"You need to mark him. The power of the moon goddess is considered to be a light, through marking, you will be sharing this light with your mate and it will keep the 'darkness' from being active inside his body." This time he stood up and walked up to the Alpha, "Normally when marking one's mate it requires the consent of both parties especially because your mate is human but, in this circumstance, we can forgo that norm and let you give him a temporary mark."
Amber did not want to mark her mate and was reserving it for when he had already learned about them being mates and accepted her. She wanted him to know her and she wanted to know him. She wanted him to be comfortable around them, around her before she would talk about matters regarding mates and now that plan has been ruined because of a 'darkness' that she failed to eliminate. She was conflicted but her wolf was urging her to just do it and then they would explain later.
"It is your decision to make, but remember that our time is running out. With the 'darkness' still active in his body, the damages that Dr. Silver had listed might become fatal if we don't make a move." Elder Leonides was now standing a few centimeters away from the Alpha.
Amber clenched and unclenched her fists with the sound of the clock growing louder and louder in her ears. Time is running out and the more that she hesitates, the more that her mate's life was being put in danger. She knew that but there was still conflict on her mind.
The elder waited for the Alpha patiently as he silently stood there. It was a difficult situation, if this did not happen, no hasty moves would be decided. "This 'darkness' had the ability to corrupt a person and change them for the worst while it was destroying its host's body. Once Xander shows any signs of changing personality then the 'darkness' had slowly assimilated to his body which will make it more difficult for us to suppress it, so we must do this while the 'darkness' is only causing damage to his internal organs. Once we suppress it, then he can heal slowly."
She was silent. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.
"I'll do it then."
The atmosphere inside the room was solemn the moment the elder and the Alpha returned. Elder Leonides gestured for them to leave the room and let Amber alone for a while. The door was gently closed with the two people left in silence.
Amber sat on the side of the bed while looking at his mate. His face had become pale and his hand felt cold to her touch. 'Why are you hesitating? Our mate will not hate us because we are doing this to save him.'
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I know."
Slowly, she leaned towards Xander's exposed neck and bit him until there was blood. Before she retracted her mouth, she made sure to lick clean the blood so that the wound would easily close.
Her gaze remained on the bite mark until it became a silver tattoo of the silver moon flower in their sacred grounds. This flower symbolizes the power of the moon goddess as it shone with silver light all day and night. It's five petals were of pure white color and was surrounded with a silver glow that gave light to the sacred grounds during the night. It was her favorite flower.
A glow appeared on the tattoo before it dimmed and became a simple flower as a symbol of him being marked. 'He's ours now!' her wolf howled in joy after marking her mate and even Amber had a smile on her face after seeing the silver moon flower.
She remained there for a while before letting them in once again. She wanted to savor the feeling of marking her mate but his health and safety comes first.
The group entered once again and it was the Elder who approached the man first. He could see the tattoo on his neck and nodded before he held Xander's wrist to feel for his pulse. "The marking was effective. The 'darkness' had grown still inside his body. Now, it's your turn Dr. Silver."
Amber who was standing on the side, loosened her stiff body and relaxed after hearing that the marking was a success. Now all they need to worry about was the damage done by the 'darkness'.
Dr. Silver did her job and was a little bit surprised at what she discovered. She can't help but take a second look at the Alpha then at the silver flower on Xander's neck.
Amber noticed the look, "Is there something wrong?" the worry that disappeared came back because of the doctor's reaction.
Dr. Silver shook her head, "There is nothing wrong Alpha, I think the mark had helped with his recovery. I could already see signs of the internal damages slowly healing."
"Does that have something to do with me marking him?" she wondered. The elder had told her that the marking can control the 'darkness', he did not tell her that it has some other effects. He looked at the elder for answers.
Elder Leonides felt the gaze on him so he obliged, "That must be because you are an Alpha. I have told you before that the mark contains the power of the moon goddess bestowed upon her children. Maybe through the mark, some of the healing abilities of a werewolf was passed down to Xander."
"Do all marking have this kind of effect?" she was a little bit doubtful since she did not hear anything about this from other werewolves who had found and marked their mates.
"That must be because you are an Alpha," was his only answer. The people inside the room all looked at the mark left by the Alpha. "And your mark resembles the sacred flower of Ceurian. The Luna had close ties with her children but her influence on an Alpha is stronger that is also the reason why Alphas are not easily born, without the Luna's blessing, one cannot become an Alpha."
Amber contemplated while hoping that the mark had no negative effects on a human body. "I understand, please make sure that he will be alright."
Dr. Silver nodded, "I understand. I will closely monitor him for the following days."
"Thank you for your help today Elder, if you find any information about that story, please let me know." She gave the elder a stern look. To find that light, she will need every resources she could get and she was hoping that the elder would help her.
The elder nodded and assured the Alpha before he left with the doctor. Amber sat down on the bed once again before addressing the other two people who remained.
"Increase the patrol on our boundary bordering the Lurea Woods, report any unusual activities to me, even the smallest detail should not be left out." The command was directed to Zayier, he made a salute then left.
"What are you going to do now Alpha?" Zael asked after he let the silence pass for a few minutes.
"Contact the other packs and discreetly asked them for any information about the legend of a man who found a light that cured his brother from the taint of the 'darkness'. Report to me directly if you find any information."
"I understand, then I will take my leave Alpha." Zael left without hearing anything from the Alpha.
Having a mate really changed everything. Zael fell into deep thoughts as he thought about the moment that he would find his mate too. He could not help but think that he might become like the Alpha, who had become more emotional these the past few days.
She waited for a day and a night before Xander finally opened his eyes. He did not understand why this beautiful woman was not smiling like usual. "Are you sad?" he stared at her with wide eyes.
She was taken aback at the sudden question but after that Amber felt warm, "I'm not sad, actually I'm happy right now because you are okay and that you are already awake."
Xander then remembered what had happened and the amount of blood he had vomited before he lost consciousness. "What happened? Why did I suddenly felt that intense pain?" he asked as he gazed at the ceiling. It was as painful as the time when he was bitten by that wolf.
Amber stayed silent for a while because she was not sure if she should tell him about the 'darkness'. But at her wolf's urging, she could only sigh, "It's because of the 'darkness' that possessed you." In the end she still told him since there was no use in hiding the truth from him.
Xander scowled, "'Darkness'? What do you mean?" He pushed himself up and sat on the bed before looking at the Alpha.
"As its name implies, these are things that were born from the abyss and has been the world's enemy for the longest time. From time to time, we have visits from them and every time a 'darkness' appears in our territory we will immediately eliminate it before it causes chaos but this time, we were not able to detect the appearance of another 'darkness'. It had managed to hide its existence from us and we failed to catch it so it took that chance to possess your body." Amber looked him in the eye while she told him all of these. "And because of that it caused some damages in your body."