I died. I know I died. I could feel that I had died.

So how come I was alive?

Every cell in my body pulsed, vibrated. It felt as if I had been plugged in, connected to a new energy source. A limitless, bottomless pit of energy.

I felt so alive that it was almost blinding. In fact, it was blinding. I couldn't see anything. Why couldn't I see anything?

It was almost as if it didn't matter. I could feel everything, not in the sense of a physical touch, but as if I was connected to every inch of the earth, as if the whole world was an extension of my very being.

If I was any less sure that I was alive, I would be convinced I was dead. But I wasn't dead, not anymore.

I was alive. And something was calling me to focus, demanding my attention, drawing me back to reality from this hyper-state I was in. I honed in on it, and just like that I was grounded. I was back.

I gasped, and the air I inhaled was filled my empty body. Around me, the room went silent. Still.

All I could see was the ceiling. I was still on the table.

Tentatively, testing out this newfound energy, I tugged. My arms came free from the restraints as easy as if they were tied down with tissue paper.

I pushed myself up, feeling a mixture of overwhelmed and strangely calm.

I looked down at my hands. They didn't look any different, but I felt as if I was an entirely new person.

My head shot up, scanning the room. And that's when it hit me.

Levi was here.

I could feel his presence, in a way I had never been able to. I had no idea what had changed, but my god, this was completely new. Whatever I had felt for him before... that was nothing compared to now. I could feel the millions of ties that connected me to him, and it all suddenly made sense. Who I was, why I was with him, why we should be together.

And with that realisation came the most euphoric sense of relief I have ever experienced. A smile lit up my face, and I laughed, breaking the deathly silence of the room.

Confused, shocked and scared faces looked back at me, everyone frozen in mid fight.

"Impossible!" A voice roared from the raised platform. "You're dead! I killed you!"

Julian staggered towards the edge, limping slightly.

"Am I, though?" I questioned, my voice ringing strong.

"Someone grab her!" He yelled. No one moved.

"No one is going to touch me," I stated, authority laced through my voice.

"I'll do it myself then," he leaped off the stage and charged towards me. In an instant, the entire crowd jumped in his path, pushing him back, defending me.

What the hell was happening? These people had just participated in killing me, and now suddenly they were going against their leader to protect me?

"What the hell are you idiots doing?! I'm your leader! Let go of me, attack her!" Julian screamed, fighting against their restraints.

"Why would they attack their Luna?" My heart soared as Levi emerged, jumping off the stage and stepping close to Julian, towering over him in both power and height.

Julian struggled against the tight holds of the men. "She's not their Luna."

"She is now. Thanks to you. And you're no longer their alpha." I could feel the rage radiating off Levi, but I was impressed with how calm he was keeping. Maybe he felt the shift.

"Impossible."

"Actually, it's very possible. You see, when you decided it was a good idea to fucking kill the mate of another alpha, you didn't really do your homework. That power you took, and had for all of five minutes, was too strong for your pathetic body. It knew where it belonged. So it went back, and unleashed its full potential where it rightly belongs."

So that's why I feel so different? He was right when he said I do have power?

"And do you know what happens to those who try and do something like that? They lose their pack - it now belongs to me and Danielle - and they also lose their life."

Julian growled, "you won't kill me."

Levi cocked his head. "Oh, you're very wrong. You see, it's taking everything I have inside me to not kill you. But for one, I have more important things to do right now, and also, you're going to die anyway. That power poisoned you. It wasn't yours to take, and now you are going to die a slow death because of it."

"You're lying!" Julian howled.

"Am I? Because you can already feel yourself growing weaker. Take him away, I don't want to ever see his face again."

Julian was dragged from the room, screaming and kicking, swearing revenge and death on us all.

But I had already forgotten about him. There was only one thing I cared about in that moment. Levi.

I don't know if I ran to him or he ran to me, but in an instant we were together. I couldn't grab him tight enough, or get close enough to him. The heightened connection made me almost desperate, and everything I had gone through in the last few days came crashing down onto me. I sobbed into his chest, relief overwhelming me.

He pulled my face towards his and I saw he was crying too. I laughed happily between sobs, and he joined me, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I thought you were dead," he said, his voice breaking.

"I was," I whispered.

And then I kissed him. I kissed him without the restraints of being nervous or overwhelmed or unsure. I kissed him with the new understanding of our connection, with the relief of being alive, with the gratitude and just pure happiness.

I kissed him like I've never kissed anyone before, and it was pure magic.