章 25: Chapter Twenty Five: Another Night Together

Ralph's Point Of View

The taste of her food was not of this world. What did she add to this meal? Or was I the only one who felt this way? I said as I looked up at the rest of the people who were sitting with me at the table, the council members and my father.

Their faces brightened "Who cooked this meal?" Father asked as I looked at him, as I did not expect Father to complement the meal after so many awful meals tasted here today.

"I did, your highness said" Jackia said, coming forward. Father looked up to see that it was Jackia. There was murmuring among the council members. No one expected someone who came in so late to do something extraordinary in any way.

"This is so good; out of every meal I ate, yours tasted delicious. How did you do it?" Father asked her as Jackia moved graciously. The other lady made me notice her dress; she looked simple tonight, unlike the other maidens.

She gave the best, no doubt she wasn't like the other ladies, who were from more prestigious homes. Well, I guess she worked another night with me. This is someone who never wanted to be here nor partake in the competition.

I stood right up. "Father, I would like to excuse myself for now. I was beginning to have an upset stomach," I told my father, and he excused me. "Alright, you may go" Father said as he continued to address the rest of the council members and the maidens.

My beta followed me down to my room and kept asking me ridiculous questions.

"I see the way you looked at her tonight," my beta said as we kept on walking. "What did you see?" I asked, pretending to not know what he was talking about.

"The way you looked at her was different; I know you, Ralph, something is definitely up," my beta said as we walked right into my room. "I still seem to not know what exactly you are talking about," I said as I took off my shirt.

"I am talking about the way you looked at Jackia. I must confess she really pulled it off today; she probably went home to ask her mother how to cook a delicious meal. Do you think she is now in the spirit of the competition?"

My beta asked,

" I can't say, because last time I checked, Jackia doesn't seem to be into the competition or into me, but, with the turn-up of today's competition, I guess there is something going on.".

I sat down on my bed, and we both thought about it. No doubt I was starting to see her more like a woman than before, but this is definitely not going to happen. I refuse to allow any woman to lure me into making babies.

"I guess you will have to try harder," my wolf said, as I could smell Jackia around. She was close to my room; the urge to go to sleep in the next room wasn't that strong for me.

"Let's see how things go, I said to my beta, who shook his head in response, and he made his way to the door to go out. When he opened it, he was startled by the presence of Jackia, who looked shy just standing there.

"I apologize; please come in" my beta said, knowing fully well that he was testing me at this time. He finally went out after Jackia came into the room.

"I didn't mean to win tonight; I did it for my maid because she was so down. Please don't read meanings into it." Jackia said to me, which was kind of funny to me. I realized she was refusing to look up because of my current appearance. I stood up and walked into the washroom. I didn't have the energy to deal with a confused maiden.

After some minutes, I went straight to my bed and slept. "Are you seriously going to sleep here?" she asked me, which was a ridiculous question. "It's my room, so definitely yes, I would sleep in it." Do you have a problem with that?"

I asked as she went to sit on the couch in my room.

" I thought you were going to sleep in the next room; you know you cannot do that as per the rules," she said to me.

"As far as I am concerned, I am staying in my room, and there is nothing you can do about that."

I said as I went right off, only to notice that she didn't bother sleeping in bed late in the night. Her position was quite suitable, and touching her might cause some sort of imagination. I only stood up to wake her up and went right back to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to notice that she was still sleeping. I didn't want to wake her up, as I had to go down to the warrior ground. It was my duty to go see the progress every month and find out what number of warriors we recruit every single year.

I was dressed and still, Jackia didn't wake up, which made me doubt how she passed the training. True warriors never sleep the way she is sleeping right now, and it's kind of unfortunate that she could get herself killed on the battlefield, if care is not taken.

My bate came in and said, "Good morning, alpha Ralph." When he noticed that I was not alone, he went silent. I smiled wearily at him as we made our way out, greeted by the guards we met on our way out.

"Please don't tell me she slept that way all through the night?" My beta asked as I looked at him,

"What do you expect me to do? Force her to sleep with me in bed?". I asked him as he laughed at my statement.

Realizing the word I had just used and the maids blushing at my statement made me really conscious of myself.

"You know, that's not what I meant; please, don't be like that, I beg you," I said, as I didn't like where this was heading.

My beta and I loved the woods, so we made a turn as we walked. right through the woods that lead to every part of the kingdom and outside the kingdom, but it isn't advisable to go through the woods alone, especially at night, which made it really savage for the woman who isn't a warrior. I do not even know why someone came up with the idea of recruiting women to imitate warriors in place of the male child the family didn't have.