Chapter FIVE

Bella heard the same happy squeal from her mistress for the umpteenth time and all she did was roll her eyes as she prepared tea for her(Mistress). About twenty minutes ago, an invitation letter had come in from the castle and ever since she delivered that invitation to her Mistress, Louisa, she had been screaming and Bella had no clue why.

Candidly, Bella didn't even care to know why, because she knew it could never reverse her predicament.

She took out a silver serving tray from one of the cupboards and placed it on the kitchen island as the water boiled on the gas.

She placed the necessary things needed for the tea on the tray and once the water was boiled, she poured it into a water dispenser and placed it on the tray. Once everything was set, she took off her apron and let out a heavy sigh as she carried the tray and made her way into the living room where Louisa was still holding the letter and squealing in excitement.

Once she got there, she placed the tray on the table and began making the tea, caring less about how immensely her mistress was looking at her.

It was already nightfall and all she wanted was to do that one final service and go to bed. The entire day had gone by without her getting any beating from her mistress and she wanted it to end that way, that's why at that moment, she was doing everything in her powercity to make sure that she attended to Louisa without making any blunders.

"Bella, do you know what this invitation letter is all about?" Louisa asked in excitement.

"No Ma'am Louisa"

"And I don't care" Her brain added, but her mouth knew better than to say such a thing. She would get the beating of her life if she dared and that was the last thing she desired at the moment.

"Well, this is an invitation letter from the castle. Alpha Achilles Rowan is inviting all the young maidens over eighteen years-old to his castle tomorrow. He will be organizing a glamorous party where he will eventually choose his wife to be!" She explained and the sentence ended with a rambunctious squeal that Bella found annoying.

"He is going to choose me. I know he is!" Bella watched in contempt as she proudly speculated.

"Just look at me Bella" She ranted. "I am gorgeous, I've got the best curves in this entire pack and I come from a wealthy home. I've got all the qualities of a good Luna and I know that the moment Alpha Achilles will set his eyes on me, he's going to know I am the one for him and he is going to choose me. I know it!" She day-dreamed and Bella just stood there and looked at her like she had lost her mind.

She had no virtue of a good Luna and Bella knew that if Alpha Achilles married a girl like her, he would die before his time.

Louisa was repulsive, pompous and thoughtless!

The last thing she was, was reasonable. She was the dumbest creature that existed in that pack.

Her becoming Luna Luna would be nothing but a tragedy.

She hoped Achilles would not even look at her, not to talk of choosing her.

"Now tell me, Bella. Don't you think I'm fit to be the Luna of this entire pack?" Louisa asked while giving her an ominous look and to preserve her soul, Bella nodded, but in her mind, she was screaming a fat NO! And telling her to go to hell.

"Good, now serve me my tea, slave. I can not wait for you to come and watch me get chosen by the Alpha"

"Will I be going with you?" Bella asked afraid and Louisa gave her a raw gaze.

"Of course you will. You are to carry my make-up kit and every other beauty stuff I will be needing"

"Oh.. Okay" Bella consented as she hastily prepared the cup of tea. Once it was ready, she carried it over to Lousia who's back was facing her. "Your tea, Ma'am" she announced from behind and the moment Louis spun around to look at her, her hand erroneously hit the cup of tea from Bella's hand and it dropped on the expensive carpet.

Bella watched in horror as the tea cascaded on the white carpet, making a total mess on it.

A heavy smack landed on Bella's right cheek and before she could understand what was going on, another one landing on her left cheek.

"You useless creature! Look at what you did to my expensive carpet. How dare you!" Louisa shrieked, hitting Bella continuously and when Bella couldn't take it anymore, she ran out of the living room, ignoring all of Louisa's clamors and vows to have her killed when she returned.

Bella ran out of the gate once more and made her way into woods, caring less about the fact that just the previous night, she had almost been killed by three rogues in those woods.

She inclined toward being killed by those rogues than let Louisa whack her to death.

As she ran through the woods, the only thing she did was cry in anguish and when she was out of breath, she settled on a fallen tree trunk and sobbed quietly.

That had been the nature of her life ever since she lost her mother. If Louisa wasn't beating her up, then her father was.

They were ever so mean to her that sometimes, she thought of running off, but she had nowhere else to go to. The neighboring packs were enemy packs and the moment anyone stepped out of the pack, they were slain.

The only thing she could do was endure the hardship until the moon goddess decided to redeem her.

She fiercely wiped the tears off her eyes, but the way in which her entire body was hurting, provoked more tears to flow down.

Her life was nothing but chaos.

"We meet again" A familiar masculine voice spoke from behind and she immediately recognised the voice to be that of their Alpha's, Alpha Achilles. She abruptly turned around to look at him in the darkness and she sucked in a great amount of oxygen when she saw him standing before her, dressed in an all black outfit and looking as seductive as ever before.

It was nightfall and everywhere was completely dark, but with the help of their wolves, they could adjust their eyes to see well in the dark. She watched in silence as he majestically strode towards her and as he placed his steps, the dry grasses he stepped on cried in distress. His big feet must be crushing out the little life they had left in them.

His powerful aura did nothing but intimidate Bella and all she could do was bow down her head. His intoxicating fragrance filled her nostrils as he sat by her side on the trunk of the fallen tree.

Never in her life had she ever imagined that she would one day sit this close to Alpha Achilles.

It felt like a trance to her.

The only thing that made her understand that she wasn't dreaming, was the dry cold breeze that blew all of a sudden, causing her to shudder because she had on no sweater.

Her body trembled when she felt a thick leather wrap around her body and when looked at herself, that's when she realized that Alpha Achilles had wrapped the overall he had on her body.

Her face immediately flushed red and she lifted up her head to look at him.

"Alpha Achilles, you really didn't have to do that"

"What is your name?" He asked out of nowhere.

"Bella"

"Bella is no name"

"Bella Tarnvir"

"Bella Tarnvir" He repeated with his subtle voice that sent chills down Bella's spine every time she heard it. "Your name means Beautiful and Heroic saviour. Do you by any means, reflect any of those characteristics?"

"Maybe I would, if I weren't a slave girl"

"Slave girl?" Achilles asked, alarmed as he turned to face her. "I didn't know there were slaves in my pack. Which household do you serve?"

"The Donovans"

"The Donovans" He repeated and Bella nodded her head. "I see. So, why do you have the habit of always loitering around in the woods at night?"

"I just like to come out here because it's more peaceful and I don't have anyone to command me around or hit me"

"Hit you?"

"Yeah, my mistress hits me when I irritate her"

"Oh, that explains the finger prints on both your cheeks"

"Yeah, it does" Bella agreed as she played with her fingers.

There was a long moment of silence as Achilles kept contemplating on what to do. Whether to send her back to her master's house or to take her to his castle.

The fact that she was a slave clarified why she looked so frail and defenseless and for some reason he could not explain, that verity made his heart clench.

The Donovan household was one of the most wealthy households and he very well knew they had a lot of servants, why then did they consider Bella a slave?

He wondered.

"You must have heard about the party that is to be held at my castle tomorrow" Achilles broke the silence and Bella calmly looked up at him.

"Yeah, my mistress has been hyping about it all evening"

"Well, I expect such news to find every young maiden well. I am, however, stunned that you don't seem excited about it"

"Well, my status doesn't permit me to be. There will be daughters of noble men of great virtue at the party, who am I among such glamorous ladies?" She asked quietly and that made Achilles chuckle.

She had self esteem issues as well. Not a very good trait for a girl her age to possess.

"I look forward to seeing you there, Bella" He said out of nowhere and Bella's eyes magnified in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"I believe you heard me clearly. I would love to see you at my party."

"Oh… yeah. I will be there with my mistress anyway" She said with a sad smile.

"Cool. The night is getting colder and if you stay out long, you might catch a cold. Do you mind if I walk you back home?" Achilles asked out of nowhere and Bella looked up at him as if to say something, but she covered her mouth all of a sudden and bit her lips as she played with her fingers.

"Did I say something wrong?" Achilles inquired.

"No… no… of course not. I'm.. I'm just really surprised that you offered to walk me home"

"Ah yeah, I'm full of surprises. I get that a lot"

The pride in his voice was inevitable and that made Bella chuckle as she rose from the tree trunk. Achilles did the same and led the way out of the woods.

The walk back to her master's house was a short and silent one.

Silent one on the outside.

Within her, all her nerves and hormones were at war and every organ in her body was in merry.

This was beyond a dream come true to her.

"I believe that is your Master's house"

"Yeah, that's it. Thank you for walking me back home"

"You are welcome" He said with a tiny smile and that's when Bella noticed his set of prominent dimples that bore deep into his left and right cheeks. They flawlessly complimented his perfectly sculpted jawline. He was the most handsome man Bella had ever seen in her entire life and she could ogle at him all day and night without batting her eyelid.

He was nothing short of a Greek god.

"I… better get going now. Goodnight Alpha Achilles" She wished with a slight bow and began walking away, against her will.

If it were left to her, she would stay with the Alpha and talk with him all night.

Yes, his presence was intoxicating, his presence intimidated her, but she didn't mind. The fact that he was soft spoken only made her want to spend more time with him.

"Bella" His rich voice called and immediately, she stopped on her tracks and turned to face him.

"Alpha Achilles"

"Try as much as you can not to get hit by your mistress. I wouldn't want to see you tomorrow at the ball with finger prints on your cheeks"

"I will try my best"

"Goodnight Ma Lady '' He wished with a slight bow and with a gentle nod, Bella turned around and disappeared into the twilight.

Alpha Achilles stood fixed to the spot, totally amazed at how the evening had turned out to be.

That was the first time in his life he had had such a lengthy, yet enticing conversation with a girl other than his sister, Diana.

With an eternal smile plastered on his face, he turned around and walked back to his Castle.

He had come out, hoping he would see Bella again and that happened. He had no idea what game the moon goddess was playing at, but he did love it and he hoped it didn't end soon.