Maddy scrambled towards the door, the matefinder long forgotten. Just as she twisted the knob of the door, a strange burning sensation started from her chest. Maddy let out a cry of surprise, gripping the knob tightly for support. The pain spread to the rest of her body. It felt as though someone was trying to tear her apart. Maddy let go of the knob, but the pain didn't fade. She clutched at her chest. What the hell was happening to her?

Maddy tentatively reached out for the knob once again, pushing the pain to the back of her mind. Even though her entire body felt as if it was burning, she wasn't dying, at least she didn't think so. Right now, Xander needed her help. Maddy opened the door and stumbled outside, just in time to see a reddish-brown tail disappear through the corridor. Xander was sitting slumped on the floor, his chin touching his chest. Maddy's hand flew to her mouth as tears started pouring out. Shit. Maybe he was just unconscious, Maddy tried to reason with herself. She ran towards him, sinking on her knees and frantically checked for a pulse. She waited hoping that there would be a pulse. Nothing. She tried hitting his chest, hoping that the shock would bring him back to life. Nothing.

She tilted Xander's face towards herself. Blood trickled down the side of his face, his face calm as though he was sleeping. Maddy furiously wiped the tears that were running down her cheek. How had things gone so wrong? It had been her job to make sure that nothing happened to Xander and look at what a fantastic job she had done. She couldn't even go and call someone as they were too far away. There was nothing to do other than accept it. Her body wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears.

Maddy gently took her hand and entwined it with Xander's. She should have kissed him when she had the chance. She should have spent more time with him, cherished every single moment with him. How was this fair? How could life be so cruel? And how on earth would she tell Alexa and the rest of Xander's pack about this? It had been her responsibility and she had failed.

"YOU," she screamed at the matefinder as she barged into the room where the matefinder was, letting out all her frustration on her. "You knew about all of this. Why didn't you tell anything, huh? You could have prevented all of this."

Maddy probably looked crazy with her eyes puffed and hair askew, but she didn't care. The matefinder smiled softly but didn't say anything.

"There must be a way to bring him back. Anything. Tell me."

The matefinder shook her head. "Xander is dead. You need to accept it."

Just hearing that out loud sent a fresh new wave of pain. Maddy quietly went out of the room, took out her silver armor and sat down beside Xander. She tucked her knees under her chin, desperately wishing that she could go back in time. All her life she had been wanting to life her life in a story, now all she wanted to do was go back to her life before she found out about werewolves. Sure, she wouldn't have met Xander or Alexa or Jeremy, but at least she wouldn't have to lose him.

Loud footsteps echoed through the hallway. Maddy turned her head to find Alexa standing on the doorway. The moment Alexa saw Xander's body she let out a strangled shout and ran towards him. Maddy lowered her gaze to the floor, feeling guilty. Alexa sank down beside Maddy. She threw her hands around Maddy and started crying on her shoulder. Maddy wrapped her arms around Alexa, trying to comfort her.

"We all felt it through the pack bond," Alexa croaked. "I didn't think it was true. Xander couldn't have died."

Maddy bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him take watch. I-"

"It's not your fault," Alexa interjected.

Maddy kept quiet, not wanting to argue with Alexa on this topic.

"How many others have fallen?" Maddy asked.

Alexa winced. "All the rogues are dead but we lost about one-ninth of our packs combined, so about twenty to thirty people. I came as soon as I could."

Two minutes later, half of the Amalthea Pack came in. Maddy stood up and went to the corner. Diana was crying into Justin's shoulder. The entire pack looked miserable, which made sense since Xander was going to be the future Alpha.

Maddy wrapped her arms around herself and walked outside to get a breath of fresh air. She made her way to the reception which was deserted. Even the receptionist had left. She went over to the receptionist's desk. She smiled thinking about the way Xander had been whistling and cat-walking when he Maddy had asked him to act normal. Suddenly, Maddy doubled over as the pain hit her once again. She clutched at the desk and turned around to see what exactly was causing the pain. Was reddish brown tailed wolf back? She heard footsteps and whirled around only to find Jeremy walking towards her.

Maddy was relieved to see that Jeremy was fine. Other than the claw marks on his shirt, he looked fine. His eyes however, told a different story.

"What are you doing here?"

Maddy knelt against the desk and smiled, hoping that she looked normal. "Nothing. I just came here to get some fresh air."

Maddy didn't tell him about the pain as she didn't want him to get worried. Today was about Xander not her.

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah."

Jeremy sighed. "You are doing a horrible job of acting 'fine'."

Maddy didn't reply. The pain was slowly fading away. What was happening to her?

"Maddy! Jeremy!" Alexa cheerfully shouted from distance.

Both Maddy and Jeremy's heads snapped towards Alexa. Alexa came running towards them and threw her arms around both of them, hugging them tightly. Maddy stumbled back with Alexa's weight.

"What happened?" Maddy asked, her voice muffled.

"Xander's going to be fine!" Alexa squealed, happy tears running down her cheeks.

"What? How?" Jeremy asked sharply.

Maddy too was confused. Xander had definitely been dead. There had been no heartbeat or pulse. There was no way he could have been brought back from the dead unless...

"Did you trade with the god of dead or something?"

"God of dead? There is no God of dead."

"Oh."
Trading with the god of dead was usually what happened in story books but clearly, there was another way to bring back people from the dead. Point noted.

The three of them rushed back to the room where Xander was. The entire pack surrounded him. The three of them squeezed their way to the front. Instead of being slumped against the wall, Xander was made to lie down on the floor. Nothing had changed except the fact that he was glowing. The center of his chest was glowing bright blue in color and the glow was slowly spreading all over his body. Maddy stared at it in awe.

Jeremy let out a small whistle. "No way. Is that-"

"Yup!" Alexa grinned.

"What's happening?" Maddy asked confused.

"Xander has met his mate."

"So?" Maddy asked still not understanding.

"Basically, since we our half wolf and half human, both our sides need to accept the mate. There are three stages of mating. The first is well, seeing your mate in human form. When you meet your mate in human form, nothing major happens. The second is when you meet your mate in wolf form. That is when you realize that the two of you are mates. It is said to be magical. There are also cases when you see each other in wolf form first but that doesn't usually happen since we spend most of our time in human form. The third is well, doing the 'business', as you call it.

When you meet your mate in only one form, human or wolf, your soul becomes restless to see the mate in another form. So restless, that you literally won't die until you see your mate in the other form. That's what happened to Xander. He mostly met his mate in human form but not wolf form, which is why he will be fine!" Alexa explained.

Maddy was elated. Even the mention of his mate couldn't dampen her spirits. "But like once he meets his mate in the other form or whatever, he will die?"

Jeremy shook his head. "After he meets his mate in wolf form, he will live until someone kills him again."

By now, the glow had covered most of Xander's body. Maddy watched with fascination as the skin healed whenever the glow touched it. It looked so magical and hypnotizing that Maddy couldn't look away. It was definitely not because of the fact that Xander was shirtless. Definitely not.

Everyone in the room held their breath as the glow finally covered his entire body. His skin had healed completely and he looked completely fine. The glow pulsed thrice and then disappeared completely.

And then Xander's eyes flew open.

~The end~

And the story is finished!!! Xander's not dead. Yet. *cue evil laugh* I am too attached to these characters to kill them. I actually started crying when I wrote this chapter. Not even kidding.

Anyway, the second book has already been published. If you've liked this story, make sure to check out the next book in the series.

I've also created a form where you can give your feedback on my book so that I can improve my writing skills. If you have liked the story or even if you haven't like the story, make sure to fill the form. The responses are anonymous. The link is in the inline comment. -->