Amaryllis lay on the bed as her body quivered in pain. She felt his poison running through her veins, practically catching her on fire as it spread from the inside out.

She outwardly groaned in pain for hours into the night, but to no avail. Ulric didn't come back. She thought of herself as a stupid girl for believing a man like him could care about her. Whatever thought she had of him being her mate was completely tarnished. That monster couldn't care for another person as Travis had explained a mate would.

And yet, deep down - even though she wouldn't admit it to herself- she was intrigued by his mysterious, harsh, violent ways. Maybe she even wanted it to be true after all. Maybe she wanted him to be her mate. Maybe she did want to dance with the devil.

"Ahhhh!" She screamed. After hours of trying to keep her moaning to a minimum, she let out a scream of anger. How could he do this to me, she thought. How could he leave me here when I begged him to stay.

Finally, after several hours, the inferno building in her body was put out. The venom must have been working its way out of her system. Amaryllis sighed in relief as the pain dissipated.

She sat up from the bed. The covers were an absolute mess and looked like two lovers had taken up activities on her bed from how much she rolled around.

Her wrist was in a lot of pain though. With all of her rolling around and trying to find ways to ease the pain, she knocked her broken wrist around quite a bit.

It was early morning by the time she had gotten up. She got dressed and brushed her hair and teeth as well as well as the rest of her morning routine. When she walked out of her room, Ulric was standing there. He hadn't been in the quarters when she had been awake for quite a few weeks.

After seeing him, Amaryllis felt a spark of anger over what she did, but she didn't say anything to him. She didn't want to be punished, so she just kept her mouth shut.

She didn't make eye contact with Ulric as she walked down the hallway. She quickly headed toward the door to leave because breakfast was almost ready to be served and she was starving.

Before she could open the door, Ulric was behind her. He had his hand pressed on the door so she couldn't open it, and he was standing so close to her that she could feel his clothes against her skin.

Goose bumps arouse on her skin. She was afraid. Amaryllis didn't want to appear weak in front of him, but it was hard to not be worked up over what happened the night before. If he wouldn't have come to his senses and pulled away when he did, he probably would have killed her.

"That doesn't look good," he said as he ran his finger around the tender skin on her neck. She saw how bad it looked this morning. Ulric was so overwhelmed about what he had done last night, he had forgotten to heal her wound before he left her.

The skin on her neck was raw and bloody. She tried to wipe the blood off in the bathroom, but it wasn't helping. Blood just kept seeping from the wounds. Her skin was bruised all kinds of colors and it hurt to touch it.

Amaryllis hissed and pulled back as his fingers touched her skin. "Please stop," she said, trying to get away from him. She didn't want to be anywhere near him at the moment.

Ulric looked at her in the eyes, almost telling to her to calm down or that he wasn't going to hurt her before he lowered his head.

Amaryllis tensed up. She wasn't sure what he was going to do. Would her hurt me again, she wondered.

She gasped as she felt his tongue on her severely marred skin. For a second it hurt, and then she began to feel immense relief. She sighed and started to sag against Ulric's body.

Ulric looked at the girl as she walked out of her room. He could clearly tell she was exhausted and in pain. Her face was pale and her eyes didn't have the usual fire in them. She was angry too, and most definitely afraid of him. She wouldn't even look at him as she walked out of her room.

He also noticed the bite mark on her skin. It was swollen, red, and bleeding.

Fuck.

He had forgotten to heal the bite last night. Even though he told himself it was good that amaryllis was going to hate him forever for what he had done to her, deep deep down, he didn't want her to. He royally screwed up last night and he should have never acted so rash. He almost killed the girl, he left her to suffer for hours by herself, and he forgot to heal the bite.

How could I be so stupid?

Ulric pulled away form Amaryllis after healing the bite. Her skin was back to new and you would have never even known she was bit in the first place.

Amaryllis lifted her hand up to where the bite was and felt no plain at all. She looked up at Ulric. "Thanks," she whispered. Ulric slightly nodded before pushing the door open for her. She slipped out of the room and went to eat breakfast. As she walked, she couldn't help but feel a little less angry at Ulric. He didn't have to heal her, but he did. Maybe it was his way of apologizing.

Amaryllis cupped her neck with her hand as she walked toward the dining room. She didn't know how to feel. Yeah, she was upset and hurt, but he also showed her affection. Amaryllis shook her head, trying to get Ulric out of her mind. He was a very confusing man. She hoped to find Cameron so she could talk to her and push Ulric to the back of her mind.

Cameron wasn't there. But all of the other girls she came to the castle with were, and they were all sitting around a table together, including Kayla. She hadn't really talked to any of them since their first night there though, so she sat at a table by herself instead.

Breakfast was served and she couldn't wait to dig in. Long lasting tremendous pain really makes a person hungry. She was biting into her French toast when a person pulled out the chair beside her and sat down.

She got a little bit nervous, the hairs standing up in the back of her neck, but then she calmed down when she realized it was just Thierry.

"What are you doing here?' She asked him, though she was grateful he was there. Sitting by yourself in a room full of other people really sucked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was bored, I saw you walk in here, and I knew you would be sitting alone since Cameron isn't here"

"Wow. Thanks for calling me a loner," Amaryllis said with a laugh. "Where is Cameron anyway?"

"Well I talked to the employment division and they brought the topic up to Ulric about transferring Cameron to a blood unit, so she is in a meeting with Ulric right now."

"That was really nice of you, Thierry. That must have meant a lot to her," she said. Amaryllis, while sad to possibly be seeing her friend leaving, was glad Cameron may get the opportunity to see her family again.

"Well I'm a nice guy so... Hey, what's wrong?" Thierry asked looking concerned.

"What do you mean?"

"You're really pale and your eyes are all red and bloodshot. You looked worked up over something. What happened?" He asked looking over face for signs of injury.

"Nothing. I'm okay." She said, but it wasn't very believable.

Thierry gave her a pointed look. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying," Amaryllis tried to sound convincing, but she was simply a bad liar.

"Did Ulric do something to you?" He asked. When she didn't respond, he got his answer.

Amaryllis knew he was angry. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the side of the table and his teeth clenched.

Thierry subconsciously knew it was Ulric who made her so upset, he just really hoped it wasn't. Thierry wasn't one hundred percent sure what was going on between Amaryllis and Ulric, but he was almost positive that they were mates. Ulric seemed to have an infatuation with her but yet held her an arms distance away at all times. It seemed like he wanted to hate her or to push her away, but also needed to be with her.

Amaryllis didn't want Thierry to get angry, but that seemed to be a little bit too late. Thierry hit his hands off of the table before standing up. "Let's go." He demanded.

Amaryllis tried to get him to calm down before he did something stupid, but he wasn't having it. She followed him after a few moments though when people started staring. She did not like to be the center of attention.

She was practically running trying to keep up with Thierry's fast pace. He was angry and it was quite noticeable. "Thierry I think you should slow down so I can tell you what happened," Amaryllis said loudly to get his attention.

This caught his interest and he slowed down. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell him what she wanted to say.

"Well, it's not even that bad," she started off. She didn't want Ulric and Thierry getting in a fight. It wouldn't go well. She also doubted that Ulric would be delighted knowing she shared their business with someone else.

"He got angry at me last night because I didn't get back to the apartment until really late when I said I would be back sooner. I didn't listen, so his anger is justified," she said. Thierry stared at her still, waiting for the part where she tells him what Ulric did to make her so upset.

Thierry wasn't romantically or sexually interested in Amaryllis. Yes, he thought she was a pretty young girl, but that was it. He felt no romantic feelings toward her, he just wanted to offer her a friendship. He knew life for a human there was hard, so he tried his best to make the kindhearted and innocent young girl as comfortable as she could be. He wanted to offer his friendship as he knew she wouldn't get much of those here.

He, in fact, was so dedicated to this friendship, he was willing to defend her against Ulric. Thierry wasn't afraid if Ulric like everyone else, but he did respect Ulric's power and authority. He thought the man was an amazing leader, but felt he needed to work on his human interactions. Thierry felt that that was a prime example to show Ulric that he needed to do a better job at the ways in which he treated humans, especially a human that was most likely his mate. Thierry was irate toward Ulric because he knew Amaryllis did not deserve to be treated poorly, and he was willing to tell his superior that.

"And then he told me how annoying I was and stuff like that. And then he... he bit me. It was really bad and he left me alone in pain all night. But then this morning he made it better by healing me," Amaryllis said. "So it's all okay, we don't need to go talk to him!"

"He bit you!" Thierry yelled. Amaryllis knew he was mad at her, but his yelling still scared her. It was nothing though compared to when Ulric would tell at her.

Thierry turned away form Amaryllis and continued in his trek to Ulric's office. Amaryllis gave up protesting and obediently followed behind him.

Thierry knocked on the office door and opened it when Ulric told him to come in. Amaryllis followed quickly behind. She walked in and shut the door behind her. She felt Ulric's gaze travel over her body, but she refused to look up at him. She was embarrassed for what she knew was about to take place.

Ulric leaned back in his chair, but his face was stone cold. She had no idea what he was thinking. "What can I help you two with today?" He asked though it sounded more sarcastic. Amaryllis didn't think Ulric appreciated an obviously angry at him Thierry in his office.

"What are doing Ulric? You have this beautiful, obedient, quiet girl here that does everything you ask her to at the snap of your fingers, yet you treat her like shit! She told me what happened last night. You bit her? And you didn't even make it pleasurable for her, you just let her suffer and by herself none the less. What the hell is wrong with you man!" Thierry demanded. Amaryllis felt very awkward over the fact that two men were about to fight over her.

Ulric stood up from his desk and walked around it to stand next to Thierry. Ulric crossed his arms over his chest, allowing Amaryllis to see the way his muscles beautifully bulged.

"And who the fuck do you think you are to come into my office and question me?" Ulric demanded. His voice was eerily calm.

"I think I'm the friend of the girl who you are mistreating." Thierry bit out through clenched teeth.

They were soon standing toe to toe. Ulric was a little taller than Thierry and Amaryllis knew if a fight broke out between them, Ulric would win. No doubt Thierry could more than hold his own, he was powerful and strong that's why he was second in command, but no one could beat the King.

Amaryllis looked at the two men and silently begged that they wouldn't fight, especially not over her. She didn't want to see anyone get hurt because of her.

"I don't think how I treat my people is any of your business Thierry, unless you want to challenge my position?" Ulric growled. He was getting angry. Ulric did not approve of Thierry's actions, coming into his office and reprimanding him for how he treats his own mate. It was none of his business.

"No, I do not want to challenge your position and no it's not my business Ulric, but she doesn't deserve it, and you need to stop."

"I need to stop, do I? Why don't you tell me more about what I need to do. I've given her more than she could have ever thought possible. She lives in a fucking castle, but I need to start treating her better?"

How dare this boy tell me how I should and shouldn't treat my own mate, Ulric thought to himself. No one tells me how to treat my mate!

Amaryllis's anxiety was through the roof. Both men were clenching their fists and she knew within a matter of moments a fight would inevitably ensue.

Amaryllis stepped forward from the corner she was trying to bury herself in and tried to nudge herself in between their two bodies. "Please stop. You guys don't need to fight over this. It's stupid, just please stop," she begged. She was really trying to prevent a fight and to prevent Ulric from doing something drastic like removing Thierry form his position or punishing him for insubordination.

"It's not stupid Amaryllis! He constantly treats you like shit!" He yelled as he took a step back. He seemed to be getting angry at her now like he was upset that she wasn't as angry over the way Ulric treats her as he was.

"Enough with your disrespect! I didn't realize you were her keeper. You don't have the authority to tell me how to treat people or how to act. Especially not with her," Ulric snarled.

"Please stop," she begged again.

"Why are you siding with him?" Thierry demanded.

Amaryllis looked exasperated. "I'm not siding with anyone!" She truly wasn't. She just didn't want a fight to break out over something so stupid. Besides, she agreed with both of them. She wished Ulric would treat her better, but she also knew Thierry shouldn't have tried to demand him to do certain things. Besides, even if she was apart from her family, Ulric protected her from other vampires and cared for her in ways no one else ever had before.

Ulric wasn't all that bad as she thought he would have been when she first met him at the Harvest. Yeah, he was cold and distant, but Thierry just didn't see it that way she saw it.

"Whatever," Thierry shook his head as he walked out of the office.

When he was gone, amaryllis looked up at Ulric. He still had a stone cold expression. He wasn't the type to openly share his emotions, Amaryllis thought it was kind of annoying sometimes. Like now, she wanted to see if he was angry at her, but she couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry. I tried to stop him from coming here," Amaryllis said, she didn't want him angry at her.

"Don't ever get in the way of two vampires again, Amaryllis," he said brusquely.

Amaryllis wondered why, but she didn't ask. Was it so she didn't get hurt?

She nodded her head before quickly leaving his office. She looked around for Thierry, but he was gone.

Ulric sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He took in a deep breath when Amaryllis left the room. All he could smell was her, and he enjoyed her scent, it calmed him.

Ulric was fuming. Thierry did not have the right to come into his office and demand that he treat the girl better. Yes, he was harsh toward her, but for good reason. Thierry had no idea how hard it was for Ulric to constantly push his own mate away.

It was torture, but it had to be done. And he was the only one who understood that. Thierry above anyone should know why Ulric treated her the way he did. He was the one that helped Ulric get through it all.

After about an hour, Thierry tried to contact Ulric though their mind link.

"I'm sorry, Ulric. I shouldn't have done that, especially not in front of her, but she doesn't deserve it. I apologize for going about it the way I did, but I won't apologize for saying it. I know why you're treating her this way, I get it man and I can't imagine the pain you went through, but maybe you should take a chance at happiness."

Maybe, just maybe, Thierry was right.