"Hey," Maddy gasped out, once she caught up with Xander, still trying to catch her breath from running.

"Hey yourself," Xander replied, grinning. "You know, the bow you did in front of my dad was quite interesting."

"Shut up."

"Once I am Alpha, I expect you to greet me in a similar way."

Maddy punched Xander's shoulder.

"I didn't know what to. None of you told me what to do, when I meet an Alpha. The only thing I know about werewolves come from story books. And they aren't exactly reliable," Maddy said frowning at Xander, who was clearly enjoying her awkwardness.

"Well, you never asked us to tell you what to do when you met the Alpha," Xander said with a grin.

"What? That doesn't even make sense," Maddy said.

"You don't make sense."

"That doesn't make sense either," Maddy said shaking her head.

"Yes, it does."

"No, it doesn't"

"Yes, it does."

"No, it doesn't."

"Why are you arguing about such a silly thing?"

"I am not arguing. I am just proving that I am right!" Maddy said sassily.

Xander didn't reply. He just rubbed his forehead with his fingers. "You are impossible."

"And you are insufferable."

Xander groaned. "You are going to have a comeback for everything I say, aren't you?"

"Yup," Maddy replied popping the 'p'. "Anyway, since I obviously won this round, I wanted to ask you something. Who is the matefinder?"

"Why should I tell you?" said Xander, sulking.

"Are you seriously mad because I won the argument like a five-year-old kid?"

Maddy poked the side of Xander's stomach, trying to get him to talk. Xander immediately growled and jumped two feet high. If looks could kill, Maddy would have been dead on the spot.

"Would you look at that?" Maddy said, gleefully. "The big, bad Alpha is ticklish!"

"Shut up," Xander growled. "If you tell it to Alexa, I swear on the moon goddess that I will dog ear every single page of every single book that I get my hands on."

Maddy gasped and put her hand on her chest. "You wouldn't!"

"Oh, I would."

"But how does your twin not know that you are ticklish?" Maddy asked, frowning.

"That is one of my most defended area. I can't believe a human got under my defenses," Xander grumbled.

"Hey! That human can stab you with a silver knife and trust me, it ain't pretty."

"Yeah, yeah. So, the matefinder is basically this immortal lady who has the ability to see the future. Her job is to make sure things go as planned in the future. She mostly helps werewolves find their mates when the time is right. She is extremely important among the werewolves as our mate is an important and major part of who we are," Xander explained.

"So, have you found your mate?" Maddy asked, trying to sound casual.

"If I found her, she would be with me. A Luna and Alpha's mate bond is a hundred times stronger than a normal werewolf."

"Oh."

"However, I am glad that I haven't found my mate. I like to be single and ready to mingle," Xander said, waggling his eyebrows.

"I thought werewolves don't date," Maddy said, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah, we don't. It's the wolf part of us that has a mate. Which is why each and every werewolf has a mate. My human version might like a girl, but my wolf side will revolt. Besides, even my human side doesn't like most of the girls I met, though I wouldn't mind dating Sophie McClean."

Maddy eyes widened at that comment. Sophie was a character from her werewolf story. Maddy had based that character on herself. Maddy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Xander had a mate who he would end up with. Maddy would not be the girl who Xander toys with, until he meets his mate. Besides, just because he likes a character with a similar personality, didn't mean that he liked her. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Xander waving his hands in front of her face.

"You look like you are tired. Oh wait, I know why. Cause you've been running through my mind all day," Xander said, grinning that smile which made her stomach squirm.

"Great! You are back with those weird ass pick-up lines."

"Wait, I got a good one. Kiss me if I'm wrong, but dinosaurs still exist, right?"

Maddy groaned. "That one was horrible."

"Another one coming up. I'm no mathematician, but I'm pretty good with numbers. Tell you what, give me yours and watch what I can do with it."

"How do you even come up with these. I thought there was a limit to stupidity until I met you."

Xander scowled. "Hey!"

"But seriously though, how are you even going to be the future Alpha? Alphas are supposed to be possessive, dominant and quiet, not flirty."

"An Alpha's job is to protect the pack. I can do that perfectly fine. Who says that I am not possessive and dominant? Just because I don't growl at everyone who talks to the people I care about, doesn't mean I am not possessive. I am pretty sure being silent and moody wasn't mentioned in the job description. Though I might have missed it. No one actually goes through all that boring information."

Maddy rolled her eyes.

Xander looked at his watch. "You should go to your room and lock the door. I'll be going to the matefinder ritual but if shit goes down, you might get hurt."

"No way! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am not missing it. Even if things go wrong, I can protect myself. Besides, I'm going to become a werewolf anyway since one of the rogues bit me. I might as well get used to doing the stuff a werewolf does."

Xander immediately burst out laughing which confused Maddy as she hadn't said anything funny. After a minute of laughing, Xander finally explained.

"You aren't turning into a werewolf, Maddy. It was a joke. You can't be turned into a werewolf by a bite. You can only be born as one."

Maddy scowled. "So, I'm not gonna become a werewolf?"

"Nope."

"I. Hate. All. Of. You," Maddy said as she hit Xander's arm with every word. She hit him lightly and considering the fact that he was a werewolf, Maddy doubted that he even felt anything.

"Look who's scowling like a five-year-old now," Xander said smirking.

"Whatever," Maddy grumbled. "I am still going to the ritual or whatever it is called."

Xander sighed. "I won't be able to change your mind, will I?"

"Nope."

They together made their way to an open place where the ritual was going to take place. A few minutes later, the entire pack had arrived except the Alpha and Luna. A message was sent to Xander that the Alpha and Luna were busy talking to the Alpha of the Megaclite Pack about something important and that Xander should initiate the ceremony. Xander was going to be the future Alpha after his dad, so he knew what to do.

Xander went to the center where a bowl was placed. Inside the bowl were some pieces of coal which seemed to be still hot. Xander took a knife and sliced his arm slightly, allowing his blood to drip into the bowl. While the blood was falling into the bowl, Xander started chanting some words which Maddy could not decipher. Whenever the blood touched the coal in the bowl, it sizzled and hissed. After Xander finished chanting, the content in the bowl vanished and suddenly a small house appeared.

Maddy assumed that was where the matefinder lived. Everyone seemed to be waiting for the matefinder to appear. They waited for a minute but nothing happened. People started whispering frantically and even Xander looked uncomfortable. Clearly, this wasn't supposed to happen.

"Everybody stand back. Me, Alexa and Jeremy will check inside," Xander shouted.

The three of them were joined by Leia, who would not remain behind with the crowd. Maddy too wanted to see inside but she knew that if she tried to tell them that, they would definitely not allow her. So, Maddy waited until they entered the house and then followed them inside. The crowd murmured loudly, but did not stop her. The pack members weren't used to people disobeying Xander's orders but Maddy wouldn't be left out of all the fun.

Maddy gasped when she saw the interior of the house. The entire house must have looked gorgeous on a normal day, but right now it looked like a hurricane had hit the place. The drawers of all the rooms were emptied and all the valuable stuff were taken. The living room looked like a fight had taken place with all the stuff thrown haphazardly across the room and drops of blood at one parts of the room.

"Maddy, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked her, frowning.

Ignoring his question, Maddy asked, "What happened here?"

"I think it is pretty obvious," Jeremy replied with a grim voice.

Maddy nodded. The thought had come across her, but she had brushed it aside. However, the look on Jeremy's face confirmed her suspicions. The matefinder had been kidnapped.

Make sure to vote, comment and share this story. -Aroha