The Rise of the Alpha

25

(Leila's POV)

I had no idea where I was when my eyes first popped open, and as my awareness came increasingly back to me, I grew more and more…well…scared out of my wits, to be frank! The last thing I could remember was being tossed about in that godforsaken water and crashing into something hard, and the uncertainty of a darkness that I couldn't escape engulfed me quickly thereafter. Now, here I am in this strange-looking room with a wealth of medical supplies everywhere I look, not to mention my entire body was aching and sore, my head was throbbing, and I had a total of zero recollection as to how I ended up here! I was lost, alright…and not only in both pure confusion and racing thought! Oh, and the icing atop this…this…nightmare is I've lost my necklace! That thing had left my neck maybe two times ever since I'd decided to start wearing it! It was extra special to me, but now it's just gone!

Despite my state, however, next to nothing was strong enough to trump the sudden picking up of a certain delicious scent amongst a slew of others; it smelled like fresh cedar and sweetness, and more importantly, it was strong as hell, like it was encompassing me right then and there in all of its goodness and mystery!

Soon, my ears perked to two voices from beyond the closed, wooden door. One was female and the other was male, and thought the mere thought of there being total strangers on the other side of that thing frightened the daylights out of me, their voices somehow produced this thoroughly odd, absolutely foreign, totally microscopic, yet wildly unexplainable sense of calm. The amount of questions I had would equate to a mountain, but the time to ponder those who's, what's, where's, and why's simply didn't exist right then. Psst! Chloe…, I linked my counterpart, only she failed to reply in any way, shape, or form.

Two additional, unsuccessful tries later, I propped myself up on my elbows and scanned my surroundings in attempt to gain a better understanding of where I'd ended up after the utter Hell I'd endured. Man…f.uck this! I'm finding my necklace then I'm out'a here! my mind declared, deciding quickly that I shouldn't stick around for any longer than was absolutely necessary for me to. Determined, I threw the cover off of me and tried to swing my legs over the side of the small, unfamiliar bed on which I was lying – 'tried' being the major key word there, for my lower half's muscles tingled along with all of my effort. With the resolve in mind to not let that sensation be a deterrent to me, however, I f.orced my legs over the side anyway and touched my bare, pedicured feet to the rough, wooden floor beneath me and began to stand…only my balance abandoned me and I ended up smacking the floor hard, producing an audible, hard-to-miss THUD. Aw, CRAP! my mind yelled, more worried about the unmistakable sound I'd made rather than the fact that I'd hit the floor so hard and was having trouble moving.

Mere moments later, I registered the distinct sounds of scrambling beyond the door and hollered internally, S.hit, Chloe! Wake up! What the hell's the matter with you?! Panicking because of her continued silence, I used every ounce of the energy within my being (which wasn't much whatsofreakin'ever, I can assure you) to crawl away from the noise, and though my body was weak and felt almost unbudgeable, I managed to hide myself underneath the metal-looking slab that sat against the wall opposite the bed. Crouching and quietly waiting in my hiding spot, I watched a set of bare feet larger and dirtier than my own barge into the room, halting a mere four steps in and going no further than that.

"Thank goddess you're awake now…," squawked a man excitedly in a smooth, inviting voice. It was definitely one of those calming ones I'd heard moments prior, and it sent a blast of tingly chills from the tip of my spine down to its base. Despite the obvious warmth in that voice, though, I had to play to my better senses and remain hushed, all the while begging for Chloe to respond to both me and to the situation at hand. Why was my wolf not acknowledging me?! Was she okay? Her silence was immensely g and borderline maddening!

Because I'd dared not to move, the guy tried again. "Aw, s.hit … I probably frightened you, huh?" the guy added. "Well, listen … I'm not here to hurt you in any way, okay? I swear to the moon."

I'd heard what he said, of course, but as he was speaking to me, a realization of epic proportions had struck me so intensely that I momentarily froze. It didn't take me long at all to figure out why I could sense a strong sincerity in his words, for they had suddenly and effectively snapped my wolf out of her deep slumber and back into the present with me! In a hot second, my hazy senses had been granted some clarity! That sweet-smelling, cedar-fresh scent the mystery man was emitting filled my nostrils and wreaked utter havoc on the rest of me, and oh my goddess, I'd never smelled anything like it before!

Mate! Chloe shrieked with glee, her wolfy tail wagging uncontrollably.

In response, my bottom jaw did what it usually did whenever she (or anybody else, for that matter) told me something that surprised me – it fell straight to the floor like it was attached to a ten-pound weight plate! Oh … my … goddess, I enunciated nice and slowly, we really HAVE found our mate!

"Should I offer a pinky promise as well?" my mate asked, then after a brief and silent pause, he added, "Look, I know you're scared as hell under that table, but why don'tcha just come on out and introduce yourself to me, huh? You wouldn't believe how much I've been wishing to hear your voice and know your name."