Chapter 4: A Beautiful Girl

Rhonda came back upstairs a little while after Alpha Rowan had left, humming to herself. Adriana could hear her all the way in her room until her door abruptly opened. 

"Come. I have to get ready," she said without even looking at Adriana. "And bring my dress."

Thankfully, the dress Rhonda was referring to was already hung and steam-ironed thanks to Adriana's forward thinking. She followed Rhonda into her bedroom, set the dress on the bed, and joined her in the enormous bathroom she also used as a boudoir. 

"Don't think I will forget about how stupid you were earlier." Rhonda began to open and close the drawers and cabinets. "But right now, I have to get ready. Wash your dirty hands."

For tonight, Rhonda wanted something fancy but messy. Only Adriana knew exactly what she meant: something that made her look elegant, but at the same time, not make it seem like she was trying so hard. Rhonda wasn't ugly by any means, but she was so selfish and cruel that Adriana pitied whoever her fated match ended up being. 

And if Adriana's suspicions were correct, Rhonda was in for a big disappointment. As if Rhonda had heard Adriana's thoughts, Rhonda began to hum again.

"I just can't believe I might leave with Rowan after tonight. He has to be my fated match, I know it. He smelled delicious to me."

Adriana unwillingly smiled as she added a few pins to Rhonda's hair. Alpha Rowan did smell like everything that was good in this world.

 "What are you laughing at, you stupid dog? No... You think he's cute too?" Rhonda began to howl in laughter, slapping the counter as she bobbed her head back and forth. "Maybe you should come to the Moon Goddess ball. It will be fun to see how he runs away from you. Do you honestly think someone like Alpha Rowan would even notice you exist? You're disgusting." 

Adriana said nothing but tugged on Rhonda's hair a little more than she should have.

"Hey! Watch it! Or I'll have you finish what we started before you got locked up for making a mess. But you'll shave off your head this time." 

"I'm sorry," Adriana said, not really paying attention to Rhonda's threats. They would never bother her again after tonight if everything went according to her plan.

Luna Mona barged into the bathroom just as Adriana was adding the final touches to Rhonda's hair.

"She will have to go to the Moon Goddess Ball," she said, giving Adriana a look of disgust.

"What? Why?" Rhonda turned to look at her mother. "I mean, I was just saying how it would be funny to see how every male there will run away from her, but I really didn't intend to allow a servant to go."

"Luna Marie has been asking about her again. I told you to make her stay in the basement for one more day!" Luna Mona looked very angry. "The last thing I need is for us to have problems with Silver Light pack because of this wench."

"Why is Luna Marie sooo interested in her?" Rhonda said.

Adriana just stood there with her eyes fixed on the floor. If they made her go to the ball, she'd have to speed things up. Maybe she'd be able to sneak out food from there instead of having to go to the kitchen.

"I don't know," Luna Mona said, but her eyes lingered on Adriana for a little longer than usual. "Lend her something decent. This makes her look like a tramp." 

"No! I don't want her to wear my clothes." Rhonda stood and pushed Adriana away. "You lend her something."

Luna Mona scoffed as Rhonda practically stomped out of the bathroom.  

"If it wasn't because Rhonda needs you so much, I would have sent you to work in the mines a long time ago." Luna Mona scowled at Adriana. "You've been nothing but trouble your whole life. Come."

Luna Mona's bedroom was on the opposite side of the second floor. When they got to the door, Luna Mona made her wait outside, and after a few minutes, she tossed her a blue dress that smelled like naphthalene mothballs. 

"Now go get dressed. Make sure Luna Marie sees you at the Moon Goddess ball, but don't talk to her. The second she sees you're there, come back to your room and stay here," Luna Mona said. "And for everyone's sake, take a shower. You stink."

"Yes, Luna Mona," Adriana said, taking the dress back to her room. 

The dress wasn't too bad; it was clearly super old and in a style that had probably been in fashion around the time Adriana was born, but it was plain and long enough that she wouldn't show too much skin. Just the attire she needed to go unnoticed and look as inconspicuous as possible. 

She quickly showered in one of the guest bathrooms and dried her hair. It was chilly and the last thing she needed was to catch a cold when he was about to spend the next few days in the forest.

When she went back to her room, she began to prepare her pack, storing all the things she had been gathering for the journey. Her plan was to hide it outside the house and quietly sneak out later in the evening, come back to retrieve it, and then make a run for it.

She was ready. 

Hopefully, Alpha Rowan would just ignore her all night, and no one would suspect anything. She had to admit that she was a little curious as to why Luna Marie had insisted that she attend the ball, but all she had to do was greet the woman and then walk away. 

Suddenly she heard shrieks of laughter from Rhonda's room. Her friends were there. She could tell from their high heels stomping on the wooden floor that they were now leaving for the Moon Goddess Ball. She quickly tossed her pack into one of the messier closets. 

"Where's that stupid girl?" one of them said. It sounded like Linda.

"Mom wants her to go. Just ignore her if you see her," Rhonda said. Then they all left. 

Adriana let out a sigh of relief. If they had barged in there and seen her holding her pack, she wouldn't have known what to say. 

She got dressed and grabbed some dirty clothes, stacking them up on top of her pack. No one would think it strange that she was taking clothes to the laundry room downstairs.

When she opened the door, the intoxicating smell of Alpha Rowan filled her nose. She meant to make a run for it but before she could move, the door behind her creaked open.

She froze.

"I think they're gone," said a male voice. "I never thought I'd see the day where Alpha Rowan hid from a bunch of girls. Oh, um... Hello?"

Adriana slowly turned around. A man with light brown hair and yellow eyes stood in the doorway to Alpha Rowan's bedroom. 

"I... Hello. Goodbye," Adriana quickly said, intending to hurry down the hallway. But as soon as she spoke, someone behind the man opened the door wider. It was Alpha Rowan.

His eyes widened when he caught sight of Adriana. 

She didn't think the man could look better than what he had looked like in the afternoon with his dark jeans and jacket, but this was a whole new level of... gorgeousness. He wore black pants with a black suit and a white dress shirt with no tie. A few buttons at the top lay open, exposing the edge of his perfectly muscular chest. 

"I... we were just leaving for the ball," he said. 

"This isn't Rhonda, is it?" The man looked like he was scared he had messed up. 

"This... this is Adriana," Rowan said, sticking his hands into his pockets. "The maid."

"Oh, thank the Goddess. Lovely to meet you." The man extended a hand to Adriana. "I'm Lucien. Rowan's Beta."

"I have to go," Adriana said, feeling bad for not being able to shake the man's hand. She rushed down the stairs and hid in the cupboard under it when she heard them coming down the stairs too. She had to go hide her pack outside, and she didn't want them to see her.

"Dude... that girl....," Lucien said. 

"What?" Alpha Rowan said, as their steps indicated to Adriana that they had reached the bottom floor.

"Are you blind, man? I don't think I've ever seen someone as naturally beautiful as her. She had no makeup on. Did you see her legs? And her.... um... chest? I mean her dress is a little weird, but come on."

"She looks plain to me," Alpha Rowan said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

Then she heard them open the front door and close it. 

Maybe she had completely misunderstood Alpha Rowan's questions about fated matches. Or maybe she was just smelling the same thing as Rhonda because the Alpha just smelled and looked divine to everyone equally.

It didn't matter, anyway. She'd soon be gone. 

But Adriana couldn't help but smile at the beta's words. It was possibly the first time anyone had ever called her pretty in her entire life.