I Will Never Love You

Save Me a Dance

Bella sat quietly as she watched herself in the mirror as various she-wolves decorated her face, curled and braided her hair, and painted her nails. Her blue eyes were dull as she took in her blank face. When had she become so miserable? Her head snapped back from a sharp pain near her eyebrow and she glared at the lady holding the offending tweezers. Couldn't they give a girl some warning?

The hours went by and all Bella had to do for entertainment was to watch her reflection and the ladies around her move. Aren't hairdressers suppose to be chatty? Bella sighed and got a tutting noise from the lady trying to apply crimson lipstick to her. This drew Bella's attention to her mouth. She didn't really have much of a cupid's bow and her lips weren't necessarily thin, but they just reminded her of some worms on her face. A charming analogy really.

"Aha!" One of the women cried and in sync, they all moved away from her. Bella thought they could make a pretty good synchronized swimming team. The women held their breaths as they watched Bella take in her full appearance.

She looked at herself and nodded. That was not the reaction those ladies were hoping for after hours of contouring her face and fashioning her hair just so. In the reflection of the mirror, Bella saw them all visibly deflate and wander off.

To be honest, Bella did feel gorgeous. The long strapless deep red ball gown suited her figure quite nicely. Her face looked photoshopped to perfection and her hair took an elegant form. But this wasn't Bella. She almost never did her hair differently because she was always waking up late and running to class. Makeup was a joke to the girl, she didn't even know what the utensils were really called. Dresses? Oh no, a pair of jeans or sweatpants when a certain time of the month came around did just fine. And she's not talking about the full moon.

She was slightly worried that some males would take interest in her, but then she remembered what Edith always told her, "The most unattractive thing a woman could do was frown." At least she had that down.

Bella looked up at the clock in the dressing room and realized she begrudgingly had to leave. She gathered her dress up a little so she could carefully walk in her heels out the door. She snorted to herself as she watched her tiny feet go. If only her mother could see her now, she'd be so proud.

A sudden pang hit Bella's heart at the thought of never seeing her mother again, but she brushed that off. Even if men wanted her they'd have to catch her first. When Bella walked into the room the sound of dull chit-chat hit her ears. Girls tried their best to look approachable, whether that meant smiling more or sticking out their chest more Bella didn't really care. You do you, man. Men were walking about, sizing up the females before the formalities start.

The formalities were definitely the worst part. Sadistic pricks. They had all the women line up and the males sniff them out so to speak. A lady at the entrance asked Bella for her name and then handed her a name tag. Name: Bella Colburn. Strength: 8. Pack: Moonvalley. For half the men in this room, they won't even need to look at the name tag. They decided purely on physical looks and occasionally their strength. No one wants a weak mate.

Bella walked around the ballroom strategically avoiding any other wolves. If a man so much as looked in Bella's direction and started to move, she quickly weaved her way through the crowd and out of their sights. Her stomach started to growl softly but she knew stopping at the buffet table would be the perfect place for someone to swoop in and hit on her.

Her stomach growled again louder this time and Bella sighed in defeat. If she didn't feed the monster now it would probably start sounding like a deranged lion, and knowing her luck it would probably happen at the worst moment possible. Besides, the little barbecue chicken wings were calling her name.