Chapter 4: A Glimmer Of Hope

For the first time in so many years, Raphael was unable to control himself as he stood in front of Athena. Watching her defy him made him so amused. Not in a shocking way, but instead in a different way. Like he felt his heart beat so loudly for the first time in a long time, which surprised him. He stepped back almost immediately, staring at her in utter shock.

"What are you trying to do to me?" he questioned as Athena could not help but laugh.

"I really don't understand what you mean. What do you mean by what am I trying to do to you? I am not doing anything to you, okay?" she said to him as he tried his best to compose himself.

He stood straight immediately and pointed to the door. "Get out," he said angrily.

She stood up and hissed before slowly walking away. Even though he was so angry at her and hated the fact that she always defied him, he couldn't help but be unable to say a word or even move from his current position. That was just how stunned he was, staring into her eyes. It felt like he had met the one person he had been searching for.

He shook his head sideways. "No, that can't be right. If really she is somebody I am meant to bond with, or if really she is supposed to be my mate, then my wolf would have announced it to me immediately. I saw her, but nothing like that happened. Which means that she does not belong to me. She is just my slave and someone who I would continue to torment for fun," he thought to himself as he sat down on his bed and continued to reminisce on everything that happened.

He couldn't help but recall her in the garden, cutting down and clearing everywhere. She looked so stressed, but yet she smiled so gracefully and even sang a song to herself. She did the work like it was not even hard at all. He shaved his head again and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"What was going on? Why was he feeling this way? She was not someone he could even think of in this manner. By tomorrow, I would have forgotten everything about this. This is just my illusion and this is just my wolf being confused," he said to himself and immediately laid on the bed, hoping that he would be able to sleep off.

The next day, as he was hurriedly rushing to the throne room with his guards, he saw Athena trying to take down the huge curtains at the hallway which was used to cover the bright windows.

"I guess they wanted to clean it," he thought, and just as he had instructed, Athena was the one in charge of cleaning everything. He couldn't help but smile at all her efforts. It made him so happy to see that she was struggling and being tormented.

But just as he was about to walk past her, he noticed that she was about to lose her balance and fall. She yelled in fright as she fell from the high ladder down. But Raphael wasted no time as he rushed to grab her, making sure that she did not fall to the ground.

She closed her eyes shut, thinking she was about to land hard on the floor, only for her to see that she landed in someone's arms. She opened her eyes and was about to thank the person, only to see that it was Raphael. Her smile immediately changed to a frown as she quickly got down and arranged herself while Raphael also adjusted himself, looking at her. He was glad that nothing happened to her.

"And that was when he realized he was actually acting nicely to her."

"You have to be careful. You can't die on me yet, and you can't fall sick. You have a lot of chores to do, and you just started. You can't use an excuse that you fell from a ladder to escape anything. That was why I caught you," he said and hurriedly walked away, leaving only Athena, who was stunned and asked him to explain.

She muttered to herself and then climbed the ladder. But unbeknownst to both of them, one of Raphael's concubines was standing at the corner as she watched what just happened. She gripped her hand in a fist, knowing that Raphael would fall in love with her. It was more than obvious.

She could remember Raphael's favorite concubine, Bianca. He used so much strictness on her that he got to like her. But something about Athena's own was different. It seemed as if they were bonded together at the same time, so distanced from each other.

She slowly walked towards Athena, who was focused on what she was doing, and shook the ladder in an intention to follow her down as she quickly got down from the ladder.

"My lady," she muttered as she bowed in respect, "you better be careful and stay away from Raphael. I don't want a situation whereby he makes you one of the concubines. Know your limits," she warned before walking away, leaving Athena to realize something.

She got to think one-on-one together and it dawned on her. What if Raphael was only being strict and acting this way to her because he loved her and felt a bond between them? She then recalled how he acted the other night when she was invited to his chamber.

And then an idea struck her. "I was going to use this as my advantage to get to Raphael and, if possible, escape for good from his cruel manipulation."

"I would have to pretend. I would have to find my way to his heart. That is the only way I can get out of his ruthless bounds on me." She said to herself with determination knowing very well Raphael would be an easy target.