The Hidden Maiden

Chapter 25 - Back to square one

A/N: Music by PHDmusic2014 (YouTube)
Thanks for this beautiful piece (:

Lewis's POV
February 4th 2014. This day still came no matter how much I dread it. Nothing, no one, again.

"Welcome to the 22nd birthday celebration of the future Alpha king of the royal pack, Lewis Rowan." The mass clapped loudly and the ladies in the ballroom flattened their skirts and polished their poise. Anyone would be lucky to be the future alpha king's mate. For that everyone knew that was the real purpose of the party.

I sat on the right hand side of the king, Lucas to my right. Lucas is Chace's younger brother, and was currently itching in his seat to go dance with those slutty shewolfs he was leering at. The left hand side of the king sat the queen, and then was Chace. I couldn't bear the sight of him, especially after that incident during the pack run. He caused my humiliation in front of the pack.

"Don't forget our deal. By tonight.." The alpha king spoke lowly to remind me. I rolled my eyes under the mask. How can I forget.. If I can't find my mate tonight, I will have to marry Bridgett. How lucky it was that she couldn't be here tonight. Cringing at the thought of marrying her, I ignored him and all the negativity that goes with it.

Yes, it was a masquerade ball, and I was wearing an iron plated mask with a neat black suit. Lucas had gone "hunting" and Chace was currently dancing with his mate Faye. She had her arms around his neck and was staring into his eyes, nothing short of being spellbound.

There was a lot I envied him from when we were kids. He never seemed to be contented and I'd rather kill myself than to admit to him. He had everything that I don't, like right now. But I wasn't going to sulk on it forever, he's still a fucker.

Everyone in the ballroom had a mask on, and the ones I could recognize was the alpha king, the queen, the two bastards, my beta Sawyer and some of my direct subjects. The rest of the people was just a blur of faces and scent.

As my thoughts drifted away, it brought me back to last year's party, where there was a certain girl, and her friends. I'm pretty sure her friends were here, well provided they were still mateless. Draining these useless thoughts, I stood and walked through the crowd and see if I missed out any scent. Any scent at all, of my mate. Behind me, Sawyer was definitely following at an appropriate distance.

The shewolves I passed by swooned noisily and giggled to themselves, and some came to ask for a dance. "Your highness, can I please.. d-dance with you..?" A girl with a black feathery mask said timidly.

"Sorry." I forced a non-existent smile and excused myself.

As the people greeted me excitedly and offered to propose a toast for my 22nd, I frowned at how oblivious they were to my predicament. Do they even know how much I'm fretting over this night? I could either be overjoyed at finding her or freaking kill someone if she's not here. And the latter would probably come true.

As I scanned the place filled with hundreds of werewolves, a certain figure caught my eye. A mop of dark hair was moving quickly along the side, as if she's deliberately avoiding the crowd. She had a white and gold mask on, with tassels covering almost all of her face. I don't know, something about her was.. odd. Curiously intriguing. Out of blue, and for no reason at all, I wanted to know who she was. It was just a feeling I got.

I pushed the people on my sides and moved my way through to where I last saw that mop of hair. "Excuse me." I squeezed through the last of them and came out to the side, but she was gone. I looked around anxiously and spotted all the dark hair I could find. If she was indeed here just now, she wasn't anymore.

I glowered at the strangeness of the situation, then shook my head to regain my sense. I'm here for my mate, right.. I gathered my thoughts and told myself to not think about the figure.

I continued whiffing out the scents, and the more I look, the more depressed and frustrated I became. So I carried myself and my foul mood out of the room before someone finds a chance to agitate me. The alpha king and queen luna watched me leave the ballroom.

Two sets of footsteps moved out of sync along the empty hallway.
"Sawyer." I paused my steps and raised my hand. From the back, Sawyer understood my signal to be left alone, and so he bowed stiffly. I went ahead and this time he didn't followed.

Taking off my mask, I passed by the dining room. I contemplated for a split second and poured myself a glass of scotch. A little drink always helps. Once I felt lighter, I slowly sauntered to the third floor of our mansion, the music room in particular. It houses a huge collection of antique musical instruments, like the cello, harp, flute, and the grand piano. But I only play the piano.

No one uses the room except me. It has always been my escape from reality, somewhere I can hide from all the chaos and noise. Come to think of it, I came here during my 21st too.

I placed my hand on the door knob and to my utter shock, the harp started playing. I stood there bewildered that someone found this music room. It certainly wasn't too out there for everyone to see. I listened carefully and realized the sound was coming from the other side. The music room had been separated into two long time ago, and the person was in the second room, which stored the big concert harp.

As it slowly played out, the soft mellow tune started to calm me down and I thought perhaps it really was a coincidence. I placed my hand on the second knob, wanting to see who was behind that door. Then the melody began to sound like a score I played before on the piano..

Smiling to myself, I quietly entered the first room instead and sat down in front of the grand piano. It was my favorite since young. I pressed down on the keys and matched her rhythm on the harp. She stopped for a little while, I guess probably surprised that someone was playing in harmony with her, then resumed.

The gentleness of the harp and the melancholy of the piano blended well together and had a nice balance to the piece we're playing. The light snow outside made it even better. I was even more curious of the harpist beyond the wall that separated us. But the space between us was pleasant. It's as though I'm getting to know her through the music we share.

Once we reached the end of the song, I played my own piece for her with a smile on my face. It was faster in tempo and had a playful tune to it, sort of reflecting my excitement at the prospects of meeting her. She returned with something that was lighthearted as well. We played for hours, until it was very late.

After that, I stopped and listened closely for any movements on her side. A sudden thud had me jumping out of the seat. The door was pushed open, followed by urgent footsteps. When I realized she was leaving, I swung the door open and saw her turning around the corner, towards the staircase.

"Wait up!" I shouted and ran after her. She was very fast, and I barely managed to stay in the chase, literally hot on her heels. Whenever I turned into that corridor, she would disappear by the next one. The only thing I could see was the back of her dark hair and the end of her long white dress. Dark hair?? I recounted where I saw that before.. She's the girl previously in the ballroom!

I hurried down the stairs and she was heading towards the back door. I silently cursed at how easily she found it to escape from there.

Leaping out of the mansion, she was already on the plain field, heading into the forest. I didn't hesitate at all and followed her. The forest was dark, the only light source was from the dim moonlight. The thin layer of snow crunched under my feet and I struggled to keep up.

At last, finally within range, I called out again. But this time my voice got drowned out by the chimes of the clock tower.

She went dead on her tracks and I instantly picked up her scent. It can't be...
"Mate.." I whispered, and she twirled around slowly.

"Victoria.."