Not My Alpha (Completed)

Chapter Twenty-Three - The Alpha

I awoke to someone shouting.

I tried to focus on the sound, but it was impossible. My senses refused to back to me, and it seemed as if I was fighting against some unknown force to let me stay awake. I desperately tried to distinguish who the familiar voice belonged to and what it was saying, but each time I tried I failed miserably. The words were loud and harsh, but that was the only thing I could really tell.

I tried opening my eyes. I'm not sure if I succeeded or not because what I saw confused me. Blobs of green, grey, and brown mushed together in blurry and swirling circles that danced before me. I blinked heavily time after time, but the formless shapes kept changing. Darkness surrounded them and myself, playing around the edge of my vision, beckoning me as if I were an old friend. 

I tried to feel my surroundings, but again, that only confused me. My head was heavy and laying on my chest. My legs were extended awkwardly in front of me. My arms, however, were nowhere to be found. They disappeared behind my shoulders and no matter how hard I tried to pull them forward, I couldn't. Something held my hands and fingers together so all I could feel was my own clammy flesh. 

I don't know how long I sat like that. Unknowing, confused, and terrified. The voice could still be heard, but it did nothing to try and help. It just kept screeching. Something told me not to make any noise and alert them though, and I happily obliged. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of those screams. 

Too much time passed before eventually, the shapes in my line of sight started to make sense. I understood the blobs of brown and green to be trees. The darkness was the night closing in. The grey was something far off, some sort of structure. Again, something told me I knew what it was, but nothing would click into place. 

I heard another noise, but this time it was much closer and coming from directly next to me. I waited for my head to feel less heavy before I brought it to rest on my shoulder, my gaze shifting to the space where I heard the noise. Most of what I saw was once again, darkness. But, as my eyes continued to adjust, I was able to make out a large figure slumped against what I deemed to be another tree. The figure wasn't moving, but soft grunts were coming from its lips. 

Then, it all came back. The night hit me as a heavy wave crashing upon every fiber of my being, pulling and pushing me against the tide. I tumbled, twisted, and turned with every assault. My vision came back, my mind was cleared, and I knew exactly where I was and who I was with. 

Six figures stood before me in a small clearing. A small white stone building sat in the middle of the clearing; the old safe house. But, the figures made no move to go inside. They were each spread out a few feet apart from each other, staring at it intently. However, upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't the building they were staring at. One smaller figure was pacing back and forth across the front of the structure, throwing her arms wildly in the air while letting profanities spew from her mouth. I realized it was her voice - Margaret's - that had woken me up. 

Now that my ears were working again, I heard another voice, too. This one was also female, but it was not shouting like Margaret. It was icy, stiff, and demanding. I couldn't make out the words, but I followed the sound to the shape of another woman standing in the middle of everyone else. The short white hair and tall frame revealed the woman's identity as Damaria. Though her frame was unmoving, I noticed her head flick to the side with any movement from the trees. She watched her surroundings carefully, waiting for something. After a few moments she snapped in Margaret's direction, and her shouting immediately died down. She stopped pacing and moved to stand next to the three other figures. I could tell they were men, but I didn't recognize them.

I only recognized one other person from the group in front of me, and it was perhaps the one person I least wanted to see. Kade was standing slightly away from everyone else, though still close enough to clearly be apart of the group. He was standing on his toes, bouncing slightly. A large white box was held in his hand, and he kept incessantly fidgeting with the clasp. A few other supplies were next to him, things I recognized as towels, water, and a long and wide piece of wood.