Chapter 2

"Arlen." Ari's voice echoes through the room until her figure comes into view. Setting the basket on the table, she approaches the person lying on his belly, stripped of his upper garment. Julius placed another hot towel on Arlen's back and stepped aside.

Ari was the elder of the Loughty siblings. Her calm and loving nature was compared to no other. As an omega, Ari loved caring for the people around her, especially Arlen. She was his biggest weapon against Rufus.

"Sister." Arlen conjures an ugly cry when Ari feels his forehead.

"Arlen, you shouldn't have snuck out...and swimming? You could have gotten hurt," she said. Ari removes the towel and dips it back into warm water. After a couple of squeezes, she lays it on Arlen's waistline.

"Auch! Rufus punished me for nearly two hours," Arlen said.

"Rufus does so because he cares. You should have seen how distraught he was when he discovered you were not home."

"Hmph!" Arlen grunts. It's not that he was oblivious; he was only playing difficult.

"We understand how hard it is to be locked up, but you can't run off like that," Ari said. Arlen turned his head away, not ready to listen.

"Hmm, I know just what will cheer you up." Ari nods to Jules, and he goes for the basket.

"Soup!" the young Master sits up with speed. His nose had long picked up the mouth-watering aroma from the woven basket.

"Huh? Didn't Rufus say you couldn't sit up?" Ari was astonished. She thought the boy was dying because her brother described the situation remorsefully.

"Haha, your food does wonders, Ari. Just a sniff and my bones are healed." Arlen sprung from the bed to flaunt his slender muscles. The lady laughs heartily with the servant, but Arlen's ears quickly catch another person's footsteps.

"Aah! My back hurts." He sits down in the twinkle of an eye and resumes faking it. Ari gapes at the lad, unaware that Rufus has walked in.

"Who asked you to sit up? Lie back down!" The alpha barked, increasing his pace to help Arlen.

"But how will I eat my sister's delicious food, specially made for me?" Arlen mewled.

Rufus took a step back, feeling horrible for Arlen's condition. Why did he not heal up quickly like usual? "Fine, eat first. If you had listened to simple instructions, I wouldn't need to punish you," said Rufus.

Arlen lowered the spoon and guilt-trips his cousin with sad puppy eyes.

"*Sigh* If you stop moping, I'll take you out of the estate for a day," Rufus said. Arlen's sobs died down at once. "We can do whatever you want if it does not involve climbing trees or using spirit energy. But there is a catch." Rufus lifts a finger with his brows knitted, waiting for Arlen's silly smile to disappear.

"Father will be hosting guests from another pack. You know the routine: you are not to step out of your quarters or play your shenanigans until they leave," the alpha said.

"Okay, I will behave," Arlen assured him with a forgiving grin.

"Arlen, eat before the soup goes cold." Ari hands him a bowl full before scooping some for Julius. Ari didn't mind feeding the youngster. However, Arlen often got picked on by Rufus for acting like a six-year-old. In the meantime, they were content that the young man was no longer upset.

****

Arlen stayed put on the first day the guests arrived. He locked himself up in one of the towers and focused on studying, eating and sleeping. On the second day, he went around his quarters just a short distance from the main house, searching for bugs and insects to play with. On the fourth day, Julius was convinced his favourite Master could lose it. Arlen was already biting his nails and dropping objects intentionally. "How long will this torture end? Why haven't Ari or Rufus come to see me?" He slouched in a chair, chewing on his pencil.

"Probably for a week or two. If you're that bored you could try drawing. You owe me a new portrait," Jules said, sighing as he dusted the tables and artefacts in the bedroom for the fifteenth time.

"You look as bored as I am; it won't come out nicely. Oh, I'll draw the courtyard on the east wing."

"But you already have a painting of the courtyard." Julius rolled his eyes. He dropped the duster and lay flat on the ground.

"Then let's go to the training grounds...or...we could go closer to the main hall, see the kind of guests Uncle Claude has," Arlen said, growing a cunning smile on his dimpled cheeks.

"Here we go again." Jules rolled onto his face. It was ideas like these that often got them into trouble.

"It's simple; all I have to do is wear your clothes and look like one of the servants. Come on, Jules, I'm pleading here. We won't go over the top." Arlen went on his knees. It takes a little push to get his every whim granted by the servant he dubbed his best friend.

"Fine, I'll get you something long enough to wear." The servant palms the floor and attempts a push-up, but he drops when his muscles give up...

The transformation from Master to servant did not take long. Jules remakes Arlen's hair and sprinkles water on his face to exaggerate the tired part. They pick up supplies and sneak out through another secret location.

"Jules, I change my mind; let's go to the kitchen. There are lots of beautiful omegas loitering about." Arlen was instead looking out for his tummy. His button nose was made to smell delicious food from miles away.

"For someone who embraces the life of a beta, I think that is a terrible idea. What if you get spotted?" Julius tugged the other's hand in a different direction.

"Okay, let's stick to the plan and find an interesting subject," Arlen said.

Fortunately for them, the guests were not many. Lunch was set up in an enclosed garden opposite the hall. The Madam went out of her way to provide entertainment. All the duo had to do was climb a wall relatively short compared to the heights they were used to.

Spying on the strangers below, Arlen was somewhat disappointed. ' Cousin Rufus forgot about me because of these boring old men in navy-coloured suits?' A slight frown appeared on his face. "Let's leave." Arlen hopped down before the servant could process his displeasure. "What happened back there?" Julius asked as they walked by the wall.

The former smirked and shot his head up. "I just had a change of mind. Why don't we hit the cellar for some bottles of... someone's coming, hide!" Arlen's senses kick in. Grabbing his companion, they sneak behind a hedge and wait.

Two tall men wearing navy uniforms with silver crests on the left side of their chests came strolling down the grey brick road in seconds. Arlen and Julius could barely look away from those intimidating strides.

Aside from the difference in the colour of their hair and the slight change in height, they were evidently related as they shared similar features.

Julius was too distracted to notice the steepness in his Master's breath or the shiny look in his eyes.

"These are the infamous Beaumont brothers, I'm sure of this," Jules said undertone, being careful with his utterances. They were not only alphas but deadly wolves with very keen senses. One slip-up and they could get discovered.

"You know who they are?" Arlen said. He clings to the greens blocking his view, lifting his head higher as he peeps. Julius pressed Arlen's stubborn head down slowly." The man on the left is Axel Beaumont."

"Damaris?" Arlen's lips part slowly as his gaze follows the man next to Axel

"Mhm...Beside him is his elder brother, Luca Beaumont- popularly known as the widower of Beaumont Castle."

"Pfft, why that?" Arlen said.

"I don't know, something about him never smiling, but he will be the future ruler of Damaris." Julius shrugged.

"I see." Arlen's lips curved with a gentleness Julius was yet to know existed. "What's with that look?" He inquired. Julius swayed his hand over the other's face when no reply came.

"Luca...Beaumont." Arlen mumbles to himself, fascinated.

Luca Beamount suddenly halts. He turns to the emptiness behind him, peering around for something. The voice that just whispered in his ear was too definitive to call a trick of the mind.

Axel: "Luca, is there a problem?"

"No. Let's go," Luca said after asserting there was nobody there. Gracefully, he retreats to his original route and continues to the garden, where the elders had assembled.