Before I Rise

Em’s POV

I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to get them to adjust to the blinding light. Once they did, I looked around at my surroundings. There was absolutely nothing. It felt like I was stuck smack dab in the middle of a white abyss all alone. Instead of feeling panicked, I felt oddly calm.

Suddenly, something towards the left of me began to move. The closer it got, the easier it was to see what was coming. By the outline of it, it appeared to be a wolf in all white. Before it got close enough for me to actually see it, it darted away.

“Hey! Wait!” I shouted, hoping it would stop. I started to sprint after it as soon as I realized it wasn’t going to come back.

As I was running after the wolf, mist began to appear. It started out thin then quickly became so thick, I could barely see a few inches in front of me.

“Hello?” I called out again, hoping someone would answer back. I had no idea what was going on or would happen. I suddenly wished Elder Morgan would have told me exactly what to expect.

After a few seconds of aimlessly walking, the mist began to dissipate until it was completely gone. Standing a few feet away from me was a tall woman with long wavy black hair, so black that at times it seemed almost blue.

“...Marie can’t be here. You have to go. I’m sorry, but it isn’t time yet. Run along now.” The woman said to whoever was standing in front of her.

I didn’t hear a reply, but I saw the tail end of the wolf I was chasing run off in a different direction. For whatever reason, this made me sad.

The woman in front of me turned around as soon as the wolf disappeared. My breath immediately got caught in my throat. She was absolutely stunning. Along with her dark hair, she had silver eyes that seemed to pierce into your soul. Around her head was a crown that had what appeared to be moonstones with another stone that looked similar but was much clearer. In the middle of the crown was an outline of a crescent moon in what appeared to be some sort of a black crystal material. She had on a white gown that flowed all the way to the ground, which made it look like she was floating instead of actually walking towards me.

I cleared my throat, wondering if I should be the one to break the silence or wait to see if she would. In the end, I decided to not say anything. My nerves wouldn’t let me.

“Hello Em.” Her voice rang out into the white void. It held a certain powerful energy in it, making me almost second guess my decision to do this. I was just some ordinary human, what gave me the right to be in front of a powerful Goddess? I just was praying that I wouldn’t say anything stupid in front of her.

“Moon Goddess,” I quickly bowed my head as she stopped in front of me. “Thank you for taking the time to speak to me.”

“Please, call me Selene. No need to be so formal with me. Shall we sit and talk?” She waved her hand to the left of us and a white bench appeared. I let her sit down first before joining her.

“So…” My mind suddenly went blank as I stared at her. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement. I had no idea why I was so nervous around her. She didn’t seem to be bothered by me coming here, but I still was just so unsure of how to interact with her.

She let out a small chuckle before grabbing my hand and giving it a small reassuring squeeze.

“Just relax,” she calmly said. “There is no reason to be nervous. I know why you are here. Not just for the pack, but for yourself. Ask me anything Em, personal or not and I will answer as much as I can. No questions are off limits.”

I took a few deep breaths in, trying to calm myself down and clear my head. Once I finally did, I debated on what question I wanted to ask first. Finally, I realized that I needed to ask the most important question out of all of them.

“Clearly, you’ve seen that we have a bit of a rogue problem. Elder Morgan thinks it’s possible that they are somehow using black magic, or that a witch that practices black magic is behind all this. Is… Is there any way we can stop this? Or at least, protect ourselves and our loved ones?”

The Moon Goddess nodded her head, “Yes there is a way. Long ago, there was a great battle that involved my kind and witches. One witch used black magic on rogues and turned them against their own kind. Thankfully, another witch that was on our side made a potion that could protect others against the effects of the rogue’s blood. Elder Morgan should have the recipe. It’s in one of the history books she has on the second bookshelf. Everything should be easy to obtain, except you will need fresh blood from a rogue who has been infected by dark magic.”

I sighed in defeat. “So, we actually do have to capture a live rogue? I know Marcus is planning on that, but I was hoping there was a different way we could go about this. I’m worried he is going to get hurt if he attempts to capture one.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” She said with a gentle smile, instantly making me feel better about the whole situation.

“Okay good. I’ll make sure to tell Elder Morgan about the potion.” I looked around, not really knowing what to do now that my question had been answered.

“Come on Em, we both know you have more questions that you would like to ask. This may be your one time to ask them until we are destined to meet again.” She encouragingly said.

“I have a long list.” I joked with her, still wondering if she really wanted to hear all of them or not.

“I’m all ears. You won’t return until I feel we have addressed all your concerns and questions.”

I was relieved to hear that. “Well, for starters, why is my mark different from the other ones?”

The Moon Goddess moved my hair behind my shoulder and slightly pulled down my collar to reveal my mark. She studied it quietly for a few seconds before letting my shirt collar return to place.

“Pretty isn’t it?” She asked me. I nodded my head, waiting for her to continue. “It’s very unique for a very unique reason. The reasons will be known in time.” I didn’t say anything as I waited for her to elaborate. After a few minutes of sitting there in complete silence, I realized she wasn’t.

“That’s… that’s it? You aren’t going to tell me any more information?” The Moon Goddess nodded her head, making me grow in confusion. “Why?” I asked her.

“Because Em, any information I share with you now could possibly alter your and Marcus’s path. You both are already walking on a thin line between great destruction and great destiny.” She explained to me, making me wonder what the hell she was talking about.

“What do you mean ‘great destruction and great destiny?’ What great destiny?” I asked her, hoping she would give me just a fraction of an inch more information than she already had.

She just stared at me with a slight mischievous glint in her eyes. It almost felt like we were sharing an inside joke between us, except I had no idea what the punch line was.

I sighed in defeat. “Ok fine, what about my memories? Can you at least tell me what happened to those?”

She nodded her head, “Yes. I do know what happened to your memories. I took them from you.”

My eyes grew as wide as they could go and my mouth sprang open in shock.

“You… You took them from me! Why?” I shouted at her, unable to comprehend why she would even do that to me.

“I had too. If I hadn’t, you and Marcus wouldn’t be mated right now. The opportunity to complete the mate bond with him was beginning to pass you by. I had to take drastic measures to get you two together. If I didn’t, then you two would never be able to achieve what you are destined to achieve.” She said, with a nonchalant shrug at the end.

“Okay… are you ever going to give them back to me?”

“Yes, in time they will start to return on their own. I know you are upset with me, but please believe me when I say I had no other choice. Time was running out. Though, I wish I would have known what would happen after I took them. I sometimes wish I would have done it sooner rather than later.” She said, attempting to calm me down. However, it wasn’t working.

“You just think because you are the Moon Goddess that you can take whatever you want. Those were my memories. MINE! You had no right to them. I don’t know if I have any family that is worried about my well being. Or friends that miss me. I can’t even tell Marcus stories about myself, because I don’t remember anything. I have felt so lost without them, like a part of me disappeared. How could you do this to me?” I quickly bit my lip to keep the tears that were threatening to fall at bay. I refused to cry in front of her.

The Moon Goddess’s silver eyes softened. “I am sorry Em, I understand that you are angry with me. But, if you are worried about family and friends, don’t be. You didn’t have a heartwarming upbringing.”

I quickly looked away from her as my heart broke inside my chest. Tears began to fall down my cheeks as I thought over what she had said. I wasn’t entirely surprised, but it hurt having it confirmed. From the minute I woke up in that clearing to every day since, I had a gut feeling that I was utterly alone before meeting Marcus and the pack. For the first time in my life, I finally felt like I belonged somewhere, like I finally got the family I always wanted. It’s one of the reasons I never let Marcus look for a report of me missing when he first asked. I was truly afraid that no one, not one single person, would be out there looking for me. I guess I was right.

I sucked in a breath and harshly wiped my cheeks and eyes before turning back to look at the Moon Goddess.

“I just have one more question,” I began. “Is Jenson up to something? I don’t trust him at all, and he acts like he knows something about me.” I explained to her, hoping she would just answer and not be as vague this time.

“Let me ask you something. Do you not trust him because he seems to know something that he isn’t sharing with you? Or do you genuinely think he is up to no good?”

I thought for a few seconds before answering her. “Doesn’t that go hand and hand?”

“Not necessarily. Just because he seems to know something about you, doesn’t mean he actually plans on causing any harm towards you, Marcus, or the pack.” She explained to me, making me rethink everything about him.

Perhaps she was right. He certainly hasn’t done anything that would cause me to think he meant harm to us, but I still didn’t trust him. I felt like there was more to him than meets the eye. I wasn’t sure though, and I wasn’t about to let my guard down with him.

“I’m by all means not saying to trust him or to not trust him. I am simply saying perhaps look at it in a different mind set.”

I rubbed my head as my frustration grew. “This would be a lot simpler if you would just tell me what to do. Can’t you at least give me this one?”

The Moon Goddess let out a chuckle before standing up and pulling me with her.

“You know what to do Em. Trust your heart, it will lead you where you need to go.” She said as she placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Until we meet again.”