Before I Rise

*Edited*

Em’s POV

Darkness, it was everywhere. Above me, below me… it was all I could see. I tried to remember how I got here, but nothing came to mind. In fact, I couldn’t remember anything. Who I was or what I was doing here… absolutely nothing. Fear struck me at the same time the realization that I had no memory of anything before this moment in the darkness hit me. I panicked, trying desperately to swim my way out of there, but I couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried to move.

Suddenly, I felt like I was falling… and fast. An increase in pressure in my head turned into a wholly-blown headache. There was a light above me that was getting brighter and brighter by the second… and weirdly warmer. It finally clicked in my head that I was staring directly at the sun. I sucked in a deep breath, trying to get my bearings and feeling immensely grateful that I was, in fact, still alive. I lifted up my arms, making sure they were still attached to me, before sitting up and scanning my surroundings, trying to find anything that might help me figure out what was going on.

It didn’t take long to figure out I was smack dab in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees on all sides of me. The forest seemed to go on, and on the longer I stared at it, making my panic increased significantly. I wasn’t sure which direction to take to get out of there, but I also knew I couldn’t just sit here and wait for the rescue. I had no idea if anyone knew I was missing or searching for me.

Fear gripped my entire soul as I heard something big moving in my direction. I whipped my head to the right of me as I listened to the sound of a branch snapping. My heart began to pound dangerously in my chest as everything went still. I looked around where I was sitting, looking for something to use to defend myself if it came to that. I saw absolutely nothing, only grass, and wildflowers.

I quickly stood up, wanting to be able to sprint if I needed to. Though with how loud this mysterious thing was, it was likely bigger and faster than I was and could easily catch me.

My heart completely stopped, and all the air left my body as a humongous chestnut-brown wolf walked into the clearing, followed by another very similar wolf. Both strolled toward me, almost as if they were curious about what I was doing there. They stopped on either side of me, a couple of feet away. Not too close, yet still close enough to catch me if I suddenly ran. I didn’t dare move an inch. I was barely breathing, too scared that any sudden movement may have them target me for their next meal.

They stood there for a while before finally returning to the area they came from and vanishing within the trees. I immediately let out a breath of relief, yet I was still on high alert. Before I could decide what to do next, there was more movement where the wolves had disappeared too.

Two tall, half-naked men walked out into the clearing. How they did not cross paths with those two wolves before coming here was beyond me. The closer they got to me, the more I realized how much they looked alike. They were similar in every way. Same muscular build and height with midnight black hair. Except the one on the left had his hair brushing lightly against the top of his shoulders with a gnarly scar that started on the top of his right eyebrow and ended all the down to his neck. He had a set scowl upon his perfectly marbled face making him even more intimating. The other one held a light, pleasant look on his face, making him seem more approachable than the other one.

They stopped in front of me. The left one crossed his arms against his chest and deepened his glare toward me. “State your name and business for being here.” He demanded.

“Ummm…” was all that came out of my mouth. My eyes grew in size, unsure how to feel about his tone. I wasn’t even sure what to say to them or how to answer the same question that I was wondering. What was I doing here?

“What are you deaf? Answer the question!” He growled at me, causing me to take a step back to put some much-needed distance between us. If I wasn’t scared before, I sure as hell was now.

The guy on the right huffed in annoyance. “Geeze, Derek, give the poor girl a chance to answer before you bite her head off. She already looks freaked out as it is.” He turned his attention back to me with a warm smile, making me feel relaxed. “I’m Gabe. What’s your name?”

He stuck out his hand for me to shake. After looking at it for a few seconds, debating whether or not he was just being decent to me to make me trust him, I finally placed my hand in his. “My name is Em,” I said without hesitation, surprising the crap out of myself. At least I knew my name, but I still couldn’t find a reason for what I was doing here.

“Nice to meet you, Em.” He let go of my hand and turned to look at his twin. “See, if you are nice to people, they are nice to you. You should try it every once in a while.” His brother, Derek, continued to glare at him. I secretly wondered if this man had ever smiled at least once in his life but shook the thought away as it seemed impossible.

Derek turned his stern glare on me. “What are you doing here?”

I shrugged a shoulder but answered the question directing it towards Gabe, not wanting to stare at Derek any longer than necessary. “I’m not really sure why I’m here. Honestly… I’m not even sure how I got here.”

Confusion danced across Gabe’s face, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I have no memory of anything before this moment. I just woke up here all alone.” Loneliness began to weigh on me the longer I thought about it. I was completely and utterly alone.

Gabe rubbed his chin in deep thought. “So, you’re saying that you don’t remember anything. You just woke up in the clearing having no idea how you got here or even why you are here?”

I nodded my head in confirmation, “Yeah, pretty much.” I wasn’t sure what else he wanted me to say. I was just as confused as he was by everything.

“Wicked,” he whispered to himself.

Derek cleared his throat, gaining the attention back onto him. “Gabe, I just informed Jacoby of the unique situation on our hands. He said Alpha Marcus wants us to bring her to him.”

Gabe nodded his head in agreement. “Okay, that makes sense.” He drew his attention back to me with a smirk on his face. “Alright, let’s go short stuff.”

I rolled my eyes at his nickname for me. Anybody would look short standing next to these two. Before I could say anything to him, the twins started walking back in the direction they came from… exactly where the wolves went.

“Wait!” I shouted, making them stop suddenly and turn towards me. “We can’t go in there.”

“Why not?” Derek asked, annoyance dripping from every word.

“Because of the wolves,” I whispered to him, wondering if I had been hallucinating before. There was no way these two wouldn’t have seen them when they first arrived.

Derek huffed in annoyance. “You’ll be fine. Stop stalling and start walking.”

I didn’t budge. Instead, I crossed my arms in defiance, letting him know pretty quickly that I had no intention of moving from where I currently stood. This seemed to piss him off further.

Before he could say anything, Gabe cut in. “You can trust us. Those wolves aren’t going to harm you. Unless, of course, you decide to step out of line.”

I lifted my eyebrow at his statement. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Gabe stared at Derek with a cocky expression on his face. After a few seconds of the stare-down, Derek shook his head at Gabe, almost as if they had a silent conversation between themselves. It made me instantly feel uncomfortable again.

Gabe turned his attention back to me. He smirked at me before removing his pants, making him completely naked. I slapped a hand over my eyes, hoping it would remove the image from my mind. I was also apprehensive about what his next move was going to be.

“It’s okay, you can look. I won’t be naked much longer.” He said with a teasing tone.

“Gabe!” Derek shouted, making me instantly lower my hand, curious as to why he was yelling at his twin. “Do not even think….”

Before Derek could finish his sentence, Gabe shifted into one of the wolves I saw earlier, making this day grow increasingly weirder.

…..

We were approaching what appeared to be a mansion of some sort. It was covered in white paint with dark blue trim that desperately needed a fresh coat. It was bigger than what I was expecting when they mentioned that they were bringing me to what they called the pack house. This was definitely not a house.

Derek and Gabe were on either side of me, ensuring I wouldn’t attempt to bolt at the first opportunity that presented itself. However, after what I just saw, I don’t think I could get very far from them. I didn’t know how to feel exactly about what I saw back there. I had no idea if this was normal or not. I had a thousand questions on my mind but wasn’t sure if I should ask them. I knew Derek wasn’t going to answer them. On the other hand, Gabe was more light-hearted than his twin.

I cleared my throat, finally ready to speak to them. “Hey, Gabe, can I ask you a question?”

He turned his head in my direction. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Does everyone turn into a wolf? Or is it like a special selective thing?”

Gabe let out a light chuckle. “Nah, not everyone can. There are humans, which is what you are, and then there are people like us,” he pointed to himself and his twin.” That are werewolves. Basically, just humans that can shift into wolves.”

I nodded while trying to process everything he had just told me. Though one thing stood out to me. “How do you know I’m human?”

Gabe shrugged a shoulder at me,” You smell like one, though a tad bit different. Makes me sort of wonder….”

“Goddess, Gabe, shut up!” Derek demanded, interrupting his twin and making me cringe inwardly. “She isn’t supposed to know any of this unless Alpha Marcus decides she can.”

There it was, the Alpha word again. I was inquisitive as to who this man or thing was. I just hoped he wouldn’t be like Derek and would be more like Gabe. I would have a better chance of surviving whatever was about to happen if the Alpha took pity on me.

We didn’t talk anymore as we climbed the steps onto the porch that appeared to wrap around the entire mansion. I didn’t get a chance to look around as the twins quickly ushered me into the house and through a couple of hallways. We stopped in front of a pair of large mahogany wooden doors.

Derek reached out and opened the door before ushering me in there. I immediately fell in awe at the size of what I was assuming to be an office. A large bookshelf covered the entire wall in front of me from ceiling to floor. The wall towards my left was filled with a window, giving you a fantastic view of the forest we had come out of. Though, what I saw to the right of me, made my whole world stop.

An impressive, beautiful man was seated behind a desk that matched the doors we came through. He had dark brown hair, almost black, cropped short on the sides yet slightly longer on top. His jawline was sharp, so sharp I was tempted to run my tongue along it, curious as to whether it would cut me. He was more muscular than the twins, though it didn’t intimidate me. And then, I looked into his eyes that were glaring in my direction. The minute my eyes connected with his deep, warm brown ones, they softened in an almost awe-like way. I felt like I had been hit in the center of my chest, right where my heart was. A hum overcame my body, and for the first time since I woke up in that clearing, I felt everything was going to be alright.

“Alpha, what would you like us to do with her?” Derek asked, interrupting my staring contest. It suddenly dawned on me that there was another man in the room, sitting on the other side of the desk. He seemed more relaxed than anyone else in the room, making me envy him.

I waited for one of them to answer Derek, curious about which guy was the so-called Alpha. I did have my suspicions about which one it was.

“Marcus, are you okay?” The relaxed guy asked the other. Something in me fluttered at realizing the gorgeous man had a name. I chanted it over and over in my head like it was a prayer that was somehow the answer to all my problems.

Marcus slightly shook his head before answering us, “Yes.” He said in a deep, velvety voice. It took everything in me not to shut my eyes and hold on to that sound. It was intoxicating. “Take her to one of the vacant rooms upstairs. I’ll have my cousin meet you up there with a change of clothes for her.”

Both the twins nodded their heads and ushered me out of the room. My heart sank as they shut the door to the office, saddened by the thought of not being near him anymore. I had no idea what exactly had just happened, but I knew without a doubt there was something special about Marcus. I had no idea what it was exactly, but I hoped I would find out soon.