Mating Ball

The mansion was decorated with fresh flowers and white twinkling lights. The Alpha had gone to the Benjamin Hall to check how the decorations were done and I, being his bodyguard, had followed him.

The hall looked like something out of a fairytale. Twilinking lights, white and red flowers surrounded the whole hall’s perimeter and the staircase. There were chairs and tables set at one corner, and at another a buffet was being set up. 

Men and women were hard at work. And they were all human. The way they had decorated this place was extraordinary. I fell in love with it. I tried to not break my composure of a man and a bodyguard, but the beautiful room had me smiling in awe. I could only imagine how it would look like at night when all the candles would be lit up.

Bodyguards and soldiers were to be stationed outside the hall. Humans except for human women who were partaking in the Ball were strictly prohibited. Only fifty human slaves served at the ball excluding the five musicians. And my duty tonight would be scary. I would have to be surrounded with men twice my size, and I’d have to act like them so they wouldn’t suspect a thing.

When the Alpha had asked why I didn’t want to stay at the Mansion when every other bodyguard did; I responded that I had to be there for my younger brother’s studies. Which was true, but also a lie. Mother had been taking care of Ethan and was helping him with his schoolwork. But I had to teach Ethan how to fight and defend himself if someone picked on him because of the fact that he was a human.

And not to forget, I wouldn’t be able to share a room with two other buffed up men. I hadn’t spoken to the other bodyguards much, but I had seen them. And they were not to be messed with. 

I had the upper hand in combat fighting and my archery skills, but they were buffed and would possibly crush me in two seconds. I had taken my father’s lessons seriously. 

At sixteen when the werewolf kids at school started bullying me, I fought back and got hurt in the process. My father looking at my wounds started to teach me how to defend and block, so I wouldn’t end up home everyday in bloodied clothes. Archery was something I picked up after my father broke his hand when I turned seventeen. Five years later I’ve honed my skills and become quite good at all of them.

After the Alpha approved of the Benjamin Hall, he went back to his work. Hours later, he asked to be left alone, and I understood what that meant. He was getting ready for the Ball, and for Anna.

***

“Oo the one in red, I’d hit that!” The man beside me laughed as he tightened his grip on his friend’s shoulder. 

I forced myself to join the laughter as the group laughed together.  

“The red one sure got a nice ass,” another one joined.

“She’s definitely a werewolf then!” the man beside me said again.

The group burst into laughter again. I cringed as they all laughed and added their own disgusting words.

The man next to me called Max, put a hand on my shoulder, “What about you kid, you got a chick?” 

I shook my head, and another one said, 

“I bet the Alpha shares with him,” 

Another round of laughter. 

Really? Where is the funny in this? 

Suddenly Max straightened up and I looked to where he was looking– The Alpha was walking with Anna who now wore a black shiny dress with a low neckline and a slit on her thigh, her hand was wrapped around the Alpha’s bicep. Her hair was tied in a tight bun. She smiled as she waved at the others passing by. 

Alpha’s brown eyes settled on mine, My heart skipped a beat and I quickly bowed, the others followed. 

He looked so handsome. Almost as if he came out of a museum, he wore a normal black and white tuxedo, but the white in his shirt brought his eyes out and he looked so much younger than his actual age. The scar on his cheek glowed under the moonlight.

“The Alpha really gets the best one doesn’t he?” a guy said.

“Well he is the Alpha, what do you expect?” Max grunted.

After an hour, when all the guests had arrived, Max moved from his position and stood in front of his friends. 

“I’m going to have some fun with the maids,” he winked at his friends, “you guys in?” 

“Oh yeah!” a bunch of guys followed him and soon they were out of sight. 

I relaxed against the wall and sat down on the concrete ground, my legs sore from standing up for so long. 

“These guys are idiots,” said a guy a few feet away from me, who was already sitting in the shadows. I was surprised when I heard him, I didn’t even know he was here.

“Couldn’t disagree,” I responded.

To my surprise he let out a laugh, and slowly moved towards me, as he came closer, his blue eyes came into view. He had jet black hair slicked to his head, and looked about my age. He also had cute freckles on his nose and on his cheeks. He wasn’t dressed in soldier attire, he was dressed in way more formal clothes. Probably a worker from the Hall.

“I’m Matthew,” 

“Evans.” I shook his hand.

“These people really think they’re gods huh?”

I nodded in agreement, “I ignore them mostly,” 

He smiled and looked at me, “You must be a pretty tough man to be the Alpha’s bodyguard huh?”

I shrugged, “Where do you work?” 

I looked up and down his attire, his jacket looked way too expensive for someone who would work at the administration or even at a higher post. What if he was a–

“Oh I don’t work,” he smiled wide, “My father’s one of the Gamma’s” 

Shit.

I quickly got on my legs and bowed, 

“I apologize sir, I had no idea–”

He waved a hand smiling at me, 

“It’s alright Evans… sit down,” he patted the floor. 

I slowly sat down and waited for him to speak.

“I hate these Mating Balls. I wanted to escape so I came here,”

Another surprise, “Really, you don’t like this?”

He let out a laugh. 

He’s so cute.

“I know you people think all we do is party all night and reproduce… but I hate this way of forcing people to fall in love, or finding love.” 

I looked at him in confusion. What did he mean by that? Werewolves didn’t actually love. That’s what they’ve taught us. And that’s what they’ve shown us. Plus Mating Balls weren’t really to find your true love, they were to find bodies to produce babies.

“Love?” I asked him,

He smiled, “Yes… that one person you want to stick with the rest of your life… the one person you’d do anything for, the one person you love so much that your heart is so full and happy to see them,”

I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. 

“Do you have a human parent?”

He chuckled, “No Evans, I’m a Werewolf. Pureblood.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think that…” I left the sentence midway. Would it be alright to say that to another werewolf?

“That Werewolves can love,” he finished for me.

I nodded.

He sighed, “We might be half beasts, but we’re also half human, aren’t we?”

***

The Ball ended around two in the morning, and the Alpha came out exactly at two thirty, with a very drunk Anna in his arms. I quickly moved in front of him and walked towards his car. Matthew left soon after talking for about another hour with me.

After settling her in the back seat next to the Alpha, he gave me orders to drive to his Mansion. The Alpha also had a private house near the beach, but I’d never seen it. He never took his girlfriends there. Possibly because he wanted privacy? He was a private person after all.

After Anna was settled in one of the bedrooms, the Alpha walked to his office, and I followed behind when he paused to look at me.

“Did you get to eat anything Evans?”

I was standing too close to him. Closer than I had ever been, and I could catch his scent. He smelled like the night air and sandalwood. I slowly took a step back remembering what my job here was.

“No Sir, but I’m not hungry at all,”

Lies. I really hoped he wouldn’t be able to tell.

“Go to the kitchen, eat dinner, and go home.” he ordered, his voice hard.

“But Sir I’m not–”

“I won’t repeat again Evans… and I’m inside the Mansion. You can go.” with that he turned and clicked the door of his office behind him close.

Rude.

Just because he was ridiculously good looking, doesn’t excuse him being rude.

***

When I woke up the next day, I was groggy and irritated and hungry. I had to be at the mansion by seven thirty and I hadn’t eaten or slept well last night. The Alpha did ask me to eat dinner, but I didn’t.

Why you may ask?

Because I’m stubborn like that. I wanted to finish my job, wait until he went to bed so I could go back home satisfied that I had done my job for the day.

I quickly got out of the shower, wrapped my binder, threw my clothes on, wrapped the scarf around my face and left as quietly as I could. Today was a Sunday, and everyone was asleep at home. I hoped to see a shop open so I could grab a fruit or some sort of food to quieten my raging stomach. I wouldn’t want the Alpha to hear it.

Before I could even take a step in the Mansion, Anna came down from the stairs with tears in her eyes. She wore new clothes, but she clutched her purse tightly as she left the Mansion without meeting anyone’s eyes. One thing was clear with the way she left.

She’s not coming back. And that means they broke up.

A maid suddenly interrupted my thoughts as I began to climb the stairs, 

“Sir, The Alpha has asked me to give you a message: Your duty begins after lunch today. He has a few meetings that he’d like in private.”

I bowed, “Thank you for the message,” and I turned around and walked towards the kitchen. 

Finally I could get something to eat.

Women in the kitchen were generous. I asked for bread with butter and they made me a ham sandwich. I thanked them furiously before digging in. 

The kitchen had about six to seven workers, all of them - women. The women made food for the Alpha, his guests (like Anna), the ten guards stationed outside, ten maids, and me. His Mansion was more like his workplace than his home.

I’d never seen the Alpha smile or relax here. Or anywhere for that matter. I wasn’t even sure if he did relax. He never spoke about his personal tastes and preferences. He ate whatever was made, and would always approve of the decorations or the architecture of a room. Several members of his pack from time to time would enter the Mansion. Sometimes the Beta would live here for days to work. 

After tightening my scarf, I got up and dusted the crumbs off myself. It was always difficult to eat with the scarf around my face and my neck. But I managed to get used to it while feeding myself from under it.

I still had some time to kill and so I made my way out of the kitchen, only to hear someone call my name.

“Evans!” 

I turned around to see Matthew standing in casual clothes– Jeans and a black leather jacket. He waved at me as I bowed and went over to him, maintaining a safe distance.

“Sir,” 

“Come on Evans… we’re friends now, please call me Matthew.”

My eyes widened out of shock. Werewolves and humans weren’t friends.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to call you by your first name Sir, I’m on duty.”

He slouched, the smile faded from his face. 

“Well, what matters is we’re still friends,” 

“How are you here today?” 

“Oh” he nodded his head towards the staircase behind me, “The Alpha and my father had a meeting about something, so I tagged along to see you,”

I quickly turned to see the Alpha talking to a man with the same blue eyes as Matthew, his gray hair was a stark contrast with his black suit jacket. The Alpha seemed tired, there were dark moons under his eyes. His hair was messed up a little, and to my surprise I liked it. He looked almost carefree, and cute in a way.

He wore last night’s clothes and was leaning against the staircase rail. 

“When are you free to hangout?” he asked, bringing my attention back to him.

“Oh, I’m not sure, I’m busy this week.”

Which was true. The Alpha had a trip coming up and I had to escort him.

“Bummer. No worries, but here–” he pulled out a piece of paper with his address on it. “Send me a letter when you’re back and we’ll hangout!”

He shoved the paper in my hand and left with his father. I pocketed the paper and followed the Alpha to his office. He had no conversation with me, and was busy working on his table. I relaxed my shoulders and stood behind him. 

A few minutes later Beta Axon walked inside. The same Beta who came to our house and the same one who threatened to take my family away.

He smirked as he sat down, “Julian, how are things going on with you?” 

“Just finishing up some work before I leave for tomorrow,” he responded, not looking up from his papers.

Axon’s gray eyes shifted to mine and I bowed. He nodded and looked back at the Alpha.

“You really think that we should do this?” he asked, his face serious.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Alright then, if you face any issues, just send for me, I’ll be there.”

He didn’t say anything, Beta Axon looked at me then.

“You, how’s your sister?”

Ew. He’s a married man. What does he want with me?

“She’s fine sir,”

“My offer is still open for her to work under me,” he laughed, his teeth gleaming in the sunlight.

I stiffened, before I could say anything the Alpha interrupted.

“You’re a married man Axon, Lily wouldn’t appreciate this now would she?”

Axon narrowed his eyes, “Come on now, you know I don’t actually want her. I just want her to bear my children, you know how it is with these women,”

He said the last two words as if they were poison. Werewolf women suffered from getting pregnant quickly like human women did. A werewolf woman would go into heat every month, but not every werewolf gets pregnant when in heat. It was rare. 

“I think having six children is not that bad now is it?” the Alpha looked up from his papers. His voice sounded different, like it had a hint of anger in it. 

Axon slouched back, “I- I suppose it isn’t,”

“Please ask one of the maids to send a glass of water on your way out,” 

Axon nodded and left the room without closing the door.

“It’s nice that you’re making friends here Evans,” The Alpha said as soon as Axon was out. 

“Uh– Alpha, Matthew Sir is no friend, he’s just really kind to talk to me,” I answered.

Aaaaand no answer again.

The sun was beginning to set now. 

“You’re done for the day Evans. Go pack and meet me tomorrow at seven am sharp near the Mansion.”

“Yes sir,” 

With one last bow, I left and went straight home. 

I sighed as I closed the door behind me. Ripping my mask off, I whispered,

“Home sweet home. ”

The only place where I could be myself and see myself as Evelyn. I looked in the mirror and noticed my hair were beginning to grow out, and as much as I would’ve wanted them to, I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut them to a boy cut again.

How long will I have to pretend to be a man?