Before I Rise
The Concerned Alpha

Marcus’s POV

I leaned back in my chair as the door to my office shut. I basked in the relief I felt after Elder Morgan informed me the rogue serum worked. She had just left to get vials ready to hand out to us at the start of our night patrol. Day patrol would receive theirs when they were finishing up with their shift this evening. The news couldn’t have come at a better time.

According to Jensen, none of the packs close to us have had any rogue activity. We haven’t seen any either since we had captured one. I would love to be optimistic about this, that perhaps this was a good sign. But, I had a feeling this was the calm before the storm. I’ve been on edge for the past two days. I could feel the thick tension in the air no matter where I was. A war was coming.

Now that we could finally protect ourselves against the poisonous blood, our survival chances increased significantly. Though with war, there will be loss. I knew at the end of this, I was going to have to bury someone’s loved one. I just hope it won’t be my mate.

Will you please stop that? We aren’t going to lose her. The blood doesn’t even affect her, and we have an escape plan for her. She won’t be anywhere near the fighting.

So? War is unpredictable. Anything can happen Xavier. I just would rather be prepared than unprepared.

We are prepared. Seriously, sometimes you need to relax. You know what could help you relax? He asked me, with a mischievous tone in his voice.

What’s your suggestion, oh wise one? I had my suspicions on what he was going to say.

Well… you have some free time till you have to be on patrol. I say we go replace our mate and have our wicked way with her.

You know, that’s actually a great idea.

Wait! Really? I could feel Xavier’s excitement run through me.

I knew he missed her as much as I did. I have barely seen her the past few days and yearned to spend more than five minutes with her. I always made sure to tuck her into bed before I left. Lately though, I’ve noticed she’s been extra tense and have had this nagging feeling I needed to check in on her.

I began to get up from my chair, when a knock at my office door stopped me. “Come in,” I called out to them. The door opened and quickly shut. “Oh hey Alicia. Is there something that you need?”

Tell her whatever it is can wait. Tell her to go away! Xavier demanded.

Absolutely not. She’s the last person I would say that too at the moment.

Xavier didn’t bother to respond to me as he knew I was right. Not only was I slightly concerned for my mate, but I was extremely worried about my cousin. She hasn’t been herself lately. I’ve tried talking to her, but she hasn’t been willing to open up about whatever that is bothering her. If she was ready now, there was no way I was going to push her away. I knew deep down she was struggling with something and needed someone to talk to.

“Do you have a minute to talk? I need to tell you something.” I nodded at her and gestured towards one of the chairs sitting in front of my desk.

“Of course, I have a few minutes before I need to start patrolling.” I sat back down and silently prayed that this would be quick. I was all for having a heart to heart with my cousin, but I also really wanted to see my mate.

“It’s about Em.” She whispered as she hesitantly made eye contact with me.

The sentence alone sent my heart into overdrive. “What’s wrong?” I asked her.

She thought a few seconds before answering. “Last night, we decided to spend the night together since we were both having a hard time sleeping alone. During the middle of the night, I was…” She stopped suddenly as if she was unsure if she should continue or not. She took a few deep breaths before picking up where she left off. “During the middle of the night, I was suddenly woken up by screaming. It took me a few seconds to realize where it was coming from, but once I did I quickly flipped on the light. Em was laying there, thrashing and gasping for air. I realized that she must have been having a nightmare, but Marcus, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

She stopped talking in order to wipe the tears from her face. She was obviously upset over what had happened. However, I was confused as to why. It sounded like my mate had a bad dream. I couldn’t understand why that had upset Alicia to the point of crying.

“So… she had a bad dream?” I questioned her, hoping she would give me more information.

She nodded her head, “Yeah she did. But that wasn’t the worst part. After I finally got her awake, she ran to the bathroom. I followed her and I saw… I saw bruises on her neck, as if she had been choked. But Marcus, there was no way she could have been. Her hands were by her side grasping at the bed sheet, and I certainly didn’t choke her.”

A chill ran down my spine when I heard that.

“Do you know where she is?” I asked her as I stood up from my chair. I didn’t need to know anything else, I just needed to replace my mate.

She nodded her head. “Yeah, I believe she’s in your room. I saw her heading in that direction right before I came here.”

I didn’t say anything else to her as I rushed out of my office and up the stairs to our floor. My only priorities at the moment was making sure my mate was okay, physically and mentally.

I swung open our bedroom door, making Em jump in fright.

“You scared the crap out of me!” She screamed, as she placed a hand over her racing heart. “What are you still doing here? Don’t you have to be on patrol in like five minutes?” She asked as she sat down on the bed.

For the first time in days, I took a long hard look at her. There were dark circles under her eyes and she seemed to be tense. I felt so utterly guilty. How did I not notice something was wrong with her?

I shut the bedroom door and walked to where she was sitting. I got down on both my knees and took her face gently into my hands. I lightly brushed my thumbs over the dark circles as I stared into her very tired green eyes. My heart tugged as I did. Her green eyes were usually vibrant and full of life, now they appeared sorrowful.

“Are you okay, Love?” I asked her.

She started to nod her head, but quickly stopped as she burst into tears. “No,” she choked out, before collapsing into my arms.

I pulled her off the bed and into my lap. I wrapped my arms tightly around her as hard as I could, hoping that somehow I could erase every fear she had in her head. I rocked us back and forth, trying to soothe her and make her feel safe.

“Talk to me, Love, tell me what’s going on.” I pleaded with her.

“I’m so scared.” She confessed while tightening her grip on me.

I rubbed my hand in soothing circles on her back. “Does this have anything to do with the nightmare last night and the bruises?” I asked her, already knowing the answer.

She quickly pulled back to look at me with a shocked look upon her face.

“How… How do you know about that?” She asked me.

I brushed hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear before cupping her cheek. “Alicia told me, just now in my office.” Her face suddenly twisted in anger, making me grow confused. “Why are you angry?”

“I specifically asked Alicia not to tell you. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

“Em, she was very concerned about you. She was only doing what she thought was best, you can’t be mad at her for that.” I tried reasoning with her.

She shook her head in frustration. “No, I wanted to tell you. I wanted to wait until I had this all figured out. I wanted to at least try what Elder Morgan suggested to me yesterday, before I talked to you about this. I can’t believe…”

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted her as something dawned on me. “What do you mean about the conversation you had with Morgan yesterday? Are you telling me this has been going on for a while?”

She looked away from me in shame. “Yes, this started ever since you went on night patrol. They’ve consistently been happening ever since.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when they first happened?” The concern I had was quickly replaced with anger.

Anger in myself for not checking in on her more often, and anger at her for not telling me about this immediately. She wiped the tears away from her face before finally answering my question.

“Because, at first I thought I was crazy. I thought that somehow I was doing this to myself. I wanted to figure this all out before I told you about it. I didn’t want to add any unnecessary stress onto you. It just didn’t feel as important compared with everything else that is going on” She finally admitted to me.

I turned her face back to look at me. I wanted to make sure she really felt how serious the next words out of my mouth were.

“Listen to me. No matter what else is going on around us, you can always come tell me anything. No matter how small you think it is. Remember, I told you this a few weeks ago and I still mean it. You are my priority! No matter what else is going on in our lives, you come to me when you need help. Always!”

She shut her eyes and nodded her head. I pulled her face close to mine before locking my lips to hers. I kissed her as hard as I could, trying to pour every ounce of love that I had for her into it. She responded instantly with her own urgency. Our lips remained against each other until both our hearts were beating rapidly and the air in our lungs disappeared.

We slowly parted, barely leaving any space between our faces. Both of us held the same look in our eyes, the look of desperation. Desperate to be as close as we can get to each other. Desperate to freeze time and stay in this moment for all of eternity. Just the two of us.

I didn’t waste another second before quickly standing up while holding her and placing us both on the bed. She didn’t waste any time either before pulling both of our shirts off. Our lips found each other again as I flipped her onto her back.

Just like every other intimate moment we have shared, I was once again reminded how perfectly made we were for each other. How we fit together amazingly, almost like two perfect puzzle pieces. She would only ever be the one to make me feel like my heart would explode out of my chest with just one touch.

“I love you.” She whispered into my ear.

I pulled back to look into her eyes. “ I love you.” I whispered, before burying myself in her.

We held each other after, not saying a word as we stared into each other’s eyes. Both not wanting to disturb the bliss and peace that filled the air around us. Her eyes began to grow heavy and she shut them for a few seconds, before jerking awake.

“Are you not going to patrol tonight?” She asked me.

I shook my head, “No. I’m staying with you tonight to make sure you get some sleep.”

“Really?” She asked me, as her eyes filled with hope.

“Yes, and then in the morning we can talk about everything.” I tucked her head beneath my chin. “Get some sleep, Love. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She wrapped her arms tighter around me before falling into a peaceful slumber.