Adrianna was shocked to see her mannequin. How could that happen? Was her mannequin damaged? She started looking at its head thinking that perhaps it had some kind of artificial brain.

Sensing what Adrianna was looking at, Fleur chuckled and said, "The entire body of the mannequin absorbs your vibes and takes the instructions. It has sensed the measurement of your body and will work accordingly. However, even I am perplexed as to what has gone wrong?"

​​

Fleur started looking for clues. All the material that was there was shabbily stitched and didn't resemble what Adrianna had thought. "Let me go to the tailor master to find out what has gone wrong. You stay here Adrianna. We hardly have any time left now, since we need to go back before the moon comes up."

Adrianna nodded, her mood plunging to hell. She went around the mannequin to see her dress all around and then kicked it on its ankle lightly for not understanding her thoughts well. Adrianna thought that perhaps because she was a half-wolf, the mannequin couldn't understand half of what she had thought. However, as she kicked it, she could sense something projected out. "The mannequin is damaged," she declared without seeing the place.

Dmitri and Liam came there immediately. "Where? Why do you say that?" asked Dmitri.

Adrianna bent down and then said, "I think it is damaged here and from here all the energy is escaping." She bent down to look at the foot of the mannequin. But what they saw was even more shocking. There was a tiny black translucent stone attached to the ankle.

Adrianna held the stone to remove it. "What is it?" asked Liam.

"It's a small stone…" she tried to pull it out, but it won't budge. It had attached itself as though it has been glued there. The stone would often emit red lights from within.

"What is it doing?" she was all the more shocked. "Why it is emitting red light?" she said as she tried her best to pull it out.

Fleur came back in the meantime and she went around to see what they were doing.

"What did the tailor master say?' asked Adrianna.

"He wasn't there…"

"Fleur, what is this stone over here?" asked Adrianna trying to scratch around it.

Fleur went over and looked at it. "Adrianna, move away. This is leech! Who the hell put it here?"

"What is leech?" asked Adrianna moving away because it certainly didn't look like the leech she had seen in the forests. Those would attach themselves on the skin of the live animals or people and sucked blood.

Fleur explained, "This one is a highly developed leech. It will attach itself to the animate or inanimate objects and adapt accordingly. If it is attached to the live wizard or witch, it will suck their blood and affect their thought process. If it gets attached to any inanimate object, it will defeat its purpose by leeching off its energy."

Fleur took a cloth that was lying on the side and from a distance, it scratched it from the top. "Its head is here. Once that comes out, it will fall off." The head came out soon and the stone fell off on the ground.

Immediately Fleur wrapped it in cloth and tied it.

"Who would get a leech on my mannequin?" asked Adrianna very irritated.

"It is easy to know but for now you should concentrate on recreating your dress," said Fleur as she kept the leech in a box that appeared as she snapped her fingers.

Adrianna exhaled getting pissed by everyone around. Once again she gave instructions to her mannequin. The mannequin started stitching the dress perfectly. Satisfied, Adrianna left along with others.

While walking back to the carriage, Adrianna said, "I want to know who did this cheeky thing with my mannequin."

"Let us just finish off with the dance competition tomorrow. You leave it to me," said Fleur as she circled her arms around Liam's hand. She looked at Liam and asked tenderly, "How is my old man?"

Liam stopped in his tracks. He looked at her with warm eyes and stroked her hair that was falling till her shoulders. Tucking a loose hair behind her ears he said, "I am fine. You worry too much."

Adrianna and Dmitri also stopped as they watched the lovebirds.

Just then soft breeze blew and the hair that had fallen on Fleur's neck ruffled in it.

Adrianna was in for a shock as she noticed something on her neck. She closed her mouth with her hands when she saw it. Liam had marked her!

She looked at the two of them. It was so clear that they were soul mates even though they hadn't married. Dmitri looked at his wife, and then followed the line of gaze. Fleur's hair had settled and he couldn't see what Adrianna had seen. However, he had heard her thoughts. Dmitri looked at Liam with wide eyes. He didn't know what to say to him.

Even Liam had heard them but all of them stayed quiet. This wasn't a place to discuss. They sat in the carriage while Fleur mounted her broom. All of them rode back in silence.

In the royal palace, Dmitri confronted Liam. "Are you insane? How could you mark her knowing fully well that now you are bonded with her for life? Have you no respect for your life? Fleur is head of security for Adrianna and is in constant danger. Do you realize what you have done by marking her?"

Fleur started crying upon hearing Dmitri's harsh words. She went and hugged Liam. "He is mine," she said between her tears.

"When did this happen?" asked Dmitri almost shouting at them. Adrianna was sitting and watching the three of them with tension.

"Yesterday…" answered Liam. "I am sorry, but I tried a lot to stay away. However, every time I stayed away from her, it was painful. I tried to deceive my conscious mind in many ways, but I couldn't deceive my entire being. Fleur and I have tough love. She loves me with her soul and so do I. When I feel the lack of that, I run, strike out and bite. I don't have the courage to hold myself. It is impossible to stay through the roughness of challenges. I cannot face them. It was her tough love that kept me on the rails…

"Yesterday, when I came here, I had to mark her and she offered herself to me willingly…"