Please Andre, I can't. Not right now. Can you give me time to process?

His mate had begged him. He knew she was hurt, had looked heartbroken in her photo. Understanding that though didn't bring any understanding. He wanted to lash out, to kill something. Preferably her sister and true mate. It hurt that she didn't trust him, hurt that she'd asked to be left alone.

How long would she need? Would he have to wait for her to reach out? 'No,' his wolf declared. 'We have to go get our mate.'

Yeah, his wolf wasn't helping. Even if he wanted to have her with him more than anything he couldn't disobey his king. He knew that the longer a were went without his mate the more possessive he'd become once he found her. Andre was already dominant and that wasn't the frame of mind his mate needed.

He needed to get himself under control before meeting her. 'We have to put her needs first.' He countered his wolf. 'Our mate is fragile right now and needs time to accept us."

'How much time?' His wolf growled the demand.

'No more than two weeks.' Andre decided. That was how long he was willing to wait to have her where she belonged. In his possession.

'And if she decides against us too?' The growl his wolf put into those words was painful for his inner ear, but not as much as the thought of not having her.

'Then we will go and take her.'

Approval washed through him from his wolf and he smiled. Now that he knew where to find her, Cari would never escape him. Having made some queries, Andre knew that his mate was an absolute innocent. At twenty-six she was still a virgin and by all accounts had never been kissed.

He was sure she found that embarrassing but it made Andre want to howl out his triumph to the world. To take her into some cave and claim her until she knew who she belonged to. No, Cari was his and wouldn't be escaping him. And soon she'd know beyond a shadow of a doubt who she belonged to.

He'd be patient, nurture her as she needed. Then he'd teach her what she was, his prize, his treasure, his.

"Anything to add Andreas?" His grandmother's voice intruded upon his thoughts.

Raising his head with slow deliberation, he looked at the faces around him, all turned to him. They all knew he hadn't been paying attention. "No." He replied as if he had, daring them to dispute him.

The queen raised a regal brow, surprised and mocking at the same time. Amusement tainted her lips as her attention focused on him. "You have nothing to add to how we shall punish the people who've hurt your mate?"

Was that what they were talking about? "I trust you to be fair and just grandmother." He stated with mild dignity.

The king laughed his spirited laugh that he reserved for family. "Way to go boy." He complimented.

The queen sent a sour look to her mate. "More and more he's becoming a lot like you." She complained.

"He's my pride and joy." King Fredrico stated with a grin.

"I thought I was your pride and joy." Andre's father, the crown prince mock complained.

"A man can have more than one pride and joy." His grandfather stated piously.

Andre loved the moments when dinner was just his immediate family. They were dinning in the royal apartments, just his parents and grandparents and him. It was a rare occurrence and he was sure they'd done it in honor of him finding his mate. Soon Cari would be joining him in these private dinnings.

Normally even a family dinner consisted of some twenty or so people, cousins aunts and all. Andre had a variety of people who claimed kinship with him and the palace staff had them on some kind of dinner rotation. Then there were the dinners that included visiting alphas and various human and were dignitaries.

Since Andre was a warrior trainee and had guard duties, he was spared all but a few of these dinners which were invariably long. This private dinner would be over early enough for him to get to his duty.

"Have you talked to Carissa yet Andre?" His mother asked.

"Yes I did."

"And?"

Andre sighed. "She doesn't believe me."

That shocked his mother. "Why ever not?"

"My guess is she can't allow herself to believe. I can imagine how living with such a betrayal would be like, never mind watching them living their lives and not giving her a moment's thought. Then to find that her sister knew all along and pretended not to? I don't think she's in a place to trust anyone."

"What can we do to help?" His father immediately asked.

That was one of the things he could appreciate about his family, they always had his back. Maybe it was the isolation of being royal, but his family was close that most times, like now, he never had to ask. "Grandpa, can you send her some proof that I'm not lying? Without letting her know who I am?"

A frown marred his grandfather's still smooth brow. "Why wouldn't you want her to know who you are?"

Andre put the cutlery he'd forgotten he had down and straightened his already straight posture. "Richard pointed out that her sister might change her mind if she knew who I am. I don't want to confuse the issue and give Cari a reason to pull away from me."

"You think she'll want to go back to her true mate?" His father asked.

His wolf growled at the idea of that coward getting his hands on his innocent little Cari. With the ruthless power inherent in his blood, he reined in his wolf. As it subsided, he knew it'd given in and not been conquered.

"She's had ten years of knowing he was her true mate and desiring him. I imagine if Claire," he grit out the name. "Managed to become mine, he'd have no other choice but to accept Cari."

"You're not planning on taking Claire as your mate are you?" His grandmother questioned.

His jaw tightened at the mere idea of even touching that treacherous she-wolf. "I'd rather be salted with silver after my skin has been flayed."

"Good." The queen declared. "The last thing the kingdom needs is a future queen with such questionable morals."

"I will send Cari all she'll need." The king promised.

Realizing he was running late, Andre stood up and gave his family a warm general smile. "Thanks grandpa. I better run."

He hurried back to his room in the warriors' wing. Though he was a prince his family believed he needed to live as any other trainee and be treated as such. That way he could relate to his people better.

Andre didn't mind it. He knew some of his cousins who were unbearable because they felt entitled. Instead of seeing their position as one of duty, they saw it as of privilege. After a quick change into his uniform he rushed to the barracks for his assignment.

"You're late." His sergeant stated.

Andre looked at his watch and saw that he was a minute late. His wolf growled at the disrespect but Andre managed to keep it inside. Just because he understood the necessity didn't mean it was easy.

"Sorry sir." He managed to apologize without growling at the man.

"You have gate duty with Gabris." The sergeant told him. "Get to it."

Even though it grated him, he saluted the man. For some reason today he was finding it hard to toe the line. Still, he made his way to the gate where he found his cousin Gabris Nicolaides Panagos already standing guard.

Gate duty was as tedious as any other, yet there was the possibility of some excitement with people coming in at all hours. "Hey." He greeted Gabe.

"Hie." His cousin replied. "I heard you found your mate, congrats."

Andre grinned his pleasure. "Thanks."

"I hope mine comes along soon."

Andre met Gabe's gaze, an understanding passing between them that needed no words. There was a bond between the mateless of the castle that defied explanation. Shared pain that no one who'd never lost his mate could ever understand. Five years of sharing the same grief had bonded them where they hadn't been able to stand each other.

"So do I." Andre agreed, his tone subdued at the reality of the pain his cousin still held.

He knew Gabe was happy for him, but it was human nature to wish what others were blessed with. The noble character would acknowledge that need and still be happy for the other. And Gabe was a noble person.

"So do you have pictures of her?"

With another grin handed over his phone where he had a file that had photos of Cari. He'd gained access to her social media and downloaded them. Most were of when she was younger but it wasn't a noticeable change to how she was not, just healthier. He wasn't even ashamed of using his position on that, though maybe she wouldn't be so happy with him.

Andre loved the smile that had graced most of her photos, carefree and stunning. She had a sense of serenity to her when she was happy. He knew that was no longer the case but he was confident he'd bring it back.

The Darkpaws were a mountain pack and quite a number of her photos were of hiking, skiing in winter and mountain climbing. There were even some of her in swimwear, showing her curves to advantage. Frowning, Andre looked at his cousin taking in the beauty of his mate and possessive jealousy gripped him. Gabe didn't need to see her like that.

With a growl, he grabbed his phone away. "Hey." Gabe complained. "What was that for?"

Andre looked at the photo on his screen and sure enough it was of her mate in swimwear, a wide grin on her face as her arm circled the waist of another female. "You don't need to see my mate in her swimsuit." He growled out.

Gabe laughed at that, a quiet laugh since they were on duty and weren't even supposed to be talking. "How are you going to get through the time until you see her?"

Yeah, that was going to be rough. He thought as he looked back down at her, taking in every little thing about her once more. He couldn't believe how lucky he was.

"She's beautiful." Gabe said.

"Yeah." He grinned again. Okay so maybe he was becoming sappy, but who could blame him?

"So is her sister." He added in a quieter tone.

Andre frowned back up at him. "What?"

"The blonde by her side. They look a lot alike."

Andre hadn't even noticed her, too wrapped up in his mate. Once Gabe brought it to his notice, his eyes were drawn to the taller blonde. She was slender than his mate, about half a foot taller with wheat blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Her skin was lighter than Cari's and her smile lacked the sunlight of his mate.

His growl vibrated the air with menace. The kind that raised the hair on anyone's back and had wild animals scurrying to their burrows. With unnecessary force, he cropped her out of the picture. How had he failed to notice her?

"You didn't even notice her." Gabe observed.

"No." Andre agreed, his anger clear.

"Interesting."

"What?"

"She's your true mate and yet you barely paid attention to her."

Andre shrugged, trying to be nonchalant but it felt forced. "She means nothing to me." That much was true.

"It might be harder when you meet her." Gabe commented.

"I will deal with it." He stated then took up the stance he should have all this time. Gabe gave him a measuring look for a moment before he too took his post.