Chapter 4

It was finally the day of the annual ball. It was frightening how much I was growing accustomed to this prison.

Over the week, I had been whipped once, when I slept past the time we- the maids-normally got up. But l was still rebellious and Madam Yelena still loathed me. It was a win-win situation.

We were all dressed in a different maid attire. It was a black French maid attire, with a white ruffled half-apron, stockings and black high heels. I was curious as to why we were given a different attire but when I saw the lustful stares of the male wolves, I suddenly knew why. 

The male slaves were on black slacks, a white dress shirt and a white apron. Some of them were teenagers while others were young adults.

The mansion was massive, it was built in a Beaux-Arts style with Greek and Roman adornment. It also had; arched windows, grand arched entryways and stairways and polished marble floors. It embodied large rooms with ornate interiors. It truly was magnificent.

The dining hall I was in was grand and with gothic style. Its interior was also striking. It had one large table for the Alpha, his mistress and a few other important people and little tables for other families in the pack, there was also a huge dancing floor in the middle of the ballroom. 

The symphonic orchestra was soaring and it made the whole air in the hall peaceful, which I was sure was quite the opposite in a hall filled with werewolves.

"Are you ready?" Eve asked beside me. We were all standing closer to the backdoor of the hall, with heavy trays on our hands. 

I nodded my head but my heart was beating rapidly, over the past few days I had noticed signs of non-human behaviour from the people here and I was starting to think Eve was telling the truth. 

I watched as eye-catching men and beautiful ladies strode in, adorned in flamboyant suits and dresses. The female werewolves were beautiful with tall and slim figures. While the males were packed with muscles and were very tall.

Once they were all settled, something strange coursed through me and I felt him. Then I saw him.

He was there. Right there.

Strikingly handsome in all of his lethal glory, with a sculpted jaw that I could see from afar and mid-night black hair in a man-bun that reached the top of his collar. He was tall, extremely tall, with his muscled body wrapped in a tailored-to-perfection black dress shirt and a matching black suit. 

He was accompanied by his mistress. She was exceptionally beautiful and tall just like the rest of the female wolves. With platinum blonde hair and an hourglass figure, her make-up was also done to perfection.

Everyone - including me- stood in a submissive stance as he sauntered towards the table like he owned every ounce of air in the room, as though he commanded it to will. A small part of me could not help but admire his lethal, powerful grace.

I watched, stunned, as he paused his stride to his table and stood, transfixed, before he inhaled deeply, his jaw twitched and he ccontinued his walk, but this time he looked irritated. 

Eve looked at me with a grimace on her face. "That's our cue to begin. Remember, Akira, please be on your best behaviour, you don't want to make the Alpha angrier than he already is."

With a clap from madam Yelena, we started moving. The trusted maids were asked to serve the prestigious people while we were asked to serve the people of the lower class, the inferiors.

As we started serving the dishes, I distinctively remembered Madam Yelena's words; only speak when spoken to and always keep your head bowed.

Eve had explained to me what a mate was and I could still remembered Nana's words. But I was confused when the mated males continuously kept looking at my cleavage like i was fresh meat. It was nauseating.

When we were done serving the first round of dishes, we quietly stood beside our assigned tables, just like we were instructed. Hands folded at our backs and heads bowed.

I was in the kitchen, arranging the next round of dishes for my table when someone suddenly tapped my shoulder. My feet were aching by this time and with a sigh, I turned to see another maid. She looked about ready to cry, I craned my neck a little to look at her face, she was pretty and very tall.

"Can you help me give this to the Alpha?" She nodded to the gold tray on her hands filled with exotic bowls of soup.

I felt my heart stop. Not the Alpha.

"He already snapped at me twice." She continued when I gave her a questioning look. "I understand this might be hard for you, but you're new and...." She trailed off. 

I shuffled on my feet, I wasn't so sure why she chose me out of all the girls -and boys- here. But something compelled me to help her. 

"Sure." I nodded, collecting the tray from her.

She grinned. "I'll attend to your table. They won't even know you're gone."

With wobbly legs, I walked out of the kitchen to the Alpha's table. As I walked towards him, waves and waves of electricity, I couldn't comprehend, coursed through me, desire spiked through my veins and I suddenly couldn't breathe. 

I stood beside him and we both inhaled at the same. A woodsy and masculine scent filled my nostrils, my desire heightened and my pussy throbbed.

I slowly exhaled but that didn't stop my shaky hands as I placed the tray on a vacant space and carried a bowl of chicken soup. 

He raised his head and as our gazes clashed, something terrible happened.

The bowl of soup slipped from my hands and I watched with my mouth open as the soup slowly spilt on his expensive suit. Everyone simultaneously gasped in horror and all the chatter around the hall stopped, earning the attention of everyone.

He didn't flinch when the hot liquid burnt him, instead, he kept his gaze on me, sharp grey eyes burning with anger and his granite jaw flexed. 

I took a small step as he stood up, loudly swallowing the lump of saliva lodge in my throat.

He looked older, like he was in his mid-thirties, but I wasn't fazed by his age. I had always loved the age-gap tropes in the romance novels stashed in my bedroom. 

What was I saying? This was the Alpha, not one of the sexy male leads in the novels. 

"Who are you?" He asked calm and collected, his gaze ran slowly down my shaking figure and he clenched his jaw when his gaze landed on my pale thighs and cleavage on display. 

His husky voice made me clench my thighs tightly, instead of feeling fear, I was wishing he could spank my ass red and take me over the table beside us. My face flushed at the naughty thoughts running through my head. 

What was happening to me? I was scared of him but with the fear came an absurd amount of desire for him.

I heard Madam Yelena rush towards us, a look of panic on her face as she bowed in front of him.

"I'm so sorry Alpha. She's new here, I'll make she's punished." She rushed out. 

However, Alpha Ares paid her no attention, instead, he took a step towards me and harshly cupped my jaw, forcing me to look up at him. I could also see the desire in his eyes. 

"You're human." He stated knowingly, twirling a strand of my hair around his index finger. A look of disgust mixed with desire on his face as he stared at me.

I didn't understand how he went from looking like he wanted to fuck me to looking like I was a piece of shit under his expensive shoes.

He shoved me, so hard I stumbled on my heels and fell flat on my ass. 

I began to scream when a bulky guard dragged me off my feet, a whip in his other hand as he roughly hauled me to the middle of the dance floor. 

A second guard came to stand before me and he gripped both of my hands harshly. 

I felt the cold rush of air on my back when my gown was roughly ripped into two and once again my bare back and ass was on display.

"No!" I cried out. I knew what was coming next, my back was still sore from the last whipping I got and the bruises still hurt severely because they weren't treated properly.

I knew if I was whipped one more time, I was going to pass out. 

Tears were already streaming down my face as the first guard raised his hand to strike, the Alpha's loud and authoritative voice stopped him.

"Stop."

I heard him walk towards us, then I felt him behind me. I flinched when I felt his cold finger trailing down my bruised back. I was sure the bruises were swollen with an angry shade of purple. 

"Who did this to you?"  

The question was directed to me but I was too focused on him and his touch on my back to answer him.

He narrowed his eyes at the guards and I was instantly released. 

His - now warm- hands held my shoulders steadily and my whole body sizzled with electricity.

He pressed himself behind my back, effectively blocking out the stares on my behind. 

"Who did this to her?" He calmly asked both guards. His breath tickled my ear and I shivered. 

His voice was calm and collected but I had a feeling he was raging inside. 

They both looked at each other, dumbfounded like this was new.

I was also confused. Wasn't this what they did to every slave here? 

I looked behind them to see the Alpha's mistress glaring at me, her stare was harsh and she looked like she wanted me six feet underneath the ground.

One of them, the one who had repeatedly whipped me, spoke up. "A-Alpha, I did, but this is what we normally did to any of them who messes up."

The other guard nodded his head in support. "This isn't news, Alpha. In fact-" 

Ares raised a hand. "That's enough."

Instantly, two (overly) bulky guards appeared in front of us. They began dragging the guard who had whipped me.

"What?! Alpha you can't do this! She's just an ordinary human -" He wailed as he was dragged like a sack of potatoes on the floor. 

I felt Ares tense behind me at his last sentence. Like the words physically hurt him.

I briefly wondered what would happen next just like everyone else, the hall was awfully quiet. 

Would he shove me to the ground again? Or would he cover me up and take me to his quarters where he would do unspeakable pleasurable things to my body. 

I didn't know where these thoughts were coming from but I knew I didn't want them to stop. 

His hand gently rubbed my shoulders but then he immediately retracted them, like my skin was hot to touch.

He walked to my front and slowly looked at me from head to toe. 

And for the first time, the vicious and ruthless Alpha Ares appeared nervous and distressed. 

He turned to look at Madam Yelena, who looked rather ready to slaughter me. "Take her to her room."

It wasn't a request, it was an instruction, which was meant to be obeyed with no questions asked.

But I didn't want to go with Madam Yelena, I suddenly yearned to be by his side. 

I didn't understand what was happening to me but I knew it wasn't ordinary.

I looked up at him, hoping he would see the emotion in my eyes, but he was already walking to his table.

I swallowed and turned to walk behind Madam Yelena. She walked me briskly to my room. 

I began to plead when I entered the small room. "I'm so sorry, Madam -"

"You're getting starved for three days." She sneered at me before slamming the door on my face.

~

True to her words, Madam Yelena starved me for three good days. She backed that up with a double amount of my work and it was intense. 

Carla and Eve were in Lenny and I's room. The three of them had brought in the dry slices of bread and butter they stole, for me.

What they were doing was risky, sneaking into my room with stolen food, but they were willing to do all that for me.

They were all speaking with hushed tones while I ate. 

"I hate Madam Yelena," Eve spoke up once I was done eating.

"I second that," Carla said from her spot on the cold floor. 

Lenny nodded in agreement beside me. "For someone her size and age, she's a major bitch."

I could only nod in agreement as I traced a finger over my protruding collarbone, a particular pair of grey eyes on my mind.

"I know why she's doing this to you." Carla suddenly said, "Mikhail is her son."

Eve frowned, "Who is Mikhail?"

"The guard the Alpha tortured in the dungeon."

My eyes bulged and I whispered harshly. "Tortured?"

Carla nodded. "Yeah. He was released today, he looked badly roughed up." She saw the look on my face and she laughed. "Don't worry, werewolves heal fast, but he looks like he's going to need a week or two."

Eve and Lenny both looked terrified, I didn't even want to know how he looked like to heal that long.

"I still wonder why Alpha Ares tortured Mikhail by himself," Carla murmured.

"What do you mean? From the stories I've heard your Alpha kills people in the blink of an eye." I argued. 

Eve and Lenny both nodded in agreement.

Carla sighed. "Look, Alpha Ares is ruthless and cold-hearted and he kills people before you can even say 'Jack Robinson' but he never does this." 

The three of us gave her dumbfounded looks. 

"He never beats up a guard all because of a common maid, no offence to us maids." She clarified.

We all giggled, "None taken."

Carla's face turned serious as she looked at me. "Look, Akira, I don't know what happened that day but I know that the Alpha wants you. I cherish you like a sister but I don't want you to get caught in his clutches."

My mind was reeling from her advice. 

"What about his mate?" Lenny asked, a frown on her face.

Carla grimaced. "He still hasn't found her. Legend says the moon goddess did it to punish him for his ways." 

"He deserves it." Lenny smiled triumphantly. 

Eve finally spoke, she had been awfully quiet ever since Carla brought up this topic. "Do you think Akira could be his mate? I've heard stories of how the moon goddess blessed him with a human mate."

Carla immediately shook her head, defiantly. "Those are myths."

"But -"

"But nothing, Eve." Carla snapped at her. "Even if it is true, my Alpha hates humans. He will never accept her."

Eve, Lenny and I all exchanged confused glances when she finished. She sounded so aggressive when she spoke and I had a feeling there was more to this that meets the eye.

Lenny exhaled. "So, you're a werewolf?"

Carla nodded and she stood up. "It's a long story."

We watched as she feigned a yawn. "Come on, Eve. Let's go to our room before we get caught."

Eve stood up to hug me before whispering in my ears. "It'll all be okay."

She then walked after a long-gone Carla.

"I don't trust her," Lenny whispered from her bunk above mine. 

I nodded solemnly in the dark before whispering out; "Me neither."