It was already the day before the ball. In this time, she had met his highness several times for the meals, but she did not dare ask him why he lied. Anyway regardless of his reasons, she had already agreed to accompany him, so she would just participate in the ball and then ask his highness to permit her to return to the Academy.

She was behind in her studies. Not to mention she was already healed so there were no more reasons for her to stay. She felt like if she stayed longer she was bound to misunderstand his actions. She already had a mate, there would not be another, but the proximity to the king and his close distance each time she was near confused her.

But how to inform the king and actually return to the Academy was something for later. Now she had a huge hurdle to pass. In her life she had been to balls, her mother had forced her to, but she still had a problem, she had never danced.

Mentioning this fact to the maids when they asked her, had set them with a goal to accomplish. They promised her that even if there was only a day left, she would at least learn to waltz. She had not asked them for the lessons, she even said that there was no need for her to dance. But they did not want to hear her.

And in front of their eagerness and friendliness towards her, it was difficult for her to make them stop.

So now here she was in a room within the royal palace waiting for the dancing instructor.

She was dressed in a wavy peach maxi dress and high heels, with her long hair put up in a ponytail. They told her it would be easier for her to learn how to dance in a dress, so she would not have any problems the following day in her ballroom gown.

She was only waiting for a quarter of an hour, when she heard movements at the door and immediately rose up to greet her teacher.

"Are you ready for the lesson?" The king asked with a hoarse elegant voice.

"Your highness?" Celia stated surprised. Why would the king come and ask if she was ready?

"Yes. I will be teaching you how to dance." He said, reading her mind.

"There is no need to. You are busy, how could I ask of you to teach me?" She tried to refuse.

"I am not busy today. I already have a clear schedule for the ball, might as well fill it with a dance lesson." He calmly answered with a normal tone, but his face seemed bright and happy.

She still wanted to refuse, the proximity of their bodies would suffocate her. Moreover by being so close, she was afraid of her heart exploding. Still, he did not leave her a choice as he gently held her hand and guided her to the center of the room, but not before placing his phone on the chair she was previously sitting on. The phone was opened on youtube with the song already playing.

Reaching the center of the room, he took her right hand and placed it in his left palm, then slowly placed his right hand on her waist. With both hands touching her, she felt electric shocks all around her body, but she could not give any sort of indication when he was staring intently into her eyes.

She was a tall girl if compared to normal standards, but now next to Salas she looked petite.

He explained a bit the movements, then slowly started to move her on the rhythm of the song. In such close proximity to the king, enveloped in his touch and smell, she was already feeling giddy, but with the romantic song in the background, the atmosphere felt even more ambiguous.

She kept looking down trying to not make any mistakes and hurt his feet, but perhaps he felt she was trying to look away for another reason.

"Is something wrong? Am I dancing too fast?" He asked worried.

"No, of course not." She quickly denied, he was holding her tenderly and trying to match her movements, so how could he be dancing fast?

"But?" He inquired again, approaching her face.

Seeing him even closer, she tried to redirect his attention.

"It is nothing. I was only confused to why your highness chose this song. I did not think it is a particular song for waltzing." She said, praising herself inside for finding a proper reason. She did not know she would come to regret asking him this, and she would regret just moments later.

"It is because this song suits you." He stated honestly, slightly moving her around in slow steps.

"How does this song suit me?" She asked confused, but also a little interested.

"There goes my heart beating, cuz you are the reason I'm losing my sleep." He gently whispered near her ear.

Her face flushed hearing his voice so close, and his words stunned her so much that she stopped dancing altogether.

"W-what?" She finally managed to say.

When she had stopped dancing he had stopped with her, but he still had not let go of her hands.

"The song. It fits perfectly for you. You seem like the kind of woman a man would lose sleep thinking about." He said with a small smile on his lips and eyes sparkling.

She was still confused, not to mention shy and with a bright red face. Her lips were trying to form words, but could not. And seeing the smile on the usually solemn face did not make her concentration any better.

"The song is called "You are the reason" by Callum Scott." He said, not teasing her more.

Hearing his words, she finally listened to the background song. Paying attention, she only now understood that the words he previously said had been the lyrics of the song. She felt flustered for overly reacting like she did, even stopping her steps. But she was still feeling even more embarrassed that he considered her capable of causing a man to lose his sleep.

She was not that beautiful. She had never been sought out by guys all throughout her life. She did not have such charm that could make guys fall in love, much less keep them up at night thinking about her.

"Please do not tease me anymore your highness!" She finally managed to plead quietly. She felt that since she woke up after the attack, he had kept toying with her, whether through actions or words.

"I have never joked with you Celia. Not even once!" Salas affirmed with an honest face.

In that moment, she felt like he was saying that he too would lose sleep thinking of her. So she dared not take this conversation further.

Fortunately he stopped talking and only slowly made her dance again.

For the rest of the lesson, Salas properly taught her to dance, not teasing her more. Perhaps he sensed that she was already nervous as it was, without him doing anything. If he had said more, it was likely she would leave earlier.

The day of the ball started with an early wakeup call from the maids. They came prepared to keep her occupied the entire day, getting her ready. Even breakfast and lunch were brought to her room to save time. The king was also caught up in preparations and would not eat with her.

Night came faster with the girls around her. Normally, when they were in the presence of the king, they were quiet and only answered if they were asked something. But now, even though she resembled him in personality, as she was also a quiet and expressionless person, the girls kept on laughing and talking. She did not mind, as they brightened up her day and relieved some of the nervousness she was feeling.

She had quickly agreed to be the partner of the king, but only now realized what it would entitle. All the council members, all the alphas and betas, every guest would have their eyes on her, if only for the fact that she would enter with his highness. She had never had that much attention on her, as she was what one would call a wallflower, each time she participated in a ball before.

Still, regretting or not, she had agreed and now here she was walking down the stairs to meet his highness.

Perhaps he sensed her so he turned around, looking up. She was nervous to how he would see her, if she was presentable enough to be his partner.

Her long hair had been styled in big loose curls, cascading on her back, with only a small flowery hairpin keeping in place several strands of hair. And even though the maids had insisted, only a simple natural makeup was applied on her face.

She hoped that the makeup, her hair styling and natural colored dress would blend her in the background as much as possible, as her presence at the king's side was already enough.

The dress the maids had chosen did not look too flashy. It was quite pleasing to the eyes, but even then, she still worried that she was not beautiful enough for it.

The of shoulder dress was champagne colored with small embroidered flowers all around it. On top of the opaque material, grey tulle and lace were overlapped so the color was toned down, making the overall aspect of the dress not too sharp.

As she did not like to stand out too much the color was perfect, but it still felt like it was made for a princess. It wrapped around tight the upper part of the abdomen, before it fell on the floor in waves.

Reaching the last step, she slowly approached him. Conscious of how she looked, she did not dare meet his eyes, as she felt him looking at her before she even descended.

Fortunately, the tall man in front of her, dressed in a black suit with a grey handkerchief in his breast pocket, did not say anything. He only offered his hand which she hesitantly took.

Even though the ball was in the compound of the palace, they still had to exit the building they resided in and drive towards the avenue where the ball took place.

She heard from the maids that the ballroom was a little farther than where they were currently living, because this were the private quarters of his majesty, so this building was located deep within the palace ground, far away from prying eyes. This was also the reason why there were only a few maids, as the king liked his privacy.

She previously thought that the maids she saw inside the personal quarters were a lot, but she had been wrong. When she reached the ballroom, standing in front of the door, welcoming them, several dozen persons were waiting with their heads already bowed.

He alighted the car first and permitted them to raise their heads, then turned towards her with his hand holding her own, helping her alight as well.

She took a heavy breath while holding his arm, preparing herself for the hundreds of gazes that would come from the guests.

It was already more than six months ago, the last time she saw her family as a real loving one. It was the time before she left her home for the watcher test. And it was more than 5 months ago when she returned home, surprising them with the fact that she had passed the test.

It left them shocked at the time, because nobody had expected her to pass. How could Celia have the ability to become one of the watchers of the packs, one of the few people directly under the command of his highness, the king of all werewolves.

Encouraging her to take the test by her mother had only been an easier way to get her away from the pack, so her younger sister could steal her mate. They had thought that, considering the time it took for the training and the test itself, she would be away from the pack for six months. In this time her sister would have already become the Luna in her place, so she could do nothing about it.

But fate helped her to see the real face of her loved ones. The period of time had been shortened by the Academy. It went down from six months to just one month for the test to take place. So when she came back, it was just in time for the Luna ceremony of her sister.

She left her pack territory then, thinking she would never return to her home and would never see her family again. She did not mind so much the mate she lost, because her family's actions had hurt her more.

But now 6 months or more later, when it would have been the time she would have returned home, if the timing for the testing had not been changed, here she was holding the arm of the werewolf king, the most powerful of werewolves.

She was waiting with him for the massive doors of the ballroom to open and for the doorman to announce their presence.

She was moments away of seeing the parents she had thought she would never see again.