The Alpha and the slave princess

The mating ball

Elara’s POV

Four days had passed since the night Julian tore the clothes from my body. Four days of sitting in that small, dark alcove, listening to the sounds of a pack I have come to really hate. I had barely eaten and it is only because I have refused to touch or eat anything.

My stomach felt like it was shrinking, and my head felt light. I spent most of my time staring at the wall, thinking of Ashanti and the children's conditions. And I have not seen much of Julian, I guess he is finally letting me be.

Not long after, the door to the alcove swung open. Two new maids stepped inside. They were younger than the ones before, and their faces were looking really hard. They didn't look at me like I was a human being at all. The look on their faces to me was like I was a chore they hated doing.

One of them held a bundle of gold fabric. The other carried a heavy basin of steaming water.

"Get up," the taller one said. Her voice was really loud and harsh, I wonder why the alpha is with all this commotion.

I didn't move fast enough for her. She reached down, grabbed my arm, and jerked me off the cot. I stumbled, my weak legs nearly giving out. Before I could say anything, they began to strip me. They didn't ask me for permission. They didn't even wait for me to give it to them.

They pulled the fur cloak away and began to unlace the simple shift I had been wearing.

I stood there naked as they shoved me toward the basin. They were harsh. One of them grabbed a coarse sponge and began to scrub my skin so hard it felt like she was trying to peel it off on purpose.

"Stop, you are hurting me," I whispered, my voice cracked from lack of use.

"The Alpha wants you clean," she snapped, scrubbing my collarbone until the skin turned a deep red. "He ordered us to make you presentable for the Mating Ball. We don't have all night to deal with a Silvermoon brat."

The mating ball was today? Still, it didn't make sense. Why was I being made presentable? I was a slave, he has clearly made sure of that.

I was a prisoner whose father had supposedly betrayed the world. Usually, slaves were kept in the dungeon, not shown off at the most important party of the year. I wanted to ask why, but every time I opened my mouth, they shoved my head under the water or pulled my hair.

They dried me with a rough towel that felt like sandpaper. Then, they brought out a dress.

It was gold. The fabric was so thin it felt like a spider's web. It had no sleeves and the back was completely open. The sides were cut so high that every time I moved, my entire leg was visible up to my hip. It was a dress meant to show off every curve of my body. It was beautiful, but wearing it made me feel more naked than being bare.

"I won't wear this," I said, looking at the tiny piece of fabric. "It covers nothing."

"You will wear what the Alpha picked for you," the shorter maid said. She forced my arms into the dress and began to lace it up. She pulled the strings so tight I had to gasp for air.

They sat me down and began to work on my hair. They pulled it back into a complicated style, pinning it with gold clips. They painted my lips red and put some kind of shimmering powder on my skin. When they were finished, I looked in the small mirror they held up.

I didn't recognize myself. I looked like a queen, but the silver collar still hugged my throat. The contrast was sickening. The gold dress made me look rich, but the silver metal reminded me I was owned and that I shouldn't forget my boundaries.

"Now move," the guard at the door, whom I hadn't noticed, ordered. He attached the leather lead to my collar.

He led me through the hallways of the Blackwood Eclipse. I could hear the music from far away, the sound of drums and flutes. The smell of roasted meat and expensive wine filled the air made me remember that I had not eaten.

My heart started to beat fast. I didn't want to go in there. I didn't want hundreds of people to see me like this. My father would be so ashamed of me.

We reached the massive doors of the Great Hall. The guard didn't knock. He just pushed them open.

The room was huge, filled with hundreds of wolves in their finest clothes. The music was loud, and people were laughing and drinking. But as I stepped inside, the noise died. It was like someone had sucked the air out of the room.

One by one, the people froze. They stopped talking, stopped dancing, and just looked at me.

I felt their eyes on me, I saw the men staring at my legs and my chest, their eyes wide with awe. They didn't even know who I was yet, but they were staring at me like I was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. I saw the women, too. I can see that their eyes were full of jealousy.

I have always known about my beauty and I have taken so much pride in it until my recent circumstances. I mean how could these people be jealous of a slave like me?

My beauty is the only thing I have now.

The guard jerked the lead, forcing me to walk down the center of the hall. Every step I took felt like I was walking on glass. The slits in the dress opened up, showing my skin to everyone. I kept my eyes straight ahead, looking at the high platform at the end of the room.

There, sitting on a throne of dark wood, was Alpha Julian.

He was dressed in black silk that made his silver eyes look even brighter. He was holding a glass of wine, but his hand stopped halfway to his mouth when he saw me. He didn't move, he didn't say a word. He just watched me as I was led closer and closer.

For a moment, I thought I saw something else that was different from anger and contempt in his face. He looked at me for a long time, his eyes traveling over the gold dress and the skin I was forced to show. He looked like he couldn't take his eyes off of me.

I stopped at the foot of the platform. The guard handed the lead to Julian.

Julian stood up slowly. He walked down the steps until he was standing right in front of me. He was so tall that I had to tilt my head back to see him. The silence in the room was so serious that I could hear the fire crackling in the hearth.

My delusional self expected him to say I looked good, and I expected him to be proud of his trophy. I mean he did choose the dress, he must have liked the way it turned out.

But then his face changed. His eyes turned cold immediately, and then, his lip curled.

"I don't like the dress on you," he said. His voice was loud and clear, echoing through the silent hall. "You look like a slut."

The words hit me so hard, like I was expecting him to be suddenly good to me, he is a monster, Elara, don't forget it.

I felt the heat rise in my face, a deep, stinging shame. The people in the hall started to whisper and snicker. The jealousy I had seen in the women’s eyes turned into mean smiles. I felt small. I felt dirty. He was the one who had picked the dress, yet he was the one insulting me for wearing it.

I opened my mouth to defend myself, to say that his own maids had forced me into it because he had ordered them to, but no words came out. I was too shocked.

Julian didn't wait for me to speak. He looked disgusted, as if the very sight of me made him sick. He turned to his Beta, Silas, who was standing nearby.

"I need to go," Julian said shortly. He didn't look at the crowd. He didn't look at the elders. He just looked like he needed to get away.

He looked back at me for one second, his eyes flashing with a strange kind of anger.

"Stay here. I won't be long," he ordered.

Then, he turned and walked out of the hall through a side door, leaving me standing there in the middle of a room full of people who hated me.

The music started up again, but it felt different this time. The Mating Hour was supposed to begin. This was the time when the moon was at its highest, and the wolves would start searching for their fated mates.

I stood by the throne, alone and exposed in the gold dress. I watched as men and women began to scent the air, their eyes searching the room for their partners. Some people found their mates quickly, hugging and crying with joy.

I felt like a ghost. I was a slave in a room full of monsters, wearing a dress that was meant to shame me. I looked at the side door where Julian had gone. Why had he left? Why did he look at me like that?

I stood there, waiting in the middle of the noise, wondering how my life had changed so much.

Then suddenly, I felt a strange pull in my chest. A scent started to fill the room, something that smelled like cedar, tangerines, and Lavender. It was a scent that made my wolf stir deep inside me, a scent that felt like home.

This is crazy! I'm going to find my fated mate in the middle of this chaos?