Before I Rise
The Call

Marcus’s POV

“Did she mention what this was about?” Jacoby asked me as we climbed up the stairs towards my office to call Alpha Alexis.

“No, she just told me it was important to contact her as soon as I get home. Let’s hope it’s not all bad news.”

Jacoby shook his head in agreement with me. “Let’s also hope that she isn’t going to ask you to come and help her out if needed. That would suck for you since you’ve finally made progress with Em. And don’t you dare play it off, we all heard you guys in that backseat sucking face on the way home.”

My face flamed up in embarrassment. “I…. I don’t… ummmm I don’t know what you are trying to imply.”

I was hoping that they wouldn’t have noticed what exactly Em and I were doing back there or at least not mention it to me or her, but of course that was wishful thinking. Due to everyone in the car being a werewolf, they have excellent hearing. Sometimes it comes in handy, other times it’s a nuisance to deal with it. Thank the Goddess that I invested in soundproof rooms for the pack house.

“Yeah right, don’t act like you have no idea what I am talking about. Just let me know if you need anything for the act. Alicia always says ‘No glove no love’”

I let out an annoyed groan. Why couldn’t he just let it go?

“That won’t be happening for quite some time. Get your head out of the gutter and focus, we have business to do.”

Jacoby let out a small chuckle and slapped his hand on my shoulder. “Oh Alpha, the closer you get to your mate the stronger the urge to complete the mate bond will be. I won’t be surprised if we are planning the luna ceremony by the end of the month.”

I shook my head in disagreement as we walked into my office. It was way too soon for any of that. I needed more time to feel comfortable and trust that everything wouldn’t turn to shit as soon as I complete the mate bond with Em.

He isn’t wrong you know. We’ll most likely complete the mate bond by the end of this month. Though I wouldn’t mind if we completed it tonight, but you have to take your sweet time and cry about it.

Geez thanks for your compassion Xavier. You have managed to completely change my mind about this whole thing. Maybe I’ll just reschedule with Alexis, go replace Em, and have my wicked way with her.

Listen human, I understand why you are so hesitant. You are forgetting we share headspace and I reluctantly can hear your thoughts if I want to. I just don’t like how there is still a part of you that is fighting the mate bond. Once you accept it, life will get a hell of a lot better for both of us.

That’s not completely true Xavier. There’s still that slight chance that things could go south. She’s human, which means she is a lot more vulnerable than a typical she-wolf. You have to take that into consideration before we complete the mate bond. And I am serious about that. You need to really weigh the cons of accepting Em and what could go wrong before I agree to complete the bond. Once you do, and if you are still set on completing it, then I will go through with it.

Xavier didn’t respond. It was typical of him to ignore me when we talk about the mate situation. He’s the type that reacts first and thinks later. I happen to be the complete opposite. Usually we balance each other out because of that, but not when it comes to our mate. I feel as though we will never truly agree on the subject.

“Are you ready for this?” Jacoby asked me, as he sat on the other side of my desk. I pulled out my desk chair and grabbed the office phone, dialed Alexis’ office phone, and put it on speaker for Jacoby. After it rang twice, a masculine female voice came over the phone.

“Blood Moon Pack, this is Alpha Alexis speaking.”

“Hey Alexis, it’s Marcus with Jacoby here. What’s going on?” I asked her.

She took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out. A sure sign that whatever happened shook her up. I immediately began to feel nervous. Alexis always remained steady no matter what situation she was put in. If she was nervous, then the news was definitely bad.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but it’s just not normal Marcus.”

“What isn’t normal Alexis?” I asked her. I looked at Jacoby as we waited for Alexis’s explanation. His clear blue eyes were filled with worry and confusion.

“You know how last week I called you about a couple of rogues that would show up near the boundary line and just sat there for a few minutes before running off?” She asked me.

I shook my head yes before I realized she couldn’t see me. “Yeah I remember. Did a few more show up?”

Alexis let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Oh yeah, a few more did show up. A fucking army of them showed up.”

“WHAT?!” Jacoby and I both shouted in disbelief.

“Is everyone alright?” Jacoby asked her.

“If you are asking if there were any casualties, there wasn’t. They never even attacked us. They stood shoulder to shoulder right outside our boundary line and had us completely surrounded. I ran the entire boundary line looking for any possible openings just in case, and there weren’t any. Our boundary line is over 20 miles long. So you can imagine just how many there were.

“They stayed like that for 40 minutes. None of them attempted to cross over onto my pack land. They just stood there and watched us. I didn’t have any of my warriors attack them. I waited to see if they would make a move and they never did. Just stood there and then left. They didn’t even growl at us. And honestly, that’s not even the weird part. I don’t think they are typical rogues. They certainly look like them, all dirty and mangled, but they don’t smell like death and decay. They have this weird sickly sweet smell to them and their eyes are pitch black. I have never seen anything like it. And, I have no idea what they are waiting or watching for.”

She took in another deep breath, letting Jacoby and I think her information over. This was beyond bad. If the rogues were uniting again, this could mean another war for us. The last Rogue War took place a few months after I took over as Alpha. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I was in no rush to have another one. These things do happen every once and awhile, but for two to take place within a couple of years of each other, was almost unheard of.

“Is there anything that I can do to help Alexis?” I asked her.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind a few extra warriors if you could spare any. And I need to also contact all the alphas on this continent to see if they are having any unusual rogue activity.” She said to me.

“I can contact the east coast alphas if you want to take the west coast alphas. I’ll also talk to Luke and Jake in the morning about sending over some warriors to you just incase.”

“Thanks Marcus, I really appreciate it. I’ll call the alphas in the morning and will get back to you on what they say. I got to go, I need to speak with my head warriors and come up with a plan if shit goes sideways.”

“Ok sounds good. Let me know immediately if they come back. I’ll keep my personal phone on me all night.” I told her.

“Yeah, I definitely will. Talk to you guys later.” She said and then ended the call.

Jacoby and I both sat in silence taking everything in. If this was going to be another war, I did not want to be caught off guard like last time. Being unprepared cost innocent lives. That’s how Alexis lost her whole family.

“Do you think this is gearing up to be another war?” Jacoby asked me, finally breaking the silence.

“I have no idea. But I rather treat it like one and get prepared, than ignore it and be unprepared.” I explained to him.

“Yeah I agree man. They seem more organized than the last group, which won’t be great for us if they are.”

“Definitely not, it will make it harder to catch them off guard. Listen, let’s call it a night and meet back here after breakfast tomorrow with Luke and Jake. We’ll catch them up on everything and start forming a plan.”

We both got up and walked out of the office. Jacoby gave me a small wave as we separated and went off in different directions. I started to climb the stairs to go to the fourth floor, where the Alpha quarters are, when I stopped on the second floor landing. The floor that Em’s bedroom is on. I didn’t even hesitate in walking towards her room. After receiving the news I just got, I wanted to check on her. My anxiety was at an all time high at the moment.

I stopped with my hand hovering above her door handle, debating whether or not I really needed to do this. I did not want to get caught standing over her bed while she is sleeping and have her think I’m creepy. After a few seconds of debating, I slightly turned the door handle and tiptoed into her room. It was completely dark but I could still see a little. I saw a sleeping figure wrapped up in blankets on the left side of the bed.

Just as I was about to reach the figure, the bathroom door swung right open, revealing an annoying redhead.

“I FUCKING KNEW YOU WOULD SNEAK IN HERE!” She screamed and snapped a picture of my shocked face.

“ALICIA!” I screamed at her, both in fright and anger at being caught by her.

“What’s going on?” Em sleepily asked us, as she sat up in bed.

“He snuck in here to have a midnight snack, just like I predicted! And I got a picture of it as proof!”

“That’s not why I came in here!” I defensively said. Of course this would happen to me.

“Then why are you in here?” Alicia asked me.

“I came in here to check on her! Ugh, you know what? I don’t need to explain shit to you. I’m out of here!”

I turned towards Em and kissed her on the forehead. “Get some sleep love. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night Marcus, sweet dreams.” Em wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek, making all my anxiety go away.

I gave her a small squeeze and another forehead kiss before I backed away from her. With one last glare towards Alicia, I got out of there as fast as I could.