*Paisley's POV*

A small groan escaped my parted lips as I was awoken by a strange tingling coming from the side of my face. My eyes stayed sealed shut because my brain was not yet ready to wake from the peaceful sleep that I had been in only moments before.

The tingling traveled up the side of my face, all the way to my eyebrows, and then right back down to the edge of my chin. The tingling was a strange but pleasant feeling. It was then that I registered what the feeling was coming from.

My eyes shot open and I quickly lifted my head to see a pair of dark orbs staring back at me. Xander. My heart beat quickened and I heard my wolf yip in joy. I immediately sat up from my slouched position, ignoring the slight pain that came with it, before launching myself at my mate.

Now I admit that it probably wasn't the smartest idea, seeing as Xander was in the hospital for rather serious reasons, but I couldn't help myself as I tightly wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head there.

A quiet groan came from next to my ear and when I realized that it belonged to Xander I quickly pulled away and took a step back. Xander's face was twisted up in pain and I felt my heart throb when I realized that I had caused it.

"I'm so sorry! I just wasn't thinking! I've been so worried about you and when I realized that you were awake I got a little bit excited! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" My rather obnoxious and embarrassing rambling was cut off by a low chuckle that made my heart flutter.

All previous pain had disappeared from Xander's face and he was now looking at me with amusement.

"I'm fine angel, it only hurt for a second, now come back here." Xander ordered, motioning for me to return to his side. I shakily sighed before taking small steps towards him. When I was within reach Xander reached out, took my hand and pulled me to him.

I squeaked and tried to pull my hand out of his but he only continued to try to pull me onto his bed.

"Xander stop. I can't get on there with you, I'll hurt you." I stated. Xander rolled his eyes and with one last tug had me falling forward onto the bed. My eyes widened and I reached my hands out to try to stop myself but I didn't need to because Xander's hands were on my shoulders, holding me up.

"Now get on all the way." Xander said. I sighed before carefully crawling onto the small bed. I gently eased my body back onto the bed, making sure there was quit a bit of room between us, but Xander wasn't having any of that. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my body flush against his.

I tensed up, going stiff as a board, and tried to pull away. Xander sighed and brought his eyes down to mine.

"Paisley I'm not going to break, your not going to hurt me, so stop being so difficult and cuddle with me." My stubborn mate demanded and I couldn't help the small smile that came to my lips. Ever so slowly I relaxed into his side, gently resting my head on his chest and wrapping my arms around him.

A small sigh left me as Xander began to stroke my hair. We were completely tangled together and it was exactly how I preferred to be.

"You really scared me Xander." I whispered quietly after a few minutes of peaceful silence. Xander paused before looking down at me, connecting his eyes with mine.

"I felt everything. I thought you were dying." My voice cracked on the last word. And it was true, I had honestly thought that my mate was dying. It had felt like my heart was being stabbed with a million different knifes all at the same time, it was terrible and something I never want to feel again.

Xander's eyes softened and he slowly leaned down to leave a long, soft kiss to my forehead.

"I'm sorry angel. I'm so sorry that you had to feel that but you should know that I would never leave you, not without a fight that is." Xander promised as he stared intently into my eyes. I swallowed and tilted my head upwards.

"I love you." I whispered so quietly that if he wasn't a werewolf Xander probably wouldn't have been able to catch it. A tender smile made its way onto my mates lips before he gently cupped my face in his hands.

"I love you too angel." Xander whispered back before bringing his lips down onto mine. I immediately responded to the sweet, love filled kiss by bringing my hands up and latching them around his neck, holding him closer to me. I slightly smiled against his lips before tangling my fingers in the hair that lay at the base of his neck.

But our sweet moment was cut short when the rooms door was suddenly pushed open and in stumbled mine and Xander's parents along with the doctor and a nurse. When the people in front of us caught sight of what was going on they raised there eyebrows.

A light blush coated my cheeks when I noticed that my mother, along with Xander's, had started to squeal like teenage girls. I quickly hid my face in the creak of Xander's neck, my blush only reddening, when I heard chuckles come from everyone in the room.

"It's good to see that your up Xander." The doctor, doctor White I learned from reading his name tag, stated. I felt Xander nod his head and slightly straighten up. I still refused to bring my head out of the crook of Xander's neck but I carefully listened to everything the doc had to say, though I had already heard it all.

"You gave us quite a scare. Everything is looking alright though, healing as it should. Most of your smaller injuries have already healed but the larger, more serious ones, are going to take a few days. There was some internal bleeding, due to your punctured lungs, but we took care of it. That and the bite on your neck are the worst of the injuries and are going to take the longest to heal, so take it easy."

Doctor White finished and though I wasn't looking at him I could tell that he was glancing between Xander and I, his words having a double meaning. If possible my blush darkened, thankfully nobody was able to see it though I could tell that Xander felt my cheeks burning against his skin because he softly chuckled.

"Thank you doctor, I'm very grateful." Xander replied to the doctor with a polite nod. The man didn't reply but I did hear the door open and close so I assumed that he and the nurse had exited.

After a few silent seconds I finally decided that it was time to again face the embarrassing parents that stood a few feet away. I exhaled deeply out my nose and slightly smiled when I felt Xander shiver before pulling my head away from his neck and turning towards our parents.

The four of them all stood next to each other simply watching us. Different emotions played on each face, Emily's being relieved that her son was awake and alright, Reed looking proud for who knows what of the many reasons, my mom looked happy with a hint of the excitement from earlier while my dad looked at ease, with a small smile on his lips.

"I'm so glad that your alright sweetie." Emily finally spoke, breaking the silence we had previously been in, before rushing towards her son and engulfing him in a hug.

The way Emily's arms wrapped around Xander was a bit awkward seeing as I was still pressed to his side and she was quite a small woman. I began to pull away from him, intending to get off of the bed and allow him better access to his mother, when a low growl left Xander's lips and he tugged me back to him with force.

A huff of air escaped my lips as I fell back onto the bed before Xander wrapped his arms tightly around me and pulled me back to his side. He didn't look happy that I had tried to leave him and I guessed that it was because of his wolf. Xander's wolf was probably feeling quite vulnerable after the attack and craved for the comfort of his mate.

I sighed before relaxing back into his side, laying my head on his chest and draping an arm across his waist. I glanced to Emily, who still stood by the bed, to see that she looked rather amused by the whole situation.

So instead of trying to go in for another hug Xander's mother settled with gently kissing her son on the head before moving back to her mates side. Reed studied Xander for a few moments before speaking up.

"You did a good job son." Reed spoke, sounding proud, and he had the right to because Xander had held off about fifteen rogues for who knows how long.

A slight frown appeared on Xander's face and the grip he had on my hand slightly tightened, he was deep in thought about something. After a few moments he sighed before glancing up at his dad.

"Did you catch them?" Xander asked tightly. An almost identical frown appeared on Reeds face before he shook his head. Xander quietly swore before scowling at the ground. I knew that he was angry because the trespassing rogues hadn't been caught but it seemed that he was even more angry with himself, for reasons that I didn't know.

A few minutes passed by in silence before Emily spoke up again.

"We're going to go down to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat. Do you guys want anything?" She asked kindly as the four moved towards the door. Xander and I shook our heads no before watching them walk out the door.

Once they had disappeared from sight I turned to my mate and studied his frowning face. I bit my lip and brought my hand upwards until it was reset on his soft cheek before running my fingers along his skin, smoothing out the frown lines that had appeared on his forehead.

The side of his lips slightly twitched before Xander glanced down at me. I stared back into his dark eyes before dropping my hand onto his solid chest.

"What's the matter?" I questioned softly. Xander sighed and softly ran a hand through his messy hair. He didn't answer me for quite a while but when he finally did I wasn't surprised with his answer.

"I let them get away." Xander muttered. I lifted an eyebrow immediately knowing that he was talking about the rogues. I could tell that he was pretty upset about the subject.

"Hey you did everything you could to stop them, there was just to many." I reassured quietly. Xander's frown only slightly lessened.

"But I could have done more, I could have held out longer, called for help sooner, paid more attention to my surroundings,-" Xander didn't even get the chance to finish his somewhat angry rant before I connected my lips with his.

He was frozen in surprise for a few seconds before he quickly responded to the kiss. It didn't go far, it stayed simple and sweet, before I pulled away. I looked upwards at a now quiet Xander before speaking.

"There was nothing more you could have done, you were brave and you fought for as long as you were able to. I'm proud of you and so is everybody else so stop beating yourself up about it." I ordered before bringing my lips back to his.

This kiss wasn't nearly as innocent as the other had been.

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Hey guys! So for some reason I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter. Anyways, I finally learned how to bold and italicize on my iPod! Yay! So I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!(: