"So basically, let me know if I got this right. Crescent was actually your sister's wolf. But, because your sister was absorbed in the womb, she was brought by Waning in your mind to share the same place, thus preventing her death.

But now with you rejecting Crescent's mate and finding your true mate, Waning is no longer able to maintain Crescent alongside her for much longer, so the latter is once again in grave danger of perishing." Gabriel tried to summarize what Celia had just informed them.

Frowning, he waited for Celia to affirm if he understood correctly, while also trying to think if there was a precedent for such a thing that could help the future queen. But he did not need to think much, for the previous queens, or at least other high ranking werewolves, to have two wolves in the same body was without a doubt an information one would never forget, especially him who taught history and general knowledge at the Academy.

Celia listened to his words and, confirming she indeed made herself understood correctly by them, nodded her head.

"Okay, understood. About the witch who is currently trying to find a solution, will she be able handle it on her own, or is there something we can do to assist? I could at least analyze a little more Crescent's state with the Seer, to see how she is!" Gabriel asked.

The Seer was the tool the pack doctor mostly used when healing werewolves, one of its abilities being that it could check the health of a wolf. He used the special Seer in his possession to mostly check the students' ranks and sub ranks. He was not a doctor, but he could at least also check the wolf's current condition.

"No matter what, we will do everything in our power to ensure the wolf's safety. We will also delegate some trackers to investigate alongside the witch and the watcher teams that are on standby will join in on the search for a solution. Do not worry, I am here for you!" Salas assured her.

"Thank you for offering your help, but Clarissa is the only one who can find it! Also, if there are too many people checking, it could have the opposite effect. She now has some leads, but if others intervene, those leads could be lost!" Celia earnestly said. She was thankful for his support and trust, but she had talked more with Waning, after calming the wolf from her sorrow, and for now they could only wait.

Salas looked into her eyes to seek even a small sign of wavering, but he realized she indeed was not holding back, and there was nothing he could do currently. Well, even if she did not need help right at this very moment who knows about the future, just to make sure he would keep track of what was happening anyway, and if she really needed his help later on he would offer it, even without her asking.

Clarifying the situation with Celia and Waning, they redirected their attention to the attack that happened more than three days ago, which was also a major problem. Two attack in less than a month, when they previously had decades of peace, was not a minor problem.

It was early evening when Gabriel left, after having informed Salas of all the information they had collected about the rogues, which unfortunately were not too detailed.

All the werewolves that were caught had killed themselves before even a piece of information was extracted from them and no other evidence of their identity or other clues could be found in their possession.

Their information network contained data on every werewolf in the kingdom, each member of every pack had their data stored by the officials, but rogues were lawless, they mated and had pups in the wild without a proper doctor. Who could tell how many there were or even were they came from.

Lastly Gabriel had also asked Salas's approval on other urgent matters that needed Salas's express permission.

***

It was already two am in the morning, by now Salas should have been sleeping for quite some time already, considering the extent of his injuries and the wolfsbane which had kept him unconscious for the last three days, following the rogue attack.

But strangely, he could not close his eyes even for a moment, he barely even blinked as he stared at the bed next to his.

The beautiful girl was breathing slowly and at an even pace, it was a clear sign she was sleeping, but he could not do the same. He could only stare at her face, which fortunately was inclined towards him, studying her every lovely feature.

Fatigued by the regeneration that was still taking place in her body and by the constant pains caused by the wolfsbane, which drained even more of her energy, Celia had fallen asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, shortly after Gabriel left.

In a way, it was perfect for Salas, if she had not fallen asleep, perhaps she would've asked to be moved to another room, depriving him of openly admiring her loveliness.

Even though she was not in the best conditions, even though no makeup adorned her face, he could not help, but trace his eyes slowly from the lovely forehead, to her defined neither thick neither thin eyebrows, to her lovely closed big eyes that could barely be seen hidden by curly eyelashes, to the tall nose that seemed small between the plump cheeks, to her pink moist lips until the sharp small chin.

One would think that he would have seen and known her features by now by heart, as he had kept repeating these same steps for hours. He should have been bored of looking already. But, even though he could draw her face from memory, he still kept on gazing, as he could not get enough.

Each time his eyes reached her chin, he traced them up again, towards her lips, nose until he would reach her forehead, but this time his eyes stopped when they reached hers, not going up again.

Her eyes were already opened now, making him unable to look anywhere else, but straight into them. He could get lost in those chocolate brown eyes.

"I am sorry your highness! I must have fallen asleep!" She immediately apologized, after a second of confusion.

"It's alright, you must recuperate. Keep on sleeping!" Salas gently said.

She shook her head, she had already slept long enough. And now, knowing he had been watching her sleep, she was even less likely to manage to close her eyes and fall asleep.

Salas no longer insisted, she was already laid on the bed, even if they talked a bit, if she felt sleepy she could immediately do so. Not to mention, when she was sleeping she was beautiful, but awake he could also talk to her and hear her voice, so it was even better.

"Your highness, actually I wanted to tell you something." Celia said slowly, a bit uneasy.

He did not say anything, waiting for her to put her thoughts into words.

"I know that I said, when Gabriel was here, that what I informed you both was the whole situation, but... in fact it is not." Celia said with the same tone, looking at him. She felt a bit relieved that his face did not change, even though she had just said she withheld some information, but she still felt awkward at the same time about talking of this problem with Salas.

"Tell me. Whatever you have to say will not anger me!" Salas replied with a small smile, which he showed to make her comfortable and talk without anxiousness. He could see she was troubled about the issue. No matter what she had to say, he would not blame her.

She had justified Waning's actions when they talked, and he understood that they had never meant to hide indefinitely from him. Sky had also talked with his mate and he felt the same as him.

Even though the king of the werewolves was always more ruthless and prone to violence, the queen was actually his exact opposite, perhaps the Goddess made it so to maintain a balance and to keep the king's rage in check.

That was also the case for his mother, who was a gentle and caring person, so he knew that it was in Waning's and Celia's instinct as the queen, to act and help others, even if it could harm them by doing so.

"I know from the history class from school that... whenever the king met his mate in the past, the mate would be marked almost immediately..." Celia said even slower and a little stuttering, with her cheeks burning red.

It was a very embarrassing thing to say herself, to discuss about the marking, but what if Salas would want to do the same? If he wanted then it would be a problem, so she wanted to be fair and explain herself first. She had already said everything else, might as well get everything out in the open.

"Yes, that is correct. More so than the average werewolf, the king, following the will of the Goddess, marks his mate immediately after finding her.

This is a tradition from a long time ago, it is to prevent or at least diminish the number of rejections in the werewolf kingdom, as the king sets the example for his subjects.

The will of the Goddess implies free will, so there is no law in regards to forcing the mates together. But if the king marks and immediately recognizes the legitimacy of his queen, then the subjects will have no choice but to do so with their respective mates.

Of course, there are still idiots, every now and then, who deny their mates." Fortunately for me, Salas added mentally. If Rayan had recognized and marked Celia, before he found her, then it was possible that there was nothing he could have done to take her away.

In this regard, he was very lucky that Rayan was an idiot. He dread of what could have happened... what if Rayan had been someone who waited for his mate and, at the winter ball, he had come with Celia holding his arm, while she was pregnant with his pup.

He might have lost all his sanity and gave into his ruthlessness. Perhaps all the guests at the ball would no longer be alive.

Realizing his thoughts had trailed off, he immediately tried to recollect himself.

Anyway Waning would not have let that happen... he hoped, but still to protect Crescent, he could not know to what extent she was willing to sacrifice herself and Celia.

"But why are you asking me? Do you not want to be marked?" He continued, showing a hurt expression on his face, an expression he could not hide, even if he wanted to. An unmarked mate... was she still not certain of creating a proper bond with him?

"It is not a problem if whether I want to or not... You see, when I discussed with Waning, she said that even if Crescent is dormant for now, a major increase in power could still damage her. The marking would certainly make us stronger, and Crescent..." Celia tried to explain.

"Do not worry, I can wait until her problem is solved, then I will mark you. Alright?" Salas interrupted her and immediately assured her. If it was not because she did not want to be marked, then he could wait a little longer.

He had waited for decades, what difference would a little more time do? Especially, since she was now with him. It only meant that he would just have to do something else to keep the flies away.

"Is it really alright? Won't the Council have a problem with it? I could see that at the ball, the head councilman was trying to introduce lady Yvonne to you." Celia asked worried.

"The Council has hoped for the longest time that I would find my mate. It was just that after eighty years of searching, they gave up on finding the real one, settling for the next best thing, a strong werewolf to bear an heir.

To have the real mate by my side and give birth to my heir, or another one less strong werewolf female who would give birth to a weaker heir. Of course, they would choose the former, even if they have to wait a little longer for you to give birth!"

"Oh!" She replied. It was already awkward enough bringing up the marking first, now that babies were mentioned, her face turned beet red.

"Your highness, can I ask you another thing?" Celia said quickly her last problem, it was also a mean to dispel the awkwardness. Although, this problem was also not something he would easily agree to.

She knew that he had already been lenient towards her. He had listened to her reasons without doubting even one of her words, just now he had also agreed to not mark her, even though there could still be repercussions from the Council. He had made it seem easy, but she knew that it could also be just to protect her, perhaps it would put him in a difficult spot.

And now, she wanted to ask something else of him, she was already overstepping herself. But it had been her dream since young, it was the wish she had put her heart and soul in achieving. She had only recently started working for it, she had barely begun studying to be a watcher, so she did not want to stop. A queen had so many responsibilities to fulfill, so never in history had the queen held other responsibilities other than those she held in that particular position.

"Sure. Whatever doubts you have in your heart you may say them.

Celia, you must understand a queen is her king's equal. I wish for you to tell me and discuss with me everything, I do not want secrets between us. I will also discuss with you my problems.

Never be afraid to tell me something. As long as it does not involve your safety, I am willing to compromise." Salas said lightly, but his tone showed sincerity. He wanted her to be able to tell him anything, without being afraid of the consequences.

Their relationship was just at the beginning of the road. If they started on a wrong step, he feared it would lead to a crossroad, and perhaps she would chose to leave him. He wanted to build a relationship built on trust. He cherished her too much, to do otherwise.

"I... Can I still live in the dormitory and study being a watcher? I know that I am, perhaps asking a difficult thing, but I cannot give up my dreams." Celia said. Even though she usually shed her solemn and stern face in his presence, at this moment her determined face could clearly be seen.

His silence made her think that it would truly be a difficult wish to be granted, was it really unachievable?

"Well it is not something that a queen in the past ever did, but it would not be an impossible task. If you would agree to three conditions of mine, I will fight for your cause in front of the Council!" Salas said also with a solemn expressionless face, as though he would really have a hard time convincing those old men.

"Yes, I agree!" She suspected a bit when he said she would have to agree to his conditions, but he had granted two of her wishes, it was only fair she would also compromise, so she immediately agreed without even asking what those conditions were.

The corner of his lips rose up in a smirk, satisfied she had agreed so quickly, and without waiting a second longer for her to change her mind, he quickly enumerated them.

"The first condition is for you to call me Salas. You are to be my queen, it is not right for you to keep on using formal speech. Of course, if you should chose to use a pet name, like darling or my love, I would not mind." Salas said, checking her face. He had started with the easiest condition, for her to let her guard down.

"Pet names... I could not call you... your name is fine. S-salas is fine!" She quickly stated.

And like he expected she quickly responded. A bit of a pity that she would not use pet names, but he would work towards that in the future.

"The second condition is for you to live at the palace on the weekends. I know students have to stay during the week, but please grant me the weekends at least!" He said, with a sad smile on his face.

"A-alright! If the Academy permits it then I will come to the palace on weekends!" Celia replied happily. She had thought that his conditions would be difficult, but fortunately they were not. She quite liked them as well.

Spending time with her mate would be wonderful. In fact, once mates found each other it would be difficult for them to be apart for a longer period of time, so she could understand his reasons.

"The third condition is I would like us to be engaged. I can understand the reasons behind not being able to have the mark on your neck, but I would still like for you to have a mark, a promise of our future together." Salas said gingerly.

"O-okay!" Replied Celia.

An engagement was something that was common between the humans. Werewolves did not necessarily need or wish to get married, what valued most was the mark on their necks. Most of the werewolves abided by this human tradition, only if they chose to live in the human towns and cities. But considering she could not be marked, it was understandable.

***

As the regeneration had started to heal Salas's wounds and they both were no longer unconscious, they got the okay from the doctor to be moved to the Royal Palace. The personal quarters of the king were in close proximity, so the ride was short and it would not make them too fatigued and uncomfortable.

Walking down the hallways of the palace, with Salas holding her hand, as he had become a bit dizzy on the way, her brows furrowed, not recognizing the direction they took. But she quickly realized that with him being dizzy, it was only natural for her to accompany him to his room, before returning to her own room.

The simple, but elegant room fitted Salas's personality like a glove. The king sized bed, 2 nightstands, a small couch and a coffee table were all the furniture that she could see at a first glance.

The lack of furniture, and personal items such as photos or other decorations, coupled with a generous amount of light that entered through the large windows, made the large room seemed like it was a guest room, more than his personal bedroom.

She averted her eyes from looking around too much, guiding him to the bed. He had already dismissed the maids before they entered the room, so even though she felt a bit awkward she was the only one to help him lay comfortable on the bed.

She turned around, after she made sure there was nothing else she could help him with, but instead of walking towards the door, she found herself in his large arms, laid on his embrace, with no room to escape.

"Y-your highness, I must leave!" She tried to resist, prying the arms that kept tucking the blanket on her.

"Why? This is your room, where would you go?" Salas asked, seemingly confused.

"Ehhh, to the guest room you assigned for me. This is your highness's room!" She tried to explain, giving up trying to move his hands that would not budge under her strength. She could only convince him with words, perhaps he was still a bit dizzy and thus did not recognize the room.

"But this is your room and mine, why would you go to the guest room?" Salas asked, still confused.

"Y-your highness what do you mean?" She asked. Her face was already red from the close proximity, but his words made her blush even more.

"You agreed to my condition. So logically from now on we will live together!" Salas said, with a bright smile on his face.

"I agreed to live in the palace!" Celia said, realizing bit by bit that she could have been tricked by his words.

"I never said which room and you never asked also." Salas said confidently, removing a small strand of hair from her face, to better see her redness.

"But that applies to you also. You never told me I would live in your personal room!" She said a bit upset. She felt like he was ready to take a mile, if she agreed to give him an inch.

"The contract is already signed and sealed, I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do.