Alpha's Second Chance (Second Chance Book 2)

2

Evan

"We're losing him...!"

"Someone get..."

"Quickly... we need to..."

I heard snippets of conversation from voices I recognized, but I had never heard them so panicked. I wished I could figure out what was wrong and help them, but for some reason I was trapped in this vast pit of darkness. I couldn't find a way out.

Then I heard a new voice, one that I had never heard, but sounded like music to my ears.

"P-please don't go... not when..." but I couldn't catch everything the voice had said. I wanted to hear more, so I fought. I pushed myself and forced my way through the darkness, closer to the voice so I could hear what it was saying.

"I don't even know... so please... why must the Moon..." It was becoming slightly clearer, but not by much. I had to keep pushing, keep moving forward.

I finally saw a light in front of me, an exit from this eternal black void, where that amazing voice must have been coming from. I rushed toward that light, wanting more than anything to reach it, find out who belonged to that voice that pulled me back.

"You've been asleep for... 3 days now... I don't know your name, and every time I ask someone, they just tell me to wait until you wake up and tell me yourself."

It was much clearer, and I could hear everything they were saying. Now that I was closer to the surface, I could feel a weight on my right hand, and sparks of electricity were continuously flowing through it. Someone was holding my hand, and whoever it was, they were my mate! I finally found them!

I worked as hard as I could just to move my fingers enough to squeeze their hand, sapping a lot of my energy away in the process. But it was worth it when they squeezed right back, and I was rewarded with their voice again.

"Y-your hand moved... a-are you waking up? Please, baby, please be waking up. I-I need to make sure you're okay." His voice sounded broken. I knew I didn't have a ton of energy left, even after simply moving my fingers, but I had to open my eyes, I had to see my mate's face and make sure he knew I was okay.

I struggled as hard as I could, but just as I was getting there, the weight of his hand disappeared, and I was thrust back into darkness once more. What was going on? Before I could dwell on it much further, the weight was back. My mate squeezed my hand again. Did that mean I wasn't really in the dark abyss like I thought?

"I turned the lights off for you, Mate. I didn't want you getting blinded by a bright light when you finally opened your eyes." My Mate was very considerate. I tried once more to open my eyes, and when I finally did, I was welcomed by the sight of a pretty sunrise peeking through a window. Using that light, I turned my head to the right, and came face to face with a well-built, wall of a man. He was much bigger than I was, then again, many people were bigger than my scrawny ass.

The second our eyes met, his chocolate brown ones widened in surprise. Guess he wasn't expecting my eyes to be gold. They were always that color, shifted or not. I didn't know exactly why it happened, or when it changed, but that's how it was. And mixed with my red hair, I stood out in a crowd, which wasn't always a good thing.

"Your eyes..." he whispered. I hardly caught it, even with my shifter hearing. "...beautiful..."

I tried to speak myself, but I simply coughed instead. My throat was dry as a bone, my mouth tasting like cotton. My Mate grabbed a cup from the counter and quickly left the room, giving me the one minute sign. When he returned, he brought with him Angel, our clan's doctor.

We weren't really anything, just a merry band of misfits, many of us having been kicked from our herds, packs, and skulks. We didn't have a true leader, but that didn't really matter to us, we were happy the way we were... except when fights broke out between the deer and one of the wolves.

"Evan! You're awake!" Angel exclaimed with glee. For such a timid deer, he could definitely be loud when he wanted.

I nodded, and my Mate brought the cup of water to the bed. He helped me sit up before holding the cup for me and giving me small sips. It was cool, but not too cold, which felt really nice on my parched throat. When I was done drinking, he helped me lay back down on the bed and set the cup back on the counter. Then he sat back down next to me and took my hand once more.

"This man here has been worried about you. He claims you're mates. He said he found you along the side of the road?" Angel said, and it immediately brought back my memory of what happened.

I had been hunting on my own, in my fox form, when I smelled something amazing and went to investigate. I found myself near the highway, following the scent. I traced it into a ditch, where I heard a voice coming from above me. When I looked up, I felt a stabbing sensation in my chest, and collapsed to the ground. I couldn't get up and everything hurt. I simply curled into a ball and waited for the end. But it never came.

"M-my wound..." I said slowly, remembering. I looked at the two and saw them looking at me with a pained expression on their faces. Like they were sad that I was hurt. I decided to change the subject. "I heard something when I was barely conscious. Was I really dying?"

Apparently that was not the right question to ask. The second it left my mouth I wanted to pull it back in and tie it down. The atmosphere in the room grew thick with sadness, and I wasn't sure what was going on.

"Y-yeah... you were dying... By the time I got here with you, you had stopped breathing. I-I was terrified... I already lost one mate to my own childish stupidity, I didn't want to lose a second one simply because I wasn't fast enough..." my Mate put down his head, and I felt something wet landing on my hand. Tears? Was this man crying for me? I was at a loss as to what I should do.

I looked up at Angel and saw his teal eyes also swimming. I really worried them. I carefully lifted my left hand and placed it on the back of my Mate's head. I wanted to comfort him somehow but I wasn't sure if I could. Then I realized something.

"I don't even know your name..." I whispered. I heard a broken chuckle and my Mate lay his head on my right hand completely. "This may be a bit overdue, but... my name's Evan Wolfe. It's great to finally meet my Mate."

Instantly he lifted his head and smiled, a gleam in his watery chocolate eyes. "Wolfe? A fox named Wolfe?" He started laughing. It was great that he was cheered up, but he was laughing at my damn name. That was uncalled for!

"Hey! Don't laugh at my name!" I shouted, only to wince in pain, and I realized I wasn't fully healed. My chest still hurt and hurt more if I moved too quickly or raised my voice.

"Sorry! Sorry! It's just..." he took a deep breath before starting over. "I'm Dean Richards. I laughed because you're a fox named Wolfe, and mated to a wolf..." He started laughing again.

I had to think about it for a second, before I realized the irony of it. My last name predicted my Mate's shift. I don't think anyone could have guessed that. I started laughing, only to instantly stop at the sharp pain in my chest again. I winced and gripped at it, feeling wet bandages. I pulled my hand away and my eyes widened at the blood.

Dean's eyes also widened, and Angel ran out of the room, calling for some assistance. I didn't know what was going on, and everything was starting to get a little fuzzy.

"D-Dean...?" I muttered. Everything was going dark, and I didn't want to sleep yet. I had so much I wanted to talk to Dean about.

"I'm here, baby, I'm right here, see?" He showed me our entwined hands, though I couldn't feel them. I felt like I was floating and everything was drifting further away from me. I wanted to return, I didn't want to go anywhere.

Angel came running into the room, Sasha and Jamie hot on his heels, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I felt cold all over, and my eyes were closing on their own.

"N-no, don't go to sleep, baby. Stay awake. Angel is gonna help you. Talk to me! Evan..." I smiled as my eyes closed, hearing my Mate say my name. It was a blessing for me. But as I faded, I thought about all the time I would miss with my Mate. I didn't want that to happen, so I prayed to the Moon Goddess.

Don't take me away from him just yet. We just met and I have so much I want to say and learn.