As he finished his phone call, Gabriel was in deep thoughts when his mate walked into the room.

"Why are you so focused? Are you still struggling with finding the culprits?" Maria asked him worried.

"That too worries me. But we have another more pressing matter!" He said resolutely.

"What problem?" She asked even more worried. What was so important that he included even her?

"His highness called. He is coming to our house!" Gabriel succinctly replied.

"His highness. Why would he? He always calls you to the palace. He never came to our house before!?" Maria stated surprised.

"Well we are about to find out. He will be here in about an hour." He replied with a pensive look.

"What? So soon. I have to go get things ready. I do not know if we have enough food for lunch or if it suits his tastes. What if he decides to eat with us?" She said frightened and did not wait for Gabriel to reply as she was already out the door.

***

Maria could hardly breathe in the alpha aura that his highness was releasing. She was sitting with her mate on one couch, trying to not lower her neck in submission gazing at the opposite couch, where Salas was sitting.

With one of his feet crossed over the other, he was looking at the both of them expressionlessly. She still had not heard why Salas had visited them yet but, seeing his frowned face and the pressure he was releasing, she was certain it was something of utmost importance.

After a few more moments like this, second of unimaginable tension, Salas looked towards his beta and spoke to him some words which the latter acknowledged before leaving them alone.

No sooner had Micah left, when finally Salas started to speak of the motive of his visit.

"What I am about to tell you, will not leave this room. Defy my order and you will suffer the consequences." His voice was calm, but his tone still made the 6th ranked wolf frightened. Gabriel had told Maria that it would not be something scary, but she was now sure that he had been wrong.

"The fate of the kingdom depends on your advice, so think carefully before you speak." Salas continued solemnly.

Maria was already starting to tremble, she never thought there would ever be a day, when the fate of the entire werewolf race would be on her mate's and her own shoulders. She was the mate of Gabriel, who had a very important post that was true, but still. Holding her breath she waited for the king to speak.

"What must I do after a woman who kissed me fled?" He serenely asked, looking intently at them waiting for the answer. He was still not willing to call the act of touching their lips, anything but a kiss.

The both were stunned. Maria because she had not expected this to be the reason for the potential downfall of the werewolf race. And as for Gabriel, because he did not expect that such a radical development would take place from yesterday until today. Celia's presence in Salas's life had made the future unpredictable, but in a good sense.

He had thought that Salas would not react as fast as he did, at least yesterday he was still not thinking of acting, but what happened since yesterday? What caused Celia to kiss Salas?

It must have been something Salas made possible, otherwise he doubted she would make such a bold action by herself. Her quiet and solemn personality was not capable of such a feat. And Salas would never let anyone so close to him, much less kiss him, without his permission. If only he stayed longer at the palace yesterday, he thought. It was such a pity...

"Your highness, what exactly happened?" Gabriel probed, perhaps at least finding some more details.

"That is not something you need to know. Only answer the question." Salas calmly replied.

"You at least have to tell me what your purpose is. Do you want to pursue her into a relationship or avoid her altogether?" He inquired, letting go of finding out more details, but he was still curious about this.

Salas kept quiet for a moment, he did not want to let them know too much, but he understood that he must at least say this.

"Pursue her." He concisely responded.

Maria was still surprised, never in his life his highness talked about a woman, much less have a relationship with one. She was incapable of imagining what type of woman the person who made Salas like this was. Could it be he found his mate, she thought.

Overjoyed that his highness asked for his opinion, Gabriel cleared his voice and changed his way of speaking to the scholarly tone he had at the Royal Academy. He coughed a bit clearing his voice and said after a moment of thinking.

"Your highness, the most important point that you have to retain is that you have to be a shameless person." Gabriel explained with a serious face.

Salas frowned, why would being a shameless person help in any way whatsoever.

"Gabriel, don't teach his highness stupid things. The most important thing is for his highness to be a gentleman and show care towards the lady. In time it will surely win her heart." Maria quickly denied.

"Did I conquer your heart by being a gentleman? Even when we discovered we were mates you did not want to be a couple with me. So how did I win your heart?" He asked her with his eyes squinting, as he was looking in her direction.

Maria blushed and could not say how he did it, but it was certain he was not a gentleman. The things he did ...

Seeing her look away with a red face, he smirked pleased. His point was demonstrated right in Salas's eyes.

"So your highness. As you can see!" He said with a hand in his mate's direction, earning a glare from Maria, and then continued after a small cough.

"I think my point is explained." Gabriel continued proud of himself.

Salas fell in deep thoughts. If he were to think about it, his behavior last night was also somewhat shameless. He was filled with jealousy seeing Celia in the arms of another, so much so that, after calming Sky down from shifting, he sought her out again.

In the indoor garden, seeing her like that, frail and upset, she had hugged him defenselessly and fell asleep. Logically he should have carried her to her room to sleep comfortably, but he did not. In a sense he took advantage of the situation.

He hugged her, liking the closeness of her body and even dared kiss her temple when her face was so close near his. This gesture woke her up and she accidently kissed him on the lips ... alright he admitted ... touched his lips. But instead of being a gentleman and ease her worries, he had insisted on it being a kiss. Moreover he previously also did not even back away when their lips touched.

He liked her flustered side that appeared because of him, because he felt like in that moment she saw him as a man instead of a king.

He was still thinking with a hand on his chin, when Gabriel interrupted his thoughts.

"Salas listen well to what I am about to teach you and there will be no way that you will not be able to get the girl!" He said again with a serious face.

Gabriel cleared his voice and started to explain. He was about to share with Salas the art of being a shameless man.

Generally, Salas would brush Gabriel off if he felt he was stupid, but now he found reason within his stupidity, so he kept silent listening to his advices. Even Sky had his ears wide open.

Maria had given up on trying to convince them otherwise. She just sat on the couch in silence, massaging her temples. But even then she still participated from time to time when the advices got too exaggerated.