The kitchen was silent save for the steady hum of the fridge. Aella sat on one of the kitchen stools with her head leaning against the wall and her eyes closed. She was tired to the bone; she had been working tirelessly since the start of the day with little to no rest and food.

It had been one week since she was found unconscious at the pack's border, one week since she had been dragged from the numbing snow. It felt like ages, she thought. She'd been running from enemies, thinking she would be running towards a new and better life, only to end up as a scullery maid to a pompous alpha who was supposed to be her mate.

Well. look on the bright side. Her wolf spoke up. At least we'll get to see more of our mates.

Aella scowled in disgust and opened her eyes. "He might be my mate, but he has shown me that he's just as cruel as any other man I've ever met. You wouldn't expect his mate to be working in the kitchens, would you?"

She shook her head in disbelief as she stared down at her maid's apron, reminding herself that she was a white wolf, the rarest of all the Lycans. She had been blessed by the Moon Goddess herself, and she knew that she was so much better than serving a couple of gutless male wolves, but she had to stay put and bid her time. She'd planned her escape from the pack for tomorrow morning, when the patrol would have eased, compared to the heavy security at night. She almost smiled at the thought of running in the wild again with the wind in her hair. Her freedom was near.

Freedom? Her wolf protested. You aren't actually thinking of running away, are you?

"Yes I am, now shut up!" She retorted as footsteps free nearer to the kitchen. She quickly rubbed the sleep off her eyelids and sat up straight.

Another maid entered the kitchen with a cleaning cart full of brooms and towels. She looked around for Aella and found the other girl in a corner. She frowned as Aella quickly stood up from the stool and walked forward with her head bent.

"What do you think you're doing, dilly-dallying around?" The maid asked, looking Aella up and down with disgust "There's work to be done, don't you know? This isn't the forest where you could do as you like."

Who does she think I am, Aella thought to herself. If only the people around here knew that she was the alpha's mate. But Aella did not act according to her thoughts. Instead, she gave a small curtsey, her head still bowed "I'm sorry. Um, what am I supposed to do?"

"Of course, how would you know, sitting there and snoring away like a homeless dog." The maid muttered. "The alpha asked to be served his dinner in the dining room, and he insisted on you serving it, for some reason."

Aella bit back the angry retort that came to her mouth and tried to calm herself. It would not do to lose her temper now. She knew it would only give the maid a reason to gloat. Instead, she walked over to the kitchen island where the food had been laid out and arranged them on a trolley, then wheeled the trolley out of the kitchen and towards the dining room.

She could feel her wolf gritting its teeth in anger as she walked to the dining room, but she tried to calm the animal, telling her that soon they would be out of this place. By the next morning, she would be the master of her own life once again and live in the wild, as she had been destined to. Freedom is near, she kept reminding herself.

She got to the dining room and found two men at the entrance, guarding the door. She curtseyed to them and they opened the door for her. Pushing the trolley of food in, she saw that the male wolves had all sat around the table, waiting for the food. Of all the men, only Casper called out to her in greeting. She merely nodded in his direction.

She tried her best not to look at the head of the table where she knew that the alpha was sitting. She could feel his eyes on her as she moved closer to the table and closed her eyes, praying for strength from the Goddess.

Aella arranged the food on the table and began serving each wolf member. She deliberately served the alpha last because she wasn't ready to be so close to him yet. She feared that her strong resolve to escape that night would crumble under his green-eyed gaze.

After serving all the members, she closed her eyes and tried to steady her breath. It was his turn to be served now.

"Why are you standing there with your eyes closed? Won't you serve me dinner?" His voice startled her. She almost jumped at the force of his voice and hastily moved forward. Immediately she got withing two feet of him, his scent wafted into her nose again, that familiar masculine scent of cedarwood. She sniffed in satisfaction and avoided his eyes as she began serving him.

Logan stared in disbelief at the girl standing before him and serving his food. She seemed to have changed overnight; all her stubbornness and rebellion was gone. All he saw was a timid girl trying very valiantly not to meet his eyes. He knew the woman he had imprinted on, and surely this wasn't her.

Something is wrong, he thought. She was never this calm. His outburst at her would have given her a chance to retaliate by shouting back at him but he had been shocked when she'd kept quiet. 

As she placed his plate in front of him, their gazes met for a split second: green eyes staring into brown ones. He immediately felt another jolt of desire and swallowed hard. He caught a whiff of her smell and closed his eyes in bliss. That cinnamon and lilies scent never failed to do unimaginable things to his body.

By the time he opened her eyes, she was already halfway across the room with the trolley, hurrying to leave the room. 

"Stop!" He called. "Don't leave. You'd have to wait to clear this place up after we're done."

She turned around and curtseyed slightly, her head bent. He was shocked at her lack of response and started eating his dinner, watching her discreetly from the corner of his eyes and wondering what had changed her.

Thirty minutes later, the male wolves had finished with their dinner. They all left the plates on the table and walked out. The alpha was the last to walk out and he gave her a last disbelieving look as he did so. Aella knew he was wondering why she did not spare him any word.

Quickly she cleared the table and rolled the trolley back to the kitchen, where she hastily removed her apron and flung it on the floor. She then picked up a small bag and moved to the fridge, stuffing the bag with food items. When she was done, she closed the fridge and ran to her room with the bag, checking her back periodically to make sure nobody was following her. 

Once she entered her room, she locked the door securely behind her and moved to her closet, where she picked up a few things that she would need: one dress for a change of clothes and a few undergarments. She did not bother taking any shoes. She still wasn't used to walking around in them.

After this, she placed both bags full of food and clothes beside her bed and jumped into it, making sure to set her alarm to 3am. She sighed in satisfaction and stared up at the white ceiling, thinking about how her life would change from now on. She would finally be free to do as she pleased without that hateful alpha breathing down her neck. She could almost taste her freedom. She giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl and snuggled into the covers.

"Till never, suckers!" She muttered under her breath, before closing her eyes in sleep.