Chapter 4

**Indicates a Dream**

            My body groans in pain as I lay down in my bed.  Rebecca has been especially cruel to us this week and my muscles are screaming for some sort of relief.  Laying on my cot I try not to think about what tomorrow will bring.  Tomorrow is the Labyrinth.  Tomorrow my life changes forever for the second time.  I wish that I could go into the Labyrinth with hope of finding my mate, but I already know the truth.  My mate will not be waiting for me on the other side of the impossible maze. 

            A warm breeze flutters in my bedroom carrying hints of citrus and pine.  Adeline goes wild in my mind begging for me to take her back to the spring to see Victor.  “No,” I grumble anxiously.  “Tomorrow is too important.”  Closing my eyes I let the delicious scent lull me into a deep sleep. 

            **“There are things you need to see,” a voice echoes in my mind.  “Things you need to know about the past.”

            I am pulled backwards through the night.  Once again like my body is on a string.  Visions of the past flicker past my mind as I move farther into the past.  Suddenly I come to a stop and see Alexander and Victor standing before me. 

            “If you think that I am going to let some bastard sit on the throne you are wrong,” Alexander growls at his brother in anger. 

            “I am not asking for the throne,” Victor says impatiently as his toes tap on the ground.  “I just want a chance to find my mate.” 

            “No,” Alexander says coldly.  “You will not be allowed to find your mate within the labyrinth.  In fact,” he adds with a smirk across his face.  “You will never find your mate if you are rogue.”

            “I am your half-brother,” Victor says with a look of shock across his face.  “You cannot banish me.”

            Alexander laughs evilly.  “I can and I will,” he says without a blink of his eyes.  “I, Alpha King Alexander, hereby banish you, Victor, from the Werewolf Kingdom, declaring you rogue.”

            Victor drops to his knees in pain as the tether that binds him to the pack snaps, and he becomes a rogue.  “Why?”  Victor asks as he looks up to Alexander with his eyes full of pain. 

            “You have something I need,” Alexander says cryptically. 

Victor gets back to his feet and stares at Alexander in disbelief.  “What do I have that you could possibly need?”

Alexander laughs cruelly.  “Your mate.  Now you have fifteen minutes to collect your things and leave my territory.”**

            My eyes flutter open and I realize I am back in my maid's quarters.  My body is covered in sweat and the warm air blowing through the window is giving me chills.  I lay for a moment trying to comprehend what I just saw.  Throwing my legs over the side of the bed I search for Adeline in my mind.  She is in the corner of my mind whimpering with her tail tucked between her legs. 

“Could that have really been the past?” I say to myself aloud as I walk to the window to close it. 

            Adeline is now pacing uncomfortably in my mind as I try to make sense of the dream.  As I go to close the window the smell of citrus and pine fills my senses, and it is stronger than ever.  Adeline is urging me to go find Victor while my heart is telling me that I need to find Alexander.  Alexander loved me once before, surely he will still love me now. 

            Pulling on a robe over my sleeping gown I peek my head outside of my bedroom door.  The candles that light the hallway are growing dim as they run out of wax.  I slip from my room in silence and make my way to the other side of the castle, being careful not to draw attention to myself.  I pass a few guards here and there but none of them pay me any attention.  Females were always roaming the castle at night, leaving one room or another.  Waiting for one’s mate is a tradition of the past but one that I always said I would keep. 

            As I move silently but quickly through the castle I find myself standing outside of Alexander’s office door.  I can see a light burning from under the door.  Just as I suspected Alexander is pulling another late night of work.  I lay my hand on the doorknob and it turns easily, and I slowly push the door open. 

            Alexander looks up from his work with a confused look on his face.  “Who are you?” His question reminds me that he doesn’t know who I am yet. 

            “I… I am…” my voice catches in my throat and I don’t know how to explain to him who I am or who I will be to him.  “I am Natalia,” I finally answer after tripping over my words. 

            Looking back down at his paperwork, I think he is going to ignore me when he speaks.  “And you are here for what reason?”  His voice is cold and uncaring. 

            “I have reason to believe that the pack is in danger.  That I am in danger.”  The words spew from my mouth like vomit. 

            Alexander sniffs the air and looks at me with an amused look on his face.  “You… you are in danger?” He says with a hardy laugh.  “You are nothing more than an Omega.  Even if your life was in danger why would I care?”

            His words stab me like a knife through the heart and I have to remind myself that he doesn’t know me yet.  He doesn’t know how in love we will be in just a few months.  The words to tell him the truth sit on the tip of my tongue, but I cannot urge myself to say them.  “I am sorry, Your Highness,” I murmur as I back away from his desk.  “I won’t bother you again.”

            “See to it that you don’t,” he says angrily.

            Walking backwards I keep my head down and my gaze focused on the floor.  Just as I am about to step out of the voice my back hits something hard.  I turn around to see Raphael standing in the doorway glaring at me.  “I am here to escort you back to your quarters,” he says with a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

            “I can find my way.  Thank you, Beta,” I say with my eyes still focused on the ground. 

            “This was not a request,” Raphael says coldly as he grabs me by the arm and leads me from Alexander’s office.  When we are far enough away Raphael tightens his grip on my arm and spins me to look at him.  “You females have no respect for your King.  Throwing yourself at him like a common whore.”

            “That’s not…” I begin to say but Raphael tightens his grip on my arm even more. 

            He drags me to the servant side of the castle and tosses me through the door.  “Remember your place,” he says as he slams the door behind me. 

            My body falls to the floor, and I sob quietly to myself as I sit in the dark hallway.  Raphael is just as cold and heartless as he ever was, and Alexander is back to being his old self.  It is clear what I have to do.  I have to find my way back to Alexander.  I have to find my way back to MY Alexander, no matter what the cost.  This has to be the way that I change things.  I have to let Alexander know that Raphael cannot be trusted.