Crystal stays silent on her way back to the palace which makes Antonio frowns before he clears his throat to gain her attention.

"Not that I mind but you are awfully quiet, are you not happy with the trip?" he questions and Crystal sighs deeply making him glance at Marisa.

"Is it like this between all mates or is it just you two?" she asks staring directly in his eyes and Antonio's eyes widens a bit before he laughs aloud while Marisa smiles lightly.

"Well if it was my way she would not leave the room but I have a stubborn mate who thinks her duties are important than me"

"I never said so" Marisa argues while Antonio raises a brow in challenge.

"My duties are binding me before I can bind myself with you that definitely did not come out of my mouth" Antonio speaks making Marisa look away.

"Finding a mate was the last thing I had expected when I took on the duties to be a tutor to Crystal and we both know what consequences is if we give in our desires"

"I understand" Antonio sighs before he smiles at Crystal who was watching them both.

"But trust us; this is nothing what mates are like"

"Then how are they like, can you fight the pull?" she asks curiously as she moves forward on her seat.

"Fight? Oh trust me fighting is the last thing, mates are made for a reason unless you have two mates"

"Two mates?" she asks in shock.

"Yeah, I mean it's not much of a shock but some are blessed with two mates in their life"

"And you seem quite happy about it" Marisa asks her mate who grins in return.

"It happens rarely my dear mate and also in cases if you have lost your mate so relax no one can have two mates at once...

Your soul cannot be of two people at once" he clarifies making her sigh.

"Is there any chance of finding a mate in a human?" Crystal's question makes Antonio move forward to grab the girl's hand.

"Are you hinting on you have found a mate?" he asks suspiciously and she huffs pushing her hand away.

"I was just curious" she points narrowing her eyes.

"Well if that is the case, then yeah sometimes we do find mate in human, Marisa's parents are an example" he points and her head snaps towards Marisa.

"Your parents were?" she asks in awe.

"Not my real parents but the one I grew up with. It's not that rare to find a mate in human but the thing is it will be difficult to the said mate...

Either they have to be changed into one of us or die with old age. But why are we talking on this topic?" Marisa asks and Crystal moves back on her seat.

"Just wondering if the villagers we met, what if they are mates to someone we know, don't you think we should be responsible for their safety?"

"Responsible? They fear us, Princess, it's better if we both stay away from each other"

"But they are closer to our lands and it is our responsibility to look after them what if our enemies attack them just to take..."

"Princess, Adrian will kill me if he hears what you are speaking. We just thought it will be a good idea to take you out of this place for a while not to get a change on your views...

What human does is not your concern" he states just as the carriage stops.

"Or perhaps you took me along with you so you can spent some time with your mate" she snaps before walking out of the carriage and storming to the house.

"Ouch Princess" Antonio shouts as he helps Marisa walk out of the carriage.

*******

"Why can we not put some guards out to protect the humans?" Crystal shouts at once as she enters Adrian's cabin, who stops what he was doing and stares at her in amusement.

"I see the trip went well" he comments pulling his shirt on his body.

"Antonio is not listening, he is one of my ministers and he should value my thoughts" she states in anger walking behind him.

"Then make him listen"

"That is the point he is not!"

"And what can I do about it?" he asks turning to face her and she stops blinking her eyes.

"I am just a guard Cry, no matter what I try to paint myself that is what I will always be and if you want them to listen to you then you should be able to make it happen...

Antonio and all of the men sitting on those chairs are not going to be by your side always, that is why you need to stop playing and take what your worth is seriously" he states making her sigh as she sits on his bed and stares at her swinging legs.

"I will send some men around the town to guard if that makes you feel good" he sighs as he sits beside her.

"You will"

"Only if you promise to not miss your lessons and get that Throne everyone doubts you are unworthy of" he puts his hand out for her to promise.

"How can I when you are breathing under my head twenty four seven" she groans.

"Promise Cry" he smiles as he still holds his hand out.

"Why are you saying as if you won't be here to look after me?" she frowns.

"Because I am leaving" he states and she jerks up at once from the bed.

"Leaving, why?"

"Relax; I need to go back to my pack Cry. Dad is unwell and it has been a while that I have left my home"

"But, but what about here, the trainings and..."

"Warren is here to check on things also, I am not worried about those things anymore. There are people capable of doing in on my behalf"

"Then what about me?" she breathes as she holds his arm.

"You will be just fine" he smiles grabbing her shoulders and squeezes it a bit.

"Not without you"

"You have Diego and Marisa with you also even if Antonio is not listening I know he cares"

"But they are not same like you, I cannot believe I am saying it but I will miss your shouting" she pouts before hugging him.

"I will miss you too Cry, just be careful while I am away"

"When will you return?"

"I don't know but I will try to arrive soon"

"Okay" she nods before pulling away.

*******

"What is the meaning of all these?" Adrian asks as his horse is loaded with things her did not needed.

"You are going back home after so long and what will people say if you went empty handed and anyways it will be such a shame to me to hear that working under a Queen to be you came looking as this" Crystal scolds him before grabbing his arm and walking towards his horse.

"I put some pretty jewelries for your mother and sister also, a good brand of whisky for you brothers and father so don't drink it all alone on your way back" she reminds making him chuckle.

"Take care princess" he smiles and she smiles back waving her hand as he gets on his horse and walks away.

*******

Laying on the bed after hours of Adrian departure Crystal thinks about her mate, she wonders if this was fate's way of telling her to go seek him. Because, if Adrian is not around there was not anyone else who would stop her from doing what she wants.

"No Adrian, no more boring lessons and commands" Crystal grins as she turns around in her bed before her eyes land on the bottle of milk her mate handed her.

Grabbing the bottle, she sniffs it a bit before opening the lid and smiling as she takes the first gulp and ends up throwing all of it out of her mouth.

"Bloody hell" she curses wiping her mouth at the bad taste it left.

"No wonder no one buys it" she gags as she puts the lead on and sighs.

A knock on the door makes her jump as she hurries to wipe the remains of the milk before she makes her way to open the door.

"What is it?" she asks the maid who bows her head a little before speaking.

"You skipped your lunch my Lady, so the cook wanted to make sure you are ready to eat or if there is anything you would prefer to have" the girls asks and Crystal sighs waving her hand to ask the girl to leave saying anything would be fine before she stops as an idea occurs.

"Well you know what, take me to the cook" she orders, and the girl's eyes widens in shock.

"What? Take me" she nudges the girl who nods her head before walking beside Crystal taking her to where the cook was.

*******

"We cultivate our own vegetables my Lady, you do not have to worry about it" the cook stutters as Crystal pretends to inspect the food.

"I know, after all I have all these big gardens in the house. But, is it enough? Are my people getting enough nutrition?" she demands, and the cook smiles lightly.

"In my twenty years of cooking no one has gone sick after eating the meals, my Lady"

"Very well, I think the vegetables from our gardens are not enough, we need food and herbs that are not here" she points making them frown.

"What do you mean my Lady?"

"Do you know I went to visit the market that humans have?" she asks and few of them nod their heads.

"Well, I saw a man tame a wild cow with his bare hands and he did not even sweat and then I realized that my warriors should be able to be as strong...

I mean I would like to know what those humans eat that is so different so my people can be much stronger"

"But how would we know what humans eat, my Lady?" one of the cooks asks and Crystal smiles politely.

"To know that don't you think we should go in their market and see it for ourselves? Unless of course, you don't want to" she states slowly.

"Of course, we would. I mean if our people become stronger and healthier then it is our duty to let them eat healthy food...

Thank you, my Lady, I will immediately go and seek permission to buy food from the human market" the cook nods his head.

"I knew you were loyal to this house, cook also while I was there I did get to taste a rather tasty bottle of milk and ever since I cannot stop thinking if I can have it again" she hums before leaving the bottle of milk on the table before she leaves the kitchen.

*******

Crystal puts the onion away as soon as she senses Marisa close by and gets under the covers pretending to be sick.

"Crystal, you are already late..." Marisa stops mid-sentence as she finds Crystal withering on the bed, so she hurries to her aid.

"Oh, you are burning" Marisa worries as she touches Crystal's body.

"I don't feel so well" she whispers as if in pain.

"I will immediately go call someone you need to be checked" the woman worries but Crystal grabs her hand.

"Oh no, no, I will be fine. I do not need anyone. Maybe if I sleep for few hours, I will be okay"

"But..."

"Can we skip my lessons today Marisa, just few hours of rest and I am sure I will be fine"

"Don't worry about the lessons Princess, it can wait. Your health is important than that, you go back to sleep I shall stay right here with you"

"No" Crystal shouts sitting up and Marisa frowns at her reaction.

"I mean, I just want to be alone without anyone's presence. Maybe all the trainings and lessons have taken toll on me. Can I get this day off without anyone looking for me?" she pleads.

"But..."

"I will call for you or someone if I need anything until then please" she smiles at Marisa who nods her head before asking her to go rest as she leaves the room.

Crystal waits for few moments before she hurries to lock the door and runs to her drawer to pull out a hood to cover herself. She looks out of her window before she jumps out and runs towards the back door, she knows the servants uses to come in and go out of the house.

*******

Looking behind her every once a while Crystal keeps running using her speed to get far away from the palace. She smiles as she sees the tell-tale sign of the village she visited with Marisa and Antonio.

Finally reaching the village she looks around to find that the market she visited one day ago was empty, she wonders where everyone was and especially where her mate was.

"Hey beautiful" someone catcalls making her stiff as she slowly turns to glance at the group of boys making their way towards her and she curses her idiocy for not masking herself before entering the village as they did last time.

She hurries to stay out of the boy's way and tries to find an escape before she takes a turn and runs with her full speed and does not stop until she knows she is far away from human or any kinds.

"How can you rule when you cannot even mask yourself properly?" she scolds herself before she enchants the spell, she knew by heart to mask her scent and beauty.

In her world she was a normal girl but in human eyes she was different, and people often fear it. Standing on the field she looks around not knowing where she should go next as she has no clue where her mate lived.

The sound of the cow's moo makes her head turn before she runs to that way and grins as she sees the herd of cows munching happily on the field.

"Well, we can start from here" she smiles before looking around the cows before she screams the name.

"Shelby" she shouts but no cow looks like the cow of her mate until one cow stop munching and perks its ear up and she grins.

"So, do you know Shelby?" Crystal asks as she walks towards the cow who tilts its head before going back to grazing the grass.

"You know Shelby?" she asks again as she grabs the cow's horn who moos before stepping back, but Crystal already has the information she needs as she checks into the cow's head to know how the cow came to know about Shelby.

"So, you are Shelby's neighbor" she smiles before patting on the cow's head and making her way to her mate's house.

This beautiful cover is made by _fluffypanda_

Thanks a lot for this :)