CHAPTER 10
Charlotte went silent for a while then cracked up. "I almost thought I was his mate, just for a split second. That was the craziest thought I've had in a while. Oh my, that joke brightened my mood."
Ella frowned at Charlotte's comment.
"Why can't you be the alpha king's mate?"
"Listen to yourself, Ella. He's not just any wolf, not any alpha, he's the alpha king of the most formidable lycanthropic country. Why would the moon goddess curse him with a powerless, pathetic maid like me? Even if wishes were a horse, I can never be able to ride on such a horse."
"Why are you talking down on your set so much?" Ella exclaimed.
"I'm not talking down on myself; they're just plain facts. I'm more or less a human. I'll go to the human world someday and get married to one of them and live happily ever after." Though she had a bright smile as she spoke, her eyes were very sad. Ella took pity on her and went closer to her mattress.
"Don't say such a thing; you'll find your mate soon, and he'll be a rich handsome noble omega."
"Okay, if you say so. You'll find your handsome mate too; he'll be Thorne, the new gamma."
"I thought I was the only one seeing that fine lad; he's so handsome." Ella lamented.
"Not as handsome as the alpha king," Charlotte giggled.
"Sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't mean to talk down on your highly esteemed mate."
"I will not spare you," Charlotte said, mimicking an angry werewolf in wolf form as she pounced on Ella, and both giggled aloud. They got into a playful fight and separated after some time.
"I can't say who is more handsome though; they can't be placed on the same scale."
"Yeah, Gamma Thorne will take your breath away with just a smile. His freckles make him so adorable and he is ripped," she wailed animatedly.
"How do you know that?"
"I have seen him train at the sparring ground once; he was only in a pair of harem pants."
"Try to visualize how his tanned skin will be under the sunlight, sweat glistening down his taut chest and strong muscles. It was pure bliss," Ella whispered.
Just as Ella rambled on, Charlotte pictured Alpha King Aurelius as she was describing Gamma Thorne and she sighed. It's more than pure bliss.
"The alpha king, on the other hand, is like a dark stallion, majestic and powerful, aloof. He doesn't even have to do anything to create one's desire for him."
"That's enough now; go to sleep or something. I'm sleepy already."
"Oh my, look at you all red."
"It's chilly, that's why I'm red."
"With this burning fire?" Ella teased.
"I feel cold," Charlotte lied.
"I don't think you're cold. I think you're hot inside. I can feel your temperature increase."
"Stop already," Charlotte whined, and Ella giggled in surrender.
"You seem to know a lot about humans." Ella suddenly said.
"Yes, I do." Charlotte's eyes twinkled as she answered.
"How?"
"My dad is a gamma far away in the south. He used to get a lot of books from merchants that went to human countries. They know a lot, and they're more advanced than we are. Their lives are very easy because they think and create things that will make their life easier. They are far weaker than we are. More like me but they're not as attractive as we are. Their eyebrows don't also meet at the bridge of the nose and their ears are not like ours."
"What are books?" Ella asked, intrigued.
"Uhm," Charlotte tried to think of how she could make Ella understand. They didn't have books or paper in Fristia.
The scrolls nobles use!
"Do you know those scrolls the nobles and ministers use?"
"Sure, I do." She said.
"Imagine those scrolls being shorter. And lots of them are bound together with a thicker material as the cover."
"It is bent in half sideways," Charlotte continued as she folded her handkerchief to describe what it looked like.
"That's awesome."
"Yes, it is. Humans believe that knowledge is true power."
"What is knowledge?"
"To know something," Charlotte replied with a shrug.
"Many omegas would be intrigued by your story."
"I can't tell anyone all of this."
"What if you write it too, in a…" Ella declared, trying to remember what Charlotte referred to the scrolls as.
"Book," Charlotte completed.
"Yes, book. You could sell them; you don't know how curious werewolves can be."
"That's a nice idea," Charlotte exclaimed.
"Yes," Ella grinned.
"Soon if you make a lot of money, you can renew your status with it and be a free wolf."
"Can I do that?"
"Sure, you can; you are bought as a slave, not born as one."
"What about you? You can do that too, right? You weren't born a slave."
"Don't worry about me," Ella said with a smile.
"There aren't any papers." Charlotte groaned.
"Can't you use animal skin like they use for a scroll?"
Charlotte laughed at Ella's suggestions.
"We'll have to use the skin of all the animals in the forest to write just one book. Don't worry, I will think of something else."
"Okay then."
"Can everyone read it? There's no writing if no one can read."
"The nobles and the ministers can read and some traders too."
"That's enough, they are rich enough to afford books and since this is foreign to them, I can charge high," Charlotte said, stroking her chin.
"May your business flourish, Your Majesty."
"Let's go to sleep now," Charlotte said, yawning.
It was finally a day to the full moon. Decrees had been passed across the state like it is usually done. Every werewolf was to be indoors already by dusk. The lunacy starts on a night to the full moon, peaks at the full moon, and ends the night after. The involuntary shifting happened only at night so their daily activities aren't affected.
Omega Magh and Omega Fara were sent to work in the kitchen, and they were replaced with two other maids that had been at the place for a long time. They masked their hostility against Charlotte well as they learned that she was favored by the Alpha king.
Alpha King Aurelius met with the local administrators and tax collectors to discuss the tax reports to the king, detailing tax revenues, and economic conditions.
The tax was collected to build basic infrastructure in the states and to strengthen their trades, hence Alpha King Aurelius never joked with it.
The country's economy was quite promising, but Aurelius wanted it to be even better, so he ordered them to find new sectors of the economy that would make the currency flow better and increase the standard of living of the omegas.
Aurelius strolled to his garden and ordered that his afternoon tea be brought there.
He stared at the gazebo as he remembered their first encounter together. It is close to a month now, and he commended himself for being able to hold out for that long.
"How long will you hold out?" Kiel , his inner wolf scoffed.
"I control my mind and my desires, not the other way around."
"Let's see if you can still say that when it's a full moon."
"You will behave," Aurelius threatens his inner wolf.
"Even if you can control your mind and your desires, you can't control fate."
"I can reject her," Aurelius murmured. The thought of rejecting her just didn't sit well with him.
After his tea, he left the garden to continue with his day.
He didn't have a shower that night as everyone had retired to their abode at dusk.
He sat at the edge of his bed and closed his eyes shut. He tried to filter all the noises and focused on his mate's heartbeat and voice.
Her heartbeat was quite steady, and she seemed to be conversing with someone. When he sensed that she was safe, he lay on the bed. He couldn't sleep because Kiel was raging within him, but he didn't shift.
He had ordered Joe earlier to stay close to her room should things go awry.
Some hours into the night, two crazed werewolves in their wolf form moved swiftly toward Omega Charlotte's room. Two others followed immediately, and they sprinted at Joe, all at once.
Omega Joe shifted and fought them off with his teeth and claws as he wasn't given the order to kill any werewolves that attacked. Werewolves in their crazed state would back off if the person they're engaging in a brawl with is stronger than they are, but these werewolves didn't act like they were going to stop anytime soon.
As Joe tried to slash one in the gut, another busted the door open. Two of the werewolves dashed towards the duo in the room. Panicked Ella in her werewolf form, trying to shield Charlotte. It was a lost fight already.