A cold worm of fear gnawed at Meredith''s spin.


    "What?" She questioned, she nced around in horror as a wave of apprehension washed over her.


    "Yes, you''re human in a den of vampires. Definitely they''re going to want to attack you."


    Meredith''s eyes bulged with fear and she tightened her hold on Marcus. The fact that she was surrounded by men and women who could kill her with a snap of their fingers scared her.


    Adrenaline ran cold through her veins and her brain stopped functioning for a moment.


    Marcus''s hand glided up her neck,resting against her cheek while his fingers slip into the threads of her strawberry blonde hair.


    His warm breath fanned her face, their noses almost touched when he said, "Hey, look at me. I''m right here. Nobody is going to harm you."


    Marcus whispered as his eyes pleaded with her to trust him.


    "O-okay." She replied.


    She inhale a breath sharply, feeling soft and gentle


    lips pressed against her forehead in a tender kiss. Her eyes widened as the warmth left her conflicted.


    Her emotions were running wild all over the


    ce and rendering her as a helpless angsty


    teenager. These feelings were conflicted and a part of her waspletely terrified of letting these emotions influence her to make decisions she would regret.


    When Marcus''s warm lips pull away from her forehead, her eyes met with his and she nkly said, "Are you trying to seduce me?"


    The corners of his lips twitch, a very small smile


    ying across them as he replies,


    "Maybe." He replied, cing a tendril her hair behind her ears.


    Before Meredith could respond, he pulled away and offered her his hand again.


    "Let''s go."


    The crowd parted as they passed through. All eyes


    were trained on them. Meredith held his hand tighter, a little wary of the overt attention.


    Rx," she heard Marcus reassure her quietly as he guided them towards the servers with flutes of


    champagne bncing on their boards. It soothed


    her a little knowing he was there beside her.


    "Marcus." A voice which was sickeningly sweet sounded behind them.


    Meredith and Marcus turned around to find a woman standing in front of them.


    "Marcus, how good to see you again."


    Meredith''s stomach sank when she realized the woman hadn''t acknowledged her.


    "Who is this? Your new slut?" The woman questioned, her distaste for Meredith was evident in her scornful expressed


    Meredith felt Marcus stiffened behind her. He wrapped his hands possessively round Meredith''s waist as he red at the woman. Clearly he was pissed at the woman''s words.


    "Queen Ines, may I introduce you to Princess Meredith Rossi of the city of Aarkans. Daughter of King Lucious of the city of Arkaans. My fiancé. Meredith meet Queen Ines of the Western territories."


    Meredith knew the Western territories consisted mainly of witches. So this might be the Queen of the witches. She was surprisingly young and of course strikingly beautiful with long flowing red hair.


    Shock passed through the woman''s eyes and her behavior quickly changed. She let out an awkwardugh and bow slightly at Meredith.


    "Forgive my manners, Princess. I didn''t mean to offend you." Meredith was surprised about the sudden change in the woman''s behavior. Now she was even looking at her in the eyes.


    "It''s okay."


    The woman nodded, "Well if you don''t mind, I will like to discuss a few things with Marcus."


    It was clear that she wanted to get Marcus alone. A weird feeling settled in her stomach. For some reason she didn''t want to let Marcus go but she trusted him.


    "I will be right back. Don''t go anywhere and becareful. No drinking until Ie back. Marcus lowered his head and whispered softly in her ears. He pressed a kiss on her cheeks before he left with the Queen.


    As they walked away, Meredith fidgeted, unsure what to do with herself  while she waited.


    Abruptly, she noticed a man staring at her intently! As soon as Marcus was out of sight, he advanced very purposefully through the crowd in her direction.


    Meredith had seen the photos of the various leaders of the territories and even though she didn''t remember all of them.


    She remembered the man in front of her. Alpha Jaso. The Alpha and leader of the southern territory. Katrina''s crush


    He smirked,once he reached her.


    "I don''t believe we''ve had the pleasure to meet. I am Alpha Jaso. The Alpha and leader of the southern territory. " He stretched out his hand and Meredith took it.


    "Princess Meredith Rossi of the City of Aarkans." Meredith replied.


    He took her hand firmly, kissed the back of it.


    "Well Princess, you look like you need a drink."


    He said and picked a ss of champagne from a waiter who was passing by them.


    He gave her one and picked one for himself.


    Meredith wasn''t sure if she should be drinking since Marcus wasn''t around and he had warned her. She looked at the champagne warily.


    Noticing her hesitation Alpha Jason spoke, "Come on. Try it and don''t worry. Marcus will have my neck if I let anything happen to you."


    Meredith gulped down the champagne and finished about one third of the ss.


    "You were right, I surely needed the drink." Meredith giggled and brought the drink back to her lips.


    Alpha Jason raised an eyebrow and cautioned, "You might want to take that a little slower."


    "Uh huh," Meredith replied nomittally. That was theexact opposite of what she nned to do. She drank again, feeling the warmth of the alcohol in her


    throat as she finished it. She held out the now empty ss.


    "I would like another."


    Alpha Jaso stared at her for a minute before calling the waiter and gave her another ss.


    He nced around and frowned, "Where is Katrina? I thought you came with her."


    Meredith raised her eyebrows, "You like her." She chuckled at the realization that Katrina''s crush liked her back.


    Alpha Jaso let out a mirthless chuckle and took a sip of his drink.


    "I want to fuck her yes but I''m not so sure about liking her. Even though if I was capable of liking someone it would be her."


    Meredith saw sadness clouding his face. She reached out and squeezed his hands. She knew he had lost his mate and still the pain was evident in his eyes.