Bora's Diary - The beauty and the beast
Chapter 5

BORA

We had to get up early to do the housework. Preparations for the Wolves' Ball were already in full swing.

Marga and I were allowed to take care of the lion's den. We were allowed to clean the Alpha's wing... what an honor. I had to roll my eyes when Marga looked at me with a grin.

Marga was a very special beauty. She had red, curly hair that fell to her shoulders. Her blue eyes were the center of her face and you could lose yourself in them, and she had a wonderful feminine figure.

I, on the other hand, only had wavy, dark blond hair and blue eyes, as blue as the deep sea. I didn't think I had anything else special. The various chambermaids had often held my full lips, my well-toned body and my snub nose up to me and said how beautiful I was... I had never thought of it like that before. I did try to keep fit by going for a run with my she-wolf, but that hadn't been so often lately.

"Princess, are we going? Otherwise we'll be late," Marga said, smiling at me. She had always called me princess, and since I was the daughter of an alpha, she wasn't entirely wrong...

I insisted every time that she call me Bora, but she refused. Luckily, Marga and I shared a room and it was she who had told me about Gabriel's fate. I wondered if it was really him who was killed, because he was psychopathic and unpredictable.

I thought about it all the time, but it had to be, there was nothing plausible. My intuition told me the opposite. He's alive, that was my opinion, and he's out there somewhere. Gabriel was too smart to die "just like that in battle".

"Yeah, let's go before Linda gives us hell," I said. Marga giggled and put her hand over her mouth.

"I would suggest that we go through the whole thing thoroughly, then we won't have so much to do in the next few days, what do you think?" Marga asked me, to which I nodded my head. We probably wouldn't be able to get out of here overnight, so it was fine with me.

We walked to the wing. According to Linda, the alpha was already busy with the day's business and probably wouldn't show up until the evening.

We started beating out all the carpets and wiping the dust off all the surfaces. After several hours of work, we had finally cleaned most of the wing and would now finish the alpha room last.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead and I wiped them away: "Oh Marga, I can't take any more," I moaned and looked at her with a smile.

Marga laughed and shook her head: "Come on, princess, we'll soon have made it and earned our food," she said and pulled me behind her.

We walked into the Alpha's room and looked around "Wow, this room is big...", Marga remarked, making me laugh.

"Doesn't look like we're going to finish early," I said and started to change the bed linen.

The room looked so tidy, I would never have thought it was a man's room. A wonderful scent of leather, musk and vanilla filled my nose. I stood rooted to the spot and looked at Marga. "It smells good in here," I remarked, to which she gave me a dirty look.

"Well, I don't smell anything," she said, shrugging her shoulders and unrolling the large rugs on the balcony.

"Wait, I'll help you," I said and was just about to go outside to help her when I bumped into the bedside table and something fell off.

I looked back in irritation and my eyes widened when I saw my diary. A feeling of weakness came over me and my arms suddenly felt numb. What was my diary doing in the Alpha's room? Had he read it? Oh God, you don't read other people's diaries! Or had he just kept it?

Marga came to me and looked at the diary too.

"That's my diary," I whispered quietly and looked at her.

"What's my diary doing here?" I asked, frowning in confusion.

"Hmm... Maybe it was taken when they brought you here? With all the books in the room next door, I wouldn't be surprised," she said, biting her lower lip.

"Should I take it?" I asked her uncertainly, "it's got everything I've experienced in it...", oh yes, it was all written by me and I liked to write down every last detail - that was probably a mistake, but it always happened involuntarily. I couldn't help it if he had taken my diary.

"You'd risk being banned from here," Marga looked at me askance and sighed softly. Maybe you'd better leave it where it was before you cause trouble," she replied with a sheepish look.

Marga wasn't entirely wrong, for the first time I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself before I could somehow get away from here. I saw the ball as my chance to replace my family and go home with them. After they found out about Gabriel's death, they would surely do everything in their power to take me with them, at least I wasn't entirely sure about that. I wasn't even sure of my own pack anymore, my trust was broken, but he was still my father...

Even in the dire situation I was in, he wanted me to feel comfortable and that I would have a secure future as Luna, even if Gabriel wasn't the man I wanted. I knew that he would never have been able to fulfill Gabriel's demands. It was clear that the price for the Alpha's daughter was too high.

I put the diary back on the bedside table and let out a soft sigh. I was very reluctant to put it down, because I had practically poured my heart into this book.

I went to Marga and helped her beat out the carpet: "Believe me, it's better this way. Not that there'll be any more trouble with Alpha Lorys, I think he's known for not being very nice," Marga said, looking at me from the side.

"What alpha is nice? You saw what my father did," I said, laughing softly, and knocked the carpet out with Marga and carried it back into the room.

We had cleaned his room pretty quickly, practically mopping around in the clean. I looked out of the window and saw a rose garden. "Hmm, do you think flowers would do this room good?" I asked Marga, to which she smiled brightly at me "I love flowers, I won't say no," said Marga, whereupon I ran out of the room and went into the garden. The wolves of the Circle watched me unobtrusively and when I wanted to go into the garden, a tall man stopped me "Where are you going?" he asked me and I stopped.

"I wanted to go to the garden to pick some roses for the rooms," I explained and turned to face him.

He thought for a moment and then nodded his head: "Good," he replied and let me pass.

Apparently we weren't as unobserved as we thought. It was clear that we stood out, after all, we were the 'new ones' and had to prove our loyalty for the first time.

I ran into the garden and grabbed a pair of scissors and a basket to put the roses in. I walked through the garden and felt free for a brief moment, it was so beautiful under the blue sky to pick the roses.

I breathed in the fresh air and looked at my basket with satisfaction. Finally, I walked back into the castle and looked at the wolf standing at the door, "Thank you very much," I said to him, to which he nodded and closed the door behind him.

"My name is Bora," I introduced myself, to which he frowned at me "James," he replied and said nothing else. James wasn't very talkative, but I tried my luck - after all, I wanted to make friends, not enemies. It wouldn't be bad to have the bouncer as a friend.

"Welcome to the Circle pack," he said, to which I nodded, "Yes, my girlfriend and I are very happy to be here," I replied with a smile and waved to him, "See you next time, James," I said goodbye and ran off.

Marga was already waiting for me in the room and had fetched a large vase, into which I placed the roses, creating a large bouquet. "Beautiful," said Marga and looked at me with satisfaction when we had finished everything.

My stomach suddenly growled when Linda entered the room.

"So, girls, how far along are you?" she asked, looking around. "That looks very good! Well done!" she praised us and looked at us.

We just nodded "Only the best for the Alpha," said Marga, to which Linda smiled "I like that attitude," she said and waved to us "Dinner's ready, come on," said Linda and we followed her.

Before we left the room, my eyes fell on my diary and my heart ached... How I wish I could write again, because everything that had happened was now missing from my diary... What a shame!

Marga put a comforting hand on my shoulder and we went into the dining room.

The first round with the high-ranking wolves was over, they got back to work and I could smell the alpha's scent throughout the room.

All the servants sat together and ate while talking and laughing.

Linda sat down with Marga and me and watched us eat.

Finally, she looked directly at me and raised her eyebrows: "You seem to come from a good family, the way you eat and drink," she said.

"My mother is very demanding," I said with a broad smile.

She nodded slightly and sighed: "That's a good thing, behaving yourself at the table says a lot. You don't have to be of high standing to have good manners." She also continued to eat and looked around the table.

Although she seemed a little stiff and strict at first, Linda made a nice impression. My mother always said that you shouldn't be too quick to make judgments about people, you could be wrong and regret it afterwards.

"We have to do everything we can to make the ball a success, there are lots of wolves coming from all over and we want to look good and not mess it up," said Linda, putting her cutlery aside.

"Do you have any ideas for the ball yet?" I asked her, to which she just shook her head and smiled weakly: "That's the problem... We don't have an idea. We have nothing."

Linda looked upset and it seemed as if everything was doomed to failure.

I thought for a moment and bit my lower lip "La Belle et la Bête," I said quietly and looked at her.

Beauty and the Beast... It might have been a bit cheesy, but the theme was just right.

Linda furrowed her brow and gave me a wry look, while Marga giggled.

"Beauty and the Beast? Are you serious?" she asked me.

I nodded slightly: "That's the best example of a love story. Our men may not be beasts, but they're all wolves, and what's the best thing a wolf can do?" I asked her with a smile on my lips.

"Sniffing..." she mumbled, seeming to toy with the idea.

"That sounds great!" Marga agreed enthusiastically, "all the men would have to be in their wolf form while they search for their enchantingly beautiful women... and as the moon will be full, the rest will take its course anyway," Marga said almost too loudly, attracting a lot of attention.

"Marga..." I murmured softly and pinched her gently.

"No, no... That's the best idea I've heard in a long time," Linda agreed with a smile.

"Who would have thought that the Blue Moon could think so well," she remarked, making me roll my eyes inwardly...

Anyone listening to me would know that this wasn't true. In any case, it would be a very good opportunity to disappear if the ball was held outside in the open, and all the wolves set off to replace their mate.

I blossomed inside and hoped to get out of here for good.