The Rise of the Alpha

17

As he opened his tired, sapphire eyes, his gaze averted downward to the looking glass, and almost instant realization that his debut attempt at a recovery vision had been abruptly blocked by some mysterious thing. He was truly stumped, for he knew enough to know that a blocked vision meant that there was someone with more magic than he had on the other end doing the blocking. What he didn't understand was who in the world would be doing that sort of thing for a d.ead girl? The wealth of information he'd gathered thus far had yet to touch upon that kind of question, nor did any of it mention a word of blocked visions and how to reverse them. Oddly enough, those pages had been ripped from the binding, much to his confusion and dismay. Being the only fae for miles meant he couldn't just ask another one for their help, either, so there's also that. He taught himself everything he knows.

Sighing out in a combination of frustration and sheer tiredness from the hellacious day that he and his pack had endured, he tossed the glass back where he'd found it, opting to his displeasure to start afresh at the c.rack of dawn. After trudging back to his bed, he gathered the scattered books and stacked them neatly on his nightstand then turned the lamp off and climbed in, and as he pulled his covers up to his chin, he prayed aloud to the moon goddess that the night would not drag at the pace of a wounded snail…however his mind already knew that it was bound to be a long, restless, tear-filled one anyway.

*****

(Jaden's POV)

Why does time feel like it's at a standstill when you're trying desperately to be patient? Better yet, why does the soft, mossy ground not feel quite so pleasant when you've been sitting there for sixteen flippin' hours? Okay...so, it wasn't sixteen hours; it was more like an hour, but either way, it was pure t.orture! It's not even the fact that Sarah had shooed me out of her place; hell, I didn't expect anything less from her under such a circumstance. No, it's more the fact that I knew with zero doubt that the girl I'd left lying on that cold, hard table inside was my very own mate. My mate..., I said internally, the two words, alone, releasing an army of fluttering Monarchs into the pit of my stomach. God, I'm glad I can still feel her, regardless how faint as it might be!

Ugh! They've been in there for ages, groaned Xavier, who had yet to cease his pacing to and fro in my mind.

Well, Xav ... whatever her name is, she's in both Sarah's and the Moon Goddess's hands, I replied, and frankly, there's no safer place for her to be. Sarah knows her stuff, and the Moon Goddess is always watching over us. You know that.

You really think she'll be okay? he asked, and the worry in his voice was certainly not lost on me.

Wanna know what I think, my guy? I asked, pausing briefly to allow him to mumble an 'mhmm'. I think she's a strong, brave girl who fought HARD for her life ... and I believe it'll be given back to her somehow. If anyone can make it happen, Sarah and the Moon Goddess can. I believe it.

Xavier's wolfy ears perked a bit at my reassurance. F.uck, I hope you're right, he said, then he plopped down and got comfortable in his corner of my mind. Man ... can you believe it? We have a mate! We ACTUALLY have an ACTUAL mate, and she's perfect-

Perfect? I interrupted before he could get carried away. I mean, yeah, she's our mate and all … and I can definitely smell that she's not your common, everyday werewolf and whatnot … but, she was obviously running from something, and the fact of the matter is that none of us know what that something is just yet.

Xavier blew out an annoyed-sounding breath. Dude … don't even drag me there with you! he snapped, obviously unhappy with the way I was thinking. I'd smell it if she was trouble! After a brief stretch of silence between us, he asked, So ... did you scope out that beautiful body she has? That long, brown hair and that toned, devourable figure and those nice, round-

YES, Xavier!!! I damn-near shouted, stopping him cold turkey with a hand held up to reiterate the halt (not that he could see it or anything). I saw EVERY incredible inch of her, and I'm trying pretty fuckin' hard to not think about it at the moment! You're definitely not helping in that area.

He snorted in initial response. Well, I'm sorry, Sir ... NOT! he practically barked, rolling his eyes as the latter part tumbled out. Her scent, even from behind that closed door, is driving me up the freakin' wall with all kinds of wild and heated thoughts, man! She's ours, and I wanna mark her as ours as soon as we possibly can. I wanna crawl on top of her and breathe in her very essence and devour her-

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Down, boy! I cut his speech short. Calm it down for just a second, because you know as well as I do that we can't do that. She went through something incredibly traumatic tonight, and because of that, we – and listen to me good, here – CANNOT just go claiming her as soon as you're wanting to. I'm sure she'll need some time to process everything ... so, our best footing going forward, I think, is gonna be to just be present for her, protect her with everything we have within us, and let her know she's safe with us. Furthermore-

"Am I interrupting something?" Sarah asked from her propped-up position against the slightly-opened doorway, donning a playful smirk with her arms folded across her chest. She must have noticed me lost in La La Land, and goddess only knows how long she'd been standing there scoping me out like that!

"Nah," I replied, then I motioned for her to come and join me where I was. "I was just explaining to my wolf that we really need to refrain from ravaging our mate the moment she wakes up ... that's assuming she'll wake up at all." Man, that statement hurts to say!

Without missing a beat, she threw an arm around my shoulder. "Aw ... don't look at things in such grave lighting, Jay," she told me with all the tender-heartedness in the world. "Have a little faith. All hope is not lost yet, I promise. She's in that body somewhere. She's just ... sleeping it all off right now."

"Sleeping it off?" Xavier and I inquired in unison, the mere mention of our sleeping mate exciting the both of us equally. That in and of itself meant that she was, indeed, on the mend and going to live to see another day! "What, exactly, is it that she's sleeping off?" I added, grabbing a twig within arm's reach and snapping it in two.

"Oh, y'know ... just the meds and other treatments I administered," she answered. "Trust me, Honey ... if she weren't going to bounce back, she would've succumbed by now. I mean, you really did bring her to me right in the nick of time." After a pause of nothing but the choir of crickets and frogs as our background noise, she nudged me in my ribs and asked, "So, um ... you think you're gonna share your story with me any time soon? Wink, wink!"

Despite the situation, I smiled at her corny little addition; the woman might've been old enough to be my mother and all, but her age didn't stop her from pairing that stupid little phrase with an actual wink or two! "Sure ... but, you have to tell me what all you did in there first. Deal or no deal," I answered, extending my hand for her to take a hold of.

"Oh, right! Yeah," she laughed me off, accepting it and giving it a dainty shake. "Well, it was a bit of a process, really, but I figured it to be my best chance at saving her life. See, I washed her body with this strong, homemade, life-preserving soap I made according to an old and secret family recipe, then I rubbed her down from head to toe with a special, powerful life-sustaining cream that was given to me long ago by my mother, who'd received it long ago by her mother. It's incredibly potent and only to be used to preserve a body. Anyway, the girl's toes curled in response to that cream, which is a good sign, Jay … a very good sign. It's a basic indicator that she's gonna make it through. To wrap things up, I spoke an incantation over her and injected a potent medicine into her veins … one that in turn put her into a comatose-like state. It'll reverse any damage she's sustained. Just give it time! Now, as far as when she'll actually come to ... well, unfortunately, I can't put an exact time frame on the healing of a body that isn't my own, so put simply, when she will awake is indeterminate by me."