"Beep!"

"Beep!"

The alarm sounded loudly in the quiet room, even though she had set it at a lower volume. It sounded one more time, before it went on to snooze for the following 10 minutes. Hearing the alarm, she sleepily opened her eyes.

It took a second for her to realize she was in Salas's room, and another second for her to freeze, as she was still not used to waking up in his room.

Luckily, she hadn't moved yet, so her first thought was to check the position of her body, she didn't want to risk finding herself like she did Saturday morning.

The previous morning, when she woke up, Salas was already gone, so fortunately she managed to avoid the embarrassing situation of greeting him first thing in the morning, after she had boldly kissed him the night before when he proposed to her.

Honestly, she did not know where she found the courage to do that, to kiss him herself. And on top of that, what was supposed to be a light peck on the lips, turned into such a deep kiss. It left her breathless with her mouth gasping for air, before he released her lips.

The emotions that had built up, with her parents visit and his proposal, coupled with the effects of the wolfbane that had not completely dissipated from her system, caused her to fall asleep, as he hugged her after their kiss.

Finally relaxing her body, as her senses dulled, she only woke up the morning after.

Then for the rest of the day, most likely occupied with his official duties, she did not even catch a glance of Salas all day. Not that she was complaining, after such a kiss, she did not know how to face him...

Did he really wait for her all of these years, his kissing technique... she had never kissed someone else before so she did not know if she could compare how good or bad it was, but in her opinion it was... Her face flushed, as she remembered the intoxicating kiss, even in her mind she could not dare think how to classify it.

"Admit it! It felt wonderful!" Waning frankly stated, using their mind link. She really was more mature than her, Celia thought.

"B-but could he really kiss someone like that without a lot of practice?" Celia shyly asked the wolf, a pang of jealousy, at the mere thought of him kissing another, sending knives through her heart.

"Just those words express your positive opinion on his kissing technique, even though you dare not say it! Hahaha!" Waning giggled.

"I will no longer talk to you!" Celia quickly said, upset to how the wolf twisted her words.

Then once again, she remembered that she had forgotten her original purpose. Yesterday, she woke up alone, but today she could hear his steady breathing near her, he had not left yet.

Well it was to be expected, she had set the clock to 5 am, to ensure she had enough time to get ready to leave for the Academy, as opposed to yesterday when she woke up at 8 am.

She briefly felt her body, concentrating on her hands and feet, and could tell she was not touching him anywhere, sighing in relief.

Very slowly, trying to assure she did not wake him up, she removed the blanket, as she wanted to already be clothed and neat by the time he woke up.

At this point, it was already too late, by now he had seen her worst morning faces several times already, she knew that, but she still wanted to look presentable.

Trying to minimize her movements, she slowly raised her head from the pillow.

She had barely steadied her elbow, trying to put some strength into it and use it to shift her body up, when she felt the force of a pull, and her body hitting the soft mattress.

Losing the focus of her eyes for half a second, the next image she saw was his face hovering above hers, as his body had hers in a tight lock, before his head flopped down next to hers.

"W-what are you doing? I have to get ready to leave!" Celia said, feeling the weight of his body on hers, she did not feel much pressure per se, as half of his body was still on the bed, but it was enough to make her face flush.

"What do you mean, what I am doing? I am simply accustoming you to our morning routine!" He said gently, his hoarse voice muffled against the pillow near her ear, as he was still keeping his head near hers.

"M-morning routine, what kind of morning routine is this, and since when did we have a morning routine in the first place? This is only the second morning we wake up together?!" She quickly asked, trying to move a bit her body from under him.

"Exactly my point, every couple's morning routine is to cuddle, you were not aware of it. So of course we need to get used to cuddling. And secondly, you don't have to count our mornings anymore, they will be countless. I had to leave yesterday, because of an important matter, and it was too early to wake you up. I am sorry, I did not think it would bother you so much." Salas quickly said, squeezing her even more in his embrace.

Really this man, he so liked to twist her words. How did he get from a nonexistent morning routine, to her complaining he left her alone in the morning? She never said either of those things.

Were all these words actually coming from the stern man he was known to be, or had someone taught him to act like this? If that was true, she would kill whoever that was.

In a certain home, holding his mate as he cuddled with her, a certain someone who, hopefully, forever would remain hidden, loudly sneezed.

In case any of the readers do not know who I am talking about, please read the extra "The art of a shameless man". As for this particular person sneezed, well in some countries it is believed that a person will sneeze if someone thinks or talk about him or her, and usually not in a good way.

"S-Salas it did not bother me! Can you please let go, I need to get ready for the classes?" She said flustered, trying to get away. She felt her heart beat rising, feeling his warmth and touch.

"Yesterday..." He said slowly, not answering to her initial request.

"Yesterday?" She repeated, when he did not continue his words.

She had not seen him at all for the entire day, even as she fell asleep he did not return to his room, but she did not do anything special, she only trained her body for a bit and tried to catch up with her studies. What was there to ask about yesterday?

"I missed you! Only five more minutes!" Salas slowly pleaded.

The words he said sent shivers down her heart, coupled with such a large part of his body touching her own, her temperature rose up. She had never felt so needed by someone else in her life, even by her sister who could not function without her in the past.

She stopped struggling all together, and let him hold her for a bit longer. She could not deny she also liked his embrace.

The cuddling went on for several minutes, until finally the alarm sounded off again, giving her a chance to loosen his embrace and bolt to the bathroom.

As she got out of the bathroom, looking in the room he was no longer present. Even during breakfast, she did not see a glimpse of his shadow. The work of the king took a lot of time, and it would take even longer because of the work that had piled up during his absence. Jenna explained to her.

Celia knew that in her heart, but she still wanted to see him a bit before she left for the Academy, to at least say goodbye, she would not see him until Friday.

Her nervousness got the best of her when she woke up, but she should have left him cuddle a bit more, in the morning. Shaking her head at the thought, she cleared her mind, walking towards the car that was prepared to take her back to the Academy.

She felt like his shamelessness, was slowly rubbing off on her.

Jenna, who walked behind her, gave her bag to the driver, as she was the one who had carried it from her room, vehemently denying Celia to carry her own bag. The maid informed of her status, even frightened her in the morning when she bowed to her as soon as she came in the room.

Celia had tried to stop her, but the latter did not budge. She kept her body bent, until Celia had agreed to say the words the queen should say. That was "I give you permission to raise your head!".

She had felt awkward saying it, but Jenna did not raise her head, until she said those exact words.

"Be careful, my lady!" The maid smilingly greeted, while opening the door for her.

She smiled a bit and nodded, getting in the car.

"S-Salas!" She exclaimed, at the handsome man that was already in the backseat, with his laptop on his knees, typing away.

"Yes?" He said, raising his head.

"Are you coming to the Academy?" She asked, a bit happy that she saw him, before she left.

"I will only accompany you until we reach there. I apologize I did not have breakfast with you!"

"It is alright. You should not have come, you are already so busy!" She immediately said, he should not have made the effort, he still had work left to do, as she could see he was still typing.

"I do not know if I can see you, until Friday. It is only logical that I at least send you off!" Salas replied smiling.

The smile stunned not only Celia, who still had not gotten used to his handsome face, but also the driver. The man had always driven the car for his highness, and he did not know the stoic king was capable of such a warm face.

They sat in silence for the short ride to the Academy. She did not want to disturb his work, it was enough if she could stay a little more in his presence.

"Keep your phone with you at all times, alright?" Salas said, just as the car stopped in front of the watcher students' building.

"In my private time, I will. But I am not allowed to do so during classes!" She explained, as she was just about to put her hand on the door's handle.

"Okay!" Salas said, no longer trying to convince her.

"Then I will leave now. Take care!" She said awkwardly, having no more reasons to talk with him.

"Wait!" Salas said, seeing her already turning her head towards the door.

She turned towards him, hearing his voice, to see what more he had to tell her.

But only found herself lightly pecked on the lips by his soft warm lips.

"You forgot my goodbye kiss!" He said, chuckling.

She nodded a bit, with her face getting redder and quickly exited the car. She did not have any words to reply to his.

Getting her bag from the driver, she turned towards the stairs to climb them. She was about to be late for the classes.

By now the driver who had already closed the door she alighted from, returned to his seat and drove away.

"Alpha!!!" Several voices exclaimed, with a surprised tone.

Raising her head to the direction of the voices, a few men quickly descended the stairs to greet her.

"Finally, we get to see you!" The young men happily said, just as they swiftly got to her.

She did not even get to see exactly which members of her pack greeted her, when Jake had already put his hands around her, hugging her with all his strength.

They were all so relieved to see her, they heard from her until five - six days ago, but then she no longer replied, only yesterday did they hear from her again, as she replied to their texts.

They were truly worried that she was not feeling well and that her state had relapsed.

Jake did not release her even after a few second, and the other guys were also hovering around trying to join the huddle.

"Alright, alright that is enough! You are suffocating her!" Jake said, trying to get the others away from her.

But he only got strange looks from them, every one of them thinking that he was the most "righteous one" of all of them, when he hugged her first and the longest.

"Are you alright now, alpha? Your face is red, do you have a fever??" Asked Jake worried, finally managing to get the rest away from them.

"No, no, I don't have a fever. I am alright! It could be because of the cold!" She tried to justify her colored face, even though she clearly knew that was not the reason for the redness.

"Are you certain, your cheeks look even redder!" Marcus also noticed.

"Yeah, I am. I am really alright! Let's go to class, we are about to be late!" Celia assured them, trying to change the subject.

Happy they finally saw her, and could tell with their own eyes she was indeed healthy, they agreed and followed their alpha inside the building. They would talk to her more anyway, now that she finally came back.

The pack that was lifeless these past few days was now happily talking away, when Gabriel entered the classroom.

"See! You did not want to believe me, I told you she was alright!" He reproached them, as soon as he saw Celia was also attending the course.

"Really you guys, you have no faith in your teacher!" Gabriel accused them seemingly upset.

"Excuse us teacher, but other than the courses you teach... You are not a reliable guy. You told us our alpha would return in a week, but two weeks passed before she really came back. So we had every reason to doubt you!" Marcus said, with the others nodding their head in approval.

"You..." Gabriel looked at them shocked. When they kept trying to get information out of him, the days Celia was not around, they were always answering politely. But now, with their alpha present, they regained their cockiness.

He sighed, ignoring them altogether. He used to be so respected by the watcher students, but this year with ten students, as opposed to the past when there were only two or three. It was a handful to handle them.

"Anyway let's get back to our business, now that we are a whole team again, like before." Gabriel continued, regaining his scholarly attitude.

"Students, I was just informed from the dean's office that the rules of the Academy will change a little, in terms of security. As such, from now one you will be obliged to have your phone with you at all times. So please carry your phones, even during classes." Gabriel said with a serious face, even while shamelessly lying.

Seriously, he thought he would be a teacher for Salas in terms of shamelessness, but the latter seemed to be a case of "student surpassing his teacher". The girl barely arrived at the Academy, and he was already bending the rules for her.

"Why?" Evan asked frowning. They all knew the strictness of the rules that had not changed in a long time.

"Because of the recent attack, the Academy will strengthen their securities and also review some of its rules. That's why all of you have the obligation to have the phone with you, no matter what!" Gabriel explained with an answer, as logical as he could think of.

They all nodded, not questioning him, but for some reason Celia felt like this reason, was not the actual one for which they were allowed to have their phones with them.

Could that man, perhaps... Was that why he did not insist in the morning for her to have her phone, and agreed to her reasons? If this was true, she really was beginning to wonder if someone had really not taught him to act like this.

"Achoo!" Gabriel sneezed loudly.

"Ahh sorry. I must have gotten a cold, it's the second time I sneezed today!" Gabriel said, wiping his nose with a tissue.

A werewolf getting a cold? Seemed to be the question on the students' faces.

With the wind ruffling her curly long black ebony hair, a bubbly witch rode joyfully on her black broomstick laced with dark purplish tulle.

She rocked her head from side to side singing along with the cheery music from her airpods, chewing on a piece of pink bubblegum, even making a bubbles from time to time.

Her Lolita short black dress embedded with ribbons and secured with a corset on her waist, with purple tights, black leather boots and a purple ribbon loosely holding a strand of hair, made her seem nothing like a witch.

From to time, as she felt the music she was listening too, she would swing her broomstick in the air, going above the clouds and down so low between the trees.

She flew so low in between them that she could even grab flowers from the ground, which she actually did from time to time.

Smelling the wild magnolia she picked from a tree, she smiled, dangling her feet in the air like a small child, not that one could not assume her as one.

The small white as snow porcelain face, almond shaped hazel eyes, bright pink cheeks, the small pointy nose and pouty lips, made the witch look nothing older than an 18 years old girl, putting it optimistically, but if one would take a bet on her age one would surely lose.

Who could actually tell that the witch's real age was in the centuries?

Not that she would tell anyone her real age. In actual fact, Clarissa would get mad if you were to guess her age, no matter if you would say she looked younger or older than she really was. It was a taboo subject, and the only thing that would change her bubbly cheery personality to a dark one.

"Are you sure it is the right way?" Asked the small black cat that stood on the end of the long broomstick. The cute little fellow had a ribbon on his neck similar to hers, and was a ball of fluffiness, but had quite a sharp tongue if angered.

"Of course, it is! Leeloo and Claude are certainly this way? Look the letter said so!" Smugly affirmed Clarissa, shoving the letter in front of the cat, upset a bit she was interrupted during her favorite song.

"Look closer on the paper, we passed by the road that is indicated on the directions Leeloo wrote for you half an hour ago!" Observed the black cat, sighing while she licked her small black paw.

Widening her eyes, Clarissa quickly stopped the broomstick from going further, and turned around, without waiting another second. A bit more attentive this time, she thoroughly checked the contents of the letter, but not even once agreed that she was wrong about the way.

Not that her cat insisted on who was right or wrong, she only swung her head from side to side disapprovingly.

"But will the ring work?" Asked the cat, with her head on her paws, sitting lazily as she swung her tail from side to side. She had absolutely no problem sitting lazily about, even with the broomstick going faster than an airplane.

Clarissa did not manage to answer, as she saw a dove quickly flying towards her. The white beautiful bird settled on the finger she had risen in the air, like it was the most natural thing to do, before transforming itself into a white paper.

Clarrisa read the letter quickly. It was one of the letters she would receive from time to time from Waning, whenever the wolf could while Celia slept, informing her about their current state. It was the way she would communicate with the wolf queen, as the latter kept her updated on how they were feeling.

"What does it say?" The cat asked, when Clarissa still did not reveal the information she read.

"Well this solution better work. Waning had no other solution then to put Crescent to sleep. It seems time is running out!"

The cat finally stopped lazing about. If Waning was keeping Crescent dormant then it meant they, at most, had another year left to help the wolf.

One might think there would still be enough time to think of another solution, if this one did not work, but he or she would be wrong.