Before I Rise
The Broken Friendship

Marcus’s POV

It was still early in the morning when three town cars pulled up to the front of the pack house where Jacoby and I were standing and waiting for their arrival. Men began to pile out of the cars and approach us. Out of the six men that approached us, one stood out the most. He was about my height and had a similar bulky build that I held. He had a powerful aura surrounding him, so powerful that it nearly knocked me to my knees the closer he got. This man was Alpha Jenson of the Desert Rose Pack.

“Welcome to the Dark Moon Pack Alpha Jenson. It’s an honor to have you here.” I said as I stuck out my hand to shake his. He shook my hand with a strong grip making my nerves grow.

“It’s good to be here, Alpha Marcus.” He replied with a slight smile on his face. “I brought a couple of my personal warriors and my third in command to witness our alliance being formed.”

It was customary for an Alpha to bring a couple of his head or Elite Warriors and someone higher up in the pack rank to witness an alliance being made with another pack. I usually brought ten of my warriors if I was unsure about the Alpha I would be dealing with. It was nice to know Alpha Jenson felt confident enough to bring very few of his warriors with him to my pack. It was a sign of good trust on his side of things.

“Perfect. We have a few rooms open here if you would like to stay in the pack house. We also have a guest house that is just a few minutes walk from here if you would be more comfortable there.”

Alpha Jenson waved his hand at me in a dismissive way. “Nonsense my boy. We would be comfortable to stay in your pack house. I always tell my son that if you don’t feel comfortable having a visiting Alpha and his people stay in your pack house, then you shouldn’t be making any sort of alliance with him.”

Smart man. Xavier said. I agreed with him on that. It was good advice to live by, too bad I didn’t have a dad to pass along useful things like that.

“Wise words to live by Alpha Jenson. By the way, this is my Beta Jacoby. He will be the one witnessing our reunion on my side.”

Alpha Jenson shook hands with Jacoby. “Does that make you Beta Dave’s son?” He asked him.

“Yes it does!” Jacoby replied as he let go of the Alpha’s hand.

“Is he here? I would love to see him, Goddess it has been at least ten years since the last time I saw him.” Alpha Jenson wasn’t just close to my dad before my mom’s death, he was also very close to Jacoby’s father. Rumor has it, those three would stir up trouble anywhere they went.

“Unfortunately he is not. My mom and him took some time to do some traveling they have always wanted to do. They are due back home in about three weeks.”

“Well, give him my best when you see him. I am sad I missed him and the lovely Lilly. But, not to dwell as there are other more important things to discuss and to do.” Alpha Jenson turned away from Jacoby to look at me. “Alpha Marcus if you don’t mind, I was thinking you and I could discuss things privately before we bring our men into this?”

Why does he want to speak with us privately? Tell him whatever he says to us can be said in front of our men or pack members. Better yet, bring our amazing mate to listen in. We didn’t get to have breakfast with her because of you! Xavier said, causing me to mentally roll my eyes at him.

First of all, I was going to have breakfast with her as planned. It’s not my fault that my annoying cousin decided to steal her away from us for a girl thing. Second of all, if Alpha Jenson wants to talk to us privately then that’s exactly what we are going to do. Do you understand how lucky we are to even have him be willing to give us this opportunity? I replied to him.

Yeah yeah yeah, I get it. We are pretty lucky. But, I just miss her. He said with a sad pathetic sigh at the end.

I didn’t bother to reply to him. Ever since I told Em that I loved her over a week ago, he has become even worse with wanting to complete the mate bond. He was beginning to give me a headache over it. I was getting close in wanting to complete the bond, I just wasn’t fully ready yet.

“Of course Alpha Jenson, that won’t be a problem at all. Perhaps my Beta can show your men their rooms that they’ll be staying in while you and I go talk privately in my office.”

“Lead the way Alpha.” He said with a nod.

I began to get nervous as I opened my office door, unsure why he wanted to talk to me privately. Instead of sitting at my desk, I headed to the two couches in the room. It didn’t feel right to me to sit at my desk, it felt too formal for this moment. I was hoping this would be a casual conversation between us, two old acquaintances catching up.

“Can I offer you anything to drink Alpha Jenson?” I asked him as he sat on the opposite couch from me.

He let out a small chuckle. “No thank you. But, you could drop the Alpha talk with me. Just call me Jenson, or better yet call me uncle Jay if you want. I mean, it feels weird to talk so formally with you since I knew you when you were in diapers. Hell, you even threw up on me one time.”

I cringed at that. “Sorry, sometimes I forget just how close you and my parents were before my dad went off the rails. I really appreciate you coming here.”

Alpha, I mean Jenson, nodded his head in agreement and crossed one leg over the other.

“Goddess, it feels weird being back here. Not much has changed, and yet so much has. A new Alpha sits in front of me in the same old office I have been in countless times.”

“How long has it been exactly, since you’ve been here?” I asked him.

Jenson thought for a second. “I believe the last time I was here was a year after your mom passed. It was the last time I saw you.”

Something clicked in my head when he said that.

“The last time you saw me, but not the last time you saw my dad. Right?”

Jenson took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, before letting it out. It was almost like he was bracing himself for this conversation.

“Correct. I crossed paths with your father a year ago, he paid me a little visit.”

I felt the blood rush to my ears and felt nauseous. All this time, I had secretly thought he had died after not hearing or seeing him. The fact that he was alive strangely comforted me in a way and yet, angered me all at the same time. It was nice to know I at least had a parent still alive. However, this entire time he has not once seen me or tried to contact me. He really didn’t care about me or the pack.

“He came to see you? Why did he come talk to you when he hasn’t even tried to contact me at all for the past 4 years?” I was trying to keep my anger in check, but it was hard. All I wanted to do was replace him and choke him out.

“Do you know why your father and I had a falling out?” Jenson asked me, avoiding my questions.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not sure if anyone here knows why and he never told me.”

“Of course he didn’t tell you. Though, I am a little surprised why Dave didn’t share that information with you.”

“Dave knows what happened?” I was growing deeply confused. My understanding was no one in the pack had any sort of idea of what happened, including my dad’s Beta at the time. I thought if he knew, he would have told me. Guess I’ll be confronting Dave as soon as he gets home.

“Oh yeah he does. Dave doesn’t just know what happened, he was personally involved in our disagreement. I was surprised your father cut ties with me, but not with Dave. However, it would have been unwise since he was his Beta.” He said, making my eyes grow as wide as they could go.

I had always thought it was just between my dad and Jenson. I never even considered Dave could have been a part of it. This definitely changes things.

“So then… what exactly happened between the three of you?” I asked him, hoping to finally get some damn answers.

“After your mother died, your father was a mess as one would be when losing their mate. He asked me to come and visit because he had an important matter to discuss with me that he could not do over the phone. When I visited him it was the last time I was here. He was very much convinced that a mutual friend of ours was directly involved with your mothers death. Dave and I did not agree with him at all, which caused him to fly into a fit of rage…”

“Hold on, what mutual friend is this? Why did my father think the man was involved?” I said, interrupting him.

A smirk grew on Jenson’s face. “I never said it was a man.”

“It was a woman?” I was shocked. How could a woman be involved in my mother’s death?

“Yes, it was a woman. A woman that was a very close friend to all three of us.”

“Why did he think she was involved?” I asked him.

Jenson thought for a moment. “At the time this happened, we still weren’t sure who exactly coordinated the attack against your pack that night. That information was still very up in the air. Your father needed someone to blame and decided to blame the wrong person. In fact, she helped us replace out who orchestrated the attack. She was never to blame for your mothers death.

“Dave and I both tried to explain this to your father after she informed us who was responsible, but it was too late. He was so convinced she had a hand in losing his mate, that he called on his alliance to go to war with her. When I got that call, I told your father that I would play no part in that. I was not about to jeopardize my pack over your fathers thirst for blood. In doing so, I finally broke the alliance I had with him. He then turned on me and began to threaten my own pack. We were gearing up to go to war against him before he suddenly stopped with his threats.”

I tried to take in what he said. Who exactly was this mysterious woman that was important enough for Jenson to end a life long friendship? Why did Dave never share this with me? So many questions kept floating around in my head.

“Did any pack answer his calling in going to war against the woman?” I asked him.

“No, it would have been a loss before it even started. You don’t go to war against a woman like her.” He replied, sending shivers down my spine.

My father at the time had very strong alliances with just about every pack in North America. For no one to be willing to stand by his side, testified just how powerful she had to be.

“Who is she?” My curiosity was growing the more I thought about it.

He let out a sad chuckle. “Sorry Marcus, we Alpha’s aren’t allowed to share that information with anybody.”

What does that even mean? Xavier asked, sounding more confused than I was at the moment.

I have no idea, but this is getting weird. Xavier hummed in agreement.

“Well, the last time I checked, I was an Alpha. Doesn’t that mean you can tell me?” I asked Jenson.

“Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. The only way you receive that information is if she wants you to. If she wanted you to know about her, she would’ve been there the day the Alpha title was passed down to you. That’s the only way it works.”

A dull throb was beginning to grow in my head. This was not how I pictured our conversation going. Though, I am thankful to finally gain some answers but it left me with even more questions. Nothing was fully making sense. I felt he was leaving out crucial information that would aid me in gaining all the answers I wanted.

“I can see this is going to take some time to soak in for you, that’s why I wanted to have this conversation right off the bat. I figured since I am staying here for the next five days, I can answer any questions that you might have or have yet to think up.”

“I’m grateful to finally have some answers, but I’m left with even more questions than I had before we walked into this room.” I admitted to him.

Jenson laughed and nodded his head. “Yeah, I figured you might. Listen Marcus, over the next 3 days we will be in formal meetings discussing what type of alliance would benefit our packs before we establish the alliance on the full moon in 5 days. But when we aren’t, I want to be able to have moments just like this. I have missed out on so much of your life, I would like to get to know you and catch up. And of course, answer any questions you may come up with.”

I looked at Jenson sitting across from me. He may have gotten older over the years, but he was still the same man that I knew when I was younger. Kind and warm. It would be nice to form a more personal relationship with him and get to know him all over again. It would also be nice to have an older Alpha as a mentor.

A small smile started to form on my face. “I would really like that Uncle Jay.”

He chuckled at the sound of that. “Good, it’s about time we catch up. However, you look like you could use a break from all the serious stuff.” He got quiet for a moment before continuing. “I heard you met your mate, is that true?”

A warmness spread across my chest that appears every time someone mentions Em.

“Yes I did. Would you like to meet her?”