-HIM-

It was the last night of celebrations, and I had a very odd feeling about it. I didn't know what it was, it was harder for me to put it into words. There was something that was bothering me deeply... of course, it had to do with my mate.

I was going to leave tomorrow... without her, and the idea didn't quite please me. I wanted to take her with me, but she seemed hellbent on not doing anything with me. As much as it deeply hurt me, I could tell she had a strong enough reason behind it. Otherwise, it was hard to fight the mate bond.

I just wanted to see her for the last time. I knew that I wouldn't see her at the Royal dinner because ladies in waiting weren't included there.

Maybe, I could arrange something... I thought to myself. Well, I could arrange a lot of things in that sense... I could steal her, but that would be like trying to trap smoke in my hands. I wanted her to come with me on her own. I wanted to meet her for the last. I was ready to beg if it was required, but before I left, I needed to see her for the last time. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to leave.

As the grand celebrations for the night started, I felt out of touch with everything and everyone around me. I didn't want to be there, but I had to be there. Since I was also Theoron's main guest, it was even more necessary for me to be there.

When I arrived at the venue, the arrangements were grander than the day the celebrations had started. However, none of this mattered because even though I attended the celebrations physically, my mind was elsewhere. I smiled and talked to the other guests that night, pretending to enjoy the night.

I met Khazar and Nanda as well. It was obvious Khazar wasn't enjoying the event, especially because our clandestine mission had failed. On the other hand, Nanda was putting more effort into appearing that he was enjoying the night.

It took excessive effort at the Royal Dinner to look like we were enjoying the night. Theoron was prouder and more pompous than ever, stretching our patience thin. His sister was also there. I tried to be polite to her out of formality but also because there was a sliver of a chance of her being Theoron's real sister.

Just out of curiosity and a little hope, I glanced around the table, my eyes searching for her. I was slightly disappointed when I didn't find her at the Royal Dinner despite knowing she wouldn't have gotten the invitation for this dinner anyway.

For the rest of the dinner, I tuned in and out of the conversations, only thinking about her in my head. All I wanted was to see her for the last time, but as far as the situation went, it was starting to get glaringly clear that I might not get to see her before leaving. This wasn't making things easier for me. Accepting this was more painful than swelling a shard of glass.

But I still wanted to try and see her. I was thinking of arranging something tonight by which I could meet her. For that, I needed the dinner to end, but unfortunately, it kept going. The more I thought about time, the slower it seemed to get.

The dinner was also very uneventful, except for Theoron making inappropriate remarks here and there. Though the wine made these things more tolerable, I wanted to get out of there. At one point, I thought about making an excuse and just leaving. However, I didn't have to think about it for long.

An excuse to leave presented itself to me instead. During mid-dinner, Lars left the table briefly because one of our men wanted to see him urgently. The way he left felt very unusual. Something was going on. I could smell it in the air. I didn't have to wonder for long. I instantly knew something was terribly wrong by looking at Lars' face when he returned.

"You need to come with me right now," Lars whispered into my ear after returning to the table. I tensed, hearing the urgency in his voice. He looked visibly anxious. The other people around us noticed this commotion and were now paying more attention to us. I kept my face unreadable as I politely excused myself from the tale and left. Lars didn't breathe a word until we were completely alone.

He swallowed hard, looking more nervous before he announced the news to me, "There has been an assassination attempt on her," His words hit me like a burning meteorite, immediately engulfing me in chaos. My wolf instantly started fighting me to be let out. I stood there, clenching my fists and jaw, trying my best not to lose control. If I lost control now, then it would be a complete disaster.

"Where is she?" I demanded, my voice came out deep and guttural. Instantly, I saw fear flash in Lars' eyes. All the colours drained out of it until he was as pale as the moon.

"Alex," He breathed, "You need to stay in control," He tried to tell me, but I wasn't having any of it.

"Where is she!" I demanded, almost roaring at him.

"She's with us. Our healers are trying to save her," As soon as he was done speaking, I ran to my wing. I heard Lars behind me, trying to catch up to me. I didn't stop until I was back in the wing. I went straight to the room where they were treating her.

At first, I found another of Theresa's ladies-in-waiting who was being treated. She had endured a deep wound in her stomach and was bleeding a lot. The sight triggered something much more dangerous inside me. I needed to see my mate instantly.

"Where is she?" I almost growled at the healer, who pointed to the back of the room where more healers were gathered around a bed, urgently working. I saw one of them holding a huge pile of bloodied clothes.

Instantly, I went there, pushing a healer aside until my eyes fell on her. She was heavily bleeding from several parts of her body. Her face looked pale, with no trace of life visible on it.

"Who did this?" I growled, shaking with anger and seeing red.

"We caught the woman who planned this," Lars spoke behind me. Instantly, I went outside that room to find my guards dragging a screaming woman. I went for her neck instantly, wrapping my fingers around her neck in a death grip. As soon as she looked me in the eyes, all the blood drained away from her face, and she started shivering.

"What are you called?" I asked, squeezing her neck.

"Selma," she choked, tears running down her eyes.

"On whose order did you do it?" I asked her, and she started shivering more. Her eyes were wide with fear, her face got paler and paler. I applied more pressure before slamming her against the wall until a pleading moan escaped her lips. She was crying out loud.

"I will tie you to the post and skin you alive until you give me the name," I growled, and she started crying louder.

"Th-the royal advisor," She answered. I snapped her neck before she could take another breath though a part of me regretted it instantly. I should have tortured her more, making her regret her whole life, but that wouldn't have served me much. She was following orders. The person who had made this happen was still alive. Now, it was my time to who them my true face.

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