Feeling utterly shameless of himself, Rex knew that if he stayed inside this room much longer, he may kill both this father and daughter!

He was now placed into such a corner that he didn’t know how he was going to hold himself back!

Only certain people knew that he had been drugged, yet the rumors going around had not been stopped and he no longer knew how to speak with his treasured mate!

How could he have let this situation come to this point!? Due to being worried for his mate and the situation of his cousin changing endlessly, he had not paid enough attention to what everyone was saying otherwise!

This was his fault!

 

Too much was happening, and Rex felt suddenly tired.

He had not slept well from when his treasured mate had been hurt, he had not been able to handle things normally and so now things had gotten out of hand!

No, no more, the situation has to change, and the truth needs to be known! He was sure that he could do that! As easy as stating dates and changes of scents, as far as finding another that was indeed a part of this but could be hidden away! He had to find everything and expose everything to everyone and not for himself, but that of his mate and how she was dealing with this!

He was going to get out of this mess and prove that what this father and daughter were trying to do was all just greed!

 

Before now, Rex had been able to endure it…Just! He had felt terrible and continuously sought out his mate’s link, feeling her feelings!

His Naomi had and still felt like she was doing her best! She was telling everyone that she was okay, but he knew better!

From her younger self to now, she has changed! She might have grown up a bit, but she has changed to be someone that she wasn’t, because she is scared! After a whole month, his mate was still scared!

All because of this father and daughter!

“I’m getting to the bottom of this!” Rex yelled out, rushing out and leaving the other two behind.

 

“Father, what if he finds out…” Danika whispered a few seconds later, a tear falling down her cheek.

Pushing the girl away from him, the father disgustedly looked at her, “This is your fault!”

“I’m sorry! You know how it is! How could I have kept away from him!?” Danika cried out, placing a hand on her stomach.

“You changed so quickly! We were in this together! If you don’t do as you are told…I will kill him!”

“No! No…Alright…I will do it! Please, don’t kill him!” Danika cried out, defeatedly staying on the floor before her now standing father.

“…You better!” He stated, before walking off.

 

Danika squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth as she let her cries out.

Everything had changed when she had met her mate…Everything!

She no longer cared for the King at all! So, she no longer even cared for the girl that was the King’s mate!

It was only three months ago, just after turning eighteen, that she had met her mate and of course they had wanted to be with each other very much!

Not telling her father that she had changed her mind, one thing had led to another and she had confessed when she found out that she was pregnant with her mate’s child.

She thought that after she confesses, she would then be able get the blessing from her father to finish their mate bond completely and that they could just leave the King alone…

 

She had never thought that her own father would make her sleep with the King!

She had never thought that her very own father would go to such lengths!

Regret…She held so much regret!

She regretted not letting her mate mark her! As it was, she had felt wrong by having to get rid of her mates’ scent all the time but…She shouldn’t have worried! She should have just let their bond take place without worrying for her father! Why had she been so scared!

But…It was true, her fear really had turned out to be true! As now…Her mate was in her father’s hands!

 

Having been the one to stop the King from taking her body any longer, only it just being a couple of minutes, Danika had felt her core crush her, making it hard for her to breath!

Her mate had suffered…

Since they had met, and had half completed their mate bond, he had really suffered through her father’s scheme of drugging the King and forcing them to become intimate!

Yes, she regretted it! Having caused her mate, the one that accepts her completely, to go through so much pain…Makes her feel completely unworthy of him!

 

Now…Her mate was secretly imprisoned by her father and her father had just told the King that the baby she was now carrying was his!

If she hadn’t met her mate, this would be great...But now that she had, she felt like this was too much!

Why was her father so keen for her to be with the King!?

They were working on completely eradicating a monarch from Shifters, to have them be free under another type of government…Why did it matter still if she was no longer someone that wanted to be with the King!?

Placing a hand over her stomach, Danika wiped at her tears and stood up.

Taking a few deep breaths, she could only do as her father states, as…She didn’t want her mate to die!

Anything…She’d do anything for her mate! And if that meant that she had to state something that wasn’t true…Then so be it!

 

 

Rex climbed in through the window, seeing his mate sleeping on her bed.

It had been well over two weeks now that she had come back to her mother and father and…He couldn’t take any more time from being away from her!

Taking a couple of steps, to be right beside the bed, Rex held no reservations and simple laid down, taking the girl into his arms.

Straight away he felt better. Straight away, he felt at ease and comfortable. It was like he had been waiting all week to do just this!

 

“Rexxie?” I mumbled, slightly waking to not only movement but that of the one awesome scent coming into my nose.

“Hush, Sweetheart. Sleep…” Rex stated, kissing his mate on the forehead.

They had not rested in the same bed for so long!

Having cuddled only once recently, it was still something that had felt uncomfortable, but Rex was glad that his treasured mate was getting slowly used to him again, but this…

Pulling the sweet girl into his arms more, Rex placed his head into her neck and instantly felt like he was in heaven.

 

“I have an idea…” I mumbled through my dreams. “…Mark me.”

“Naomi?”

I loved how he called me that name and unconsciously smiled to it. His smell, his voice…Ah, it was a great dream!

With such a feeling in my dream, I held him tighter to me unconsciously and sighed.

Rex was stunned for a moment and wondered if it really were something he could do. She was still quite young, at an age that normally she wouldn’t even know who her mate was!

Would marking her now be something that might harm her?

Rex fell into contemplation over the idea and wondered of what he knew about markings…

 

***

 

After having been in the hospital for a while, I went back home to mum and dad and I was spoilt.

I know why they were acting this way, I knew that they felt at a loss and that this was the best that they could do…The problem was, I was also just trying not to think about it but seeing pity on their faces really rubbed me the wrong way!

It was so obvious to everyone…That I was no longer going to be the Queen…

Yeah, you know what, being a Queen is like…Overrated!

Being Queen was a huge responsibility and I was sorta glad that I didn’t have to worry about it anymore!

I no longer had to worry about acting in a certain way, I no longer had to worry too much on studying or fighting…I was now…Just an ordinary girl!

Sounds pretty good to me!

 

Rex had come by, but we had rarely touched each other. I miss those hugs, those simple small gestures but…It all felt wrong so soon after…A certain…Thing…

It was weird because I knew how right it had felt before, but how wrong it felt all at the same time!

He was another woman’s man now, I guess.

I know that he had not marked her because our link was still there but…If he were to mark her, our link would significantly drop to a point of hardly being there, if at all…Well, that is what Isilesah says…

Yet, for some reason I was focusing so much upon marking that there had to be a reason for it!

 

Rex looked exhausted, as the time went by. He looked defeated and furious…And it was so obvious that he needed me…

It was weird how he still would come that one time a week and I would let him feel what I was feeling.

I knew it wasn’t the end of the world and that I still loved this man dearly, so I sent him all my trust and faith through our link, which seemed to make him feel better, well, at least I thought it did…

“I will fix this! I will be with you and you alone! Trust me!”

Each and every time he stated this, I nodded with enthusiasm, “Of course!”

“Relax…If the new laws come in, you don’t have to worry about being a Queen anyway so…Just relax.”

His hand reached out to me often, but he hadn’t touched me.

It seems that…I had become forbidden fruit to my own mate…

 

It was only the last time that we had seen each other that both of us had hugged once before he had left, and…It had been nice. It wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t forced…It wasn’t uncomfortable. We held each other and I felt like it was worth it, that this small step forward was worth doing and I had no regrets.

Then…It was one sudden night that I felt like a dream was so real, so unbelievably real…

We held no grudges or worries, no reluctance…

In his arms, I felt like nothing else mattered, that I was his and he was mine!

And there was only one way to make that happen!

Marking…

If he was true to me, wouldn’t that be it? The answer?

Would that help him feel better? Would that be…

Such an awesome dream…To be marked by my one and only destined mate!

 

Having no idea that I had spoken this thought out loud on one particular night, it really had kept Rex up!

While content, with his mate in his arms, he went through what he knew about markings, wanting to know if anything had to do with one of the mates being younger then eighteen…

Normally markings are done when two mates are also connected in body, which was normal...But this little mate of his was not of age and that meant it would only be a half of a connection. Could it be possible to only connect halfway when one was so young?

 

There was more to marking then just a bite on the neck, the connection of bodies helped with their bond and if their bond was only half complete, would that make things worse, instead of better?

The opposite has been known, and that was the intimacy of connecting bodies without the marking…But marking with absolutely no body connection…

Does it suggest that it can happen then? If the opposite can be done…

Rex was sure that both had been done before but again, all Shifters that might have done a half connection, were all eighteen years of age…Not twelve!