when Ciera's group recovers. Go there, get a monorail, and hold it.}"

"Blue, I want you to go with her. You're just as injured, and you can't survive a straight fight right now." Kenny said.

"So are you! I'm not leaving you!" Blue retorted, but Kenny kneeled down next to her.

"I'll be fine, but I'm not leaving our new friends to lag behind." Kenny said, and lightly pushed her in the direction of the monorail. "Stay safe."

Blue nodded and hurried off with Echo, who Spark sent in that direction as well.

"Skye!" Kenny said, and tossed her a card when she turned around. "That's my staff ID card. Use it if there isn't a monorail there."

"{Thanks! Here!}" She said and tossed him a flashlight. "{Good luck!}"

Kenny could hear the troodons with Ciera starting to get up, so he hurried off to help the others grab their eggs and make sure they got out safe. On the way, he held up the steel flashlight Skye tossed him and turned it on to test it out, but hissed when the super high-power beam got close to his eyes.

"Damn this thing is bright!" Kenny said, and saw Terra running alongside him as they went to the hangars. "Hey Terra! How do we know the good troodons from the bad ones?"

"{If they're trying to eat you they're bad!}" He said. "{I'll help the ones in the north hangar!}"

"{CRAG! STOP!}" Kenny heard a voice yell and saw a male troodon nearly tackle one of the females to the ground as she almost had an egg crushed. Kenny immediately ran over and punched Crag in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Get out of here! Get to the monorail!" Kenny said, standing between the female and the hostile male. "Leave them out of this!"

"{This doesn't concern you human!}" The troodon yelled and ran at Kenny, only to be blinded by the flashlight and punched in the mouth. Kenny grabbed his neck and slammed him face-first into a metal pole with a loud clang, knocking him out cold.

Kenny saw an egg in a nest nearby, and grabbed it as he ran into the forest to join the others running to the monorail, putting the egg in his pocket. Kenny cheered when he saw a tram at the station, but that excitement quickly faded when he remembered that they only stayed at each platform for about 5 minutes when automated before departing, and he had no idea how long this one has been here. Kenny heard a couple of juvenile troodons calling out for their parents behind him, and he immediately whirled around to get them.

Ciera's troodons weren't far behind, so Kenny grabbed a large branch and whirled it over his head at one of the hostile troodons, using it like a carnival sledgehammer and knocking it out.

"Let's get you two out of there." Kenny said, reaching into a thorn bush to pull both of them out, hissing at the pain but did his best to carefully and quickly get the young ones out. Once he did, Kenny didn't even set them down, he just carried them in his arms as he ran up the stairs.

"{Kenny, I couldn't get it-}" Skye started to say after scanning the ID again, but was gently pushed to the side by Kenny who put the troodons down and typed on the keypad, and selected a destination as the two kids went into the monorail.

Kenny sighed as he got inside the monorail with the others, but jumped when Ciera's head stopped the door from closing as she snapped at him. Kenny got out the flashlight and shone it in Ciera's face, then bashed her eye with it to force her out so the doors could close fully. He jumped when her claw raked across the glass, scratching it as the monorail started to move.

"Fuck… that was close…" Kenny panted as he slid down against the wall to the floor, staring at the claw marks left in the glass. "Sorry about that Skye, forgot to give you my code."

"{It's alright, we're safe now.}" Skye said as Spark carefully stepped around and counted up everyone and the kids.

"Alright, we got everyone." Spark said.

"{Wait… uhhh Trax, see our other egg anywhere?}" One of the females asked, looking at her mate. "{You got our third egg… right?}"

"{You don't have it Connie?! We both grabbed eggs!}" Trax asked.

"Did… did you two have a… nest near Crag?" Kenny asked, and Trax nodded. Kenny reached into his pocket, pulling out the egg he found. "Saw this in a nest near there, figured it was one of yours."

"{You… oh thank you! Thank you sir!}" Creem cried and carefully took the egg from him, smiling as she held it with the other egg she had. "{I thought we lost them, Ciera would have destroyed this egg if you hadn't found it.}"

"{Are they going to follow us?}" Luna asked as Kenny leaned back.

"Definitely." Kenny sighed, groaning as he held his ribs. "But don't worry, I set this to go to the cretaceous cruise on the other side of the mountain range. We're switching trams at the innovation center though. By the time she figures it out, it will be too late."

"So where are we going?" Blue wondered.

"{We're going to Maria's lab. While Kenny's plan may keep Ciera occupied until sunrise, the others should know about what's going on.}" Spark said.

"I just hope Veil is cool with it." Kenny sighed.

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[1 hour later]

"Careful Kenny." Blue requested while Spark helped Kenny walk.

"I know Blue, I am." Kenny said as he walked with them, and saw Veil standing ahead of them. Kenny chuckled and scratched his head when he saw Veil's tail twitching and his claws tapping the ground.

"{So, instead of taking them elsewhere like we discussed, you bring them into my territory and ignore everything I said.}" Veil growled. "{That's really shitty of you to do, you know that right?}"

"I'm sorry Veil, there were complications." Kenny said. "I didn't think it was a good idea after what happened."

"{So you thought bringing these things here was a better idea?}" Veil asked.

"{'THINGS'?!}" Spark snapped and stepped towards Veil. "{Is that what you think of us as?! You don't even see us as alive?!}"

"{I'm not talking to you.}" Veil stated and looked back at Kenny.

"{But I'm talking to you! It was my idea to come here! Not Kenny's, mine!}" Spark snarled. "{I suggested it to protect your pack!}"

"{I almost lost my mate last night because of your species! So tell me, how are you protecting us?!}" Veil demanded.

"{Because my sister knows where you live!}" Spark shouted, inches away from Veil now. "{Kenny suggested we go to the old innovation center because it's perfect for us, but I knew that wasn't an option anymore when Ciera caught us trying to get my mate and kids to safety. She knows several of us have friends and family in your packs, and she always has. I knew that I would feel responsible if my pack was resting safe and sound in some old building, while innocent dinosaurs are dying because she would expect us to come here! So shut up, and understand that we came here to keep you and your loved ones safe from her!}"

Veil couldn't even mutter a single word, and looked at Kenny for his input.

"These troodons who came with us aren't like the ones with Ciera. They're nice, and miss the family they got separated from over a decade ago." Kenny said. "They don't want to hurt you or your pack, they just miss their loved ones."

Veil stayed silent, now staring at the ground as the air got thick. After about a minute, Spark sighed and relaxed some as he looked up at Veil.

"{Look, can you trust us?}" Spark asked.

"{My mate wasn't attacked by any of your friends here?}" Veil asked, and Spark nodded. "{Yeah, yeah I'll trust you.}"

"{Then you should get some sleep for the time being. We can keep watch over the rest of the night to ensure no one gets jumped by one of Ciera's loyalists.}" Spark suggested. "{If Ciera doesn't attack before sunrise, then she definitely will tomorrow. We'll all need as much rest as we can get.}"

"{Alright, I can agree with that.}" Veil said, and went to his nest.

"{Alright Kenny, let's go see the others so we can get ourselves organized.}" Spark said, and helped Kenny back toward the group of troodons. "{Terra and Skye, I want you to get some rest, you've been up for a while. Lilly, you should get some sleep too so we can catch up in the morning.}"

"O-okay." Echo agreed and stepped away towards the lab, her kids following behind her.

"{I'll go help her get settled in.}" Maria said and went with her.

"{I'll join Spark, I'm not really tired right now.}" Apoyo said and joined the other troodons.

"{That's why he's alpha.}" Skye said before heading off with Terra.

"So uhhh… guess we should sleep too?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, I think we should. We've been up since yesterday morning." Blue agreed.

"{Hope you two have sweet dreams.}" Spark said, smiling as he went off.

"Fuck, we're going to have a lot to talk about tomorrow." Kenny said.

"Damn right." Blue agreed as they went inside. "Echo is alive."

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[February 11th, 2016 - 10:30 am]

"Mmm… woah!" Kenny said, sitting up in the bed and looking at the time.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Blue asked, slowly waking up as she rolled onto her belly and wiped her eyes. "Wait, did we actually fall asleep?"

"Sure seems like it. I can't believe we actually fell asleep though." Kenny said. "I had so many thoughts racing through my head."

"Same here, most of them about Echo." Blue said as she rolled out of bed. "Want to go see if she's up?"

"Of course, I can't believe she's alive." Kenny agreed, and the two left the room and went across the hall. When he got to Echo's room, he heard sniffing and quiet moaning on the other side. Kenny looked at Blue and saw that she was worried too, and he knocked on the door. "Hey Echo? Are-are you alright? It's me Kenny, Blue's here too."

"I'll-I'll be right there… sorry…" She said, and a few seconds later she opened the door. Kenny and Blue immediately noticed that her eyes were wet, and so were the scales below them.

Before Kenny and Blue could even say anything, she pulled them into the room and hugged them tight, and they returned the favor after a moment. After a few minutes Echo pulled away to look at both of them.

"Sorry… I-I still… I still can't believe this is real…" Echo cried with a small smile on her face. "I… I had to make sure again."

"It's alright, I've been hallucinating you and our other sisters ever since a few weeks ago." Blue said as they pulled out of the hug after a while. "I've had nightmares too, but Kenny's helped me through them."

"Hallucinations? Huh?" Echo asked.

"I… I have post traumatic stress disorder. What I went through when I thought I lost everyone affected my mind, and I'm having to live with it." Blue said.

"I… I haven't had any of that happen to me, but I've been so sad ever since then." Echo sighed as she walked over to the window and looked up at the sky. "If it weren't for Spark and our kids helping me through recovery… I don't think I'd be here right now."

"Are you… do you need anything?" Kenny asked, walking over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Time." Echo sighed and looked over at him. "I wish I had something else to say, but I don't know what else."

"You don't need to think of anything else Echo, if you want to be alone for now, we'll leave you be." Kenny said.

"I-I actually don't want to be alone. I mean… this will take some getting used to, but... I just want to spend time with you and Blue when we're safe." Echo said, and pointed at a table in the room. "Thank you though Kenny, I'm glad you're here to help, just like you were back then, all those months ago."

"Is that…?" Kenny asked and looked over at the table in the room, and saw that it was the same drawing he gave Echo on Christmas, with the Celtic mother symbol above her.

"Yeah, I kept it because I thought I would never see you again." Echo admitted. "It's part of the reason why I haven't given up, why I've kept moving forward."

"What happened back then?" Blue wondered, coming over. "You weren't speaking English before all this shit happened."

"It's actually a bit of a story, and I haven't told Spark about it yet; never got the chance to, or felt willing to tell it between then and now." Echo said as she picked up the drawing. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to tell it with Kenny when we're safe from Ciera."

"I don't have a problem with that." Blue said, smiling now. "So when did you learn to speak?'

"I've… actually been able to for at least a year." Echo said, grinning as she slowly lowered her head. "I didn't want to do it around you, Delta, or Charlie because I was worried about how you'd react, and I asked Kenny to promise to not tell you because of that. It's a stupid thing to worry about now that I think about it, sorry."

"It's alright, I got something that will shock you." Blue said. "We aren't just raptors, we have human DNA!"

"What?! How?" Echo asked, standing up fully now as she looked herself and her sister over. "Tha-that can't be possible, we don't look anything like humans!"

"Heh, Sarah Harding said that's because your DNA is only 25% human. It's not quite enough to alter your anatomy and stuff." Kenny said. "Me on the other hand, I'm a third troodon due to some mishap involving my dad. That's why I can see in the dark, my teeth and feet look like they do, and why my saliva is poisonous."

"You too?!" Echo asked, jaw on the floor now. "How is this even possible? We weren't made in test tubes, we came from eggs on another island."

"I don't know, maybe it's passed down?" Blue guessed. "If it is, then that means Cobalt is related to us. We might have other relatives."

"I thought we lost everyone in our family?" Echo asked as she looked at her sister.

"I thought I lost you…" Blue said, tearing up as she looked down at Echo's legs.

"So did I…" Echo replied and looked at the cut over Blue's eye and on her chest.

"How are you alive?" They both asked in unison, and laughed when they realized what they did.

"You got crushed by boulders, I tried to dig you out, but I couldn't…" Blue said and looked off to the side.

"Boulders? No I didn't." Echo asked.

"What? But I saw your claws on the ground by the T-Rex Kingdom." Blue said.

"Oooh… that must have been where my blood ran after I dragged myself into that area and then got pulled out." Echo said.

"But… how? And where are your legs?" Blue asked.

"Well… about that…" Echo said.

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[Echo's POV]

[December 27th, 2016 - 8:50 pm]

"[YOU!]" A terrifyingly loud voice roared. We all jerked to face the booming voice, and Blue even visibly jumped a couple of feet while screeching, and completely froze up when we saw who was approaching us. It was Gwen. "[WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING CUDDLING WITH THEM?!]"

"[Oh fuck…]" Blue gasped.

"[Kill them!]" She ordered. "[RIGHT FUCKING NOW!]"

"[Kill them?]" Blue repeated. I looked back at the humans, and I saw how absolutely terrified they were, especially Zack and Gray. There was no way in hell that I was going to kill these children. Blue grinned at dad, and he grinned back. "[Let's kick her ass together, as a family.]"

We all agreed and stood our ground in front of Gwen.

"[If you think we'll kill our own father and his friends, then it's time to put you back in the earth!]" Blue snarled. "[We won't kill them!]"

"Sorry girl, I suggest you submit now." Dad said, causing Gwen's eyes to burn red with rage. "They're with an alpha who really loves them!"

"[NOT ANYMORE!]" Gwen roared and reared her left arm back.

I saw Dad moving forwards with an arm reaching out to Blue, but in a split-second, she had pushed him to the side and was sent flying.

"BLUE, NO!" Dad yelled as Blue was thrown into a concrete pillar, taking a huge chunk out of it and going limp.

"[BLUE!]" I screamed, and I watched as she slumped to the ground with her eyes wide-open, and I felt tears streaming down my face as I watched my sister die right before me.

"[Want to join her?}" Gwen asked, and we lost it.

"[YOU BITCH!]" Delta screamed and kicked the ground as she prepared to tear Gwen apart.

"[I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!]" I screeched as I turned to her, and my claws started digging into the asphalt as I felt my blood boil.

The second after I heard the whistle from dad, I was charging the white bitch.

"[Try it!]" Gwen yelled and slashed at me, but I jumped up and used her arm to jump straight onto her back and sunk my teeth into her. This bitch took away our sister, so we were personally going to rip out her spine. Delta and I dug our claws in for support as Gwen spun around and tried to throw us off, and she nearly got me off, but I wasn't having it. I hooked my sickle claws into Gwen's scales and scored a long gash on her sides as I climbed back up. I saw dad on the ground aiming his gun at Gwen, so I climbed onto her back to give him a clear view as I ripped apart Gwen's scales. Gwen jerked herself around and almost launched me into the ground, but thankfully I had a claw dug in and used her movements to launch myself onto her neck.

"[You fucking sadist!]" I screamed at her after I saw her tail pass just inches from dad's head, and I used my claws to tear at the wound on her shoulder, drawing a pained screech from her which got louder when I bit into her tissue.

"[You aren't taking our dad away from us too!]" Delta yelled as she bit into Gwen's other shoulder and ripped it apart while dad started shooting at Gwen. A few of his shots didn't hit, and got deflected off of Gwen's armored spine, but it didn't take him long until they were getting buried in her body. Gwen started to get more and more pissed as the fight went on, and before I could even react, I saw her flip her wrist around and grab me, throwing me to the ground.

"[GAH! Fuck!]" I yelled as my body slid against the asphalt and at least 20 feet past dad. It took me several seconds to get to my feet, and Delta was still tearing into Gwen's scales when I did, but she lost her footing and was knocked to the ground. I charged Gwen to keep her from going after Delta, but as soon as Gwen saw me coming she swatted me aside. Thankfully Gwen didn't manage to knock me sideways, and I skidded on the ground while digging my claws in to slow myself down as Delta ran around Gwen and jumped onto her thigh.

Dad started shooting around where Gwen's lungs were so Delta could climb up uninterrupted, and another one of his shots buried itself into Gwen's body. Gwen roared painfully and jerked herself to the side several times, causing Delta to lose her footing and get snatched up in her jaws. Gwen bit down on her and tossed her through a window and into a grill, with fire fully covering Delta's body.

"[DELTA!]" I screeched as I watched my sister thrash around, screaming as she was burned alive. Gwen looked at me and tried to stomp on me while I was distracted, but I threw myself out of the way and to the side. Gwen spun around and destroyed the cover dad was using, pelting him with huge chunks of glass that knocked him to the ground, and I shuddered as I was the only one left standing.

"[Gotcha.]" I heard Gwen say and whirled around to see her terrifying array of teeth feet away from me.

"[NO!]" I yelled and tried to run out of the way, but couldn't get more than a foot down when Gwen's teeth sunk into my body and I went limp as I was thrown down the walkway. I yelped as I hit the ground with so much force that I heard snapping and cracks each time I bounced across the asphalt. I tumbled into a tunnel in the T-Rex Kingdom, and I whimpered as my entire body shuddered, stinging with excruciating pain all over. I slowly put my claws to the ground and tried to push myself up, but I heard a snap and screamed as I fell face-first into the ground while my right arm felt like it was on fire. I looked at it and saw that it was bent at a sharp angle, and the bone on my lower arm was sticking clean out.

"[Oh god…]" I groaned and looked back at mainstreet. I could hear screaming, and I knew those sweet, innocent kids were going to die if nothing was done. I knew that even with a broken arm, I still had to do something, even if I died, I wouldn't let those kids share the same fate as my sisters. I tried to get to my feet without using my arms… but something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. I looked down at my lower body and froze when I saw myself.

My legs were fully covered in blood, and I was missing both of my sickle claws. As I looked at my legs, I could see huge gashes in them, and blood was flowing freely from them, right over the bones that were sticking out some. I noticed that blood was beginning to pool all around me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I needed to get back to dad, no matter how much it would hurt me. He'd know what to do, or at least put me out of my misery. I tried to get up again, but I couldn't, and looked at my legs as I tried to move them once more. That's when it dawned on me: I couldn't move my legs.

I started to hyperventilate and I felt myself starting to become light-headed as I couldn't feel anything with my legs. I knew I had to do something, and fast. I looked around for a phone, someone had to have dropped one in the chaos earlier, and thankfully I saw one on the ground by some desk. I reached out with an arm, dragging myself across the ground to it, and I screamed as I felt the hard ground pulling at the cuts all across my body.

"[Please don't be locked… please…]" I groaned and reached out, pulling it over to me. I breathed a sigh when I saw it was the same kind of phone Skye had, and knew that I could contact her with it, but my sigh soon turned to a cough as I felt odd inside. Thankfully the phone wasn't password protected, and I pushed the bottom button to activate its speak function, and said Skye's phone number. The call connected, but nothing was said on the other end. I coughed again, and tried to speak in a way where I could get her attention more easily. "Sk...Skye… Are… a-are you there…?"

"[Holy shit! Echo is that you?!]" She asked, and I felt so happy that she actually answered. "[I didn't recognize the number so I didn't say anything. What's going on? You sound terrible.]"

"I-I'm dying… I… can't… move… I can't move my legs!" I yelled, knowing I needed help fast, and didn't have time to stumble over my words. "I'm… in… the T-Rex… kingdom…"

"[Echo what's going on? What happened?]" Skye asked, and I tried to answer, but I coughed up blood and got it all over the ground. "[ECHO!]"

I tried to speak again, but only coughed up more blood, and I had a hard time focusing after that. Blood covered my tongue and teeth, agonizing pain filled my arm and back, and my head felt so heavy. After some time passed, I don't know how much, I felt something grabbing me and pulling me through a door. A bright light shone down on me and I heard rapid chopping sounds, but they all faded away as I passed out.

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[3rd person POV]

"Turns out it was Sarah and Jessica Harding who saved my life." Echo said. "I needed a lot of blood to be given to me so I didn't die from blood loss, and if they hadn't given it to me within 20 minutes of arrival, I wouldn't be here right now. As for my arm, they reconnected it and put it in a cast, and now I can move it again. I still gotta be careful with it though, it's still healing some."

"I… I see that they couldn't fix your legs though…" Blue sighed and looked them over.

"Yeah… I was able to regain feeling and movement in my tail, but… turns out Gwen bit into my nerves and damaged them so badly my legs were paralyzed." Echo said. "I'm really lucky my nerves could be connected to these legs, I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't walk again. I just got used to them a couple days ago, and I still need to do therapy though."

"Well, guess you're as tough as me. I ended up with a foot-long shard of metal buried over halfway into my body, being in a fire, and venom flowing through me." Blue chuckled.

"It seems we've both managed to survive being on the edge of death." Echo said, and then turned to look at Kenny. "After what happened here, I didn't think I'd ever see you again. How did you get here?"

"I came back here on my own because I missed you all. You and your sisters were the best friends I had growing up, and you loved me taking time to ensure I could visit you each time I came here. I'm honestly so happy you're alive Echo…" Kenny said, still sniffing as he stepped over to her and hugged her tight. "I didn't know if you were alive or not after the park fell. I wish Delta and Charlie were still alive too, but I'm sure they're happy knowing you survived."

"I'm glad to see you too Kenny." Echo said as she patted his back, surprised by the sudden hug. "Oh Blue, where's dad? Did he find you?"

"That's… not an easy thing to discuss. He is alive but…" Blue muttered, unable to look her sister in the eyes.

"But what? I didn't see him when I got back a couple days ago." Echo wondered.

"A couple days?! I missed you by that much?" Blue asked, realizing that she and Echo were in the same building not too long ago. "Well… anyways, regarding Owen… he left me."

"He left you?" Echo asked, pulling out of the hug to look at her sister. "Come on, he wouldn't leave you, what really happened? Did he go back to the mainland for something?"

"Echo… this… this is gonna be hard for you to accept, but... he abandoned me." Blue said, and sighed when she saw Echo still didn't believe her. "Echo, I've thought you were dead for over a month. Do you really think the first thing I'd do when I have just reunited with you is lie to your face?"

"No… but… he's our dad, our alpha, he loves us!" Echo protested. "We fought to save him and those kids! He wouldn't abandon us!"

"Echo… he really abandoned you two." Kenny said. "After Blue regained consciousness and helped Rexy kill Gwen, he just shook his head at her when she asked if he would stay, or if she could go with him. He couldn't understand her then, but the way he shook his head and looked at her… he wasn't happy."

"Nononononono… he promised to stay with us. I heard him say that! Are you sure he wasn't just letting you go Blue?" Echo denied and looked between the two of them.

"Sis, he didn't even put Delta out of her misery, he never even checked on her or you." Blue sighed. "After I thought you died, I wandered through main street and heard Delta calling out to me. She was dying when I found her, and there was nothing I could do to save her. She was completely burned and in excruciating pain, and she died in my arms. He didn't let me go, he deserted me knowing my sisters were dead, and left me to discover that on my own, with no one to help me through it."

"When I found him on the mainland as we were all being treated and reunited with family members, the first thing I asked him was if you all were all safe and okay, and he said each of you were alive and happy with each other. He lied right to my face, and I believed it for a month until I came back here." Kenny said, and noticed that Echo's eyes were getting wet, and that she was starting to breathe quicker. "I'm so sorry Echo…"

Echo grabbed Kenny and Blue, holding them tight as she cried against them. Kenny and Blue hugged Echo back, letting her lean and cry on them as she wailed and tried to understand why the very man who raised her would do that to them. Kenny gently rubbed Echo's back, and she hugged them tighter.

"How could he do this to us?! We loved him! He said he still loved us!" Echo sobbed and held onto Kenny and Blue for support. "He raised us and kept us safe from people who wanted to use us… and now he left us? All because of a fucking mistake?"

"I'm really sorry you had to experience this Echo, you don't deserve this…" Blue whispered, and nuzzled her sister before hearing knocking at the door.

"{Hey Echo, we're back, got you some food-}" Spark said, and gasped when he saw her crying. "{Oh no… what happened?}"

Kenny gently let go of Echo, who separated from Blue and curled up on the bed. Kenny led Spark out of the room and sighed.

"We just broke the news to her about her alpha and father." Kenny said as Echo's kids went into her room to check on their mother.

"{What happened? Did he die when that hybrid sociopath rampaged?}" Spark asked.

"I'm gonna have to remember to fill you two in on the truth about Gwen." Kenny said. "No, he didn't die, but… he abandoned her."

"{What? But that doesn't sound like him at all from what Echo told me.}" Spark said. "{I thought he was at least a decent human being}."

"I used to think the same thing, but that was before he lied to my face and told me they were all alive and healthy." Kenny sighed.

"{Well, thanks for telling me.}" Spark said and looked at the door. "{I'll see what I can do for her. Can you go help Terra and Skye with setting up our defenses? I don't want them to do too much on their own.}"

"Of course, I'm happy to help." Kenny said, and Spark smiled as he went into Echo's room after Blue came out. "How could Owen do this to you two?"

"I still can't believe he lied to you about this." Blue sighed as they walked down the hall. "I think that's the part that hurt Echo the most."

"I wish I didn't have to tell her that, it really broke her." Kenny said.

"It was either that or lie to her." Blue said. "We should probably leave her be. After you left to talk with Spark, I tried to comfort Echo some more, but she didn't say a word, she just, she started crying even more. I think she's in shock from finding out her best friend is here, her sister is alive, and her father left her and her sisters for dead."

"She's been through so much, I wish I could go in there and hug her, take away all of her pain." Kenny sighed.

"No one should have to suffer through that much trauma." Blue said. "Let's come back later today and see how she's doing."

"That sounds good." Kenny said and went outside with Blue. "Alright, Spark gave us an assignment. He wants us to help Terra and Skye get things ready to defend against Ciera's group."

"Sure thing, but can we please get some meat? I'm really starving, I've never been this hungry before when waking up." Blue asked and spotted Maria heading towards them. "Oh Maria, are you busy?"

"{Oh hey Blue. No, I just got back from catching gallimimus with some of my packmates to help feed our new friends.}" Maria said. "{Do you need something?}"

"Yeah, I'm really, really hungry. I know I had a big meal yesterday before we came back here, but I'm already starving." Blue said. "Would it be too much trouble if I had one of those gallimimus to eat?"

"{Oh, no I don't think it would be.}" Maria agreed, thinking about what Blue said before pointing into the woods. "{They're over that way.}"

"Thanks Maria." Blue said. "Let's go Kenny."

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"{Hey Kenny!}" Skye called, waving over at him from the forest after they had found her, and Kenny noticed that she was smiling even more today. "{We've been looking for you. Can you give us a hand?}"

"You already got two!" Kenny said, drawing a laugh from Cobalt who was working next to her.

"{Ha ha, very funny.}" She said, grinning as she moved branches and logs into a wall. "{Let's get these walls made, I want to do as much as we can before nightfall, it looks like it's going to rain later.}"

"I got really hungry so I had us get some food before we came here." Blue said.

"{You're good.}" Terra said. "{Careful with those logs Kenny, don't try to do too much at once.}"

"You think it will get dark enough by then for Ciera to see?" Kenny asked as he slowly lifted logs and avoided bending over too much.

"It might." Cobalt said. "Although I can stand daylight, bright lights still hurt. But if a troodon looks at the sun for more than a few seconds, they'll go blind."

"How do they sleep during the day then?" Blue wondered as she walked around and sniffed at plants. "It's starting to sound like they can't look at any lights."

"{Okay well, they can look at lights.}" Terra said as Blue started to eat some plants. "{Some intensities are tolerable, but there are other kinds that will blind them if looked at directly for too long.}"

"Oh I see, must be reflected light that is okay for them." Kenny said and heard crunching to his side. "Blue, why are you eating kale?"

"I don't know, I feel like I need it though." Blue answered as she kept eating it. "Why?"

"Velociraptors don't normally eat plants." Kenny said.

"So?" Blue asked.

"Hmmm." Kenny mumbled and turned back to Skye. "Anyways, how do you handle lights?"

"{Oh I can handle most lights just fine. Anything I can't I just use these goggles I made from welding covers. Lately I've been trying to make sunglasses for my packmates though, that way they can do things during the day if they need to.}" Skye said. "{Troodons can move around some during the day, but they usually squint to keep out most of the light, and try to stick to shaded areas. Sunlight really, really hurts to look at during the day.}"

"Do you think welding stuff would work?" Blue asked, still eating.

"There won't be enough welding masks or goggles to get materials from for everyone. Maybe if we layered normal sunglasses, or popped out the lenses in smaller ones and glued them together, it could work." Kenny said. "Maybe I can get you some of those giant sunglasses they sold here so you can help make them."

"{Oh thanks!}" Skye said, and felt thumping coming from behind them.

"Oh hi Zeb!" Kenny said, stepping over to see him. "How have you been?"

"{I've been doing alright. You on the other hand…}" Zeb chuckled.

"Yeah, but I'm alive." Kenny said, chuckling as he looked into the forest. "How's Stega doing?"

"{She's really enjoying the new friends she has here. She's wanting to play with all of the other kids.}" Zeb said. "{I hope she'll be alright tonight.}"

"Don't worry, with the fence and our fortifications, I'm sure she'll be alright." Kenny said as Blue finally stopped eating plants.

"{Are you sure you'll be alright? You don't look like you should get into a fight up close.}" Zeb asked. "{I still don't know who did this to you.}"

Terra and Skye fell silent at that, and looked away from Zeb as they tried unsuccessfully to avoid drawing attention.

"Hey, I already forgave you two." Kenny said, and softly rubbed their heads.

"{Wait a minute… it was these two right here?!}" Zeb asked, and glared at them.

"{Yeah… it was… but we really regret it…}" Terra admitted, and looked back up at Zeb. "{We got some bad info, and attacked Kenny because we thought he had tried to attack our pack and harm one of our own.}"

"{Spark told us that a human invaded the dam where we were staying at the time, and he said that the human didn't get to kill Luna, one of the moms in our pack. I guess what he meant was Kenny spared her, but he was probably still worried when he said that.}" Skye added. "{We're really sorry we attacked and nearly killed him and Blue.}"

"{Fine, I believe you.}" Zeb sighed. "{Need any help?}"

"Maybe. I'm not convinced the fence will be enough to stop the troodons." Kenny said. "I feel like they'll find other ways in here."

"{Hmmm… there are trees bridging rivers and ditches, plus they can probably dig under the fence.}" Skye said.

"{What do you have in mind?}" Terra wondered.

"Pitfall traps, snares, and tripwires!" Kenny said after a few moments and snapped his fingers when he thought of it. "Aside from the pitfall traps, which may take a little bit longer to make, they're easy to assemble and they can be pretty effective."

"Great idea Kenny!" Blue agreed, and looked at the ground around them. "What if we dug those holes behind these walls and covered them up? If the troodons try to jump or climb over the walls, they can fall right into these traps."

"That's what I was thinking." Kenny said, smiling as he put a few more logs on the wall. "Zeb, can you please start digging while we get started on the other traps?"

"{I can stay and help you dig.}" Terra offered.

"{Sure, good luck.}" Zeb said and started digging with Terra as Kenny, Blue, and Skye walked off.

"{How's your side treating you Blue?}" Skye wondered.

"Eh, it hurts a bit still, but I'll be fine." Blue said. "Terra is a really great fighter."

"I still can't believe you fought off his venom for that long and dragged yourself out of the fire." Kenny said.

"{Yeah, that stuff is strong enough to cause disorientation in as little as a few minutes.}" Skye said as they walked. "{Well, at least we'll have matching scars on our eyes now.}"

"How'd you get yours? It looks like it was really painful." Blue wondered, helping Skye walk through the forest.

"{Oh it was.}" Skye agreed. "{I got it from a human who cut my eye with a knife when I knocked him into a tree. We were rescuing Echo while she was being transported to some medical place at the time, because she and Spark were worried about what might happen if she laid her eggs back where she was living.}"

"I never knew where she got those eggs." Blue said. "Why would she keep that from me?"

"{You should probably ask her that, it's not really my place to say.}" Skye said.

"Alright, well, now wouldn't really be the best time to ask her." Blue said as they gathered materials. "So about your eye, who treated it when it got cut?"

"{It was Sarah and Jess, they tried their best to heal it, but I couldn't get my sight back in it.}" Skye answered.

"How did you introduce Spark to them? I doubt he would have been friendly towards humans at the time." Kenny asked and started to kneel down to start tying snares, but Skye stopped him.

"{Don't push yourself too much, I got this. As for Sarah and Jess, well, me and Terra actually told him about them a little while after we met him.}" Skye said, helping Kenny while Blue passed materials. "{You don't walk around with prosthetic limbs and not get asked questions.}"

"What about Ciera? She has a burning deep hatred for them." Kenny wondered.

"{When word started getting passed around, there were troodons who were grateful and those who wondered why I would accept help from humans when they did this to me.}" Skye said. "{Ciera was one of them, and she worried my sympathy or association with humans would lead them to us. Spark chewed her out and told her that I was just a kid, and that she should be glad that humans took care of me and Terra.}"

"Man, those two have saved so many lives. Ours, Blue's, Echo's." Kenny said. "I'm really glad they're out there helping us."

"Yeah, if it weren't for them, you and Terra wouldn't be alive, Spark would never have warmed up to humans, and Echo wouldn't be here." Blue said, and the three of them continued their work for the next few hours and kept working even as it started to rain.

"{Holy shit… you all really got to work!}" Spark gasped as he came out and looked around at the pitfall traps covered with sticks and leaves, the snares hidden in the bushes, and the tripwires made between the walls. "{Thanks for doing all this. You all should take a break, especially you Kenny.}"

"{Sure thing, but we're going to run to the first aid stations around the gyrospheres, the ferry center, and main street.}" Terra said.

"{Yeah, we want to be able to treat injuries here when they occur.}" Skye said. "{We need to have this stuff ready in case someone risks losing too much blood.}"

"{Please just rest when you get back, you don't need to overwork yourself anymore…}" Spark sighed, and the two hybrids nodded before heading off. "{Come on Kenny, Blue, let's go rest in the shade.}"

"Glad we could help Spark." Kenny sighed as he walked over to the lab. "How's Echo doing?"

"{She's feeling a bit better now. You?}" Spark wondered.

"Eh, a bit sore but I'll manage." Kenny groaned as he slowly sat down against a tree.

"{I'm starting to regret having you help set up our defenses.}" Spark sighed as he and Blue laid next to him.

"It's alright, Cobalt told me that Skye was overworked a lot by Ciera." Kenny said. "I'm glad I could take some of the load off her shoulders."

"{I know, but you're all injured, and I want everyone to have as much sleep as possible before the battle. Hell, I should be the one out there doing this, not you.}" Spark said. "{I'm sorry for asking you.}"

"You don't need to feel sorry, I feel like you've been working harder than any of us." Blue reassured.

"{Maybe, Echo keeps telling me I need to give myself a break. She's told me that I have packmates willing to help me, and that I try to do too much on my own.}" Spark said.

"She's also said the same thing to me on more than one occasion." Blue chuckled. "How did you meet her?"

"{I've actually known her for a long while. It was around 4 years ago that I first met her.}" Spark said.

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[September 14th, 2011 - 1:10 am - Raptor Paddock]

[Spark's POV]

I watched as the deer that I bit stumbled and tried to climb over a hill, but fell when its legs gave out and fell to the ground with a thud. I smiled and walked up over the hill to stand over it, and pinned its neck and forelegs to the ground with my claws as I leaned down to rip out its throat. After it had fallen lifeless, I started eating its meat, and savored the taste of its blood and fluids on my tongue. It had been a little while since I had hunted, and I was glad that I could finally eat meat again, real meat, not some compys that were scurrying about. These kinds of deer were the only "large" game that me and my pack could reliably eat without drawing the attention of the humans. Sadly in these northern areas, dinosaurs had a greater range of freedom, and there was the occasional carnivore trying to steal my kills, and when I heard quick footsteps approaching, I saw that the latest threat was a velociraptor in this case.

"[Been a very long time since I've seen one of you… don't even think about trying to steal this.]" I growled and stood up. There was no way I was losing this kill, not after so long of waiting.

"['Don't even think about it?']" The velociraptor repeated, and I could tell by the voice and physique that this one was a female. "[You sneak into our territory and kill prey here? Maybe I should take that food since it's in our territory.]"

"[Try it, and you'll be as paralyzed as this creature.]" I said and stepped towards her while licking my teeth. "[I've been here longer girl, and it's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to hunt. My pack needs food, and we're tired of eating only plants.]"

"[I've lived in this paddock for well over a year, and I'm not going to let some wild dinosaur hunt on our lands and take our food!]" She growled and stepped towards me. "[My sisters need food too, and I'm taking that deer.]"

I snarled and lunged at the female, tackling her to the ground and grabbed her arms so I could bite her and crush her windpipe, but she hooked the claws on her feet around my legs and pushed them away, causing me to fall face first-into the ground. She quickly got out from under me and kicked my stomach, making me cough as I was knocked several feet away and tumbled on the ground. I got up and growled when I saw her ready to pounce on me, and when she did I leaped to the side and swiped my claws at her neck and drew some blood. I quickly jumped at her, snapping my jaws shut and missed biting her by just inches.

"[It's going to take more than some human pet to kill me.]" I sneered and chuckled when I heard her growl.

"[I'm not some human tool! My best friend is a human!]" She growled.

"[Girl, all humans do is destroy what they don't like and kill for fun.]" I said. "[You need to wake the fuck up and realize that for yourself.]"

"[You don't know anything about humans!]" The raptor hissed at me.

"[My friends and family were slaughtered by them! They took everything from us!]" I yelled. "[My pack, the friends and family I look after have to live in fear because of those bastards! This 'friend' of yours is just going to kill your family, and they're waiting for the perfect chance to rip them away.]"

In the next couple seconds, she had bolted over to me faster than I could even react and slammed me to the ground. I tried to get up and return the favor, but as soon as I tried she pushed one of her feet against my chest, and the other one kept my neck pressed against the ground. I felt something sharp pressing against my throat, and my blood ran cold when I realized that she could puncture it at any second, and that there was no way I could get out of this without losing my life. She pushed one of her foreclaws against my head and leaned down to remind me how much I was at her mercy.

"[Don't you fucking dare speak about Kenny that way. That boy has shown us more respect and kindness than you know, and he has never hurt us once in all of our lives. You. Don't. Know. Him.]" She growled into my ear, and I could feel her claws pressing more against me. "[You are going to do exactly as I say. You are going to take half of that deer you killed and take it back to your family, and then you are never going to set foot in our territory again. If I see you here again, you're going to lose more than one kind of meat. Got it?]"

"[Y-yes miss.]" I stammered, and felt her get off me and shove me over to my catch. I didn't even look back at her, I just hurried up and got the amount of food she said I could have and got out of there.

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[3 days later]

I shuddered as I looked around through the bushes and glanced out across the field where I had previously killed the deer, but I couldn't find that raptor anywhere. I was so scared that she would find me and kill me without hesitation, but I hoped that she wouldn't. I couldn't stop thinking about how she had me inches away from death, but then spared me and kicked me out of her territory, with some of my food no less. I wondered why someone who cared so much about their family would allow another to leave when they could come back with even more numbers and kill their loved ones. Before I knew it however, I was tackled from behind and pinned with my back to the ground, and a claw pressed against my throat.

"[You have till I count to three to give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you.]" She warned. "[One, two, th-]"

"[Because I was grateful!]" I blurted out, and she just stared at me for a few seconds.

"[You were grateful?]" She asked, tilting her head as she wasn't sure if she could believe me or not. "[Really? That's it?]"

"[Yes! I didn't understand why you let me go, and allowed me to take food too.]" I confessed. "[Why did you do that, even after I attacked you?]"

"[You said you had friends and family right?]" She asked. "[Don't they need to eat?]"

"[Y-yes?]" I agreed, still trying to hide my shuddering.

"[That's why.]" She answered. "[Now go.]"

"[W-w-wait!]" I said, stopping her after she started to walk away. "[Can I ask you something?]"

"[What?]" She sighed.

"[This human… how do you know he's not going to kill you or your sisters?]" I asked, and stepped back when I heard her growl. "[W-wait! I-I-I didn't mean to say he would or anything… I uhhh...I… I haven't had a good history with them...]"

"[So you assume that every single human is alike?]" She asked.

"[Well, I do honestly. Every human I've ever met has tried to harm me or kill me, and I haven't met any nice ones. I've always wanted to kill them before they could kill me, like they did to my parents-]" I said, and immediately put my claws on my mouth when I realized I just blurted that out.

"[They did what?]" She asked, and looked out into the field to see another raptor coming out of the woods. "[Shit, I forgot Delta was keeping watch with me tonight. Look, do you know of a lake between the two rivers north of here? There's one between the mountains next to us and the tallest one on this island.]"

"[Yeah, there's some building at one part of it.]" I said.

"[Good, you know where it is. Meet me at the western end of that lake in a week.]" She said, and started to turn away.

"[Wait, what's your name?]" I asked.

"[Echo.]" She said, smiling slightly.

"[I'm Spark.]" I replied, and smiled back before I left.

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[1 week later - Owen's bungalow 12:30 am]

"[Hey, you made it!]" Echo said, smiling as she saw me come out from the woods and walk over to her.

"[Yeah, I didn't want to miss this.]" I said. "[How are you doing?]"

"[Oh ummm… I'm doing good, been training lately.]" She said after a short pause. "[Why do you ask?]"

"[I was curious, you asked me the last time we met if I thought all humans were alike, and I said yes. Before we had to part, did you mean to tell me that there are humans out there who aren't bad?]" I wondered.

"[Yeah, I did. I've met a few humans who don't see me as some sort of animal or tool, and they're actually really nice.]" Echo said. "[There's Kenny, my dad Owen, and his friend Barry.]"

"[Wait, your dad is a human? How is that possible?]" I asked, and looked up and down her to make sure she was a raptor.

"[Oh no, no, he isn't a raptor, and neither is his friend Barry.]" Echo clarified. "[Owen raised me and my sisters after our eggs were brought here by pteranodons from elsewhere, I think from another island.]"

"[What are they like?]" I wondered.

"[They're really nice and caring for us. My dad runs our pack, and Barry helps him out, but my sister Blue is actually his beta.]" Echo explained, and looked across the lake at the bungalow. "[I'm really glad I have them as a family.]"

"[My sister Ciera is the only family I have, and she doesn't like humans either.]" I said.

"[How come you and your sister really dislike humans?]" Echo asked. "[Actually, you don't have to say if it's too uncomfortable.]"

"[No, actually, it's really nice to have someone to talk to about this. I haven't really talked about it much since it happened.]" I said. "[You know how there's a dam west of here?]"

"[Yeah, my dad says it's called the ummm…. Ankylo Hydroelectric Dam.]" Echo said.

"[Well, that's where me and my pack were living at before this park was built.]" I said. "[We were supposed to meet friends of ours when the sun went down since my species is nocturnal and we can't stand sunlight, but humans found out where we were and attacked us before we could even move places. They had never seen us before, and wanted to capture us, but…]"

I stopped making eye contact with Echo and just stared at the ground as the memories resurfaced once again. As I spoke, I started to tear up more and more as I tried to keep my voice steady.

"Before the incident, there were at least 60 of us. Afterwards, only 25 survived, not counting the eggs." I said, crying openly now. "[Some died by getting hit with equipment, others from getting shocked with electricity, and… then there were those who fell to their deaths, like my mom. I tried to pull her up to save her, but she saw that I would have fallen with her if I kept trying, so she forced me to let her go. I can't stop thinking about her dying right in front of me, I miss her and my dad so much.]"

I curled up and cried into my scales as I finally let out what I've been trying to lock away for years now. I heard Echo coming over to me and laid down by my side, and I leaned on her as she gently stroked my arms. A little while later, she licked my tears away and looked down at me with a smile.

"[I'm sorry you had to experience that when you were so young. I wish you didn't have to go through all of that.]" Echo said, and I rested my head in her arms.

"[This Kenny person, does he help you and your sisters through things like this?]" I asked.

"[Yeah, he does. When I fought my sister for the position of beta in our pack, he brought me a couple of gifts when he heard how hurt I got. I'm still thankful that he cares about us so much, and visits us whenever he can.]" Echo said. "[He's very nice, and he's a good person.]"

"[Can I… can I come visit you from time to time? At your home or here if we can?]" I asked.

"[Of course Spark, I'm really starting to enjoy talking with you, and it's really nice to have you as a friend.]" She said.

I smiled at that, and gently nuzzled her before I had to part when it was getting close to sunrise. Over the next year we did just that, and we kept visiting each other, sharing stories and talking about family. I asked her to not tell her sisters about me, because I feared too many people knowing about me would cause my pack to be discovered, and I couldn't bear to lose anyone else. I did eventually take Echo to my home one of the times she came out to this bungalow however, and I introduced her to my pack, among them Terra and Skye, who I learned were alive thanks to some humans.

While I stepped away to tend to some things addressed to me by some of my packmates, Ciera came across Echo and started confronting her when she found out she was in a pack led by a human. I got very angry when I saw Ciera interrogating Echo, and rushed over to defend her and send Ciera away. I told Echo that I wouldn't let anyone harm her, and that I would always keep her safe. Seeing me rush to stand up for her and hearing me say that made her very happy, and she looked at me in a way that she never had before.

As the months passed by, I became more and more attached to Echo as we both grew older, and I found myself playing more often with her. I almost got her caught when her sister smelled me on her, but Echo told me she managed to pass it off. I also looked forward to meeting her whenever a visit was coming up, and some of my packmates wondered why I was so excited in the days leading up to them, but when they found out why, they gave me their full support, as Echo had become a good friend to several of my packmates. But none of those times could compare to the night a year after we had first met.

"[Spark!]" Echo cheered when she saw me and ran over. "[I missed you!]"

"[I missed you too Lilly! I wish I didn't have to be busy this past week, but I'm finally here!]" I said and pressed my mouth against hers, gently licking her teeth and tongue. She was more than happy to return the favor, and put her claws on my shoulders as we kissed. A couple minutes later I pulled out, panting and feeling so warm in my chest.

"[What do you want to do?]" She asked, and I couldn't help but notice her tail swaying quickly, and I felt even warmer at seeing her so happy.

"[Want to go swimming?]" I asked, and grinned when she smiled. We both turned and ran to the water, jumping in with a huge splash coming from both of us.

"[Aaaaah, it's been so long since I've been able to enjoy some cool water like this.]" Echo sighed after we both surfaced. "[I can't really do this during a hunt.]"

"[Don't you have some lake or pond in your territory that you can swim in?]" I wondered.

"[Yeah, but that water is much warmer than it is here. I think my dad said it's called a natural hot spring.]" Echo said. "[It's really refreshing to be able to float in some cool water like this, especially with you Spark.]"

"[Yeah, and I'm very glad that I get to spend these nights with such a beautiful girl.]" I said, making Echo get a red tint on the sides of her mouth.

"[T-thanks.]" She stammered, and looked up at the sky and gasped. "[Woah… Spark, look.]"

I looked up where she was, and my jaw fell when I saw how many stars could be seen in the sky. The moon was very dim tonight, and I could see so many stars and wisps in the sky. I sighed and swam over to Echo, smiling as I lifted an arm over her and held her close. I softly rubbed her sides and nuzzled her neck as we swam together and enjoyed the stars.

"[I love you Echo.]" I said and licked her mouth. "[I really do.]"

"[I love you too sweetie, want to see something?]" Echo asked and pulled out of the hug.

"[Sure.]" I agreed, and then immediately had water splashed on my face. "[Hey!]"

"[Gotcha~]" She giggled, then quickly swam over to shore.

"[You're gonna get it now!]" I laughed and chased after her, following her into the woods.

I went into the forest and looked around for her, but I couldn't see her right away. I still heard soft steps though, and figured she was waiting until I was distracted so she could pounce on me. I wasn't going to lose this time though, and grabbed a branch to toss it further into the brush. I grinned when I heard steps being taken in that direction, and slowly followed behind her, waiting for my chance. As soon as I saw her look around a bush, I pounced on her and landed next to her after we tumbled over each other, and I couldn't help but laugh when I heard her complain.

"[Hey! That wasn't fair!]" Echo protested, and I laughed more when I saw her face after leaning more onto my side.

"[Yes it was~]" I said with a grin. "[You do the same thing to me.]"

"[That's when I'm doing it though!]" She said, and huffed as she laid her head down next to my legs.

I sighed and rested my head on my claws, happy that I had managed to tackle her for once in a while. I started to think about what else we could do for the rest of the night, as we still had a lot of time before the sun came up, and Echo usually stayed up all night with me. I was jolted out of my thoughts when I felt sniffing between my legs, and I quickly looked down to see Echo sniffing at my genital slit.

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This is where the sex scene between Spark and Echo starts.

If you don't want to see this, then skip to the next line like this.

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"[Echo? Wh-what are you doing?]" I asked, shuddering as she gave a testing lick along my slit, and I sighed as her warm saliva was smeared along my slit.

"[You-you smell s-so good, I just, I j-just want to see something.]" She said, and I gripped the grass as she started to sniff more at me, often releasing a snort of warm air against my slit. I started to feel my cock part my slit, and come out into the air right next to Echo's snout. She shuddered and panted as she took deep sniffs of my genital areas and started to lick at my cock as it came out.

Echo was doing more than just "seeing" something at this point, but I didn't want to stop her. It had been so long since I've had any kind of release, and the way Echo's warm tongue slid against my fully erect cock and coated it in her saliva felt so good. I panted as she licked all over it, and I found my claws reaching up to her thigh and tail to softly rub them. As I did this, I started to smell something very sweet and alluring, and opened my eyes to see that Echo's own slit was getting soaked in her juices. I didn't even hesitate in leaning my head forwards and took a deep sniff of her scent, and when her pheromones wafted into my nostrils, my head began to swim with arousal.

I heard Echo release a shuddering moan against my cock as I took a long and slow lick up her slit, and found the taste of her juices on my tongue to be just as amazing as how she smelled. I felt Echo's tongue start wrapping around my cock as she got more energetic in how she tended to me, almost as if she got more hungry for me as she inhaled more of my scent, and I happily returned the favor by using my claws to part her folds. I slid my tongue into her tunnel and growled as even more of her scent flowed into me, and I pushed my snout in as deep as I could to slurp up everything I could get from her.

Echo slowly rolled me onto my back and kneeled down against me so she could hold me still. I felt one of her claws gently grab the base of my cock and rub it while I felt the warmth of her mouth begin to surround me. I couldn't help but release a moan into her folds, and I started to flick my tongue around inside her body, making her moan around my cock as we tasted each other's luscious fluids. I reached up with my claws to grab and rub the base of her thighs, spreading her legs apart some so that I could lick even further inside of her, and the juices that flowed out of her cloaca tasted so very sweet as I licked harder. Echo took her claw off of my cock and started to move her head up and down it, moaning louder as she pleasured me. I hissed as she took her tongue down to my base and curled her tongue around me as she moved her head, stretching and contracting her tongue along my length as I twitched inside her mouth.

I could feel Echo getting closer as I kept eating her out and gulping down the flow of juices that trickled into my mouth. Echo's walls were twitching and spasming around my tongue the more I licked inside her, and they got even faster and more intense as I found points inside of her that pushed her closer to the edge. I moved a claw from one of her thighs and used it to pull her hips down, allowing me to reach even deeper inside of her and pleasure her more, drawing louder moans from her as she sucked on my cock.

Although Echo was getting close, I wasn't faring any better, and often bucked my hips some as I began to throb in her mouth. Echo didn't mind though, and took even more of me into her mouth, all 10 inches of me. I kept releasing growls into her as my cock jumped and throbbed harder against her tongue, and the more I did this, the harder she pressed her tongue against me. My claws started to dig into her scales as it got harder to lick her with all the pleasure she was giving me, and I could only moan as I felt myself curling up as my cock tensed for just a moment, before spilling its load into her mouth with a loud hiss and growl coming out of mine. Echo didn't even move an inch as I came into her mouth, she instead pushed her mouth down more against my slit and closed it almost fully as she gulped down my seed.

I pushed my tongue back into her, and I was determined to finish her off so I could taste what she had to offer. I growled as pleasured feelings washed over my entire body as I began to taper off and my seed streamed down my cock, but my growls were enough to stimulate her walls and push her closer to climax. I felt her get even closer as I licked a nub inside of her tunnel, and she pressed her slit harder against my face as her tunnel convulsed around my snout, getting more intense as I pressed my tongue harder against the nub inside of her. After several more seconds she couldn't take any more and dug her claws into the ground as she screamed with her release, and a deluge of her juices rushed into my mouth. I hissed as I pressed my snout closer to her, trying to make a seal so that I could swallow as much of her release as I could.

A good amount of it did manage to escape out the sides of my mouth, but I was very pleased with what I managed to get. Echo panted as she slowly stood up while I laid there, recovering for a few moments as I watched and felt her sniff at the base of my length. She firmly pressed her nose to my slit and sniffed deeply, shuddering as she sniffed more and more, and I was perfectly content to let her do this. I saw her eyes slowly glaze over as she kept sniffing, and she panted more heavily as I saw her cloaca drip.

After several more moments of this, Echo took a final deep sniff and stepped off me, stumbling over to the ground next to me. She leaned down onto her foreclaws and pushed her tail to the side, showing me her puffy slit, which was completely soaked with her arousal and leaking an alluring scent into the air. I got up and panted as I tried to make my way over to her, almost stumbling like she did due to the huge cloud of her scent that came with her orgasm.

I pressed my nose firmly against her slit and took a deep sniff of her, shuddering as her pheromones ripped away any remaining rational thoughts. Her scent told me that she was ready and willing to be bred, and I didn't even hesitate when she looked back at me, her eyes half-lidded and hazed over with lust as she waited for me to take her. I didn't ask any questions, and neither did she as I held onto her body and lifted a leg over her tail, using my claws to grab onto one of her shoulders and legs as I lined myself up against her slit. Even from outside and pressing against her I could feel how hot she was, and as I parted her cloaca to push into her, it only got even better.

Both of us released a long, soft moan as I pushed deep into her body, and I gripped her tight as I pulled out to the tip and slid back inside again. There was no need to take things slow, as both of us were more than ready for each other, and it was just us, only us. Echo grabbed the ground and moaned as I sunk my cock over halfway into her, and pulled at her walls with the ridges that lined my cock. I held Echo tight and close as I thrusted in and out of her body, rocking her with every thrust that I made, and I listened to the pants that came out of her mouth as I rubbed and kneaded at her scales.

Echo was forced to lean down further against the ground as my thrusts became more forceful and faster. She gripped the ground tighter as she tried to push back into me, so desperately wanting to give me the pleasure that I gave her, and I hissed as her tunnel rippled along my length. I began to thrust faster into her, and our scales rubbed all over the other's as we started to become slick with sweat and fill the air with the scent of our love-making. Echo released a hearty bark into the air when my cock rubbed against the nub inside her tunnel, and the way she squeezed down on me made me snarl as I thrusted harder against her. Neither of us were trying to stifle our cries to avoid drawing attention, we were in far too much pleasure to care, and our cries only got louder as we got more intense.

I leaned more into Echo's luscious body and began to press her chest to the ground as I pushed my entire length into her, hissing as she squeezed on me each time I did so. Her chest began to get covered in dirt, but she still kept bucking back into me as I slammed into her body over and over again. My claws were starting to dig into her scales more, and I felt blood starting to come from some of the scratches, but Echo didn't care as she still screeched her bliss into the air when I dominated her. Each time I hilted Echo, I felt her body clenching down on me as I throbbed against her walls, and when I pulled out, strings of our fluids kept us connected until I slammed back into her. By this point wet slaps were echoing out through the trees, and the scales around our legs were covered in a thick sheen of our juices.

Echo and I felt our climaxes approaching, and I pulled her hard into my thrusts as I got closer and closer to spilling my seed inside of her. Echo was snarling even louder as she clawed up the dirt, bucking harder into me each time I hilted her, and the convulsions that she was making around my cock were getting to be too much. She was so hot inside, so slick and yet so tight that I couldn't take it anymore, and pulled out to the tip, then buried my cock all the way to its base as I finally was pushed over the edge.

I held her tight and kept her from moving as my cock pulsed and shot thick ropes of seed deep into her body, filling up her oviducts with their hot essence. I snarled as I kept myself buried inside of her, but couldn't resist the urge to thrust into her through my orgasm and pump my cum deep into her, ensuring that each drop got deposited safely in her oviducts. Echo clenched her eyes shut and released a loud, echoing screech into the air when she felt her oviducts getting filled up with my hot seed, and the raw sensation of it instinctually triggered her body to cover my cock and hips in a torrent of her hot juices. I hissed as I felt her body milking me for everything I had to give her, and I kept grinding in her as her body pulled my sperm into the deepest regions of her body, but because I had already pumped so much into her, my seed started to spill into her egg chamber and leak out from around our hips.

I leaned up and pulled back on her shoulders so that I could easily sink my teeth into her neck, biting hard enough to draw blood and leave my mark on her for all to see, and the sensation of being claimed by a male made her groan with pleasure and squeeze down on me, drawing out a final rope of my cum before the flow stopped. I released the bite and gently licked away the blood, and hissed as I felt Echo bite down on my neck as well, sharing the mark that bound us together. As I felt her body occasionally twitch around me, I became more and more aware of how heavy and weak my legs felt, and quickly pulled out of her to flop to the ground, heaving for breath, and Echo soon followed suit. I looked down at her legs and smiled when I saw that the scales around her slit were completely painted white, and that I had filled her up so much that a small stream of my seed dribbled out of her body.

I looked over at Echo and scooted over so that I could hold her in my arms and lift a leg over her tail. I hugged her tight and gently stroked her scales as I nibbled and licked at her neck, drawing a pleased sigh from her while we both tried to catch our breath. Echo looked up at me with her eyes half-lidded and she licked my neck, making me shudder as I pulled her closer and rubbed the scales on my underside against her. I smiled as the scent of our mating still permeated the air, and could only feel satisfied knowing that I had poured so much of my seed into her, having likely given her eggs.

I licked the bottom of her neck while also using my claws to lightly scratch at her belly, and Echo released another sigh as she pulled herself closer to me, and she started to nibble at my neck. We continued licking and nipping at one another for several more minutes, and I pressed my nose to her neck, smelling her scent as I felt her rubbing herself against me more, especially around our cloacas. She moved herself so my tip rubbed along the length of her cloaca, and I looked up at her head and saw her looking down at me, eyes still glazed with lust, but also love for me. She pulled me closer again, and my tip started to press inside her hot body once again. I softly moaned as I had to take her one more time, so I leaned into her and rolled her onto her back, which she had no problems with. I crouched down over her and kept my legs spread as much as I could without straining them so that I could easily spread her folds once again, and we moaned together as I pushed myself in until our scales were pressed firmly against each other.

I closed my eyes and hissed as the feeling of her hot and wet cloaca wrapped itself around me again, and I shivered as I felt dizzy with pleasure while I kept my chest rubbing against her. I wanted to cover Echo in my scent, and to carry hers home with me; neither of us thought about the consequences of covering the other in so much of our scent, and I couldn't help but give in to the urge to give it to her. Echo was my mate now, and I wanted every male to know that; from the mark I gave her, to the scent I was smothering her in, none would dare make an attempt on her without knowing I would kill them if they tried.

As I nibbled and bit at her neck, I could hear Echo's moans right in my ear, and they sounded so beautiful as I thrusted in and out of her. As we mated again, my cock was continually lubed up with our combined cum, and I used the opportunity to plunge into my new mate at even faster speeds, drawing more sweet moans from her. I panted heavily against her neck as I felt Echo wrapping her claws around my shoulders to pull me into her even harder, and I was more than happy to oblige by thrusting into her so hard that I rocked her against the dirt, completely covering her back in it.

Echo struggled to lift her head up and nibble on my neck as she felt me grinding in her every time I hilted her, and even though I was giving into my instincts to breed, I still found it amusing how Echo kept releasing loud, broken snarls and growls. Echo whined when she realized she was too weak to bite my neck again, and laid her head back against the ground as I mated with her.

I wanted to hear more of her cries for me, more of her pants as I dominated her and made her light-headed with lust, and I could feel her getting ever tighter as she was pushed to a third orgasm. I growled as I could feel myself approaching it as well, much sooner than before, and I knew this would be my last one for a good while, so I pushed myself to keep up my pace and thrusted as fast as I could while taking deep breaths. It was getting harder to keep up this pace, and I kept heaving for air as I felt my legs starting to give out from being pushed past their limits in an unnatural position for too long.

I gripped the ground tightly, getting dirt between my claws as I growled and gave several hard thrusts before pressing myself to the hilt for one final time, snarling loudly as I erupted deep into Echo, and pumped fresh semen into her as she sucked out every drop I had. Because I had already filled her to the brim before though, every time I shot into her a small amount of our cum squirted out and painted our scales white as we cried out together in unison.

I fell on top of her as I couldn't stand any longer, and was left heaving for breath as my head felt heavy. I was perfectly content to lay there and let her milk me dry, sucking out every drop as I was sure she would have eggs by now, but I didn't care at the moment, Echo was happy, and that was all that mattered. As we cuddled, I felt Echo softly petting my head, and I looked up to smile at her, but had to struggle to keep my eyes open.

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This is where the sex between them ends.

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"[Hah… that's... about... all... I got…]" I panted, and rested my head against her chest as we rolled onto our sides, but kept myself buried inside her. "[I can't… do that… again… definitely… not anytime… soon.]"

"[Same… here… can we… can… can we… please… sleep like this?]" Echo asked, and I weakly nodded my head as I got comfortable. "[I know… I know you can't… be out during... during the day but…]"

"[It's… it's worth it… I don't care if… if it's sunny when we… wake up… I can… I can stand it long… enough to… get to shade.]" I said. "[Will you… be alright in… in the morning?]"

"[Fuck… I… I hope so… I'm covered in your scent and seed. My sisters will know... what happened… if… if I don't… wash myself down. And… even… even that… may… may not be… enough...]" Echo said as she slowly started to get her breath back, but closed her eyes as fatigue started to claim her. "[Sorry love… I do… want to… carry your scent… around but…]"

"[It's alright, I know... you want me... to stay safe, and… and I'm… really happy you... care about me so much.]" I sighed and closed my eyes.

"[I felt… so needy… so ready... when… when I sniffed you…]" Echo said. "[And I… you gave me… so much… what if?]"

"[It will… it will be… alright.]" I sighed, but Echo still wasn't convinced.

"[But… others will-]" Echo started to say, but I lifted a claw up to gently rub her chin.

"[Echo… if… if I… gavvvve… you… eggs… then… we'll… find sssssssome… way to… raissse them… tog-together. There's… no one else… I would… rather havvvvve… children with… thhhhhan you.]" I said, struggling to open my eyes to look at her as I said that, and began to slur my words at this point. "[I… love… I love… you… so mmmmmmm-]"

"[Good…nnnnnight Sssspa-.]" Echo whispered as she rested her head next to mine, too tired to even finish.

"[Sweet dre-dreamssssssss~]" I whispered, barely able to speak now, and fell asleep in the arms of my new mate.

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[Present day, 3rd person POV]

"{Neither of us had planned what happened that night, it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing.}" Spark said and smiled as he teared up. "{Still though, I wouldn't trade what came after for anything. Those three kids we had mean the world to us, and we were so… so fucking proud when they first came out of their shells.}"

"Wow, I never knew you two had such a history." Kenny said and looked over at Blue. "You really didn't know about this?"

"Okay well, not entirely." Blue confessed. "The day after Spark and Echo mated, we noticed a lot of odd things. Echo had a ton of trouble just walking around, she smelled strange, there were a couple scratches on her, and there was a bite on her neck. You don't just see and smell all that, and not figure out what happened. Over the next month, Echo's belly became bigger and bigger as the eggs in her developed; and I knew she had eggs in her, and not just because I heard people talking about it, but it was just something that my body told me."

"Ooooh so that's what happened, I thought I noticed something strange about her, but no one said anything about it except Owen." Kenny said.

"I guess he told you because he trusted you, but the main reason it was kept under wraps was because no one knew who had given her eggs" Blue said. "The problem I had with it was Echo wouldn't tell me who had done that to her, and she gave me some bullshit lie about how she got out to lay her eggs but got lost afterwards. Even Delta and Charlie were worried, and she wouldn't tell them either."

"{She was really sad when I came to visit her after that. She wanted to tell you so badly, but she was terrified that I would be killed if her alpha followed any of you and spotted me.}" Spark sighed as he looked at the ground. "{It's still eating her up, and she cries about it so much. It breaks my heart seeing my mate so depressed, and our kids worry about her too.}"

"Well, not anymore." Blue said as she got up and looked over at the lab.

"{What are you going to do?}" Spark wondered, surprised by the change in her tone.

"I'm going to be a big sister." Blue said and smiled as she started heading towards the lab. Spark looked at Kenny who simply shrugged, and they both got up to follow her. Blue walked with a fast stride into the lab and through the halls to Echo's room, and knocked on the door which opened soon after.

"Oh, hey Blue, did you need something?" Echo asked, her kids playing on the floor beside her.

"Well, not really. I just wanted to let you know that I forgive you." Blue said as she and Kenny went into the room while Spark hung by the door.

"Forgive me? Huh?" Echo asked, tilting her head.

"Did mom do something wrong?" One of the female kids asked.

"Will mom have to stop playing with us? We haven't gotten to do it much with her…" A boy asked.

"No, I'm sure your mother has been away from you for long enough, I wouldn't want her to stop playing with you for the time being." Blue said, looking between the two kids. "Your mother didn't do anything wrong, she did what she thought was right, and she did it out of love for her mate."

"Wait… do you know…?" Echo gasped.

"Echo, I want you to know that I understand why you withheld the truth from us about who gave you eggs, and why you lied to us about where you were when you disappeared for a month." Blue said as she held Echo's claws. "I know we fought a lot over those years, but I only did it because I was worried for you, that's the only reason. I love you sis, and I forgive you."

"You… oh Blue… thank you… thank you so much…" Echo said and started to tear up as she smiled at her sister, and pulled her into a tight hug. "All these years, I never knew how to bring it up to you, Delta, and Charlie, and it hurt so much to keep the truth from you! Every time you mentioned how scared you were at having lost me, I wanted to cry because I didn't know what to say! Hearing you say that though, I… I can't tell you how happy I am!"

"I am so happy for you Echo, I really am." Blue told her. "I know you did all you could for your kids, and I'm sure that even when they couldn't visit you as much after security was tightened around our paddock, that they knew how much you loved them. Now we can work together to make sure they have their mother and father around full-time now."

"I think it's way past time we introduced you to them." Echo said as she wiped away her tears and looked at her kids. "This boy right here is our son Nova, and he got his dad's eye color and feather colors, but he got my brown stripes."

"{That one there is our daughter Blaze, she looks more like her mother than me, and the orange in Echo's scale color found its way into her feathers.}" Spark continued. "{And finally that one at the end is our other daughter Pulse, she's got more of her traits from me like my scale color, and the green feathers look really nice on her.}"

"From now on Blue, no more lies, no more half-truths either. We're going to help each other through life, and we'll keep each other safe, alright?" Echo asked, and Blue nodded as she felt her chest get warm when she saw her sister truly happy for the first time in a long while.

"We sure will. When Ciera comes here, I'll be right by your side." Blue agreed, making Spark smile. "I don't care how injured I am, no one will lay a claw on your kids."

Echo nodded and hugged her sister again, taking solace in the peace they had as the sun set outside.

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This chapter is probably one of my favorites to have written. I'm really enjoying writing Echo, and I'm going to love doing it more in the future.

I've been looking forward to having Spark break off from Ciera for a long time. Back in the early, early days of this story, Spark was originally going to meet with Kenny in secret, talking about things and slowly warm up to the idea of working with a human. This was before I came up with the dam massacre by the way. I decided that Spark would connect with a dinosaur more easily, and that a dinosaur who was in a pack led by a human who cared for them, as well as said dinosaur having a human as a best friend would be a great way to warm him up to humans.

Writing Veil and Spark interacting is gonna be fun, and I look forward to having them interact with the old packmates they used to have.

The months haven't been kind on Echo, and I felt like with how she was grabbed and tossed, she'd end up with a lot of severe injuries. I know she isn't a human, but I decided to have her lower arm break since I felt like it would heal quicker than her upper arm. Originally it was going to be her upper arm, but after looking at it again, I felt like it would be harder to treat there.

As for her new prosthetic legs, I knew that when I saw the indominus bite into Echo and caused her to go limp, that some kind of paralysis had to have occurred. If it weren't for Echo having met Spark, she wouldn't be alive right now.

I know having her find a phone that just happened to be nearby and not be locked may be a bit crazy, but I was originally going to have her use a service phone or have Skye just happen to come across her. I realized a service phone probably wouldn't be able to make personal calls, and Skye coming across Echo in exactly the right place at exactly the right time would be too crazy.

I was looking forward to writing Echo finding out that Owen abandoned them and left them for dead, even after they came back to his side to save him and the other humans he was with. Blue may have witnessed him leaving her with her own eyes, but Echo never had that luxury. Who knows what would have happened had Echo been there with Blue when it happened.

I wanted to build on how troodons saw the world. I know that their eyes often look like they're glowing and have no pupils, but I interpret their eyes glowing because they're reflecting so much light, and the resulting glow outshines their pupils. Troodons may convulse and react very harshly to road flares, but I do not believe that reflects the maximum amount of light that they can see, as sunlight would harm their vision even when sleeping in that case.

In the game when they're attacking Gerry and Jess Harding, Dr. Sorkin, Nima, and Billy, they aren't kept at bay by the light over the table in that one junction, so they can clearly look at light sources. I believe that road flares to them are the same as looking at burning magnesium for us.

I was going to write the scene where Skye lost her eye while getting Echo to safety, but something about the scene wasn't working for me, so I decided to scrap it.

Spark meeting Echo for the first time was something that I was really excited to write, and it's one of my favorite parts in this chapter. Even when she was just about 15 in raptor years, she was still a good fighter and trained hard after fighting for the position of beta.

As I wrote them, I found it nice writing Echo as having another dinosaur to talk to outside of her family, and felt like Echo could be part of the reason why some of the troodons could become more friendly towards humans.

I hope you all enjoyed Spark and Echo mating, it was a lot of fun to write, and I felt like it would be better if it wasn't planned between the two of them. Originally, the time that Blue smelled another scent on Echo was going to be when Spark had mated Echo, but I realized that wouldn't have worked out. There wasn't going to be a third round between her and Spark, but I wanted them to sleep the way they did while talking because I felt like it would make the night more special for them.

As for Echo vanishing Blue and her sisters aren't blind or stupid. Your sister getting bred so hard she can barely walk, a bite on the neck, and her belly slowly getting larger are very damning signs that someone bred her. There wasn't going to be a third round between her and Spark, but I wanted them to sleep the way they did while talking because I felt like it would make the night more special for them.

Blue and Echo are far from finished recovering from the trauma they experienced, nor are they finished bonding. I look forward to writing them helping each other through surviving, and diving deeper into how they experienced the fall of the park.

I don't know when I'll get the next chapter out, but as always, I'll do my best to keep working.

See you next time in chapter 17: Requiem For The Moon.

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"BLUE! THEY'RE COMING!" Kenny shouted from outside.

"Be ready!" Blue told Echo from outside her door, and walked down the hall to face the three troodons that got inside, while keeping her left side facing away from them.

"[Look at her, she's hurt.]" One of them chuckled and stepped forward.

"[This won't be any trouble at all then.]" Another said as they slowly closed the distance between them, but froze for a moment when Blue simply grinned.

"Who's first?" She asked.