Even though she had significantly calmed down, her wolf was still lingering in the back of her mind and the atmosphere was still tense. Nobody dared to get near her at the moment, even the beta and the elder maintained a distance from her after they gave her the clothes.
Amber could understand their reaction and remained where she was. Eirian was still on edge and she could feel that she herself was not yet alright. She needed to see Xander, she needed to make sure that he was okay in order for her to suppress the quiet madness inside her.
They waited with a tense atmosphere for the warriors who were sent to look for Xander and the pup. Every minute that passed by seemed like eternity and they were not sure if the oppressive aura that kept on intensifying was caused by the Alpha because she looked calm.
Eirian was impatient. The longer that she was not able to see her mate in person was making her anxious and her pacing inside Amber's mind was already causing a painful headache for the woman. But she can't fully blame her wolf because she herself was worried to the point that her hands and being were shaking.
After approximately an hour, the warriors came with the pup on one of the warrior's arms. Xander on the other hand was walking on his own with a temporary bandage on his chest. There was a blood stain on it but it was not serious enough. Both of them were covered with thick jackets due to the chilly water.
Amber gritted her teeth and took a deep breathe. She first asked if the pup was okay and when she made sure that he was okay, she then walked towards the drenched man. "Why do you need to be so heroic?" was the first words that came out of her mouth after seeing her mate. He was not in good condition but he was alright. She lifted her hand and touched his arm. "You're okay." She sighed in relief. The heaviness in her heart was gone and her wolf also stopped pacing. By this time all of their senses were focused on him, on his breathing and his heart beat.
"Yes, I am okay." He gave the woman a smile. He could tell that she was shaken and found that she was slightly shaking by the hand that was holding his arm. Without stopping himself, he pulled her into a tight embrace.
Amber was surprised at the sudden action but then she returned the embrace. "I'm okay." She heard him say once again with his hands tightening around her.
Amber nodded and buried herself in his arms. With how they were right now, Xander realized that even though Amber was an Alpha, she was still a woman and was vulnerable to emotions like any other people. She seemed big in his eyes whenever she was working but now that he was hugging her, she was surprisingly small and fits perfectly in his arms. It gave him the sense that they were meant to be together, that they were actually soul mates.
Everybody watched as their Alpha and her mate were having their moment but nobody interrupted them instead, they gave them space and left them alone. They did not want to be light bulbs amidst the sweetness that overtook the once tense atmosphere. They were also glad that both of them were fine.
Not far away from all of this, Sheiy had been watching. From the moment the fight had started to the scene playing out in front of her. She was silent. She was watching. Her fists clenched the moment that Xander pulled the Alpha into an embrace. She wanted to be the woman in his arms and that Alpha. Everything was wrong from her perspective.
'You can have him. I can feel it, he had the same darkness that you have. You can have him!' the cold and dark voice whispered in her mind.
"Yes, I will have him. The Alpha doesn't deserve him." She answered which made the voice laugh. It was glad that finally the woman had answered it which only means that she was now acknowledging its presence. Now that the woman had spoken it can now move according to its desire. The 'darkness' had its eyes on the Alpha's mate because he had felt it, the same presence as he was inside the man's body. Another maniacal laugh echoed in her mind but she did not flinch nor react.
Once all of the wolves returned to Ceurian, she too returned and stayed with the aunties who were waiting for the good news. The pups were also safely delivered to their parents. Together with them were Lulu's parents who had been worried but the moment they saw their son safe and sound they felt relieved, they profusely thanked the warriors and Xander for bringing back their son.
"If it is okay with you, can I come and talk to Lulu tomorrow?" Amber looked at the pup who had fallen asleep on their way to the pack house where everyone was waiting.
The pup's parents nodded. "Yes, we will help you Alpha in any way we can."
After another round of saying thank you, the warriors escorted them to their home. Dr. Silver had also properly dressed the wound in Xander's chest and told him to rest. Xander quickly fell asleep due to exhaustion because of all the adrenaline he had to experience in just a span of a day.
Amber watched him while he slept until midnight and when she was about to leave for a cup of coffee, she felt a sting on her chest. She looked back only to see that the mark on Xander's neck was glowing silver followed by Xander's groan. With her excellent vision, she walked to the side of the bed and saw that he was sweating profusely. His whole body was also shaking.
Elder Leonides received a distress call through the mind link from the Alpha a few minutes after midnight. He had to shift into his midnight black wolf in order to get to the pack house faster since the Alpha sounded really anxious. The door to Xander's room was open so he entered without knocking and saw that the Alpha was holding her mate's hand tightly.
"What happened?" he immediately asked after he saw the current situation.
"The mark is gone," Amber answered with trembling voice and he knew that her holding his hands was not for him but instead to calm herself down.
The Alpha's state right now was not good, she had just experienced a life-threatening situation and now the mark was gone. He moved to Xander's side and felt for his pulse. It seems that the 'darkness' became active again and the silver moon flower was also gone. This might be because of what had happened earlier that day.
"The darkness might have acted again because he was weakened due to his injury and exhaustion. Try marking him again for the second time, technically it is not applicable because once marked, the mark will not disappear but in this case, a second marking might be viable," he suggested. It was the only way to make the marking appear again. It was not a sure method but they needed to do what they can right now to suppress the 'darkness' because if they don't, he might suffer internal injuries instead.
Amber was a bit hesitant and worried that the marking will not work for the second time thanks to Eirian's nagging, she still did it. After biting him on the neck the silver moon flower slowly appeared again after a few seconds. Xander also stopped groaning and shaking after the mark appeared once again. It shown silver before it faded into its tattoo appearance.
Both of them sighed in relief when the mark appeared once again. "It's good that the mark appeared again but it might not work for the third time. We need to be careful from now on, you must watch your mate and don't let him be involved with this kind of life-threatening situations again. As I can see, the reason why the darkness was able to negate the mark was because he was injured and weakened. You need to remind him to be careful when he wakes up. Also, he might have come in contact with something that had stirred the darkness inside of him."
"I'll be speaking with Edrei and the pup tomorrow, please come and hear their account of the incident. It may give us a clue of what had happened before we arrived. We can also talk to Xander once he wakes up." Her gaze went to the sleeping man as she sighed.
"I understand. I'll be there then. You need to go and rest too Alpha. It has been a long day and I know that you are tired." The elder advised, he could see that the Alpha was not herself. She was a bit unstable because of what happened earlier so she needed to rest. "I'll stay here to watch over him, you can go and rest for now. I will call you if something happens. Even though we are werewolves, we also need to rest especially because you have been agitated throughout the day. You and your wolf need to rest."
Amber was about to protest but after she received a serious look from the elder, she swallowed the protest and gave her mate one last look before she reluctantly left the room. Though she was sent to rest, she was still unable to sleep and had stayed awake for the rest of the night.
Elder Leonides left Xander's room and bumped into the Alpha who had also came out of her room. He then sighed and shook his head, "You were not able to sleep," he commented when he saw the Alpha's bloodshot eyes.
Amber did not answer and only stared at the elder. Another sigh left the elder before he left to have coffee downstairs. She watched as the elder left before she made her way to Xander's room to check up on him.
"Elder Leonides, I didn't know that you were here," Zael exclaimed after he saw the elder coming down from the second floor. He came early to check on the Alpha and Xander but decided to drink coffee first before going up.
The elder nodded, "Something happened last night so I had to come." He took the seat beside the beta and poured himself a brewed coffee on the pre-prepared cups on the table. He then put three cubes of sugar before mixing it.
Zael saw the amount of sugar that went into the cup then he looked at the elder, "Well, I'm guessing that you did not sleep last night."
He sighed for the third time, "Everything is happening at the same time that my head is starting to hurt. Rogues, 'darkness', the Alpha's mate. Too much happening."
"Well, we can manage and still managing to do so despite the pressure on us. Now the other packs are also waiting for us to give them any good news and then the attack yesterday happened. I'm already preparing myself for a bunch of correspondence that we will surely receive for the next few days." Zael also sighed and drank his coffee to soothe himself. He did not even put any sugar on it to make it as bitter as possible, more bitter than the pile of work that he will be facing.
"Let's persist through it," was the only answer that the elder gave. The kitchen finally turned silent as both of them silently drank their coffees.
"I'll also have a cup of coffee," the Alpha's voice made the both of them turn their heads and look at her.
"Look at what we have here, another person who was not able to have a good rest last night. You are very welcome to join use here Alpha," Zael greeted while lifting his cup at the Alpha's direction.
Amber ignored him, instead she poured herself a cup of coffee with no sugar at all. "You'll be coming with us. We will be visiting Edrei in the clinic and the pup at their house. I need you to listen in so that someone can help Elder Leonides in clearing our confusion regarding the incident yesterday."
Zael nodded since this was more important than some papers also he would prefer it than sitting down the whole day. "Alright, should I call Zayier as well?"
"No, he is currently busy with the special team in investigating the scene since rogues were involved," she answered. It was her order to them yesterday after they came back from the battlefield. "After they gather all necessary clues or information, we will be sitting together to consolidate and analyze it."