"Oh Ezra, stop it." Elisabeta came to Alessandro's aid. Her hand lightly hit the bicep of Ezra. "Alessandro returned her to the castle unharmed. She apparently got away from your grasp."

Ezra ignored his mother's foolish comments when another woman and man joined in the conversation. She had caught the eye of Demitri when she arrived at the ball and he followed her around like a puppy.

"Dawn." Ezra said with a smile. "You look lovely."

The vampire nodded as a thank you and tilted her head as she did not see Katerina.

"Where is your beautiful pet? How did she like the gown?" She asked him.

"I believe she looks amazing in it thanks to you." Ezra raised his hand to point to Katerina standing with the other humans, proud of his possession. All of their eyes followed the trail to stare at her.

"You had a gown made for her?" Victoria questioned her brother.

"Of course I did." He spoke as if it was normal to do when it usually wasn't. Pets did wear fancy gowns but they were never handmade or new.

Alessandro couldn't stop staring at Katerina. His eyes filled with hunger at the sight of her and it made his l.u.s.t for her increase with the way the dress hugged the curves of her body.

Ezra directed the attention back to their previous conversation. "I just want to know where the collar she was wearing went?" He blurted out towards Alessandro.

Alessandro widened his eyes in shock, but quickly regained himself to speak fluently. "I do not know what you are speaking of."

Ezra gritted his teeth and glared at the pure blood, "I believe she told me, you took it off of her."

The rest of the group stared at the men bickering, worried that Ezra was going to ruin the peace treaty between Mobley and Caine. It was a great accomplishment that King Ca.s.sius achieved, but Ezra could care less about any type of peace with a man such as Alessandro who was now beginning to become nervous.

"Your pet is obviously lying. She isn't trained well, maybe you should think about handing he--"

"To who? You?" Ezra quickly cut off the words he was about to finish. Ezra was not going to do such a thing as giving her away and certainly not to this wasteful man.

Alessandro chuckled, "Well if the shoe fits."

Ezra was now fuming from the games Alessandro was playing and he was going to make sure of it that he won. "Don't forget your place dear Alessandro." Ezra warned him.

With a large, silent gulp Alessandro was beginning to speak again when the orchestra strung the chords to a song that signaled a ritualistic dance routine.

"Oh!" Astrid exclaimed. "We must perform the dance Ezra!" Her hands found his arm and led him to the center of the ballroom.

Alessandro took the chance to bow to the Queen who willingly curtsied in acceptance to dancing with him. Dawn then accepted the invitation from Demitri and took his hand to join in on the dance.

Ezra instinctively took Astrid's hand and the other laid upon her plump waist. She giddily smiled at him as the dance continued.

"I am so pleased that you escorted me this evening." Astrid attempted to make conversation with him.

"Hm?" Ezra wasn't even looking at Astrid. His eyes were locked on Alessandro as he was still angered with the way he spoke to him. Alessandro seemed to have everyone else fooled but not Ezra. As Alessandro and his mother left his sight in the crowd, his eyes then searched for Katerina.

When he spotted her, he immediately felt relief and his body could relax and finish the G.o.d awful dance with Astrid.

He smiled meekly at Astrid, "It is no problem, dear. After all, I am ready to be rid of you."

Her eyes furrowed as if she was heartbroken by the words he spoke. "Oh you don't mean that." She laughed softly and stepped closer to the prince during the dance.

Ezra playfully went along with the motion and trailed his hand down to her b.u.t.tocks as he twirled the two of them around. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink color of embarra.s.sment.

"Don't tell me that you are uncomfortable? Didn't you think it was fine to touch me so inappropriately yesterday? In front of my mother and dear young sister too." He gave her a disappointing look.

"You are a dog, Prince Ezra." She mumbled.

With a smile, "And you are an attention-seeking woman, Astrid." His lips curled into a smile.

"But the attention I want is only from you." She protested.

"I told you what this was." He stated. "Nothing more."

With an annoyed look, Astrid could tell she was getting no where with the man this evening so she kindly excused herself from the dance. Ezra chuckled softly then exited the dance floor to find Katerina. When he reached the area she was suppose to be in, she wasn't there.

When the dance had started, Katerina began to feel ill from the pain aching in her bruised neck region. She watched Ezra and Astrid dance but his expression didn't look pleased with her.

She also was not content in the heeled shoes Dawn had made her wear with the dress. It was beautiful yes, but after a while she could barely get a breath out. Vampires were used to not breathing so much, but Katerina was a human and this made her gain quite a headache.

She wanted to sit down, or maybe lie down to sleep, but there were no seating areas where she was and none of the other pets spoke to her. As she felt more dizzy, she decided to inch against the wall of the ballroom to escape into the empty hallway through the corridors. She felt as if she could finally breathe for a brief moment away from everyone, but the sickened feeling came back once again.

Her hand shakily touched the wall of the hallway to a.s.sist in keeping her steady in the dark as she walked. She had no idea of where she was nor did she know her way around the castle but maybe she would stumble upon something familiar.

As she had hoped, a dim flickering candle emitted from a room up ahead in the hallway. It seemed familiar and she realized that it was the study so she picked up her walking pace. Before she reached the entrance of the doorway, she heard foul noises coming from the room.

When she finally made it, she leaned forward quietly to peek her head around the corner of the arched doorway. What she saw made her eyes widen in shock. She quickly dashed across the opened frame and ran as fast as she could down the hallway. Please don't have seen me, she thought.

With a heaving breath, she had to slow down and regain her strength but she noticed that no-one was following her. She clung to the side of the wall then slid her body down to the floor in exhaustion.

The images rolled over in her mind like a clock of what she just witnessed. It turned her stomach upside down and she had no idea how to process the situation she just came upon.

Ezra's mother and.... the man whom picked her up from the woods?.. She couldn't remember his name for a moment because Ezra never informed her of who the man was, but then it clicked.

Alessandro..

Katerina just saw Alessandro plowing deep inside of Ezra's mother.