Chapter 2. Awakening.

Annalise's head was throbbing. The dream she had had been intense. Slowly her eyes flickered open.

She was in a bed. Her fingers felt along the comfortable mattress but even with her arms stretched out fully she could not feel the edges.

Confused, Annalise couldn't remember the last time

she had been in a bed this luxurious. Thinking back she realised it had probably been when her parents were still alive.

Slowly taking in her surroundings, she saw she was in a good sized room. It was simply decorated in neutral tones, the walls were a pale, warm grey and all the urniture was white.

'Where am i? I don't remember a room like this in the packhouse.' Annalise had cleaned every inch of that huge house and there was definitely nowhere as fresh or welcoming as this.

She tried to sit up and found that she was stiff and sore. The small movement caused her head to spin and made her feel nauseous.

Annalise looked down and saw she was wearing clothes that were strange to her. The light, cotton pyjamas were a creamy colour with thin stripes of muted blue. They appeared new, the few items of clothing she owned were well worn and discoloured despite her taking immense care of them.

Her hands and arms were covered in yellowing bruises and faint scratches and healing cuts were marring her fair skin.

All this information was causing the headache that had dulled to start to pound at her temples again. Annalise had no idea where she was or who had taken care of her.

Something she did realise, however, was that the dream she thought she had was in fact a memory. The falling from the cliff was real- it had happened, but how had she survived?

Annalise's throat was dry, glancing around, she saw a glass of water on the bedside table. Reaching for it, she held it both her hands, she brought it up to her face and inhaled. She didn't smell anything unusual and took a small sip at first, then another and another.

Her thirst was sated after drinking half of the glass. She put it down again and was debating whether or not to try to get out of the bed when she heard a light knock on the door before it opened, revealing a head of dirty blonde hair belonging to a friendly looking girl with sky blue eyes and delicate features. Her mouth was slightly upturned, as though she spent most of her time smiling.

"Oh good! You're awake. I wondered when you would come round. It's been sooo long, like three days and I have just been itching to meet you properly." the girls voice was excitable but pleasant.

"Umm...okay. Sorry to sound rude but where am I? and who are you?" Annalise had edged up to the head of the enormous bed, trying to make herself as small as possible.

The girl smiled and bounced over, landing gracefully on the side of the bed, taking Annalise's hand in hers. "I'm Greta, but most people call me Etta.". Greta scrunched her nose up slightly when she said her name but otherwise kept her cheerful expression.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Etta." Annalise gave a timid smile in return. She had no reason not to trust this girl but she had thought that about nearly everyone she knew and look where that had got her.

"I'm Annalise, Annalise Williams. Where am I? and how did I get here?" she spoke softly, keeping her hand in the warmth of Etta's own hand.

"What a beautiful name...I'm not surprised ofcourse, you're very pretty, you have to have a name that matches." Etta chattered at an alarming speed. "You are a guest of the Mountain Ridge pack. My brother and a couple of warriors found you when they were out on patrol. There hadd been several unknown wolves enter the territory so they went to check it out." Etta paused as she noticed Annalise's face drain of colour at the mention of the other wolves.

"Do You know who the wolves are? The patrol couldn't find them and were just away to give up when they saw you lying behind a large rock. You were pretty banged up, clothes all ripped, but somehow you took a breath, so my brother, Alex, carried you here."

Annalise stared wide eyed at Etta. Her Pack had found her and taken her here, no questions asked. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes with the overwhelming gratitude she felt towards them.

"The others were from my pack. They had come to take me back but I couldn't...i wouldn't go with them. The ground...it gave way as i tried to fight and then...then I fell." Annalise's voice was low and the tears were now flowing freely down her face as she began to rock back and forth.

Etta wasn't expecting this reaction from Annalise and quickly scooched up beside her and held her as she gently rocked, stroking her hair and uttering comforting shushing noises with the occasional 'It's okay' peppered in.

Annalise felt ridiculous crying in front of a complete stranger, wiping her face roughly, she pulled away and smiled weakly. " I'm sorry. I'm not normally like this." She bowed her head, focusing on her hands to hide her embarrassment.

"Don't be sorry." Etta spoke gently, scared that she would scare this beautiful stranger. " What happened? What did they do to you?" Etta tired to gently coax Annalise to tell her story.

"I can't. I can't say...they'll find out and they'll punish me." Annalise was wringing her hands and shaking her head.

Etta could see she was clearly terrified of her pack. It made more curious about what she had been through. " Okay, you don't have to tell me about that. What about your parents? Do they know what was happening?" Hoping fiercely that they were not involved.

With sadness clouding her usually vivid green eyes, Annalise barely spoke above a whisper. "They died. During the rogue rebellions. My parents were warriors...great warriors and wonderful alphas. I was their only child and they loved me."

Annalise had to take a gulp of water before continuing. " I was only seven when I was told by their Beta that they had been lost during one of the rogues midnight raids. He took the position of Alpha after that and now his son is the Alpha but he is not good."