Maeve was in shock. The last time she saw Ethen was when he harassed her in her room. And now he is asking her for a dance. How can she say no to over six-feet tall mountain that has a weird obsession on her?

"What do you say?"

"Umm, I-" The human never got the chance to finish her reply when Ethen grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor. Just like it would have been planned the orchestra started a new song.

Then put his other hand on her waist and started to dance dragging Maeve with him.

"Why did you wear this dress?" He whispers to her ear.

"B-because I li-like it." She whispered but did not dare to look into his eyes. She just wants that the dance is soon over.

"Well, I like it too." He said and put his head near her ear. "Almost too much." After that, he nibbled her ears with his teeth. Maeve felt sick. She didn't like that he was so close to her. She could even feel his erection pressing on her stomach. And the worst part is that Ethen clearly knew what he was doing.

They kept dancing when Maeve stepped on his right leg.

"S-sorry." She mumbled.

"No worries, Love." Maeve started to look people around them. No one of them seemed to notice her panic or if they did they simply didn't care at all. She and Ethen were just a dancing couple in the middle of others.

The human girl even tried to find The King with her eyes. But she was too short to see over the dancing people's heads.

They took few more dance steps before the song stopped.

Ethen bowed and Maeve curtseyed.

"How about another dance?" Ethen asked but Maeve was long gone. She ran so fast as she could away from the smirking Ethen. Maeve still felt dirty, she wanted to take a hundred baths but she had a feeling it wouldn't help.

Maeve hid behind a curtain and started to take deep breaths. She knew that Ethen didn't want to be just friends with her. She wanted something that Maeve couldn't and wouldn't ever give to him. And it seems like he doesn't like to get a 'no' for an answer.

She felt a traitor tear on her cheek.

Why does she have to be so weak? Why can't she just say a no without a shuttering? Why does she let herself to be a piece in their game?

Maeve wiped the tear with her thumb. She promised to herself that she will have a good time and that is exactly what she is going to do. She just has to put what happened behind her.

"I c-can do it." She whispered and started to walk towards the red liquid.

While walking there she walked past the throne and noticed that The King wasn't alone anymore. There were two almost naked blondes rubbing themselves to him. But The King didn't seem to be aware of them. He was staring right at the human in front of him.

Maeve gasped as their eyes locked. His eyes held anger. It didn't matter how much did Maeve love his eyes, she couldn't look at him any second longer without wetting her dress.

'Maybe he didn't notice me', Maeve thought. But she already knew the answer to that.

When she took a glass on her hand and took a sip a deep voice behind frightened her. "I saw you."

She turned around and stared right at The Royal Beta's eyes.

"I saw you dancing with that asshole." It didn't take long for her to understand that he was meaning Ethen.

Maeve took another sip.

"He saw you too."

That sent a shiver through her spine.

"You really shouldn't be pissing him off, especially today."

"W-why?" The human broke her silence.

Cato leaned to a pillar and took a sip from his glass of wine. "He has never liked birthdays, especially his own."

"And you, my little human, shouldn't be dancing with someone else or even be in here."

"W-why?"

Cato stared at the human. How stupid is she? Many people have said straight to her that she is The Kings mate, but no she doesn't understand it. "Because you are his mate. You do know what a mate is?"

"Y-yes."

"Well, then you know why you shouldn't dance with Ethen."

"I d-didn't want t-to. He forced." She whispered but knew that Cato will hear her.

Cato raised his right eyebrow, "He forced?"

Maeve felt embarrassed. How can even a person force you to dance? She just should have said no and walk away.

She nodded.

Cato drank the rest of his wine and walked away leaving Maeve alone.

The human stood there. She will definitely need more of that red liquid to survive the night. She looks another glass and starts to walk to a balcony.

It was cold outside. But Maeve didn't care, she needed some time to herself. Her mind kept overthinking everything and especially today. Her life used to be boring but now suddenly everything new keeps happening. Her mind couldn't handle it.

She still remembers the day when she and her mother were dancing in the flower field. That is Maeve's favorite place and it always will be. There are no bad memories from there. Maybe someday she will be in there again, laughing and smiling. Maybe Tommy is with her and hopefully her family. But she knew that is impossible, they are all dead.

Expect her father, maybe. Maeve can only wish upon a star that he will find her. But who knows, he's probably dead too.

Her family left her all alone.

Maeve doesn't care about William's last words, or if it even was William. It probably was just a hallucination. There is no way William would have been in there. It was only a hallucination, nothing more.

But why does Will's 'last words' seem to match perfectly in her situation in here?

"It w-was just an h-hallucination." She mumbled and rubbed her arms. It felt like if she will spend another minute in the cold her hands will fall off.

Her body was screaming to her to go inside, but her mind refused.

The girl laughed. Finally, she can say 'no' to someone and it is her own body.

"Sophie, you can't leave me!!" A six-year-old Maeve screams to her sister's ear.

The beautiful girl on the bed smiles. "I will never leave you. My body may, but my soul will be with you forever. You are never alone."

Alison saw her youngest child crying on her dying sister's bed. It kills her to see her children like that, but there is nothing she can do. Red plague will take Sophie's life the next night.

"Who will play with me when you're gone?" Maeve cried.

"Will, Keira, Kathryn, Noah, and Mother. All of them will play with you."

"But I want to play with you!"

Sophie smiled, "We will play again when we meet again." After that, she closed her eyes.

"Maeve, come here. Your sister needs to rest."

Maeve turned to look at Sophie for the last time and walked to her mother. Alison sang to her and after that put her to sleep.

Maeve felt tears in her eyes, as she remembered the death of her sister. Sophie lied to her when her body left it took her soul too. In the next morning, she was dead. After that, they took her and threw her in a carriage with other bodies.

Maeve doesn't even know where her grave is. No one does. All the red plague victims were burned and then the ashes were thrown into cliff crabs.

Sophie lied to her, Will lied to her, who is she supposed to trust when everyone just lies straight to her face?

"You shouldn't be in here." Even if a million years would pass by, Maeve would still recognize his voice.

The human turned around and locked eyes her hazel eyes with grey ones.

"I-in the b-ball o-or in the b-balcony?"

"Neither."

After that neither one of the said anything, they just stared at each other. It almost seemed like it is a habit to every time they meet each other.

The last time Maeve looked right through The Kings eyes they held anger, but now there was something else with anger. She had seen it earlier but couldn't combine it.

"H-happy Bi-birthday."

Dominic didn't reply. There is nothing happy about birthdays, only a reminder that they are growing old. He remembered the moment when he saw his mate dancing with Ethen. There are no words to describe the anger he felt in that moment and Ethen, of course, will feel it later. But if he would have done it in the ball, his mother would have turned in her grave. And there would have only been annoying consequences. But there is no one stopping him when the ball is over. His Beta will probably be there himself holding the dagger.

Maeve took a step closer. Now her arms had turned to purple from the cold.

After that, she took another step.

Maybe the red liquid is affecting in her someway. There is no way she would have the guts to do it if she was sober.

Dominic took a sip from the wine glass he had on his hand.

Maeve took a step closer.

"C-can I have s-some?" She asked.

Dominic stared at her a while before giving her the class. The human took a long sip from it before giving it back.

Dominic remembered the last time she drank. She screamed at a wall to go away.

And there they were again, staring at each other. Both of the drunk, alone in a balcony. Minutes passed and maybe more. Maeve's arms were numb, but she didn't seem to notice. She was too busy at staring her mate's eyes.

It seemed like a weird thought. She is a human and humans don't have mates. But here she is staring at her mate.

Maeve took another step.

Now their bodies could touch at each other when they breathed. Dominic noticed her arms were almost blue and he touched them.

They were freezing cold.

But that wasn't the thing he or Maeve noticed. This was the first time they touch at each other without Maeve flying across the room. Maeve stared at her arm, she could feel weird sparkles, but that probably was the result of her arms being blue.

While Maeve was staring at her arm, Dominic stared at her. He had never really realized how small and weak she is. She needs a knight in a shiny armor in her life, and he will never be that. She deserves better than him, both of them knows that. Even that fücker Cato knows that.

The human girl lifted her head that their eyes were again staring at each other. Now Dominic's hands were on her waist.

If Maeve would tiptoe their lips would touch at each other.

Again, they looked at each other's eyes. Now Maeve recognized the feeling his eyes held inside, lust. She had seen it earlier in Cato's eyes. Then it made her feel sick, but now it was the thing that let her do it what she did next.

Dominic lowered his head that their lips touched.

Maeve couldn't believe it. Yes, she is drunk but that wasn't the way she imagined to experience her first kiss. In her dream, there was a normal human boy and not a Werewolf King.

She opened her eyes and broke the kiss. Maeve definitely needed to take a deep breath, everything was so unclear to her.

Stormy grey eyes on hazel ones. Large hands on her waist. And his lips on hers.

***

Cato is truly pissed off. After the whole Ethen's dance episode with Maeve, he has been looking Ethen from everywhere. That is his job, at least according to The King.

Now when he's finally not a babysitter for a human, he is a sniff dog for The King.

There are millions of different things he would be doing if he wasn't on a hunt for his enemy. In the ball, there were a dozen women, who would have given everything if they could spend a night with him. And like a true gentleman, Cato doesn't have anything against it. But apparently The King and Ethen has.

He walked through hallways and rooms, but there was no sign of the asshole. Maybe he should just say that he didn't find him and go back to the women. Because in some way that is the truth, he couldn't find him.

But then he heard some weird noises.

"N-no, please don't." A female voice said.

Cato started to walk towards the voice. Finally, when he reached one dark corner he noticed a large figure pressing something, or someone, to the wall.

After a few seconds of standing there, he noticed that it was a woman the large figure was pressing.

"No..." She kept fighting, but the figure in front of her didn't move. It seemed like he is a brick wall.

That's when Cato noticed that the brick wall seemed awfully familiar. At least now he can say that he found what he was looking for.

The brick wall AKA Ethen is harassing some maid and pressing her against the wall. Cato cleared his throat.

A few seconds later Ethen separated himself from the shaking maid. When he saw that it was Cato who interrupted them, he rolled his eyes.

Unlike the maid who's legs were literally shaking.

"Leave."

"Y-yes, my lord." She muttered and looked straight to his eyes. There were no words to describe how relieved she was. Only God knows what would have happened.

As the maid with teary blue eyes ran away, Ethen glared at his frenemy.

"Why couldn't you come ten minutes from here?"

"Why? So you could have raped her?" Cato rolled his eyes.

"Why are you here anyway?"

"He wants to see you." When he said that few drunken guards walked past them. They were way too drunk to realize that the two men next to them, could break their necks and get away with it. But there they were, laughing and drinking more wine.

"When?"

The Royal Beta smirked, "As soon as you have killed those morons."

Ethen rolled his eyes and started to walk after the drunken guards. While Cato, on the other hand, started to walk towards The Great Hall. Now, finally, he can get back to the women. But first, he needed to inform the King that everything went exactly like it was planned.

But what he didn't expect to find was The King kissing his human mate on the edge of the balcony, his hands on her ass.

***