Before I Rise

Marcus’s POV

The rogue on the other side of the glass looked almost bored, as if he wasn’t afraid of what just happened. He certainly didn’t look like a person that had just been captured by the pack he had been scouting, nor was he afraid of what was to come. He did however, look like he hadn’t showered in weeks. There was a thick layer of dirt starting from his patchy hair all the way down to his bare feet. I felt my heart tug when we first came across him. He looked no older than sixteen, he was just a kid. I did have the decency to give him a pair of shorts after we pulled him from the trap and bound his hands together. I was hoping that by that simple act of kindness, he might be more willing to talk.

Currently, our group was trying to decide who was going to go in there and interrogate the rogue. Alexis immediately volunteered when she first arrived with Em. However, I told her no. I didn’t trust her to keep her cool if she went in there and we needed to be able to gather as much intel as we could. I could not have her jeopardize that.

I had then told the group I would be the one to do it, but one look from Em quickly shot that idea down. I could tell by looking at her, there was no way in hell she was going to let me go in that room alone. Usually I would push and try to convince her to change her mind, but after our conversation a couple of days ago about her fears I didn’t think it was such a good idea. Which leads us to everyone trying to plead their own case on why it should be them.

Jacoby explained since I wasn’t going, that it should be him since he is technically beta. Dave shot the idea down and then volunteered himself. I had a feeling he would rather it be him and not one of us, in case things go south. The twins, Jake and Luke, have been declaring loudly why they should do it as they are third in command. Which, in itself caused a fight between them as to which one was the better twin to do the job. The only two who hadn’t spoken yet were Alpha Jensen and Em, but no way was I letting my mate go in there. If I couldn’t then neither could she. Plain and simple.

“Why can’t we both just go in. You can go first and play bad cop. Then I’ll come in, and play good cop. Just give me ten minutes to run and grab coffee and donuts!” Jake suggested to Luke.

Luke rolled his eyes at his ridiculous suggestion. “No, that’s just stupid. I don’t think this guy would even fall for it. I agree with Marcus, there should be only one person at a time in there until we know what this guy is capable of. You don’t know if there’s some freaky shit this guy can do. If his blood burns, what else can he do?”

Jake huffed his annoyance and glared at Luke. He looked around the room quickly before finding who he was searching for.

“Elder Morgan, do you think there is anything we should be concerned about?” He asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders, “I’m honestly not sure. There was not a whole lot in the books I found on this. Just that they operate differently than a typical rogue and that their blood burns on contact.”

We were all quiet for a few seconds before someone finally spoke up and volunteered.

“I’ll do it.” Jensen said as he raised his hand in the air.

“Why?” Em interjected with a slight hostile tone in her voice. Everyone, including me, looked at her in surprise. She quickly cleared her throat as soon as she noticed everyone’s eyes were on her. “I mean, I’m just curious as to why you would want to.”

“I just feel like I’m the most logical choice. Alpha Alexis most likely won’t be able to keep her cool given the fact that this guy may or may not have helped in wiping out her pack. You won’t let Marcus go in there and I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to let you either. “ I nodded my head in agreement as he continued. “Dave wont let Jacoby do it and he wont let Dave do it, typical father and son relationship. And the twins, well they can’t seem to agree on anything so they are both out. Which leaves Elder Morgan and I. Elder Morgan, would you like to interrogate the rogue?” He asked Elder Morgan.

She quickly shook her head at Jensen. “Oh no, I don’t think that’s best. Besides, I’m just really here to get a blood sample from him as soon as you guys are done.” She held up a tiny vile to show everyone.

“Do you think that’s big enough?” Alexis asked the question everyone was thinking. I assumed she would need a huge amount of blood from the rogue for this to work.

“Actually, a drop of blood is all the recipe calls for. According to the directions, it should be enough for half the pack. Don’t worry Alpha Alexis, I plan on tripling the recipe just in case.”

Alexis nodded, satisfied with the answer. I felt relieved that I wasn’t going to have to actually drain all the blood from this guy, it just seemed like it would be a messy situation.

“Well, there you have it. I guess I’m it. Any particular questions you want me to ask Marcus?” Jensen asked me.

“No, I trust that you’ll know exactly what needs to be asked.” I was relieved he was going to be the one to do it. He was a senior Alpha, making me feel confident he could handle himself in there. If it couldn’t be me, I would rather it be him.

“Alrighty then, guess I should head in there. Wish me luck.” Jensen chuckled as he walked out of the room we were all in and into the room with the rogue.

Everyone moved to stand in front of the glass that was connected to the other room so we could watch. In the room with Jensen and the rogue, the glass was reflected making it appear as a mirror. Though, unless the rogue was stupid, he should know that he was being watched on the other side of it.

Jensen pulled out a metal chair from the table and sat across from the rogue with his back towards us. I had designed the other room as a way to be able to stare directly at whoever was being interrogated so I could watch their facial expressions.

Jensen cleared his throat before talking. “Hi there. My name is Jensen and I just have a few questions for you if you don’t mind. Let’s start with some of the easier ones, what’s your name?” Jensen held a very gentle tone, attempting to make the rogue feel comfortable with him.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Em whispered in my ear.

“What do you mean?” I asked her, as quiet as I could to try and keep our conversation between us.

She shrugged her shoulders, “I’m not sure. I just have had this pit in my stomach since I walked in here.”

I brushed a couple of stray hairs behind her ear before kissing the side of her head.

“It’s going to be okay love. This is a good thing, this is what is going to give us a leg up on them.” She didn’t respond, just gave me a small smile and nodded her head before turning back to look at the rogue.

“If you’re not going to tell me your name, can you at least tell me what pack you belonged to before you turned rogue? How did that exactly happen? You look pretty young to be a rogue.” Jensen said, trying to coax anything out of him.

The rogue rolled his ashy brown eyes in annoyance, the first real emotion he’s shown since we captured him.

“Ask me anything, go ahead, but I’m not saying shit to you.” He spat out at Jensen as he deepened his glare.

Jensen let out a chuckle that was the opposite of one being amused at the situation.

“Go ahead, don’t say anything then. But you do realize what’s going to happen, right?” The rogue looked at Jensen with confusion. “If you don’t say anything, or give us some type of helpful information, then we have no use for you. And in case you need clarification on what I’m saying, it means you’ll be dead in the next few seconds. If you help us, then maybe we can work something out. Your choice kid.” Jensen leaned back in the chair and interlaced his fingers together behind his head.

The rogue scoffed at Jensen and rolled his eyes again.

“You really think I’m scared of you, that I’m scared of any of you? You don’t scare me. There’s nothing that you can do that hasn’t been done to me already.”

“Really? Had a hard life did you? Running on pure anger and revenge. Tell me, if you aren’t scared of anyone then who are you pissed off at? And don’t say no one, I was your age once. I remember what it was like, though I didn’t join an army built for destruction. I did however steal my dad’s collectible mustang and crashed it. Man, I really thought he was going to kill me that night!”

Dave chuckled beside me as Jensen attempted to try to connect with the rogue on some personal level. I was actually impressed by him. If it was me, I would have already threatened the guy in any way I could.

“I remember that night. Lucas and I were visiting Jensen for the weekend when we had the grand idea to steal the mustang. We were only about fifteen at the time and Jensen had just started to learn how to drive. I’ve never pissed myself so fast the way I did when his dad caught us. I was grounded for four months because of it.” The whole room erupted in laughter as Dave shared his experience with us. It was a nice break from the serious atmosphere that surrounded us.

“Though nothing compares when you catch your own son and his best friend doing stupid shit. Remember that one time I caught the two of you running down one of the main roads naked as the day you came into this world, with tiaras and a tutu on in broad daylight. I believe the both of you were about thirteen right?”

I truly believe I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life. My cheeks flamed up and I wanted to disappear.

“You did what?” My mate shouted as she clutched her stomach while tears were streaming down her face due to how hard she was laughing.

Jacoby and I both groaned in pain while remembering what had led us to that moment.

“I already told you dad, we lost a stupid bet. Now can you please stop bringing that up?” Jacoby pleaded with Dave.

Dave chuckled and held up his hands. “Okay, okay I promise to never speak about it again. We should probably stop anyways, the rogue looks like he’s finally going to start talking.”

Em grabbed my hand as everyone turned their attention back to the other room. Dave was right, the rogue was finally getting ready to talk.

“You think I choose this? I don’t want to be a part of this, I don’t want to take out packs. I didn’t choose to be made this way. I tried, I really tried to get out of it. But, you can’t. Nobody can. The only way to leave is through death. So please, I’m begging you, end me.” Tears began to fall down the kid’s face as his bottom lip trembled.

Jensen leaned across the table and let out a heavy sigh.

“Listen kid, just tell me everything you know and I promise you I will do everything in my power to get you out of this. You can stay here, get your act together, and have a normal life. Hell, if the Alpha here doesn’t want you, I’ll take you back to my pack. All you have to do is tell me what I need to know.”

“This is so sad. I wasn’t expecting this.” Em said, as she squeezed my hand.

I pulled her closer to me, “I know. It sounds like there’s more to this than we initially thought.”

The kid started to sob as his body slightly shook.

“You can’t help me, nobody can help me. Not even the Moon Goddess could help me. It’s too late.” He started to rock back and forth in the chair. The chains that we used on him were clinking against the chair and table.

“That’s not true. I can and will help you. Tell me what I need to know, I promise no harm will come to you. Just tell me, who is behind all this? What do they want?”

“I can’t tell you! Even if I could, it wouldn’t matter. You can’t beat her, nobody can!”

Shock ran through my body. I was not picturing a woman behind this. I wasn’t sure if this changed anything for us, but it was nonetheless. I just hoped we could get a name from this kid before he passed out from how hard he was freaking out.

“Who? Give me her name and we’ll be done. I’ll get you some clean clothes and some food, all I need is a name.” Jensen bargained.

The kid began to shake uncontrollably, his eyes started to turn dark. It wasn’t the way one’s eyes turned when their wolf was present, this was entirely different. Something shifted in the air as this happened making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“I CAN’T TELL YOU! PLEASE STOP! IT BURNS! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!”

Veins on the kid’s arms and neck began to bulge to the point I could see his heart beat through them. He started to shake harder than before and foam at the mouth as his eyes rolled back into his head.

I quickly knocked on the window, to gain Jensen’s attention and let him know to get out of there quickly. I started to head out of the room to help him, when I suddenly realized my mate was no longer standing beside me.

Jensen stood up swiftly from his chair and started to walk to the door in the room. However, he stopped as soon as he got up.

The door into the interrogation room banged open and before I knew it, the whole room erupted into pure chaos.

A mass of blond hair slammed into Jensen and fell to the ground on top of him. The kid let out one final gut wrenching scream before black blood exploded out of him, covering every inch of the room.