Two days!

She hadn't texted, called or anything in two days!

Andre was losing his mind, becoming bad tempered so that everyone in the castle knew it. His duty was done with ruthless stoicism as he dared anyone to approach him. Anger rippled around him, a menace that shunned the presence of anyone until all avoided him. Even his friends refused to train with him, yet it was all that relieved the rage slowly building within him.

He knew his grandfather had sent her the confirmation she needed. So why hadn't she even acknowledged it? Why was she still silent? Was she rejecting him too? Goddess it hurt!

So he took his frustration out on the training dummy, his hands pummeling it with precise deadliness. Nevertheless he wished for a challenge, someone to test out his skill on. Something in him craved the physical sensation of meeting flesh with fits, to experience his own flesh being pummeled.

His foot connected with the dummy, a well executed side kick that had it reeling on its stand. He followed up with a chop at its neck and then a jab with his other arm. It was satisfying, the fluid flow of his body, the control. Yet still not enough.

"I hear you've been a pain." Andre wheeled around at the first word, his stance ready to defend. "Bit too late for that isn't it?" His grandmother asked as she took in Andre's stance.

"Grandmother!" His surprise was in his voice.

"Had I been an enemy I would have done a lot of damage. You should have more awareness of your surrounding and not get so caught up."

Andre bowed his agreement and apology. "As you say, my queen."

"Want to talk about it?" She asked, concern tainting her cool voice.

Andre shrugged. "What will be the point?"

"It'd make you feel better for one, and you'll stop terrorizing the castle."

He sighed. "I'm sorry grandmother." He apologized again.

"You're a powerful pup Andre. Your emotions permeate the very stones of the castle." Queen Genevieve stated with solemnity.

Andre frowned. "It can't be that bad." He denied.

"Fredrico Andreas Salvatore, do you know what it means to be royal born?"

He straightened to give his grandmother all his attention. The queen never called him by his full names unless what she had to say was important. His frown deepened. "We're gifted with the fullness of the magic of our people. We can sense its shift and flow and are able to enhance or even limit it in them. Without the royal blood to sustain it, the magic of the weres will wither within a generation." He stated.

"Yes, which is why only the strongest mate into the family. Now what do you think people will say if we go to your mate and find her as she is right now? Will they believe her strong?"

"She already has the stigma of having been set aside by an alpha." His grandmother continued as Andre took that in. "We will never be able to keep the nosy nobles away. They will insist on going with us and if they see her weak, she'll never overcome it."

"I never thought of that." He admitted.

"I didn't think you had. Right now they are marvelling at the fact that she had the strength to survive as long as she did. They need to see her still strong."

Andre gave her a rueful smile. "I have been intolerable haven't I?"

She smiled, a smile she reserved only for him. "Moderately." She agreed. With a delighted laugh she reached up to pull him down for a kiss. Then she wrinkled her delicate nose. "You're sweaty little pup." She complained.

"Grandmother," he protested. "I'm not a pup anymore."

The queen laughed again, her hand going to cup his cheek lovingly. "My dear child, you have been spending too much time with humans. For a race as long lived as ours, you are a pup."

Since he couldn't dispute that, he gave her a sour look which caused her to laugh again. Then something crossed his mind. "Grandmother?"

"Yes?" She sobered at his serious tone.

"Cari has no wolf, at least that's what her pack file says, that she's human. How will the nobles accept her? No human has ever mated into the royal family."

"No dear." She agreed.

"Well how will Cari be received as the first?"

"She's not human. Our kind breeds true and she is the daughter of two beta wolves."

"But she has no wolf." He insisted.

The queen remained serene. "Yes dear." She agreed. "Try not worry about it."

"How can I not?" He demanded.

"Does it change how you feel about her?" She asked, her gaze sharper as she studied him.

He was outraged by the idea. "Of course not!"

She relaxed. "Good. Then there's nothing to worry about."

His grandmother really could be frustrating at times. "Grandmother, I want her to be accepted by our pack. From what I gathered she hasn't been accepted by her own. The royal pack rejecting her will be worse."

"They're going to love her."

Realizing he wasn't going through to her Andre decided to keep his peace. The queen had to know something she wasn't willing to say. For some obscure reason. He sighed. "As you say." He conceded, though he knew he'd continue worrying about it.

Two more days dragged time through their inevitable state. He hated every minute of those days and punished himself with brutal training. While he reigned in his temper, his stoicism remained til he barely talked.

Every night he fell into exhausted slumber and woke up to lose himself in his training and duty. His loved ones watched him with solemnity, for what he had no idea nor did he care.

On the fifth day he woke to the sound of his phone ringing. "Yes?" He demanded, his body still sore.

"Wow, chill the hostility a bit, will you?" The female on the line stated.

"Who is this?" He demanded with a growl. "And how did you get my number?"

The female gave an exasperated sigh that told of her admirable restraint. "My name is Dani and I'm Cari's cousin."

His heart soared and sank at the same time. Which was a rather weird sensation. "Is she okay?" He quickly asked.

"Yeah, don't worry. She's physically fine."

"But?" He led on.

"She's even more withdrawn than when she got here. Our grandmother says it's because of you. You know, she's afraid she pushed you away or something."

"What?" That made no sense. He had told her she was his. Cari had to know enough about their kind to know a wolf never said that lightly. "Did she tell your grandmother that?"

"Hhff," she derided. "Nobody tells our Nana anything. She's human and has the gift of knowing. I'm pretty sure she plucked your phone number out of the aether or something."

Andre blinked at that. Human mates to the supernatural were gifted a gift at the mating and they came in various forms. He didn't know much about this gift of knowing. "Wait, if your grandmother can do that wouldn't she have known Cari had been set aside by her mate?"

The female on the line gasped her shock. "You're right! Oh by the moon you're right! Why didn't I think of that?"

"She should've done something." He stated through his teeth. "Cari wouldn't have had to suffer for so long." Neither would I, he thought to himself.

Dani sighed again, this time ruefully. "Yeah, that's logical. You have to understand Nana's gift makes her a bit of a puppet master. She says she doesn't manipulate people but it boils down to the same thing. She'll probably tell you a logical reason why, with examples from your life she wasn't there to witness, and you'll be freaked out at the end of it and let her be."

"You might be willing to trust her inane reasons for making her granddaughter suffer but I'm not." He declared with anger.

"Hmm, she told me you'll get angry at her and that I should tell you she knows you. Knows that you're not going to tell the truth of all that you are but she knows you."

Andre was a bit spooked by that and his heart leapt into his throat. If the grandmother revealed him she might ruin it all for them. The female on the line continued, as if she could hear his thought.

"Nana said I should tell you not to worry, she knows how important it is. She said to tell you that if she knows you were named after your grandfather, your great-grandfather and your great-great grandfather she can know what is supposed to be at least."

"How does she...?"

"If you think that's spooky, try living with her. It wasn't until I left and came back that I realized just how disconcerting she is. Anyway she says I should tell you to call Cari."

"Your cousin asked me to give her time."

"Yes," Dani agreed with that emphasis females put onto a word that spoke volumes he was too much of a male to understand. "One day is time, two days but five days? Five days says I'm no longer interested."

Okay, there was no way that made sense. "You're kidding me."

"No. Nana tells me you've ignored her for five days and I have to say Andreas I'm disappointed in you."

"Excuse me?" He demanded.

"Yeah. If you really are Claire's true mate then you must've suffered these past years. I'd think you'd more eager for a mate than this."

Andre's jaw hardened as he bit his teeth. "She asked me for time."

"And I just told you five days is too much." She stated with feminine logic. "It's almost nine this side. You might want to call her before she goes to sleep."

"You're as much of a busy body as your grandmother is aren't you?" He questioned suddenly quite amused.

"Andre?" The mock shock was tainted with amusement. "What a thing to say."

Andre actually laughed, the first time in so many days. "I'll call Cari."

"Good, and Andre?"

"Yes?"

"If you hurt my cousin I'll liquefy your balls." She said quite seriously.

That was an odd threat, Andre mused even as he was amused by the idea that she could be a match for him. "Shouldn't you be threatening those who've already hurt her?"

"Oh don't worry." Her voice was now ice. "Bimbo Barbie, her mate and I have an unsanctioned date."

So maybe Andre needed to watch it with Dani. The venom in her voice was a terrible thing to hear. Andre knew enough about females to be wary if them. They never came at you directly as a male would. Which made them that much more dangerous.

"O..o..okay."

"Goodnight Andre." She said with cheer, a smile in her voice. Which only served to make him even more wary of her. He didn't even correct her about their different time zones and it being morning for him.

"Goodnight."

Andre looked at the phone after dropping the call and shook his head. Then he brought up his mate's number and dialed.